Lose Weight and Improve Your Health the Paleo Way
This brief article summarizes the basic tenets of a paleolithic, or paleo, diet. More and more health and fitness professionals are recommending a paleo diet to their patients and clients as a means of avoiding or eliminating a wide range of diseases and health conditions. A growing number of clinical studies documenting the benefits of a paleolithic diet and demonstrating the dangers of a typical Western diet have been published in recent years. As a result, millions of health conscious men and women have adopted the paleo lifestyle, including competitive athletes and health professionals
What's Wrong with the Way I Eat?
An orange is a spectacular biological specimen. Not only does it taste great, it's packed with micronutrients that the human body craves and requires. In varying amounts, an orange contains: vitamin A, vitamin B (thiamin), vitamin C, calcium, phosphorous, potassium, copper, fats, dietary fiber, folic acid, iron, magnesium, proteins, sodium and sulfur. Oranges are extremely digestible and fun to eat. The nutritional properties of an orange are readily and safely absorbed by the digestive organs of the human body. There's little doubt that oranges should be included in a balanced diet. Nevertheless, not all foods are as digestible and beneficial to human health as an orange. The paleo diet is founded upon the fundamental premise that not every food that can be eaten, should be eaten.
The typical modern Western diet has changed over time. Moreover, certain modern assumptions regarding what comprises a nutritious and healthful diet have been scrutinized and refuted. In particular, the well known food pyramid, developed by leading nutritionists and endorsed by government agencies, has been challenged. A paleo diet strives to approximate the authentic diet of humanity prior to the advent of the Neolithic era, also known as the agricultural revolution, roughly ten-thousand years ago.
Paleontologists and other researchers have been able to approximate a typical human diet during the Paleolithic era. Prior to the agricultural revolution, the human diet was composed primarily of wild meat, vegetables, fruit, berries and nuts. Though they are rapidly diminishing, there are still hunter-gatherer cultures in the world today. In fact, the paleo diet is often referred to as a hunter-gatherer diet. It is also affectionately called the cave man diet. Researchers have been able to compare a modern Western diet to the dietary habits of our paleolithic ancestors. In particular, research comparing the health of individuals who have lived in both hunter-gatherer and Western cultures has proven to be especially enlightening. Generally speaking, individuals who adopt a Western diet tend to attract the very same health problems currently plaguing modern Western societies. These diseases and health conditions tend to disappear, however, once such individuals return to their native land and diet.
Simply put, those who adopt a paleo lifestyle eliminate most, if not all, grains, dairy, beans, legumes, processed vegetable oils and sugars, and nightshade plants (potatoes, tomatoes, eggplant, etc.), from their diet. Initially, giving up the aforementioned categories of food may seem somewhat daunting. Indeed, the paleolithic diet is a radical departure from a typical Western dietary regime, but from a historical perspective, a paleolithic diet isn't at all unusual. There are many good reasons to seriously consider the claims made by paleo proponents. The paleo diet represents a dramatic change in lifestyle, and is not merely another fad diet to lose a few pounds quickly. According to proponents of a paleolithic diet, we have been eating the wrong foods, which has promoted diet related disease.
What? No Bread?!
It's truly difficult to fathom a diet free from all grain products. But, if you think about it, how many people have you known over the years who have an allergic reaction to wheat? Perhaps you've even known someone who has experienced an allergic reaction to milk or peanuts. Wheat, milk, and peanuts€¦a grain, a dairy product and a legume. In fact, allergies are a significant problem in modern culture. Think of all the medical specialties and pharmaceuticals that have been made possible by modern diseases. You may not have experienced an obvious allergic reaction to grain products, but that doesn't mean that your health hasn't been harmed by the consumption of grains.
The first thing you need to understand about grains is that they're seeds€¦grass seeds to be exact. Wheat, oats, barley, corn, etc€¦They're all grasses. All grain products are made from the seeds of the grass of the field. It wasn't until the advent of the agricultural revolution, approximately 10,000 years ago, that grains were pounded into flour for food. Prior to that, it appears that grains were only consumed during periods of extreme famine. Without pounding the seeds to smithereens, or lots of chewing, grain is largely indigestible. Even after pulverizing grass seeds into the finest of flours, many of the nutritional properties contained in grass seeds are indigestible.
Seed Grains contain antinutrient properties such as lectins and saponins. Many foods, including fruits, vegetables and seafood, contain lectins and saponins, which serve as protection against predators. Yet, certain plants, such as grains, legumes, beans and nightshade plants, contain much higher levels of these indigestible antinutrients. As it turns out, lectins and saponins are unable to be decomposed by digestive acids or enzymes. Although grains contain protein, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals, these otherwise beneficial nutrients cannot be digested and made available to the body.
Research has implicated indigestible plant lectins, saponins, glutens and other antinutrients in the development of "Leaky Gut Syndrome, a dangerous intestinal condition.
Leaky Gut Syndrome is caused, in part, by the binding of anti nutrients with cell membranes, causing the intestinal membrane to buckle and break free from the intestinal wall. The resulting opening in the intestinal membrane allows large and disruptive molecules to invade the bloodstream, as well as every organ system in the body. Leaky Gut Syndrome, and the food particles that escape the intestinal barrier, increase immune reactions to foreign particles, as well as what is known as cross-reaction or mimicry, whereby the immune system attacks the body's own cells, which are chemically similar to the foreign particles. Leaky Gut Syndrome has been linked to auto-immune diseases such as multiple sclerosis and type 1 diabetes, as well as arthritis, inflammation, heart disease, asthma, allergies, acne and a variety of intestinal ailments.
Future clinical studies will undoubtedly add to our understanding of Leaky Gut Syndrome, but there are other important concerns associated with the consumption of grains. You see, grains have both high glycemic index (GI) and glycemic load (GL) levels. The glycemic index measures how much of a rise in circulating blood sugar a carbohydrate will trigger. The glycemic load calculates how much carbohydrate is in a serving of a particular food. Certain fruits, such as watermelon and pineapple have high glycemic index values, but relatively low glycemic load levels. Grain products, such as bread and steamed rice have both a high glycemic index and glycemic load value. The pancreas has been assigned the responsibility of producing insulin, which is necessary to deliver glucose to red blood cells. When blood cells are unable to receive any additional glucose, the insulin stores the remaining glucose in the body as fat, a phenomenon known as insulin resistance. Therefore, the consumption of high glucose load foods causes weight gain. Moreover, the tendency of the body to gain weight generally increases with age, since the pancreas and blood cells grow less efficient, thereby increasing the storage of fat. For this reason, among others, practitioners of the paleo lifestyle
An orange is a spectacular biological specimen. Not only does it taste great, it's packed with micronutrients that the human body craves and requires. In varying amounts, an orange contains: vitamin A, vitamin B (thiamin), vitamin C, calcium, phosphorous, potassium, copper, fats, dietary fiber, folic acid, iron, magnesium, proteins, sodium and sulfur. Oranges are extremely digestible and fun to eat. The nutritional properties of an orange are readily and safely absorbed by the digestive organs of the human body. There's little doubt that oranges should be included in a balanced diet. Nevertheless, not all foods are as digestible and beneficial to human health as an orange. The paleo diet is founded upon the fundamental premise that not every food that can be eaten, should be eaten.
The typical modern Western diet has changed over time. Moreover, certain modern assumptions regarding what comprises a nutritious and healthful diet have been scrutinized and refuted. In particular, the well known food pyramid, developed by leading nutritionists and endorsed by government agencies, has been challenged. A paleo diet strives to approximate the authentic diet of humanity prior to the advent of the Neolithic era, also known as the agricultural revolution, roughly ten-thousand years ago.
Paleontologists and other researchers have been able to approximate a typical human diet during the Paleolithic era. Prior to the agricultural revolution, the human diet was composed primarily of wild meat, vegetables, fruit, berries and nuts. Though they are rapidly diminishing, there are still hunter-gatherer cultures in the world today. In fact, the paleo diet is often referred to as a hunter-gatherer diet. It is also affectionately called the cave man diet. Researchers have been able to compare a modern Western diet to the dietary habits of our paleolithic ancestors. In particular, research comparing the health of individuals who have lived in both hunter-gatherer and Western cultures has proven to be especially enlightening. Generally speaking, individuals who adopt a Western diet tend to attract the very same health problems currently plaguing modern Western societies. These diseases and health conditions tend to disappear, however, once such individuals return to their native land and diet.
Simply put, those who adopt a paleo lifestyle eliminate most, if not all, grains, dairy, beans, legumes, processed vegetable oils and sugars, and nightshade plants (potatoes, tomatoes, eggplant, etc.), from their diet. Initially, giving up the aforementioned categories of food may seem somewhat daunting. Indeed, the paleolithic diet is a radical departure from a typical Western dietary regime, but from a historical perspective, a paleolithic diet isn't at all unusual. There are many good reasons to seriously consider the claims made by paleo proponents. The paleo diet represents a dramatic change in lifestyle, and is not merely another fad diet to lose a few pounds quickly. According to proponents of a paleolithic diet, we have been eating the wrong foods, which has promoted diet related disease.
It's truly difficult to fathom a diet free from all grain products. But, if you think about it, how many people have you known over the years who have an allergic reaction to wheat? Perhaps you've even known someone who has experienced an allergic reaction to milk or peanuts. Wheat, milk, and peanuts€¦a grain, a dairy product and a legume. In fact, allergies are a significant problem in modern culture. Think of all the medical specialties and pharmaceuticals that have been made possible by modern diseases. You may not have experienced an obvious allergic reaction to grain products, but that doesn't mean that your health hasn't been harmed by the consumption of grains.
The first thing you need to understand about grains is that they're seeds€¦grass seeds to be exact. Wheat, oats, barley, corn, etc€¦They're all grasses. All grain products are made from the seeds of the grass of the field. It wasn't until the advent of the agricultural revolution, approximately 10,000 years ago, that grains were pounded into flour for food. Prior to that, it appears that grains were only consumed during periods of extreme famine. Without pounding the seeds to smithereens, or lots of chewing, grain is largely indigestible. Even after pulverizing grass seeds into the finest of flours, many of the nutritional properties contained in grass seeds are indigestible.
Seed Grains contain antinutrient properties such as lectins and saponins. Many foods, including fruits, vegetables and seafood, contain lectins and saponins, which serve as protection against predators. Yet, certain plants, such as grains, legumes, beans and nightshade plants, contain much higher levels of these indigestible antinutrients. As it turns out, lectins and saponins are unable to be decomposed by digestive acids or enzymes. Although grains contain protein, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals, these otherwise beneficial nutrients cannot be digested and made available to the body.
Research has implicated indigestible plant lectins, saponins, glutens and other antinutrients in the development of "Leaky Gut Syndrome, a dangerous intestinal condition.
Leaky Gut Syndrome is caused, in part, by the binding of anti nutrients with cell membranes, causing the intestinal membrane to buckle and break free from the intestinal wall. The resulting opening in the intestinal membrane allows large and disruptive molecules to invade the bloodstream, as well as every organ system in the body. Leaky Gut Syndrome, and the food particles that escape the intestinal barrier, increase immune reactions to foreign particles, as well as what is known as cross-reaction or mimicry, whereby the immune system attacks the body's own cells, which are chemically similar to the foreign particles. Leaky Gut Syndrome has been linked to auto-immune diseases such as multiple sclerosis and type 1 diabetes, as well as arthritis, inflammation, heart disease, asthma, allergies, acne and a variety of intestinal ailments.
Future clinical studies will undoubtedly add to our understanding of Leaky Gut Syndrome, but there are other important concerns associated with the consumption of grains. You see, grains have both high glycemic index (GI) and glycemic load (GL) levels. The glycemic index measures how much of a rise in circulating blood sugar a carbohydrate will trigger. The glycemic load calculates how much carbohydrate is in a serving of a particular food. Certain fruits, such as watermelon and pineapple have high glycemic index values, but relatively low glycemic load levels. Grain products, such as bread and steamed rice have both a high glycemic index and glycemic load value. The pancreas has been assigned the responsibility of producing insulin, which is necessary to deliver glucose to red blood cells. When blood cells are unable to receive any additional glucose, the insulin stores the remaining glucose in the body as fat, a phenomenon known as insulin resistance. Therefore, the consumption of high glucose load foods causes weight gain. Moreover, the tendency of the body to gain weight generally increases with age, since the pancreas and blood cells grow less efficient, thereby increasing the storage of fat. For this reason, among others, practitioners of the paleo lifestyle
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