Prompt
Paleo diets, in which one eats how early hominids (human ancestors) did, are becoming increasingly popular. Proponents claim our bodies evolved to eat these types of food, especially bone broth, a soup made by cooking animal bones for several hours. They believe it has many health-promoting nutrients, such as cartilage, which can heal our joints, and chondroitin, which promotes nerve regeneration. Skeptics point out that ingested cartilage can’t replenish cartilage in your knees or elbows and ingested chondroitin doesn’t make our brains any healthier. Yet, there is strong anecdotal evidence that people who consume bone broth have fewer metabolic and inflammatory diseases than those who don’t. Therefore, ancient humans knew something about our physiology that we don’t, and that by emulating the way they ate, we can cure many chronic illnesses.

Essay
Paleo diets refers to our ancestor's diet where they ate parts of the body. The assumption that paleo diets are healthy and effective has no scientific standing.

Proponents of paleo diets say that these foods have health improving ingredients but there is absolutely no scientific evidence to support it. Components like cartilage and chondroitin which have certain characteristics does not prove that they are healthy. We can only make this assertion once these ingredients have been scientifically analysed and tested. Skeptics have pointed out that ingested cartilage and ingested chondroitin don't make healthier, thus the assumption that paleo diets are healthy is completely baseless.

Anecdotal evidence has been used to point out that these paleo diets might be good for humans. Anecdotal evidence does not provide any sense of proof which indicates that a certain type of food is healthy. Claims have been make that people who consume bone and broth have fewer metabolic and inflammatory diseases than those who don't. The people who were infected with the diseases might have had a bad lifestyle, might have lived in a toxic area, might have been infected by some virus or any of a 100 other reasons. Hence, comparing random people exposed to so many factors does not shed any light to the healthy properties of paleo diets.

Claims have been made that by eating paleo diets, we can cure chronic illnesses based on the assumption that ancient humans knew something about our physiology that we don't. As mentioned above, anecdotal and random evidence does not support the claim that we paleo diets are healthy. Even if that evidence were to be true, that would not explain how ancient humans knew something about our physiology and how paleo diets would help us cure chronic illnesses. As history has proven, the human race has grown overtime and we certainly know more about our physiology than before. Likewise, that would not prove that paleo diets can cure chronic illness.

Based on the points mentioned above, I can conclude that the assumption paleo diets are healthy and effective has no standing.