Finally, the Voice of Reason Speaks... #paleo

In a week that saw one well-known Paleo diet guru forsake the label for good, along with more infighting about what does and does not constitute healthy eating, The Healthy Skeptic, Chris Kresser, issued a much-needed call for common sense. In his blog article, Beyond Paleo: moving from a "paleo diet" to a "paleo template", he wrote:

So what is a Paleo diet? Is it low-carb? Low-fat? Does it include dairy? Grains?

We’re not robots: variation amongst groups and individuals

The answer to that question depends on several factors. First, are we asking what our Paleolithic ancestors ate, or are we asking what an optimal diet for modern humans is? While hard-core Paleo adherents will argue that there’s no difference, others (including me) would suggest that the absence of a food during the Paleolithic era does not necessarily mean that it’s not nutritious or beneficial. Dairy products are a good example.

Second, as recent studies have revealed, we can’t really know what our ancestors ate with 100% certainty, and there is undoubtedly a huge variation amongst different populations. For example, we have the traditional Inuit and the Masai who ate a diet high in fat (60-70% of calories for the Masai and up to 90% of calories for the Inuit), but we also have traditional peoples like the Okinawans and Kitavans that obtained a majority (60-70% or more) of their calories from carbohydrate. So it’s impossible to say that the diet of our ancestors was either “low-carb” or “low-fat”, without specifying which ancestors we’re talking about.

Third, if we are indeed asking what the optimal diet is for modern humans (rather than simply speculating about what our Paleolithic ancestors ate), there’s no way to answer that question definitively. Why? Because just as there is tremendous variation amongst populations with diet, there is also tremendous individual variation. Some people clearly do better with no dairy products. Yet others seem to thrive on them. Some feel better with a low-carb approach, while others feel better eating more carbohydrate. Some seem to require a higher protein intake (up to 20-25% of calories), but others do well when they eat a smaller amount (10-15%).

The Paleo diet vs. the Paleo template

I suggest we stop trying to define the “Paleo diet” and start thinking about it instead as a “Paleo template”.

Amen, Healthy Skeptic. And, "Bravo!".