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posted by martyb on Tuesday July 23 2019, @04:52AM   Printer-friendly
from the wait-a-few-years,-it-will-change-again dept.

The Paleo, or 'caveman' diet, consists of meat, vegetables, nuts, and limited fruit. It excludes grains, legumes, dairy, salt, and refined sugars and oils. Unfortunately in a recent study researchers also found it leads to reduced beneficial gut bacteria and twice the level of trimethylamin-n-oxide (TMAO), which is linked closely with increased risk of heart disease.

[Lead researcher Dr Angela Genoni] said the reason TMAO was so elevated in people on the Paleo diet appeared to be the lack of whole grains in their diet.

"We found the lack of whole grains were associated with TMAO levels, which may provide a link between the reduced risks of cardiovascular disease we see in populations with high intakes of whole grains," she said.

TMAO is produced in the gut, and gut bacteria change based on diet composition. In this case, the removal of whole grains, with "resistant starch and many other fermentable fibres that are vital to the health of your gut microbiome"

"Additionally, the Paleo diet includes greater servings per day of red meat, which provides the precursor compounds to produce TMAO, and Paleo followers consumed twice the recommended level of saturated fats, which is cause for concern.

The article conludes that "A variety of fiber components, including whole grain sources may be required to maintain gut and cardiovascular health."

Modified Paleo anyone?

Journal Reference
Genoni, A., Christophersen, C.T., Lo, J. et al. Eur J Nutr (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00394-019-02036-y


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  • (Score: 2) by driverless on Tuesday July 23 2019, @01:41PM

    by driverless (4770) on Tuesday July 23 2019, @01:41PM (#870317)

    There's also outliers. I live off carbs, on the one meal a day I have, if I can be bothered eating at all. Meat makes me feel queasy. OK, I'm a bit more extreme than most, but there's certainly no one-size-fits-all in diets.

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