We all want to eat healthier. The Paleo diet promises exactly that: eat like our ancestors, avoid modern foods, and improve your health. But does it really support your gut, heart and long-term health, or is the story more complicated?
In this episode, Dr James Cole, a world-leading expert on prehistoric diets, joins Dr Federica Amati to explore what Paleo gets right and why some of the claims may be dangerously wrong.
James explains what ancient evidence tells us about human diets, why the modern-day Paleo diet may go too far in its restrictions, and what that might mean for your heart disease risk and gut health.
By the end of the episode, you’ll have ideas on what principles to keep from the Paleo diet, and what rules to avoid.
Could trying to eat as our ancestors did force you to cut foods your body actually needs? Before you give up grains, beans or dairy, it may be worth asking what ancient humans really ate.
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Timecodes
00:00 Intro
04:39 What does Paleolithic actually mean?
09:14 How scientists know what ancient humans ate
10:01 What ancient teeth reveal about diet
11:25 Why there was no single Paleo diet
13:16 The myth that ancient humans just ate meat
15:38 Why humans evolved to eat many foods
17:14 Why the human gut got smaller
22:13 How fire changed the human diet
24:02 Were ancient humans cooking plants?
25:51 What modern eating has lost
27:45 Did Paleolithic humans practise cannibalism?
30:37 Should we copy everything our ancestors ate?
32:56 What is the modern Paleo diet?
34:32 What the Paleo diet gets right
37:00 Did our ancestors eat meat every day?
38:18 Why Paleo cuts grains, dairy and beans
39:30 Are lectins in beans really dangerous?
41:27 Why modern Paleo may be based on shaky science
42:20 Is the Paleo diet healthy long term?
44:45 What a healthier Paleo diet would look like
46:17 The processed meat and cancer risk trap
48:37 Is grass-fed beef really better?
50:10 Should you fast like your ancestors?
52:10 How to cut ultra-processed foods without Paleo
56:20 What to eat instead of strict Paleo
📚Books by our ZOE Scientists
The Food For Life Cookbook
Every Body Should Know This by Dr Federica Amati
The Appetite Reset by Dr Federica Amati
Food For Life by Prof. Tim Spector
Ferment by Prof. Tim Spector
Good Mood Food (preorder) by Prof. Tim Spector
Free resources from ZOE
The Smart Snacking Guide: How to feed your gut, fuel your day, and snack without guilt
The Hormone Harmony Guide: Tuning Your Body’s Internal Orchestra
Eating for Better Brain Health: Your brain-gut blueprint
How to eat in 2026 - Discover ZOE’s 8 nutrition principles for long-term health
Live Healthier: Top 10 Tips From ZOE Science & Nutrition
Gut Guide - For a Healthier Microbiome in Weeks
Better Breakfast Guide
Mentioned in today's episode
The Paleolithic diet and chronic disease risk, Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition (2026)
Long-term Paleolithic diet is associated with increased serum TMAO concentrations, European Journal of Clinical Nutrition
Evidence for mitigation of dental caries by Neanderthals, PLOS One (2026)
Evidence for the diets of Neanderthals and early modern humans, PNAS (2009)
Long-term effects of a Palaeolithic-type diet, European Journal of Clinical Nutrition (2014)
The Big IF Study: What did we find?
The Expensive-Tissue Hypothesis, International Journal of Molecular Sciences (2018)
Have feedback or a topic you'd like us to cover? Let us know here.
Episode transcripts are available here.