Unfortunately grains now aren't nearly the same as grains 20,000 years ago. And there are an assortment of types of paleolithic diets out there that involve much more sane eating patterns than the caveman style one listed.

End of the caveman diet? Doubtful. Even if people were eating grains 20,000 yrs earlier -- which would be 30-35,000 years ago -- that's still a minor blip in the evolutionary scale. For over 1,000,000 yrs of human evolution we consumed the paleolithic diet. 35,000 yrs isn't enough time to affect genetic expression by much.

And echo what d4kk said. The paleolithic diet is about more than just eating meat...

</aOrigins and Evolution of the Western Diet: Health Implications for the 21st Century> from the Am J of Clinical Nutrition

I thought it was odd anyways that the caveman diet seemed to exclude things that could have easily been gathered, since we were hunter gathers. A prime example of this is legumes, there are many that can be eaten raw and yet they are forbidden in the caveman diet. It never really made sense to me, but what do I know... I only try to look at these things logically.

I'm in agreement with all of the above. Adding fuel to the fire: A cardiologist talks about wheat and why it's toxic. http://heartscanblog.blogspot.com/2010/05/blame-gluten.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+blogspot/tpzx+(The+Heart+Scan+Blog)

Sorry, here: http://heartscanblog.blogspot.com/2010/05/blame-gluten.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+blogspot/tpzx+(The+Heart+Scan+Blog)

@juan -- the paleolithic diet is about eat meat, and gathered plant matter. Legumes are off the paleo list because of lectins (glycoproteins, of which there are MANY different types). All foods contain lectins, but legumes are very high, and contain a lectins which are toxic and cause damage to the epithelial wall of the intestine.

Lectin-Based Food Poisoning: A New Mechanism of Protein Toxicity

@munkeybean -- thanks for the link! Gluten-intolerance is one of my specialties.

Thanks for all the interesting links and additional information. I should specify that when I hoped for the end of the caveman/paleo diet, I meant more an end to the faddish, fuzzy-science-based diet that includes workouts like "scooting around the underbrush on all fours, leaping between boulders, playing catch with stones, and other activities at which he believes early man excelled." It seems to specify eating meat at the exclusion of anything else.

I'm glad the conversation has opened up to include a more comprehensive view of the paleolithic diet.

Fuzzy-science-based? Pick up Robb Wolf's new The Paleo Solution book. You will find that it is packed with very solid science published in well-respected, peer-reviewed journals.

hmm... considering a mostly-meat diet is what keeps my insulin resistant (as well as other health problems) in check, I sure hope people would get over judging me for it! such a shame, that such a simple concept (with a ton of complex research behind it) is constantly ridiculed.

also, the most recent issue of Scientific American has an article about archaeological findings of our ancestors using tools to butcher meat even earlier than they thought. you should check it out!

Humans are omnivores. We have managed to survive and adapt to so many different climates and lands because we can eat so many different types of foods. Sure, the time we've been cultivating grains is a blip in time, but that does not mean we aren't supposed to be eating them, or that they are toxic.

I think everyone should eat what makes them feel good. The reason people ridicule the Caveman diet, the Paleo diet, etc., is that is outlandishly foolish to assume we KNOW what early man actually did eat! If the diet is good on it's own, why on earth would it be necessary to make such spurious claims to give it some respectability?

@ilovebutter
Adaption can happen surprisingly fast, recently there was a study that showed that people that came from cultures that traditionaly ate high amounts of starch had more copies of salivary amalyse genes than people from societies with low-starch diets. And there's always the classic example of alcohol dehydrogenase.

@Anjali - yeah, I can definitely see your point as to why the whole caveman thing seems flakey. But I do totally endorse the functional exercises the guys in the article promote. Absoltely, it's different and probably a little wierd. But, humans didn't evolve in a gym, doing 3 sets of bicep curls everyday, or jogging for 6 miles/d (or whatever). We evolved walking, reaching, bending, grabbing, lifting, schlepping, sprinting, jumping... These activities use multiple muscle groups at once, hitting the slow and fast twitch muscle fibers. Overall, it's a better workout and more balanced. I think it's ideal compared to more typical gym workouts. OTOH, you need to find what works for you. If ducking in bushes or running on a treadmill are what keeps you exercising, than go for it. Beats sitting on your fanny in front of the TV. :)

@tablefor5 -- just because something is edible, doesn't mean it should be eaten. Eating something may not cause an /acute/ dis-ease in the system, but overtime it certainly can result in a /chronic/ deterioration of the body.

@antipatharia -- Good point. Do you have a link or PMID to the study? Would be interested to read it. Lactase is a classic example of recent adaptation. Paleolithic humans did ingest ethanol via spontaneously fermented fruits (which can contain up to 4% EtOH depending on sugar content), and is why I assume the ADH system evolved. I believe other animals have ADH as well, but am not sure if all mammals do. Do you know?

But still, while maybe we are adapting to our post-ag diets, clearly our bodies have not fully evolved else there would be no epidemic of type II diabetes, heart disease, etc -- conditions which are clearly linked with our modern American diets.

@ilovebutter: The pmid is 17828263 (and I just noticed that the study was from 2007, time flies by way to quickly!)

The bacteria in our intestines produce ethanol, and we produce some alcohols with our normal metabolism, so all animals should have some form of ADH to take care of that.

Try running through the brush and compare it to running on a treadmill. Aside from the much better view and less B.O. stench it's a way better workout. You'll be sore in places that you didn't even know you had!

I'm not a huge fan of grains, mostly because they have made me sick since I was a kid. I also know how grains affect animals and how it is used as a filler. It seems like all grain products are fortified artificially anyway...

Anyway, all of these "paleolithic inspired diets" aren't supposed to be religion. Just don't overdo it! It seems more like they want people to eat real food.