The Paleo Diet Reviews
Dr. Loren Cordain, professor and researcher at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, made the paleo diet popular in 2002 after publishing a book of the same name, so it makes sense his website thepaleodiet.com would be a good place to get information about the diet and access to his work. You can read about the history of the movement, its founder, research that backs ups the diet, get a few free recipes, and browse one of Cordain’s many books:
• The Paleo Diet Cookbook – brings 150 unique recipes, meal plans, and shopping tips to paleo eaters
• The Paleo Diet for Athletes – Cordain teamed up with a cycling coach, Joe Friel, to customize the paleo diet for athletes and show its benefit
• The Paleo Answer – this book introduces research into the paleo method, lifestyles tips, and recommendations for maximum weight loss on the paleo diet
• The Real Paleo Diet Cookbook – introduces 250 more recipes ideas to your paleo diet
• Real Paleo Fast & Easy – 170 recipes for people in a hurry
Although the website has a store, to actually buy the books head to Amazon or Barnes & Noble where you can get most of the books in paperback, hardcover or as e-books.
REVIEW
If you’re going to follow a paleo diet, it makes sense to buy a book from the expert who started it. Dr. Cordain has published hundreds of articles in well-respected journals to back his advocacy of the paleo diet. His first book, and now the revised version, The Paleo Diet and his follow-up book for athletes sold well, and was further popularized by CrossFit enthusiast Robb Wolf, one of Dr. Cordain’s old students.
As much as Dr. Cordain advocate’s the paleo diet to many diseases and health problems, he’s come under a lot of criticism.
His advocacy of the 80/20 rule, that 80 percent of your diet remains paleo, but allowing a 20 percent margin to deviate from the diet. He even tells his followers diet sodas are allowed, which doesn’t seem to mesh. If his research is right, why allow something that has the potential to be so harmful, like soda? In some ways, Cordain is too lenient.
In others, however, he isn’t lenient enough. Chris Kresser, M.S., L.Ac and author of the popular Your Personal Paleo Code criticized Dr. Cordain’s disdain for nightshades like potatoes as well as legumes. While some people might be sensitive, that doesn’t apply to everyone, and the research is a bit shaky. Actually, studies show when beans are cooked, it destroys their dangerous properties according to Kesser. Some other versions of the paleo diet recommend cutting out dairy, nightshades, and all other foods paleo’s “shouldn’t” eat for 30 days and then transition some back in one by one to see how each affects your system. Why cut out something that isn’t bad for you, personally? Others criticize Cordain’s stance that saturated fats and salt should be avoided.
While some of Dr. Cordain’s cookbooks have the potential to contribute meals to your paleo repertoire, most are difficult to make and pricey.
RATINGS
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- Allows some room for flexibility through the 80/20 principle
- Founder of the Paleo diet
- Easily accessible online to order in print or electronically
- Research is presented clearly and cited throughout the books and online
CONCLUSION
Although Dr. Cordain presented some great ideas, and if it weren’t for him the paleo diet might not have become so popular, his research and justification for cutting out some products while allowing his followers to eat foods that are potentially bad for them in the 80/20 method make Dr. Cordain’s paleo diet one of the lesser chosen paths. Just because other paleo advocates have proven more popular and dug deeper into the scientific evidence doesn’t mean Dr. Cordain has nothing to offer. His books provide a different perspective, and may also supply a hefty supply of useful recipes.
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