SifuPhil
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I'm not much of a diet person - more of an intuitive eater. I eat what my body craves. But my student loves to investigate new diets and he recently latched onto the Paleo Diet, also known as the Caveman Diet.
According to advocates, the Paleolithic Diet a.k.a. Neanderthin is the diet that we humans are genetically adapted to eat. The paleolithic age is the same as the Stone Age - so this is a stone age diet or life style. This has been humanity's preferred diet for something like 2.5 million years, and humans have only genetically changed 0.005% since the introduction of agriculture (the Neolithic). As a rule, agricultural (and technological) products are not healthy to eat, and we should predominantly try to eat only those whole foods that are healthy in their raw state (though almost all humans, including hunter-gatherers cook their food).
Here's a quick summary of the good and bad foods on the list -
Do eat:
Do not eat:
Go easy on:
The dairy products are listed in both the Good and Bad sections mainly for people with lactose intolerance. There is also a question of their health effects in general.
Some advocates of the Paleo Diet also allow "free days", in which you can eat whatever you want. I've found one, two, even three free-day diets in the literature but still see it as "cheating", although it's understandable at least in the beginning.
Would you ever consider a diet like this, or are you currently on it?
According to advocates, the Paleolithic Diet a.k.a. Neanderthin is the diet that we humans are genetically adapted to eat. The paleolithic age is the same as the Stone Age - so this is a stone age diet or life style. This has been humanity's preferred diet for something like 2.5 million years, and humans have only genetically changed 0.005% since the introduction of agriculture (the Neolithic). As a rule, agricultural (and technological) products are not healthy to eat, and we should predominantly try to eat only those whole foods that are healthy in their raw state (though almost all humans, including hunter-gatherers cook their food).
Here's a quick summary of the good and bad foods on the list -
Do eat:
- Meat (and fat, fish, eggs)
- Vegetables (and berries)
- Fruit (and nuts)
- Dairy (milk, cheese, butter, etc) *
Do not eat:
- Dairy (milk, cheese, butter, etc) *
- Grains or corn (maize, wheat, barley, rice, etc.)
- Starchy vegetables (potatoes, yams, Jerusalem artichokes, etc.)
- Sugar (refined)
- Legumes (beans, soy products, peanuts, cashew, lentils, etc.)
- Chemical food additives
Go easy on:
- Salt (can cause overeating and hypertension and dull the senses)
- Processing of foods (nut flours/butters, pork rind flour, etc.) Eat simple foods instead
- Artificial sweeteners (don't dull your senses, and they cause insulin responses simply by being sweet on the taste buds)
The dairy products are listed in both the Good and Bad sections mainly for people with lactose intolerance. There is also a question of their health effects in general.
Some advocates of the Paleo Diet also allow "free days", in which you can eat whatever you want. I've found one, two, even three free-day diets in the literature but still see it as "cheating", although it's understandable at least in the beginning.
Would you ever consider a diet like this, or are you currently on it?
layful:
