As part of my weight loss program, I perform the Bio Electrical Impedance Test (body composition analysis) and get base-line information on body fat and lean muscle mass. I explain that making food choices is more important than counting calories or macronutrients for long-term health. I use the number of my client's lean body mass to recommend the number of grams of protein they should consume per day. For example, a male client that has 120 pounds of lean muscle mass would eat 120 grams of protein per day. Eating the types of proteins on the Paleo list usually induces an involuntary calorie restriction because protein makes you feel more satisfied. Try an experiment on some of your patients: add up the amount of protein (in grams) your clients are eating per day. I think you will find many are way under this formula amount.

Occasionally, I still recommend the Mediterranean Diet, but the Paleo Diet improves glucose tolerance more than a Mediterranean diet in individuals with ischemic heart disease. Foods regularly consumed during most of our prior evolution and the foods on the Paleo list, including meat, organ meat, eggs, fish, shellfish, vegetables, fruits, roots and nuts. Melons and berries are seasonal (not all year long like we consume now) and have the lowest fructose content. Allowed on the Paleo Diet are yams, sweet potatoes and taro. These contain starch that has not been shown to cause glucose intolerance.

Regarding fats, trans fatty acids are not allowed on the Paleo Diet. These did not even exist in the caveman era. Clients on a Paleo Diet are encouraged to eat monounsaturated fats such as avocados, avocado oil, hazelnuts, filberts, macadamia nuts, olives and olive oil. The amount of dietary fat is less important than the type of fat. Monounsaturated fats have a beneficial effect in the lipoprotein profile. As body fat goes up, a person's chance of diabetes and high blood pressure goes up. If these go up, your chance of kidney dysfunction go up. An increased kidney dysfunction increases your chances of death. Increasing dietary acid increases urine calcium excretion. There is a forty percent decrease in urine calcium with the Paleo Diet. I often explain to patients about the different types of fats and the need for good fats in our diet. Fat-free is a mistake, low carbohydrate is the key to better health.

The Paleo diet encourages eating more vegetables and fruits (limiting dried fruits with additives) which supplies plenty of fiber (which usually comes from cereal grains in the typical Western diet). On a calorie per calorie basis, fruits and vegetables have, respectively, two and eight times more fiber than whole grains.

Loren Cordain, Boyd Eaton, Robb Wolf, Mark Sisson, and Staffan Lindeberg, are some of the key researchers and authors of the Paleo Diet. A tremendous amount has been written about the Paleo Diet. Cordain estimated the following distribution for Pleistocene (the epoch of geologic time, about 1.6 million to 10,000 years ago, characterized by the disappearance of continental ice sheets and the appearance of humans) diets, as a percentage of total daily caloric intake: Protein (19-35%), Dietary Fat (28-58%) and Carbohydrates (22-40%). The Paleo Diet is a high protein diet (> 20% of caloric intake) which has been shown to improve obesity, dyslipidemia, insulin sensitivity, metabolic syndrome associated hypertension. Cordain suggests there is a hepatic urea synthesis limit (2.6 - 3.6 g/kg/day) that shouldn't be crossed.

Help your clients make better food choices. Calorie per calorie, fish, shellfish, meat, vegetables and fruit present a higher micronutrient density than cereal grains (especially the refined version), milk (with the exception of calcium), sugar and refined oils.

A Paleo Diet and strength training exercise, for the vast majority, is a way to lose fat, feel better, build a lean mass, learn not to obsess over hunger, and gain a measure of normal health. There is even more to it than that because all these things address mostly your body; not the mind, and not society as a whole. When we lived as a tribe, things that relate to the mind and society were probably not dismissed as irrelevant. During the Paleo Era, women and men were more equal than today. The rich and poor people were not divided like they are today. I can only imagine more of an "us" versus "them" mentality.

I am convinced after using the Paleo Diet in my practice for several years that the Paleo Diet is safe and effective. Go cutting edge – go beyond the original practice of manipulation and attention to the nervous system – think weight loss, diabetes prevention, chronic disease prevention and even sustainability of the planet!

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