The History of Paleo Diet for Athletes
The history of Paleo diet dates back to 1975. This is the time when the principles advocated by this diet we made popular. The greatest proponent of this diet was a popular gastroenterologist as well as author named Walter Voegtlin. This doctor was instrumental in pushing for a high protein instead of carbohydrates in the diets of many athletes. He assisted in treating his patients through the use of a meat-based diet. This greatly helped him find important solutions for some digestive disorders such as irritable bowel syndrome and colitis.
After setting the diet in motion, later on many other experts carried out experiments to support this diet. The nutritionists, anthropologists and other health professionals started urging all people to return to the pre-agricultural diet plan. The benefits of this diet have been proofed to be viable again and again. The diet offers reliable solutions for treatment of degenerative diseases.
Another leading anthropologist Weston Price was very instrumental in convincing the world that many of the dental problems that we are facing today are as a result of the modern diet that we have adopted. He proved his point by going around the world and taking photos of human beings who lived during the pre-agricultural period. This is why after 1975 many experts always referred to the work of Price in delivery of their arguments. As a result of his studies Price wrote a book: “Nutritional and Physical Degeneration” In this book you can access all the findings that Price came up with after trail brazing the world for tangible evidence. These works summarized his monumental research work. Price concluded that, a part from the fact that the modern diets were responsible for the occurrence of diseases, heart diseases, cancer as well as asthma were also as a result of the modern diets.
Since 1970s when Paleo diet for athletes was first popularized, many researchers and writers have made their arguments for and against in many magazines, books and respected academic journals. More importantly, Paleo Diet has been a very common topic in evolutionary medicine based on the idea that human beings are more adapted to the diet of their ancestors as opposed to the invented foods consumed by the modern man. Diseases caused by modern diets are called diseases of affluence. These diseases are associated with what men call development. Industrialization has brought about new varieties of foods through processing in industries. The problem with these foods is that they are prepared in industries where they are mixed with chemicals such as food preservatives and flavors. This processing has a great impact on the health of consumers.
There are a number of critics who argue that Paleo diet is a fad diet. Those opposing this diet again argue that the cavemen had a very short lifespan. In fact they try to argue in a way of indicating that the short lifespan was as a result of their diet. These critics are also opposed to the restrictions and recommendations which are given. These critics argue that Paleo diet has very little benefits to the consumers. These types of arguments play a great role in identifying the weaknesses of any system of ideas. Without opposition, people will think that their ideas are perfect. In any case, if a dietary program is superior, any arguments against it will strengthen it. This depends on the people arguing for or against such idea or diet.
