Caveman Diet vs. Mediterranean Diet: Who’s Right?
By Kenneth R. Hoffman,
L.Ac,
D.Ac, CCH
believe!” In their ensuing frustration, they often abandon a whole- some way of eating for the S.A.D. Program which stands for Standard American Diet. It is well known that the S.A.D. diet is, in part re- sponsible for heart disease, cancer, diabetes and a host of other pub- lic health issues. Among developed countries, the United States has the most obese and overweight people. According to Jean Lemaire, Wharton professor of insurance and actuarial science, Americans are much heavier than they were 10 years ago and much heavier than other people around the world. Professor Lemaire further states: “Life expectancy in the U.S., which is among the richest countries, only ranks 48th in the world.” Being overweight is comparable to hav- ing diabetes or having high blood pressure. To further illustrate the problem, a report published in the Journal of Health Affairs, found that individuals who are obese have 30 to 50 percent more chronic medical problems than those who smoke or drink heavily. Clearly finding a better way is, to me, a national emergency. To cut through the confusion, let’s define what we mean by “diet” and talk about 2 popular nutrition regimens and let you decide what may be right for you. But to be clear, it seems that the “new” diets that we are bombarded with in the news and magazines are really just fads. They are not sustainable and in many cases, people have worse health after they discontinue the diet. However, after almost 20 years in natural medicine, I believe there is no confu- sion. The fact is that the foundation of any diet that provides optimal health is based on ancient wisdom and traditional diets that have not changed for thousands, if not tens of thousands of years. With all the complexities in the world, I feel simplicity and returning to the root of good nutrition is the best hope for a healthy lifestyle.
W So What Do I Mean By “Diet”?
According to the dictionary, diet is the customary amount and kind of food and drink taken by a person from day to day; more nar- rowly, a diet planned to meet specific requirements of the individual, including or excluding certain foods. It is not necessarily about weight loss. When looking at diet it should be a way of eating that becomes a lifestyle. It should be a sustainable habit, easy to follow, nutritious and impart optimal heath benefits. This excludes short term eating changes, dietary restriction, starvation or sacrifice. If
16 Natural Nutmeg February 2012
hen it comes to nutrition, it can get very confusing. Pa- tients often vent their confusion to me by claiming, “The information is always changing! I don’t know what to
the diet you follow nourishes you, equally, on ALL levels physically, physiologically and emotionally, I would call this a healthy diet. Two popular concepts that I believe are sustainable in mod- ern life are the Paleolithic Diet or Caveman diet and the Mediter- ranean diet. While they seem to be very different, they do agree on key points. It is up to each individual to research and find what kind of a healthy diet can be sustained for the rest of one’s life. As I preach in my Wellness Practice, you must also take into account the individual, their health status and specific needs in their diet. This is exactly why we get significant weight loss and improved health in our clinic…because everyone is an individual.
The Paleo Diet
The Paleo Diet is a nutritional plan based on the ancient diet of wild plants and animals that our ancestors consumed over 10,000 years ago. Support for this diet is based on the published scientific surveys known as the Kitava Study from 1989, which studied tribes in Papua, New Guinea. These tribes ate a pre-westernized diet of 55-65% animal foods and 35-45% plant foods. They discovered that these societies had no stroke, heart disease, diabetes or hyperten- sion. The diet consists mainly of fish, grass-fed pasture raised meats, vegetables, fruits, roots, spices and nuts. There is no restriction on number of calories and the foods can be cooked. It excludes grains, legumes, dairy products, salt, refined sugar, high glycemic foods and processed oils. Clinical trials that compared the Paleolithic Diet to commonly prescribed diets for Type 2 Diabetes determined that the Paleo diet was more effective resulting in lower blood sugar levels and HbA1c (a marker for long term blood sugar control), lower trig- lycerides, lowered blood pressure and lower body mass index. The Paleo diet is superb for weight loss, insulin problems and
excels above other diets such as calorie restriction or the ADA diet. There have not been a large amount of studies on the Paleo Diet, but those that are available have shown great results. A good source for more information on this diet can be found at
www.PaleoDiet.com.
The Mediterranean Diet The Mediterranean Diet, on the other hand, is inspired by the
traditional dietary patterns of southern Italy, Crete and much of Greece. The principle aspects include a diet high in olive oil con- sumption, high consumption of legumes, unrefined cereals, fruits, vegetables and moderate consumption of dairy (mostly cheese and yogurt), moderate to high consumption of fish, low consumption of
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