What do you think?
Rate this book
The New Evolution Diet: What Our Paleolithic Ancestors Can Teach Us about Weight Loss, Fitness, and Aging
Believe it or not, our DNA is almost exactly the same as that of our ancestors. While scientific advances in agriculture, medicine, and technology have protected man, to some degree, from dangers such as starvation, illness, and exposure, the fact remains that our cave-dwelling cousins were considerably healthier than we are. Our paleolithic ancestors did not suffer from heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, or obesity. In fact, a good deal of what we view as normal aging is a modern condition that is more akin to disease than any natural state of growing older.Our predecessors were incomparably better nourished than we are, and were incredibly physically fit. And certainly none of them ever craved a doughnut, let alone tasted one. In fact, the human preference for sweet tastes and fatty textures was developed in an environment where such treats were rare, and signaled dense, useful energy. This once-helpful adaptation is the downfall of many a dieter today. It's what makes it hard to resist fats and sweets, especially when they are all around us.We are not living as we were built to live. Our genes were forged in an environment where activity was mandatory—you were active or you starved or were eaten. This created strong selective pressure for genes encoding a smart, physically adept individual capable of very high activity levels. Humans are among the most active of species, and we carry energetically expensive brains to boot. Our energy expenditures rank high among all animals. At least they once did. The New Evolution Diet by Arthur De Vany, PhD is a roadmap back to the better health our ancestors once enjoyed. By eliminating modern foods, including carbohydrates, dairy, and all processed foods from our diets, we can undo much of the damage caused by our modern food environment. The plan is based on three simple Enjoy the pleasure of food and do not count or restrict calories. Eat three satisfying meals a day filled with non-starchy vegetables, fruits, and high-quality, lean proteins2. Do not starve yourself, but do go hungry episodically, for brief periods, to promote a low fasting blood insulin level and increase metabolic fat-burning. 3. Exercise less, not more, but with more playfulness and intensity. The goal is to create a strong body with a high resting metabolism and a large physiologic capacity to move through life easily—not to burn calories.
226 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 21, 2010
93 people are currently reading
903 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 55 reviews
October 13, 2015
Make that, "The Narcissist's Evolution Diet." I was excited to read a book said to describe "the robust health that Mother Nature intended...Eat only those foods that were available to early man..." However, the author's ego gets in the way and he's so busy bragging and describing exactly the foods he eats, that he never gets to the information you want. Not only that, you expect that his PhD is related to nutrition or kinesiology, so you feel a bit deceived when you find out it's in economics. I wanted to read about cavemen, not read a book written by a man with an intellect like a caveman.
October 10, 2015
I agree with the low carb/"paleo" lifestyle and try to live it myself, but De Vany makes some really dubious "scientific" claims that are very outdated and I definitely can't get behind them (like demonizing butter. Uh, what?). Maybe this book is too old for the science, I don't know. His obviously huge ego also got pretty annoying very early on. Yes, you're an old dude and you surely have a great body; yes, I'm sure you have the testosterone of an 18-year-old boy. Yes, I'm sure your doctor said it's the highest level he's ever seen. It's your book and everything, but mentioning how great your stats are every 3 pages makes me want to throw your book down a subway grate.
March 21, 2013
Reading Nassim Taleb's Fooled by Randomness in the spring of 2007, I came across the name of Art De Vany, the author of Hollywood Economics. Taleb mentioned it in his book because it addressed the issue of the difficulty of predicting winning movies. De Vany, an academic economist, talks about power laws, stochastic events, complexity, etc. in that academic work. Taleb noted in passing that De Vany also applied these principles to fitness. I checked it out on the web and discovered De Vany's web site, which I've read off and on since that time. Now, he has out his book. It was worth the wait.
De Vany argues that we will benefit greatly from aspects of the environment that human beings evolved in during the Paleolithic age. Put most simply, a diet of meat, nuts, vegetables, and not much else. No grain or dairy, not to mention sugar. And as for exercise: brief bursts of intense exercise with lots of rest in between. Now mind you, De Vany isn't a cave man--he writes a blog and is a retired academic! Indeed, his back story provides an interesting lead up to his recommendations. He was a minor league baseball player before becoming an academic economist. His son and then his wife developed type 1 diabetes (so-called juvenile diabetes), which led him to learn all that he could about the physiology of insulin and how it affects the body. He applied his know-how as an economist to consider the body, and he drew on evolutionary studies to get a sense of how the body evolved. This places him in the lead of the growing area of Paleolithic fitness,diet, and health thinking (with others such as Mark Sisson, Rob Wolff, Erwan Le Corre, etc.)
This is an excellent and thought-provoking book. The guy knows whereof he speaks (as an academic he can read the professional literature, but since it's not his professional field, he doesn't have to kow-tow to anyone.)
BTW, Nassim Taleb, who has since adopted a De Vany-like fitness regimen, authored an Afterward for the book.
To your health!
De Vany argues that we will benefit greatly from aspects of the environment that human beings evolved in during the Paleolithic age. Put most simply, a diet of meat, nuts, vegetables, and not much else. No grain or dairy, not to mention sugar. And as for exercise: brief bursts of intense exercise with lots of rest in between. Now mind you, De Vany isn't a cave man--he writes a blog and is a retired academic! Indeed, his back story provides an interesting lead up to his recommendations. He was a minor league baseball player before becoming an academic economist. His son and then his wife developed type 1 diabetes (so-called juvenile diabetes), which led him to learn all that he could about the physiology of insulin and how it affects the body. He applied his know-how as an economist to consider the body, and he drew on evolutionary studies to get a sense of how the body evolved. This places him in the lead of the growing area of Paleolithic fitness,diet, and health thinking (with others such as Mark Sisson, Rob Wolff, Erwan Le Corre, etc.)
This is an excellent and thought-provoking book. The guy knows whereof he speaks (as an academic he can read the professional literature, but since it's not his professional field, he doesn't have to kow-tow to anyone.)
BTW, Nassim Taleb, who has since adopted a De Vany-like fitness regimen, authored an Afterward for the book.
To your health!
October 1, 2018
The idea is to stop the ageing process of our cells so that we can live both longer and healthier.
The diet asks us to do is this: No carbs (no grains, no bread), no fat (no oil, no butter, no cheese), no sugar, no dairy! It is sort of like keto diet, only less rigorous.
In terms of exercise, do not go for regular gym sessions like a robot. Mix it up, do different things so that the body doesn't get accustomed to the monotony. A 15-20 minute HIIT routine is much more effective than a 1-hour session.
Basically, do what our ancestors used to do. Eat what they used to eat. And exercise the way they used to exercise; all this because we have changed genetically in the last 40,000 years.
P.S. Indians (and especially vegetarians), please don't even think about reading this book. The author himself mentions that it is impossible for vegetarians to follow this diet. And so he even makes a case for eating non-veg!
The diet asks us to do is this: No carbs (no grains, no bread), no fat (no oil, no butter, no cheese), no sugar, no dairy! It is sort of like keto diet, only less rigorous.
In terms of exercise, do not go for regular gym sessions like a robot. Mix it up, do different things so that the body doesn't get accustomed to the monotony. A 15-20 minute HIIT routine is much more effective than a 1-hour session.
Basically, do what our ancestors used to do. Eat what they used to eat. And exercise the way they used to exercise; all this because we have changed genetically in the last 40,000 years.
P.S. Indians (and especially vegetarians), please don't even think about reading this book. The author himself mentions that it is impossible for vegetarians to follow this diet. And so he even makes a case for eating non-veg!
January 18, 2014
A good guide to the paleo diet from a more traditional dieter's perspective. The author makes some good arguments and appeals well to his experience helping his wife and child manage diabetes. It gives a good overall perspective about why the paleo diet works so well physiologically. Having just finished other books explaining the scientific evidence that supports paleo diets, this one seems light on more complex explanations, and on occasion, especially in the section about longevity, the author may have too heavily relied on himself as evidence; toward the end it took on a memoir feeling instead of a more objective New Evolution Diet argument. On the other hand, he is a specimen of an example of the result of the paleo diet and lifestyle.
January 23, 2024
This book appeared on my radar after reading the Black Swan. A couple of takeaways I have, in no particular order:
- I'm generally glad I read the book; it's my first encounter with De Vany (and broadly similar diets) and it provided me with quite some new, actionable ideas, especially on exercising.
- Stylistically, I found the book to be quite repetitive and unstructured. Funny that I thought the same thing of Taleb (and equally liked the content).
- Lots of people have already commented on the perceived narcissistic character of De Vany (again, very similar to Taleb). I understand where it comes from, but it didn't really bother me. Not everyone expresses their ideas in the same way. I find that many scientist often do exactly the same, be it in much more subtle (but to me not less obvious) ways.
- On vegetarianism/veganism, I found Artur's insights (extremely) lazy for three reasons:
(i) saying that animal farming in the US (or elsewhere for that matter) is a responsible business because there's some free-roaming type of dairy and chicken farms is the same like stating that prostitution is responsible because there's some self-employed women that are not exploited. I would state that almost every person in the US eating meat, eats meat produced in factory farms.
(ii) arguing that vegetarianism leads to mono-culture is also completely ignoring that the majority of cultured plant foods serve as food for animals.
(iii) without taking a stance on the matter since I'm not a nutritionist, I'm aware of a large and growing corpus of literature on the negative effects of animal protein on humans (T. Campbell, M. Greger, etc.). Maybe this book wasn't the place to address it (especially as meat and fish seem to keep De Vany healthy), but it is confusing to a layman such as myself.
- I'm generally glad I read the book; it's my first encounter with De Vany (and broadly similar diets) and it provided me with quite some new, actionable ideas, especially on exercising.
- Stylistically, I found the book to be quite repetitive and unstructured. Funny that I thought the same thing of Taleb (and equally liked the content).
- Lots of people have already commented on the perceived narcissistic character of De Vany (again, very similar to Taleb). I understand where it comes from, but it didn't really bother me. Not everyone expresses their ideas in the same way. I find that many scientist often do exactly the same, be it in much more subtle (but to me not less obvious) ways.
- On vegetarianism/veganism, I found Artur's insights (extremely) lazy for three reasons:
(i) saying that animal farming in the US (or elsewhere for that matter) is a responsible business because there's some free-roaming type of dairy and chicken farms is the same like stating that prostitution is responsible because there's some self-employed women that are not exploited. I would state that almost every person in the US eating meat, eats meat produced in factory farms.
(ii) arguing that vegetarianism leads to mono-culture is also completely ignoring that the majority of cultured plant foods serve as food for animals.
(iii) without taking a stance on the matter since I'm not a nutritionist, I'm aware of a large and growing corpus of literature on the negative effects of animal protein on humans (T. Campbell, M. Greger, etc.). Maybe this book wasn't the place to address it (especially as meat and fish seem to keep De Vany healthy), but it is confusing to a layman such as myself.
January 21, 2024
"Your least frequent, most extreme exertions will have the greatest influence on your fitness. The peak moments of a workout count far more than the amount of time you spend working out. This is why a series of 40-yard sprints at full speed benefits you more than half an hour of jogging. It's also the reason why lifting a weight heavy enough to make your heart pound and your muscles burn counts more than spending hours at the gym always in your comfort zone, never truly challenging your body. When a work-out becomes an unvarying, monotonous routine, it loses its effectiveness." De Vany is a keen advocate for increasing kurtosis of our workouts and fasting regimens. His methods and hypotheses have been supported by the most recent scientific research explained by longevity doctor Dr. Peter Attia and researcher Dr. David Sinclair. The asymmetric upside from including kurtosis in our workouts and fasting regimens is clear.
November 9, 2017
Warning: this man is either really insecure or truly loves himself. He uses himself for near every example in the book of ideal eating and ideal health. The few times he uses other people is to trash their diets (ie, Michael Phelps). The "icing on the cake" was in the final pages where he talks about how a group of young women pretended to chase after him while he was rolling blading shirtless dispite being old enough to be their grandfather. If that you can get past that, this is a good book. It's a quick read and will give you many ideas for a healthier diet and exercise. In particular, his advice on interval, random training is very intriguing. If you heard this book is great, you should read it. Just be prepared to be slightly annoyed with the amount he talks about himself.
June 4, 2017
Well written and draws you in at the start, however, it unravels into a confused mess as the book progresses. There's far too much repetition and confused advice. For example, early on, the author recommends that dairy and alcohol should be avoided, however, cheese, wine and beer feature in the 'day in the life of' meal and exercise routine section. De Vany also holds that the calorie in/out model is irrelevant which is obviously misleading at best and down right irresponsible at worst. Was really looking forward to this but I was left rather underwhelmed.
July 16, 2024
For a long time, humans lived as hunter-gatherers. Agricultural societies are a recent phenomenon, and industrial societies are even more recent. Yet, in modern industrial societies, our diet and mobility are contrary to what we were accustomed to throughout most of human history. Art De Vany, with his thought-provoking insights, uses evolutionary science and anthropology to examine modern living, distilling hard-hitting and powerful ideas that are bound to inspire behavioral changes for better living. He is a leading example of his ideas, looking 20 years younger than his age.
June 15, 2017
Turns all conventional thinking about diet and exercise in its head
This book has helped me understand why the world is on an diabetic epidemic and what to do about it. Simple answer cut sugar and carbohydrates from your food. Don't do repetitive regimented physical activity. Bring variety into the activity and oh go without food or water for some time
This book has helped me understand why the world is on an diabetic epidemic and what to do about it. Simple answer cut sugar and carbohydrates from your food. Don't do repetitive regimented physical activity. Bring variety into the activity and oh go without food or water for some time
October 2, 2017
It seems to be one of the must reads in the paleo-scene. I love Arts references to scientific studies. But his tone is not my cup of tea - he writes with an arrogant voice and seems to be a bit too confident about the Paleo-lifestyle. Besides that: A practical book with lots of inspiration for own tests :).
September 18, 2023
superb
Very clear, very well evidenced and very useful book without being dogmatic or excessively prescriptive. I can��t help but think Art recommends too much meat and fish - did hunter gatherers really eat salmon for lunch and steak for dinner quite so often? I was less convinced by that but it is a detail in what is a well researched and eye-opening book
Very clear, very well evidenced and very useful book without being dogmatic or excessively prescriptive. I can��t help but think Art recommends too much meat and fish - did hunter gatherers really eat salmon for lunch and steak for dinner quite so often? I was less convinced by that but it is a detail in what is a well researched and eye-opening book
October 23, 2018
I would like to explore the science more to know if this works for real, particularly around the discussion of fat and inflammation but it is certainly an interesting, useful and though provoking book.
December 20, 2018
Introduced interesting concepts and explanations, though with quite a bit of biology jargon. Could be helped with consistent and relatable use of analogies, pity it wasn’t more consistently used throughout.
Definitely worth the new perspective in relation to how to live your life.
Definitely worth the new perspective in relation to how to live your life.
March 25, 2017
Lots of interesting ideas!
Matches many other theories out there!
I like the take on exercise - back n the day, people didn't jog for an hour to catch dinner or escape being dinner...
Matches many other theories out there!
I like the take on exercise - back n the day, people didn't jog for an hour to catch dinner or escape being dinner...
June 3, 2017
Najlepsia o paleo
September 30, 2018
Great book!!!
March 16, 2019
Don't really care about his life but good stuff on food and exercise.
September 26, 2019
A great value read to apply to life. Not the best writing style, hence the 4/5. Very nice to have an afterword by nassim taleb, which is why I read that in the first place.
February 25, 2020
I am still veg but there’s some good science in this book.
January 18, 2021
Simple, actionable advice. Live in a way your hunter gather ancestors lived and you’ll be fine. Eat less. Don’t eat processed foods. Give yourself the gift of randomness in your life.
December 31, 2021
Although it struck a chord with me when I read it, upon later inspection it truly shows its own stupidity.
June 15, 2023
Cuts through all the pop-diet information and gets to the root of the matter - we are unique primates designed to eat and exercise a certain way. Don't fight your genes!!
December 30, 2017
A mixture of decent science on one hand and speculation presented as fact on the other. Only worth reading if you've read enough other food books/articles to differentiate between the two. Not recommended as the 'only book you read' on the subject.
I read mainly for the 'longevity' angle after hearing De Vany on a podcast.
Lots of other reviewers complain about De Vany's continual self-worship. I personally found it very entertaining.
I read mainly for the 'longevity' angle after hearing De Vany on a podcast.
Lots of other reviewers complain about De Vany's continual self-worship. I personally found it very entertaining.
August 6, 2016
Diet book. Summarizes via negativa and kurtosisic diet/lifestyle of econonomist Art De Vany.
Reads like infomercial in beginning and spurts throughout. But still makes strong arguments about simple and complex carbs becoming an addictive cycle making us want to eat more of them. And that being loaded up on carbs prevents our body from entering a fat burning state.
Advocates and explains subtracting foods that have not yet been distilled through time/evolution as healthy. Also advocates and explains intermittent fasting.
On the lifestyle side random, but very intense workouts are favorable.
I feel less distracted and disinterested in snacking and more focused since I've experimented with intermittent fasting. I'm noticeably stronger since starting a similar workout regimen a few months ago after reading Body by Science.
Reads like infomercial in beginning and spurts throughout. But still makes strong arguments about simple and complex carbs becoming an addictive cycle making us want to eat more of them. And that being loaded up on carbs prevents our body from entering a fat burning state.
Advocates and explains subtracting foods that have not yet been distilled through time/evolution as healthy. Also advocates and explains intermittent fasting.
On the lifestyle side random, but very intense workouts are favorable.
I feel less distracted and disinterested in snacking and more focused since I've experimented with intermittent fasting. I'm noticeably stronger since starting a similar workout regimen a few months ago after reading Body by Science.
February 10, 2012
A great read and highly recommended. De Vany has a very playful style, and manages to get his points across without being pushy. In fact, it's almost Zen-like how he focusses on process over outcome and in doing so removes a lot of stress from his life. With the book, he makes his case and then let's you decide for yourself if you want to make lifestyle changes or not.
What also speaks to his advantage is that he doesn't have an overly romantic view of the caveman, which paleo advocates sometimes resort to. Consequently he treats the paleo era (~50,000 B.C.) as a model, not something to be blindly copied as much as possible. For me it was a very motivational reminder of why I try to model the intensity of my activity according to power laws (lots of low intensity like walking, some high intensity like sprinting & olympic weightlifting, and next to nothing of medium intensity like jogging) and avoid cereals, rice, beans, sugar, and processed food.
What also speaks to his advantage is that he doesn't have an overly romantic view of the caveman, which paleo advocates sometimes resort to. Consequently he treats the paleo era (~50,000 B.C.) as a model, not something to be blindly copied as much as possible. For me it was a very motivational reminder of why I try to model the intensity of my activity according to power laws (lots of low intensity like walking, some high intensity like sprinting & olympic weightlifting, and next to nothing of medium intensity like jogging) and avoid cereals, rice, beans, sugar, and processed food.
January 6, 2016
Wonderful book! Loved it. Eat the right things, avoid eating processed garbage food. Eat vegetables, fish and meat. Cut out bread, rice, pasta, grains...pizza.
Exercise like our ancestors did - walk a lot. Sprint a little. Lift heavy things once in a while. No need to exercise like a drone - forget long, monotonous jogging and repetitive treadmill stuff. Don't spend more than 45 minutes total in the gym, once or twice a week. Do quick, intense workout. Leave.
Bike and play tennis or basketball every once in a while. Change up your routine. Play games.
Arthur de Vany is a seriously impressive 73 year old. He looks great, feels great - thinks clearly and enjoys his life. An excellent model to aspire to as one ages...
Exercise like our ancestors did - walk a lot. Sprint a little. Lift heavy things once in a while. No need to exercise like a drone - forget long, monotonous jogging and repetitive treadmill stuff. Don't spend more than 45 minutes total in the gym, once or twice a week. Do quick, intense workout. Leave.
Bike and play tennis or basketball every once in a while. Change up your routine. Play games.
Arthur de Vany is a seriously impressive 73 year old. He looks great, feels great - thinks clearly and enjoys his life. An excellent model to aspire to as one ages...
December 30, 2010
Interesting info on carb restriction. Very interesting, and new for me, input on the importance of randomness in exercise and diet. The book is focused more on maintaining health, increasing muscle mass and avoiding the negative effects of aging, including Altzheimers, than on weight loss. Adequately well written. The vanity of the author and the famous economist who writes his post-script are noticeable but don't detract too much from the information offered.
May 30, 2013
I picked this book up because Nassim Taleb wrote the afterward and also writes about De Vany's ideas in his books The Black Swan and Antifragile. Coming from that perspective, The New Evolution Diet was great, zeroing in on how we can take advantage of randomness, kurtosis and stochastic living to benefit our minds and bodies. That being said, I'm not sure I would have appreciated The New Evolution Diet nearly as much had I not read Taleb's books beforehand.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 55 reviews