Characteristics Of The Paleolithic Diet

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Introduction

The Paleolithic (Paleo) diet also known as (Caveman Diet) is one modeled after the perceived food consumption of early human ancestors of the Paleolithic Era, consisting of mainly meat, fish, fruit, vegetables, eggs, and nuts. The Paleo diet primarily consists of the types of foods available to hunter-gatherer people during this time in history. This would include food like fish, and other lean meats, vegetables, fruits, and nuts. What this diet doesn't include is bread, grains, starches, legumes, and refined sugars. Due to eating foods that exist outside of our evolutionary metabolic environment, people now deal with chronic “diseases of civilization” like heart disease, diabetes, and obesity.

The Paleolithic (Paleo) diet …show more content…

Its primary purpose is to increase general health and wellness, and decrease the incidence of gastro-intestinal disorders and diseases like heart disease and diabetes. However, it is entirely likely that you will lose fat while eating this way.
A key component of the Paleo diet is the importance of eating higher quality unprocessed foods. These types of foods are typically high in fiber compared to their processed equivalents, and fiber will fill up your stomach thereby limiting how much you eat. As well, this diet tends to contain more protein than average. Protein will satisfy your appetite more than anything else, potentially causing you to eat less. Thus, it is likely that you will lose fat just from eating less than normal.
The large amounts of refined sugars and other carbohydrates in the standard diet lead to insulin and leptin dis-regulation, both important hormones for metabolism, hunger, and fat storage. These foods are not a part of the Paleo plan, so normal fat mobilization and blood sugar maintenance should be …show more content…

Starchy vegetables like sweet potatoes and yams are also great as a source of non-toxic carbohydrates.
- Eat low to moderate amounts of fruits and nuts. Try to eat mostly fruits low in sugar and high in antioxidants like berries as well as nuts high in omega-3, low in omega-6 and low in total polyunsaturated fat like macadamia nuts. Consider cutting off fruits and nuts altogether if you have an autoimmune disease, digestive problems or are trying to lose weight faster.
- Cut out all vegetable, hydrogenated and partly-hydrogenated oils including, but not limited to, margarine, soybean oil, corn oil, peanut oil, canola oil, safflower oil and sunflower oil. Olive oil and avocado oil are fine, but don’t cook with them, use them in salad dressings and to drizzle over food.
- Don’t over-exercise, keep your training sessions short and intense and do them only a few times per week. Take some extra time off if you feel tired. Consider short and intense sprinting sessions instead of very long cardio sessions.
- Consider supplementing with vitamin D and probiotics. Levels of magnesium, iodine and vitamin K2 should also be optimized. Iodine can be obtained from seaweeds. You probably don’t need a multivitamin or other

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