Paleolithic diets

If, as indicated by some studies, prudent diets such as the Mediterranean or DASH diets can be further improved, an evolutionary approach may be helpful. Paleolithic diets represent the food habits during more than two million years of hominid and human evolution before the development of agriculture. Fruits, tubers, nuts, lean meat, larvae, insects, fish, shellfish, eggs, honey, and a large variety of vegetables have been staple foods. Contemporary non-Western populations with similar lifestyles have shown exceptionally low rates of cardiovascular disease, obesity, insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes mellitus, and hypertension. Available evidence lends some support in favor, and less against, the notion that Paleolithic diets are an appropriate template in the dietary prevention and treatment of cardiometabolic diseases.