Customer Reviews
Disappointing - I Expected Much More Objectivity - By: M. L. Shaw, 08 Oct 2008 
Having been researching diet due to an autoimmune condition & reaching conclusions which support a paleolithic approach to diet I was very much looking forward to reading this book. Particularly bearingin mind the excellent reviews of it I had seen here.
However, by page 25 it was clear that it was going to be downhill all the way. I was extremely disappointed to find it was a poorly-argued & badly researched work which, whilst supporting the overall concept of the paleo diet was wrapped intimately around at least 3 common myths. "The heart-diet myth" (fat myth), "The salt myth" & "The dietary fibre myth". This would be more forgivable if Laruen had actually bothered presented some semblance of a case instead of simply presenting her assumptions as a-priori fact which should not be examined.
The paleolithic diet is a useful concept but if anything were to put people who have been busy doing some research off looking more closely at it then this book would certainly do the job.
I could perhaps recommend this if you're the type of person who doesn't care to look too closely at the facts & simply want to get on to a dietary plan; but, if you're like me, & ask questions as you read a book & check or challenge unexamined assumptions you will be sorely disappointed & perhaps even frustrated. The rest of this book whilst, challenging my own thoughts & forcing me to firm up my current knowledge is going to be painful to wade through.
I recommended this book to a very intelligent female friend who, after I had bought it said she similarly found it dismal & gave up about half way through.
Badly needs rewriting. Needs the argument actually to be presented instead of being assumed or implied. Needs inline references & more citations to support her case (this will be difficult since many assumptions are flawed). Needs less waffle & to be more scientifically-bjective & disconnected from popular "shampoo science" myths. If I were reviewing this as a PhD thesis I'd give it about 4 out of 10.
Despite all this don't let it put you off a paleolithic approach to improving health through diet.
Excellent - By: Amethyst, 01 Sep 2008 
This is just superb & a well-kept secret from the medical establishment. If you are overweight/obese, suffer from diabetes/syndrome X or any of the autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, multiple sclerosis then this is the diet for you. Are painkillers/steroids & a wheelchair all your Dr has to offer? Do the tablets make you feel even worse & make you put on weight? With an as yet undiagnosed autoimmune disease,in desperation I decided to try this way of eating. Once I'd got over the withdrawal from carbs, the clear-headedness & reductionin pain is so worth it. Just 4 simple dietary rules 1. No Grains (wheat, rice, corn, beans etc), 2. No Dairy, 3. No Refined Sugar, 4. No added Salt. After 5 weeks I've lost 7lbs, my husband is also losing weight & I don't even miss chocolate any more.
Sensible approach to weight loss - By: Barbara Coulter, 07 Jun 2004 The Paleo diet is a very sensible approach to weight loss. I am all for going back to a more natural way of eating. However, I do find it rather offputting that Dr Cordain is so negative about other low carbohydrate diets - perhaps he wishes to dissociate himself from the negative publicity. But once you get past those comments, it is a good read. "Neanderthin" by Ray Audette also gives a good groundingin paleolithic eating, but without rubbishing other low carb authors.
I do not agree with Cordain's idea that you can eat fruit all the time & still expect to lose weight. After all, it would only have been availablein the summer/autumn to our paleolithic ancestors even if they did move around.
He also seems to rate fats solely on their omega-3 content - & anyone who has read anything by Dr Mary Enig will have a much broader attitude towards fatsin general.
Darwin'd disciple - By: Mrs. J. Strubenclinton, 11 Mar 2003 
The Paleo Diet is a serious contribution to the diet debate, though not as the writer claims (as they nearly all do) that it is the one & only RIGHT answer. It is a well-argued case but there are some statements I have to disagree with, for instance, Cordain claims that the early stone age people ate a salt free diet, which is highly unlikely given that the African Rift Valley & areas around the Mediterranean basin are richin naturally occurring salt pans & the herds of animals which hunting tribes follow travel over great distances to seek out these minerals. Our Palaeolithic ancestors were smart enough to do the same & our kidneys are well adapted to eliminating any excess. Salt also provided the original convenience foodin the form of salted & sun dried antelope strips still favoured by bushmen to-day.
Another other aspect I take exception to is his statement that since we have fruit & vegetables available all year round from all over the world we should enjoy these unlimited supplies. This disregards both the cost of these air milesin fossil fuel as well as the simple contradiction there isin eating what is not naturally available at times of the year not at allin rhythm with the seasonal rise & fallin our metabolism. For the importance of seasonal & local produce see Udo Erasmus's "Fats That Heal, Fats That Kill" Chapter 67.
Moreover, my most pointed criticism is about the attitude, fairly common among health gurus, of one-diet-fits-all. Cordain's Paleo Diet is, perhaps unwittingly, aimed at the Big Zero - that is the majority of people who still carry the Original genetic marker of the primeval hunter, blood group O. However, evolution did not stand still with the hunter; there is the cultural adaptation of the A group to agriculture rather than gathering by developing a greater tolerance to carbohydrate & of the nomadic B type to a high consumption of dairy produce as a result of the intelligent herding of animals rather than the simple chase after meat.
On the first page of Peter D'Adamo's "Live Right for Your Type" he says : "the science of blood type offers us a unique opportunity to examine the past, tinker with it, & pass along an improved version. It provides the knowledge & the tools, not only to improve our own livesin the here & now, but to codify those improvements into our genetic hard drive. "
So my recommendation to everyone interestedin this line of research is to read Cordain's bookin the understanding that he is addressing the O's but if you have landed on the A or B side branch of the evolutionary tree your genetic hard drive has already made the necessary adjustment to cope with their specific cultural developments. The amount of knowledge out there is so vast & the lines of research so diverse that no-one can claim to have the complete picture. The Paleo Diet provides a very useful & easily comprehensible starting point &in spite of my criticisms I highly commend it.
The most logical way to shed weight, regain health & energy. - By: , 23 Mar 2002 Dr. Loren has managed to explainin simple terms about the types of food which our ancestors ate as well as explaining why it should be the mannerin which we should eatin the 21st century. The reason for growing numbers of obese people is only because "we are what we eat". It has been stated many times but too many folks just dont take that little extra time to prepare food from the basic ingredients- which is natural - but will use 'prepared foods' which contain salt, sugar & other preservatives which our forbears would not have had. Certainly not refined sugar! It really is a case of back to basics, eat what our Stone Age ancestors would have eaten - because that is the way our body is geared to cope with & process food. For energy, stamina amd a slim body - eat like Paleolithic Man.
