Type 2 Diabetes Or Not - What Is the Human Body Designed to Eat?

Luckily, there's a growing fringe of not only nutrition fanatics (oftentimes referred to as "Paleolithic dieters"), but researchers looking into this age-old, yet under-asked question. Although this line of research is still in its infancy, some of the early findings are fairly remarkable, and have particularly crucial implications for diabetics looking to improve or reverse their condition.

Before we get to specific research studies, let's get to the fundamentals of what a diet designed for the human body is supposed to look like. To do so, we need to take a quick trip in a time machine back about 50,000 years... well before the days of cars, iPads, and Starbucks coffee (imagine!).

It's here that modern humans started eating whatever they could get their hands on. Over a period of millions of years, the human body adapted to the available food sources and hasn't changed much since. Unfortunately, while our bodies are locked into prehistoric mode, our diets have undergone a complete overhaul.

In fact, many scientists are now pointing to out modern diets, even those widely considered "healthy" as the culprit of the Type 2 diabetes and obesity epidemic we find our planet in. The sudden influx of sugar, grains, and processed foods have handed our bodies foods that it simply wasn't designed to deal with... and sorry to say, we aren't doing an amazing job adapting to. It takes literally thousands of years for environmental adapting to kick in, meaning that we can't wait for our bodies to adapt. We need to adjust to its design.

Luckily, you don't have to don a loincloth and live in the wilderness to eat a Paleolithic diet. Indeed, scientists are incorporating this diet more and more into diabetic research protocols.

For example, one study published in Diabetologia, put a truly old-school 50,000 year old diet against one of the most highly regarded diets on the planet, the Mediterranean diet. Not only did the Paleolithic diet improve blood sugar levels in a dramatically short period of time, but it actually outperformed a strict Mediterranean diet. It turns out that the Mediterranean diet, while one of the healthiest cuisines on the planet, still doesn't reflect the foods our bodies evolved with.

If you're frustrated, confused, and overwhelmed with the so-called "cutting edge" diabetic diet recommendations out there, it may be time to simplify things... and start eating like a caveman to help you lose weight and have lower blood sugar levels.