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The Paleo Diet: GOOD or BAD? | Myprotein
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Jan 30, 2025
Myprotein's dives into the Paleo Diet and tells you all its benefits and all its drawbacks. ********************************* 🔔 Subscribe to our channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/MyproteinUK?sub_confirmation=1 📲 Download the Myprotein app: https://bit.ly/3dhVVUE ********************************* #Paleo #Paleodiet #Myprotein Official YouTube channel for Europe's No. 1 Online Sports Nutrition Brand, Myprotein. Stay tuned for brand new videos every single week that help to inspire and motivate you to keep pushing further on your fitness journey. From challenging workouts to evidence-based nutrition videos — we've got it all. ********************************* Frączek B, Pięta A, Burda A, Mazur-Kurach P, Tyrała F. Paleolithic Diet-Effect on the Health Status and Performance of Athletes? Nutrients. 2021 Mar 21;13(3):1019. doi: 10.3390/nu13031019. PMID: 33801152; PMCID: PMC8004139.
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0:00
since the dawn of time we have eaten
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food and recently A lot of people are
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yearning to return to the dawn of time
0:08
or well more accurately the Paleolithic
0:12
period and that is with the return of
0:14
the paleo diet as it looks to make a
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Resurgence in the world of health and
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[Music]
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fitness while extreme opinions have
0:25
become the norm nowadays I found that
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they are even more potent with the p
0:30
diet in particular and that makes it
0:32
difficult to discern the truth and the
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facts about the dietary approach itself
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so that's our goal for this episode of
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nutritionist explains to make sense of
0:40
the Poo diet and help you understand
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what it is how people follow it and the
0:45
positives and negatives of this approach
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if you're all about the facts and having
0:49
a more measured approach to health and
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fitness then you'll definitely want to
0:52
hit the Subscribe button and be sure to
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check out some of the other episodes of
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nutritionist explains where we tackle
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all things Health and Fitness and make
1:00
it make sense for you what is the paleo
1:04
diet the paleo diet which is arguably
1:06
more a lifestyle change than just
1:08
dietary change aims to transport us back
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to the dietary habits of our Paleolithic
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ancestors who live between 2.5 million
1:15
and 10,000 years ago this was a time
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when mammoths were just roaming around
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your back garden and our ancestors were
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full-time hunter gatherers the pelo
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lifestyle goes beyond your diet and also
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often encourages other ancestral
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practices like more natural forms of
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exercise think running climbing and
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lifting things and getting enough sleep
1:35
and sunlight essentially you're aiming
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to mimic the natural lifestyle of a
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hunter gatherer there were no Farms no
1:41
fast food and when you turned on the
1:43
internet you had to listen to that weird
1:44
dialup noise for 10 minutes before you
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could do anything honestly it's amazing
1:48
to think that we ever survived through
1:49
that the actual paleo diet itself is an
1:51
attempt to recreate this ancient way of
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eating that our ancestors followed and
1:56
bring that into the modern world so what
1:58
exactly is on the menu for P diet
2:00
followers think whole unprocessed Foods
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the stars of the Paleo plate are lean
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meats especially those from wild or
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grass-fed animals fish particularly
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those rich in omega-3 fatty acids like
2:12
salmon are also a main stay and feature
2:15
prominently then there's a bounty of
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fresh fruits and vegetables nuts and
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seeds all meant to Echo the forging
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aspect of the diet of our ancestors it's
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important to highlight that the Paleo is
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as much about what you don't eat as what
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you do dairy products legumes like
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peanuts and beans greens refined sugar
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processed foods and anything that would
2:35
have been unavailable to pic humans are
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a no-o the idea is that by eating like
2:39
our ancestors we can potentially avoid
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modern-day health issues like obesity
2:45
diabetes and heart disease what are the
2:47
positives of the paleo diet the main
2:50
positive argued is a switch away from
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the now recognizably unhealthy
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westernized diet which is Rife with
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energy dense Ultra processed foods
2:58
bursting with unhealthy fats and added
3:00
sugars to a dietary and centered around
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unprocessed protein micronutrient and
3:06
minimal Rich Whole Foods and that's been
3:09
backed up there is a growing body of
3:10
evidence in support of a paleo diet for
3:13
improving a range of Health outcomes in
3:16
particular it has been considered quite
3:17
a useful dietary approach to help people
3:19
who struggle with their weight and to
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also improve other aspects of Health
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like insulin sensitivity diabetes heart
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disease high blood pressure body
3:28
composition and even the general health
3:30
status of healthy young and active
3:32
people a systematic review also looked
3:34
at the paleo diet as a potential means
3:36
of improving exercise performance and
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detailed some pretty interesting and
3:40
potentially quite useful findings
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several studies found a positive effect
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on cardiovascular health and fitness as
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well as simultaneous improvements in
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body composition which may make it
3:50
appealing for those of you who are
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interested in endurance-based activities
3:54
or Sports there are a few important
3:56
caveats about these findings though the
3:58
studies were small there aren't that
4:00
many of them and the people who they
4:02
looked at were either overweight or
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obese had type 2 diabetes or they were
4:06
healthy but not active what are the
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underlying reasons for positive health
4:11
and performance outcomes when following
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a paleo diet the better you understand
4:15
how something actually works and
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facilitates a change either positive or
4:18
negative the more informed a decision
4:20
you can make on whether to try it or not
4:22
so here's a few reasons why the P
4:25
approach may lead to health and or
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performance benefits firstly the
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nutrient density is topnotch as the diet
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emphasizes foods like lean meats fish
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vegetables fruits nuts and seeds you'll
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be getting far more vitamins minerals
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antioxidants healthy fats fiber and
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protein compared to the Western diet you
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know how much we love protein here I
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mean come on it's in the name so that's
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the second element that I would like to
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highlight on average researchers
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estimate that following the P your
4:54
approach will lead to you achieving 35%
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total energy intake from fats 35% energy
5:00
intake from carbohydrates and 30% from
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protein this 30% is double the intake of
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the western diet and we know how great
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having a higher protein intake is for
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the likes of weight loss body
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composition performance and Recovery I
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believe another element of the paleo
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diet worth highlighting is moving away
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from Ultra processed foods rich in added
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sugars and unhealthy fats to less
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processed foods with more fiber and
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health promoting fats that isn't to say
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that all Ultra processed foods are bad
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or even made equal because it is such an
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expansive umbrella term but it is hard
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to deny that we are having them too
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frequently in our diet I mean nearly 60%
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of the standard UK diet comes from Ultra
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processed foods and this figure
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increases to 66% in adolescence and
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there is evidence tying this to having a
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negative impact on our health a final
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point to touch on with the p approach
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and I would say this is a major reason
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as to why we do see all the associated
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benefits when people start to follow
5:55
this diet is that it will more often
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than not lead to people entering a
5:59
calorie deficit and therefore losing
6:01
weight this has been reflected in a wide
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range of studies looking at the paleo
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diet and is not necessarily A criticism
6:07
or benefit what we're trying to do here
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is figure out why the diet has the
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health effects it has been associated
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with not necessarily to claim it to be
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the best diet ever or alternatively say
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oh it's silly and completely disregard
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it I don't believe either of those
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viewpoints is entirely fair or helpful
6:23
what are the criticisms of the Pio diet
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Pio first rose to prominence in the
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early 2010s and everyone was Bonkers for
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it to begin with it was the shiny new
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thing at that time and everyone loves
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the shiny new thing until they see the
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cracks and the dents in it well Pio
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followed that trajectory the same
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trajectory as many diets and as the
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popularity grew so did the inevitable
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wave of criticism from those who looked
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beyond the promises and explore the diet
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more in depth at that time there wasn't
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the number of studies looking at the
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paleo diet that we have now and this
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left it exposed to criticism while also
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making it much more difficult to defend
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truth be told some of the criticisms of
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back then still hold up today and our
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critiques which I still hold myself
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although I have to say I'd like to think
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I have a more fair appraisal and
7:08
appreciation for the diet now firstly
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let's just look at the theory around the
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diet itself to think our ancestors all
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ate the same way is pretty ridiculous I
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mean just think of the food availability
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and differences in climate across the
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globe today I can guarantee that back
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then they all weren't having a steak
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with a side of berries for dinner and
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this has been hotly debated in the
7:27
literature to this point there is is no
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consensus on what our ancestors diet
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actually looked like the second point
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with the paleo diet is simply the more
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restrictive elements of it I appreciate
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that won't be an issue for everyone and
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if you find the Paleo Approach to work
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for you then that's absolutely fantastic
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but for some restrictive dieting can
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lead to issues around food and even
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develop into Eating Disorders one
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popular critique relating to the
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restrictive elements of paleo is it
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being deemed low carb but at least from
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what I've read I don't really see it as
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being that way earlier we touched on the
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macronutrient ratio breakdown of the
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diet and researchers estimated that
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around 35% of your total energy intake
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comes from carbohydrates H to break it
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to you but that's not low carb folks
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other criticisms that are associated
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with the more restrictive elements of
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the diet are the costs associated with
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this approach and other groups that it
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may exclude the peer approach isn't
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necessarily cheap given the diet's heavy
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Reliance on animal products and
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advocating for more organic options were
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possible you'll find out very quickly
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that your shopping bills increase
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dramatically additionally given that
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meat and other animal products are
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featured so heavily in the diet it may
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make it inaccessible or unappealing to
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vegetarians and vegans potentially
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excluding these groups a final critique
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would simply be that it might not be the
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most practical approach in the world
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around the house and even at work when
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you can prep your own food and do your
8:50
own thing it's not really going to be
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much of an issue I'm thinking more about
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social events going to cafes restaurants
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if you're traveling those those sort of
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circumstances Pio may not be altogether
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practical or feasible here but again you
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may adopt a more flexible approach to it
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and choose to not restrict yourself to a
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paleo diet in these scenarios and
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honestly that sounds like a great
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balance does paleo have its flaws
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absolutely so does every other fixed
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dietry approach it's also been shown to
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be an approach which can have
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significant benefits to health for those
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who can follow it for an extended period
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of time it's not going to be right for
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everyone but no diet is that doesn't
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mean it can't be right for some people
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and have a transformative effect on
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their health and quality of life what
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matters most is understanding how it
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works weighing up the pros and cons and
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how they relate to you in your life and
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then making an informed decision on
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whether it would or wouldn't be an
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approach to your nutrition worth trying
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hopefully you enjoyed this more balanced
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look at the Poo diet be sure to let us
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know what you think of it and drop your
9:56
comments in the comment section below
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and don't forget to also let us know of
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any of the other topics that you'd like
10:01
for us to cover on nutritionist explains
10:06
[Music]
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