Health-Food
The paleo diet refers to a diet system that is arranged to look like that of the cavemen thousands of years in the past. This idea is based on the belief that it is the best way to get all the nourishments the body needs. Could this be true?
What Does Paleo Diet Entail?
The cavemen dieted basically on foods that were gathered or hunted; and this explains why they are also called the hunter-gatherers. They fed on fish, lean meat, nuts, vegetables, fruits and seeds.
Paleo diet is otherwise known as Paleolithic diet, caveman diet, Stone Age diet or hunter-gatherer diet.
Foods such as grains, legumes and dairy products only became known when farming became a practice, so they do not fall in the scope of paleo diet. They are not considered to be very healthy by some nutritionists after all.
Why adopt a paleo diet system?
It is hypothesized by some dieticians and nutritionists that the human body is mismatched genetically to the other diets that were developed through farming.
Because of the sudden changes that occurred in the feeding system from hunting and gathering, there was an abrupt obstruction in the human feeding style. For the inability to adapt to the new feeding style, the body protests in its way. This theory is called the discordance hypothesis.
The discordance hypothesis is assumed to be the major cause of the rise in heart diseases, obesity and diabetes in the society in this era.
The thing is, this hypothesis carries a bunch of facts in it, and you may want to adopt this diet system too if you would love to lose some weight and/or maintain a weight that is healthy. You could also adopt the system if you would love to plan your meals correctly and appropriately.
At this stage, you may want to ask… what foods are contained in a paleo diet?
Contents of a paleo diet
Just as it is hard to tell what a hunter-gather would find on his quest to get his daily meal, it is difficult to say in particular what food is involved in a paleo diet. In fact, commercial paleo dieticians vary on their recommendations and diet guidelines.
Generally, paleo dieticians agree on the following food types:
- Fruits
- Nuts and seeds
- Vegetables
- Lean meats
- Fish
- Fruit and nut oils
Sticking to some food types requires that you stay away from some others right?
Here is a list of food types you should avoid:
- Dairy products
- Grains
- Legumes
- Potatoes
- Salt and processed sugar
- Foods that are highly processed in its entirety
You may find it confusing how to match up the food types to make a daily 3-square balanced diet.
Here is an example:
- For Breakfast you could have a meal of Broiled salmon with cantaloupe.
- You could address lunch with broiled lean pork with salad while you could have a dinner of steamed broccoli, lean beef roast and salad with strawberries.
- An orange, carrot or celery sticks could fill in as snacks.
The Cavemen were active people, thus you will most likely not get a similar effect if you stick to the diet alone. You should drink a good quantity of water and ensure that you exercise every day.
Effects and Results of the Paleo diet
There have been series of clinical tests and comparisons between the Paleo diet system and other diet systems available today. The Paleo diet has succeeded[1] in beating both the Diabetes diet and the Mediterranean diet.
The presence of fruits, vegetables, and the protein-rich lean meats and the absence of grains, legumes and dairy products have made the Paleo diet more beneficial than the others.
Here are some of the benefits:
- It helps you to lose more weight
- It helps to improve your glucose tolerance
- It helps reduce your level of triglycerides
- It helps control your glucose tolerance
- It helps manage your appetite better
There have been scenarios where an idea deemed to be beneficial on a short or immediate term happens to have side effects or defects in the long run.
To find which defects the paleo diet system has, large groups of people are needed to be randomly fixed with the different diets. This experiment is yet to be conducted, so it is fair to say that the side effects of the paleo diet is yet unknown.
A combination of fruits and nuts and vegetables is an element of a healthy and balanced diet. However, the absence of legumes and whole grains, which are good sources of vitamins, fiber and some other nutrients is a major deficiency of the Paleo diet. Also dairy products are great sources of protein and calcium but they are not involved in the Paleo diet too.
The absent food types are considered healthy and generally more affordable and accessible than the present ones. Some consider the paleo diet as being too expensive.
Conclusion
Adopting a paleo diet system may help you lose weight, stay healthy or maintain your weight but there are no clinical studies showing long-term benefits and potential side-effects of the diet.
There are no known side effects of the Paleo diet i you respect basic rules. Why not give it a chance and get your weight and health in the right shape and condition? You can order The Paleo Recipes Book Today and do not forget, health is wealth, so eat healthy and stay happy.
