The Paleo Diet May Not Be That Good For You

This high-protein, low-carbohydrate diet, based around the concept of how our Paleolithic ancestors used to feed, has substantially grown in popularity recently. There is a theory that when we began using stone tools, we started consuming protein-rich meat easily, and all of those extra calories and proteins gave our brains what they needed to grow. However, a new research claims that meat wasn’t responsible for brain growth, but the glucose in starches, like potatoes and tubers cooked over fire.

Cooking was crucial simply because it gave us access to all the energy found in starch-rich foods. Additionally, it helped us in developing enzymes in our saliva that could break down cooked starches.

Creators of the Paleo diet, however, are not ready to give up on the fight so easily, arguing that starches weren’t the most important factors in the evolution of the human brain.