What Is Paleo Diet?

Enough of the old diets. How many of you are talking about the same old meal plans? Going on the Keto diet. Despite the new year and new resolution and the "new year. new me", are you continuing with your old diet? Then, it is the right time to try out the Paleo Diet. As the name suggests, yes, it has some roots to the Paleolithic age. How? The diet is designed to resemble what human hunter-gatherer ancestors ate thousands of years ago. This diet follows whole food and also depends a lot on physically active lives, which may have been a reason why there were lower rates of lifestyle disease such as obesity, diabetes, and heart disease.

What does a Paleo Diet Meal Plan look like?

Experts believe that the paleolithic humans thrived on various diets, depending on what was available at the time and where in the world they lived. While some ate a low-carb diet, high in animal foods, others followed a high-card diets, with a lot of plants. Some even ate insects.

The modern paleo diet plan includes:

• unprocessed meats
• fish
• eggs
• vegetables
• fruits
• nuts
• seeds
• herbs
• spices
• nutritious fats and oils

What must you avoid?

• processed foods
• added sugar
• soft drinks
• artificial sweeteners

What must you limit?

• grains
• dairy products
• legumes

What is a modified paleo diet?

There are now several different versions of paleo diet, suiting the platter and the needs of a person as per the modern lifestyle. It also includes grass-fed butter and gluten-free grain options.

While on paleo diets, there are certain foods and beverages which are considered to be okay only when it is consumed in small proportions. One of them is wine. Quality red wine is not only a part of the paleo diet, but is also high in antioxidants, polyphenols, and has beneficial nutrients, finds a 2021 study titled Paleolithic Diet—Effect on the Health Status and Performance of Athletes? It is also supported by another study titled Contribution of Red Wine Consumption to Human Health Protection.

Furthermore, dark chocolate is also part of the diet, and is very high in antioxidants, important minerals like magnesium, and iron. However, applying in the modern terms, it is essential to choose a product with 70% or higher cocoa content.

What to drink when you are on a paleo diet?

Modernizing your approach is important as per what is available to you. While, when it comes to hydration, the best go-to beverage should always be water. However, there are certain drinks, which though are not a strict part of paleo diet, but can be considered and modified into. The first one is tea, especially green tea, which has antioxidants and other beneficial compounds. You can also include coffee in your diet, as it is rich in antioxidants. However, do not include sugar in these beverages, as adding sweeteners takes away the benefits of these beverages.

Are there any downsides?

While the paleo diet has many benefits, there are also some drawbacks.

For example, the paleo diet eliminates a wide range of highly nutritious foods, including legumes, dairy products, and gluten-containing cereals.

Legumes are abundant in fiber, protein, and micronutrients like iron, zinc, and copper, whereas dairy products include important minerals like calcium, which is required for bone health.

Eliminating these food groups may put paleo dieters at risk of developing nutritional deficiencies.

Furthermore, beans are an important protein source in vegan and vegetarian diets, therefore the paleo diet may be problematic for these groups.

Note: It is always important to consult your doctor, dietician and your nutritionist, before you switch to a new diet.