Is paleo the best diet for weight loss?

I don’t think any diet trend will lead to sustained weight loss. But I like to weigh out the pros and cons for you to make your own informed choice. This is part of an ongoing series that looks at popular weight loss diets.

What is the paleo diet?

A paleo (paleolithic) diet is meant to mimic a hunter gatherer diet. So, foods that our ancestors had access to 10,000 years ago. The diet focuses on meat, fish, veg, fruit, nuts, and seeds. While avoiding grains, legumes, sugar, dairy products, oils, and alcohol.

There’s no ‘real’ paleo diet: 

The idea behind paleo is that our bodies are unable to process our modern diet. Apparently, our evolution wasn’t able to keep up with the change in our diet and doesn’t do well with it. So, eating what our ancestors did will suit us better and mean we’ll be free from disease. 

It is true that our diet has changed due to the development of agriculture and food processing. But this doesn’t mean our bodies can’t handle it. We know that some of our genes have changed since the paleolithic time. And the idea that we eat what we do because it’s set in stone in our genes, isn’t likely.

There also isn’t clear evidence that our ancestors ate what the paleo diet tells you to. A hunter gatherer’s diet would have varied based on the season, where they lived, the climate, and food availability. There were also social factors that came into play that shaped what people ate. So, there isn’t one set paleo diet, as it depended on lots of factors.

It causes unnecessary restriction: 

A lot of these weight loss diets are highly restrictive, which makes me question how sustainable they are in the long run. No more bread, pasta, rice, corn, lentils, beans, milk, yoghurt, and cheese (to name a few). It also means no ultra-processed food like chocolate, sweets, and fizzy drinks. Are you able to avoid all of this for the rest of your life?

While limiting your intake of ultra-processed food can be beneficial, there's no need to cut out grains, dairy, and legumes. These foods provide lots of nutrients and are enjoyable to eat. All foods fit in a healthy balanced diet. The best diet for weight loss is the one you can maintain for the long term, so making such drastic restrictions might not be for you.

There’s even research that shows how hard the diet is to stick to. Scientists had people follow the paleo diet for 3 months. The people all found it difficult to maintain and found they missed the foods that aren’t allowed on the diet.

It could lead to nutrient deficiencies: 

The paleo diet being so restricting leads me onto my next point. Cutting out foods for no reason can lead to nutrient deficiencies. Wholegrains are a great source of fibre and vitamins. Dairy is a good source of protein and calcium. Legumes are full of fibre, minerals, and protein.

The paleo diet encourages lean meat and lots of veg which are great sources of nutrients. But if the foods on the avoid list were a regular part of what you eat and then you cut them out, you could be missing out on nutrients.

One example of this is that people that followed the paleo diet had a calcium intake of less than 50% of the recommended daily amount. Dairy is a great source of calcium which isn’t allowed on paleo. Green leafy veg also contain calcium but we’re not able to absorb it as well.

Is the paleo diet best for weight loss? 

There’s not that much research into the paleo diet and the results of the studies are mixed. Some found no difference in weight lost when comparing the paleo diet to other diets. Others found that people on paleo lost more weight than other diets.

As the paleo diets cut out ultra-processed food, which tends to be higher in calories, it’s no surprise you’ll lose weight. If you cut out half the foods you normally eat, you’ll likely be eating less calories and this leads to weight loss.

So, you will lose weight on the paleo diet but it’s not a significant amount. It also doesn’t last, as the diet can be hard to stick to. The weight will return when you go back to your normal way of eating.

Positives of the paleo diet: 

There are some high points for the paleo diet.

You consume less ultra-processed foods: 

An obvious positive is that the paleo diet avoids foods that are ultra-processed as our ancestors wouldn’t have had access to these. Think crisps, ice cream, and biscuits for example. Eating too many ultra-processed foods can lead to weight gain and diseases like diabetes. So not eating them can reduce these risks. But you could also not do paleo and eat ultra-processed foods in moderation as part of a healthy balanced diet.

It can improve your blood test results: 

A study found that the paleo diet improved the body’s ability to respond to glucose. This is because the diet is low in carbohydrates. Having a well-controlled blood sugar level and good insulin response can reduce insulin resistance. It’s insulin resistance that leads to type 2 diabetes.

The same study also found that the diet can decrease the ‘bad’ LDL cholesterol. High levels of LDL cholesterol can contribute to heart disease. However, they only tested this in 9 people which is quite a small number to say these results will happen to everyone who tries the paleo diet.

But all these benefits are if you can maintain the diet. Which is very difficult due to how restrictive it is and how much of a change it would be from what you normally eat.

 

I hope this gave you a good overview of the paleo diet. If you want to lose weight without the restriction, you can check out my previous blog post here.

Key points: 

• The paleo diet is meant to mimic a hunter gatherer diet. It focuses on lean meat, fish, eggs, fruit and veg, and nuts and seeds.
• There isn’t one ‘paleo’ diet as our ancestors ate different food depending on the environment and social factors.
• The diet is highly restrictive which makes it hard to stick to.
• It’s important to be mindful of possible nutrient deficiencies as the diet cuts out lots of foods.
• The paleo diet will lead to weight loss. But it isn’t likely to last in the long term.
• Some positives of the paleo diet are that it can improve your body’s ability to respond to glucose. It also avoids ultra-processed foods.

 

I hope you enjoyed this post. I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below!

Bye for now! 👋

References:

What is the paleo diet: https://www.racgp.org.au/afp/2016/januaryfebruary/cutting-through-the-paleo-hype-the-evidence-for-the-palaeolithic-diet/

No ‘real’ paleo: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23865796/ and https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4091895/

Unnecessary restriction: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/227062214_Don't_Diet_Adverse_Effects_of_the_Weight_Centered_Health_Paradigm and  https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3727993/

Nutrient deficiencies: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17522610/

Ultra-processed food and disease: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31142457/ and https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29071481/

Weight loss: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31879752/ and https://www.racgp.org.au/afp/2016/januaryfebruary/cutting-through-the-paleo-hype-the-evidence-for-the-palaeolithic-diet/ and https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29124370/

Benefits of paleo: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19209185/ and https://www.diabetes.co.uk/paleo/benefits-of-paleo-diet.html