Paleo Diet: Back to Basics

About half the foods in a typical supermarket wouldn’t exist for our distant ancestors—yet they make up most of what many of us eat each day. You’re tossing boxes into your cart, but here’s the twist: some “healthy” labels may be the very thing holding your body back.

Walk down the aisles and it’s like scrolling through a dating app for food: “natural,” “clean,” “ancient,” all promising to be *the one*. The Paleo diet taps into this longing by offering a simple story: eat like your ancestors and your modern problems will fade. That story is catchy—but reality is messier and more interesting.

We don’t actually know exactly what any single “Paleolithic diet” looked like; it varied wildly by region and season. Still, the modern Paleo template—meat, fish, eggs, vegetables, fruits, nuts, and no grains, legumes, or dairy—*does* push people toward fewer ultra-processed foods and more whole ingredients. Research shows this can shift your plate toward more protein, fiber, and unsaturated fats, with early improvements in weight, blood pressure, and cholesterol. The open question: is “Paleo” uniquely powerful, or just another path to eating less junk and more real food?