Like many of the other restriction diets, I think paleo is just another way to get calories back down to where they ought to be. If you cut all the processed junk from your diet, you eat far more reasonably. And a lot of people need rules in order to function so they don't have to make decisions based on subtle distinctions.

That said, A tried paleo and was taking shots of olive oil to get the necessary fat calories. Which sort of defeats the purpose.

I think Michael Pollan nailed it, "Eat food[1]. Not too much. Mostly plants."

[1] Anything your grandparents would recognize as food from their childhood. Pop tarts and things that are ready in the microwave in 5 minutes probably don't make the cut.