I've been eating a healthy, clean diet for quite some time, consisting of organic, whole foods while avoiding pesticide- and GMO-laden foods as well as most processed foods with chemical additives. I kept hearing about the Paleo Diet, but I didn't know much about it. The funny thing is that it turns out I was eating the Paleo Diet without even knowing it. The purpose of this article is to explain the diet, why it makes sense, and apply some tweaks to avoid minor pitfalls.
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.
It is essential to avoid processed foods that are loaded with added sugar, sodium, fats, and other dangerous food additives. The lifestyle diseases and negative health conditions associated with chemically-induced processed foods and refined sugar and salt are well known. Just adhering to a diet that prohibits these foods would be a huge improvement for many people, however, there are a few other areas that might not be so intuitive or mainstream.
This diet also eliminates grains and beans/legumes. This may be surprising to some people. The reason is that both have what's called phytic acid, which keeps your body from digesting and utilizing all of the nutrients in the food. They, along with dairy, also contain dangerous lectins, which are often responsible for additional digestion issues. While convenient, the human digestive system is not designed for grains and legumes, and is not efficient in using nutrients from these sources.
I recommend that Paleo followers avoid dairy, but not all followers do. I avoid dairy because drinking the milk of another animal is not natural nor is doing so in adulthood. Raw milk, if available, or low-pasteurized milk are the best options, should you choose to incorporate dairy into your diet.
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 hope you give the Paleo Diet a try. It is one of the cleanest, healthiest diets I've ever come across. Outside of possible detox issues you may experience (mainly headaches) when you first wean yourself from dangerous chemicals, I think you will find it to be more energizing than any other diet you've tried.
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.
It is essential to avoid processed foods that are loaded with added sugar, sodium, fats, and other dangerous food additives. The lifestyle diseases and negative health conditions associated with chemically-induced processed foods and refined sugar and salt are well known. Just adhering to a diet that prohibits these foods would be a huge improvement for many people, however, there are a few other areas that might not be so intuitive or mainstream.
This diet also eliminates grains and beans/legumes. This may be surprising to some people. The reason is that both have what's called phytic acid, which keeps your body from digesting and utilizing all of the nutrients in the food. They, along with dairy, also contain dangerous lectins, which are often responsible for additional digestion issues. While convenient, the human digestive system is not designed for grains and legumes, and is not efficient in using nutrients from these sources.
I recommend that Paleo followers avoid dairy, but not all followers do. I avoid dairy because drinking the milk of another animal is not natural nor is doing so in adulthood. Raw milk, if available, or low-pasteurized milk are the best options, should you choose to incorporate dairy into your diet.
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 hope you give the Paleo Diet a try. It is one of the cleanest, healthiest diets I've ever come across. Outside of possible detox issues you may experience (mainly headaches) when you first wean yourself from dangerous chemicals, I think you will find it to be more energizing than any other diet you've tried.
About the Author:
Please check out my website to learn more at Food Labels or my blog at dangerous food additives
No comments:
Post a Comment