What Is The Paleo Diet?
A Paleolithic or “Paleo” diet is an essential tool for upgrading your current food intake regime and overall quality of life. The Paleolithic diet is based on the notion that one’s current genetic situation is the result of conditions and habits formed over a million years ago during the Paleolithic or “caveman” era.
While humans have existed for millions of years, agriculture has only been instituted within the past ten thousand years. Human bodies have not adapted fast enough to adequately digest food from such sources, for it takes some time for a living organism o evolve and change its physiology and metabolism in order to adapt to certain lifestyles. Many people today suffer from digestive issues while ingesting a “modern” diet, for the human body has not yet adjusted to a diet of grains, legumes, and dairy.
A Paleolithic or “Paleo” diet consists of fresh fruits, vegetables, and meats– foods a caveman would typically have consumed. Essentially, the key to the Paleo diet is: If it is processed or packaged, don’t eat it! Despite this intimidating approach, one may still enjoy tasty food options while following the Paleo dietary system. Lean cuts of meat, some organ meats (liver and tongue), and eggs (up to six per week) may be consumed while on the diet. Nuts are also an important part of a Paleo food system–they contain monounsaturated or “good” fats, lower cholesterol, and reduce the risk of heart disease as well as some cancers (including breast cancer). That being said, nuts contain many calories, so they should be enjoyed in moderation if one is following the diet specifically for weight loss purposes.
While it is necessary to abstain from eating packaged products while on the Paleo diet, there are also some unpackaged foods one must take care to avoid. One ought to steer clear of sugar, syrups, and sweeteners, since they were not readily available to cavemen. Likewise one must take care to avoid eating grains and all foods made with them (pasta, cookies, bread, etc.) as well as dairy products (butter, cream, milk, cheese).
The Paleo diet may seem to limit many important food choices; however, the benefits of following this dietary system outweigh such minor inconveniences. A Paleo diet consists mainly of high protein meals, which are proven to induce weight loss without any increase in physical activity. That being said, an increase in physical activity would without a doubt prompt additional weight loss, making the Paleo diet ideal for everyone, whether one is looking to shed some pounds or become a beacon of human health.
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