The Paleo Diet continues to get more expensive for would-be cavemen and cavewomen everywhere, according to new data
gathered by Bloomberg News.
Prices for beef, beans, bacon, and nine other protein sources tracked by the Bloomberg Protein Index have risen twice as fast as average foodstuffs so far this year — 5 percent. Over the last five years through May, the price of protein has jumped a whopping 28 percent.
"For people who wanted to add protein just because it’s healthy, if they start to get sticker shock, they might pull back a little bit," said Darren Seifer, an analyst at NPD Group Inc. He said that as prices rise, cheaper proteins like chicken may be increasingly substituted for more expensive ones like beef.
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It's estimated that 1 to 3 million Americans may have adopted the Paleolithic, or "Paleo," diet, according to a study conducted by Hamilton Stapell, a professor at State University of New York.
Also known as the caveman diet, the Stone Age diet, and the hunter-gatherer diet, it encourages people to eat only those foods our ancient ancestors would have eaten before the birth of agriculture and the rise of grain-based foods like bread. It is part of a lineage of high-protein/low-carb diets that stretch back to books like "The Drinking Man's Diet" (1964) and "Dr. Atkins' Diet Revolution" (1972), and many mix tenets of the Paleo diet with other diets like raw foodism, vegetarianism, or macrobiotics.
High-protein diets have become so trendy in recent years that major restaurants and fast food chains like Panera and Taco Bell have introduced more protein-heavy choices to their menus. Panera's "Power Menu," for example, offers steak-and-egg breakfast bowls.
Chief Concept Officer at Panera, Scott Davis, said the company's high-protein salads and bowls are, on average, about 20 percent more expensive than other similar items. He said that the company has worked hard to keep that cost differential small, as customers would see even a $1 jump as a "hefty increase."
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