Dieting is very much like the story of humanity – murky and controversial. But it’s never been more in vogue.

The Keto diet, Paleo diet and Vegan diet are everywhere, seemingly more virtuous than ‘mere’ vegetarianism and followers of the equally well known Mediterranean diet. But are they all just fads in reality?

The prehistoric hunter-gatherers, by their very nature, primarily took from the flora and fauna what they needed to survive. They were sustainable without ever realising it. They moved to where their prey and other food sources were plentiful. Their foods were usually very high in protein, such as fish and meat and nuts and berries; these are also significant sources of fat. Such a life would tend to keep one fit and relatively healthy but would not create the conditions for a large population and the growth of towns and cities. For that we had to wait for the more settled farming communities of the Neolithic. The change from Paleolithic, or the old stone age, to the new stone age, or Neolithic, was seemingly like night and day.

The majority of present day bipedal hominids left behind the a true hunter-gatherer lifestyle millenia ago, yet the diets championed by many these days, such as the Paleo and Keto diets, draw much inspiration from a low carb, high protein, high fat intake which largely mimics the diet of a hunter-gatherer, or ‘cave man‘.

Is anything to be gained by reverting to the kind of diet which our ancestors lived on until the end of the last Ice Age? Common sense might suggest that ridding our diet of many carbohydrates and processed foods is indeed healthy. And it is certainly true that making a smoothie, for example, is a very healthy way of getting your so called five a day. But not all carbohydrates are bad, especially in moderation. The Mediterranean diet, for example, might have mostly fresh ingredients, but there is also a considerable amount of carbohydrates in dishes which include pasta and rice and potatoes.

And there are still detractors of a vegetarian or vegan diet, saying that they run the risk of missing out on some highly beneficial nutrients that red and white meat and fish provide.

Fasting too used to be more controversial, though less so now. I grew up in a culture which championed a good, hearty breakfast to ‘set you up’ for the day. But right now there are a growing number of people skipping breakfast and lunch and having one main meal a day, a practice which until recently I assumed could actuall be dangerous, especially to those with certain health conditions, such as diabetes.

In truth we have never been so obsessed with diets and dieting. What is surely needed is that level of common sense which takes into consideration the individual and certain fundamental truths about what we eat. Little and often, as ever, is nearly always the best policy. We can balance up the issues and surely decide for ourselves.

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