The paleo diet: You may lose weight but could also die young

CAN’T face another steak? Craving some wholegrains? Listen to what your body is telling you, new research says: It could extend your life.

THEY might be skinny but those following the fad Paleo diet are set to die young, a new study has found.

And carbohydrate scoffing fatties who eat hardly any protein will outlive them.

New research at Sydney University has found mice on a low protein (15-20 per cent), high carbohydrate diet have the same metabolic health as those who starve themselves to live longer.

However, mice on a high protein, low carbohydrate diet, similar to the Paleo diet, had high insulin levels and a shorter lifespan.

Paleo diet leads to 'shorter lifespan’

“The Paleo people will be screaming and howling and they have a personal and professional interest in doing it,” says Professor Simpson the academic director of Sydney University’s Charles Perkins Centre.

“One of the best ways to combat the lure of fad diets is to provide hard, experimental evidence,” he says.

How you manage your protein and carbohydrate intake matters more than counting calories when it comes to health and a long life. Picture supplied.

What the research shows is how you manage your protein and carbohydrate intake matters more than counting calories when it comes to health and long life.

Before you get too excited the study published in the journal Cell Press does not mean you can gorge yourself on cream cakes, soft drinks and pastries.

“This ain’t a licence to eat junk,” says Professor Simpson.

Exercise your digestion

The message is eat high quality wholegrain carbohydrates which are hard to digest like starches, vegetables and fruit because that is what the mice in this study were fed, he said.

And the bad news is that you will end up “chubby” on this diet which Professor Simpson says includes just 15 per cent protein, 50-60 per cent carbohydrate and 25-30 per cent fat.

Can the research be applied to humans? Professor Simpson says yes because similar diets are being tested on humans at Washington University with similar results.

A long life is linked to high consumption of wholegrain carbohydrates not junk food. Picture Getty Images.

In 1935 the first evidence emerged that restricting calories 30-40 per cent below recommended levels could help you live longer and the findings have been replicated in studies on flies, dogs, mice and even yeast.

Lifestyle versus life

The people who go on these diets are miserable, their bone density falls and their libido goes but their metabolism is good and they live longer.

Professor Simpson wanted to know whether you could get the same metabolic benefit by feeding mice a low protein, high carbohydrate diet and let them eat as much as they wanted.

“And yes, we found that you could,” he said.

University of Sydney’s Professor Stephen Simpson is guiding research on which diets keep you healthy and allow a long life.

A previous study of 30 diets on 900 mice at the University had found the low protein, high carbohydrate diet was the best diet for a long life.

This diet was compared to two other diets — a diet with 40 per cent calorie restriction and a high protein low carbohydrate diet similar to the Paleo diet which the 30 diet study found resulted in a shorter life span.

While the high protein, low carbohydrate diet resulted in reduced body fat and food intake after 8 weeks the mice on this diet had higher insulin levels and impaired glucose tolerance.

Balancing insulin and glucose

The mice on the low protein high carbohydrate diets had beneficial insulin and glucose levels similar to the mice on calorie restricted diets, the study found.

“We show that low protein high carbohydrate diets generate the metabolic benefits of calorie restriction without a 40 per cent reduction in total caloric intake,” the paper says.

The bad news for diet fanatics is just about every fad diet is a high protein, low carbohydrate diet.

“All diets that encourage weight loss are high protein,” Professor Simpson says

“The extreme high protein, high fat diet is the mixture our research suggests is the worst,” he says.

FAD DIETS AND HOW THEY COMPARE

PALEO DIET: The eat like a cave man diet is high protein and low carb. It promotes consumption grass fed meat, fish, fruit and vegetables and nuts. It shuns grains, legumes, dairy, refined sugars and processed food. It’s chief Australian advocate is chef Pete Evans.

ISRAELI ARMY DIET: Not the food the Israeli’s feed their army. The low carbohydrate diet lasted for eight days with the dieter eating only one type of food for two days each. Days One — Two: Apples, days Three — Four: Cheese, days Five — Six: Chicken, days Seven — Eight: Salad.

CABBAGE SOUP DIET: Famously followed by opposition Leader Kim Beazley it involves eating unlimited amounts low calorie cabbage soup for a week. It is very low fat, low protein and low carbohydrate diet.

ATKINS DIET: Restricts carbohydrates and asks you to eat protein and fat instead.

THE DUKAN DIET: This high protein diet allows you to eat just 100 foods and has four phases: attack, cruise, consolidation, and stabilisation. In the first week dieters are allowed to eat as much as they want of 68 protein foods, the cruise phase adds 28 vegetables, only during the consolidation phase are fruit and bread reintroduced.

LEMON DETOX DIET: A crash diet based on fasting. Those following the diet drink a cocktail of water, lemon juice, cayenne pepper and maple syrup and nothing else for ten days. Laxative tea and salt water flushes are also part of the regimen. This is low fat, low carb and low protein.

PRITIKIN DIET: The fad diet of the 1980s the high-fibre, low protein and low fat Pritikin diet focused on unprocessed or minimally processed natural foods like fruits, vegetables, legumes whole grains such as brown rice, starchy vegetables like potatoes and yams, lean meat, and seafood. It also called for at least 30 minutes exercise a day.

FIVE AND TWO DIET: Based on periodic fasting this diet allows you to eat sensibly for five days and consume just 400-500 calories on two non consecutive fast days. It is consistent with the calorie restriction model of dieting shown to improve metabolic and lifespan.

MEDITERRANEAN DIET: Based on traditional eating habits of those in Greece and southern Italy this moderate protein high carbohydrate diet includes high consumption of olive oil, legumes, wholegrains, fruits and vegetables, moderate consumption of fish and dairy and wine, low consumption of meat.