Caveman Diet (Paleo Diet) Plan. What is the Paleo Diet (Caveman Diet) Plan?
The Paleo Diet plan, also referred to as the Caveman Diet, Stone Age Diet, Paleolithic Diet, Primal Diet, and Hunter- Gatherer Diet is a modern low carb diet. The Paleo diet plan is based on the assumption that our bodies are genetically programmed to function best if we eat like our caveman ancestors. Caveman Diet Menu PlanNow on the face of it that sounds preposterous. It has been thousands of years since humans lived in caves, but what is important to remember is that even though a few thousand years is an eternity for an individual, from a genetic perspective, the caveman days happened just yesterday. Until a few thousand years ago (or yesterday, from a genetic perspective) humans had to hunt meat and gather vegetables and fruits to survive. That all changed with the agricultural revolution, after which humans advanced from hunter- gatherers to farmers. Ever since, instead of loading up on meat, vegetables and seasonal fruit, we load up on carbs (corn, rice, bread, potato, etc.). So, instead of eating a diet that our bodies were constructed for, we eat a diet that makes us fat and sick. According to the CDO (Center for Disease Control and Prevention), more than one- third of U. S. Loren Cordain, Colorado State University professor and author of “The Paleo Diet”, explaining the Caveman diet in more detail. Proponents of the Caveman diet point out that when you are on a standard American diet, not only do you easily gain weight, you are also more prone to digestive illnesses like Crohn’s disease or Ulcerative Colitis. There are multiple accounts of people with digestive illnesses like Crohn’s disease or Ulcerative Colitis who improved dramatically when switching to the Paleo diet. How Much Weight Can I Lose on the Caveman Diet (Paleo Diet) and How Quickly? According to Dr. Loren Cordain, author of the best selling guide “The Paleo Diet”, if you want to lose up to 7. Paleo diet will work wonders for you. The great thing is that you don’t need to count calories. For optimal weight loss, there are some quantity limits on a small number of food items (nuts/seeds, alcohol, oils, diet sodas, coffee/tea, and dried fruits), but otherwise you can eat what you want, as much as you want, as long as you eat only certain foods. Here is short video (3 minutes) of celebrities who succeeded with the Caveman diet or diets similar to the Caveman diet. Why is the Caveman Diet So Hard? Some genetic rules that made sense for cavemen and did not cause any problems for them, can really mess up a person’s diet in today’s society. In the book “Mean Genes: From Sex To Money To Food: Taming Our Primal Instincts”, authors Dr. Terry Burnham and Dr. EMeals takes the stress out of paleo meal planning. Our Paleo meal plans consist of seven dinner ideas with corresponding grocery list. Meal Plans Eat Like a Caveman: The Paleo Diet Can a paleolithic, grain-free diet help you lose fat and gain lean muscle? We break it down. The Paleo Diet, or Caveman Diet, recommends eating as ancient paleolithic hunter-gatherers did -- heavy on proteins and low in carbs. WebMD reviews the pros and cons. Jay Phelan make the case that our survival- minded genes were developed in a time of scarcity, and today those genes cause all kinds of problems in a modern society of affluence. For example, for a caveman, it was necessary to have the genetic imperative that said “load up on sweets like there is no tomorrow”, since sweets in those times were rare and most of the time not available. That same genetic imperative in today’s 2. It is helpful to keep this in mind as you begin the Paleo diet. Especially in the beginning it may be incredibly hard for you to give up the sweets, carbs and dairy (see below for information on what you can and cannot eat). It should get easier over time, but there may be moments when your genetic imperative takes over and you will want to “load up on sweets.”The Paleo Diet Food List. The nice thing about being on the Palo diet plan is that you won’t be hungry. You may be dissatisfied because you can’t eat your favorite foods (pizza, ice cream, hamburger, etc.), but you won’t be hungry. If you do some internet research, there are several “versions” of the Paleo diet food list. The below lists are compiled based on Dr. Cordain’s book “The Paleo Diet.” For example, fatty meats, bacon and sausages are prohibited according to the book, but you will see many online “Paleo” recipes that include bacon and sausages. It’s probably easier to not go crazy over the details, and use common sense and your best judgment. It is far more important in this diet to eliminate sweets, grains and dairy than to eat the right type of meat. FOODS ALLOWED ON THE PALEO DIET PLANHere is what you can eat on the Paleo diet plan: Meat & Seafood – All you can eat. For meats, grass- fed meats are ideal. According to “The Paleo Diet” book, salt- added meats and fatty meats are to be avoided, including bacon, deli meats, hot dogs, and sausages. Tip: Don’t go crazy over figuring out which meats are allowed or not. Just use your common sense and best judgment. Low- Glycemic Fruits (For Weight Loss) and Non- Starchy Vegetables – All you can eat. Examples of non- starchy vegetables: Asparagus. Bell peppers. Broccoli. Brussels sprouts. Cabbage. Carrots. Cauliflower. Celery. Collards. Cucumber. Eggplant. Endive. Green onions. Kale. Lettuce. Mushrooms. Mustard greens. Onions. Parsley. Radish. Seaweed. Spinach. Swiss chard. Eggs – 6 to 1. 2 a week. Nuts and Seeds Except Peanuts – No more than 4 ounces of nuts and seeds a day for weight loss. Alcohol – Better if you avoid it, but you can still have your occasional glass of beer or wine. Oils – In moderation, 4 tablespoons or less per day. Diet Sodas/Coffee/Tea – In moderation. Dried fruits – In moderation, less than 2 ounces per day. But How Can I Lose Weight, If I Can Eat All I Want? In the long term it is difficult to overeat if you are limited to the food groups mentioned above. Your appetite will naturally come down, and at the same time your metabolism will be increased. If you think about it, all the foods that we crave and able to eat in excess are usually some combination of starch, fat, and sugar. There is always space after dinner for a little bit more ice cream or a little bit more cake, but probably not for a little bit more of raw carrots or another slice of meat. By limiting yourself to food items where it is really difficult to overeat long term, you will naturally eat less (but not be hungry, as can be the case on many diets), and your metabolism will improve, burning more calories (since you now eat foods that your body was designed for). PALEO SNACKSSome people do better with snacks, and of course you can snack on the Caveman diet. Yes, the Paleo snacks are portable but different to what you have been eating. No more sugar (candy) and high- carbs (potato chips), but real and healthy food. The snacks on the Paleo diet are healthy and made of real food. You can eat the following snacks whenever you get hungry: Fresh fruits of any kind. Protein (homemade beef jerky, cold slices of meat, shrimps, boiled eggs)Raw vegetables like carrots, celery sticks, cherry tomatoes (with homemade dips like guacamole or salsa)Nuts, but limit to 4 ounces a day for weight loss. These are simple things to make. The key is preparation. Here, for example, is a short (3 min) video of the Food Network on how to make the perfect Guacamole Dip. FORBIDDEN FOODS ON THE PALEO DIETOne helpful way to figure out if the food is forbidden is to imagine the foods that the cavemen/women had access to. Basically you can’t eat anything that wasn’t readily available 3. No Sweets. Technically, the only source of sugar allowed in the Caveman diet is fresh WHOLE fruits. In the book “The Paleo Diet”, Dr. Cordain prohibits even freshly squeezed fruit juice since they lack fiber while having a higher glycemic index. So ALL OTHER TYPES of sugar including the below types of sugar are forbidden. Table sugar. Lactose (dairy products)Honey (yes Dr. Cordain explicitly lists honey as not allowed)Maple syrup. Corn syrup. High fructose corn syrup. Dextrose. Dextrin. Tip: If you ever have a sweet tooth, and must eat something sweet, we recommend using a safe natural herbal sugar substitute that has been used for hundreds of years called stevia. No Grains. Any food made from wheat, rice, oats, cornmeal, barley or any another cereal grain is a grain product. Bread, pasta, oatmeal, breakfast cereals, tortillas, and grits are examples of grain products. That includes corn and corn products. The average caveman may have come across the occasional wild grain, but that would have been very rare, and probably not very popular. Nibbling on raw wheat kernels is not that tasty. Bread is tasty, but that is a wheat product that the caveman did not have access to. No Cereal- Grain Like Seeds. These include amaranth, buckwheat, and quinoa. No Starchy Vegetables. This means no potatoes, no sweet potatoes, and no yams. No Legumes (Peanuts, Peas, Beans)Peanuts, peas and beans are forbidden on the Paleo diet plan. Peanuts are legumes not nuts, therefore forbidden in any form (including peanut butter). No Dairy Products. The caveman/woman did not have access to dairy products (butter, milk, yogurt, ice cream), and therefore these are forbidden as well in the Caveman diet plan. Note that some versions of the Caveman diet allow butter and cream. Tip: Try almond milk instead of regular milk. It tastes great and has less calories. No Salt- Containing Foods. Any food that has added salt is forbidden according to Dr. Cordain including the following. Premade salad dressings and condiments. Processed meats. Ketchup. Salami. Smoked fish and meat. Sausages. No Fatty Meats. Fatty meats are also prohibited according to the book, but here is where some other versions of the Paleo diet plan differ and allow these types of meats. According to the book, fatty meats include: Chicken wings. Fatty pork chops. Bacon. Breakfast sausages. Tip: Don’t go crazy over figuring out which meats are allowed or not. Just use your common sense and best judgment. No Processed Foods. Processed foods include not only the typical prepackaged frozen meals, potato chips and cookies, but also processed meats including hot dogs, bacon, bologna and salami. Tip: Check the ingredients of any packaged foods you buy and try to avoid ones with lots of ingredients in them. Paleo Diet Food List.
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