For those of you that don't already know, the Paleo diet is becoming increasingly popular around the globe and everyone from professional athletes to TV chefs are all giving their opinion. It has had recent coverage in a few high profile magazines and TV shows in the Ireland and the UK so I am here to elaborate a little further on it before you condemn it or jump on the bandwagon so you know the ins and outs. So what is Paleo? Paleo is short for the Paleolithic era, a period in time which started 2.6 Million years ago and is believed to have ended about 10,000 years ago, a long period in time but not that long since it ended in terms of evolution. Rightly or wrongly, this has Paleo pioneers firmly believing that 10,000 years is not enough time for the human metabolism to adapt to the foods that are now produced and consumed in the modern world, along with the introduction of agriculture, hence the spike in dietary diseases that were not around in the Paleolithic era. Personally I do like the Paleo diet and how people like Robb Wolf are trying to educate people to living and feeling better, follow the link and enter your email address to recieve a free online Paleo starter pack... http://robbwolf.com/ plenty of useful free information on his site. What I like about Paleo is that it is a far more sustainable diet than many of the fads that people follow, it is Coeliac friendly as there is no grains and the simple concept of cutting out grains, refined foods, trans fat and sugars which are some of the main factors in modern day degenerative diseases such as Obesity, Diabetes, Heart Disease and more, makes an enormous amount of sense. Essentially reverting back to the "caveman period" or the Paleolithic era where these types of foods were not available Paleo diet - What can you eat:
What to avoid:
By turning into cavemen and women you will be increasing your protein and your polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fat or "good fat" intake and reducing your carbohydrate and trans fat/saturated fat intake. Aside from the obvious health benefits of cutting out the modern day junk, with sustained effect and alongside a good fitness programme, this is a great way to see results in your weight loss and more importantly your fat loss, which is hard to knock. Each meal will consist of Protein, Vegetables and Good fats. Your snacks will be on fruits and nuts. For females, a palm-sized amount of protein and a thumb-sized amount of good fats at each meal with up to 1 cup of vegetables depending on your requirements, males can go up to double again depending on your dietary needs. Your Carbohydrates and Fibre will come from your Fruit and Veg intake and this will be much less as you are not overeating on grains, Ketosis will not occur in the body as you will still receive more than enough Carbohydrates and Fibre if you are doing it right to keep you fuelled. A Paleo man ahead of his times. Mr Fred Flintstone. So, on the flip side of the argument there are researchers who say the Paleolithic era was very long and we can't be sure if indeed lean meats were a staple in this era or if it was a luxury as to when it was hunted and gathered, which may not have been often. However, a general assumption is that it would be mainly protein based. Some believe in the paleo era the diet would have been more plant based as opposed to protein based and that their nutritional needs would have adapted as to what was readily available over the duration of the Paleolithic era and perhaps they were more nutritionally flexible than widely believed. The truth is no side can be 100% certain, but we can be certain about the increase in dietary diseases since the introduction of these modern-day refined foods and the effect that these diseases are having on our health systems. With 4/5 children in Republic of Ireland not reaching the Government's Physical Activity guidelines we can't afford to be introducing children into bad eating habits also. Read This: http://www.safefood.eu/Childhood-Obesity/Facts.aspx If you would like any more information or help reaching your own goals, get in touch and I can get you started ASAP. Gary Robb PT.
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