The Paleo diet. We’ve all heard of it. Some of us have tried it. But it turns out, we may have jumped on the band wagon way too soon.
In case you’re like me and didn’t partake in this ‘caveman’ way of eating (no one can take my carbs away) let me fill you in on what it entails.
The diet is based on what our Paleolithic ancestors (supposedly) ate – a high-protein, low-carbohydrate hunter-gatherer diet. The idea being to eat now what was available then. No grains, no refined sugar, no processed foods, no dairy, not starch, not even legumes like lentils or beans.
None of this then...
Truth is, carbohydrates were available then in tubers, roots, seeds and certain fruits. In fact, according to the a study titled ‘The Importance of Dietary Carbohydrate in Human Evolution’ published in The Quarterly Review of Biology by the University of Chicago, they’re responsible for our evolved brains.
“Eating meat may have kick-started the evolution of bigger brains, but cooked starchy foods, together with more salivary amylase genes (the enzymes that begin the chemical process of digestion) made us smarter still,” the study concluded.
So basically, carbs make us smarter. At least that’s the way I’m looking at it.
