Paleo and Crossfit featured on Nightline

I've been looking forward to this since January- last night Nightline aired a segment about the Paleo diet, as part of their "You Are What You Eat" series.  I just watched this bootleg clip on YouTube, as Nightline airs waayyy past my bedtime.

The piece focused on Art DeVany and Robb Wolf, and I caught glimpses of John Durant and I think Melissa McEwen; I'm an avid reader of all those folks (except Mr. DeVany, as he charges for his site) so it was cool to see them all together on a mainstream news show. 

Some positives- they gave a pretty good basic depiction of what is "allowed," and what isn't; a previous clip on Nightline stated that people following "The Caveman Diet" eat "raw meats, vegetables, and fruits," which isn't the norm. They showed people having a great time at a Crossfit box in Brooklyn, Robb Wolf demo-ing some moves (HOT!), and Art DeVany PULLING HIS RANGE ROVER (senior citizen HOT!).  Paleo got the blessing of the featured nutritionists, which means absolutely boo to me, but can help generate interest with the general public.  I really liked that Robb stressed that all kinds of people are doing this, and it's not a "lunatic fringe" movement.

On the other hand, I feel like Paleo was portrayed as just another diet, and it really is so much more.  Maybe Nightline didn't want to seem like they are giving medical advice, but there are so many people living this lifestyle that are getting off diabetes meds, healing their guts, getting relief from thyroid problems, fibromyalgia, PCOS, the list goes on.  I personally find that pretty amazing and I think it deserved a mention.  I posted on Paleo Hacks to get some other thoughts on the show, and Melissa weighed in that it came across as a diet for men, and I agree.  Since it is sometimes referred to as a "Caveman Diet," the perspective of a woman who is actually doing this (not a pair of fat-phobic nutritionists) would have been a valuable addition.

I'm really glad they did this segment.  Even if gets one person interested, and they change their life for the better, it was a success.  If not, more grassfed steak for me!