Paleolithic diet in alternative medicine
The Paleolithic, or caveman, diet is a reversion to the foods eaten by humans prior to the advents of civilization, agriculture, and technology. Before those developments, the human diet during the Stone Age is thought to have consisted largely of lean red meat and vegetation.
Modern-day adherents to Paleolithic diets add vigorous physical activity to mimic the Stone Age’s hunter-gatherer lifestyle. In some cases, modern-day “Paleos” actually adopt such a lifestyle, hunting their own food in the natural environment.
Origins:
The Paleolithic Period of human development, characterized by the use of chipped, stone tools, began about 2.5 million years ago. Whenever possible, Paleolithic peoples consumed large amounts of animal meat and offal, deriving 45-65% of their energy from animals.
Among those aboriginal, hunter-gatherer societies in Australia, Africa, and South America that survived into the twentieth century, the rates of cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, obesity, diabetes, osteoporosis, heart disease, and other conditions were remarkably low until they switched to modern diets. In most other cultures, this switch to modern diets happened about 10,000 years ago, when it was discovered that many inedible plants could be rendered suitable for human consumption by cooking. This resulted in the introduction of grains, beans, and potatoes as foods, and later followed by sugar, milk, and milk products.