TheBUZZ: The Paleo diet will help you achieve great health?
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING
A Paleo diet, also known as Paleolithic diet or caveman diet, is all about natural foods to help achieve great health and a perfect physique.
WHAT WE KNOW
Humans have been eating, harvesting and hunting their diet for about 200,000 years. Farming introduced easily produced grains and highly processed foods into our diets that were unfamiliar to our bodies. These “new” foods are responsible for some of the specific health problems we encounter today. The Paleo Diet is founded on the principle that by returning to the diet of our hunter-gatherer ancestors, we can restore our happiness, health … and waistlines.
The main components of this diet include game meat, fish, vegetables, wild fruits, eggs and nuts. The components of the Paleo Diet are similar to those of the infamous Atkins diet. The Paleo Diet’s dictum is to eat as fresh as possible.
While the “eat as fresh as possible” concept is one that many health professionals emphasize, the Paleo Diet lacks one key component of any well-balanced diet—carbohydrates.
HOW DO WE KNOW THIS?
Without carbohydrates, your body needs to break down protein in order to tap your fat stores for energy. This can be stressful on your body and is not ideal!
The Paleo Diet still holds true to many characteristics of a healthy eating regimen. So what you can take away from this diet are a few key concepts that are part of a healthy way of eating …
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- Choose lean proteins including lean meats, poultry, seafood, nuts, and seeds
- Include an abundance of fruits and veggies!
- Drink diet sodas, coffee, wine, beer, and spirits in moderation
- Avoid …
- Butter and other high-fat dairy products
- Foods that have a high sodium content including bacon, hot dogs, ketchup, salami, salty chips, and sausages
- Sugary soft drinks
OUR ADVICE
The ready availability of highly processed foods like chips, hot dogs, lunch meats and condiments, along with sugary sodas and not eating enough fruits and vegetables are part of the formula that has resulted in the current obesity epidemic … and many of our society’s food-related health problems. What you can take away from the Paleo Diet is that when it comes to selecting your foods, choose whole foods (such as fruits, vegetables and legumes) most often!
There are always going to be fad diets with outrageous weight loss claims! Make it simple, stick with a proven method: adopt a healthy lifestyle.
Having trouble cutting calories? Follow this simple rule: for each meal or snack, fill half your plate with fruits & veggies!
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