Paleo diet foods list, Paleo diet Guidelines

Before there were packaged goods, processed foods, GMOs and an ongoing debate between organic or not, there was dirt, seeds, water and roaming animals. It may be hard to consider now, but the dawn of man produced hunters and gatherers and humans had to get their own food – not by heading to the supermarket.

There were no sprays to kill insects, no chemicals or genes added or modified. No extra-large tomatoes or vibrant yellow bananas. Food was simple. It was either found, picked or hunted. And although there weren’t doctors or research scientists to confirm the benefits of such eating, it seems that when it comes to dietary habits, eating like our ancestors has some merit.

Diets come and diets go, but one in particular seems to have staying power and for good reasons as well. It’s based on eating similar to that of prehistoric man and it’s being touted as one of the best way to eat. It’s called the Paleo diet.

What is the Paleo diet?
The Paleo diet was created by Loren Cordain, a now-famous author, speaker and professor of health and exercise science at Colorado State University, who specializes in disease and diet. The Paleo diet itself reflects food items and methods of eating similar to our Stone Age ancestors – that’s right, this diet is framed around eating like cavemen. Through scientific research and peer-reviewed studies, Cordain has uncovered many health benefits to eating the Stone Age way.

There are seven premise on which the Paleo diet guidelines are based:

High protein
Low carbohydrates and low glycemic index
High fiber
Moderate to high fat intake – monosaturated and polysaturated fats with omega-3s and 6s

High potassium, low sodium
Net dietary alkaline balances dietary acid – some foods produce acid (meat) and others are alkaline (fruits and vegetables). Eating a balance of both alkaline and acid foods can have positive health effects.

High intake of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and plant phytochemicals.

Is Paleo diet a meat diet?

The paleo diet is a regime that helps us eat the freshest, healthiest and nutrient-filled food there is. The paleo diet is based on a balanced diet. The typical Paleo recipes includes

meat of grass-fed cows,
Poultry, seafood, and meat,
Fresh and organic vegetables and fruits of all colors,
Complex carbohydrates coming from tubers and fruits such as sweet potato (potato / sweet potato), potato and banana
Healthy fats such as coconut oil, avocado, olive oil and animal fat.
Based not only on what our ancestors ate that suffered from fewer chronic diseases than we, despite having no access to modern medicine,

Many people see the list of foods removed from the paleo diet and remove them from the diet without adding new things. When they remove processed foods and cereals from their diets, often only meat, eggs, and bacon remain. But just as important as eliminated foods (processed foods, sugar, cereals and in some cases dairy and vegetables) are the foods we add to our diets.

A typical paleo diet recipes is half veggies (carrot, broccoli, zucchini, and spinach) and a quarter of protein (often meat or seafood) and a quarter of carbohydrates such as sweet potatoes. A “paleo recipes” diet can be balanced or not, depending on what you put on your plate – just like any other diet. It is essential to note that every person has different body needs.

In the paleo recipes diet, there is also an emphasis on the quality of the food consumed – we try to avoid genetically modified organisms, eat organic vegetables when possible and meat/poultry/seafood that was fed properly, without hormones or inadequate food for their species. We try to eat “all the animal products” because we know that there are essential nutrients and amino acids in the parts of the animal that we cannot find in the most common cuts. Eating “booze” such as liver, paws, cola, bone broth, and any other part of the animal helps to maintain a balanced diet.

The paleo diet recipes does not restrict the consumption of fat or cholesterol. Contrary to what we have been taught, fat does not make us fat (consumed in moderation). Fat is essential to assimilate some vitamins (A, D, E, and K) that are necessary for the functioning of our body. Without fat, those vitamins cannot enter our body to do their job. Every cell in our body needs fat to function.

An old article in Time Magazine admits that consumption of saturated fat has no proven link to increased risk of heart problems, and high consumption of sugar and carbohydrates did. In fact, our use of cholesterol in food has nominal influence on the level of cholesterol in our blood. There is no reason to be afraid of eating fat. A paleo diet recipes with enough protein and fat often helps people to lose weight because they are foods that make us feel satiated and as a consequence, we eat less. In fact, if your goal is to lose weight, a paleo diet can be the key to your progress.

Every Other Day Diet Review – The Benefit of This Diet

Created by body builder and personal trainer Jon Benson, the Every Other Day Diet (or EODD for short) is a weight loss program designed to allow its participants to kind of have their cake and eat it too! While this may sound like an impossible feat to achieve with regard to dieting and weight loss (because, really, who are we kidding here: have your cake and eat it too and still lose weight?), once you see and understand how the program works, you will realize that it’s not such a far out idea at all.

The EODD diet plan is designed to work around a simple concept. By alternating caloric intake on an every other day basis, you trick the body into expecting that calories are not being limited, when in fact they are. How this works is that on what are called Feed Days, your caloric intake is up (up to 150% more) than on Burn Days where your caloric intake is less (as low as 50% of normal intake). This creates a synergistic condition wherein the body ends up burning fat stores for energy on those Burn Days.

How this works is, basically, if caloric intake is reduced too much, the body’s metabolic rate slows down, thereby inhibiting the body’s ability to lose weight. By keeping the body off balance, adding excess calories and restricting calories on alternate days, the body maintains a high metabolic rate, and will tap into the excess fat for needed energy.

On those low caloric intake days, protein intake is accentuated while carbohydrate intake is limited. When combined with a high intensity weight bearing program of exercise this can transform fat into lean muscle. Then you have the best of both worlds: weight loss combined with muscle development. This is the perfect combination for creating a healthy body. And it works for both men and women!

This process is also known as calorie cycling. It works like this: for two days you eat slightly more calories than your body requires. Then you eat less for two days, more for a single day, and less over the next two days. During the course of a week, you end up eating fewer calories than needed, which results in a caloric deficit and weight loss. For the program to work as outlined, participants are encouraged to exercise regularly in order to burn excess fat more quickly.

If done correctly, the result is increased muscle mass, lower levels of insulin (a hormone that in high amounts can lead to disease), increased energy, greater hormonal balance, and a higher output of Human Growth Hormone (the “youth” hormone). And as stated before, participants are allowed to indulge in their favorite foods on the Feed Days, which makes this diet approach much easier to take because it doesn’t necessarily feel like a diet.

This is a diet and exercise plan that can easily translate into a lifestyle change once you have finished losing the weight you wish to lose. A plan that you can use for as long as you live, which solves the all-important follow-up question of being able to maintain the weight loss after the diet has ended. Choosing this as a lifestyle solution makes sense: because it is based in real world statistics and not on Fantasy Land. Moreover, it provides a consistent result rather than an impermanent quick fix.