General Practitioners are commonly asked about popular diets. Fad diets come and go, some gaining more traction within the public sphere than others. One of the most controversial diets in recent times is the Paleolithic diet, otherwise known as the Stone Age diet, or simply as Paleo. Even without controversy, the Paleolithic diet has been increasing in popularity over the last few years. The Paleolithic diet has been the subject of intense criticism by health professionals because of exaggerated claims about the purported effects of the diet by wellness bloggers and celebrity chefs, such that the Paleolithic diet could prevent or cure poly-cystic ovarian syndrome, autism, mental illness, dementia and obesity [1].
Does the published medical
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Osterdahl and colleagues published a pilot study in 2008, in which 14 healthy volunteers consumed a Paleolithic diet over the course of three weeks. Six subjects gave a complete dietary assessment. They noted a significant mean weight loss of 2.3 kg over the three weeks and a decrease in waist circumference by 0.5 cm. Systolic blood pressure improved slightly. There was a stark rise in CRP although it did not reach significance. The authors noted that the Paleolithic diet significantly lacked calcium [15].
Frassetto et al (2009) performed a metabolically controlled study in nine non-obese, sedentary healthy volunteers, comparing the Paleolithic diet to their usual diet. The Paleolithic diet lead to significant reductions in blood pressure with improved arterial distensibility, insulin sensitivity and plasma lipids, all unrelated to body weight [16].
Jönsson et al (2013) studied the satiety of a Paleolithic diet compared with a Diabetic diet in a randomised cross-over trial of 13 patients with type-2 diabetes. The Paleolithic diet resulted in greater satiety quotients for energy per meal, energy density per meal and glycaemic load per meal. While the Paleolithic diet was more satiating per calorie than a Diabetic diet, they also noted that it was difficult to adhere to