What’s The Point of Paleo?

The Paleo Diet is, according to Dr. Cordain, whose opinion we should really regard most highly in this space:

“based upon eating wholesome, contemporary foods from the food groups our hunter-gatherer ancestors would have thrived on during the Paleolithic era, the time period from about 2.6 million years ago to the beginning of the agricultural revolution, about 10,000 years ago. These foods include fresh meats (preferably grass-produced or free-ranging beef, pork, lamb, poultry, and game meat, if you can get it), fish, seafood, fresh fruits, vegetables, seeds, nuts, and healthful oils (olive, coconut, avocado, macadamia, walnut and flaxseed). Dairy products, cereal grains, legumes, refined sugars and processed foods were not part of our ancestral menu.”

He also refers to it as an anti-inflammatory diet.

Even if you’d never heard the word “Paleo”, would it be that far-fetched to imagine that a meal made of fresh, local veggies, wild proteins and natural fats would be  a healthier option than one consisting of pizza, a soft drink and a cupcake?

Herein lies the problem; far too many are simply inserting the word ‘Paleo’ before products from pancakes to breads to cereals to ice cream.

Is a gluten-free, corn-syrup free, hydrogenated-oil-free cupcake better than a commercially bought one that contains wheat, corn syrup and crisco?

Maybe so….but ever so slightly.

But that doesn’t make it something we should eat with any regularity… or at all.

To address my question in the title, then, I believe the point of  the True Paleo may be a lot of different things to many different people…but one who follows the real deal isn’t thriving on foods marked ‘Paleo’ that are so far from being ‘based on what our paleolithic ancestors ate’ and completely devoid of anything remotely valuable nutritionally speaking that they’re not anti inflammatory, healthy or  remotely close to anything that is good for our bodies.

Please don’t jump on this Faux Paleo Bandwagon.

If you want cake, eat cake.  If you want ice cream, go ahead.  But give it a second thought if you’re trying to fool yourself that these good choices for a weekly part of your True Paleo regime…they’re simply not.