What do you call a diet that essentially consists of the same things our prehistoric ancestors used to eat?? I'm talking way back in Stone Age times, officially called the Paleolithic Era. Yup, the Paleo or Paleolithic Diet of course!! Now who doesn't know that ..... It's also been called the Stone Age Diet, Caveman diet, Primal diet etc.
The Paleo diet has become popular with people who are concerned about many of the nasties that are now found in a lot of our processed foods - chemicals, additives and so on. The theory goes something like this ....
.... humans were originally hunter gatherers and we were like this for a whole lot longer than we've been like we are now. I saw an interesting analogy which likened the development of the human race to a 100 metre race; for over 99 metres of that race we were hunter gatherers and it's only been in the last metre or so that we've settled into an agricultural or farm based way of life. That being the case, it is therefore logical to assume that genetically we have evolved to do better on what we would have eaten as a hunter gatherer - fresh meat, poultry, sea food, seasonal fruits and vegetables, nuts, seeds, eggs and so on. Grain and the other byproducts of a more sedentary lifestyle have only been a big part of the human diet for a relatively short time and therefore our metabolic systems are not really designed to cope with them.
Now this aligns perfectly with something I always preach with horses - they have evolved over millions of years to survive on low quality roughage and their metabolism simply cannot cope with the high sugar, high starch pasture grasses, cereal hays and processed feeds we shovel down their throats in the misguided belief that they require a nice balanced diet of carbs and sugars. Er no, they don't and all you're doing is aiding and abetting metabolic diseases like Cushings, EMS, founder / laminitis, obesity and so on.
Anyway, back to us humans....
The other side effect of a hunter gatherer lifestyle was a slim, athletic body with none of the fat and sugar related problems we now see in our species. Our bodies were designed to function on the high amounts of protein found in many of the foods we ate. We were able to burn off fat and build lean muscle and we could metabolise our fat stores when other sources of protein and carbohydrates were in short supply. So the Paleo Diet has also become popular with people who want / need to lose weight as it doesn't involve faddy and crash diets, counting calories, starving yourself, drinking magic potions or any of the other things that make dieting a truly unattractive proposition.
Way back when the bulk of our fibre came from the variety of fruits and vegetables that we used to eat and we got all the protein and nutrients we needed from the seafood, animals and plants we consumed (gross though that is - the eating animals and seafood bit). Modern problems like gluten intolerance, obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, strokes, migraines, asthma, osteoporosis, some forms of cancer and many of the other metabolic disorders which plague the modern homo sapien are largely a direct result of our modern diet and are not necessarily restricted to those who consume large quantities of take away and junk food either.
One of the biggest problems is the grain and grain based products that have now become such a staple part of our diet. Of course there are also the processed sugars, over eating of dairy products, salt, alcohol, peanuts and similar foods but by and large things like bread and cereals have become a huge part of our diet. This happened when the hunter gatherer got tired of the rambling lifestyle and realised that settling in one place and growing food instead of hunting and foraging for it was way less effort.
Grains though contain things like anti nutrients and gluten which humans are not designed to metabolise efficiently. So eating them causes all sorts of dietary problems like gut irritation and chronic inflammation.
Proponents of the Paleo Diet have discovered that it has immeasurable benefits beyond just those of weight control and lack of chemicals and additives. They claim improved mental clarity, better moods, fewer sleeping problems, less bloating, better skin and increased energy.
Paleo diet - fad or lifestyle choice??
For some it is no doubt a fad but for many it's simply the way they've chosen to live. It is after all nothing more than living a healthy life style, eating a healthy diet of good quality foods and removing the unhealthy elements of the sugar and grain filled Western diet that many of us have regrettably grown up with.
Give it a try - you have nothing to lose but you will gain a whole new quality of life! And for those of us who don't particularly like to consume meat, there are plenty of alternative sources of protein available.
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