A newly published, peer-reviewed paper about the Paleo diet is very encouraging. Follow my thoughts on this as I make a case leading up to a discussion of this study:
 
Acellular carbohydrates, processed foods, and unhealthy fats damage the gut bacteria and cause intestinal permeability (or leaky gut). Then, proteins that should never enter the bloodstream begin invading. These invading proteins and bacteria set up chronic inflammation and immune responses. As a result, various characteristics of metabolic syndrome develop (such as increase in body weight, increase in waist circumference, increase in blood pressure, unhealthy levels of serum lipids, increase in fasting blood sugar).
 
Metabolic syndrome has been shown to create a high risk of progression to type-2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
 
Consider this: If the biological markers of metabolic syndrome could be reduced and brought back to healthy values, then other chronic diseases of the body might be able to heal or be prevented such as obesity, type-2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and insulin resistance.
 
Also, consider this: If a leaky gut could be healed by eliminating the “foods” that initiated intestinal permeability (like acellular carbohydrates, processed foods, and unhealthy fats), then other autoimmune diseases and chronic diseases also might be prevented or healed.
 
A recently published human study has identified that Paleo-type diets reduce the characteristics of metabolic syndrome.
 
The Paleo or Primal Diet is devoid of acellular carbohydrates, processed foods, and unhealthy fats and is loaded with the nutrients that each of our cells need to survive and thrive. Therefore, the Paleo Diet is conducive to preventing or healing many chronic diseases. This includes gum disease and tooth decay.
 
In October 2014, Inge Boers, et al, published the study I referenced above. These researchers evaluated 34 individuals who already were diagnosed with metabolic syndrome. Half of the group ate a Paleo-type diet and the other half ate a Dutch Healthy Diet (similar to the Mediterranean diet). The study lasted two weeks, and it controlled for changes in weight. The individuals in the study were eating foods that were prepared for them and delivered to them to make sure they ate exactly what they were supposed to eat. The group that ate the Paleo-type diet had improved most of their markers for metabolic syndrome while those on the Healthy Diet did not. Some of those in the Paleo diet group, who were previously diagnosed with metabolic syndrome, no longer had metabolic syndrome at the end of the study. And, all this happened in only two weeks.
 
This is huge!