Together with the avalanche of diseases – some difficult, some impossible to treat – , people have started, over the last decades, to pay much more attention to alimentation, which is considered the main cause of health decline at a global level. The Internet, magazines, books and commercials are full of lighter or more draconic diets, and lifestyle changes that are usually promoted by celebrities.
At present, the Montignac diet has just been upgraded by the paleo diet, that of the primitive man. Fearing incurable diseases and premature ageing, specialists preach the return to origins, to nature. This is what the paleo diet represents. It is a culinary revolution, as the important connoisseurs of the dieting secrets consider it. The paleo recipes books are among the most searched books of the last years. The first paleo conference took place in Austin, USA, in spring 2012; some fitness programs have started to promote this alimentary lifestyle, as well. So, its popularity increases day by day.
But what does paleo mean? It is a modern nutritional plan, based on products that had formed the alimentation of the Paleolithic man. The diet started to be known in 1970. The Paleolithic era ended around 10 000 years ago, when agriculture started to develop. Practically, the diet recommends the consumption of fruits, vegetables, raw meat, sea food, eggs, seeds and nuts. All aliments can be thermally prepared.
The paleo diet recipes are based on the idea that man has evolved during millions of years under the influence of the ambient environment that has hallmarked the human genome. From the beginning up to present, the genome has suffered small changes; therefore a diet similar to one from that era would be more appropriate.
The paleo diet presents numerous benefits. Of course, its authors have started from the idea of health. By consuming foods just like the primitive man, the energy level is ensured throughout the entire day, so you will not have exhaustion moments alternating with hyperactivity moments. There is no risk of fat depositing, because it is burnt in a balanced way during the day. The sugar level remains stable.
In addition, teeth are maintained healthy and permanently clean, and the whole food plan has anti-inflammatory effect. They also say the paleo diet combats insomnia, reduces allergies and ameliorates diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular diseases and irritable colon syndrome.
This diet is a great helping hand when it comes to losing weight. One of the biggest problems when dieting is that when you give it up, you recover all the pounds that have been removed. This happens because it is very hard to keep a diet that supposes consumption of the same products every day. The paleo diet is one of the few that you can adopt as a lifestyle or daily routine. The explanation is that it is only based on healthy foods, cooked as naturally as possible. There are no settled quantities and the variety of permitted foods is very large.
This is what you need to eliminate if you decide to try the diet: cereals and everything that is made out of them (pizza, bread, pasta, muffins, or biscuits), dairy products, some vegetables (potatoes, peas and beans), salt, sugar and alcohol. At first, it may seem difficult to give up these items. On the other hand, the list of paleo foods is very generous. You can eat meat as long as it doesn’t contain fat. Fish and seafood must not miss. Fruits and vegetables can be consumed ad lib.
The paleo recipes are extremely numerous and you can find plenty of delicious deserts, as well. The biggest advantage of this diet is that you can eat as much as you need, without fearing extra pounds depositing. Besides helping you lose weight, the paleo diet will detoxify your organism and fill you with energy.