Basically, the Paleo Diet is an effort to revert your diet back to the way people used to eat, before processed foods, sugary additives and pesticides and toxins. For several million years men and women foraged for their foods. They hunted, fished and planted.
But, while our diet has changed over the years, our bodies haven’t. This means that while our taste buds have gotten used to high sugar content, lots of carbohydrates and processed and boxed foods, our digestive systems are built to metabolize foods that we get from our gardens or from hunting. The Paleo Diet is an effort to mimic the diet that was once popular by men and women who lived long lives without cancer, cardiovascular disease and diseases triggered by the inflammatory response in our body to our current diet.
Our brain and body continues to need the same nutrients, vitamins and elements that our ancestors ate. Both Dr. Walter L Voegtlin, author of The Stone Age Diet in 1975, and Dr. Loren Cordain who began popularizing the Paleo Diet, agree that the body requires the nutrients found in lean meat, nuts, seeds, fruits and vegetables to function optimally. (1)
The basic idea is that if the foods are in their basic unprocessed state, then they are the healthiest. Although common belief today is that whole grains and cereals are healthy, the Paleo Diet does not include these. They also believe that you should steer clear of dairy, peanuts, potatoes, salt, refined vegetable oils, salt and of course refined sugar and processed foods.
What is encouraged are grass-fed meats, fresh fruits and vegetables (preferably without the toxins of pesticides and organically grown), eggs, nuts, seeds and healthy oils like those found in avocados, olive oil, walnut oil, flaxseed and coconut oil).
References:
(1) Mercola: Caveman Cuisine
http://www.mercola.com/article/diet/caveman_cuisine.htm
(2) Centers for Disease Control and prevention: Adult Obesity Facts
http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/adult.html
RESOURCES:
Ultimate Paleo Guide
http://ultimatepaleoguide.com/
NErd Fitness: The Beginers Guide to the Paleo Diet
http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2010/10/04/the-beginners-guide-to-the-paleo-diet/
The Paleo Diet: What to Eat on the Paleo Diet
http://thepaleodiet.com/what-to-eat-on-the-paleo-diet/
Scientific American: How to Really Eat Like a Hunter-Gatherer: Why the Paleo Diet is Half-Baked
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-paleo-diet-half-baked-how-hunter-gatherer-really-eat/
Marks Daily Apple: Metabolic and Physiologic Improvements from Consuming a Paleolithic hunter-gatherer type diet
http://www.marksdailyapple.com/paleo-diet-research/#axzz2vPBlYbNV
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