What is a Paleo Diet?
The paleo diet is designed to resemble what our ancestors ate during the Paleolithic era, roughly 2.5 million years ago. During that time, early human beings lived in caves or huts and relied on hunting and gathering to eat. The promise of paleo? Eat like a caveman to lose weight with paleo.
The intention behind paleo is to return to eating the way our ancestors once did — only consuming foods that you’d have available through hunting or gathering. This includes whole foods and lean meats, such as fruits, veggies, nuts, seeds, meat, fish, eggs, spices, herbs, and healthy fats and oils.
According to paleo supporters, the human body cannot properly process the modern diet due to the increased prevalence of highly processed foods.
Paleo Diet Rules
The paleo diet rules are relatively straightforward — eat like a caveman, consuming whole foods while avoiding anything highly processed. As a general rule of thumb, if you wouldn’t find it when hunting or gathering, you shouldn’t eat it.
Foods for the paleo diet
Although there are different diet styles, most paleo diets recommend consuming fresh fruits, vegetables, and lean meats. As such, here’s a list of foods for paleo.
- Lean meats, mainly organic, grass-fed, or wild game
- Fish, ideally those rich in omega-3, such as tuna, salmon, and mackerel
- Eggs
- Fresh fruits and vegetables
- Nuts and seeds
- Healthy oils such as olive oil and coconut oil
- Herbs and spices
Foods to avoid
Conversely, the paleo diet rules recommend avoiding anything highly processed that cannot be found from hunting or gathering. Here’s a list of common foods to avoid when following paleo.
- Highly processed foods, such as soft drinks, sugar
- Grains, such as oats, barley, and wheat
- Dairy products
- Refined sugars
- Potatoes
- Legumes, including lentils, peanuts, beans, and peas
- Vegetable oils, margarine, and trans fats
Again, the idea behind the paleo foods is to eat natural, whole foods while avoiding anything highly processed. If a caveman couldn’t have found it millions of years ago, you shouldn’t eat it.
How to Lose Weight With Paleo
The diet can improve your health by removing unhealthy, high-fat processed foods with little nutritional value. By concentrating on fresh fruits and vegetables, lean meats, and healthy fats, you’ll not only improve your overall health but lose weight with paleo in the process.
In fact, a study done in 2007 suggests that you can lose a significant amount of weight when following a paleo diet. Additionally, some studies suggest that the paleo diet’s focus on whole foods can help control blood sugar and lower blood pressure.
One key component of paleo is exercise. As most of us know, exercise is a key component of a healthy lifestyle and can help improve weight loss. That said, the “caveman diet” also recommends regular exercise along with the general paleo diet rules.
It’s important to note the absence of whole grains and legumes in the paleo diet. These foods are excellent sources of fiber, vitamins, and nutrients. If you plan to lose weight with paleo, make up for this lack of fiber with supplements or other fibrous foods within the paleo diet rules.
Paleo vs Keto to Lose Weight
Although the paleo and keto diets have some similarities, there are some key differences between paleo vs keto diets. The keto, or ketogenic diet, is a low-carbohydrate, high-fat nutrition strategy that has become popular in recent years for weight loss. The keto diet suggests 70–80% of calories come from fat, 10–20% from protein, and 5–10% from carbohydrates.
As a result of the limited carbohydrates, the keto diet usually involves consuming a lot of meats, cheese, nuts, oils, whole eggs, and oily fish. Although this is somewhat similar to paleo, the ideas behind the paleo vs keto diets are very different as the paleo diet still allows the freedom eating of whole food carbs. Both diets have shown success with weight loss.
Final Thoughts
Paleo has become increasingly popular in recent years. As the obesity rates rise across the globe, people are searching for more reliable ways to lose weight and get healthy once again. Paleo is a great way to do just that.
Not only can it help improve your overall health and well-being, but you can also lose weight with paleo. Additionally, the diet is straightforward, easy to follow, and doesn’t require any complicated macro or calorie tracking.
If you’re looking for a way to kickstart your healthy lifestyle, the paleo diet is a great option. Rich in vegetables, fruits, lean meats, and nuts — paleo closely mirrors a recommended healthy diet.
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