What Is the Paleo Diet?

It seems just about every month a new, fad diet pops onto the scene, promising to help you shed pounds and get healthy. But there’s one diet that has gained popularity with many. And instead of being new, it’s old. Quite old.

The paleo diet is an eating plan based on foods humans were thought to have eaten during the Paleolithic Era. In other words, it’s a way of eating based on how our ancestors ate. And when I say ancestors, I mean people who lived from between 10,000 and 2.5 million years ago. So you could say it’s the diet that human beings evolved on.

Why Do Some People Swear by the Paleo Diet?

Some health experts suggests that our genes have not adapted to modern diets that grew out of agriculture. They believe we can optimize our health if we eat the same foods our ancestors ate for thousands, or even millions, of years.

Why is eating farmed foods so problematic?

Before farming, human beings did not eat grains, legumes or dairy. While all of those food categories are delicious, some experts feel our guts and DNA simply cannot handle these foods that have only been around for a few thousands years. A blip on the human evolution screen.

What Foods are Allowed?

Our ancestors were hunter-gatherers and would eat locally-sourced (obviously) fruits and vegetables, meat, fish, eggs, nuts and seeds. Some on the paleo diet are very strict, eating only fruits and veggies that would have been available to their ancestors. For example, someone who evolved in a warm climate would have had different produce available than someone who evolved in Northern Europe.

Getting Started

If you are someone who needs to lose weight or reduce heart disease or other chronic conditions, the Paleo diet may be very beneficial. Getting started is easy. Simply avoid processed foods, grains and dairy products and eat plenty of the foods I listed. And as always, speak to your healthcare provider before starting any new diet plan.

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