Those who practice the paleo diet have high levels of a certain substance in their blood that can damage the heart. Maybe that’s why people died in the Stone Age at the age of 40.
How the paleo diet harms the heart
According to one study, people who have opted for the paleo diet have a substance in their blood that is associated with poor heart health. The relevant researchers are of the opinion that the paleo diet is not balanced enough and therefore also carries risks.
In the Paleo diet, you eat what our ancestors might have eaten in the Stone Age, i.e. meat, some fruits and vegetables, nuts and seeds. Legumes, dairy products and cereals, on the other hand, are not part of the paleo diet, as these foods were supposedly not yet known in the Stone Age or were not available in today’s quantities.
The study situation is not clear!
Whether the paleo diet is sensible and healthy is controversial, but this is only due to the fact that there are different variants, which are rarely taken into account in studies (e.g. a lot of meat or little meat).
In a small study from 2016 ( 3 ) it was found, for example, that the paleo diet can protect against heart attacks and other cardiovascular diseases, since the level of a protective substance (interleukin-10, IL-10) increases after just eight weeks if you eat like in the Stone Age . A too low IL-10 level, on the other hand, indicates an increased risk of myocardial infarction with simultaneously increased inflammation values.
Another study appeared in the same year ( 2 ) on this topic, in which the exact opposite was found (albeit in mice), namely that the paleo diet leads to unhealthy weight gain and increases the risk of diabetes and cardiovascular problems – also after eight weeks.
- For details on why the study is questionable, read here: Is the paleo diet harmful?
In the case of a paleo diet: harmful substance in the blood
In the summer of 2019, researchers announced ( 1 ) that Paleo followers would expose their hearts to a not inconsiderable health risk. They examined 44 Paleo people and 47 participants who were following the official recommendations.
Study leader Angela Genoni and her team found increased levels of trimethylamine-N-oxide (TMAO) in the blood in the Paleo group. TMAO levels increase with the amount of animal products that are consumed, especially with the amount of red meat eaten. This supplies L-carnitine, from which the intestinal flora then forms TMAO.
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Paleo diet: intestinal flora is disturbed
“Many paleo proponents claim that the paleo diet is good for the digestive system. But our results show that the paleo diet is neither good for the intestines nor for heart health, ”says Angela Genoni. “We found that the intestinal flora has fewer useful bacteria when a person follows the Paleo diet, that is, when they eat fewer carbohydrates.”
Why the Paleo Diet should be risky
Since Paleo fans do not consume any cereals and therefore no whole grains, the dietary fiber content also decreases, which can also contribute to cardiovascular problems. On the other hand, if you include whole grains in your diet, you can count on a reduced risk of cardiovascular diseases, according to Genoni.
“The Paleo diet excludes grain products. But whole grains are a fantastic source of resistant starch and other fermentable fiber, which are extremely important for the health of the intestines and intestinal flora, ”continues Genoni. Instead, the intestinal flora would change in such a way that harmful bacteria, such as E.g. the Hungatella bacterium multiply – and Hungatella in particular prefers to produce TMAO.
Meat provides a precursor to the harmful substance
Since one often eats larger amounts of red meat with the Paleo diet, which provides the precursor for TMAO with L-carnitine, and less fiber, which could possibly compensate for the harmful effects of the meat, the Paleo diet is described as damaging the heart.
However, the paleo diet does not have to consist of excessively large amounts of meat. Those who do it correctly eat green leafy vegetables, wild plants, roots, tuber vegetables and berries (foods that provide a lot of fiber) and supplement them with nuts, seeds, meat and fish. So it depends a lot on how exactly a paleo diet is implemented.
- For more information on TMAO and its effects on heart health, read here: Sudden Cardiac Death from Red Meat
- You can read here how you can eat a low carb AND vegan diet, perhaps not Paleo, but at least a low carb AND vegan diet at the same time: The vegan low carb diet
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