What Is The Paleo Diet?
It seems like there are new diets that are the next miracle or ones that take weight off quickly. Finding which ones work and which ones are hype can be a problem. One of the more popular new diets is the Paleo diet. It’s based on what your ancestors back in the Paleolithic period, 2.6 million to about 12,000 years ago, might have eaten. That was the time before farming, so grains, legumes and dairy aren’t part of it. The premise is that the body was genetically designed to digest those foods properly, so thefoods are healthier and keep you functioning at optimal levels.
While there’s a wide variety of foods on the Paleo diet, you’ll probably miss the ones you can’t eat.
Grains were added to the diet later, as man began to farm. Therefore, it’s not part of the Paleolithic diet. That eliminates a lot of American favorites. After all, what’s a hamburger without a bun? So many American favorites like pizza, donuts and bread are eliminated. In many diets these foods are eliminated because they’re high in calories, processed flour and sugar. All of these things can devastate a weight loss program. A Paleo diet contains no oils. It doesn’t contain processed foods, which automatically is a healthier way to eat.
There are many foods that are allowed on the Paleolithic diet.
Rather than focus on what you can’t eat, let’s focus on what you can. Not only is animal meat allowed, the “whole animal” approach is encouraged. Early man used all the animals they caught for food, including organs, bone marrow and cartilage. While sucking out the marrow of bones isn’t part of the diet, bone broth and organ meat is. Bone broth has a high amount of collagen, glycine, chondroitin and glucosamine. These are all building blocks of the body.
Other foods in the Paleo diet besides animal meat include vegetables, seeds, nuts and fruit.
Early man was a hunter/gatherer. He ate things found in nature. Bird’s eggs, natural fats found in avocado and nuts were part of the diet. Man had not yet learned to ferment drinks, but fermented foods were a natural occurrence. Fermented foods are healthy and if early man were hungry or thirsty enough, they probably ate them. Unlike today’s adult beverages, there are were no additives, just the fruit or vegetables that were fermented. Even if you pick an organic wine with no added sugar, consume it in moderation, as early man might have. Other fermented foods, like kimchi, kombucha and sauerkraut are encouraged on the paleo diet.
- While the Paleo diet can be healthy, there’s still the risk for vitamin D and calcium deficiencies. It has higher amounts of protein and saturated fat, which could increase the risk of heart disease, cancer and kidney disease.
- Eating like early man isn’t enough. Early man had adequate sunshine to produce vitamin D naturally. Early people were constantly on the move, walking everywhere and hunting for food. You need to increase your activity to get the full benefits.
- If you chose to eat a modified form of the Paleolithic diet, simply cut back on processed foods, food with added sugar and ones made with highly processed flour.
- Early man slept more and valued drinking water to stay hydrated. If you follow the same dictates, you’ll be on the road to a healthier lifestyle.
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