A Quick Guide Of The Popular Paleo Diet

A Quick Guide Of The Popular Paleo Diet | What’s It All About?

The paleo diet essentially aims to create the diet that humans followed during the Paleolithic era, also called the Old Stone Age, and started about 2.5 million years ago and ended in 10,000 BC.
In modern times the paleo diet as a concept started in the 1970s and its popularity soared after the publication of the book “The Paleo diet” lose weight and get healthy by eating the food that you were designed to eat.

What does the Paleo diet entail:

The exclusion of processed meats
Dairy
Refined sugars
Grain-based foods

Pros of the Paleo diet

Rich in nutrient-dense foods
The diet has a healthy level of vitamins and minerals and is without processed foods and refined sugars.

Weight management
The paleo diet certainly leads to weight loss if there is an overall calorie deficit, but the same can be said about any other type of diet.

Cardiovascular health
A 2019 meta-analysis in Advances in Nutrition linked the paleo diet to lower blood pressure, LDL cholesterol, and triglycerides.

Longevity
Lower risk of overall mortality, cancer mortality, and cardiovascular disease.

Cons of the Paleo diet

Restrictiveness & nutrient deficient
One of the main criticisms of the paleo diet is its restrictiveness, making it difficult to sustain.
Also, the exclusion of entire food groups like dairy and grains, makes it hard for dieters to get all the nutrients they need.
The typical paleo diet can create the risk of deficiency in calcium and vitamin D which are critical for bone health.

Eliminates food groups
The paleo diet eliminates major food groups like grains and dairy and cuts out other nutritious foods like beans, lentils, and peanuts.
Although it’s still possible to meet your nutritional needs without these foods, it’s more challenging to do so.

Unclear impact on the gut microbiome
The amounts of good bacteria in your digestive system otherwise known as your gut microbiome can be changed by altering your diet.

Costly and time-intensive
Because this diet eliminates processed foods, you need to make most of the meals from scratch.

Difficult to follow long term
The paleo diet can be difficult to sustain long-term, just like any other diet that eliminates major categories of food.
For the short term, the paleo diet helps healthy subjects and even diabetic patients re-establish their normal glycemic levels.
However, this type of diet is difficult to sustain for overall health in the long term.

Foods to include in Paleo diet:

Meat
Fish
Eggs
Vegetables
Fruits
Nuts
Seeds
Herbs
Spices
Healthy fats and oils

Foods to avoid in Paleo diet:

Processed foods such as those labelled “diet” or “low-fat” or with many additives
Sugary food and drinks such as soft drinks, fruit juices, cane sugar, candy, pastries, ice cream
Grains such as breads and pastas, wheat, spelt, rye, barley
Most dairy products, especially low-fat
Some versions of paleo do include full-fat dairy, such as butter and cheese
Legumes such as beans and lentils
Artificial sweeteners
Vegetable oils such as sunflower oil, corn oil, grapeseed oil
Margarine and trans fats

Shopping List for the Paleo diet:

Meat: Beef, lamb, pork, etc.
Poultry: Chicken, turkey, etc.
Fish: Salmon, trout, mackerel, etc.
Eggs
Fresh vegetables: Greens, lettuce, tomatoes, peppers, carrots, onions to name but a few
Frozen vegetables: Broccoli, spinach, vegetable mixes and more
Fruits: Apples, bananas, pears, oranges, avocado
Berries: Strawberries, blueberries, etc.
Nuts: Almonds, walnuts, macadamia nuts, hazelnuts
Almond butter
Coconut oil
Olive oil
Olives
Sweet potatoes
Condiments: Sea salt, pepper, turmeric, garlic, parsley, etc.