What is it about our paleolithic ancestors that makes us (and celebs from Miley Cyrus to Matthew McConaughey) want to adopt their hunter-gatherer ways? This week, we take on the Paleo Diet and explore the notion that getting back to our Stone Age roots can help us lead healthier, happier lives. That gets us deep into evolutionary theory, from Darwin’s concept of survival of the fittest to the science in Jurassic Park to our personal gut bacteria...and even a bogus explanation of why ladies love pink. Sharpen your sticks, friends: we’re going to hunt down some answers.
Links to Stuff We Talk About
Theory
Charles Darwin, The Origin of Species. 1859.
M. Zuk, Paleofantasy: What Evolution Really Tells Us about Sex, Diet,
and How We Live. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2013.
Context
Michael Moss. Salt Sugar Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us. Random House Trade Paperbacks, 2014. (quickie NYTimes Magazine version here)
Articles
Jef Akst, "Gut bacteria are what we eat." The Scientist. April 7, 2010.
Ferris Jabr, "How to Really Eat Like a Hunter-Gatherer: Why the Paleo Diet Is Half-Baked." Scientific American. June 3, 2013.
Tim Spector, "The Paleo diet is absurd, science says." Fortune.com. June 25, 2015.
Bonus
To read up on the original, trademarked Paleo Diet, visit Loren Cordain's website here.
Back in the day corn used to look different, check out just how different here.
On this episode, we shared some facepalm-worthy examples of evolutionary psychology absurdities, check them (and some others) out here, here and here. (But don't get too down, this will make you feel better about evolutionary psychology!)
This episode, our tunes are provided by Cher Lloyd (luv her), the original Jurassic Park movie, and our fav prehistoric fam,The Flintstones. YABADABADOO!