| A paleo friend once included me in one of his emails to friends and colleagues trying to explain what the paleo diet is and convert them to the paleo side. And it was an email chock full of links, quotes and references.. This article ain't none of that. This is just a quick short explanation you can shoot to your non-paleo family members, friends, colleagues, acquaintances if they ever wonder what paleo in the same manner people wonder how the weather is in Phuket at this time of the year. |
What the heck is Pe.. Pu.. Paleo?
Paleo lifestyle is based on the hypothesis that we, the modern humans, are still genetically adapted to the diet of our Paleolithic ancestors. The human genus categorie developed 2.5 Mio years ago and cumulated to our species the modern human 0.5 Mio years. During that time span we made better and better tools and weapons, started using fire, got bigger brains, developed language and thrived on a composition of certain foods like protein from animals, vegetables and fruit. Some argue that we got to kick-ass as a species because the way we ate and the variety of our diet.
After the agricultural revolution only 10,000 years ago we started to eat new foods like dairy and grains in amounts we have not evolved for. That trend only increased during the industrial revolution around 200 years ago. We kept processing and manipulating our foods for the sake of convenience and profit in the last decades. Around the same time more people from well-off industrialised countries got fatter and sicker. The theory is that the enorm deviation from "actual ancestral human diet" caused the rise of diseases of affluence e.g. diabetes 2, asthma, heart diseases, obesity etc.
Several scientific studies imply that there has not been enough evolutionary pressure for our species to adapt to neolithic foods like soft drinks, tofu, moccachinos, fruit loops etc., and that most of the human population would still thrive on a Paleolithic diet.
Cornerstones of the Paleo lifestyle:
1. Get your proteins from fish and grass-fed meat
2. Eat vegetables
3. Cook with healthy fats e.g. coconut oil, EVOO
4. Stay clear of grains, gluten, processed sugars
5. Avoid processed dairy and legumes
6. Get moving, lift heavy stuff, play
7. Reduce stress and get decent sleep
Cornerstones of the Paleo lifestyle:
1. Get your proteins from fish and grass-fed meat
2. Eat vegetables
3. Cook with healthy fats e.g. coconut oil, EVOO
4. Stay clear of grains, gluten, processed sugars
5. Avoid processed dairy and legumes
6. Get moving, lift heavy stuff, play
7. Reduce stress and get decent sleep
Should your non-paleo family members, friends, colleagues, acquaintances become more interested at this point and wants to know more on being paleo for beginners or how to live a paleo lifestyle, fear not, I will post more.
