Paleo Deconstructed Part 1.1: Robb Wolf

There’s a belief that I’m here to knock the Paleo movement or even to make a few jabs at influential figures like Robb Wolf—I only do that with asinine plans like IF and it’s supporters when they preach a blind, unjustified faith in the diet’s non-existent magical powers. This is absolutely not the case here. I like Robb and I like his philosophy a whole bunch because although his philosophy may be interpreted and attributed to the Paleo movement, Robb is the one who I attribute the greatest advances in Paleo thinking. Robb adheres to the two prime principles, which allows him to see the bigger picture.

As for many of the comments on part 1: I love them. But realize, I’m not writing for the forward thinkers, but those entrenched in their zealot ways. I know my conclusions don’t describe every Paleo variant out there, particularly those riding the bleeding edge. This series, as you’ll see in future posts, is to help people move forward from the exceptional health they’ve obtained with Paleo to exceptional performance as well.

You’ll also notice that these “Paleo 2.0” principles move closer to the Mediterranean diet with each step. For example, the main source of fat is monounsaturated C18:1 in the Medi, which olives, macadamia nuts and avocados contain in high proportion (Paleo foods). Dairy is a weekly and almost daily component of the Medi diet, which Paleo adherents now include on a regular basis. Pointing out that Paleo is the Medi diet takes away a little excitement and ownership, but at the same time prevents the policy makers from decrying Paleo as a fad. In the very first book I wrote—which only two people besides myself have ever seen—my ultimate conclusion was that everyone who doesn’t care about performance should be on a Mediterranean diet, specifically the Spanish Ketogenic Mediterranean Diet (SKMD) because it includes very little carbs and only includes them at night. This echos today’s diet-world catch phrase: Everything old is new again. That’s because we finally have the science to justify the past.

If there is one factor that trumps everything related to increasing performance gains, it’s diet. My goal is to strip the fetters holding people back from obtaining their absolute peak by presenting the science to justify my conclusions. Robb does the same thing. For that, the Paleo community—and the nutrition community at large—owes Robb beyond measure.