The Mediterranean Diet vs. Fad Diets

Both the Mediterranean Diet and the Paleo Diet ask us to “eat the way our ancestors ate.” BUT, the Mediterranean Diet asks us to look back only 3-4 generations, whereas the Paleo would have us look back 2.5 million years, or roughly 80,000 generations. Evolution has had plenty of time to catch up…

During the Paleolithic period, early humans lived in caves or simple huts and were hunters-gatherers, which is the crux of the Paleo Diet. Approximately 75% of deaths at the time were caused by infection, including diarrheal diseases that resulted in dehydration and starvation. Other causes were injury/accident, animal attacks, and complications of childbirth.

Life expectancy back then was approximately 33 years. In other words, they did not have time to develop diseases of aging.

Then, agricultural communities developed approximately 10-12,000 years ago when humans began to domesticate plants and animals. By establishing domesticity, families and larger groups were able to build communities and transition from a nomadic hunter-gatherer lifestyle dependent on foraging and hunting for survival. Lifespans increased significantly.

But nowadays, we've become victims of our own success. Low quality food and sedentary lifestyles have caused a whole host of age-related degenerative diseases.

Fortunately, we have population data from generations of communities in the Mediterranean and other "Blue Zones" to show us how to get back on the path to health. For ourselves and for our planet.