Victory never tasted so sweet.
Host of The Weekly Charlie Pickering has been tackling some of the big issues on his program recently; same-sex marriage, victim blaming, indigenous incarceration.
This week he took on a less serious topic, but one that is very close to our hearts here at Mamamia, when he gleefully took down the glorified snake oil merchants of the Paleo movement.
On Sunday night, Channel Seven and Nine both aired segments on the fad diet — which supposedly mimics the eating habits of our palaeolithic ancestors by doing away with processed foods and increasing the intake of meats, vegetables, nuts and seeds.
Veteran reporter Mike Willesee road tested the diet on Seven, guided by none other than “Paleo Pete” Evans himself.
Willesee — whose previous ice-cream and Coca Cola diet looked like something a young McCauley Culkin might have spruiked — had his health “independently” assessed before and after the challenge by Dr Ben Balzer the author of Paleo blog Ben Balzer’s Paleolithic Diet Site.
“The diet promoted by a guy who writes books on Paleo is being assessed by a guy who writes a blog on paleo, on a network whose star is the face of Paleo and the only independent voice in this equation is Mike Willesee and he doesn’t even know what a market is,” Pickering says.
“Thankfully Paleo doesn’t say anything about cutting down on conflicts of interest.”
Watch the full rant here:
I wonder if the paleo diet can cure SIQ BURNS?
Want more like this? Try these:
‘I went Paleo and now I hate everything.’
Explain to me: What is everyone’s problem with MKR’s Pete Evans?
‘Now my dog can’t even get a bone? That’s it, Paleo. I’m DONE WITH YOU.’
Top Comments
I'm getting a bit bored of every second article on this site being some kind of 'we hate paleo' article. We get it. Personally, I think people advocating that a diet full of vegetables, meat, fish, chicken, nuts and fruits is a better idea than the torrent of advertising I see each day for processed, sugary, fast, void-of-nutrient foods.
Your paleo criticism is not going to change the minds of people who believe it works for them and it's certainly not appealing as a reader to see the same thing, over and over. Don't like it, don't eat that way......simple. Everyone has a choice.
Dear Charlie thanks for the facts and humour, and for being a voice of reason. Why are people so ready to follow fads.
My grandfather who passed two years ago at the ripe old age of 91 had porridge in winter and wheat bix in summer for breakfast. Lunch was the previous days left overs in winter and a sandwich in summer. Dinner was meat/fish (grilled, roasted or stewed) with three vege in winter and with a salad in summer. He wasn't big on fruit but had an apple every day as a mid afternoon snack. Since I lived with my grandparents from the age of 11 to 21 I can report that we only had dessert only one or twice a week and cakes were a celebration food at birthdays and holiday. I must add that he liked a cold bear in summer, a glass of red with dinner and enjoyed the odd nip of scotch or rum.
My grandfather lived through the depression and the war and worked hard on a farm for the first 50 years of his life. He ate what was available, in season and was never overweight. This was moderation, so what's exactly wrong with porridge, sandwiches, meat and vege with an occasional treat?
Could some please explain why we need to stop eating grains and avoiding dairy? All I can think is that it's just a developed world thing, I bet poor, underfed people in developing countries aren't following "a Paleo diet", they just eat what they can get their hands on.