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Debunking the paleo diet: Christina Warinner at TEDxOU


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Excellent find - about time this had to be done :)

Came across it last night by chance. I figured it had to be done. 

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Josh Schmitter

I believe that's been floating around for a good while, and also re-debunked by most of the paleo people I follow. These people define paleo as anything and everything from equator to arctic as long as it's unprocessed/not crap. There is no one Paleo Diet...it varies by environment and climate. I'm not saying paleo is flawless, but terms must be defined and agreed upon else it just turns into a semantics debate...probably what happens some 90% of the time.

 

I believe Chris Kresser had a podcast directly regarding said video. Also, here's Matt Lalonde hitting hard...smartest dude I've seen rocking intense chem and questioning the mainstream paleo diet.

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Adrien Godet

What annoyed me with the "de-bunking paleo" video is that half of the conf is just explaining that foods we think of as paleo are actually recent (no de-bunking of paleo principles here), and the other half prescribes diet advice that is actually similar in practice to paleo.

So a more descriptive title would be "you aren't really paleo but you should".

I emailed these comments directly to Christina a few months ago but undortunately didn't catch her attention.

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Colin Macdonald

Also, here's Matt Lalonde hitting hard...

Thanks, that was interesting.

 

There's a lot of dogma surrounding paleo, hopefully people like him can help separate the wheat from the chaff, so to speak.

 

The original video was pretty interesting as well, though I don't think her position that we aren't evolved to eat meat is very sound. Though I hope most people never realize that they should be eating way more organ meat, it keeps the prices down for me.  :D

 

 

So a more descriptive title would be "you aren't really paleo but you should".

 

 

That would be a far more accurate title of that talk.

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Josh Schmitter

Though I hope most people never realize that they should be eating way more organ meat, it keeps the prices down for me.  :D

I wish that was the case here. In PA at our localish farm, grassfed beef liver runs pretty much equal in price to the beef itself. Well worth it, but too bad for me they caught on early that they could charge the same amount. Heck, logically they should probably charge more for the liver...it's a freakin' chunk of undiluted food gold.

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James Sagar

Meh.  It has worked very well for everyone I know who has tried it and it is certainly closer to what paleolithic people ate than the typical american diet.  Furthermore, even if it isn't actually paleo, it promotes healthy nutrition and people should just relax.

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Colin Macdonald

Meh.  It has worked very well for everyone I know who has tried it and it is certainly closer to what paleolithic people ate than the typical american diet.  Furthermore, even if it isn't actually paleo, it promotes healthy nutrition and people should just relax.

Anyone switching from a typical American diet to a whole food will do better. But just because you find something that's better than something else doesn't mean you shouldn't still try and explore what is optimum.

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James Sagar

double meh.

 

the video you posted has no relevance to the effectiveness of the paleo diet.  Her educated guesses differ from the pale/primal diet's assumptions about primitive man.  So what?  If she was presenting a double blind, random controlled trial that showed the paleo diet to be inferior to something else then that would "debunk" it.

 

Optimum also depends on your frame of reference and goals.  I could follow naterman's expert advice to the letter, but it would not be optimum when I spend all day in the OR doing brain surgery.  

 

Finally, absolute optimum nutrition, especially post workout would likely include frequent eating with bags of TPN intravenously in between feedings.  So does that mean that diets that dont have parenternal nutrition are now "debunked" or not optimal?

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FREDERIC DUPONT

Anyone switching from a typical American diet to anything else will do better.

 

Fixed it for you :)

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FREDERIC DUPONT

(...) Her educated guesses differ from the pale/primal diet's assumptions about primitive man.  So what? (...)

 

So what?

So that we get a more precise insight into what is (or was) really going on, and the "where we come from" and "why things are as they are". :)

Pretty darn important to me if you ask...

 

Pretty darn important to decode the manipulation behind the marketing scheme.

 

Whether it works or not is, to me, not that critical; but maybe because you seem to be from a medical background, you have many reasons to worry if it works or not?

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Craig Mallett

Meh.  It has worked very well for everyone I know who has tried it and it is certainly closer to what paleolithic people ate than the typical american diet.  Furthermore, even if it isn't actually paleo, it promotes healthy nutrition and people should just relax.

Every single person who I have recommended try the paleo diet has had the following results EVERY time:

 

- Healthy weight loss (not rapid and not eating any less, just a steady drop to their healthy weight)

- Reported better sleeping

- Reported a general "feeling much better"

- Those with chronic injuries have said that the pain has reduced (generally in line with the second point

 

It's really a no brainer for me, a great way to eat.

 

If you drop all the "caveman" bs that surrounds it, and look at what a paleo diet *actually* is, then its easy to see that it's simply a whole/natural foods diet (obviously good for you) minus all the most common allergens/intolerances.  The second point will obviously differ between person to person, and I usually recommend that people test themselves, because obviously intolerance will differ from person to person.  But in the beginning, removing the most common untolerated foods is probably a good place to start, especially for the average joe who doesn't know much about food/nutrition.

 

I don't get why people want to debunk it so much? I've never seen any negative health consequences, the only thing people seem to argue about is academics and theories. Strange world

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Paleo is doubtlessly better than the Standard American Diet, so yes ppl will do better on it than eating SAD. I doubt there is much controversy there.

The desire to debunk stems from the fact that the diet is supposedly anthropologically based. However, because the evidence is extremely old it is open to interpretation; there will always be debate about that until a time machine is built and someone goes back to paleo times to do some direct observations.

Cue mental image of time travellers finding evidence of primitive micellar casein and BCAA tabs

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FREDERIC DUPONT

(...) I don't get why people want to debunk it so much? (...)

 

Because a lie is a lie is a lie :)

It is great that it works, but it is better that people know for what reason, and not repeat marketing horse crap ad nauseam. :)

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Rachid Tahri

Because a lie is a lie is a lie :)

It is great that it works, but it is better that people know for what reason, and not repeat marketing horse crap ad nauseam. :)

Unfortunately most of the people that search for reasons are the same people that take no real action at the end of the day. They over think stuff and compare the different arguments and before they know it, they are making a study out of it...while getting fatter and fatter.

 

 

Every single person who I have recommended try the paleo diet has had the following results EVERY time:

 

- Healthy weight loss (not rapid and not eating any less, just a steady drop to their healthy weight)

- Reported better sleeping

- Reported a general "feeling much better"

- Those with chronic injuries have said that the pain has reduced (generally in line with the second point

 

It's really a no brainer for me, a great way to eat.

 

If you drop all the "caveman" bs that surrounds it, and look at what a paleo diet *actually* is, then its easy to see that it's simply a whole/natural foods diet (obviously good for you) minus all the most common allergens/intolerances.  The second point will obviously differ between person to person, and I usually recommend that people test themselves, because obviously intolerance will differ from person to person.  But in the beginning, removing the most common untolerated foods is probably a good place to start, especially for the average joe who doesn't know much about food/nutrition.

 

I don't get why people want to debunk it so much? I've never seen any negative health consequences, the only thing people seem to argue about is academics and theories. Strange world

I totally agree with you! My opinion is that one should test stuff and see what happens in REAL life, not (only) reading and comparing arguments and watch "battles" on youtube between vegans/paleo/atkins...etc etc....Reason has limits. 

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FREDERIC DUPONT

Unfortunately most of the people that search for reasons are the same people that take no real action at the end of the day. They over think stuff and compare the different arguments and before they know it, they are making a study out of it...while getting fatter and fatter. (...) 

 

Really? :)

You have a "study" to support these beliefs I suppose? :D

 

My belief is it is the ones that gobble up marketing BS without any sort of critical thinking that are getting fat... :icon_twisted:

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Douglas Wadle

The lessons here are numerous. Most diet fads have something that is worthwhile to take from them, even though most are too extreme. The evolution of paleo started with adkins and the zone, and then when those did not bear out moved on from there. Many of the same people that are paleo advocates were diehard zone advocates at the time. The paleo diet does bring to light the need to get away from the packaged foods we now see in most of the supermarket and towards whole foods. The paleo diet, though, emphasizes meat consumption, and that is where it misfires. too much meat is not healthy. Meat should not be the dominant calorie in our diet. I like meat, wish it were a healthy option, but the problem with paleo is it takes this too far. Again, there are some beneficial components of paleo, just like there are with the zone, the 90-10-10, the 5-2, etc. We should all fast now and then, that is how we evolved. there are periods of food scarcity, and periods of food excess. In modern times that is not the case. That doesn't mean the 5-2 diet is a good diet, that is just one thing we can take away from that diet. The common sense diet is still the best. You eat lots of healthy food in its natural state. you eat a variety of foods, you avoid boxes and bags of food. Meat is a part of that, but a small part. Yes, you will feel better.

People get hung up on the studies, because that is how we avoid falling into the trap of doing things that we later learn are bad. Adkins is a good example. Without studies people might still think that was a good diet, but the science showed us worsening vascular disease and lipid profiles in these patients and so we don't recommend that. Same thing with dietary supplements. Niacin does not decrease heart disease and may have some adverse effects, particularly on diabetes. Fish oils do not decrease heart disease, but may cause an increase in prostate cancer. the list goes on and on. It is vitally important to understand why we do something before we jump on the latest bandwagon.

How's that for a rant! Cheers to you all. I enjoy this forum and your lively discourse.

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Rachid Tahri

Really? :)

You have a "study" to support these beliefs I suppose? :D

 

My belief is it is the ones that gobble up marketing BS without any sort of critical thinking that are getting fat... :icon_twisted:

HAHAHA...funny person...study? It would be even funnier if I actually had one! I do not fall under the category of people that has to have everything backed up by a "study" to start doing things  :)....life is too short for that.

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Philip Chubb

HAHAHA...funny person...study? It would be even funnier if I actually had one! I do not fall under the category of people that has to have everything backed up by a "study" to start doing things  :)....life is too short for that.

This is the kind of attitude that lets you get ahead. Too many people get hung up over the science and studies. It's a ball and chain in most cases I've seen.

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Craig Mallett

The paleo diet, though, emphasizes meat consumption, and that is where it misfires. too much meat is not healthy.

 

Totally agree with too much meat being bad, but I've not gotten the impression from any of the main Paleo dudes (Robb Wolfe, Diane Sanfilippo etc) that meat consumption should be a priority.  On the contrary, I always thought they emphasized vegetables most (which I also agree with)...Maybe I'm just projecting my own beliefs though! hehehe.

 

I actually whipped up a blog post recently about it if anyone is interested here.  Speaking of fasting, there is also a pretty interesting Steve Maxwell article suggesting it can be used effectively to build muscle mass.  http://www.maxwellsc.com/blog.cfm?blogID=115

 

I'd be curious to see what Josh Naterman thinks about it!

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