In Other News: The Pope Is Catholic!

Practitioners of the Paleo diet have long understood that the so-called "healthy eating guidelines" outlined by the government are actually a recipe for insulin resistance and the problems associated with it, including diabetes. Now, studies are backing that up. Dr. John Briffa recently blogged about a July 2009 study in the journal Cardiovascular Diabetology in which participants followed either a standard high-carb diabetic diet or the Paleolithic diet.

From Dr. Briffa's post:

Overall, the Paleolithic diet brought improvements in a range of health measures and markers compared to the diabetes diet:

•  An additional 6.5-pound reduction in weight
•  A reduction in triglyceride levels (high levels of triglyceride are linked with increased risk of cardiovascular disease)
•  Reduced diastolic blood pressure (the lower of the two blood pressure readings)
•  A 1.5 inch reduction in waist circumference
•  Lower levels of HbA1c (measure of blood sugar control over the preceding 3 months or so)
•  Increased levels of HDL cholesterol (the form of cholesterol associated with reduced risk of cardiovascular disease)

In other words, compared to standard dietetic advice for diabetes, the Paleolithic diet led to significant improvements in markers for diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

 

Even if you don't have diabetes or other insulin resistance related problems, wouldn't it be nice to drop a few extra pounds, slim your waist, reduce your blood pressure, and improve your cholesterol profile?