Late last year, a TV production company filmed a new reality program in England. Nine volunteers set up camp in the Paignton Zoo in Devon, next to the ape house and for 12 days, ate like the apes did. This meant that they consumed nearly 11 pounds of fruits and vegetables a day as part of a three-day rotating diet that was designed by a nutritionist. They also were given small amounts of honey and nuts, and during the second week ate some cooked fish.

On average, each of the participants lost 10 pounds and experienced significant reductions in blood pressure and cholesterol. The majority of the participants signed up because they were experiencing health concerns and needed to do something drastic in order to improve their health.

I realize that this is sort of old news, but I just heard about it and I found it intriguing. I'm also very curious if this will become one of the many reality TV shows exported to the United States. Americans are willing to try a variety of drastic measures to lose weight. Will eating like an ape be one of them?

photo by Marisa McClellan

In an experiment filed for BBC2, nine volunteers were moved in a tented enclosure at Paignton Zoo in Devon, England to live on an ape-like, hunter-gatherer type of diet for two weeks to see what effect a mostly raw, low saturated fat, plant-based diet would have on their blood pressure and cholesterol levels.

The volunteers ranged in ages from 36-48 and they are up to 5kg of raw fruits, vegetables, nuts and honey a day. Typical foods included: Broccoli, carrots, radishes,cabbage, tomatoes, watercress, strawberries, apricots, bananas, mangoes, melons, figs, plums and hazelnuts. Clearly the food was from all over the world and not just one region, but the meal plan did meet the daily nutritional and calorie requirements recommended for adults. Volunteers also drank water and, in the second week, were given "standard portions of cooked oily fish... a nod to a more hunter-gatherer lifestyle" of humans.

Volunteers did not report any loss of energy overall as a result of the diet, although there were "moments unhappiness and grumpiness" due to the living situation and there was a noticeable gas (farting) problem. Aside from that, the participants were in good spirits for most of the experiment and, to top it off, they experienced a number of health benefits. They lost an average of nearly 10 lbs, improved both their blood pressure from an average of 140/83 to 122/76 and decreased their cholesterol levels by 23%.