Certain diets emphasize macronutrients—high-carb diets, low-carb diets, low-fat diets, high-fat diets, etc. For example, in the 1980s low-fat diets were all the rage, and as a result, all sorts of packaged low-fat cakes, cookies, and snack bars took over grocery store shelves like wildfire. However, while the original premise of the diet was that eating less fat would help people lose fat, it became evident that many of the processed and packaged foods we eat were still contributing to weight gain, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and overall disease risk.
As a result, nutrition and wellness experts started encouraging people to focus less on specific macronutrients and rather on overall diet quality with the aim of consuming fewer processed foods. Thus, diets such as the paleo diet emerged.
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