Actually I don't really think there is enough evidence to show that my ancestors ate what is called for in the paleo diet. I eat tons of fructose in fruit all the time and it doesn't cause me any gout whatsoever, but I have seen some new studies that show a possible fructose linkage, I would like to see more experiments before deriving any conclusions. I found the two biggest causes of gout episodes were alcohol and purine rich foods (meat, lentils etc.) which jives with medical consensus around the disease. However that said I was told not to cease eating meat because it is still good for me in recommended proportions by a Doctor who specializes in that area.
Most of our ancestors didn't eat what's touted as paleo today. Hunting was a lot smaller portion of the food source than vegetation. If you want to know the long term effects of the paleo diet on people, don't try to look to our ancestors or the modern Inuit, look at the Inuit tribes
from 100 years ago. The conclusion about the modern weight and health issues being linked to the modern diet is partially right, but the problem is the processed foods, not the rejection of the old diet. Before the introduction of the Western diet, the average lifespan of those people who lived on a high protein high fat diet was maybe 60 years with greatly accelerated aging. These people also had plenty of health problems, including such severe constipation that culturally they created the most powerful spirit in their mythology:
Matshishkapeu - which literally translates into English as "fart man." Their lifespan and aging process actually got
longer with the introduction of complex carbohydrates, even if the processed crap started hacking it back down.
Gout is the least of the long term problems with paleo. There's also a longer term increased risk of kidney stones, gall stones, atherosclerosis, and stroke. My father essentially ate paleo for the past decade in a very rigid and disciplined manner to manage his diabetes without using insulin or drugs. He's currently recovering from a stroke that was
directly linked to his diet.
The theory of paleo isn't wrong. We should be eating closer to what our ancestors ate (including no refined sugars and minimal refined carbohydrates), but that diet was mostly vegetarian and had a lot of natural complex carbohydrates, not meat. Look at the health and lifespan studies of the Seventh Day Adventists. Look at the pre-industrial Inuit (there's plenty of research). Look at the recent findings of the
Neanderthal. Look at the Amazonian Yanomamö and the Trobriander of PNG. Look into the limited studies regarding the difference between regular and (properly) kosher meats. We as a species have had varying degrees throughout the people to adapting to and managing the digestion of meat, but that just means we suffer fewer ill effects. There's still ill effects. Our digestive system is primarily geared for mostly vegetarian foodstuffs, but just as we've adapted to meats, we're not strictly amylase producing starch-eaters either. My problem with paleo is the conclusion, as it's inconsistent with the general data.
Modern, processed foods and refined sugars are a source of early death in our diet, but so is heavy meat intake. Our ancestors sprouted or fermented their grains before cooking, there's your first major difference. There were no huge food refineries to produce processed foodstuffs, there's your second major difference. I have no doubt that there's a variation of meat to carb ratio amongst people. I myself do poorly on a
pure vegetarian diet. However, the key is moderation in all things, and avoiding processed foods - not swinging hard into carnivore
or herbivore territory. The immediate positive effects of paleo eaters are linked to just eating better and less refined crap in the diet. It's the same sort of reinvigoration that whole-food eating vegetarians get initially. Rejection of the Standard American Diet is the common link.
Ignore the fad diets and just eat simple, healthy foods. We're
omnivores who need both carbohydrates and protein to properly function. Eat as such.
