What is Paleo Diet?
Diet based on lean meats, vegetables, nuts and seeds, some fruit, little starch and no sugar. This is based on Dr. Cordain’s “Paleo Diet”. The Paleo Diet mimics the types of foods a person (hunter-gatherer) ate prior to the Agricultural Revolution. This period of time comprises 99% of human history and is the diet to which the human species is genetically adapted.
Principles of Paleo Diets only eat foods that can be picked or hunted in nature, avoid foods that cannot be eaten raw, and prefer meat products from animals fed their natural food . In practice, this translates into the following:
- Avoid sugar, high fructose corn syrup, and refined seed and vegetable oils as these are not available in nature, and only become available after heavy industrial processing.
- Avoid grains (particularly wheat), legumes (particularly soy), and starchy tubers (such as potatoes) as these foods cannot be eaten raw.
- Prefer grass-fed and grass-finished beef over grain-fed beef.
- Prefer pasture-raised poultry over conventionally raised poultry.
- Natural fats like butter , coconut oil , lard , and tallow are generally considered neutral but superior to refined seed and vegetable oils.
Note that Paleo diets do not prescribe
that all foods be eaten raw.
Foods that cannot be eaten raw should be avoided, but remaining
foods may be eaten either cooked or raw.
Benefits of Paleo Diets
The adherents of Paleo diets have reported the following improvements in their health markers:
• Reduction of body fat percentage and increase in muscle mass with no change in exercise.
•Reduction of fasting blood glucose levels, in some cases allowing for the elimination of diabetes medication.
• Reduction in triglyceride levels and increase in HDL levels, in some cases allowing for the elimination of cholesterol medication.
• Reduction in blood pressure, in some cases allowing for the elimination of blood pressure medication.
These health markers are the key predictors of chronic diseases such as metabolic syndrome, diabetes, and coronary heart disease. This is why it is important for us to share the Paleo wisdom with the public, and help combat the chronic disease epidemic that is sweeping the industrialized world today.
John Theeck D.C.
1950 Laurel Manor Dr Ste. 204
The Villages, FL 32162
p. 352-259-0024
f. 352-430-1904
www.legacyclinic.org
