The “Paleo-diet” is a popular new way of eating that follows a more natural diet – how cavemen ate.  Biochemist, author and supporter of the diet Robb Wolf says:

“The Paleo diet is the healthiest way you can eat because it is the ONLY nutritional approach that works with your genetics to help you stay lean, strong and energetic! Research in biology, biochemistry, Ophthalmology, Dermatology and many other disciplines indicate it is our modern diet, full of refined foods, trans fats and sugar, that is at the root of degenerative diseases such as obesity, cancer, diabetes, heart disease, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, depression and infertility.”

However, not everyone agrees with this way of eating.  Read this argument against the Paleo-diet:

“The Paleo Diet Craze: What’s Right and Wrong About Eating Like a Caveman

Call it Paleo Chic. The eating habits of cavemen have never been more popular. But should we be taking menu cues from our ancient ancestors?  The theory behind the diet is simple: our hunter-gatherer forebears, who survived on meat and fish that was not saturated with growth-stimulating antibiotics or hormones, as well as on fresh fruits and vegetables, were on the right track until the Agricultural Revolution introduced toxins into the food chain some 10,000 years ago. So the goal is for citizens of the 21st Century to lean back—way back—and eat the way primitive people did in the Paleolithic Era, circa two million years ago.  But dieticians find its restrictive, even finicky, requirements such as sticking with very lean, pure meats and plants, unrealistic. Any diet that restricts certain food groups and emphasizes others isn’t balanced, experts say, and there isn’t strong science to prove that Paleo-eaters live longer, or are healthier than those who don’t follow the diet.”

In your own words… 

Which article do you find more convincing?

Vocabulary to note:

• genetics: the study of inherited characteristics (given from parent to child)
• discipline: a specific topic studied in higher education
• degenerative: slowly breaking down or losing function
• chic: trendy, fashionable or stylish
• cue: a signal to prompt action
• forebear: ancestor
• saturated: holding as much of something as can be absorbed
• primitive: relating to the earliest stages of human history
• finicky: showing excessive, anxious concern about specific, detailed requirements
• sticking with: continuing to use

Sachs, Andrea. “The Paleo Diet Craze: What’s Right & Wrong About Eating Like a Caveman.” Diet. Time Magazine. 7 Jan 2014. Web. 1 Jul 2014. 

“What is the Paleo Diet?” What is the Paleo Diet? Robb Wolf: Revolutionary Solutions to Modern Life. n.d. Web. 1 Jul 2014.