The Paleo Revolution

Seldom can one find a meal plan that is free from big business, marketing ploys, and celebrity endorsements, but the revolution is here; and it’s Paleo.

The Paleo diet is based on the way our ancestors ate in the Paleolithic age. Often referred to as The Caveman Diet or The Primal Diet, this ancient meal plan offers an impressive number of health benefits.

Intimidating to most, the Paleo diet restricts consumption of all grain, dairy, sugar, legumes, and alcohol. Before dismissing the diet for its number of restrictions, it is important to educate oneself on why the Paleo diet does not allow the consumption of these things.

Unfortunately, processed foods have inhabited the American kitchen with convenience and taste being the most prominent appeals of this quick and easy way of eating. The Paleo diet turns back to a time when food was pure and found in nature rather than polluted with chemicals and made in a factory.

When we abandoned natural food for convenient food, we abandoned our health. The implications that non-Paleo diets have could be serious. What happens when we introduced foods into our bodies that offered no nutritional value? 

According to a 2005 article published by The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition,

“The displacement of more nutrient-dense foods (eg, fruit, vegetables, lean meats, and seafood) by less-dense foods (refined sugars, grains, vegetable oils, and dairy products) and the subsequent decline in dietary vitamin and mineral density has far reaching health implications—consequences that not only promote the development of vitamin- deficiency diseases but also numerous infectious and chronic diseases.”

This means that when you choose to consume sugar-laden food and processed carbohydrates, you are depleting your vitamin levels and opening the door for potentially serious health issues. While the effects of processed foods are not always shown in the form of weight gain or obesity, they are often shown in the form of chronic illness and health problems that occur later in life. 

When did it become so unusual to eat food that occurs naturally, yet completely normal to eat something that contains Yellow Lake 5?  It seems like a no-brainer to me. Just eat real food. 

Diane Sanfilippo, author of New York Times Bestseller Practical Paleo, says that, 

"If a food is not in its whole, natural form, chances are that it has been refined in a less than optimal choice. When we intellectualize our diet and remove ourselves, as human animals, from the complex web that defines nature, we fight against our birthright of health. When you eat food as provided by nature, it actually promotes health, healing, and immunity against future ailments."  

Interestingly enough, many of the food choices offered in supermarkets have been refined and processed. Moreover, the artificial additives and impossible-to-pronounce chemicals that are a part of the refining process are so harmful to one's health that most of them have been completely banned from food products sold in Europe.

Aside from the obviously harmful effects of chemicals and additives, there are other clear reasons why the Paleo diet is a healthy alternative to processed foods.

According to a Wall Street Journal article featuring Marion Nestle, a professor of nutrition, food studies and public health at New York University, Paleo does help users control weight and lower the risk of cancer.

“In contrast to high-carbohydrate diets that have led to skyrocketing rates of diabetes, obesity and inflammatory diseases, a paleo diet can reduce inflammation, reverse diabetes symptoms, lower blood pressure and cut cancer risk by providing a template of foods that are as close to nature as we can get today,” says Nestle.

A diet high in carbohydrates is not beneficial to those who want to lose weight; therefore the Paleo diet makes logical sense due to the absence of carbs in the meal plan.

“A study published last October in Lipids in Health and Disease found a paleo diet to be more effective in reversing metabolic syndrome (the first step toward diabetes) and cardiovascular risks in patients with extra belly fat or other risk factors for diabetes than a diet based on standard guidelines,” says Nestle.

Unlike processed foods laden with sugar and preservatives, the food allowed within Paleo diet speeds up the metabolism by fueling the body with natural energy.

The bottom line is this: what is found in nature is undoubtedly healthier than what is found in tons of prepackaged bags and boxes with ingredients like “ENRICHED FLOUR (WHEAT FLOUR, NIACIN, REDUCED IRON, VITAMIN B1 [THIAMIN MONONITRATE], VITAMIN B2 [RIBOFLAVIN], FOLIC ACID),” listed on the box. By the way… those are a few of the ingredients in a Pop-Tart.

Is it really that hard to comprehend why an apple and almond butter is a better snack than Doritos and M&Ms?