Marie Claire News

Saturday 4 July

CELEBRITY STYLE SPY: See all the latest celeb photos Stars animation


Caveman diet best for weight loss

Marie Claire health news: Caveman diet best for weight loss

Forget fad diets, if you really want to lose weight for summer, start eating like a caveman.



A new study has discovered that a stone-age-style diet, including lean meat, lots of vegetables, berries and nuts, not only reduces the risk of heart disease but also helps you lose weight.



20 healthy volunteers tested the diet for three weeks, eating only foods that could have been hunted and speared or picked from trees and plants.



That meant no cereal, bread, milk, butter, cheese or sugar, nor pasta, rice, fruit juice or alcohol. Instead, their diet could include fresh or frozen fruit and vegetables, including canned tomatoes (although we're not entirely sure how cavemen opened the tins), lemon and lime juice, spices and tea or coffee, but only drunk without milk or sugar.



The volunteers were also allowed a weekly treat of dried fruit, cured meats and a portion of fatty meat, plus up to two potatoes a day.



The results were impressive. Of the 14 individuals who kept to the diet plan, the average weight loss was five pounds.



Systolic blood pressure also fell.



However, if you do fancy going prehistoric in preparation for summer, make sure you include some sources of calcium in your diet.



'A short-term intervention with a paleolithic diet had some favourable effects on cardiovascular risk factors,' notes Dr Per Wandell, who led the study.



'But one negative effect was the decreased intake of calcium (from dairy goods), which could be a risk factor for osteoporosis later in life.'



DISCOVER THE BEST SUPER FOODS FOR YOUR BODY HERE

Friday 9 May 2008


Have your say ...

Add your own comment

This is my diet but I eat some fat free yogurt. I go daily to gym for cardio and second day for strength and I have at least 10000 steps walking, but I don't lose 2 pounds weekly.
Comment by florin on May 11 08:13

What was the life expectancy of cavemen???
Comment by Den on May 13 23:27

No wonder they lost weight - weren't exactly eating a lot!
Comment by Karen on May 15 12:19

I followed the 'Caveman' diet for around 3 months 4 years ago. I dropped from a size 12/14 to a size 8, never felt hungry, and being 100% honest felt so fit and more alert. Trouble is in the real world its hard to avoid many of the banned foods.
Comment by Debs on May 22 15:07

They forget to mention that if you eat like a caveman, you'll die like a caveman at the average age of 16.
Comment by CaveWoMan on August 02 21:05

Don't forget - cavemen died young because the chances were they were going to get eaten, die of septicaemia or some other disease we have since eliminated!
Tinned tomatoes have a higher concentration of lycopene (anti-aging, anti-cancer) so if you want an optimally nutritional diet they are better than fresh.
Our digestive enzymes have not evolved quick enough to cope with the changes in our diet. Everyone talks about GM foods as though they are a new thing but WHEAT, was being genetically modified before the Romans were around and this is, it is now believed, that up to 20 % of the Uk population could be intolerant to wheat, to one degree or another. Equally, the argument for dairy products is that cows milk is for cows babies not us! Something to think about....
Comment by Sinead on August 19 14:11

Stop blaming milk for making you fat. Basically a diet with the least amount of processed food and red meat is the best.....that doesn't mean eating like a caveman.
Comment by milk addict on August 22 04:35

This is a good diet and can't possibly be bad for you because the food is all natural. I have tried this diet too and I felt great. It is hard to stick to due to modern temptation but it's definitely healthy!
BTW - cavemen did not die as young as 16! Their life expectancy was certainly a lot lower than modern man's but this was not due to their diet. People died young a few hundered years ago too!
Comment by Army girl on April 18 09:01


Read all 8 comments


Rate this ...

Rate this content

Thanks, your rating has been counted!

  • Current rating:

  • 4.5/5



Breaking headlines ...

August subscription offer