Well said Boscobarbell,you have mirrored my thoughts exactly.Cycomiko,as mentioned,you obviously have not bothered to investigate the beyondveg.com website,it is a 100% text,information-only site,not a shred of advertising.Maybe the lack of pretty pictures discouraged you from checking out the site,but for those more concerned with useful info rather than fancy graphics,it is a great source of information on paleolithic eating.
As for dietary effects on longevity,I am not aware of any data on humans to support a particular diet,it is difficult to track humans and their dietary habits for 80+ years.The only strategy I am aware of that has consisitently shown to extend lifespan in laboratory animals is calorie restriction,with the proviso that all nutrient requirements are met.I am not aware of any studies involving low carb diets and longevity on animals.
However,using available research and our cognitive faculties,we can make several assumptions.
*First of all,we know high insulin levels have been shown to promote many ailments including heart disease,high blood pressure,diabetes,cancer,obesity etc.
*Low carb diets lower insulin.So it is not a huge leap of faith to assume a low carb diet could be valuable in reducing the incidence of these diseases,in fact if you care to look,there is evidence to support this notion.By reducing the frequency of these conditions,we can at least extend mean lifespan.
*Dr Ron Rosedale has stated that on studies with centenarians,despite varying diets and lifestyles,one thing they have in common is low insulin levels.He sites an example of a 115 year old french lady who smoked and drank every day.For the rest of us who do not have the genetics to get away with such dietary indiscretions and still maintain low insulin levels,low carb diets may allow us a method for directly positively influencing our insulin levels.A paleolithic diet is by it’s very nature a low carb diet.As to which low carb diet is best,Atkins-style diets with their emphasis on fatty domesticated meat and dairy products,or the wild-meat based paleo diet,I’ll go with the diet that has a two million year track record-the paleo diet!
Regarding shorter term improvements in health,there are studies on the beyondveg.com website showing such benefits-if you care to look…
As for the argument concerning the relativley short lifespan of our hunter gatherer ancestors compared to modern man,this is not a bad reflection on their diet.Indeed,as mentioned previously,researchers have found that the hunter gatherers were a fitter,more robust species than modern man.Our lengthened lifespans are a recent phenomenen,corresponding with the rapid advancement of technology over the last 150 or so years.If a high carbohydrate diet conferred any health and longevity advantages they would have been apparent 5-10,000years ago,when a grain-based diet became widely adopted-but they weren’t.In fact researchers note the widespread appearance of many ailments around the same time as man’s switch to such a diet.Don’t you think that if we took away your access to peaceful civilisation,modern sanitation,medicine,electricity etc,and for good measure threw you onto a savanna with hungry saber-toothed tigers and warring tribes,that your life expectancy would suddenly experience a huge reduction?You would be lucky to see 30,let alone 80,90 or 100!!
Cycomiko,if you are genuinely interested in finding out the full facts on this diet,then consult the many resources listed in this thread,then decide for yourself.