According to new research, people who follow the Paleo, or Paleolithic, diet were found to have high levels of blood biomarker associated with heart disease. This finding has raised doubts about the Paleo diet, suggesting us that it is not balanced enough for optimal health.
The study found that the Paleo diet could threaten your heart health.
The Paleo diet claims to emulate what the ancestors of modern humans used to eat. People who follow this type of diet consume a lot of meat, fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seeds, and avoid dairy, legumes, and whole grains.
The have been controversies surrounding the Paleolithic diet and many researchers have been debating whether it is safe and healthy.
One study from 2016 suggested that the Paleo diet could protect against cardiovascular disease by increasing a protective molecule in the blood.
On the contrary, another study from the same year discovered that this type of diet caused unhealthy weight gain and increased the risk of diabetes and heart disease.
According to the current study conducted by a team of Australia researchers, people who follow the Paleo diet may be putting their heart health at risk.
The findings of the study were published in the European Journal of Nutrition.
The researchers looked at more than 40 participants who followed the Paleo diet and 47 participants who followed typical diets meeting the national dietary recommendations. They followed up for over a year, collected their biological samples and assessed their diets.
The team of researchers said that people who followed the Paleo diet have higher levels of trimethylamine N-oxide, as they did not consume whole grains, which are a great source of dietary fiber and help reduce a risk of cardiovascular disease.
Lead study author Angela Genoni said, “We found the lack of whole grains [was] associated with [trimethylamine N-oxide] levels, which may provide a link [with] the reduced risks of cardiovascular disease we see in populations with high intakes of whole grains.”
She continued, “The Paleo diet excludes all grains and we know that whole grains are a fantastic source of resistant starch and many other fermentable fibers that are vital to the health of your gut microbiome.”
In addition, the scientists pointed out that participants who followed the Paleo diet had higher concentrations of a gut bacteria that generate the compound.
Genoni explained, “Because [trimethylamine N-oxide] is produced in the gut, a lack of whole grains might change the populations of bacteria enough to enable higher production of this compound.” The researchers warned that excluding whole grains from the diet could seriously affect gut health, endangering the heart health.
