History of paleo dieting
Paleo diet, also identified as the caveman diet, existed nearly two million ago from humans living in the stone age period. They were hunters and gatherers who lived at a time when there was no form of agriculture, cooking and the technological advancements in the processing of food that exists now. Their diet primarily consisted of foods rich in protein, vitamins and fibre. These included lean meat, vegetables, fruits, eggs, seeds and roots. There are diverse beliefs about the amount of foods that these pre-agricultural humans consumed. Anthropologists attribute that some consumed more vegetables from their gathering expeditions while some consumed a substantial amount of meat from hunting. The availability of plant and meat largely depended on the region; the meat was generally found more in colder areas because human beings did not inhabit such localities.
Human beings that lived in modern times 10,000 years ago invested new ways of cooking and adopted different diets form those that lived in the palaeolithic age. This came after discovering that some preceding uneatable vegetables could now be consumed with the newly found methods of cooking. Some of the foods that were now included in the diet different from the paleo were; legumes such as beans and cereals. Much later, there was an advancement in agriculture and the invention of more tools, and humans started consuming milk produce. Paleo diet was resurfaced again in 1975 by American gastroenterologist known as Dr Walter L. Voegtlin, who was advocating for healthy eating habits. It 1985 the idea was advanced by Dr Stanly Eaton who authored the book “The Paleolithic Nutrition” alongside Melvin Konner. Loren Cordain propagated the palaeolithic diet in 2002 through his book ‘The Paleo Diet.”
According to Dr Stanly Eaton, human beings were not well suited to conform to the modern-day eating habits since their genes had been formed years ago during the palaeolithic period. They attributed paleo diets as a great way of improving health owing to its high nutritional impact. Debates that heavily disputed the sustainability of the palaeolithic diet in contrast to modern-day eating habits in the 20th century were heavily attributed to Eaton and Korner’s book “The Paleolithic Nutrition.” It is one of the books that successfully promoted the paleo diet. Eaton and Connor posit that the reduced life expectancy of the Stone Age man cruising between 20 and 40 years could be attributed to the chronic conditions faced by man’s agricultural exploitation and growing civilization. Numerous publications have since emerged advocating for the palaeolithic way of diet. A lot of information is also available on the internet via blogs and websites giving more details on this caveman diet and even recipes that can be followed.