The Paleo diet, otherwise known as the Palaeolithic diet or the Stone Age human diet, is – as its name suggests – a diet, or rather a diet, based on natural products and unprocessed food.
What is the Paleo Diet?
It is considered a diet that supports the prevention of civilization diseases that our ancestors did not suffer from. In short, the Palaeolithic diet consisted of eating what the then living managed to hunt, catch, and pluck from a tree etc. At that time, they led a nomadic lifestyle, so there was a lack of grains, pods and dairy products. According to some scientists studying the topic, this is the diet to which we are genetically predisposed. It is certainly not a diet for vegetarians and vegans as there is a lot of fish and meat in it.
This method of nutrition is, however, a deficiency diet that does not contain basic products that we are used to and which are hard to live without (such as dairy products, bread). Of course, nowadays it is difficult to rely on what our ancestors managed to gain without taking advantage of the wide range of available products. So what can we eat, what is forbidden, what are the pros and cons of the paleo diet?
Of course, the list of products below is adapted to modern possibilities and available food items. So what can we eat if we want to get closer to the nutritional model of our ancestors?
- eggs,
- nuts,
- seeds,
- seafood,
- unrefined oils,
- meat: poultry (chicken, turkey, duck, goose), rabbit, hare, lamb, horse meat, game,
- fish: herring, salmon, sole, flounder, tuna, sardine, trout, cod, halibut,
- fruits: apples, plums, limes, lemons, oranges, bananas, pears, peaches, pineapples, grapefruits, blueberries, forest fruits,
- vegetables: carrots, parsley, celery, lettuce (all types), cauliflower, broccoli, beetroot, eggplant, kale, spinach, fennel.
These will primarily be highly processed products. Here’s what we won’t find in paleo diet:
- refined oils (corn, sunflower),
- peanuts,
- salt,
- dairy products: yogurt, kefir, milk, cheese,
- vegetables that contain a lot of starch (e.g. potatoes)
- processed articles,
- cereal products (groats, rice, bread, pasta),
- products that contain refined sugar,
- legume seeds.
Not all diets are healthy and safe for our body. It is recommended that you consult your doctor before starting any diet, even if you do not have any health concerns.
When choosing a diet, never follow the current fashion. Remember that some diets, incl. low in particular nutrients or strongly limiting calories, and mono-diets can be debilitating for the body, carry a risk of eating disorders, and can also increase appetite, contributing to a quick return to the former weight.
Paleo diet – advantages
Despite different opinions on the subject paleo diets, it undoubtedly has many advantages, which include, for example:
- eliminating products rich in refined sugars from the daily menu,
- elimination of highly processed food,
- limiting salt consumption,
- elimination of refined fats,
- limitation of the so-called empty calories,
- low glycemic index of foods allowed in the paleo diet,
- regulating lipid and insulin metabolism,
- prophylactic prevention of civilization diseases,
- restriction of hard-to-digest products in the diet.
Each diet should be tailored to your individual needs. The paleo diet is a high-protein diet and is unlikely to cause spectacular weight loss effects, although it will certainly limit the consumption of empty calories.
Eliminating dairy or grain products from your diet may not necessarily be good for you. Certainly, limiting gluten (grain products) will prove useful in diseases such as celiac disease, allergy to gluten or Hashimoto’s disease. However, if we do not have gluten intolerance, eliminating it from the diet does not seem justified. By following the paleo diet for a long time, we may be exposed to such ailments as:
- hypercholesterolemia,
- kidney and liver diseases,
- neoplastic diseases of the large intestine and prostate,
- osteoporosis and fractures,
- deficiencies of certain minerals (especially calcium),
- vitamin D deficiency
The paleo diet – apart from the undoubted advantages, such as the elimination of processed foods, taking care of the body’s lipid and insulin metabolism, and according to some people who use it also reducing abdominal obesity – is not a diet well-balanced enough for people who do not know about nutrition to be able to use it on my own. It’s best to do your research and consult a specialist after considering all the pros and cons.
The paleo diet has different variants that are worth analyzing before choosing the one that is specific to you. Its big advantage is the consumption of healthy omega-3 fatty acids in food, while omega-6 fatty acids are usually predominant in the normal diet. The paleo diet may be recommended for people with autoimmune diseases.