kevtt,
Thanks for the post.
The "paleo diet", short for paleolithis diet, advocates against:
Grains- including bread, pasta, noodles
Beans- including string beans, kidney beans, lentils, peanuts, snow-peas and peas
Potatoes
Dairy products
Sugar
Salt
and for:
Meat, chicken and fish
Eggs
Fruit
VegetablesVegetable laxative (especially root
vegetablesVegetable laxative, but definitely not including potatoes or sweet potatoes)
Nuts, eg. walnuts, brazil nuts, macadamia, almond.
Berries- strawberries, blueberries,
raspberries etc.
Root
vegetablesVegetable laxative- carrots, turnips, parsnips, rutabagas, Swedes
OrganOrgan-1 nr meats- liver and kidneys (I accept that many people find these unpalatable and won’t eat them)
My source for this list was paleodiet.com.
I think this diet, like the Adkins, Ornish, Mediterranean, and South Beach diets, has some merits, but goes too far in its claims. Any "Standard" in the 21st
CenturyCentury
Century-vite needs to be based on strong scientific evidence, not historical anecdote and supposition. This diet, or one of the others, may indeed be the ultimate diet, but no one has proven it thus far.
Certainly avoidance of certain substances, and these are likely to be different for each person (but may include caffeine), makes sense for persons with afib. I think pursuit of a sensible diet made up of mostly vegetables and fruit and with enough caloric content to maintain a healthy weight is the right way to go. The one thing that has been convincingly demonstrated in animal models is that eating fewer calories, while maintaining weight, leads to longevity.
Hope that helps.
Currently, there's good evidence that grains reduce risks of certain cancers but paleo diet advocates believe it's the opposite.
-jeff