Ancestral Diet 101: Benefits and What You Need to Know
Since the paleo diet became popular in the early 2000s, there has been a hot debate about what and what is not the true ancestral diet. Paleo refers to the Paleolithic period that spanned from 3.3 million years ago to the dawn of agriculture around 10,000 years ago. During this period, human physiology evolved in close relationship with the foods our ancestors ate. The view follows that an ancestral diet can benefit our health by realigning our eating habits with our evolutionary physiology. Though there is no single ancestral diet–where, when, and which ancestors are we talking about?– there is an abundance of scientific evidence suggesting that early humans across the globe consumed a high-fat, low-carb, mostly carnivorous diet. ( 1 ) In this article, we’ll follow the evidence to reveal the common characteristics of an ancestral diet and explore how eating like our ancestors can benefit our health. Contents Why Eat an Ancestral Diet? What is the Ancestral Diet? Ancestral Diet Foods...