The Paleolithic Diet.
The first time I heard of this diet I was at work (a physical therapy clinic). My co-workers and I were talking about a cake that one of our patients had brought us, when one of my friends mentioned that she couldn't eat any because she was on a Paleolithic Diet.
A Paleo-whaaaaat? ... Is that a religion?
After talking with her a little more about it, along with her reviews of how good she was feeling and basics of her eating habits, I decided that I wanted to learn more about it.
So, what is this Paleolithic diet? What makes it healthy?
The Paleo-diet is also known as the “caveman” diet. The basis of this diet is to only eat what your ancestors from 10,000 years ago would have eaten. It is believed that our bodies evolved into what they are today during the Paleolithic period. Hence, our bodies are best regulated to eat the kinds of foods that were available to us while we were hunter-gatherers.
What does this mean?
According to Robb Wolf, author of The Paleo Solution, the diet requires you to eat lean proteins and fresh (wild) fish, seasonal fruits and vegetables, and healthy fats such as nuts, seeds, avocado, olive oil, and coconut oil.
The Paleolithic people mainly had a 60/40 diet: 60% of their diet was meat from hunting or fishing, 40% was fruits, vegetables, nuts, and berries from gathering. Their diet was also rich in antioxidants, fiber, and vitamins.
Having these kinds of eating habits means that you have to say no to grains, legumes (beans, peanuts, peas, soy, etc), dairy products, yogurts, pastas, anything with refined sugar, anything that contains yeast, and anything with processed vegetable oils.
Seems like a lot more DO NOT’S than DO’s, doesn’t it? True. But when you look at it a little closer, it makes good sense.
At the end of the Paleolithic period, domestication of animals and the methods of agriculture were developed. Humans settled into living in single areas, evolving from living as hunters and gatherers. Then, humans began to learn new ways to make food. It also brought new kinds of foods into the human diet, such as dairy products, beans, cereals, and alcohol.
In the late 1800's and in the 1900's, techniques were developed to process foods on large scales along with methods of mass livestock farming which enabled the production of large quantities of refined sugars, cereals, and fatty domestic meats… Bringing us to our current eating habits.
Today, the eating habits of our society are filled with sugary-sweet, easy access, pre-packaged processed foods. We eat loads of sugar, salt, processed vegetable oils, sodium, nitrates, and alcohol- among many other impure additives and foods. Scientists believe that the mal-adaptation to today’s eating habits is the culprit for the chronic diseases and health problems that Americans face.
As Wikipedia says: These dietary compositional changes have been theorized as risk factors in the pathogenesis of many of the so-called "diseases of civilization" and other chronic illnesses that are widely prevalent in Western societies including obesity, cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, osteoporosis, autoimmune diseases, colorectal cancer, myopia, acne, depression, and diseases related to vitamin and mineral deficiencies (2).
So… here are some benefits of the Paleolithic diet:
Research shows that even short-term consumption of a paleolithic type diet improves blood pressure and glucose tolerance, decreases insulin secretion, increases insulin sensitivity and improves lipid profiles without weight loss in healthy sedentary humans. (3)
Dr Loren Cordain is a leading expert in the Paleolithic diet. His research supports that this diet will eliminate acne, improve athletic performance, slow progression of an autoimmune disease, lose weight without dieting and exercise, reduce or eliminate risk of diseases, including cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and the vast majority of all chronic degenerative diseases that affect humanity.
After quite a bit of my own of research on this diet, I highly recommend doing some on your own as well. This is a very very healthy diet. The lifestyle and results seem to be pretty amazing for the people who live and eat like this. Even in efforts to lose weight, these eating guidelines are good way to go. How and what you eat makes up a dynamic part of your body composition. When you are loading your body's system up on healthy veggies, proteins, fruits, and fats while cutting out sugars, gluten, and the many impurities that added into our food, you are bound to see and feel the very positive repercussions.
