What is the Paleo Diet?

The paleo diet is a new diet trend, but what exactly is it? What foods can you eat while on it? Should some people avoid the diet? Is it just a fad, or does it actually work? This article will answer all of these questions and more.

 

What is the Paleo Diet?

The paleo diet, to put it as simply as possible, is a diet plan based on what people think humans ate thousands of years ago before farming was common. Only foods that could be obtained by hunting and gathering are allowed in this diet. However, this does not mean that people on the diet actually need to hunt and gather their own foods. It is perfectly fine to get the foods from the grocery store.

cave man, paleo diet

Don’t worry, the diet “takes place” after our ancestors discovered fire, so you can cook your food

This diet focuses on people eating proteins (meats), fruits, and vegetables. Foods like grains, which early humans did not process into bread, are not included in the diet. This diet limits the kinds of foods that people can eat, which helps people to lose weight.

Since the paleo diet is a new trend, there is not much known about the long-term health benefits of it. However, since all of the foods included in the diet are healthy, and since the diet does not rely on people starving themselves, it seems to be a healthy diet.

 

Pros and Cons of the Paleo Diet

The paleo diet is one of the healthiest diets out there, as it does not require people to starve themselves. As mentioned above, the diet completely cuts out processed food and fast food, which is healthy in itself. This can help people to lose weight in a healthy manner.

Another pro of the diet is that the diet emphasizes eating mainly fruits and vegetables. However, it is not a vegetarian diet, so it is not as limited as some other diets. Overall, the diet is pretty healthy.

Fish, heart, atrial fibrillation

Believe it or not, this tasty-looking meal is allowed on the paleo diet

This diet is also full of fiber, which is another great health benefit. Having enough fiber can make most digestion processes easier, which means a less of a chance that you will have stomach aches. Eating a lot of fiber can also help to naturally lower cholesterol levels.

The main con of the diet is that it is a fairly new trend, so it has not been studied much yet. This means many of the long-term effects of the diet are unknown. Some researchers suggest that the long-term effects may include vitamin deficiencies, like B vitamins, which are often found in wheat products.

math, paleo diet This diet doesn’t require any math at all![/caption]

To use this diet, simply eat the foods that are allowed on the diet and avoid the foods that are not allowed. To make things easier, we have provided descriptions of the foods that are allowed and not allowed on the diet. There is even a section on how to make substitutions.

 

What Foods are Allowed?

While on the paleo diet, people can eat most foods. All fruits and veggies are okay to eat. These foods will make up the bulk of a person’s diet. All meats are also allowed on the diet. Other protein sources, like tree nuts, eggs, and seeds are also allowed. This is also not a raw food diet, so any meal that can be made from these ingredients can be eaten.

fruits, veggies, vegetable, carrot, apple, banana, grapes, lettuce

All fruits and almost all vegetables are allowed on the paleo diet

Foods to Avoid

There is a long list of foods that need to be avoided while using the paleo diet. All of the banned foods are ones that our paleolithic ancestors would not have had access to. Some of the main things this diet bans include wheat, corn, and dairy products. This means no pasta, pizza, bread, rolls, cake, muffins, tortillas, corn chips, milk, cheese, and yogurt. Some of the other foods that are banned are listed below.

  • Oatmeal
  • Quinoa
  • Rice
  • Beans
  • Peanuts
  • Vegetable oil
  • Soy products
  • Potatoes
  • Soda
  • Candy
  • Salty snacks
  • Fast food
  • Processed food
  • Microwave meals
  • Anything with artificial colors or flavors

 

 

Substitutions

The list for foods to avoid is pretty long, and some people might have trouble avoiding all of these foods. Luckily, there are ways to work around some of the banned items without cheating on the diet.

 

Wheat Products

One of the hardest things people often deal with on the paleo diet is avoiding wheat products since it makes up a bulk of many people’s diets. Eating almond flour is one way to substitute or wheat flour. Another flour substitute is coconut flour.

Many people also get most of their carbohydrates from wheat products. Since that is not possible with the paleo diet, carbohydrates, which help to energize the body, will need to be taken from vegetable and fruit sources. All fruits contain carbohydrates. Below is a list of vegetables that also contain carbohydrates.

  • Sweet potato
  • Pumpkin
  • Squash and other gourds
  • Carrot
  • Turnip
  • Radish
  • Beetroot
  • Parsnip
  • Yuca

 

Diary

Avoiding dairy products can also be difficult. Drinking soy milk or rice milk is not allowed while on the paleo diet, but drinking coconut milk and almond milk is. Try either of these instead. It may not work as well in some recipes, but for the most parts, this milk should taste just fine.

coconut, water, IBS

Coconut water is also allowed

Vegetable Oil

Many people cook with vegetable oil (most vegetable oil is made out of soybeans), but that is another banned food with the paleo diet. Luckily, there are many oils that are allowed on the diet. Some of these oils include coconut oil and olive oil.

 

Sweeteners

While processed sugars are not recommended to use while on the paleo diet, there are other great ways to sweeten food. However, artificial sweeteners are not allowed, as our low-carb sweeteners, like Sweet n’ Low and Stevia. Instead, you can sweeten desserts with honey, syrup, and coconut syrup.

 

Sugary Drinks

Soda and other sugary drinks (including juices not made with 100% juice) are not allowed on the paleo diet. However, juices that are made entirely from fruit or vegetables are totally fine to drink. Just make sure that they do not have added sugars, colors, preservatives, or artificial flavors.

Other drinks that can be consumed while on the paleo diet include water, coconut milk and water, almond milk, herbal tea, and coffee.

coffee, drink, dye, alcoholism

Drinking coffee or tea is preferred to drinking soda in general, not just for this diet

Is the Paleo Diet Right For Me?

Like all other diets, the paleo diet might not be for everyone. One main group of people who should avoid the paleo diet are those who are allergic to tree nuts and coconut. This is because most of the substitutions involve these two foods. However, if you can live without substitutes, then the diet can still work out.

The paleo diet is great for anyone who wants to lose weight in a healthy way, who don’t want to starve themselves, and who don’t want to count calories. If this sounds like you, then try the paleo diet today. If you do, comment below to tell us how the diet works out for you!

 

References

https://www.everydayhealth.com/diet-nutrition/the-paleo-diet.aspx

https://www.everydayhealth.com/diet-nutrition/paleo-diet/detailed-paleo-diet-food-list-what-eat-avoid/

https://tastessence.com/wheat-flour-substitute

 

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