Table 2.
Energy, macronutrient and food group intake by dietary group
| Dietary variable | Control Mean (95% CI)a,b (n = 47) |
Strict Paleolithic Mean (95% CI)b (n = 22) |
Effect size (SP vs control) | Pseudo-Paleolithic Mean (95% CI)b (n = 22) |
Effect size (PP vs control) | Overall dietary effect P valuec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Energy intake (kJ) | 9187 (8599, 9774) | 8955 (8076, 9834) | − 0.13 | 9820 (9005, 10635) | 0.33 | 0.285 |
| Protein (g) | 92.16 (83.69, 100.63) | 118.07 (105.69, 130.44)** | 1.02 | 102.7 (90.62, 114.77) | 0.39 | 0.001 |
| Protein (% of energy) | 18.49 (16.87, 20.12) | 23.63 (21.25, 26.00)** | 1.02 | 20.13 (17.81, 22.45) | 0.39 | 0.001 |
| Carbohydrate (g) | 202.62 (187.84, 217.41) | 99.19 (77.60, 120.79)** | − 2.33 | 81.40 (60.34, 102.47)** | − 2.59 | < 0.001 |
| Carbohydrate (% of energy) | 38.03 (35.49, 40.57) | 16.75 (13.03, 20.46)** | − 2.79 | 16.41 (12.79, 20.03)** | − 2.69 | < 0.001 |
| Sugars (g) | 75.58 (66.05, 85.11) | 51.77 (37.85, 65.68)** | − 0.83 | 44.34 (30.76, 57.91)** | − 1.04 | < 0.001 |
| Starch (g) | 124.56 (112.87, 136.26) | 45.86 (28.78, 62.95)** | − 2.24 | 34.74 (18.07, 51.4)** | − 2.43 | < 0.001 |
| Total fat (g) | 82.53 (76.33, 88.72) | 117.91 (108.86, 126.96)** | 1.90 | 133.16 (124.34, 141.99)**
|
2.58 | < 0.001 |
| Fat (% of energy) | 36.45 (33.9, 39) | 52.95 (49.22, 56.67)** | 2.15 | 56.96 (53.33, 60.6)** | 2.54 | < 0.001 |
| Saturated fat (g) | 27.34 (22.77, 31.9) | 45.51 (38.84, 52.18)** | 1.33 | 52.47 (45.97, 58.98)** | 1.74 | < 0.001 |
| Saturated fat (% of energy) | 12.02 (10.05, 13.99) | 20.59 (17.71, 23.47)** | 1.45 | 22.09 (19.28, 24.9)** | 1.61 | < 0.001 |
| Polyunsaturated fat (g) | 15.17 (13.21, 17.14) | 16.86 (13.98, 19.73) | 0.29 | 17.47 (14.67, 20.28) | 0.37 | 0.295 |
| Monounsaturated fat (g) | 32.96 (29.63, 36.28) | 45.01 (40.16, 49.86)** | 1.21 | 52.28 (47.55, 57.02)**
|
1.84 | < 0.001 |
| Cholesterol (mg) | 324.19 (225.29, 423.08) | 708.28 (563.84, 852.73)** | 1.29 | 685.00 (544.10, 825.90)** | 1.15 | < 0.001 |
| Total dietary fiber (g) | 29.66 (26.36, 32.96) | 27.41 (22.59, 32.23) | − 0.23 | 20.79 (16.09, 25.49)* | − 0.85 | 0.006 |
| Soluble dietary fiber (g) | 11.99 (10.45, 13.53) | 10.78 (8.54, 13.03) | − 0.26 | 7.62 (5.43, 9.81)**
|
− 0.90 | 0.004 |
| Insoluble dietary fiber (g) | 17.07 (15.11, 19.03) | 16.17 (13.3, 19.04) | − 0.15 | 12.87 (10.07, 15.66)* | − 0.68 | 0.036 |
| Resistant starch minimum (g) | 4.48 (3.89, 5.06) | 2.62 (1.77, 3.47)** | − 1.03 | 1.26 (0.43, 2.09)**
|
− 1.75 | < 0.001 |
| Resistant starch maximum (g) | 14.16 (12.24, 16.07) | 6.13 (3.34, 8.93)** | − 1.35 | 2.95 (0.22, 5.68)** | − 1.85 | < 0.001 |
| Alcohol (g) | 7.07 (3.73, 10.4) | 8.31 (3.44, 13.19) | 0.12 | 10.34 (5.59, 15.09) | 0.31 | 0.488 |
| Vegetables serves/day (fresh equivalent 150–350 kJ) | 3.83 (2.99, 4.66) | 6.68 (5.51, 7.84)** | 1.12 | 4.31 (3.17, 5.44) | 0.16 | < 0.001 |
| Dark green vegetable serves/day (fresh equivalent 100 kJ) | 0.39 (0.17, 0.61) | 1.28 (0.97, 1.59)** | 1.34 | 0.70 (0.41, 1.00) | 0.45 | < 0.001 |
| Nuts and seeds (30 g protein equivalent) | 0.82 (0.48, 1.15) | 1.07 (0.59, 1.56) | 0.26 | 1.32 (0.84, 1.79) | 0.48 | 0.167 |
| Red meat serves/day (20 g protein equivalent) | 0.44 (0.21, 0.66) | 0.80 (0.47, 1.13) | 0.52 | 0.77 (0.45, 1.09) | 0.46 | 0.066 |
| Eggs serves/day (13 g protein equivalent) | 0.20 (0.09, 0.30) | 1.05 (0.72, 1.38)** | 0.87 | 0.89 (0.57, 1.21)* | 0.63 | < 0.001 |
| Total grains serves/day (14–16 g starch equivalent) | 6.14 (5.29, 7.04) | 0.19 (0.03, 0.47)** | − 3.80 | 0.63 (0.30, 1.08)** | − 3.07 | < 0.001 |
| Whole grain serves/day (14 g starch equivalent) | 2.91 (2.28, 3.61) | 0.09 (0.00, 0.34)** | − 2.32 | 0.16 (0.01, 0.46)** | − 2.09 | < 0.001 |
| Total dairy serves/day (300 mg calcium equivalent) | 1.60 (1.25, 2.0) | 0.17 (0.04, 0.37)* | − 1.26 | 0.87 (0.54, 1.27)*
|
− 0.73 | < 0.001 |
P values for stratified Paleolithic groups were adjusted using post hoc Bonferroni correction [43]
Significant P values are in bold
aGeneral linear modelling used to determine estimated marginal means and the difference between control and the overall Paleolithic groups after adjustment for age, gender, energy intake and body fat percentage.**P ≤ 0.01 different from control group, *P ≤ 0.05 different to control group
bGeneral linear modelling used to determine estimated marginal means and the difference between control, strict Paleolithic and Pseudo-Paleolithic groups after adjustment for age, gender, energy intake and body fat percentage.**P ≤ 0.01 different from control group, *P ≤ 0.05 different to control group.
P < 0.01 different from Strict Paleolithic group,
P < 0.05 different from the SP group
cSignificance of the overall general linear model for the three group analysis. Effect sizes reported using Cohen’s d, with a value of 0.2 representing a small effect, 0.5 a medium effect and 0.8 a large effect