An Introduction To The Paleo Diet

By Cliff Walsh


The Paleo Diet is the newest diet craze out there. It consists of eating whole foods like organic fruit, vegetables, and meat while avoiding grains, beans, and dairy. Is it just a flash in the pan? I don't think so. Once I learned more about the Paleo Diet, I realized I had been eating it for quite some time. It is the healthiest, most rational diet I have ever come across.

Given the significant rise in the use of insecticides/herbicides and GMOs in farming, as well as the use of dangerous preservatives and artificial ingredients like sweeteners, food dyes, and food fillers, the Paleo Diet was introduced as a means to return us to a more natural diet.

On the Paleo Diet, processed foods are eliminated for two reasons. First, they are typically loaded with salt, sugar, white flour, and fat, which are known for their negative affects on good health. Second, the chemical content of these foods can be very dangerous, and certainly unnatural. Eating a whole foods diet by itself would change most people's health, but there are additional factors in the Paleo Diet, some that are not as simple to understand.

The Paleo Diet avoids all grains and legumes. They both contain phytic acid, which binds to nutrients in food and prevents absorption, meaning you are not getting the nutrients that are labeled on the food package. In addition, potentially toxic lectins are highest in grains, legumes, and dairy, which can cause digestive and autoimmune problems. Our bodies are not designed to digest these types of food.

Dairy is the only area of the Paleo Diet without strict guidelines. Some people consume it while others don't. Those who don't consume it, avoid it because we are not designed to drink milk beyond infancy, and certainly not from other species. Human adults continue to drink milk because we can and because the powerful dairy lobby has convinced us that it is good for us. My research suggests otherwise, but that is the subject for another article.

The main staples in the Paleo diet are organic fruits and vegetables, including sweet potatoes along with wild-caught fish, pasture-raised eggs, and organic meats and poultry. Vegetables are extremely low in calories, so to avoid low energy, I suggest getting a significant amount of your carbohydrate needs from fruit.

Paleo follows can sometimes get into trouble if they restrict carbohydrates. Some people don't like to eat too much fruit because they think it will make them fat (not true) and vegetables are inherently low in calories, so the combination creates a diet filled with protein and fat. This is why some people wrong compare the Paleo Diet to Atkins. If followed properly, these two diets are very different. I suggest eating fruit as your main carbohydrate source and shoot for carbs to make up about 40% of your calories. Protein should be at a similar level if you are looking to lose weight, but you could eat a larger amount of carbs if you aren't. Fats should come from healthy sources and top out at about 20%.

I recommend trying the Paleo Diet or at least learning more about it with the hopes you will eventually consider trying it. The diet is clean, nutritious, and will give you an energy boost while helping you lose weight or maintain a healthy weight.




About the Author:



Aucun commentaire:

Enregistrer un commentaire