The Paleo Diet has always been a part of my lifestyle since I started my fitness journey. If you’ve ever heard the old saying “Don’t eat it if your Abuela (grandmother) wouldn’t recognize it.”, then, you should have an idea of the kind of influence Paleo has had in my life. This adage is simply trying to tell us to get rid of the modern day chemical-laden foods in favor of the natural,unprocessed foods if we ever want to live a healthy life. So going from this adage, the paleo diet seems to have come from way back, lots of generations before now.
What is Paleo?
Paleo diets came about while people were searching for the holy grail of diets. The typical assumption then was that in order to achieve an optimal diet, we would have to mimic our “paleolithic” ancestors (meaning cavemen) who were hunter-gatherers since this was the diet to which we were best genetically adapted to and there’s also the science to back this up.
They survived on a diet of meat, fish, berries, fruit, roots, nuts, and vegetables. They were furthermore active and had to be physically in good shape to safeguard themselves and their families.
In my experience adopting Paleo as a lifestyle, I could say that eating paleo has been very beneficial to me and my health, however I can’t speak for the caveman of pre-historic times because they didn’t stick around long enough for anyone to know their true health conditions.
There are lots of things known. Nonetheless there are still some things that I know which I learnt from Health Coaching school; One of which being “Individuality” in diet, meaning there isn’t any one diet that fits everyone or every time.
So what are the intended health benefits of Paleo?
Dr Loren Cordain managed to bring this to the world’s attention and since then several experts have created their own version of some of these benefits to adapt to different communities. To highlight this further, we are going to take the question-and-answer approach to address the Paleo topic. Finding answers to some frequently asked questions in order to gain a better understanding of the Paloe diet.
What is a strict Paleo?
Strict Paleo simply means eating real food that excludes certain potentially problematic food groups. This can be done for an experimental period of maybe 30 days, 90 or 120 days. The paleo diet is a form of a low-carb diet that is usually regarded as a way of life rather than just a diet plan.
Strict Paleo demands absolute dedication and requires drastic changes to be made if they will yield the desired results. You have to find enough paleo diet recipes and ensure you eat paleo as breakfast, as lunch, and as dinner. Even when you decide to snack, it should be paleo.
What do Paleo-based Recipes not have in them?
The paleo diet requires that you have to let go of carbs, foods that contain lots of animal fat or eating of large meals, and replace all of that with plenty of organic produce. Foods excluded from the Paleo Diet include grains, legumes, dairy, refined salt and sugar, processed oils, and all other processed and artificial ingredients and these are mostly what you’ll find with typical junk food items.
Pros and Cons of the Paleo Diet
Adopting the Paleo Diet helps you lose weight, get stronger, sleep and feel better, and increases your energy level. Paleo diets consist of high nutrient density foods which give your body the minimum necessary vitamins and minerals it needs.
It’s simple and easy to follow and also encourages increased physical activities since there is a high intake of amino acids, decreases the body’s omega-6 to omega-3 ratio, and also lowers body acidity. Paleo diets help to lessen the risk of cardiovascular diseases, obesity, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, osteoporosis, colorectal cancer, acne, depression and diseases related to vitamin and mineral deficiency.
On the other hand a paleo diet calls for restricting grains and dairy. For some dieticians this may seem way over the line of good dietary practices. Another possible problem could be its high intake of protein which our bodies might not be able to expend due to our current lifestyle compared to back then when they were mostly hunters and gatherers.
Thirdly is the emphasis on less carbs. Cutting down on carbs to the point where the Paleo Diet wants them, may not be very healthy as this could negatively impact blood lipids.
How should I approach “Paleo-Based or Modern paleo?
The Paleo Diet allows you to eat foods without you having to worry about calorie counting since you’re most likely filling yourself up with only the good quality produce. Helping you make sure you don’t overeat and consequently don’t get overweight.
However, it is hard that this diet is the universal cure to all diet related health challenges since it doesn’t even necessarily check all of the nutritional boxes that need to be checked. It has been argued that the diet is too restrictive to address all of our nutritional deficiencies, and that it’s also too difficult for anyone to adopt as a permanent dieting lifestyle.
So you might want to take the on and off approach with the Paleo diets. Give yourself a schedule with which to adopt this diet plan just to help keep you and your health in check.
What to eat on the paleo diet.
Paleo diet commonly refers to the caveman diet, so this simply implies that we eat foods that are 100% natural. For instance, Foods like wild plants, Seafood, Veggies, Fruit, Potatoes, Nuts/seeds and whatever foods that could be consumed in their natural state.
Take Away
The major takeaway for me is to see the paleo as a diet plan that can guide you in the right direction if you wish to improve on your current eating habits. Paleo encourages you to choose real 100% natural foods of the best quality you can find all the time, and to drastically minimise intake of processed whole foods. Honestly, I think I can recommend adopting the paleo as a philosophy for life as it is very effective and will keep you feeling great all the time.
Like our parents say – do everything in moderation! Don’t just hate it when they are right?
Every time you eat or drink you are either feeding a disease or fighting it!
Are you interested in learning more about the paleo diet or how to implement some of its habits? NOT TO WORRY, you can reach out to me through the comments section below with all of your questions and clarifications. I’ll be glad to respond to them.
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Disclaimer: Please note that while I am a health coach by profession, I am not YOUR doctor. This article is for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice nor does it establish any kind of medical relationship between you and me. I will not be held liable or responsible for any damage resulting from or related to your use of this information.