01:31
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.
Dairy is the only area of the Paleo Diet without strict guidelines. Some people consume it while others don't. Those who don't consume it, avoid it because we are not designed to drink milk beyond infancy, and certainly not from other species. Human adults continue to drink milk because we can and because the powerful dairy lobby has convinced us that it is good for us. My research suggests otherwise, but that is the subject for another article.
I've listed the restrictions. Now, here is the actual diet. Protein comes from organic, grass-fed beef, organic poultry, wild-caught fish, and pasture-raised eggs. Carbohydrates come from organic fruit, vegetables, and tubers. The fat in your diet will come from the saturated animal fat plus moderate amounts of nuts, seeds, avocados, and oils. Many recommend reducing fruit intake if you are trying to lose weight. It can be high in sugar, but it is natural sugar and doesn't have the same impact on blood sugar or digestion. I recommend getting a healthy portion of your carbs from fruit.
The Paleo Diet is sometimes criticized as an all-meat or low-carb diet like Atkins, but it is not. It specifies certain carbs to avoid, but fruit or veggies are recommended at every meal. Most people don't like to count calories, but I find that a great balance exists when 40% of calories come from both protein and carbs (it's going to be a healthy proportion of fruit bc veggies are so low in calories), and the remaining 20% from fat, which will consist of the fats from the protein you eat and any nuts, seeds, oils, or avocados that you eat.
I recommend trying the Paleo Diet or at least learning more about it with the hopes you will eventually consider trying it. The diet is clean, nutritious, and will give you an energy boost while helping you lose weight or maintain a healthy weight.
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.
Dairy is the only area of the Paleo Diet without strict guidelines. Some people consume it while others don't. Those who don't consume it, avoid it because we are not designed to drink milk beyond infancy, and certainly not from other species. Human adults continue to drink milk because we can and because the powerful dairy lobby has convinced us that it is good for us. My research suggests otherwise, but that is the subject for another article.
I've listed the restrictions. Now, here is the actual diet. Protein comes from organic, grass-fed beef, organic poultry, wild-caught fish, and pasture-raised eggs. Carbohydrates come from organic fruit, vegetables, and tubers. The fat in your diet will come from the saturated animal fat plus moderate amounts of nuts, seeds, avocados, and oils. Many recommend reducing fruit intake if you are trying to lose weight. It can be high in sugar, but it is natural sugar and doesn't have the same impact on blood sugar or digestion. I recommend getting a healthy portion of your carbs from fruit.
The Paleo Diet is sometimes criticized as an all-meat or low-carb diet like Atkins, but it is not. It specifies certain carbs to avoid, but fruit or veggies are recommended at every meal. Most people don't like to count calories, but I find that a great balance exists when 40% of calories come from both protein and carbs (it's going to be a healthy proportion of fruit bc veggies are so low in calories), and the remaining 20% from fat, which will consist of the fats from the protein you eat and any nuts, seeds, oils, or avocados that you eat.
I recommend trying the Paleo Diet or at least learning more about it with the hopes you will eventually consider trying it. The diet is clean, nutritious, and will give you an energy boost while helping you lose weight or maintain a healthy weight.
About the Author:
Please check out my website to learn more at Food Labels or my blog at dangerous food additives
0 comments:
Post a Comment