Paleolithic “Paleo” Diet Insanity
The idea you can be healthy and long lived by eating a high fat, low fiber diet of red meat, poultry, fish, and eggs and is really too stupid to comment on. (True "Paleos" do not eat dairy products.) Whole grains are avoided, as are beans and legumes, and even starchy vegetables like potatoes, and sweet potatoes. The Paleolithic Era, cave man, or Stone Age ended 10,000 years ago when agriculture was introduced. For the first time in history man stopped hunting and gathering, found freedom, and could grow his own food and develop technology. Now mankind could progress instead of merely exist.
This insanity is totally a product of Loren Cordain, who claims to be the "world's leading expert on the Paleo diet". He says you'll get reduced CHD risk, reduced diabetes risk, reduced overall disease risk, more energy, stronger libido, better athletic performance, clearer mentality and memory, better sleep, less autoimmune disease, and overall longer and healthier life. Quite the opposite is true. In, fact, exactly the opposite is true. He is fat, unhealthy, and looks terrible. All Paleos are. There is even a Paleo magazine now!!!
People who go on a high saturated fat diet like this are almost guaranteed to get cardio-vascular disease, liver disease, and various cancers. Women are almost guaranteed to get female cancers, especially breast cancer. They also get disrupted periods, severe PMS, and terrible post-menopausal problems. Men are almost guaranteed to get prostate cancer, heart disease, reduced quality of life, and shorter lives. Breast and prostate cancer are directly related to saturated fat intake. A Paleo diet will raise your cholesterol, uric acid, homocysteine, and CRP levels. These are the most accurate predictors of heart and artery disease. CHD is the biggest cause of death of all. All carbohydrates (they call them “carbs”) are lumped together as equal, including white sugar, brown rice, honey, oatmeal, maple syrup, or whole wheat. How can anyone compare simple sugars to whole grains? This is all based on the Glycemic index. Read the article Glycemic index is Goofy in our library.
Whole grains and beans are the very basis of your daily diet. Whole grains are your staple food, your very staff of life. If you avoid these, and just eat animals foods with some green and yellow vegetables, you get a disease state called “ketosis”. The Paleo diet is just the Atkins ketogenic diet without the dairy. This means toxic ketone bodies over-take the body, and you get diseases. Look up "ketosis" in your dictionary. Your armpits and breath stink from ketosis. You feel terrible all the time. Your health deteriorates.
The proponents often point to the Eskimo people, and claim they have “great health” and are “free from the diseases of modern society”, and "live long lives" This is patently ridiculous. The average Eskimo, on their native diet, has the worst life expectancy in North America, more cancer than Canadians, and overall terrible health. Their average lifespan is a mere 44 years, and you rarely find one over the age of 50. When they are short on food, they kill their babies and old people. These facts are well documented. They don't even have a written language! This shows the cave man diet causes disease and early death in an entire culture.
The people of Papua New Guinea still eat a Paleo diet, and they rank 148 out of 182 in worldwide life expectancy. Let's repeat that- 148 out of 182 countries. They rate 121 out of 135 in poverty. Their disease rates are off the charts. They still practice cannibalism. Yes, they kill and eat each other. These are documented facts. They have no written language either. This is more real life proof of what the Paleo diet does in an entire country.
There are no studies to show any benefits at all from following a Paleo diet. None. In fact, the worldwide published scientific literature proves the more animal foods you eat the sicker you get, and the sooner you die. The more whole grains, beans, and green and yellow vegetables you eat the healthier you are, and the longer you live. Again, compare the rural Thai, Chinese, Japanese, Koreans, and Vietnamese to Eskimos and Papua New Guineans.
Weston Price Founded the Weston Price Foundation. They advocate the same basic ani-mal food based diet without grains or beans. Read the article Weston Price is Evil in our library. His theory was based on the Masai tribe in Africa. He claimed they had long life and were extraordinarily healthy. Even more ridiculous. They, too, only live to an aver-age age of 44. They are poverty stricken and have no written language. This was Price's "health ideal" to live up to.
The Japanese, and especially the Okinawans, are the longest lived and healthiest people on Earth. Rural Asians in general have much better health than Westerners. This includes Chinese, Thai, Viet Namese, and Koreans. They all eat grains as their staple food, with minimal amounts of animal foods. The city Asians now suffer from the same medical problems we do from adopting the Western ways of eating. Please read the books The China Study by Campbell as well as Healthy at 100 by Robbins. Read articles China Study and Healthy at 100 in our library.
This charts below show that saturated fat is the direct cause of prostate and breast cancer based on twenty-nine and thirty-seven countries:
Breast cancer is caused by saturated fat intake based on 37 countries.
These epidemiological charts prove saturated fat is the direct cause of prostate and breast cancer. This is based on millions of people, and cannot be contested. The same is true of cholesterol and heart disease in general.
Whole grains are literally the staff of life. The ideal diet contains no meat, poultry, eggs, or dairy products. The macrobiotic diet is the only regimen that will cure cancer, diabetes, and other diseases. Read my book Macrobiotics for Everyone.