The thing that made me extra-skeptical was seeing advocates of the paleo & primal diets come out with their own lines of supplements. Like cavemen had supplements.
That bugs me less than it might. IMHO, the point is not historical re-enactment (even though some people do seem to approach it that way, which I tend to find aggravating) but using information about ancestral diets to make informed decisions about the optimal way to eat now.
Taking fish oil supplements (for example) to get closer to an ideal omega-3/6 balance doesn't seem out of keeping with that.
It doesn't mesh well with all the "caveman" posturing, of course, but that's another issue.
It's just that about 80% of it seems indistinguishable to me from modern good-diet advice you'd get from a doctor.
I dunno, I think the average GP is still not going to tell you "cut the grains and vegetable oil, eat more offal, and don't worry too much about saturated fat." Not unless they've been reading a lot of Gary Taubes. *g*
There are certainly points in common with standard advice (eat your vegetables, avoid processed foods, limit sugar, etc.), but also some major divergences.
*shrugs* As said, though, I treat it fairly loosely and am demi-paleo at best (rice, olive oil, edamame, chocolate brownies ...). I'm a big believer in taking what works for you and leaving the rest.
Re: Belated comment is belated
That bugs me less than it might. IMHO, the point is not historical re-enactment (even though some people do seem to approach it that way, which I tend to find aggravating) but using information about ancestral diets to make informed decisions about the optimal way to eat now.
Taking fish oil supplements (for example) to get closer to an ideal omega-3/6 balance doesn't seem out of keeping with that.
It doesn't mesh well with all the "caveman" posturing, of course, but that's another issue.
It's just that about 80% of it seems indistinguishable to me from modern good-diet advice you'd get from a doctor.
I dunno, I think the average GP is still not going to tell you "cut the grains and vegetable oil, eat more offal, and don't worry too much about saturated fat." Not unless they've been reading a lot of Gary Taubes. *g*
There are certainly points in common with standard advice (eat your vegetables, avoid processed foods, limit sugar, etc.), but also some major divergences.
*shrugs* As said, though, I treat it fairly loosely and am demi-paleo at best (rice, olive oil, edamame, chocolate brownies ...). I'm a big believer in taking what works for you and leaving the rest.