If you've read my 'about me' page, you know that during the day, I am a bioengineer. I'm currently doing work on magnetic targeted endothelial cell delivery to stented arteries. During the day, I read journal articles, culture cells, analyze tissue and write up my findings in the form of manuscripts and grants, so I can get more money to keep doing what I'm doing. At night, I teach group exercise classes. It's a nice change of pace, and in most ways, completely different from what I do during the day. But every once in a while, my two worlds collide, and I can use my training as a scientist to take a look at the world of health and fitness.
To give you a little background, I don't follow a specific "diet". I try to make the best choices for myself, my health and fitness goals, and that might be different than the choices you make for yourself. In general, I'm not against "diets" - if you find something that works for you, I'd encourage you to stick with it. If you tell me you feel better and hit your goal weight by removing gluten from your diet - excellent! If you tell me dairy makes you feel bloated, then don't eat it! If you tell me that you eat 2 pounds of butternut squash to carb-load for your long runs while marathon training, so be it (oh, wait, that's me)! So when people ask me about the Paleo Diet, the only advice I have is to give it a try if you're interested. If you're goal is losing weight, you'll know relatively quickly if it's working for you. But, if your goal is to prevent heart disease, well, you may never know if it's "working".
Over the weekend, I came across a twitter post linking me to this article by Chris Kresser on MindBodyGreen. The title of the article is, "5 Things Everyone Gets Wrong About Paleo". Since I do like to educate myself on the current health and fitness trends, and I admittedly don't know everything about the Paleo Diet, I wanted to read on. I don't have much to say about #2 through #5 on the list, but #1 struck a nerve with me.
Myth #1: "Our Paleolithic ancestors all died before they were 30."
| Critics of Paleo often proclaim: “Why should we emulate the diet of our ancestors when they all died before they were 30?” While it’s true that the lifespans of our Paleolithic forebears were shorter on average than our lifespans today, those averages don’t consider significant challenges those ancestors faced that are largely absent from our modern lives. These include high rates of infant mortality, tribal warfare and violence, exposure to the elements, and lack of emergency medical care. Studies show that when these challenges are taken into account, our ancestors (as well as contemporary hunter-gatherers) lived lifespans roughly equivalent to our own. But more important, they reached these ages without developing any of the chronic, inflammatory diseases like obesity, diabetes, heart disease or autoimmune disease that plague us today. |
I didn't read the referenced study word for word, but I read it enough to know that the study is referring to "modal age", where a year is not the time it takes for the earth to circle the sun. It's an "age equivalent". So to say that our hunter/gatherer ancestors lived to the same age as we are living today is a little misleading. Also, in addition to a decreased rate in infant mortality, tribal warfare and violence, etc., we also have EXTREME lifestyle and environmental differences, when compared to our ancestors, making it difficult to isolate any specific reason for a change in disease prevalence. Furthermore, our knowledge today on chronic, inflammatory diseases is MUCH more than it was "back then", and to say that we can get a complete medical profile from our ancestors' remains is an insult to current medical research.
I think most people are in agreement that genetics play a large role in the development of some diseases. Let's not forget that our genetics have been shaped by our ancestors. Who's to say that the very diet our ancestors lived off of altered our genetics in such a way to make us more susceptible to certain diseases? It's a little "out on a limb", but the point I'm trying to make is that there is too much unknown to really draw any solid conclusions.
I think most people are in agreement that genetics play a large role in the development of some diseases. Let's not forget that our genetics have been shaped by our ancestors. Who's to say that the very diet our ancestors lived off of altered our genetics in such a way to make us more susceptible to certain diseases? It's a little "out on a limb", but the point I'm trying to make is that there is too much unknown to really draw any solid conclusions.
Do I think that switching from a "typical American diet" to the Paleo Diet can improve your health? Absolutely! There are a lot of really great things about the Paleo Diet, and I agree that your diet plays a huge role in your overall health. But, I'm not so quick to agree that wheat and dairy are the direct cause of chronic, inflammatory diseases like obesity, diabetes, heart disease and autoimmune diseases. I think we're making a lot of progress in figuring out how to best nourish our bodies, and it seems like the even the USDA is making changes in their recommendations. But, at the end of the day, it's probably best to take everything you read with a grain of salt (although not literally, because salt is bad for you, right?).
So what does FitYaf recommend?
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Anything beyond that depends on your goals, your personal situation and your genetics. But don't just believe me because you read it here - educate yourself! And Chris, no hard feelings - you are inspiring SO many people to get healthy! Keep at it!
What are your thoughts about the Paleo Diet?
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