A Paleo PB2A

A Paleo PB2A

            Identifying cultural trends can unveil the intricacies of any population of people, providing insight into the changing social and political climate over time. It appears as though the leagues of internet-surfers are ravenous for the newest social media and hype, often times throwing any form of critical analysis to the wind. The high amount of information and change that we face as a techno-centric community exposes us to so many fads that it can become difficult to identify the social movements that are truly worth our time. However, there are still some resources which prove to analyze and dissect new information objectively in order to provide benefit to a conscious consumer. One such source takes the form of scholarly, peer reviewed research publications, which provide a wealth of information about a wide variety of topics. By analyzing a research paper on a new nutrition trend conducted by the University of San Francisco’s School of Medicine, one can gain clarity on the conventions that make this type of work so reliable.

            In the world of health and nutrition, there are numerous strategies, protocols, and diets that aim to help people lead a more sustainable lifestyle and increase the quality and duration of their life. However, a great deal of these recommendations prove to be controversial and disputed by various gurus and health experts claiming to have the next best thing for the industry. One such approach is the recently popularized Paleolithic diet, which consists of foods that the human race has grown accustomed to consuming over the course of thousands of years, devoid of grains and other foods developed since the agricultural revolution. Espoused by some and downright demonized by others, UCSF’s article “Metabolic and physiologic improvements from consuming a Paleolithic, hunter-gatherer type diet” aims to get to the root of the issue with empirical research on this nutritional protocol. Diligent observation and analysis of this scholarly article reveals a variety of rhetorical components which distinguish it from articles written in more casual contexts.

            In terms of structure, the article at hand displays that research papers most often begin with an abstract to provide a direction and purpose for the paper as a whole, akin to a thesis statement found in any traditional academic work. The paper continues with introduction, methods, discussion, and reference sections, each composed of different types of information and media which outline the procedure and findings for the experiment conducted. The introduction section serves to outline the background details and the controversy and perceived efficacy of the Paleolithic diet, explaining the ins and outs of the protocol with extensive, detailed information. This section culminates in a basic research question and overview of the experiment – “We investigated in humans whether a diet similar to that consumed by our preagricultural hunter-gatherer ancestors (that is, a paleolithic type diet) confers health benefits.” This gives the reader a strong sense of the exigence to the study, as well as the general direction taken by the researchers to solve the issue.

            Following up with a ‘Materials and Methods’ portion, researchers provide great deal on the experimental procedures conducted to test the efficacy of this health trend, riddled with facts and figures which display their findings. This includes a great deal of scientific jargon meant to establish the ethos of the team, interweaving quantitative health markers like “cholesterol decreased by 1.6±0.2 mmol/l (39%decrease)”, and “Mean arterial pressure decreased by 15±9 mm Hg” throughout the text. These pieces of data show how the researchers aimed to understand the health implications of the diet by operationalizing key indicators such as cholesterol levels, lipid profiles, and electrolyte balance. In addition to this analytical data, the article includes various tables and graphs which give the reader a simple visual representation of the data under review.

            The conventions and fundamental components of UCSF’s research paper serve to display the essential parts of the experiment and establish a strong sense of prestige for the researchers involved. The paper ends with an extensive and organized reference list, an integral step in the process of verifying their work. By including extensive data, resources, and details about the research methodology, this article fulfills its purpose as a scholarly review of the Paleo diet trend and allows researchers to take a solid stance on the issue with hard, empirical evidence.

Reference:

Frassetto, L. A., M. Schloetter, M. Mietus-Synder, R. C. Morris Jr, and A. Sebastian. Metabolic and Physiologic Improvements from Consuming a Paleolithic, Hunter-gatherer Type Diet. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition. N.p., 11 Feb. 2009. Web. 30 Jan. 2016. <http://www.nature.com/ejcn/journal/v63/n8/full/ejcn20094a.html>.