Paleo Reset
All disease begins
in the gut – Hippocrates
Hippocrates said this more than 2,000 years ago, but we’re only now coming to understand just how right he was. Research over the past two decades has revealed that gut health is critical to overall health, and that an unhealthy gut contributes to a wide range of diseases including diabetes, obesity, rheumatoid arthritis, autism spectrum disorder, depression and chronic fatigue syndrome.
In fact, many researchers (including myself) believe that supporting intestinal health and restoring the integrity of the gut barrier will be one of the most important goals of medicine in the 21st century.
There are two closely related variables that determine our gut health: the intestinal microbiota, or “gut flora”, and the gut barrier. Let’s discuss each of them in turn.
The gut flora: a healthy
garden needs healthy soil
Our gut is home to approximately 100,000,000,000,000 (100 trillion) microorganisms.1 That’s such a big number our human brains can’t really comprehend it. One trillion dollar bills laid end-to-end would stretch from the earth to the sun – and back – with a lot of miles to spare. Do that 100 times and you start to get at least a vague idea of how much 100 trillion is.
The human gut microbiome contains 10 times more bacteria than all the human cells in the entire body, with over 400 known diverse bacterial species. In fact, you could say that we’re more bacterial than we are human. Think about that one for a minute.
We’ve only recently begun to understand the extent of the gut flora’s role in human health and disease. Among other things, the gut flora promotes normal gastrointestinal function, provides protection from infection, regulates metabolism and comprises more than 75% of our immune system. Dysregulated gut flora has been linked to diseases ranging from autism and depression to autoimmune conditions like Hashimoto’s, inflammatory bowel disease and type 1 diabetes.
Unfortunately, several features of the modern lifestyle directly contribute to unhealthy gut flora:
Antibiotics and other medications like birth control and NSAIDs
Diets high in refined carbohydrates, sugar and processed foods
Diets low in fermentable fibers
Dietary toxins like wheat and industrial seed oils that cause leaky gut
Chronic stress
Chronic infections
Antibiotics are particularly harmful to the gut flora. Recent studies have shown that antibiotic use causes a profound and rapid loss of diversity and a shift in the composition of the gut flora. This diversity is not recovered after antibiotic use without intervention.
We also know that infants that aren’t breast-fed and are born to mothers with bad gut flora are more likely to develop unhealthy gut bacteria, and that these early differences in gut flora may predict overweight, diabetes, eczema/psoriasis, depression and other health problems in the future.
Five Benefits of an
Ancestral Diet
Nutrition research is plagued with problems: healthy-user bias, unequal comparisons, conflicts of interest … the list goes on and on. However, clear benefits of a whole foods, ancestral diet are demonstrated in studies that compare hunter–gatherer diets and/or modern-day Paleo diets to modern diets like the standard American diet, vegetarian and vegan diets, and diets recommended by national health associations.
1. Longer Health Span
It’s a common myth that our Paleolithic ancestors lived only until age 30. (21) Lower life expectancies in these studies were heavily skewed by higher rates of infant mortality, no antibiotics, no emergency medicine, and more. In actuality, anthropologists report that, if modern hunter–gatherers survive childhood, their lifespans average around 68 to 78 years, quite similar to our own. (22) And without the development of chronic disease, those later years were probably of much higher quality than most elderly people experience today. An ancestral diet combined with the benefits of modern medicine will likely lead to a much longer health/life span than the U.S. average.
2. Weight Loss
Over two-thirds of U.S. adults are overweight. Calorie-for-calorie, ancestral diets are generally more satiating, leading to consuming fewer calories and contributing to weight loss. (23, 24) Although low-carb and ketogenic diets are all the rage, a study from Stanford showed that on average, people who reduce added sugar, refined grains, and processed foods lost weight over 12 months, regardless of the macronutrient ratios. (25)
3. Decreased Inflammation
Refined sugar, grains, and seed oils increase chronic inflammation and drive chronic disease. In contrast, ancestral diets that eliminate these foods and instead focus on nutrient-dense, whole foods, including both plant and animal products, have been shown to decrease markers of inflammation. A 2019 meta-analysis of eight Paleo diet randomized controlled trials showed significant reductions in inflammatory marker C-reactive protein and also improvements in blood pressure, waist circumference, and lipid profiles. (29)
4. Reversal of Metabolic
Syndrome
Metabolic syndrome affects one-third of American adults, and is characterized by having at least three of the following five markers:
Large waist circumference
High blood pressure
Elevated fasting glucose
Elevated triglycerides
Low high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol
In clinical trials, ancestral diets outperform other diets recommended by national health organizations like the American Heart Association. A number of studies ranging in length from weeks to two years show that a Paleo diet improves blood pressure, body weight, waist circumference, triglycerides, HDL cholesterol, and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol. (32, 33, 34, 35, 36)
5. Better Gut Health
Gut health, which encompasses gut wall integrity, microbiome diversity, and more, is linked to better overall health. (37) A 2019 study published in PLoS One found very diverse microbiomes in people who ate modern Paleo diets, and even compared them to traditional populations like the Inuit, Hadza, and Matses.
Studies of ancestral populations who eat both animal and plant foods reveal greater microbial diversity compared to people following an industrialized diet. (39) Acellular carbohydrates, like refined flours and sugars, wreak havoc on the gut microbiome. (40)
An Ancestral Diet Lowers
the Risk of Chronic
Disease
Following an ancestral diet ensures a variety of nutrient-dense, whole foods, on which our biology and health thrive. The measurable health benefits of an ancestral diet, from decreased inflammation to improved microbiome diversity, lower the risk of chronic diseases, including:
Cardiovascular disease
Diabetes and obesity
Neurological disorders
Mood disorders
Together with other aspects of an ancestral lifestyle, following a primal, Paleo-type diet has the potential to help you live a life that is free from chronic disease.
