The paleo diet might sound like ancient history but eating like a caveman is currently the hottest thing in nutrition, and with good reason.
Diet fads come thick and fast. There’s always a new, catchy-sounding plan that promises to burn fat, banish health problems and build a better body. The latest fads vary wildly: diets where you eat six times a day, live entirely on soup or avoid anything yellow.
The problem is these diets are usually backed by someone with a new book or miracle supplement to sell. But the latest eating trend is different. It’s no recent innovation, instead it’s based on what we believe our hunter-gatherer ancestors ate.
Hungry like the Wolf
Lets clear something up about the paleo diet. “It’s not an attempt at historical re-enactment!” states Robb Wolf, a research biochemist, strength coach and author of The Paleo Solution: The Original Human Diet. A state champion power lifter and former competitive kickboxer, Wolf outlines the basic philosophy of the paleo diet as follows: “It’s whole, unprocessed foods that would have been found before the advent of agriculture: lean meats, seafood, roots, tubers, fruit and veggies.
That’s the basic idea.” It’s a simple concept that doesn’t require the follower to count calories or weigh portions, and it shares its all-natural approach with many other modern diets, like the ‘Gracie Diet’ favored by Brazilian jiu-jitsu’s first family.
Paleo diet followers believe that our current diets are responsible for many of the illnesses that affect modern society, and that they can be avoided (and even cured) by eating like our ancestors, who they claim suffered none of these problems.
It’s no secret that diabetes, obesity and heart disease are the result of modern eating habits, but even elite athletes are at danger if their diet isn’t up to scratch.
Famous MMA paleo fighters
Brock Lesnar’s well-publicized health issues of 2009 were pinned almost entirely on the former heavyweight champion’s choice of diet.
An enthusiastic hunter, Lesnar proudly described himself as a carnivore, stating that he “ate what he killed” and avoided fruit and vegetables.
But Brock actually had it half-right when it came to his nutrition.
“I think if we get in and look at his diet it was likely meat heavy and the main carbs were coming from bread and pasta,” says Wolf.
“The autoimmunity research community is seeing strong linkage between grain intolerance and things like diverticulitis, IBS (irritable bowel syndrome), Crohn’s disease and similar gastro-intestinal problems.
If Brock simply balanced out the meat with some fruit and veggies, he’d likely see much-improved digestion and a resolution of his problems.”
Supported by Science
The paleo diet isn’t just another low-carb regime. The famous Atkins low-carb diet has no problems with its followers consuming as much processed food as they want, something totally at odds with the caveman principles. But the difference is how much protein you eat when on the paleo diet.
The typical US diet is made up of around 49% carbohydrates, 34% fat and 15% protein. Low-carb fad diets suggest 26% carbs, around 20% protein but as much as 50-75% fat. In comparison, the Paleo diet suggests people eat between 22-40% carbs, 19-35% protein and 28-47% fat. Modern low-carb weight-loss diets are really high-fat diets that don’t supply us with the level of protein we need to be athletes.
Critics of the caveman diet argue that we should use modern science to look forward, not to the past.
Robb Wolf disagrees: “Science is a study of nature. Humans, whether we like it or not, are a part of nature, and understanding what foods were involved in our evolution helps us to best understand what foods are important to our health today.”
Principles that matter
This is one of the key principles of the paleo diet – that we should consume only foods we evolved to eat. Dr Loren Cordain, author of The Paleo Diet for Athletes, describes modern man as “Stone Agers living in the Space Age.”
DNA evidence shows that humans have changed very little in the last 40,000 years, yet agriculture was developed only 10,000 years ago.
In a nutshell, we’re shoveling food down our necks that we’re just not designed to eat.
Paleo for Pugilists
Wolf has worked with MMA fighters such as Forrest Griffin, and is widely considered one of the leading authorities on the paleo diet for athletes. Griffin says the paleo diet changed the way he looks at nutrition, and Frank Mir is another fighter who has jumped on the caveman bandwagon.
“Frank Mir read my book and is loving the results he has had eating paleo,” says Wolf.
“The advantage of a paleo diet is it reduces inflammation. This helps people recover faster between sessions so they can train at a higher intensity.”
Carb factor
Many fighters tend to drop carbs only in the run-up to a fight so that they can make weight. If a fighter stays on a low-carb diet the whole year round, aren’t they more likely to struggle to make weight?
Not so, says Wolf: “Reduced inflammation makes it much easier for fighters cut weight.”
Pointing to the example of one of his charges, Robb claims that following Paleo principles can actually increase lean muscle mass while burning off stubborn body fat. “[Muay Thai and MMA fighter] Glen Cordoza started working with us almost five years ago.
At that time Glen had just returned to California after fighting and living in Thailand for over a year. Glen was 74kg and about 12% body fat.
He fought MMA at 70kg, which is a pretty modest weight cut.
“We started working on Glen’s strength and conditioning and got him eating Paleo. Over a two year period we took glen to 79kg and 5-7% body fat. At this weight, Glen could clean and jerk 130kg and had crushing levels of cardio.
He found the weight cuts easier than when he weighed 74kg. Paleo eating and smart strength training made him a much better athlete.”
Paleo principles
As Dr Loren Cordain outlines in his book The Paleo Diet, modern eating habits are far from ‘natural.’
Follow these points if you want to try eating like a caveman.
> Eat only what you could hunt and gather natural foods only, nothing processed.
> Dairy is off the menu imagine how hard it would be to milk a wild animal!
> Farming wasn’t invented yet, so you should hardly ever eat cereal grains.
> Legumes (beans) are a no-no as they are linked to intestinal problems.
> Cavemen didn’t salt their food, so put the shaker down.
> The only refined sugar available was honey, if you were lucky enough to find some. Be sparing.
> Animal foods dominated the diet.
> Protein intake was higher, and carb intake lower.
> Virtually all carbohydrate consumption came from non-starchy wild fruits and vegetables.
Just because you’re aiming to eat like a caveman doesn’t mean you have to bin some of your daily essentials.
“Coffee, green tea and olive oil were not staple items for our hunter gatherer ancestors, but we do not throw them out because they ‘fail’ the historical paleo test,” says Robb Wolf.
“We inform our choices with molecular biology and sports science to get the best from old and new.”
ONE-DAY PALEO DIET PLAN
Eating like a caveman isn’t as boring as you might think! Check out this sample diet plan for an idea of how a paleo enthusiast eats.
> Breakfast
Left-over steak from the night before, big bowl of fresh fruit, green tea or decaf coffee.
> Lunch
Spinach, avocado and tomato salad with crayfish or prawns topped with a sprinkle of pumpkin and sunflower seeds, fresh apples and green tea.
> Dinner
Baked wild salmon, steamed butternut squash with pepper and paprika, fresh green vegetables. Water to drink.
> Snacks
Beef jerky, fresh fruit and walnuts.
PALEO DIET: THE COACH
Top strength and conditioning coach Ollie Richardson works with the Rough House team and tries to get his fighters to follow the paleo diet as much as possible.
“First up, even though I recommend the paleo diet, for some reason because it’s got a name people feel the need to hate on it! I can sympathize as salesmen have hugely devalued the whole nutrition industry, as things are likely to sell better with a name.
Bearing that in mind I always recommend the principles of the paleo diet: fresh, unprocessed food.
I try to help dispel the nutrition myths that we are all brought up with, like you must drink milk, have cereal for breakfast, bread with everything!”
Working with top athletes, Ollie understands that things aren’t always black and white as different rules apply to fighters than to everyday people. “For a professional fighter, things can get slightly more complicated as the tax on their bodies is obviously far greater than the norm. Having said that, it’s quite simple really: exercise and training will cause muscular micro trauma, so protein and amino acids will be needed for repair either by way of whole foods or supplementation.”
Richardson is a follower of caveman principles himself, and reduced his own body fat down to under 8% by eating paleo.
“I can’t see why anyone would not want to preach fresh whole produce, and the results are very quick to show – once you get past the carb withdrawal headache!”
HOW TO GET STARTED ON PALEO
Making the transition to the paleo diet isn’t as hard as you might imagine. Most paleo followers advise easing into the diet to avoid any serious carb withdrawal.
Begin by aiming for 80% of your weekly meals to be paleo-friendly, with scope for 20% non-paleo (this doesn’t mean go wild and eat what you want). “All that's involved is giving it a shot,” says Robb Wolf.
“You need to eat no matter what, so give paleo a shot for 30 days and see how you do.”
Many people find it difficult to give up bread, potatoes and dairy products. Alcoholic drinks are out, and you should use caffeine in moderation. The aim is not just to eat healthily, but to eat for optimum health and performance.
Any bad stuff from your old diet will only set you back and undo your hard work.
PALEO DIET: THE FIGHTER
British welterweight Dean Amasinger is known for his explosive style and ripped physique which the Nottingham-based powerhouse uses Paleo principles to achieve
Q: Do you strictly follow the paleo diet, or have you adapted it to your needs?
Dean: “I'd say my diet is close to ‘caveman’, but with rice.
I heard about the paleo diet while I was at university and at first I thought it was a bit of a gimmick. There is some sound science and logic behind it but I think there are principles to be taken from it and used rather than to stick to it like gospel.”
Q: In a nutshell, what are the basic nutritional principles you go by?
A: “Firstly, no processed foods, dairy or wheat. I watch when I eat carbohydrates rather than having a low-carb diet. After training, your body is in the right metabolic state to deal with carbs so it is fine to have a carb-heavy meal after training. Essentially I manipulate the ratio of protein, fat and carbs depending on the meal's position in the day and its relationship to training.”
Q: Do you keep your diet up, or do you only do it for fights?
A: “I enjoy food way too much to keep up the diet I have during fight camp. I think a break from that constant focus is needed and eating enjoyable food or 'cheat' food is part of the off-season routine.”
Q: Could everyone benefit from eating like a caveman?
A: “In short, I think a version of the paleo diet is good for everyone and it can be adapted for fighters and be very beneficial.”
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