Paleo Info.

What on Earth is the Paleo Diet?

The Paleo (short for Paleolithic) Diet is based upon the theory that our bodies are actually not all that different from our caveman ancestors.  Specifically, the human genome has changed less than 0.02% in 40,000 years. Crazy, right?  What does this mean? This means that we need to be eating basically the same things they were eating because of how similar our genetic makeup is.  Cavemen ate food that had to be hunted, fished and gathered in nature; pre-agricultural revolution foods.  I like how Loren Cordain, founder of the Paleo Diet describes our need to return to the Caveman way of eating.  He writes,

” Your car is designed to run on gasoline.  When you put diesel fuel into its tank, the results are disastrous for the engine.  The same principle is true for us: We are designed to run best on the wild plant and animal foods that all humans gathered and hunted just 500 generations ago.  The staples of today’s diet–cereals, dairy products, refined sugars, fatty meats, and salted, processed foods–are like diesel fuel to our body’s metabolic machinery.  These foods clog our engines, make us fat, and cause disease and ill health.”

So then. . .what do I eat?

Let’s make it easy with this simple list:

1. All the lean meats, fish, and seafood you can eat

2. All the fruits and nonstarchy vegetables you can eat

3. No cereals

4. No legumes

5. No dairy products

6. No processed foods

Watch this video to get a better idea. OR if you already have a good idea of what Paleo eating is, still watch the video. It’s entertaining!

Helpful Resources:

The Paleo Diet by Loren Cordain, Ph.D. (book)