The Paleo Diet is an exceptionally popular book that was authored by Dr. Loren Cordain, who works in the Department of Health and Exercise Science at Colorado State University.

Within this book, Dr. Cordain has cited a number of different research studies that had previously been performed by his colleagues as well as himself, using them as his “proof” that our diet should actually be transformed into something that more closely mimics the type that was consumed by the prehistoric ancestors of the modern human being. Throughout the pages of this book, Dr. Cordain describes what has gone wrong in the foods that we currently consume and how an individual can correct that problem for better overall health.

The idea of the Paleo Diet is a relatively basic one. It states that we evolved as hunter-gatherers and that what they and current cultures of hunter-gatherers eat will be much more effective for promoting health based on our own natural genetic makeup. To replicate that type of eating, it would mean that complex carbohydrate consumption would need to be considerably reduced, as would foods that are high on the glycemic index. On the other hand, the book says that we should be eating a higher amount of whole fruits and vegetables, seafood, and lean meats. This could, according to Cordain, do a great deal toward solving the health issues that are currently plaguing Western societies, including heart disease.

The book then outlines the way in which people can adopt this type of lifestyle to improve their own health. During the first two weeks, it does not recommend taking part in exercise. That said, it appears that exercise is not a major component of the diet as a whole, though after the first two weeks it is neither recommended nor discouraged. Special recommendations are made in the book for individuals who do take part in regular exercises and workouts.

On the positive side, the actual foods being recommended are typically quite healthy and those foods often align with what many modern health diets would also recommend. Moreover, there is now a website that complements the book that adds onto the information and resources that the printed copy provides.

That said, the book does lack some descriptions of the way in which some of the dietary recommendations fit into the modern lifestyle, instead of that traditionally adopted by the hunter-gatherers in our ancestry.