Paleo Diet for Health & Longevity - Quick Reference Sheet
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Paleo Diet for Health & Longevity

Created on 08/31/2026 – Quick Reference based on Evidence Review created using AI4L / Opus 5 – Audit

A whole-food pattern keeping meat, fish, eggs, vegetables, fruit, roots, and nuts and removing grains, dairy, legumes, refined sugar, and added salt. Short-term gains in body fat, waist size, blood pressure, blood fats, and blood sugar are reliable, largest in the first six months, and fade as people drift from the pattern. Iodine and calcium fall unless replaced. (Full Review)

Protocol

Core composition
Lean meat, fish, eggs, vegetables, fruit, roots, nuts
No grains, dairy, legumes, refined sugar, or added salt. Trials ran 25–35% protein, 30–40% fat, 30–40% carbohydrate, no calorie limits.
Best time of day
No fixed timing
Trials used three meals; protein at breakfast supports satiety and muscle protein synthesis.
Pre-existing health conditions
Adjustments before day one
Diabetes requires medication review first; kidney disease a protein cap; treated thyroid disease thyroid-stimulating hormone monitoring.
Time to effect
Weight and waist
6 weeks – 6 months
Clear at six months, narrowing by two years as intakes drift back.
Blood pressure
Within 2 weeks
Post-meal glucose responds in the same two-week window.
Liver fat and lipids
6 months
Liver fat falls most by six months, then converges with comparison diets by two years.

Benefits

Contraindications
  • Chronic kidney disease stage 4 or worse (eGFR below 30 mL/min/1.73 m²)
  • Recurrent calcium oxalate or uric acid kidney stones, unless protein capped and fluid supervised
  • Pregnancy and lactation, for any very-low-carbohydrate interpretation
  • Active or recent eating disorders (anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, clinically significant orthorexia)
  • Established osteoporosis (T-score −2.5 or lower) without replacement calcium and vitamin D
  • Type 1 diabetes on fixed insulin regimens without endocrinology supervision
    •
Key Interactions
  • Insulin and insulin secretagogues (glimepiride, glipizide, gliclazide)
  • SGLT2 inhibitors (empagliflozin, dapagliflozin, canagliflozin), contraindicated with very-low-carbohydrate versions
  • Antihypertensives (lisinopril, amlodipine, hydrochlorothiazide)
  • ACE inhibitors and ARBs (lisinopril, ramipril, losartan, valsartan)
  • Warfarin
  • Levothyroxine
  • Lithium
  • Over-the-counter iodine and kelp supplements
  • Over-the-counter calcium carbonate antacids and supplements
  • Glucose-lowering supplements (berberine, chromium picolinate, cinnamon extract)
  • Blood-pressure-lowering supplements (beetroot nitrate, magnesium, fish oil)
  • Endurance training and ketogenic or carnivore overlays
    •

Risk & Side Effects

  • High: Micronutrient shortfalls from excluding grains and dairy; loss of benefit through poor long-term adherence
  • Medium: Lean mass loss during weight loss; hypoglycemia when combined with glucose-lowering medication
  • Low: Fermentable fiber loss, microbiome shift, and higher TMAO; rising LDL cholesterol on high-saturated-fat versions; kidney stones at very high protein intakes; ketoacidosis in breastfeeding women on very-low-carbohydrate versions
  • Speculative: Bone mineral density loss over decades; restrictive eating patterns and food preoccupation

Monitoring

Marker Target Why
Apolipoprotein B Below 80 mg/dL; below 60 mg/dL if cardiovascular risk is already elevated Counts the particles that drive artery disease
Hemoglobin A1c 4.8–5.4% Average blood sugar over three months; the primary efficacy marker
Fasting insulin 2–5 µIU/mL Detects insulin resistance years before blood sugar rises
High-sensitivity C-reactive protein Below 0.8 mg/L Tracks background inflammation, where the diet's effect is conflicted
Spot urinary iodine concentration 100–199 µg/L The single deficit this diet reliably produces
Thyroid-stimulating hormone 0.5–2.5 mIU/L Detects thyroid consequences of falling iodine
25-hydroxyvitamin D 40–60 ng/mL Bone and immune status once dairy is removed
Serum calcium with intact parathyroid hormone Calcium 9.0–10.0 mg/dL; parathyroid hormone 15–30 pg/mL Rising parathyroid hormone is the earliest sign of calcium shortfall
Ferritin Men 50–150 ng/mL; women 40–120 ng/mL Detects iron loading from red meat or iron loss from grain removal
Estimated glomerular filtration rate with blood urea nitrogen eGFR above 90 mL/min/1.73 m²; blood urea nitrogen 10–18 mg/dL Watches the kidney load from sustained high protein intake
Serum uric acid 3.5–5.5 mg/dL Flags the stone and gout risk that accompanies high protein and organ meat
Lean body mass by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry No established target for change; tracked against own baseline, any fall a signal Detects muscle loss during rapid fat loss without resistance training
Seated blood pressure Below 120/80 mm Hg The fastest-moving benefit and the fastest route to over-medication

Cadence: Blood pressure and home glucose weekly in month one on glucose-lowering or antihypertensive medication; full panel at three and six months, then six- to twelve-monthly; body composition at six and twelve months.

Qualitative Assessment

  • Daytime energy stability, especially the mid-afternoon slump
  • Sleep quality and early-morning waking in the first two weeks
  • Digestive comfort, stool regularity, and bloating as fermentable fiber changes
  • Training performance and recovery on high-intensity or endurance sessions
  • Frequency and intensity of food cravings
  • Social and practical sustainability of meals outside the home
Not medical advice. Educational distillation of a single evidence review. Confirm any decision with a qualified clinician, especially in the presence of prescription drugs or chronic conditions.