There has been explosive interest in the last few years in eating like our ancient, pre-agricultural ancestors: following a hunter-gatherer pattern that would have been the norm in the Paleolithic Era (the “stone age”). The idea behind this is that agriculture has only been around for about 10,000 years, which is barely a blip on the evolutionary time scale.
Imagine two co-workers: one slim, the type who can seem to eat anything without gaining a pound — and therefore does not feel the need to exercise; the other one overweight, but who works out regularly. In spite of your latter colleague’s efforts, he has found it very difficult to lose weight. Which one is at greater risk for health problems down the road?
Earlier this year, I outlined some of the amazing health benefits associated with regular coffee consumption. These include a decrease risk of chronic diseases such as diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease, and endometrial cancer; pain reduction as among its benefits too.
Now, new research from the Mayo Clinic (1) makes us pause and reflect on how much is too much of a good thing.