Paleo Diet Essay
What is the Paleo Diet and how can I Make the Diet Work for Me
Caveman, Stone Age, hunter-gatherer – all of these words are synonymous with the Paleo diet. Also known as the caveman, or Stone Age, diet, the Paleo diet operates on the premise that if a caveman didn’t eat it, then neither should you. While following the Paleo diet, you are expected to adhere to a diet similar to that which humans would have eaten during the Paleolithic Era. Adherence to Paleo principles, however, varies widely across Paleo proponents so while some are strict followers who never diverge from the diet, others will occasionally eat foods that aren’t generally allowed.
The History of the Paleo Diet
The Paleo diet traces its roots back to 1975 beginning with …show more content…
This includes eating vegetables, fruit, nuts, roots and meat. Dairy, grains, sugar, legumes, processed oils, salt, alcohol and coffee are not allowed on this diet. They aren’t allowed because the general consensus within the Paleo community is that we started to see many nutritionally-related health issues arise when we switched from the hunter-gatherer lifestyle to an agrarian society focused on farming.
A controversial diet especially within the nutrition community, the Paleo diet is regarded as both a fad diet and a diet that has improved the health of many. The diet’s restrictive nature often contributes to the negative criticism it receives but it’s success despite such criticism is likely due, in part, to the fact that the Paleo diet encourages many healthy practices. By advocating a diet high in fruit and vegetables, and discouraging processed food consumption, the Paleo diet helps many individuals break poor eating …show more content…
Archaeologist and Paleo critic, Christine Warinner, argues that from a biological perspective humans are not adapted to eat a diet centered on meat. In her TEDx Talk, she even argues that the Paleo diet would have varied depending on the climate of the region in which the human lived. This would mean that there is no one true Paleo diet. Critics also state that many of the fruits and vegetables we eat today didn’t exist in the Paleolithic era and neither did some of the meat. For example, bananas, carrots and even broccoli have been cultivated and selectively bred by humans so that it resembles what we see in stores today. Moreover, Paleo critics often argue that recent archaeological evidence demonstrates that even individuals living during this time period ate legumes, tubers, and even barley. Critics also mention that there are other diets around the world where grain products, like rice and noodles, are eaten yet negative health effects are not witnessed. One particularly famous example is the China Study, conducted by Dr. T. Collin
Caveman, Stone Age, hunter-gatherer – all of these words are synonymous with the Paleo diet. Also known as the caveman, or Stone Age, diet, the Paleo diet operates on the premise that if a caveman didn’t eat it, then neither should you. While following the Paleo diet, you are expected to adhere to a diet similar to that which humans would have eaten during the Paleolithic Era. Adherence to Paleo principles, however, varies widely across Paleo proponents so while some are strict followers who never diverge from the diet, others will occasionally eat foods that aren’t generally allowed.
The History of the Paleo Diet
The Paleo diet traces its roots back to 1975 beginning with …show more content…
This includes eating vegetables, fruit, nuts, roots and meat. Dairy, grains, sugar, legumes, processed oils, salt, alcohol and coffee are not allowed on this diet. They aren’t allowed because the general consensus within the Paleo community is that we started to see many nutritionally-related health issues arise when we switched from the hunter-gatherer lifestyle to an agrarian society focused on farming.
A controversial diet especially within the nutrition community, the Paleo diet is regarded as both a fad diet and a diet that has improved the health of many. The diet’s restrictive nature often contributes to the negative criticism it receives but it’s success despite such criticism is likely due, in part, to the fact that the Paleo diet encourages many healthy practices. By advocating a diet high in fruit and vegetables, and discouraging processed food consumption, the Paleo diet helps many individuals break poor eating …show more content…
Archaeologist and Paleo critic, Christine Warinner, argues that from a biological perspective humans are not adapted to eat a diet centered on meat. In her TEDx Talk, she even argues that the Paleo diet would have varied depending on the climate of the region in which the human lived. This would mean that there is no one true Paleo diet. Critics also state that many of the fruits and vegetables we eat today didn’t exist in the Paleolithic era and neither did some of the meat. For example, bananas, carrots and even broccoli have been cultivated and selectively bred by humans so that it resembles what we see in stores today. Moreover, Paleo critics often argue that recent archaeological evidence demonstrates that even individuals living during this time period ate legumes, tubers, and even barley. Critics also mention that there are other diets around the world where grain products, like rice and noodles, are eaten yet negative health effects are not witnessed. One particularly famous example is the China Study, conducted by Dr. T. Collin