Paleo definitely appreciates a lot of what Michael Pollan has to say even if they disagree on some of the details. They really push the "eat things only your grandparents would recognize as food" and there's a lot of concern in the community that as the diet becomes more popular there will be lots of prepackaged paleo foods put on the market. At least just about every book, podcast, blog, etc advocate buying food either from farmer's markets or shopping the perimeter of the grocery store. I'm always kind of amazed at the center aisles at conventional grocery stores (not trying to sound elitist or too get off my lawn, but really the sensory overload is remarkable).

To me any way of eating that keeps you away from food that is designed and marketed to be so palatable that it encourages overeating is going in the right direction. So yeah, the fact that the diet does not allow many modern foods that trigger overeating is a part of why it works well in maintaining a reasonable daily caloric intake. The details on avoiding specific food types (ie seed oils, gluten, processed sugars, legumes, dairy) are a little hazier to me in terms of scientific validity and I'm playing around with some of them myself as they may be more personal rather than general guidelines. I may also not want to give up greek yogurt and peanut butter as they are surprisingly delicious together. :)

Anyway, I'm also kind of shocked that fat/calories were a problem for A. Considering that saturated fats are not shied away from nor avocado or coconut, fat calories have never been a problem. I also think that changing my macronutrient bias towards more fat/protein makes the biggest difference in long term energy and satiety. If I eat more carbs I'm way more on a hunger and energy rollercoaster which is no fun at all.