The Paleo Diet: Lose Weight and Get Healthy by Eating the Foods You Were Designed to Eat [Paperback]

I bought this book on the recommendation of my chiropractor to help me use the diet in his holistic approach to my health problems. Suffering from both fibromyalgia and oesteoarthritis I needed to lose weight and eat less inflammatory foods.
The book sets out to explain the Paleo Diet based on the paleolithic way of life of our hunter/gatherer ancestors. First of all it explains how obesity is the curse of the western world and then tries to put forward good reasons for changing your whole way of eating.
The food that you are required to eat is nutritious, and fresh, fresh fruit, fresh vegetables, fresh meat,fish and fowl. Nuts and omega-3 eggs are also included. There is also a chapter on exercise and chapter 10 contains recipes.
I found the book really informative and I feel its author, Dr Cordain puts forward an excellent case for the change to this diet, however, I do think he labours some of the scientific reports and evidence to support his case. The book is written by an American for the American market and therefore lacks local information for the UK. Like where on earth in the UK can you buy Bison steaks?
It has convinced me to try the diet and in 4 weeks I have lost 9lbs, without really trying. I have enjoyed what I have eaten and never felt hungry or deprived. The drawbacks are the time it takes to prepare the meals, the fact that you need to shop every few days for the produce to be fresh and the cost. As I am retired it hasn't impacted too much on my life but I can't imagine a busy mother feeding a family on this diet unless she has a very rich husband but I do think something drastic needs to be done to halt the obesity that is sweeping the UK and affecting all its citizens old and young.

I'm a big supporter of the Paleo diet concept and the idea that we need to eat the traditional foods our genes need to be healthy.

This book claims to be the last word in explaining what our ancestors ate, and to not be just another book full of fads, but it is seriously flawed. The author seems to be trying to merge information on what the caveman diet consisted of with as many modern food fads as possible. He is particularly ignorant about healthy fats and oils.

The book is also not very convincing in the way it explains the scientific basis for the Paleo diet.

I disagree with the authors very-low salt stance and would advise them to read about unrefined sea salt and the work of Dr Brownstein on the many myths about salt and low-salt diet scaremongering, and the cholesterol scaremongering as well. The author has also been grossly misinformed about saturated fats. You should probably ignore what the author says about fats and oils in this book, as most of it is just plain wrong.

Liquid vegetable oils did not exist in paleolithic times and cooking with flax oil is very unhealthy! Saturated fats are also an important part of a healthy diet, and eating eggs does NOT raise your cholesterol levels. The 'very high' cholesterol levels mentioned in the book of 208 are also not high at all, and well within the healthy range of 200 - 240 according to lipid expert Mary Enig PhD.

The healthiest oils to cook with are ghee (unless you're 100% dairy free), lard, tallow, coconut and palm oils and olive oil. Oils should never be heated to very high temperatures such as in deep frying. These are the traditional fats to cook with, not flax oil!

The book is also very inconsistent and vague when it comes to talking about supplements. The recommendation given for vitamin C is very low and only the alpha tocopherol form of vitamin E is recommended rather than a supplement containing all 8 forms. It is also not a good idea to take only a few supplements in larger doses as this creates imbalances, and a general basic supplementation regime is a much healthier option.

The book also claims 'protein can't be overeaten' which is just not true as excessive protein intake stresses the liver. Far healthier than a very high protein eating plan is a high fat, moderate protein and low carb eating plan as described in the books on traditional eating listed below. Our ancestors ate a lot of fat and a lot of it was saturated. Saturated fat offers many benefits to the body.

The author is also wrong about the 'calories in, calories out' theory of weight loss. The book 'Good Calories, Bad Calories' by Gary Taubes explains that:

1. The 'calories in, calories out' mantra is a myth

2. 'A calorie is a calorie is a calorie' is a myth

3. The 'just eat less and do more exercise to lose weight' message seems to be logical but is actually wrong and unhelpful

4. Overweight and obese people often eat no more calories, or even less, than their thinner counterparts

5. Low calorie diets also reduce the amount of nutrients in the diet

6. Dietary fat, including saturated fat, is not a cause of obesity. Refined and easily digestible carbs causing high insulin levels cause obesity.

The book 'Know Your Fats' by lipid expert Mary Enig PhD explains the facts about fats and oils and why the saturated fat = heart disease hypothesis is wrong. See also books such as Ignore the awkward! How the cholesterol myths are kept alive.

The book 'The Primal Blueprint: Reprogram your genes for effortless weight loss, vibrant health and boundless energy (Primal Blueprint Series) is a far better book on the Paleolithic diet.

The book 'Deep Nutrition' offers a far more well researched and credible discussion of traditional foods and how they affect our genes. This book provides a wealth of fascinating and compelling information that is not available for free online. This book and 'Know Your Fats' and 'Good Calories, Bad Calories' are essential reading.

The Paleo approach generally is very solid, but not as it is interpreted in this book. This book contains an okay quality 3 star version of the diet - far better than the standard diet full of refined foods and grains but missing out lots of good information as well. This is not the last word on diet, but a book which is quite faddish in its approach overall.

Jodi Bassett, The Hummingbirds' Foundation for M.E.

I was recommended this book by a personal trainer. I was very hesitant about it but decided to give it a go - primarily to lose some weight - but also to kick start a healthier lifestyle. The hardest concept is eating meat for breakfast and giving up dairy and gluten BUT the results are amazing. In five weeks I have lost nearly a stone in weight, I'm sleeping better and feel full of energy all day long. It refocusses how you think about food and how lazy we have become eating our 'processed' foods. Do try it!