Palaeolithic diet ("stone age" diet)

Abstract

A popular diet in Sweden today is the palaeolithic diet, where lean meat, fish, vegetables, fruit, roots and nuts are dietary staples, while cereals, dairy products, salt and processed fat and sugar are avoided. The underlying rationale is that foods that were available during the evolution of primates, up to the emergence of fully modern humans, are healthier than recently introduced ones (dairy products, cereals, beans, refined fat, sugar, etc.), since our digestive and metabolic systems were not designed for the latter group of foods. Variation in plant foods, another principle based on evolutionary biology, is recommended to avoid high intakes of potentially harmful bioactive substances. It is not known whether palaeolithic diets are more, or less, effective than other diets in weight reduction. Keywords: evolutionary medicine; metabolic syndrome; overweight; popular diets; Western disease