This article is purely intended to provide an explanation of what the paleo diet is, and it’s potential benefits. We believe that there is no diet that is right for everyone, and each individual’s body reacts differently to food, and nutrition sources. Many people thrive off just eating a “clean” diet, while others need more specific diets.
Moreover, this is especially true for those with autoimmune diseases who are looking for a diet to help maintain remission. Talk with your doctor about what is right for you, and be open to whatever suits your body best!
What is the Paleo Diet?
The paleo diet is based off of what is believed to have been eaten by hunter-gatherers thousands of years ago.
This means the diet consists of mostly whole foods, and is based off of what could be easily sourced and gathered during the Paleolithic era.
What Can I Eat?
In short, the paleo diet consists of:
- fruit, vegetables, meat (preferably organic and local), seeds, nuts, herbs, spices, eggs, coffee, and healthy fats and oil.
What to Avoid
Basically anything that doesn’t fall into the “eat” category should be avoided.
Foods to avoid include: anything processed, cane or refined sugar, grains, legumes, most dairy, anything artificial, empty calorie vegetable oils, and trans fat.
What are the benefits?
Maintaining a “clean” diet: This one seems obvious, because paleo is a clean diet. However, the benefit lies in having the freedom to eat whatever you’d like within the paleo guidelines, and knowing that you’re eating clean, nutrient dense foods. Can you eat 100% desserts all the time while still technically staying “paleo”? Of course! This is clearly going to corrupt the benefits a paleo diet provides. As long as you’re aiming to maintain a balanced diet, staying within the paleo guidelines greatly aids in this venture.
Anti-Inflammatory: A huge contributor to inflammation is processed, sugary foods. Moreover, another source of inflammation can be eating the same foods over and over again. That’s why the paleo diet is the best of both worlds! The paleo diet manages to maintain a whole foods approach, while still allowing for a large variety of food choices and options. It simply eliminates the most commonly troublesome foods (grains, dairy, trans fats, etc.), while maintaining the most easily digestible, nutrient-dense ones!
Weight Regulation: Another perk of the paleo diet is healthy weight loss, and weight regulation. Again, much (not all) of unhealthy weight gain can be contributed to the typical American diet of processed, sugary foods. When eliminating these foods and switching to a clean diet, many people experience seemingly effortless weight regulation overtime, simply due to the switch in diet.
Favorite Recipes:
Sweet and Salty Nut Mix: The perfect snack to take anywhere!
Perfect Paleo Pizza: Remember, we swap, NEVER remove our favorite foods.
Triple Chocolate Sweet Potato Brownies: Tell me again how paleo is restrictive?
I hope this article helped to clear up what exactly the paleo diet is, and gives you some direction in your health journey. If you have any questions or comments, drop them below. Let us know, do you follow a paleo diet?
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