Paleo Diet and Paleolithic Diet Questions & Answers

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There's obviously a burgeoning literature on the Paleo/Primal movement, but in my experience most books (or more often, jankety PDFs and Kindle files) seem to combine some science with quirky personal tales, heavily invested opinions and more personality than I'd like. Good Calories, Bad Calories is probably the best example of heavily researched and more detached (sort of) academic literature - though it's scope is limited in tangentially advocating for a paleo-based diet.

Does anyone have suggestions for more nitty-gritty science? I'm not looking for recipes or for Robb Wolf to tell me how to squat. And Nora Gedgaudas can frequently sound like an infomercial.

What else is out there?

flag	asked Aug 2 at 4:49 Jake 945●1●10

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"I'm not looking for Robb Wolf to tell me how to squat" LOLOLOL – April S.♦ Aug 2 at 5:07

I should also mention that anything that delves into the exercise/lifestyle side of it is ideal as well. Where is the holistic academic literature? – Jake Aug 2 at 5:52

Todd B · Accepted Answer · 2012-08-02 14:06:20Z UTC

I think most authors find their books read better (and sell more copies) when they include a personal touch. If you want just the nitty gritty science, I agree that your best bet is to go right to the journal articles.

Here are some sources for that:

http://thepaleodiet.com/published-research/

http://www.awlr.org/related-science.html

Also, I find that J Stanton's blog posts (Gnolls.org) are usually very well researched and written. He avoids the Paleo drama of the day and sticks to explaining the science in layman's terms. If could write a Paleo blog, it would be his: http://www.gnolls.org/index/

Eric · Answer 2 · 2012-08-02 05:09:13Z UTC

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The Perfect Health Diet.

answered Aug 2 at 5:09

Eric
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	Hadn't found this blog before. Terrific! Thanks. – Jake Aug 3 at 4:28
	You bet. The book is great as well... – Eric Aug 3 at 15:13

James · Answer 3 · 2012-08-02 12:55:17Z UTC

Not paleo, but Nutrition and Physical degeneration by Weston price is an good book. Basically the summary is 'don't eat white sugar and white flour and modern crap". But it's interesting to see that humans can survive on such diverse diets as long as they don't contain all the modern refined processed junk.

Catching fire - how cooking made us human' makes a good case for the importance of starches in human evolution.

victrix · Answer 4 · 2012-08-02 09:56:23Z UTC

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Staffan Lindeberg: Food and Western Disease: Health and nutrition from an evolutionary perspective

answered Aug 2 at 9:56

victrix
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rnoel · Answer 5 · 2012-08-02 13:32:56Z UTC

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http://www.dovepress.com/comparison-with-ancestral-diets-suggests-dense-acellular-carbohydrates-peer-reviewed-article-DMSO

Very academic, well sourced, current. The title: "Comparison with ancestral diets suggests dense acellular carbohydrates promote an inflammatory microbiota, and may be the primary dietary cause of leptin resistance and obesity"

answered Aug 2 at 13:32

rnoel
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	Okay, "acellular carbohydrate" is my new favorite phrase. – Dave S. Aug 2 at 19:47
	Fabulous article! "A diet of grain-free whole foods with carbohydrate from cellular tubers, leaves, and fruits may produce a gastrointestinal microbiota consistent with our evolutionary condition, potentially explaining the exceptional macronutrient-independent metabolic health of non-Westernized populations, and the apparent efficacy of the modern "Paleolithic" diet on satiety and metabolism." – Nancy Dec 30 at 17:02

April S. · Answer 6 · 2012-08-02 05:15:45Z UTC

If you can get your hands on it, read The Stone Age Diet by Dr. Walter Voegtlin. Papers published by Loren Cordain and S. Boyd Eaton are good and you can usually find those on Google Scholar.

If you want "nitty-gritty science," check out Hyperlipid, Daily Lipid (Chris Masterjohn), Healthy Diets and Science and/or Mat Lalonde.

Michael · Answer 7 · 2012-08-03 03:56:22Z UTC

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Cordain's new book, The Paleo Answer, is not quite what you want. It does feel like a diet book and not a research paper. But he's an academic and his writing style at least is straightforward.

answered Aug 3 at 3:56

Michael
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Jake · Answer 8 · 2012-08-03 13:40:32Z UTC

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Tangential Question (equally academic): Is Nora Gedgaudas' hair paleo?

answered Aug 3 at 13:40

Jake
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Most Academic Paleo Books

8 Answers