This diet will definitely make an ape out of you.

To see how fruits, vegetables and nuts would affect cholesterol and blood pressure, nine British people turned to reality TV and a diet akin to something their ape ancestors consumed. And to really add a healthy dose of realism, they took up residence under tents next to a zoo's ape house.

As part of a project to prove how modern diets of processed foods and saturated fat cause health problems, the volunteers, whose ages ranged from 36 to 49, consumed 2,300 calories - 11.02 pounds - of fruit, vegetables, nuts and honey each day for 12 days in their tented enclosure at Paignton Zoo in Devon, England.

And according to the BBC Network, which filmed the exploits for the program, "The Truth About Food," the volunteers:

•  Saw their cholesterol levels drop 23 percent - an amount usually achieved only through prescription statin drugs;

•  Enjoyed drops in their blood pressure from 140/83 - a level considered "pre-hypertension" - to 122/76, compared to a "normal" 120/70;

•  Averaged losing nearly 10 pounds; 

•  Slashed salt intake from 12 grams a day to 1 gram, compared to a recommended intake of 2.3 grams, or about a teaspoon, in the U.S;

•  Reduced saturated fat from 13 percent of daily calories to five percent, also well below the recommended amount.

•  Increased soluble fiber, which helps remove cholesterol from the body;

•  Ate more plant sterols, which help lower cholesterol.

Evolved to eat

The findings seemingly mirror what nutritionists and other health experts on this side of The Pond have tried to tell Americans. In fact, the U.S. government's dietary guidelines say that a "healthy diet" includes, among other things, plenty of fruits, vegetables and nuts, and is low in saturated fats.

The guidelines recommend that on a 2,000-calorie diet, you should eat  two-and-a-half cups of vegetables and two cups of fruit a day, among other foods and beverages.

Meanwhile, the British project was put together by Lynne Garton, a nutritionist and registered dietitian at King's College Hospital in London, based on the types of foods she said humans evolved to eat over thousands of years.

Garton based her research on the plant-based diets of humans' closest relative, the apes, but devised a diet for the volunteers that was safe to eat raw, met daily nutritional requirements for humans, and provided 2,300 calories, the BCC News reported.

So for 12 days, the nine volunteers consumed the "Evo Diet" of broccoli, carrots, radishes, cabbage, tomatoes, watercress, strawberries, apricots, bananas, mangoes, melons, figs, plums, satsumas and hazelnuts.

'Main lesson' 

The volunteers also drank water. During the project's second week, they could start eating standard portions of cooked oily fish, given the fact that humans eventually evolved into hunters who began consuming fish they had caught, Garton said.

"The main lesson that they took away was to eat more fruit and veggies," she said.

One volunteer, Jon Thornton, 36, a diving instructor who once weighed 266 pounds, lost nearly 13 pounds and reduced his cholesterol level by 20 percent. His blood pressure also dropped, the BBC reported.

Before his wife signed him up for the project, he noshed everything from bacon, eggs and sausage at breakfast to Chinese take-out food at night.

Thornton said he and the eight others did have some trouble at first withdrawing from caffeinated drinks and other foods, but didn't get hungry during the project. In fact, they didn't finish their daily rations on numerous occasions.

Thornton said now eats only when he's hungry and his knees no longer hurt because of his excess weight. He's even cycles.

"For the first time in 36 years this year I had vegetables with my Christmas dinner," he said. "Usually, I say no to them and have a few extra roast potatoes instead."

Source: BBC Network

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