The Effects Of The Paleolithic Diet On T2d And The Results...

The Paleolithic diet, also knows as the cave man diet, the Stone Age Diet or the Hunter-Gatherer Diet, has been suggested as the way to eat to reduce many western diseases including type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2D) (Masharani et. Al 2015). People with T2D often have a number of metabolic anomalies, one being insulin resistance (Masharani et. Al. 2015). Below we report of studies conducted on the metabolic effects of this modern Paleolithic diet on T2D and the results from these studies. The Paleolithic diet is based on the diet our forefathers, the cavemen, supposedly consumed. The early human had a hunter-gatherer lifestyle consuming a diet consisting mainly of protein, plant sources and occasionally berries (Boyd Eaton 2006). All were eaten in their natural form and grains did not feature. Grain based foods were not a staple back then as they were inedible and toxic in their raw form and didn’t become part of the modern diet, until the Neolithic period (approximately 10.000 years ago) when the discovery that by cooking, the grains were no longer toxic. These new found carbohydrates discovered during the agricultural period became a staple of the Neolithic diet. When carbohydrates are digested they are broken down in the digestive system and released into the blood causing the blood sugar levels to rise. This in turn causes the pancreas to release the hormone insulin. Insulin will then trigger the absorption of sugar by cells either for energy use or as storage, in the