The Paleo Diet and why it is good for humans

Introduction The Paleolithic diet is also called as the paleo diet and the common names for this type of diet are hunter-gatherer diet, caveman diet and Stone Age diet. It is a diet plan that is mainly based on the assumed ancient diet which consisted of wild plants and animals and it was eaten by the people living in the Paleolithic period. The Paleolithic period is a period which was spread on 2.5 million years and this period came to an end about 10,000 years ago. The period was ended with the development of grain based diets and agriculture. The term Paleolithic diet is commonly referred to the ancestral diets of the human beings. The Paleolithic diet is based on eggs, fruits, nuts, fish, vegetables, roots, grass-fed pasture raised meats and fungi and it do not includes potatoes, processed oils, refined salt, legumes, refined sugar and dairy products (Bowden & Jonny, n.d).

Practices

The Paleolithic diet is a normal routine diet which is similar to the diet of the ancient people who used to hunt for their food. The diet is based on the modern foods and it consists of cultivated plants and the animal meat because they serve as the substitute for the ancient diet. The Paleolithic diet is based on the hunted foods like fish, sea food, and other animals and it also contains different nuts, vegetables, fruits, mushrooms, eggs, seeds, spices, herbs and insects. The meat which is recommended to be eaten according to the paleo diet is the one which do not contains additives like grass fed beef, and wild meat because it has omega 3 fats and the grain fed meat do not contains higher amount of omega 3 (Cordain & Loren, pp.25). Those food items which were not used by the humans before the agricultural development are not included in the diet like dairy products, refined sugar, processed oils, salt, legumes and grains. The use of oils containing omega 6 or omega 3 is allowed to use like canola oil and olive oil. The people who are on the Paleolithic diet are allowed to drink water and tea only. Plants are also recommended to eta so that the harmful substances can be avoided like seeds, vegetables and roots. All the raw foods are also recommended to cook but it also believed by some people that the humans should not be eating the cooked foods therefore they eat raw and Paleolithic type of foods. According to the nutritionists, the people should consume half of their energy from animal foods and 40% from the plant foods. The high protein and low carbohydrate diet is also recommended with low intakes of fat that is alike to the western food.

Nutritional factors

There are various foods items which were not used by the humans after the end of the Paleolithic period and these foods are now considered as staples with the development in the field of agriculture and animal ...