What is Paleo Diet | Benefits, Risks & More

The Paleo diet has evolved recently. It is a relatively new diet, and people are getting used to it right now. However, it has gained popularity among health enthusiasts in a minimal time. If you are here, reading this article, the chances are that you have heard about this diet somewhere or you know some person following it.

Here, we will be providing you with all the information regarding the paleo diet to do a thorough analysis and follow this diet if you want to and are motivated to use this diet.

What is a paleo diet?

A paleo diet is a diet that is based on the diet of the paleolithic people. It means that our bodies are equipped to eat the food that the cavemen used to eat.

However, when the people understood planting and cultivating plants, they started agriculture and dairy farming. Gradually, they started leading a stable life, residing at the same place.

As time moved on and human minds and technology grew, people invented many different types of food, alcohol, cigarettes, etc. All of this went at a faster speed than our body’s ability to evolve and change itself.

Therefore, many experts believe that our body is still not equipped to eat all the modern food (this idea is also known as the discordance hypothesis). Some even seem to believe that all the diseases humans have today are the direct or indirect result of eating the food too ahead of our body’s capability.

Therefore, today, doctors and researchers believe that we should eat the hunter-gatherers (paleolithic people were hunter-gatherers) diet.

Thus, the paleo diet is a diet of the cavemen. Hence, it mainly focuses on the animals’ flesh (the hunters’ main activity) and nuts, fruits, and seeds (the main movement of the gatherers).

Dairy products, grains, and legumes are wholly avoided as the humans procured them after starting the agricultural activity and dairy farming.

The paleo diet is also called the paleolithic diet, hunter-gatherer diet, stone age diet, and caveman diet.

Benefits of the paleo diet:

Induces weight loss:

It is being seen that the people following the paleo diet find it easy to lose weight as a major chunk of your diet is made up of proteins which also helps you to build stronger muscles.

Improves the blood pressure rate:

The Paleo diet has been shown to keep the blood pressure under check.

Management of the appetite improves:

Since the meat that is eaten is heavy, you might not crave food all the time, allowing you to keep a time-managed diet.

Increases glucose tolerance:

The Paleo diet also increases glucose tolerance.

Lowers the triglycerides:

Triglycerides are the most common type of fat found in the human body. The Paleo diet reduces triglycerides and thus induces weight loss (as mentioned above).

Risks associated with following the paleo diet:

● Not fit for vegetarians:

Since the main component of the paleo diet is meat, this diet is not fit for vegetarians.

● Difficult to follow:

Since this diet’s food choices are limited, you might find it hard to follow this diet. Therefore, don’t be hard on yourself and take some cheat days for yourself.

● It is expensive:

The contents of this diet are generally more expensive than the vegetarian diet.

● Scientific evidence crunch:

As already mentioned, there is very little research and evidence on this front as the diet is a relatively recent concept.

● Can cause calcium deficiency:

Since you cannot consume dairy products in this diet, calcium deficiency is an expected outcome. So, it would help if you first took advice from your doctors before starting this diet.

● Can induce headaches in the initial period:

Following a paleo diet means that you are overhauling your daily dietary practices, which can be challenging for your body. So initially, you might have symptoms of headaches, fatigue, etc.

What to eat during a paleo diet?

It is easy: eat anything that our hunter-gatherer ancestors may have eaten. Follow their footsteps!! However, we have provided you with a list of items that you can eat during the paleo diet for your ease.

Lean meat of any animal, such as beef, pork, and poultry, etc.
Fruits, such as mango, strawberries, figs, and cantaloupe, etc.
The meat of game animals, for instance, venison, quail, and bison, etc.
Non-starchy vegetables, such as asparagus, peppers, onions, and pumpkin, etc.
Eggs
Nuts and seeds, for example, almonds, walnuts, cashews, and pumpkin seeds, etc.
Fish
Olive oil, walnut oil, and flaxseed oil

What to avoid during the paleo diet?

Similarly, all the foods that were not available to the stone age humans are off-limits. Yes, this means that your food choices are minimal. SO, we have provided you with an elaborate list of food items that should be avoided.