The NeanderThin Diet  

Ray Audette, the author of the NeanderThin Diet touts his diet as a way to "Eat like a caveman to achieve a lean, strong, healthy body". At the tender age of 33, Audette suffered from rheumatoid arthritis and diabetes. After hearing from doctors that his condition was treatable but not curable, Audette decided to undertake nutritional research to find a better cure.

His research led him to adopt a "Paleolithic", hunter-gatherer diet, like that eaten by our human ancestors before they settled in agrarian societies. Within one week, his blood sugar levels were normal and after one month he had lost 25 pounds, his arthritic pain was relieved and he noticed improved muscle tone.

According to Audette, our Paleolithic ancestors where much healthier and lived longer, healthier lives than our agrarian Neolithic ancestors. He states that Neolithic man was shorter, had poorer dental health and was prone to obesity than Paleolithic man. Women also began to menstruate earlier and have more children closer together causing population increases that further encouraged agrarian lifestyles.

He suggests that modern man should become modern hunter-gathers by eliminating foods that need human intervention to become edible. These foods include milk, grains, beans, potatoes, alcohol and sugar. Grains include all wheat, corn, rice, oats, barley, and rye. He also subscribes to the theory that these carbs produce cravings and warns that if they are consumed they will cause eventual binging.

Audette’s rule of thumb is that if a fruit or vegetable is edible raw without processing, then it is safe in the NeanderThin diet. He explains that many vegetables, like potatoes, are actually poisonous if not properly stored and treated with fungicide. He further encourages eating fruits when they are in season and limiting winter intake of fruit to help the body burn stored fat.

He gives Ten Commandments. Condensed, they are:

Do eat: meats and fish, fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds, berries

Don’t eat: grains, beans, potatoes, dairy, and sugar

Neanderthin : Eat Like a Caveman to Achieve a Lean, Strong, Healthy Body