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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 arslan on Tuesday July 23 2019, @11:11PM (1 child)

    by arslan (3462) on Tuesday July 23 2019, @11:11PM (#870518)

    That's the problem isn't it, diet alone is insufficient. It is the lifestyle, you can have diet X be the best in the world, but if you still hide in the basement doing finger exercises 24/7 you can bet they'll be all sorts of negative markers when they probe your carcass at the morgue.

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  • (Score: 2) by RamiK on Wednesday July 24 2019, @10:25AM

    by RamiK (1813) on Wednesday July 24 2019, @10:25AM (#870611)

    But why assume those "negative markers" are actually meaningful? Atkins was practiced as a low-carbs high-fats high-protein Ketogenic diet that are proven to reduce body weight while increasing blood cholesterol. But we now know obesity is the real cause of heart problems rather than the cholesterol indicator. Paleo might not officially be a low-carbs diet, but lets be honest here: 90% of the people doing it are practicing a Ketogenic diet. And we can safely assume all of them will have all sorts of weird blood markers that mean absolutely nothing as long as they maintain low body fat. Which they will. Because not eating grains and processed food makes gaining body weight REALLY difficult.

    Overall, the only issues that matter when dealing with obesity are micro-nutrients and total carbs. Sure, processed foods have trans-fats that can screw your arteries over time... But lets face it, if your body fat is low it won't be an issue. So Paleo or whatnot, in the end, if you're losing body fat, it's good.

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