The Paleo diet is designed to emulate the way humans ate during the Paleolithic era. You may know it by other names, such as the Paleolithic diet, the caveman diet, or the steak and bacon diet.
Proponents of this diet claim that it is modeled on the diets of humans before the development of agriculture. They argue that our ability to grow our own food and mill grains led to humanity’s now-widespread chronic illnesses.
Today, we’ll look at the details of the Paleo diet and the history it is based on. You’ll learn about its potential health benefits and drawbacks, and how it compares to the pH-balanced diet recommended by the Save Institute.
The Paleolithic Diet
The Paleo diet is named after the Paleolithic era, which ran from 2.5 million to 10,000 years ago, and predates the development of agriculture. For those millennia, humans survived through hunting and gathering.
Proponents of the diet claim that the human body didn’t evolve the ability to properly digest and use foods that require farming, milling, and other processes that developed later in human history. This idea is called the discordance hypothesis. Although we don’t have complete knowledge about these early humans, the hypothesis suggests that modern diseases arose because of humanity’s changing diet.
While the Paleo diet was originally promoted as a way to avoid chronic illnesses, most people today follow it as a strategy for weight loss or maintaining a healthy weight.
Synopsis
The Paleo diet is named after the Paleolithic era. It is based on the idea that humans are better suited to pre-agriculture diets. Adherents believe that farmed foods and grains contribute to modern health problems.
What A Paleo Diet Looks Like
A Paleo diet consists mainly of the following foods:
- Nuts and seeds
- Meats
- Fruits
- Vegetables
- Fish
- Fruit or nut oil (like olive or walnut oil)
The following are foods restricted in the paleo diet:
- Grains (barley, oats, wheat etc.) and breads
- Legumes, including peanuts, beans, peas, etc.
- Potatoes
- Dairy of any kind
- Refined sugar
- Salt
- Processed foods
There are elements of the Paleo diet that are undoubtedly healthful. The emphasis on fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seeds provides a variety of vitamins, minerals, and polyphenols. Similarly, cutting out refined sugar, added salt, processed foods, and dairy products, is a positive step for improving overall diet quality.
However, the Paleo diet’s exclusion of certain food groups and its emphasis on meat consumption can present challenges. A balanced diet that incorporates healthy sources of protein, including high-quality animal protein like grass-fed meat and plant-based options, along with complex carbohydrates, is essential for long-term health.
Synopsis
The Paleo diet includes healthy foods like fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seeds, and cuts out processed foods. However, its restriction of complex carbohydrates and emphasis on high meat consumption may create imbalances.
Addressing Common Misconceptions About The Paleo Diet
One major criticism of the Paleo diet is its focus on meat consumption, which can sometimes lead to excess intake. While high-quality meats, such as grass-fed beef or wild-caught fish, are part of a healthy diet, excessive consumption of animal products while restricting complex carbohydrates—such as whole grains, legumes, and potatoes, is not always recommended. It removes nutrient-dense sources of energy that are rich in fiber, B vitamins, and bone-healthy minerals. These foods also support stable blood sugar levels, making them a valuable part of a well-rounded diet.
It’s worth noting that, historically, early humans consumed a much more varied diet than the Paleo diet suggests. Scientific research has shown that Paleolithic humans relied significantly on plant foods, and they even ground grains to make soups, porridges, and breads. This demonstrates that their diet was far more balanced than the modern Paleo diet portrays.
Synopsis
The Paleo diet’s heavy emphasis on meat and exclusion of complex carbohydrates can create imbalances. Research shows that early humans ate a more diverse diet, including plant foods and grains.
How The Paleo Diet Impacts Bone Health
Several aspects of the Paleo diet are beneficial for bone health and overall health. Just like the Osteoporosis Reversal Program (ORP), the Paleo diet recommends omitting dairy, processed foods, refined sugars, seed oils, and excessive sodium from the diet. However, the Save Institute does not recommend the Paleo diet, since it encourages the unchecked consumption of acidifying foods.
The pH-balanced diet we recommend offers the same benefits that the Paleo diet has, but none of the dangerous faults. For example, the ORP encourages the consumption of complex carbs, which contain essential nutrients. The ORP's pH-balanced diet includes potatoes, whole grains, beans, lentils, and other legumes balanced with alkalizing foods to prevent serum acidification.
Reducing acidification and the inflammation that comes along with it is not only good for your bones, but it’s also good for your overall health.
Synopsis
The Paleo diet has some benefits but may harm bone health due to its acidifying nature.
What This Means To You
The Paleo diet provides helpful guidance on cutting out processed foods and added sugars, but it falls short of offering a truly balanced and sustainable approach to health. A pH-balanced diet, such as the one recommended by the Save Institute, achieves these goals while avoiding the potential pitfalls of overemphasizing meat or eliminating healthy carbohydrates.
You don't need to eat like a cave-person to stay healthy. You need to eat like a well-informed, contemporary human. The Save Institute created a pH-balanced cookbook and meal planner to help you do just that. Use Bone Appétit to craft delicious meals that include the full range of healthy ingredients and techniques available to modern humans. It isn't based on restricting your diet to certain foods or food groups.
Eat Your Way to Stronger Bones.
Discover over 200 mouth-watering bone healthy recipes for breakfast, smoothies, appetizers, soups, salads, vegetarian dishes, fish, and plenty of main courses and even desserts!
In addition to keeping you healthier on a nutritional level, this greater variety of foods also allows you to enjoy your meals. You don't have to deprive yourself of thousands of years of human development and culture to stay healthy. Live (and eat) in the present!
You May Also Like These Related Articles:
How Ultra-Processed Foods Damage Bones, Increase Inflammation, And Hamper Immune Function
New Review Reveals Bone Health Benefits Of Anthocyanins
Just Published Review Confirms That A Ph-Balanced Diet Benefits More Than Just Your BonesComments on this article are closed.
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Thanks for your input and stay healthy and strong!
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I do not consume from one diet but a mixture of Celiac and Plant Paradox. There is a web-site about 35 vegetables containing calcium that I found in late 2018
(https://happyhappyvegan.com/vegan-calcium-sources/). Brushing teeth and exercises morning and evening with the A1C diet (meat, fish, egg, fruit, veg) is a good routine for me plus popped sorghum. I have Sjogren’s in my blood tests which is combatted with HCQ for five years now.-
Thanks for sharing your story with us!
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Eating a paleo diet does not mean eating a lot of meat. I chose to eat non inflammatory foods to get the persistent swelling out of my broken leg and realized the paleo diet info was helpful for checking if foods were inflammatory or not. It worked for me. Everyone is different and for instance upon having yet another kidney stone I started eliminating high oxalate foods. I feel discomfort in the joints of both knees when I eat potatoes (even sweet potatoes), eggs and peppers so I don’t eat them. I still only eat infrequent small amounts of legumes and grains and never wheat or sugar. If I eat meat I only eat a tiny portion of humanely raised pastured meat and I only eat that because I am concerned that I don’t get enough protein for my bones and muscles. It doesn’t make my stomach feel good.
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You’re doing the right thing because you’re identifying what works for you. As you correctly wrote, everyone is different!
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I went on a paleo diet at the recommendation of a Functional Medicine Clinic for 2 years so far. Their emphasis is to cut down inflammation in the body by eliminating common allergens such as wheat, corn, soy, dairy, sugar. There is also a strong emphasis on eating organic and grass fed and uncured meat. They emphasize lots of vegetables and lesser amounts of fruit. They do not recommend large quanties of meat such as Atkins, only average servings.
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Kristy, you were fortunate that the clinic emphasized lots of vegetables and not so much animal protein.
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Hello Vivian,
Thank you for sharing this information about Paleo Diet.Have a wonderful day.
Marlene-
You’re welcome, Marlene 🙂
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One more thing I wanted to add to my previous comment. In the situation of working with people who have gut disease and digestive problems, this is the one situation where eliminating grains for a period of time can be valuable. It is written about in the book, The Specific Carbohydrate Diet and is valuable for healing certain conditions in the intestinal track.
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Thank you for your indepth and wise article about the Paleo Diet. I am a Nutritionist who healed from Cancer with Diet as a primary force and I am in complete agreement with you in regards to a ‘Healthy Diet’ vs. Paleo Diet. Thank you for putting this out there.
Dale Figtree, Ph.D.
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It’s my pleasure, Dale!
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I have used the paleo diet as a healing diet. I had gut dysbiosis and inflammation due to previously undiagnosed celiac disease. Plus I’m chronically underweight and often struggle with low appetite. It was a great diet for healing, gaining weight, and starting to eat clean.
In the intervening years I have found I need to avoid not only gluten but all dairy as well (even cultuted goat’s milk products). While the paleo diet has been revised to include potatoes and white rice, I still have digestive issues with rice and corn and try to limit my consumption of those products – which are often staples in junk food.
Now, I focus on nutrient dense foods, including lentils and grains other than rice and corn. I also focus on avoiding refined sugar and limiting other sugar, such as honey and maple syrup. I hope this altered approach is healing my bones as well as my digestion!
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You’re certainly on the right track, Daphne. And remember to balance the pH with alkalizing foods when you eat acidifying foods.
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Thank you. Ita.
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You’re very welcome, Ita!
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It’s interesting to note that according to actual history (as recorded in the Bible) the first humans were vegetarians. They were given a perfect garden to live in, and had all the food they needed for perfectly designed bodies. (But then things got complicated when death entered the world, along with disease.) And it wasn’t until later on in history that meat was also given as a food.
Thank you, Vivian, for all the helpful guidelines you give us to navigate how to get things in balance for our health! God has used you as a blessing in my life to help me make wise lifestyle changes in diet and exercise.