Does the Paleo Diet Foster a Vitamin D Deficiency?

The Paleo Diet has gained a huge and devoted following in recent years. The Paleo Diet is focused on eating the right foods, namely lean meats, vegetables, fruits, and nuts. It eliminates foods that are not in their original form, and that were not ingested during the Paleolithic period. The theory behind it is that over 10,000 years ago, our diet did not contain any processed or junk foods. Proponents believe that our bodies have not yet adapted to the changes in diet that have occurred since the Industrial Revolution, and we don’t deal well with food that has been processed, or with grains or sugars.

The reason the diet is so popular is because many people have found they could change the way they eat, but still enjoy food, and lose weight at the same time.

One disadvantage to the Paleo Diet, though, is the lack of Vitamin D.

There is an imbalance of minerals and vitamins in this diet, where some are present in excess, and some are not present at all, or are there in very low quantities. For example, the diet is able to provide a range of B vitamins due to the consumption of leafy vegetables, meat, and fish. Calcium may be lacking in this diet because many people get their calcium from dairy products or fortified cereals. And it is hard on this diet to get enough Vitamin D. The foods that contain artificially fortified Vitamin D are often processed grains, cereals, and milk, which are not Paleo approved.

Paleolithic man got plenty of Vitamin D because he spent a significant amount of time in the sun when hunting and gathering, and the human body can create Vitamin D following direct exposure to the sun. Things are different for people today. Modern lifestyles revolve around spending time in buildings or transportation vehicles, meaning that people will spend little or no time at all in the sun on a daily basis. Not spending time in the sun, and not consuming foods that are fortified with Vitamin D means that an individual on the Paleo Diet is likely to have a deficiency of this Vitamin.

People who follow Paleo and primal diets are encouraged to talk with their doctors about whether adding a Vitamin D supplement would benefit their overall health.