Paleo & Primal Diets: My quick, but not quick enough for Facebook, answer to the, "It's just a fad," argument

Earlier today on Facebook, I asked what your thoughts are when someone says to you that the Paleo/Primal lifestyle is just a fad. Your responses were all fantastic! Surprisingly, I've never actually been told that to my face-- not that I'm complaining! I think my friends & family don't want to sit through my response, although I know they all think it. I wanted to give my response, but it was just a hair too long-- Okay, way too long. Ha ha!-- for a Facebook post. So...have blog, will expound thoughts.

The Paleo & Primal Diets are just another fad. Here today, gone tomorrow.

Hmmm...that would make perfect sense were man only in existence for, say, the last 40-60 years.

The Paleo diet is based on the idea that what man has been eating since the dawn of our time on earth sustained our species & allowed it to thrive in the severest of conditions. Meat from animals that feed as naturally as possible (i.e. not grains--especially not GMO grains), vegetables, natural (including saturated) fats, roots, tubers, fruits, nuts & raw honey have been the basis of our diet for millennia. Even when we progressed (which might be putting too positive of a spin on it) from hunter/gatherers to herder/farmers, the grains we consumed were usually sprouted or fermented & completely biologically different from modern grains, and the dairy we consumed was raw & from grass fed/pastured animals. 

Now, let's contrast that with what everyone sees as the "not a fad, balanced diet." Low calorie & low fat. According to mainstream health specialists, the government, and the food industry-- who we all know have our best interest in mind (note sarcasm)-- that is the way we should eat. However, the fact is we didn't even know what a calorie was prior to the 1970's, and nobody even dreamed that saturated fat was a problem until Ancel Keys' highly misleading study came out in the 1950's (which is addressed well in this short and sweet video clip from Big Fat Lies). So, from 1950-1970 we started the low calorie/low fat craze. This "not a fad" diet has been around for a whopping 40-60 years, compared to the Paleo diet which has been around for MILLENNIA, and all we have to show for this 40-60 year old "balanced diet" is an INCREASE in heart disease, diabetes, and obesity.

So, tell me, how can the Paleo/Primal diets-- diets based on the foods man ate for MILLENNIA-- be a fad, yet a low calorie/low fat diet that has only been around for 60 years, & has yielded very little lasting results, NOT be one? Which is really the fad here? Calling the Paleo diet a fad doesn't make much sense when you look at it that way.

So there you have it. My long, drawn-out response to the, "It's just a fad," argument. 

Have you ever been challenged with the fad diet argument? What has your response been?