I thought I'd take a step away from my traditional blog updates and talk about something I've been hearing everywhere lately: The Paleo Plan. Whether you are a die-hard health and nutrition junkie or just an occasional abider, you've undoubtedly heard friends, family, or colleagues exclaim with great excitement how they are now following the Paleo Plan. I myself have several friends who have recently started following this plan and all have great things to say about it. I must admit, some of the recipes do sound quite delicious! To be honest though, I didn't really give it much thought until I opened up my latest issue of Muscle & Fitness Hers and saw the plan profiled in their nutrition section. That's when I decided to take a closer look. So, just what is Paleo all about? Here's an excerpt from www.thepaleodiet.com:
"The Paleo Diet is based upon eating wholesome, contemporary foods from the food groups our hunter-gatherer ancestors would have thrived on during the Paleolithic era, the time period from about 2.6 million years ago to the beginning of the agricultural revolution, about 10,000 years ago. These foods include fresh meats (preferably grass-produced or free-ranging beef, pork, lamb, poultry, and game meat, if you can get it), fish, seafood, fresh fruits, vegetables, seeds, nuts, and healthful oils (olive, coconut, avocado, macadamia, walnut and flaxseed). Dairy products, cereal grains, legumes, refined sugars and processed foods were not part of our ancestral menu."
For more information, definitely visit the website noted above. However, I think you get the gist of it. Absolutely every food item listed above is extremely healthy and nutritious and I fully advocate incorporating all of it into your diet plan. However, I do not feel that it is in one's best interest to fully eliminate the remaining food groups such as dairy, legumes, and whole grains on a long-term basis. Similarly to the competition diet I am currently on and have been blogging about for several months now, it is a means to achieve your desired results on a short term basis but probably not in your best interest to follow indefinitely. Your body will likely either get too used to being fed the same things over and over and your progress will be hindered or worse, you'll get sick from lack of certain nutrients.
Basically, Paleo is yet another fad diet to go mainstream. Remember the Atkins Diet, the South Beach Diet, or the Zone diet? All are still followed by thousands of people but their appeal has generally died in the wake of the newest craze to hit the market. While all of those diets may have yielded results in the short term, they all had their individual deficiencies. My guess is that Paleo will not make it long-term either but that's not to say it is a bad idea. So, take from this what you will and by all means give it a try. My intention is not to discredit Paleo but rather to give you a better idea of what it is before you jump on the popularity bandwagon. In my personal opinion, fad diets should be avoided at all costs. Paleo may have been the way of the cave men but haven't we evolved since those days? Science has certainly come a long way and we've discovered many additional foods that are equally beneficial to one's health. Your best bet is to eat a well-rounded diet filled with whole, fresh, minimally processed foods. Play around with your macros, starting with a traditional 40/30/30 ratio and adjusting from there to achieve your best individualized results. Use your smarts. After all, we aren't cave men. Best of luck!
On a side note, one of my friends has been posting pictures on Facebook lately showcasing his Paleo meal creations. One of them caught my eye the other day due to its beautiful display of colors, mix of food groups, and general mouth-watering quality! Thus I am including it in my Recipes tab (with his permission of course). Take a look, give it a try, and let me know what you think! I'll be trying it out myself come May when I can eat bacon again :)
"The Paleo Diet is based upon eating wholesome, contemporary foods from the food groups our hunter-gatherer ancestors would have thrived on during the Paleolithic era, the time period from about 2.6 million years ago to the beginning of the agricultural revolution, about 10,000 years ago. These foods include fresh meats (preferably grass-produced or free-ranging beef, pork, lamb, poultry, and game meat, if you can get it), fish, seafood, fresh fruits, vegetables, seeds, nuts, and healthful oils (olive, coconut, avocado, macadamia, walnut and flaxseed). Dairy products, cereal grains, legumes, refined sugars and processed foods were not part of our ancestral menu."
For more information, definitely visit the website noted above. However, I think you get the gist of it. Absolutely every food item listed above is extremely healthy and nutritious and I fully advocate incorporating all of it into your diet plan. However, I do not feel that it is in one's best interest to fully eliminate the remaining food groups such as dairy, legumes, and whole grains on a long-term basis. Similarly to the competition diet I am currently on and have been blogging about for several months now, it is a means to achieve your desired results on a short term basis but probably not in your best interest to follow indefinitely. Your body will likely either get too used to being fed the same things over and over and your progress will be hindered or worse, you'll get sick from lack of certain nutrients.
Basically, Paleo is yet another fad diet to go mainstream. Remember the Atkins Diet, the South Beach Diet, or the Zone diet? All are still followed by thousands of people but their appeal has generally died in the wake of the newest craze to hit the market. While all of those diets may have yielded results in the short term, they all had their individual deficiencies. My guess is that Paleo will not make it long-term either but that's not to say it is a bad idea. So, take from this what you will and by all means give it a try. My intention is not to discredit Paleo but rather to give you a better idea of what it is before you jump on the popularity bandwagon. In my personal opinion, fad diets should be avoided at all costs. Paleo may have been the way of the cave men but haven't we evolved since those days? Science has certainly come a long way and we've discovered many additional foods that are equally beneficial to one's health. Your best bet is to eat a well-rounded diet filled with whole, fresh, minimally processed foods. Play around with your macros, starting with a traditional 40/30/30 ratio and adjusting from there to achieve your best individualized results. Use your smarts. After all, we aren't cave men. Best of luck!
On a side note, one of my friends has been posting pictures on Facebook lately showcasing his Paleo meal creations. One of them caught my eye the other day due to its beautiful display of colors, mix of food groups, and general mouth-watering quality! Thus I am including it in my Recipes tab (with his permission of course). Take a look, give it a try, and let me know what you think! I'll be trying it out myself come May when I can eat bacon again :)
You are on the mark with your skepticism. The term 'diet' as is construed in our nomenclature echoes a temporary objective which usually falls short of being sustainable over time. Sustainability should be the key criteria before jumping on any diet else it will most likely be a fad. Folks should look for the answer from within: WILL. If you know what not to eat, don't eat. If you don't know, educate yourself. Looking for the answer externally (by jumping on the next fad) can easily encourage you to abandon true strength: Will. Educate yourself about eating healthy and the next time you are about to eat what you KNOW you shouldn't eat, just say no! I guarantee you, you will live. Just do it!
ReplyDeleteRight on, Kingsley! Thanks for the comment; I wish to get more interaction going on here in the future.
ReplyDeleteMy trainer and I were discussing this yesterday. Here is an interesting article about the archeologists / anthropologist view on Paleo. Basically even if we follow this plan, even the foods we can include are not what they were in the "caveman" era. . Further, is it better to eat a sweet potato imported from the Middle East or a potato from down the street?
ReplyDeleteThat being said, here is my option: (1) the idea of baking something which is delicious AND for the most part sugar free is fantastic! (2) this "fad" has expanded my dairy free recipe selection massively.
I agree that this plan for someone with your diet restrictions is extremely helpful for recipe ideas! Thanks for commenting. Where is the link you mentioned?
ReplyDeleteWoops - not so good on the Macbook: http://hells-ditch.com/2012/08/archaeologists-officially-declare-collective-sigh-over-paleo-diet/
ReplyDeleteLove it! Thanks so much for sharing!
ReplyDelete