NHS dismisses paleo as a "fad diet".

[Darryl Shaw]

I'm sure you've all seen the news about the recently published study that made claims regarding the health benefits of a paleo diet (link), well there's a critique of the study on the UK's National Health Service site that you might all find interesting.

http://www.nhs.uk/news/2008/05May/Pa...anfaddiet.aspx

Opinions?

[Mike ODonnell]

High drop out rate was their biggest gripe...than and people only eating 1500 calories. They ate too little...and no diet is any good if you can't stick with it.

[Darryl Shaw]

Agreed, too few calories and a poorly controlled study but what bugged me was the headline "Caveman fad diet" when it should have read "Low Calorie Diets Result in Weight Loss but are Really Hard to Stick To".

[Steven Low]

They should measure people's basal metabolic rate and then scale calories to match if they're aiming for weight loss or looking at risk factors. All you have to do is keep the macro ratios the same to get more or less the same effect. What if there was a 5'0" 360 lbs man trying to lose weight and a 6'0" 360 lbs man? With both on 1500 kcal there's a HUGE difference.

Most of the nutritional studies coming out nowadays are just crap. Literally.

[Mike ODonnell]

Originally Posted by Darryl Shaw

Agreed, too few calories and a poorly controlled study but what bugged me was the headline "Caveman fad diet" when it should have read "Low Calorie Diets Result in Weight Loss but are Really Hard to Stick To".

You have too much faith in the national media for educated, scientific, unbiased articles......once in a while they get it right....but for the most part it's just anything that causes controversy...as that is what sells....

$10 the person who wrote the article is overweight and loves their carbs....

[Patrick Donnelly]

Not only is Paleo a fad diet, but it's an old fad that people are trying to bring back for some reason. C'mon now. It died out, like, ten thousand years ago.

[Derek Weaver]

I was just reading through Dr. Eades archives and one of the commenters was talking about Dr. Blackburn and Jane Brody...

Study after study advocates low, lower, lowish carb intake, but the carb fundamentalist groups just get louder and louder.

Similar thing here with the "Fad"

[Will Moore]

I don't understand why they consumed only 1500 calories per day. Nobody ever said Paleolithic people consumed such a meager daily calorie total...they most certainly didn't or they wouldn't have survived. Also, why is it that those who stuck with the study only lost 5 lbs. in 3 weeks at 1500 kcal per day? If I ate 1500 kcal per day for 3 weeks, I would probably lose 20 lbs. and be in the hospital....literally!

[Darryl Shaw]

Originally Posted by Mike ODonnell

You have too much faith in the national media for educated, scientific, unbiased articles......once in a while they get it right....but for the most part it's just anything that causes controversy...as that is what sells....

$10 the person who wrote the article is overweight and loves their carbs....

No, I'm a skeptic and I have absolutely no faith in reports on nutritional studies that make it into the national media media. I actually agree with the National Health Services criticisms of the study but I expected a more impartial conclusion on the possible merits of a paleolithic diet given that the study was of such poor quality it didn't really prove anything.

[Darryl Shaw]

Originally Posted by Will Moore

I don't understand why they consumed only 1500 calories per day. Nobody ever said Paleolithic people consumed such a meager daily calorie total...they most certainly didn't or they wouldn't have survived. Also, why is it that those who stuck with the study only lost 5 lbs. in 3 weeks at 1500 kcal per day? If I ate 1500 kcal per day for 3 weeks, I would probably lose 20 lbs. and be in the hospital....literally!

The participants in the study were medical students so they probably drank an extra 1000 Kcals every night and didn't record it in their food diaries.