Paleolithic nutrition improves plasma lipid concentrations of hypercholesterolemic adults to a greater extent than traditional heart-healthy dietary recommendations. Dietary Patterns and Cognitive Health in Older Adults: A Systematic Review. Beneficial effects of a Paleolithic diet on cardiovascular risk factors in type 2 diabetes: a randomized cross-over pilot study Paleolithic nutrition: twenty-five years later. Nutrition education in supermarkets: An unsuccessful attempt to influence knowledge and product sales Improving nutrition in Finland.
Recent research suggests that traditional grain-based heart-healthy diet recommendations , which replace dietary saturated fat with carbohydrate and reduce total fat intake , may result in unfavorable plasma lipid ratios , with reduced high-density lipoprotein ( HDL ) and an elevation of low-density lipoprotein ( LDL ) and triacylglycerols ( TG ) . The current study tested the hypothesis that a grain-free Paleolithic diet would induce weight loss and improve plasma total cholesterol , HDL , LDL , and TG concentrations in nondiabetic adults with hyperlipidemia to a greater extent than a grain-based heart-healthy diet , based on the recommendations of the American Heart Association . Twenty volunteers ( 10 male and 10 female ) aged 40 to 62 years were selected based on diagnosis of hypercholesterolemia . Volunteers were not taking any cholesterol-lowering medications and adhered to a traditional heart-healthy diet for 4 months , followed by a Paleolithic diet for 4 months . Regression analysis was used to determine whether change in body weight contributed to observed changes in plasma lipid concentrations . Differences in dietary intakes and plasma lipid measures were assessed using repeated- measures analysis of variance . Four months of Paleolithic nutrition significantly lowered ( P < .001 ) mean total cholesterol , LDL , and TG and increased ( P < .001 ) HDL , independent of changes in body weight , relative to both baseline and the traditional heart-healthy diet . Paleolithic nutrition offers promising potential for nutritional management of hyperlipidemia in adults whose lipid profiles have not improved after following more traditional heart-healthy dietary recommendations While the role of diet and nutrition in cognitive health and prevention of dementia  in older adults has attracted much attention , the efficacy of different dietary patterns remains uncertain . Previous review s have mainly focused on the Mediterranean diet , but either omitted other dietary patterns , lacked more recent studies , were based on cross-sectional studies , or combined older and younger population s. We followed PRISMA guidelines , and examined the efficacy of current research from r and omized controlled trials and cohort studies on the effects of different dietary patterns . We review ed the Mediterranean diet , Dietary Approach to Stop Hypertension ( DASH ) diet , the Mediterranean-DASH diet Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay ( MIND ) diet , Anti-inflammatory diet , Healthy diet recommended by guidelines via dietary index , or Prudent healthy diets generated via statistical approaches , and their impact on cognitive health among older adults . Of 38 studies , the Mediterranean diet was the most investigated with evidence supporting protection against cognitive decline among older adults . Evidence from other dietary patterns such as the MIND , DASH , Anti-inflammatory , and Prudent healthy diets was more limited but showed promising results , especially for those at risk of cardiovascular disease . Overall , this review found positive effects of dietary patterns including the Mediterranean , DASH , MIND , and Anti-inflammatory diets on cognitive health outcomes in older adults . These dietary patterns are plant-based , rich in poly- and mono-unsaturated fatty acids with lower consumption of processed foods . Better underst and ing of the underlying mechanisms and effectiveness is needed to develop comprehensive and practical dietary recommendations against age-related cognitive decline among older adult Background Our aim was to compare the effects of a Paleolithic ( ' Old Stone Age ' ) diet and a diabetes diet as generally recommended on risk factors for cardiovascular disease in patients with type 2 diabetes not treated with insulin . Methods In a r and omized cross-over study , 13 patients with type 2 diabetes , 3 women and 10 men , were instructed to eat a Paleolithic diet based on lean meat , fish , fruits , vegetables , root vegetables , eggs and nuts ; and a Diabetes diet design ed in accordance with dietary guidelines during two consecutive 3-month periods . Outcome variables included changes in weight , waist circumference , serum lipids , C-reactive protein , blood pressure , glycated haemoglobin ( HbA1c ) , and areas under the curve for plasma glucose and plasma insulin  in the 75 g oral glucose tolerance test . Dietary intake was evaluated by use of 4-day weighed food records . Results Study participants had on average a diabetes duration of 9 years , a mean HbA1c of 6,6 % units by Mono-S st and ard and were usually treated with metformin alone ( 3 subjects ) or metformin in combination with a sulfonylurea ( 3 subjects ) or a thiazolidinedione ( 3 subjects ) . Mean average dose of metformin was 1031 mg per day . Compared to the diabetes diet , the Paleolithic diet result ed in lower mean values of HbA1c ( -0.4 % units , p = 0.01 ) , triacylglycerol ( -0.4 mmol/L , p = 0.003 ) , diastolic blood pressure ( -4 mmHg , p = 0.03 ) , weight ( -3 kg , p = 0.01 ) , BMI ( -1 kg/m2 , p = 0.04 ) and waist circumference ( -4 cm , p = 0.02 ) , and higher mean values of high density lipoprotein cholesterol ( + 0.08 mmol/L , p = 0.03 ) . The Paleolithic diet was mainly lower in cereals and dairy products , and higher in fruits , vegetables , meat and eggs , as compared with the Diabetes diet . Further , the Paleolithic diet was lower in total energy , energy density , carbohydrate , dietary glycemic load , saturated fatty acids and calcium , and higher in unsaturated fatty acids , dietary cholesterol and several vitamins . Dietary GI was slightly lower in the Paleolithic diet ( GI = 50 ) than in the Diabetic diet ( GI = 55 ) . Conclusion Over a 3-month study period , a Paleolithic diet improved glycemic control and several cardiovascular risk factors compared to a Diabetes diet in patients with type 2 diabetes . Trial registration Clinical Trials.gov NCT00435240 A quarter century has passed since the first publication of the evolutionary discordance hypothesis , according to which departures from the nutrition and activity patterns of our hunter-gatherer ancestors have contributed greatly and in specifically definable ways to the endemic chronic diseases of modern civilization . Refinements of the model have changed it in some respects , but anthropological evidence continues to indicate that ancestral human diets prevalent during our evolution were characterized by much lower levels of refined carbohydrates and sodium , much higher levels of fiber and protein , and comparable levels of fat ( primarily unsaturated fat ) and cholesterol . Physical activity levels were also much higher than current levels , result ing in higher energy throughput . We said at the outset that such evidence could only suggest testable hypotheses and that recommendations must ultimately rest on more conventional epidemiological , clinical , and laboratory studies . Such studies have multiplied and have supported many aspects of our model , to the extent that in some respects , official recommendations today have targets closer to those prevalent among hunter-gatherers than did comparable recommendations 25 years ago . Furthermore , doubts have been raised about the necessity for very low levels of protein , fat , and cholesterol intake common in official recommendations . Most impressively , r and omized controlled trials have begun to confirm the value of  hunter-gatherer diets  in some high-risk groups , even as compared with routinely recommended diets . Much more research needs to be done , but the past quarter century has proven the interest and heuristic value , if not yet the ultimate validity , of the model Although much evidence links dietary patterns with coronary heart disease , effective and economical methods for inducing dietary change in non clinical population s are needed to influence public health . This study was design ed as a preliminary investigation of the feasibility of conducting effective nutrition education campaigns in supermarket setting s. Eight supermarkets from a supermarket chain in the Twin Cities area participated . Four were assigned to an experimental condition in which educational material s consisting of posters , recipes , and brochures were placed in the dairy section during a 6-month period .  Four other stores were assigned to a control condition and received no educational material s. Shoppers in experimental and control stores completed a nutrition survey pre- and post-intervention . In addition , sales data for 25 dairy products were collected during a 10-month period . A significant increase in knowledge on the nutrition survey between pre- and posttests occurred among shoppers in all stores . There was no significant knowledge or product sales effect due to the education campaign . Study results suggest that , overall , shopper knowledge of food selection s for cardiovascular disease risk reduction is high and improving . Unfortunately , knowledge is often not reflected in food purchase patterns Finl and is a Northern European ( Nordic ) country with an economy traditionally based on agriculture , particularly milk production , and forestry . After the war , the country experienced rapid industrialisation . The interplay between a growing economy and traditional habits result ed in increased consumption of fatty dairy products , with unfavourable effects on lipid metabolism and risk of CVD . High serum cholesterol levels were found to be characteristic for lumberjacks in a health survey performed in the 1950s in Eastern Finl and . Subsequently , two cohorts of Finnish men were included in a prospect i ve cross-cultural study on CHD in seven countries . Men in the Eastern cohort showed the highest intake of SFA , the highest mean serum cholesterol levels and the highest mortality in CHD among the fifteen cohorts of the study . Men in the Southwestern cohort showed lower risk levels that were comparable to the levels in the Netherl and s and the Unites States . At the same time middle-aged Finnish men were found to have the highest CHD mortality in the world according to the WHO statistics . Awareness of the association between diet and the risk of CHD has prompted the development of surveys and the monitoring of risk factors and nutrition in the Finnish population . In this special issue , the subsequent development of nutrition in Finl and over the past 30 years is review ed , mainly on the basis of the activities of the National Public Health Institute , renamed after a reorganisation in 2009 , the National Institute for Health and Welfare . The diet of population sample s from different areas of the country was surveyed in 1967–1973 , and , starting in 1982 , the food habits of sub sample s from the FINRISK risk factor surveys have been studied at 5-year intervals . The model , originally tested in the North Karelia project in two Eastern provinces , was exp and ed first to cover an area in the Southwest and subsequently the capital area in the South , and the districts of Oulu and Lapl and in the North . The most recent FINDIET 2007 survey indicated a definite improvement in the dietary habits of adult Finns , particularly in the fatty acid composition and in salt intake . Mean serum cholesterol levels have declined by 20 % during the past 25 years , and changes in dietary fat composition explain 60–65 % of the decline . A decline in the initially high CHD mortality began in the late 1960s and has continued ever since . Between 1982 and 1997 the age-adjusted mortality declined by 63 % , and 37 % of this decline was estimated to result from serum cholesterol lowering . Several factors have been involved in the positive development observed in Finl and . Availability of reduced-fat dairy and meat products has been facilitated by the product developments of the food industry . Dietary fat modification has been promoted by domestic rapeseed crops and the production of rapeseed oil , which is now the principal vegetable oil and the main ingredient of soft fat spreads used in Finl and . The increased availability of imported fruit and vegetables has reduced the seasonal variation of intakes and explains the 3to 4-fold increase in average consumption . Dietary recommendations for the population were introduced in 1981 and have been revised regularly , during recent years in collaboration with the other Nordic countries . One of the major objectives of the recommendations is to act as guidelines for planning of diets in mass catering . In Finl and , findings reflecting the influence of the recommendations include healthier food choices by people who use the catering services of worksite canteens and children who consume school meals and the more balanced diet of pre-school children attending day care outside home compared with those cared for at home . Despite the decrease in classical cardiovascular risk factors and in cardiovascular mortality , obesity and the incidence of type 2 diabetes have continued to increase in Finl and . More than 10 % of the adult Finnish population are estimated to have type 2 diabetes , about one-half of them unaware that they have the disease . The possibilities of preventing the manifestation of type 2 diabetes in atrisk individuals were highlighted in the Finnish Diabetes Prevention Study , co-ordinated by the National Public Health Institute and conducted in the five university hospital districts of Finl and . The multi-factorial programme including modest weight reduction , reduction in intakes of total fat and SFA , increased intake of fibre and regular ( .30 min/d ) physical activity  reduced the incidence of diabetes by 58 % and prevented diabetes in all those subjects who were able to fulfil four or five of the five goals of the intervention programme . The lessons learned from the present study are being applied in projects on detection and prevention of diabetes in several hospital districts across the country . The Finnish government has been slow in establishing guidelines on nutrition and incorporating them in policy , but in June 2008 the current cabinet presented a resolution on guidelines for health-enhancing physical activity and nutrition that was accepted as part of a policy programme for health promotion . The resolution suggests that promotion of health-enhancing physical activity and healthy diets should take place by influencing culture , living environments , life circumstances , food
The home-delivery ( n = 1 ) and dietary recommendation ( n = 3 ) RCTs showed similar effects with the exception of greater improvements in triglycerides relative to the control with the home delivery .
None of the RCTs evaluated an improvement in quality of life .
The Paleolithic diet result ed in greater short-term improvements in metabolic syndrome components than did guideline -based control diets .
BACKGROUND Paleolithic nutrition , which has attracted substantial public attention lately because of its putative health benefits , differs radically from dietary patterns currently recommended in guidelines , particularly in terms of its recommendation to exclude grains , dairy , and nutritional products of industry .
OBJECTIVE We evaluated whether a Paleolithic nutritional pattern improves risk factors for chronic disease more than do other dietary interventions .