Since the release of my two books (Evolutionary Nutrition and Evolutionary Nutrition for Athletes), many people have asked me what exactly “evolutionary nutrition” is and how it differs from the better-known concepts of the “paleo diet” and “real food.” While all three are related, each has its own distinct principles and foundations.
In this article, we’ll break down what each one entails in order to highlight their differences—and explain why I choose to focus on and advocate for Evolutionary Nutrition.
Why I Use the Term “Nutrition” Instead of “Diet” or “Nutritional Science”
Let me start by explaining why I prefer to talk about nutrition rather than diet or nutritional science—another common question I often get.
I’ve never been particularly fond of the word diet. It implies something structured, prescriptive, or tightly planned, with rules and restrictions that dictate which foods should be eaten. No animal on Earth—humans included, until the modern age—has ever needed to follow a diet to stay healthy and avoid excess weight. They simply eat their foods, those they evolved with genetically, those they are adapted to, and which therefore don’t harm them.
On the other hand, nutritional science focuses on nutrients (fats, proteins, carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals…), and I’m not a fan of this reductionist mindset that isolates nutrients instead of looking at food as a whole. Humans eat food—we eat meals—not vitamin B12, magnesium, monounsaturated fats, or protein; we eat avocado, apple, arugula, or salmon.
Nutrition, by contrast, speaks more directly to what we humans actually do: the act of eating food so our bodies can function properly, survive, and pass on our genes.
Evolutionary Nutrition: “Nothing in Biology Makes Sense Except in the Light of Evolution”
That quote isn’t mine—it comes from Theodosius Dobzhansky, a Ukrainian geneticist and evolutionary biologist. It’s the title of an essay he published in 1973, where he argued that many biological phenomena—from molecular structures to animal behavior—can only be fully understood within the context of evolutionary history and the mechanisms of evolution.
For example, the way species adapt to their environments, how bacteria become resistant to antibiotics, the diversity of species within ecosystems, and even certain traits and behaviors in humans and other animals all make much more sense when viewed through the lens of evolution. In other words, any attempt to study and understand biology or physiology without considering evolution will lead to an incomplete understanding. Evolutionary theory is essential for interpreting both the diversity of life and the ways organisms adapt to their environments.
Evolutionary Nutrition embraces this broader view by recognizing that human evolution is an ongoing process—and our diet should adapt accordingly. It’s not just about what our ancestors ate; it’s also about how we’ve evolved to process different foods over time.
Take, for instance, the domestication of animals and the cultivation of plants. These developments gave rise to foods like dairy, legumes, tubers, and whole grains. In certain populations, this led to genetic adaptations—such as the ability to digest lactose in adulthood, or an increased number of AMY1 gene copies, which help break down carbohydrates more efficiently. Evolutionary Nutrition takes these adaptations into account and allows for the inclusion of dairy, legumes, and some grains—if an individual tolerates them well.
It also emphasizes the importance of understanding our own bodies. That means considering individual genetics, food sensitivities, lifestyle, and personal preferences. There is no one-size-fits-all way of eating; what’s healthy or harmful for one person may not be the same for another.
That said, the central pillar of my perspective on Evolutionary Nutrition is this: the longer a food has coexisted with us, the more genetically adapted we are to it, the better it tends to make us feel, and the less harm it does—meaning, the less likely it is to make us sick. That’s why water is better for us than a Coke, cherries are better than a packaged pastry, nuts are better than cookies, and fish is better than bread or pizza.
The Paleo Diet: A Return to the Past
The paleo diet is based on a more rigid and restrictive approach, focusing on the foods our ancestors are believed to have consumed during the Paleolithic era—primarily hunting, fishing, and foraging. It excludes foods introduced with the advent of agriculture and animal domestication during the Neolithic period. The argument is that, since our ancestors didn’t have access to grains, legumes, tubers, dairy, or processed foods, these items are not suitable for human consumption.
While this approach has helped many people improve their health—especially by cutting out processed foods, which is certainly a major win—it also poses some challenges. One is that the paleo diet can be highly restrictive, which makes it hard for some people to sustain over the long term. By eliminating entire food groups, it also limits the range of nutrients one can access. If someone enjoys the taste and digests fermented dairy well—like kefir or yogurt—why give up the probiotics they offer? Or the fiber in chickpeas? Or the resistant starch you get from cooking and cooling oats?
It’s important to emphasize that human evolution didn’t stop in the Paleolithic. There have been significant genetic adaptations since then, and many people today can consume foods like dairy and legumes without any issue.
Real Food: A Focus on Quality and Naturalness
The real food (or real fooding) movement promotes a focus on food quality and naturalness. This means choosing fresh, unprocessed or minimally processed foods, and avoiding those with artificial additives, preservatives, and added sugars.
It’s a movement that has done a lot of good, raising awareness about the harms of basing one’s diet on industrial, ultra-processed products.
Evolutionary Nutrition is grounded in this concept of real food, since, as mentioned earlier, ultra-processed industrial foods are a very recent addition to the human diet—they’ve only been around for 0.01% of our evolutionary history. As a result, we’re not adapted to them; our bodies don’t recognize them as food. They’re not food—they’re edible products.
That said, I’m not entirely convinced by the term “real food.” I prefer to call it natural food, because I believe it creates less confusion. After all, industrial edible products also exist, so in a literal sense they’re “real” too. In contrast, natural food is what nature provides—not what comes out of a factory after raw ingredients have been heavily altered, producing something that barely resembles human food.
Conclusion
After examining these different approaches, I find Evolutionary Nutrition to be the most promising—thanks to its adaptable nature and its acknowledgment of ongoing human evolution. In addition to the benefits it shares with the paleo diet—such as the emphasis on unprocessed foods—it also offers greater variety and flexibility.
Including foods that have proven to be beneficial, even if they emerged after the Paleolithic era, leads to a more diverse and nourishing diet. This diversity makes it not only more sustainable in the long term, but also more effective at covering a wider range of essential nutrients.
By gaining a deeper understanding of our evolutionary history and individual needs, Evolutionary Nutrition offers a balanced, sustainable path for those seeking to optimize their health through the way they eat.
