I hope someone can understand my humor with using a picture of a dinosaur, if not,, I am disappointed in you & therefore, we can no longer be friends, lol. (Kidding). So by now everyone has heard of this thing called the “Paleo Diet” and by now it has been a booming success for tons of people, as a matter of fact I have yet to hear anyone tell me it doesn’t work/ but I have had people make “fun” of this particular diet and normally the joke goes along with the reason why they think this diet is a joke. Now, I myself will be semi bias because I like the concept of the Paleo Diet and I have an fitness idol whom I look up to that is a Paleo. It is because of her that I even heard of it, that I have tried it, that I like it and because of her I am still on the road to becoming Paleo as we speak (its been rough, I need to do a better job of picking and choosing foods that fit in the spectrum of paleo) so I’ll leave it at I am a work in progress. Outside of this, I have found out recently that some people call themselves “Paleoish” because they aren’t fully paleo and choose to eat some of the same foods that being Paleo doesn’t allow. Reason being? They want to, out of habit, or because they don’t feel the necessary need to eliminate foods they would normally eat and this is all very understanding although very confusing at the same time. Now while the Paleo diet has been all over tabloids, some of you may not fully understand the diet and may not even know what it means to be Paleo and live this lifestyle; so I am here to teach away! First off, I will make mention that the Paleo diet consist of eating tons of greens (preferably each meal, i.e breakfast, lunch, and dinner), More specifically the diet is a diet based on the types of foods presumed to have been eaten by early humans, consisting chiefly of meat, fish, vegetables, and fruit, and excluding dairy or grain products and processed food.
Now everyone can understand why I like this type of diet and why I have some sort of feelings towards it because it isn’t something too hard where no one can maintain it, but it takes a lot of getting used to. Fair enough. Now you have heard my opinion once more, and it is time to share facts about this diet, below I have listed the pros and cons of the Paleo diet. I will also mention as I have in the previous diet some information about it toward the end and give a total outcome.
Pros
- rich in soluble fiber
- naturally gluten free
- low on added sugars, salts, trans fats, & high-glycemic carbohydrates
- no shades of grey when it comes to exploring foods (it is black and white what foods fit in this diet)
- no need to count calories
- no need to guess on appropriate portion sizes
- improve energy levels
- cuts out high calorie processed foods
- encourages plenty of vegestables
- weight loss is common (fewer calories are being consumed)
Cons
- Heavenly reliant on meat (meat isn’t as lean as it used to be)
- Falls short on micronutrients (i.e calcium and vitamin D)
- Restrictive diets almost never last
- Too hard for the majority of people to maintain for a long period of time
- Weight loss can start weight gain because any time you choose to eat from the restricted list of foods, you will gain the weight back
- Time consuming & expensive for some
So with this all being said, the choice is yours with how you want to go about this particular diet. The problem with the paleo diet is it stands for the “caveman” way of life, where we eat mainly meats and veggies and continue eating fats as we have (“good fats) and this all seems normal until you realize you no longer can eat dairy, legumes or hardly any carbohydrates and we all know we need carbohydrates for energy; especially our runners out there. That fact it gets rid of eating processed foods and sugars in my opinion is a plus and I like that about it. Remember how I mentioned that some people consider themselves “Paleoish” well this is because they don’t eliminate the legumes and still eat carbs are a more regular basis then what a “true” paleo would. I said that I didn’t think it was hard to maintain, but that is because most of what it is asking should be a goal while eating healthy anyways (i.e less carbs and more proteins) but I can understand how one could find this to be confusing and frustrating. We have to keep in mind, the world is constantly changing and this means foods are going to change, which means ingredients will change and things will have what they didn’t have in them before; which means this diet can cause issues if things do decide to go south because this diet wants us to eat grass fed meats and organic veggies and fruits and no refined grains.. we don’t know if we will still have these options as time strings along.
With this diet, restriction is VERY high, hell it got rid of a whole food group (dairy) and this is one thing that I am against in my own right. I am lactose intolerant so I try to stay away from dairy anyways, but I still manage to eat cheese every now and then; while it does have tons of fats in dairy products they also offer nutrients that we could possibly be missing out on and for those of you who are unaware of the nutrients your body needs or don’t pay much attention to this kind of stuff (it is very important that you start) especially while dieting because this could be the choice between life and death or sickness and wellness. Not to mention you should always want to know how you can replace what you are not getting from normal foods and find supplements that are safe and tested. Now below I will list some foods that one can eat on a paleo diet and I will list the foods not allowed while being on the paleo diet:
Foods you can eat while doing the Paleo Diet
- All veggies are acceptable (including sweet potatoes) Preferably local and organic veggies.
- Fruits: organic and local are preferable. If you are trying to lose weight and not very active, lower the fruit intake to one or two pieces a day(carbs add up)
- Eat meats and eggs freely (grass-fed and pasture raised), stay away from meats that have preservatives and color/flavor enhancers. Game meats, organ meats, pork, beef, chicken, turkey, goat, lamb, eggs (from chickens, ducks, quail, ect)
- All species of fish, fish eggs and shellfish are accepted just watch for the mercury content and (smaller fish have generally less heavy metals and toxins i.e anchovies)
- Nuts & Seeds are all good, even butter that is made from them (coconut flour and almond flour is also preferred) Peanuts do not count because they are legumes & legumes cannot be eaten on a paleo diet. If one is trying to lose weight, limit the nuts and seeds to 1 or 2 ounces a day.
- Sea vegestables can be eaten
- Fats allowed: tallow, lard, coconut oil/milk/manna, extra virgin olive oil, walnut oil, avocado oil, macadamia oil, and hazelnut oil.
- Beverages accepted: Filtered or spring water, Herbal tea, coconut water, freshly juiced fruits or vegestables
Foods to eat in moderation
- Coffee
- chocolate
- sesame
- dried fruit
- alcohol (all kinds)
- caffeinated teas
- sweetners (i.e raw honey, stevia, coconut sap, grade B maple syrup)
Foods to avoid
- Grains (flour; especially white flour, bread, pasta, cookies, cake, bagels, muffins, tortillas, rice, corn, quinoa, buckwheat, wild rice, spelt, rye, oats/gluten free oats,
- Dairy products: cheese, milk, butter, yogurt, ghee, whey protein powders, cottage cheese, sour cream,
- beans/legumes:no soy allowed, lentils, black beans, pinto beans, red beans, peanuts, white beans, garbanzo beans, (you can eat snap peas and green beans)
- refined, iodized salt (use unrefined sea salt
Not all the foods are on either of these list, but this gives you a breakdown of what to expect when you start this diet and will hopefully give everyone a better understanding of what it means to be paleo. I personally believe this could be tweaked to be a more balanced type of diet with less restrictions so that more and more people can actually maintain this type of diet and stay healthy at the same time. Although, like I said I have only heard positive things about this particular diet and I myself am trying to be more paleo-like (don’t judge me) but everyone is allowed their own opinions. If anyone has any questions, feel free to let me know! Thank you for reading!
Sincerely,
Your blogger Shay-lon
Always feel free to contact me, share, reblog, comment, follow or like 🙂
so I would have to pass on this question, maybe it will be something I will look into and find an answer to this question. Sorry.
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