Caveman Diet Is Easy, Doesn’t Mean You Should Do It

The Paleo Diet — lean meats, veggies, nuts, fruits  — is so named because it’s meant to resemble what humans ate in the Paleolithic Era. You know: cavemen.

Now cavemen, in case you missed it, only exist in car insurance ads these days. And their diet could be one of the reasons why.

A new study about the dietary composition and cardiovascular and metabolic effects of eating Paleo found that the diet leaves its devotees devoid of a number of key nutrients.

After a four-week trial with Paleo eaters and a control group, researchers discovered the grain and dairy ditchers had substantially lower levels of thiamin, riboflavin and calcium. While the researchers found their Paleo dieters lost weight, they also noted that the lower nutrient levels were significant.

This isn’t the first time going Paleo has come under fire.

This year, in its annual Best Diets Rankings, U.S. News and World Report placed it 36th out of 38 diets that were evaluated by a panel of health experts. In addition to the cost of shopping at the meat and produce counters for every meal, the report noted the Paleo was “one of the few diets that experts actually considered somewhat unsafe and only somewhat complete nutritionally.”

Food for thought.