Paleo diet: why is it so popular, and what is it really?
The Paleo diet is a diet plan modeled on prehistoric human nutrition. I guess it was made on the basis of the diet of the Paleolithic era, at the time when man ate at that time 2.5 million years back to 10,000 years.
What does it include?
It includes lean meat, fish, fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds — food that in the distant past could be supplied by hunting and gathering. It limits the food that became common when agriculture appeared until 10,000 years ago.
These foods include dairy products, legumes, and cereals.
Paleo diets include the Paleolithic diet, the Stone Age diet, the hunters and gatherers diet, and the caveman diet.
The purpose
The goal of this diet is to return to a diet that is more like what the first humans ate. This diet implies that the human body is genetically inconsistent with the modern diet that has emerged with agricultural practices — an idea known as the hypothesis of inconsistency.
Agriculture has changed a lot of what people ate and introduced dairy products, cereals, and legumes as additional foods in the human diet. This relatively late and rapid change in diet, according to the hypothesis, surpassed the body's ability to adapt.
This mismatch is believed to be a contributing factor to the prevalence of obesity, diabetes, and heart disease today.
Why you should follow a paleo diet?
You may have chosen to follow the paleo diet because:
You want to lose weight or maintain a healthy weight
You want help planning your meal
Details of the paleo diet
Recommendations vary among commercial paleo diets, and some diet plans have stricter guidelines than others. Generally, paleo diets follow these guidelines.
What to eat
Fruits
Vegetables
Nuts and seeds
Lean meats, especially grass-fed animals or wild game
Fish, especially those rich in omega-3 fatty acids, such as salmon, mackerel, and albacore tuna
Oils from fruits and nuts, such as olive oil or walnut oil
What to avoid
Grains, such as wheat, oats, and barley
Legumes, such as beans, lentils, peanuts, and peas
Dairy products
Refined sugar
Salt
Potatoes
Highly processed foods in general
A typical day's menu
Here's a look at what you might eat during a typical day following a paleo diet:
Breakfast: Broiled salmon and cantaloupe.
Lunch: Broiled lean pork loin and salad (romaine, carrot, cucumber, tomatoes, walnuts, and lemon juice dressing).
Dinner: Lean beef sirloin tip roast, steamed broccoli, salad (mixed greens, tomatoes, avocado, onions, almonds, and lemon juice dressing), and strawberries for dessert.
Snacks: An orange, carrot sticks or celery sticks.
The diet also emphasizes drinking water and being physically active every day.
Results
Numerous proven clinical trials have compared the paleo diet with other diet plans, such as the Mediterranean or diabetes diet.
Overall, these studies suggest that a paleo diet may bring some benefits compared to a diet of fruits, vegetables, lean meats, whole grains, legumes, and low-fat dairy products. These benefits may include:
More weight loss
Improved glucose tolerance
Better blood pressure control
Lower triglycerides
Better appetite management
However, longer trials with large groups of people randomly assigned to different diets are needed to understand the long-term, general health benefits and potential risks of a paleo diet.
Questions about paleo diets
Concerns or questions about the paleo diet include both food choices and the underlying hypothesis.
Dietary problems
The Paleo diet is rich in vegetables, fruits, and nuts — all elements of a healthy diet.
The primary difference between the paleo diet and other healthy diets is the absence of complete grains and legumes, which are considered a good source of fiber, vitamins and other nutrients. The diet also lacks dairy products, which are good sources of protein and calcium.
This food is not only considered healthy, but is also generally more affordable and affordable than foods like game, grass-eating animals and nuts. For some people, a paleo diet can be too expensive.
Questions about the paleo diet hypothesis
Researchers have argued that the underlying hypothesis of the paleo diet may oversimplify the story of how humans adapted to changes in diet. Arguments for a more-complex understanding of the evolution of human nutritional needs to include the following:
Variations in diet based on geography, climate, and food availability — not only the transition to farming — also would have shaped the evolution of nutritional needs.
Archaeological research has demonstrated that early human diets may have included wild grains as much as 30,000 years ago — well before the introduction of farming.
Genetic research has shown that notable evolutionary changes continued after the Paleolithic era, including diet-related changes, such as an increase in the number of genes related to the breakdown of dietary starches.
The bottom line
A paleo diet may help you lose weight or maintain your weight. It may also have other beneficial health effects. However, there are no long-term clinical studies about the benefits and potential risks of the diet.
You might be able to achieve the same health benefits by getting enough exercise and eating a balanced, healthy diet with a lot of fruits and vegetables.
Source: Mayoclinic.org
Use the contact form for questions or advice.
I would be happy if you would comment on my recipes and put like.
