Benefits Of The Paleo Diet - Part 1

The Paleo Diet has gained a strong popular following based on the need that people have to develop a nutritional pattern that fits their lifestyle, helps them lose weight and improve their overall health. According to proponents, the Paleo Diet does all three of these.

The diet advocates that the users eat their foods as close to the natural state as possible, while still including cooking the food. A common description for this diet is called a Hunter-Gatherer diet because people are eating grass fed meats, vegetables, fruits, plants, nuts and seeds.

Paleo foodies will steer clear of processed sugars, and processed foods like bread, artificial cheese, cold cuts, potato chips and sugary cereals. The most focused users will also prohibit dairy, grains and legumes from the diet.

The types of foods have a low glycemic index and are gluten free. The low glycemic index will reduce the blood sugar spikes that you can experience from eating foods that quickly turn to glucose in the blood stream. These sugar spikes will increase the amount of insulin your body produces. Just 2 hours after eating a high carbohydrate meal you’ll experience a crash in your blood sugar and then fatigue.

This constant up and down of your blood sugar and stress on your pancreas will increase your risk for type 2 diabetes. One of the benefits of eating a Paleo type diet is a lower risk for type 2 diabetes.

The types of foods will also help you to lose weight more easily because you will reduce your sugar load, and subsequently your caloric intake. With this combination, you’ll experience a loss of weight that is unplanned. If you have more weight you’d like to take off, it will be time to start counting a few calories. But because the foods are very filling it will be easy to cut back and still stay full.

References:

(1) European Journal of Clinical Nutrition: Metabolic and Physiologic Improvements from Consuming a Paleolithic Hunter-Gatherer Type Diet

http://www.marksdailyapple.com/paleo-diet-research/#axzz2vcFd0ix0

(2) Journal of Diabetes Science and Technology: The Beneficial Effects of a Paleolithic Diet on Type 2 diabetes and Other Risk Factors for Cardiovascular Disease

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2787021/

(3) Facebook: Dr. Cordain’s Rebuttal to U.S. News and World Report top 20 Diets

https://www.facebook.com/notes/the-paleo-diet/dr-cordains-rebuttal-to-us-news-and-world-report-top-20-diets/10150212424887973

Resources:

University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine: Pros and cons of the Paleo Diet

http://www.upmc.com/services/sports-medicine/newsletter/pages/paleo-diet.aspx

MedlinePlus: C-Reactive Protein

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/003356.htm

Mercola: Feast Like a Cavemand and Watch the Pounds Melt Away

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2011/11/11/paleo-goes-mainstream-cbs-news-reports.aspx

Huffington Post: 6 Health Lessons From the Paleo Diet

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/13/healthy-paleo-diet-tips_n_3900690.html