BBC TV Airs Experiment Of 9 Volunteers on Caveman Diet

What if humans cast aside processed foods and saturated fats in favour of the sort of diet our ape-like ancestors once ate?

"Based on the research and information I have on January 07 the following makes sense to me," Harlan Jacobsen Copyright © 2007

The following is edited from BBC News Magazine.

EVO DIET: WHAT THEY ATE
5kgs or 2,300 calories of fruit, vegetables, nuts and honey

On a 3-day rota, typically:

  • Broccoli, carrots, radishes Cabbage, tomatoes, watercress
  • Strawberries, apricots, bananas Mangoes, melons, figs, plums Satsumas, hazelnuts
  • (oily fish added second week)

As part of an experiment for a BBC programmed, nine volunteers spent two weeks eating the same diet as the great apes.

What if humans cast aside processed foods and saturated fats in favour of the sort of diet our ape-like ancestors once ate? Nine volunteers gave it a go, and were glad they did so.

The group of 9 volunteers opted to try to cut their blood pressure and cholesterol levels.

...this was an experiment filmed for BBC TV.
The idea, says Jill Fullerton-Smith, who helped organize the trial, was that modern diets, often dominated by processed foods and saturated fats, cause costly health problems.

So could an experiment on ordinary people's lives deliver the healthy eating message?

Nine volunteers, aged 36 to 49, took on the 12-day Evo Diet, consuming up to five kilos of raw fruit and veg a day. Hunter-gatherer style

The program......based on research showing such a diet could have health benefits for cholesterol levels and blood pressure, because it is made up of the types of foods our bodies evolved to eat over thousands of years.

based on, a three-day rotating menu of fruit, vegetables, nuts and honey. The prescribed menu was: safe to eat raw; met adult human daily nutritional requirements.

Jon Thornton's wife signed him up for the experiment. Over 12 days he lost 5.7kg (12.5lbs), and reduced his cholesterol by 20%. His blood pressure also fell.

Despite nearly backing out at the start - the first day's food arrived in a cool-box, was raw and he was distinctly uncomfortable with the idea of broccoli - he was converted to eating vast portions of fresh fruit and vegetable.

"I didn't feel any loss of energy, I didn't feel ill at all," he says. "It's not a diet you'd recommend as a diet itself, but it worked to bring my cholesterol and blood pressure down."

With so much food bulk and plenty of calories the subjects did not go hungry - indeed most failed to finish their daily ration. And once they were over the withdrawal from caffinated drinks and some foods, says Ms Garton, they enjoyed good energy levels and mood.

So the "moments of unhappiness and grumpiness" that the TV crew was primed to capture failed to happen.
Driving instructor Jon cut his cholesterol and his weight.

Overall, the cholesterol levels dropped 23%, an amount usually achieved only through anti-cholesterol drugs statins.

The group's average blood pressure fell from a level of 140/83 - almost hypertensive - to 122/76. Though it was not intended to be a weight loss diet, they dropped 4.4kg (9.7lbs), on average.

The regime provided an education for all, and a permanent change for some.

The TV production of this experiment, "The Truth About Food" appeared on BBC Two, Thursday, 11th of January

Editors Note: We ran this information on a 12 day experiment in the UK with it because we have long maintained that the caveman diet works and many of our readers have been skeptics. Note: 2...Their diet also cut salt intake about 90% not mentioned in our condensed version.  

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* All about fat - the Big Fat Lie 
* Our deadly diabetes deception 
* Switching to a new lifestyle and new chance at life 
* A cure already exists? 
* Insulin not miracle cure for type 2 diabetes 
* How we got here 
* Caveman’s water
ISSUE #5
* Diabetes is Not What Is Going To Kill You 
* Pain Is A Warning 
* Keeping Diabetic Teeth 
* Diabetic Caveman Cooking 
* Pain in the Joint 
* Death by Doctoring 
* Decision: Living or Dying 
* Half of Diabetics with Kidney Disease 
* Aid for Diabetic Cheaters 
* 82% Already Had Strokes
ISSUE #9
* Best Time to Eat to Control Diabetes 
* Update: The Chocolate Miracle 
* Insulin IS a Fat Making Hormone 
* Salt Has to Go 
* Add Years, Improve Healthy Lifestyle 
* Big "Hidden" Component of Diabetes 
* Shop, Prepare, and Eat Basic Items 
* Real Causes of Diabetes, Obesity
ISSUE #2
* The caveman diet 
* What you eat on caveman diet 
* Reversing or curing neuropathy 
* 2 Russians develop diabetes cure 
* Physician caused drug deaths #3 
* New study reveals reversal in 2 weeks

ISSUE #6
* Diabetic Survival Kit Essentials 
* Getting Diabetes Under Control 
* Your Glued Up Gut 
* Is It Trash or Food? 
* What Works with Diabetes 
* Not Fate: You are Killing Yourself 
* Cherries May be Big for Diabetes 

 

 

ISSUE #3
* Make your caveman lifestyle work 
* What is MSG? 
* What are transfats? 
* Warning for Older Diabetics 
* How to Keep Score 
* Depression, diabetes connection 
* What diabetics need to know

ISSUE #7
* Latest Diabetes Statistics Report 
* $$$ Help with Prescriptions
* You Need a Test to Know This
* Sugaraholics, Won’t Give It Up 
* What is Killing You/Me Now....?
* Your Cooking Method Worse Than "Trans-Fat"?
* Daily Diabetes Recipes That Work For Me
* Fixing You is an Uphill Battle
 

ISSUE #4
* Latest: Alzheimer's Simply Diabetes 3?
* Fix Your pH - Fast Road to Health
* How "Caveman Diet" Drops Fat
* Diabetics:  fix lack of Exercise Or Forget Longevity
* Diabetics:  It is Not WHAT You Eat, It Is HOW YOU Eat
* 69% of Diabetics Not Following Treatment
ISSUE #8
* Beware Fake Health Food
*
Physical Diabetes Fix That Works
*
Where Inflammation Comes From
*
Chocolate Therapy
*
The Fiber Solution
*
Flatulence: The Enzyme Meter
*
Why You Are Dying 20 Yrs. Early
*
Testing Your Blood Glucose Level
 

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DISCLAIMER: Any and all information and/or articles contained within this website are not meant as nor should they be taken, viewed and/or interpreted as medical advice. They are presented for your information, your education on the subject and as a guideline only. If you have any questions or need additional information, please consult your family doctor or trained medical personnel before taking any action. Information is edited by a layman from published authors and scientific reports, plus personal experience as a diabetic. If you notice any substantive errors please contact the publisher harlanjacobsen@webtv.net, put the word "Diabetes" in the subject line.

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Including Handling and Postage Paid, Get Updated. Do Not miss "what works". You can not solve the puzzle unless you have all the pieces.


ISSUE #1

* All about fat - the Big Fat Lie 
* Our deadly diabetes deception 
* Switching to a new lifestyle and new chance at life 
* A cure already exists? 
* Insulin not miracle cure for type 2 diabetes 
* How we got here 
* Caveman’s water


ISSUE #2

* The caveman diet 
* What you eat on caveman diet 
* Reversing or curing neuropathy 
* 2 Russians develop diabetes cure 
* Physician caused drug deaths #3 
* New study reveals reversal in 2 weeks


ISSUE #3

* Make your caveman lifestyle work 
* What is MSG? 
* What are transfats? 
* Warning for Older Diabetics 
* How to Keep Score 
* Depression, diabetes connection 
* What diabetics need to know


ISSUE #4

* Latest: Alzheimer's Simply Diabetes 3?
* Fix Your pH - Fast Road to Health
* How "Caveman Diet" Drops Fat
* Diabetics:  fix lack of Exercise Or Forget Longevity
* Diabetics:  It is Not WHAT You Eat, It Is HOW YOU Eat
* 69% of Diabetics Not Following Treatment


ISSUE #5

* Diabetes is Not What Is Going To Kill You 
* Pain Is A Warning 
* Keeping Diabetic Teeth 
* Diabetic Caveman Cooking 
* Pain in the Joint
* Death by Doctoring 
* Decision: Living or Dying 
* Half of Diabetics with Kidney Disease 
* Aid for Diabetic Cheaters 
* 82% Already Had Strokes


ISSUE #6

* Diabetic Survival Kit Essentials 
* Getting Diabetes Under Control 
* Your Glued Up Gut 
* Is It Trash or Food? 
* What Works with Diabetes 
* Not Fate: You are Killing Yourself 
* Cherries May be Big for Diabetes 


ISSUE #7

* Latest Diabetes Statistics Report
* $$$ Help with Prescriptions
* You Need a Test to Know This
* Sugaraholics, Won’t Give It Up
* What is Killing You/Me Now....?
* Your Cooking Method Worse Than "Trans-Fat"?
* Daily Diabetes Recipes That Work For Me
* Fixing You is an Uphill Battle


ISSUE #8

* Beware Fake Health Food
*
Physical Diabetes Fix That Works
*
Where Inflammation Comes From
*
Chocolate Therapy
*
The Fiber Solution
*
Flatulence: The Enzyme Meter
*
Why You Are Dying 20 Yrs. Early
*
Testing Your Blood Glucose Level


ISSUE #9

 * Best Time to Eat to Control Diabetes 
* Update: The Chocolate Miracle 
* Insulin IS a Fat Making Hormone 
* Salt Has to Go 
* Add Years, Improve Healthy Lifestyle 
* Big "Hidden" Component of Diabetes 
* Shop, Prepare, and Eat Basic Items 
* Real Causes of Diabetes, Obesity

To Obtain Back Issues and/or Subscribe:  Go here

Notice!
Material published here is obtained and edited by a layman, primarily from published and scientific reports and is not intended as medical advice, but solely as educational material including options of alternative therapies.