Tonight, Katie Chow gave a presentation about the Paleo Diet, which I was very interested in. Today there are so many fads that people follow in order to make themselves look healthier. I have had friends and cousins try to do the paleo diet, but I have never had the self-discipline to try it myself. (The fact that so many people struggle to do it should alert people that it is not as healthy as it may seem) The Paleo diet is advertised as being a clean and simple diet, for which one has to eat a lot of mean, dairy, grains, and legumes. It sounds healthy, going back to the “roots” of human eating, but as it turns out, we are not supposed to eat the same way that our ancestors did. Katie mentioned three important myths about the Paleo diet- 1. The fact that humans are biologically inclined to eat a lot of meat-in actuality, we do not have the teeth that are needed to shred meet and we don’t have carnacials. 2. The idea that Neanderthals didn’t eat grain and legumes—as it turns out there was evidence of barley and grains. And 3- the fact that we can eat the same way our ancestors did. For me, the most startling myth that I heard was the 3rd one, because I always thought that people who eat meat are a little bit healthier and get much more good protein. I never really thought about the way our food as been genetically modified so that we can eat it. Katie presented the example of bananas, noting that way back when (during the Paleolithic age) bananas couldn’t even really be eaten. I feel like only recently there have been studies and reports about how it is bad to consume too much meat, but I don’t think enough people are aware of this fact. Processed meats in particular are so bad for humans.
From sociological and psychological perspectives, dieting is a very interesting but also concerning trend. It has an impact both physically and mentally on the people who do them. Katie noted the fact that from a sociological perspective, dieting becomes this cycle because people feel the need to fit into any social body. Therefore it just keeps happening. Unfortunately, dieting can lead people into dangerous territories though, and I’m not sure if any fad diets out there are actually going to leave people better off. I’ve read again and again that people who diet are miserable- it’s important for people to eat what they want, but in small portions. It also seems like certain diets, including the Paleo diet, actually end up causing health problems including heart disease and sometimes even cancer. More research needs to be done (and publicized) regarding what types of diets are actually good for people, and what kinds should not be tried out.