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Well, the video will likely be available later, but Dr Oz has his "prehistoric" diet up on his website. Some of his diet "highlights" include:

  • 10% of calories from protein, with beans a great source
  • calcium from tofu or soy milk
  • fat from seeds and nuts
  • carbs from fruits, veggies, and whole grains

So, what do you think: good, bad, or indifferent?

Okay, dumb question, no one here is going to think it's good. Me, I suppose it's a bit of a mixed bag (it's nice to see any emphasis on real food over processed) and perhaps there's a bit of "any media is good media" re getting the word out.

Update, 10/31: The video is now available.

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27 
 I am going to the base of the pyramid - he's an asshat. – none Oct 28 2011 at 14:48
11 
 I'm genuinely confused as to why it's called a Prehistoric Diet Plan. It was clearly written by/for someone who has no idea what "Prehistoric" means. – Cassandra Oct 28 2011 at 16:02
7 
 I never get tired of hearing asshats like Dr. Oz getting called "asshat" :) I commented on the post earlier today. I said something to the effect of "Sorry Dr. Oz, tofu eating does not a prehistoric diet make." – FED at LiveCaveman.com Oct 28 2011 at 18:48
5 
 Looking at the comments section though, hell hath no fury like a paleo person scorned. Just like the last time he was barraged by this community. Love it. – Carly Oct 28 2011 at 19:26
3 
 Seaburgers: That's for sure. Everyone on PH needs to fill his post with comments telling him what a fool and a shill he is. – Chickenosaurus Rex Oct 29 2011 at 2:45
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22 Answers

35

Maybe he's talking about the pre-history in the land of Oz, where lions can talk and tin men can walk...

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3 
 And where he pulls all the levers and switches. – FED at LiveCaveman.com Oct 28 2011 at 18:55
9 
 You've totally been plagiarised with this comment, a certain resident doctor has tweeted EXACTLY this to Robb Wolf passing it off as his own HA! – Carly Oct 28 2011 at 21:20
6 
 Quilt is using this very excellent comment on Twitter - you're famous! – none Oct 28 2011 at 21:27
3 
 Wait, MY comment or Pieter D's? If it is mine quote that has been lifted then I must paraphrase Walter Sobchak and declare that "Quilty, this is not 'Nam. This is PaleoHacks. There are rules." – FED at LiveCaveman.com Oct 28 2011 at 23:47
2 
 Pieter D. Just outstanding. – The Quilt Oct 29 2011 at 0:51
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32

This is what happens once a movement begins to grow too big and too strong to ignore: the mainstream attempts to dilute and co-opt it. I've warned about this before:

http://www.gnolls.org/2199/you-are-a-radical-and-so-am-i-paleo-reaches-the-ominous-stage-3/

Remember that people don't get TV shows by accident. Our government spends tens of billions of dollars every year subsidizing the production of corn, soy, and wheat, leading to hundreds of billions of dollars in profit for the companies that produce "food" made from processed corn, soy, and wheat...

...and who buy so many of the television advertisements.

And let's not even mention the millions of fat and sick people that such a diet creates. Not only does this provide a consistent audience for Dr. Oz - it provides unimaginable profit for the drug companies who buy the rest of the television advertisements.

See how that works?

Expect this trend to continue.

JS

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3 
 most important to remember: "people don't get TV shows by accident" – nancy64 Oct 28 2011 at 21:43
1 
 it's all about money/power and control/leverage. besides, the term "paleo" is certainly open to cartoonish interpretation. – dsohei Oct 28 2011 at 21:55
1 
 This and the fact that the paleo diet is not fungible :) – FED at LiveCaveman.com Oct 28 2011 at 23:49
2 
 plus one JS..... – The Quilt Oct 29 2011 at 0:52
2 
 Fantastic insights. Thank you for the commentary. You are actually (sorta) wrong haaa!. Monsanto and Big Pharma are one as of 1999. Merger between Monsanto and Upjohn&Pharmacia occurred 1999 then Pfizer acquired Pharmacia in 2002. Oz, Big Agra, USDA, Big Pharma -- they are all sleeping buddies. nytimes.com/1999/12/20/business/… en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pfizer – grace Oct 30 2011 at 8:49
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16

This is not the last time some dingbat will attempt to jump on the paleo bandwagon and completely miss the point. It's all part of the growing paleo trend.

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8 
 Oz isn't a naive dingbat. His advice is purposeful and highly profitable for those who advertise on his show. (See my answer for the long version.) – J. Stanton - gnolls.org Oct 28 2011 at 21:25
2 
 JS is spot on......we are closing in on a tipping point. – The Quilt Oct 29 2011 at 0:52
Dr. Oz is a nice guy and is entertaining, and he offers hope to others, that is severely lacking elsewhere. – The Loon Oct 29 2011 at 16:33
Dingbat, yes. Naive, no. He knows where the money comes from. – David Rourke Oct 29 2011 at 21:36
15

I think: Mhm... since when are soy, tofu and grains prehistoric.

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3 
 Grains are prehistoric – cliff Oct 28 2011 at 13:52
3 
 Grains are prehistoric. If this were a neolithic agricultural diet (like WAPF) that would make some kind of sense. Oz is not really capable of making sense. – David Rourke Oct 28 2011 at 13:56
2 
 Tofu is prehistoric too ? – majkinetor Oct 28 2011 at 14:20
3 
 even if grains were historic, it would be difficult to gather enough to make the large loaves of bread many enjoy on a daily basis today. He also lumped ww pasta, etc. in with the carb category, even though it does have protein. If protein is limited to 50g for a 2000 cal diet, that doesn't leave much room for lots of bread. – The Loon Oct 28 2011 at 15:31
7 
 It is possible that pasta is prehistoric. All those stone tools may have been early attempts at making pasta cutters. – FED at LiveCaveman.com Oct 28 2011 at 18:53
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11

Based on your highlights, it's thinly veiled vegan diet. Minimal protein, and get it from beans, not meat. Get calcium from soy, not dairy (yeah, I know, not technically paleo regardless). Fats should be PUFA, not saturated...

Is it better than most SAD diets? Yes. Is it anywhere near optimal? Nope.

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4 
 Its hard to tell is it better then SAD. Soy is toxic, and GMO soy probably even more toxic. PUFA will be w-6 most of the time. Legumes in larger quantities are probably toxic. Its a mostly toxic diet in any caloric input. Nuts are good addition, most of the benefit will be from it and vegetables. – majkinetor Oct 28 2011 at 18:08
Sounds largely unprocessed which is why I consider it better than most SADs. I don't think a moderate amount of soy is necessarily bad, Asian cultures seem to do quite well on it, fermented is better. I put soy in the same boat as dairy. – Matt Oct 28 2011 at 19:46
1 
 I think it's certainly better than an industrial Western diet. We'd all agree that it is far from optimal. Any benefits are likely due to accidentally cutting out garbage, not by adding anything actually nutritious. – David Rourke Oct 29 2011 at 23:47
Can we equalize dairy with soy actually ? Doesn't sound right... although I see why are you saying that.. – majkinetor Oct 30 2011 at 11:52
I think we can equalize dairy and soy, at least on an individual basis. It something that one must personally explore. More and more, paleo seems like simply a set of guidelines that help one identify one's optimal diet. If that includes soy, dairy, nuts, or even gasp! gluten, so be it. – Matt Oct 30 2011 at 14:36
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9

I saw him telling an obese woman that she could lose 30lbs in a year by taking 3 spoons of her ice cream out of her bowl every night. Why didn't I think of that?

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1 
 Wow... just... wow. – A at Grain Free Diet Oct 28 2011 at 16:22
Dr. Oz can make you lose 30lbs a year just by watching his show 60 minutes everyday. – FED at LiveCaveman.com Oct 28 2011 at 18:59
2 
 Yeah, you puke up breakfast . . . – graciel Oct 30 2011 at 12:04
8

People still pay attention to this guy?

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4 
 yes, they do! And he has one of the most popular daytime shows, and his influence shouldn't be discounted or belittled, despite his current views on the paleo diet. – The Loon Oct 28 2011 at 15:33
8 
 OH YES THEY DO! Its scary how many people think Dr. Oz is the god of health. Coincidentally, the wizard of Oz was a scared, timid little man hiding behind a booming, omnipotent facade. Maybe we should go backstage? – FED at LiveCaveman.com Oct 28 2011 at 18:54
1 
 FED- that was a beautifully insightful comment. – WayfinderAli Oct 28 2011 at 21:35
I think I caught a glimpse of his show once while visiting a friend. Other than that, I don't own a TV. – mtalipova Oct 28 2011 at 22:31
1 
 “No one in this world, so far as I know — and I have searched the records for years, and employed agents to help me — has ever lost money by underestimating the intelligence of the great masses of the plain people. Nor has anyone ever lost public office thereby.” --H. L. Mencken – Daniel Kirsner Oct 29 2011 at 5:17
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8

I think this is a new anti paleo strategy. There was a post on here earlier this week about an NPR article (forgive me for not adding the link as Im on my cellphone) in which a dietitian was taking the neolithic food vs paleo foods arguement a step further saying that we should go back to a time before we had tools to hunt with and not eat meat. I believe we were warned by many that the arguement of this diet is optimal because this is how our ancestors ate would not be good one. Now we have a veganized misconstruing of this concept.

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paleohacks.com/questions/73093/… – Futureboy Oct 29 2011 at 5:45
Thanks Futureboy! Good looking out. – Caveman formally known as Dan Oct 29 2011 at 15:46
8

For those of us former raw vegans, this is old hat. Many raw vegans use all kinds of arguments about veganism being the original human diet. It's probably the most popular type of argument on raw forums. Thank god some folks created http://www.beyondveg.com/ and put these arguments to rest.

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Data for what? Beyondveg has tons of references. I assume most of the people work in academia like I do, which gives them access to papers. – Bread-Eating Beelzebub Oct 29 2011 at 5:49
2 
 it's just bad interpretation. Our ancestors did eat a plant-based diet, back when their brains were quite small. – Bread-Eating Beelzebub Oct 29 2011 at 14:06
6

where is the animal fat in this diet???

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5 
 Animal fat is not prehistoric dude. Animals developed fat when they started to eat grains (w-6) :P – majkinetor Oct 28 2011 at 18:10
1 
 Animals are not prehistoric at all! Don't you know that plants ruled the world for 90% of history? We're all mostly 100% vegetarian. – FED at LiveCaveman.com Oct 28 2011 at 18:58
1 
 The useful animal fat in the paleolithic wasn't muscle fat that didn't exist ... it was the fat in the organs and bone marrow. – Beth-WeightMaven Oct 29 2011 at 11:32
1 
 the animal fat is eliminated as a nod to the cardiologists who noticed that a small minority of people have problems with it, ignoring the vast majority of people who just get fat and diabetic off their recommendations. As long as we can continue to emphasize willpower and commitment as solutions for fat people instead of real solutions, the problem will continue. – The Loon Oct 29 2011 at 16:22
1 
 Some of the first paleo writers, such as Cordain and DeVaney, emphasized avoiding saturated fat as well. Even Robb Wolf talks "lean meats" much of the time. That's trended over time toward lipophilia. – David Rourke Oct 29 2011 at 23:51
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6

Too funny! From Paul Jaminet:

Dr Oz has a “Prehistoric Diet Plan”. I think of it as Loren Cordain merged with T. Colin Campbell, and then acquired by the US Department of Agriculture.

I might have written "Loren Cordain mugged by T. Colin Campbell" but the USDA part just made me LOL!

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+1...doesn't look like a happy marriage to me either. – The Loon Oct 31 2011 at 6:23
5

This is absurd, but the problem is he's gonna confuse the general public and the already variable paleo diet (dairy, safe starches, etc) is gonna leave people having no idea how to reap any benefit from a paleo diet.

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4 
 I would imagine that the Wizard knows what he's doing. Paleo is getting popular and countermands his position. This is a deliberate move on Oz's part. – FED at LiveCaveman.com Oct 29 2011 at 1:04
4

How is this a paleo diet? And, unless he is teaching them to properly prepare their grains and legumes, it isn't even traditional diet (WAPF). Not to mention a WAPF-style diet would include a lot more fat, dairy, and meat.

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He probably means that all those plants existed since prehistoric time :P You cant argue that. – majkinetor Oct 28 2011 at 18:09
4

"Prehistoric" is NOT "Paleolithic". Prehistory means before written records, before say 3,000 BCE. Since the Neolithic period starting roughly 10,000 years ago, then the majority of the Neolithic period was also prehistoric.

It's a very subtle sleight-of-hand he's practicing here, because it will confuse a lot of people who don't know the difference.

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1 
 He did say "caveman" a few times, but yes you are correct for the most part. – Stabby Oct 29 2011 at 5:59
4

What a joke!

I'm loving the show of solidarity in the comments section though. That's where the real action is!

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1 
 Yes, the paleo crowd is really representing! – Beth-WeightMaven Oct 29 2011 at 15:23
3

well, he did say "prehistoric" not paleo-- so I'd say that it's probably not horrible for a Neolithic/post-agriculture diet. I still don't understand what h is hangup is about meat and sat fats... but if someone is transitioning from the SAD, they could probably do worse. Of course, the heavy load of soy products would turn me off of it even before I'd found paleo eating -- especially knowing that there is virtually no such thing as "non-GMO" soy left in the modern world, due to cross-polination contamination.

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he has said that most of what he learned about nutrition is from his wife. She is a vegetarian. – The Loon Oct 30 2011 at 15:08
3

If this were rock n roll, Oz's prehistoric diet would be Pat Boone.

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2

All those stone tools for hunting down the wily cabbage.

Did anyone notice he said the participants would be eating the same diet as the healthy zoo animals? Are alligators veg*n?

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1

amazingly that is still open for comment, most of which seems to be negative on his "health/diet" info.

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0

This looks like a fun diet. All it needs is a book.

Sorry meat eaters. If you want to be truly prehistoric eat your veggies. After you finish that bowl of silken tofu.

How about a snickers bar too? No animals were injured during it's production either.

I'm glad I don't have a TV. Well, I do but I don't use it as a TV...it's my $10 stereo system...

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And the book will outsell anything Cordain has written 10:1. – thhq Oct 31 2011 at 18:02
-1

I prefer Peter D'Adamo to most other "experts". I don't agree with him 100% on everything but very close. Genotype is sooooooooo much more accurate. Dr. Oz frankly makes me sick, hate him completely. OMG he and his people know how stupid Americans are. The "calcium" category? Soy milk is prehistoric? OMG I want out of this country.

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5 
 Isn't Peter D'Adamo the Admiral of Battlestar Galactica? – FED at LiveCaveman.com Oct 28 2011 at 19:02
-2

prehistoric man didn't live that long...usually to a ripe old age of 35...and I hate to burst Dr Oz's bubble but prehistoric man did eat meat wherever and whenever he could find it...it was their best source of protein since they didn't have tofu or meat replacements as they do today.

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2 
 Many prehistoric people lived past the age of 35. – Chickenosaurus Rex Oct 29 2011 at 2:42

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