What is a Paleo Diet?
Paleo is a traditional, non-traditional diet.. if that makes any sense.
7 March 2016
ewfood
What I am trying to say is that a Paleo diet is considered a non-traditional lifestyle adjustment now, because it restricts the consumption of gluten and sugar, which is the traditional norm today.
However, looking back at history, at the brink of civilization, before the advent of technology, a human’s only source of food was through a Paleo régime.
Let’s take a look back at history shall we:
When we talk about history, we are talking about the time of the Romans and Pharaohs, the average Homo sapien in that time period was tall, muscular, physically fit, and incredibly resourceful.
The average Homo Sapien today can be seen as overweight, physically and mentally exhausted, unhappy, sleep deprived and out of shape. Not to mention a list of possible illnesses or diseases that he or she are or may be facing.
So now you’re wondering what happened?
As the human race began to gradually progress, so did the agriculture, and as such, hunters and gatherers started to take on the role of farmers, thus, the agricultural revolution evolved.
By becoming farmers and encouraging agriculture, societies were eventually formed and the human race began to progress to what we are today.
The issue however, is that although, as humans we have mentally adapted to the changes within civilization, our bodies did not, therefore, grains and other gluten products that flourished in the past 1000 years when farming began, have not adequately adapted to our bodies.
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In short, in the past thousand years or so, the agricultural revolution has shifted, as such, our diets have also shifted but our genes have not, causing a fluctuation in our size and weight.
Instead of consuming meat, vegetables and fruits, as our ancestors once used to, our species has now depended on grains (such as bread, rice, corn and pasta) in order to survive. As such, today, people are continuing to put on weight day by day.
So, how does the Paleo Diet fit into all of this?
The Paleo Diet is designed to push people to live healthier and make use of the efficiency in their body, by eating the way that we were biologically made to eat, without the consumption of grains or sugar.
What are grains?
Grains are a type of carbohydrate which eventually turns into glucose (sugar), which causes an irrational response in our digestive system. The glucose is meant to be used as a source of energy, the body uses what it needs and stores the remainder of the glucose as fat.
What about sugar?
Sugar is almost completely eliminated from the Paleo Diet, unless your source of sugar comes directly from a fruit.
As you may have heard, sugar causes an energy spike in your system, and unless it is used immediately as energy, it is likely to crash in your system and turn into fat.
What about carbs?
The human body still needs carbs to survive. Paleo diets suggest that we get our carbohydrate intake from foods that do not need to be processed in anyway, such as fruits and vegetables (sweet potato for example).
Vegetables also serve a great purpose, in the idea that you can eat as much as you want, without gaining fat.
What about dairy?
Dairy is something that a good portion of the world actually consumes, and a good portion of the world is actually lactose intolerant (whether they realize it or not).
Do you know that humans are the only species on the planet that consumes milk beyond infancy? In fact, humans are the only beings on the planet that consumes milk from other species!
If you’re reconsidering milk, you can easily substitute if with replacements such as almond milk, soy milk and coconut milk.
SEE ALSO: Everyone's going coco for coconuts!
So, how can we survive without carbs? Ketogenesis!
Carbs are said to give us energy in order to keep our day going. Again, looking back at history, our bodies operated on a low intake of carbs that said, with the absence of carbs, our body will naturally burn the stored fat and use that for energy, in manner known as ketogenesis.
So what is safe in the Paleo Diet?
Natural foods are the only thing left that you can eat when you are on the Paleo Diet:
Poultry
Chicken, turkey, duck, goose and pheasant are the most traditional examples.
Meat
Any meat will do as long as it is grass-fed (grain fed produces the same effect on animals as it does on humans).
Wild Fish
Farmed fish are consume mercury, which is hazardous to human health.
Eggs
Omega 3 enriched eggs.
Raw Vegetable
We love deep fried veggies, but if you plan on going Paleo, lay off the deep frying habit.
Oil
Make sure you are eating natural oils such as olive oil, coconut oil etc.
Fruits
Healthy natural sugar, but must be consumed in moderation as it can spike up sugar and weight.
Nuts
Similar to fruits, nuts are healthy but high in calories, so don’t over indulge!
Written by EW's Dina Mahmoud
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