The Palaeolithic diet. You may have also heard it referred to as the caveman diet. Briefly advocates of the Palaeolithic diet theorise that humans have not evolved to eat the diet that we currently do.
Over the course of the last fifty thousand years human biology has changed very little. We are pretty much adapted to eat the same sort of foods as our ancestors ate.
The dawn of civilisation and the advent of agriculture saw humans beginning to eat foods on a regular basis that hadn't been a feature of their diet previously. These include grains, legumes, dairy, and sugars. Promoters of the paleo diet content that as our biology is essentially the same as our ancestors the optimal diet for modern Humans should exclude these newly introduced foods and have a diet that mimics that of our predecessors.
Is there any evidence to support this? Well there are still societies that eat similar diets to our ancestors. These populations are relatively free of many of the diseases of affluence that effect people in the developed world. Obesity, diabetes and heart disease are less common in communities that eat a similar diet to people who lived in pre agrarian societies. Promoters of the Palaeolithic diet insist that it's the amount of processed and cultivated foods in the modern humans diet that cause these diseases of affluence.
So how do we change our diet so that it mimics that of our predecessors? Well you're going to have to start thinking like a hunter gatherer. You should only be eating foods that can be hunted for, fished or gathered. By gathered we mean foods like eggs, vegetables, fruit and nuts. All of the meat you eat should ideally be grass fed and lean cuts.
With this diet there is a long list of things that you shouldn't eat. Grains for example are a big no no. Bread, pasta and cereal are all excluded. Legumes are also out and dairy isn't recommended.
With this diet you will be eating a lot of protein and a lot of fat. Most of your carbohydrates should be derived from vegetables with fruit being eaten sparingly due to it's high sugar content. As mentioned avoid all dairy products.
The diet's enthusiasts make some pretty bold claims as to it's efficacy, claiming it can control weight effectively and help control and reverse chronic illnesses. Further information can be found at my site, details included in the Author bio. Thanks.
