EVOLUTIONARY DIET

 

The many diets that exist are currently some of the most recurrent topics when writing or talking about nutrition, one that has become very popular in recent years is known as the evolutionary diet, or paleo diet, I already wrote about it in this post some time ago, but now I want to add other concepts.

I’m afraid that the “paleo” label leaves the real concept of this eating plan orphaned of meaning, takes it to a very superficial level and runs the risk of being easily rejected.

And the fact is that our body is human, obviously, and has developed and evolved in step with our evolution, from the first hominids to the evolved humans that we are today.

Over thousands and thousands of years, human beings have been adapting to the changes, during the Paleolithic, hominids were nomadic and ate what we hunted and gathered, then, a major climate change occurred (last ice age) and, probably as a consequence of that, we created settlements and became sedentary, this is what we know as Neolithic, we started with agriculture and livestock and the first towns appeared (human sedentary settlements).

 

Paleolithic means “old stone” it goes from the appearance of the first hominids until 10,000 BC. Humans were hunter-gatherers and nomads.

 

Neolithic means “new stone” and developed from 9000 BC to 3000 BC, when writing appeared. Agriculture begins, followed by livestock farming, and the first settlements appear.

 

During the Neolithic period, thanks to the first crops, there was more food and it was easier to obtain. It was no longer necessary to hunt a bison or a wild horse to eat, although some probably continued to do so.

Changes in diet and customs brought changes for us. We began to consume foods that we had never eaten before. Cereals became an important part of our diet, and a little later, milk too.

All of these techniques improved, and over the centuries they spread and became established throughout the planet.

 

The Neolithic revolution marked a great change for humanity. Human beings went from being hunter-gatherers to sedentary farmers.

 

The beginning of agriculture and livestock farming marked a turning point in the history of humanity, it brought good things, and some bad.

The population increased, this was a good thing, the main reason being that there was more food available.

But it is known that the type of food available changed, from eating meat, seafood, insects and plants, we moved on to consuming cereals and later dairy products.

It is important to understand that the Paleolithic was a very long period, from 2.59 million years ago, until about 10,000-12,000 years ago, from Hominization to the agricultural revolution (Neolithic), it is ultimately the longest period of our evolution.

On the other hand, from the beginning of the Neolithic revolution to the present day, only 12,000 years have passed, and that is nothing, by So much so, we have evolved and lived much longer as nomadic hunter-gatherers than as sedentary farmers and ranchers.

Our human bodies have evolved within this framework and it is this lifestyle that undoubtedly feels natural and more appropriate to them.

 

Eating real food, connecting with nature, respecting our circadian rhythm, that is the evolutionary diet.

 

This is what the evolutionary diet or Paleolithic diet is based on, living and eating in a similar way to our ancestors, those who lived during the Paleolithic period.

Okay, I know, it’s impossible to go into the mountains to hunt bison, obviously that’s not what it’s about, it’s more about translating it into our lives current.

 

 

What is our life like today?

We spend many hours sitting and eat many products instead of food, something that is nothing like that our ancestors did.

Also, we eat all the time, have you stopped to think that hunter-gatherers didn’tThey had food within reach all day long?

What’s this about being in the office and getting up from your chair at any time to get a snack from a vending machine? And being at home making trips to the fridge? Do you think it’s something natural and intrinsic to human beings?

The answer is more than obvious, NO.

 

We all have an internal clock, our biological clock permanently connected to the cycles of nature.

 

Another thing that our ancestors didn’t have was a clock. You may be wondering what’s important about that, well, a lot, because not having a clock and living connected to nature is what set the rhythm of their lives.

Today, there are still those who ignore the importance of sunlight and how it affects our biorhythm.

Exposing yourself to sunlight and adapting to the darkness when it gets dark, avoiding screens and dimming the light in our home can help us keep our natural biorhythm working.

Human biorhythm is defined as “Periodic cycle of physiological phenomena that in people can translate into feelings, attitudes or moods repeated every so often.”

In the same way that adapting to the solar cycles will make us feel better, taking these natural cycles into account when eating will also improve our health.

Our body is connected and adapted to follow these cycles, day and night, but also the changes of season caused by the rotation of the Earth and its journey around the sun.

These cycles are decisive in the production of certain hormones, the functioning of our digestive system or the regulation of body temperature.

 

In an evolutionary diet, adapting your diet to your internal clock is essential.

 

We now have the ingredients for our evolutionary diet, eating real food, eliminating all types of industrially processed foods, respecting circadian rhythms, eating a maximum of 3 times a day, and not eat if you are not hungry.

 

 

On the other hand, eliminate cereals and legumes, the reason for this is that they promote intestinal permeability, although as I told you here, there are techniques to reduce their harmful effects.

If we talk about an evolutionary or paleo diet, legumes and cereals are excluded, as well as dairy products, since these are foods that were not consumed during that period in our history.

The option is to consume vegetable drinks and prepare products derived from them, there are those who make an exception in this sense and consume whole grass-fed dairy products, ghee, and raw milk cheeses.

 

One of the keys to the evolutionary diet is to eliminate industrially processed products and connect with nature.

 

What is the evolutionary diet (diet paleo):

Proteins from meats, fresh fish, and eggs. (If the meat can be grass-fed and the fish wild, all the better).

Obtaining carbohydrates from vegetables, greens, and roots, and consuming fresh fruits and berries.

Highly valued are nuts and foods that provide healthy fats, such as extra virgin olive oil, avocado, coconut oil, ghee, etc.

It promotes the use of spices and fresh herbs to give flavor and color to dishes, but above all to take advantage of their many benefits.

 

 

In summary and adapted to our current life:

• Avoid processed and ultra-processed foods (they are NOT food).
• Eat only real food.
• Adjust meals to your biological clock, respect natural cycles.
• Be active, NOT sedentary.
• Avoid cereals and legumes (they were NOT there during our evolution).
• Avoid or severely limit dairy (If you choose to have it, only whole, high-quality, fresh milk, raw milk cheeses, butter, and ghee).

Would you be cable to eat only 3 times a day?

 

The foundations of an evolutionary diet and the foundations of what is known as chrononutrition are closely related, you could say they go hand in hand and that’s why they make the most sense.

Our hunter-gatherer ancestors had a much wilder lifestyle than ours, they were nomadic and they had to earn food with their own effort, they didn’t have it at their fingertips like we do.

Processed products didn’t exist and they didn’t have clocks, nowadays there is a lot of discussion about whether all this can be transferred to our current pace of life, I think it can.

 

Focusing on food and not products, exercising and ensuring good rest are key points to improve the health.

 

The basis of all this reasoning is that our genetics are not adapted to many aspects of our current life, such as the consumption of ultra-processed foods, excess empty carbohydrates, sedentary lifestyle, chronic stress, lack of contact with nature, our schedules, etc.

 

We can try to change our habits with small gestures that will improve our health.

✔️Reduce the number of daily intakes, 3 is a good start.

✔️Follow a varied diet, low in carbohydrates, with healthy fats, with spices, with nuts, seeds and roots.

✔️Consume real food, not industrial products of indecipherable.

✔️If you like sweets, honey, dates or fresh fruit. (Except in some pathologies such as insulin resistance or diabetes, among others).

✔️Connect with nature, it is there, it surrounds us, go look for it if you do not have it nearby, take advantage of everything it gives you. Any natural landscape will help you, the sea, the mountains, the river, a nice park in your city.

✔️Take the sun, do not be afraid of it, try to do it every day and for a while without chemical barriers, without filters that contain toxic substances, 10-15 minutes of sun will not do you any harm. Take off your sunglasses for a while, let the light enter your retina.

✔️Do sports, if you can, also outdoors, make sure your life is active, don’t limit yourself to training 1 hour in the gym, walk, climb stairs, play with your children.

✔️Sleep between 7 and 8 hours every day, respect your breaks, avoid stress.

 

The evolutionary diet has advantages over others, but it involves a learning process.

 

 

Benefits of the evolutionary diet compared to other diets:

• The Paleolithic diet promotes the consumption of low glycemic index foods.
• In this plan, any ultra-processed products should be avoided.
• Studies reveal beneficial effects of this diet on the cardiovascular risk of patients with type 2 diabetes.
• It can improve markers anthropometric measurements such as body weight and perimeters.
• Some studies suggest that the evolutionary or paleo diet decreases insulin resistance and improves glucose tolerance compared to the Mediterranean diet and the diabetes diet.

 

References:

• Tommy Jönsson, Yvonne Granfeldt, Bo Ahrén, Ulla-Carin Branell, Gunvor Pålsson, Anita Hansson, Margareta Söderström, Staffan Lindeberg. Beneficial effects of a Paleolithic diet on cardiovascular risk factors in type 2 diabetes: a randomized cross-over pilot study. Cardiovasc Diabetol, July 2009. PMC

• Ehrika Vanessa Almeida de Menezes, Helena Alves de Carvalho Sampaio, Antônio Augusto Ferreira Carioca, Nara Andrade Parente, Filipe Oliveira Brito, Thereza Maria Magalhães Moreira, Ana Célia Caetano de Souza, Soraia Pinheiro Machado Arruda. Influence of Paleolithic diet on anthropometric markers in chronic diseases: systematic review and meta-analysis. Nutr J. July 23 2019. PMC

• Omorogieva Ojo, Osarhumwese Osaretin Ojo, Fajemisin Adebowale, Xiao-Hua Wang. The Effect of Dietary Glycaemic Index on Glycaemia in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials. Nutrients March 19 2018. PMC

• Omorogieva Ojo, Osarhumwese Osaretin Ojo, Fajemisin Adebowale, Xiao-Hua Wang. The Effect of the Paleolithic Diet vs. Healthy Diets on Glucose and Insulin Homeostasis: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials. J Clin Med 2020. PMC

 

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