The Paleolithic diet, also popularly referred to as the caveman diet, Stone Age diet and hunter-gatherer diet, is a modern nutritional diet designed to emulate, insofar as possible using modern foods, the diet of wild plants and animals eaten by humans during the Paleolithic era.
Proponents of the diet recommend avoiding any foods that they claim were not available to humans at that time, including dairy products, grains, legumes, processed oils, and refined sugar.
Major advocates of the diet believe that this includes eating:
- More protein and meat: Meat, seafood, and other animal products
- Fewer carbohydrates: Non-starchy vegetables
- High fiber: High fiber intake not via grains
12 benefits of eating the paleo diet:
Healthy Cells
You may not realize it, but every cell in your body is made from both saturated and unsaturated fat and your cells depend on a healthy balance of the two in order to properly send messages in and out.
Healthy Brain
One of the best sources of protein and fat suggested by the paleo diet comes from cold water fish; ideally wild-caught salmon.
Salmon fat is packed full of omega 3 fatty acids which is lacking in the average American diet. This is a problem because within omega 3 fatty acids contains DHA which is known to be good for the eyes, heart, and most importantly for brain development and function!
More Muscle, Less Fat
The paleo diet relies heavily on animal flesh and with it comes healthy protein. This protein is very anabolic and is used for building new cells like muscle mass.
The more muscle you have the better your metabolism will work, period! This is because muscles require energy to move and in order to move bigger muscles you must store more energy in them! This allows your body to send energy to muscle cells instead of fat cells!
Better Gut Health
Sugar, man-made fats and other processed junk all cause inflammation within your intestinal tract. Unfortunately when you match too much processed foods with a lot of stress you can get what’s called “leaky gut syndrome” which is when your intestinal walls are breached and things that don’t normally leave the tunnel end up leaking out!
Circle of Life
The paleo diet suggests eating pasture-raised meats and eggs. This means that the animals are truly able to roam in grass for their entire lives. Ideally cows and chickens will roam the pasture together as this creates synergy.
Get All Your Vitamins & Minerals
The paleo diet suggests eating the rainbow! Vegetables are a large part of the diet and it’s recommended to get a variety of veggies depending on the seasons!
Limits Fructose
The paleo diet recognises that the human body digests fructose differently than other carbs. It’s this reason that the paleo diet suggests limiting and strategically choosing the perfect fruit for the job!
Skip the banana and eat a kiwi instead!
Better Digestion and Absorption
The paleo diet suggests eating foods that you’ve adapted the ability to digest over thousands of years. There are no questions whether or not you can tolerate starch or grass-fed beef. You’re ancestors both survived and thrived off these foods.
Less Allergies
The paleo diet suggests that you minimize foods that are known to be allergens to certain societies. Some people incapable of digesting seeds (grain) and dairy which is why the paleo diet recommends that you remove these foods at least for a month (unless the milk is raw).
People often bash the paleo diet because we don’t eat “whole grains” and this couldn’t be further from the truth. The truth is simply that grains aren’t the best tool for the job, so we avoid them most of the time, but not always. If you are an athlete, you probably should be eating a cup of oats every now and then.
Reduce Inflammation
Research suggests that inflammation may be the leading factor behind cardiovascular disease. The great thing about the paleo diet is that a lot of the foods are anti-inflammatory so you will me minimizing your risk.
The large focus on omega 3 fatty acids is one of the reasons the diet is so anti-inflammatory. Pasture-raised animals have a much better ratio of omega 3 to 6 ratios and the other veggies and herbs encouraged with the paleo diet will help as well!
More Energy
Every wonder why energy drinks have become so popular in the last decade? It’s because everybody’s diet sucks!
A typical American breakfast consists of a sugar coffee matched with a muffin or bagel with cream cheese. Not only will this eventually lead to type 2 diabetes and insulin resistance, it won’t even keep you satiated!
Weight Loss
The paleo diet is a low carb diet by design. Simply removing processed foods will drastically reduce your carb intake to fuel weight loss.
By limiting carbs to around workout times you will avoid unwanted fat gain which is often caused by these excess carbs!
