This is a reprint of a response I posted on a Quora question today:

Nate Miyaki’s four points basically sum it up.

While Nate’s perspective is very nutrient-focused, I like to focus more on the “reality” of the “paleo diet” as anything other than a diet fad. I’ve written a couple of blog posts on this subject, so I’ll summarize those here. (see those posts here, and here)

The Paleolithic period of human development spans 2.5 million years. It is a period of general human evolution, not of specific dietary practices.

The most important factors of a “paleo”-type diet:

1. Foods are bio-regionally specific.
That is, they use foods that come from the person’s immediate area. Any “paleo” or other culture before global trade lived by this rule.

2. Food intake is activity-level specific.
The “paleo” eater is not counting calories, but is eating whatever natural foods are available locally to satiate themselves. The amount they eat will depend on how hungry they are – not on a “recommended daily intake.”

3. Foods are as unprocessed as possible.
That means unprocessed from the point of view of planting, growing (and pest-control), harvesting, shipment, storage, and preparation for eating.

These three factors make you an animal that is specific to its habitat and to its own individual needs.

These factors reduce the need for petroleum in the form of pesticides, harvesting equipment, and shipping and storage methods.

But I wouldn’t call that “paleo.” As Nate said, “paleo” was about surviving, not thriving. The problem is that most of America is truly “paleo” in its behavior – that is, people are eating whatever they come across as soon as they come across it. Our paleolithic ancestors had to do this in order to survive (at least, for part of the 2.5m year paleolithic period, and only in some places, not all). We don’t and we should be using our big brains a little better than that.

For a better idea of what I’m referring to here, check out the differences and similarities between more “paleo” eating habits of the Bedouin, Masai, and Inuit…add whatever other “non-civilized” tribe you want to that list…their diets match the three points above.