Pros and Cons of Paleo Diet
A paleo diet comprises the foods human beings ate in the Paleolithic era. The Paleolithic era dates back to about 10,000 to 2.5 million years ago. Typically, a paleo diet contains the foods that people got through hunting and gathering.
Being on a paleo diet means avoiding the foods that emerged in the farming era, such as legumes, grains, and dairy products. This diet is also called a Paleolithic diet, hunter-gatherer diet, caveman diet, or Stone Age diet, unlike the modern day foods, contains no genetically mismatched elements. The mismatch, as explained in the discordance hypothesis, can contribute to diabetes, heart diseases, and obesity.
What to Eat in a Paleo Diet
• Lean meat, which includes turkey, pork, lean beef, chicken. Or buffalo meat.
• Fish and sea food.
• Fresh fruits.
• Vegetables such as asparagus, broccoli, lettuce, green beans, cauliflower, spinach, or Brussels sprouts.
• Eggs.
• Oil extracts from plants, for example, walnut, olive, coconut, and grapeseed oils.
• Almond, cashew, pecans, pistachios, or almonds nuts.
- Seeds from sunflower and pumpkin.
The Pros of a Paleo Diet
• Healthy brain and body cells: A Paleolithic diet is part of healthy eating programs that ensure a balance saturated and unsaturated fats. Consequently, the diet can help to avoid obesity.
• More muscle and less fat: Paleo diets enable you to build more muscle cells because your body will have a higher metabolism rate and lesser carbs. A Paleolithic diet can lead to lower glycogen levels and also the body’s ability to burn fats.
• Improved body health: Paleo diets contain no processed ingredients, additives, chemical or preservatives. By having a clean, fresh diet, your body will be free of inflammation and toxic substances.
• Better digestion and absorption: Paleo diets served humankind quite well during the pre-farming era. Even today, the menus can help to reduce the chances of sicknesses.
• More iron: Besides the fruits in the paleo diet consisting of fruits, oils, nuts, and vegetables acting as anti-inflammatory agents, eating red meat will also add more iron to your body.
Disadvantages of a Paleo Diet
The stone age diet may disadvantage people who require high amounts of carbs and energy. Fruits and vegetable can never provide energy. Hunter-gatherer foods are quite expensive as the program revolves around choice foods. Calcium deficiency may occur among the people on paleo diets because dairy products are the primary source of calcium.
By avoiding grains as the Paleolithic humans did, you can prevent the accumulation of fat. Grains contain lectin and gluten. Lectins can lead to the inability of the gastrointestinal tract to repair itself after wear and tear.
Seems like pros outweigh the cons when we analyze Paleo. Will you give it a shot? If you have already, how was your experience like?
