What is the Paleo Diet?
The Paleo diet trend seems to be off and running. During the last year it seems that more than half of the recipes pinned on Pinterest are “Paleo inspired” recipes. The Paleo diet is also known as the Caveman Diet or the Stone Age Diet. It’s basically a high-protein, high-fiber eating plan that promises weight loss without cutting calories. Does this sound too good to be true?
On the Paleo Diet Food You Can Eat:
- Fresh Lean Meats
- Fish
- Fresh Fruit
- Fresh Vegetables
- Eggs
- Nuts, & Seeds
- Olive Oil & Coconut
Well that doesn’t sounds too hard to do. Until I read the list of Foods I Can’t Eat:
- No Processed Foods
- No Wheat
- No Dairy
- No Grains
- No Legumes (such as peanuts and beans)
- No Refined Sugar
- No Potatoes
- No Salt
- No refined vegetable oil such as canola oil
The Paleo diet does encourage eating more fruits and vegetables, cutting out added sugar and sodium, which aligns with the Dietary Guidelines. Although, the diet does exceed the Dietary Guidelines for daily fat and protein intake and falls short on carbohydrate recommendations. Contrary to popular beliefs carbohydrates or carbs are not the bad guy. Carbs are essential to providing our body and brain with the energy and nutrients it needs. Click here to read more about why carbohydrates are good for you. The exclusion of whole grains, dairy foods, and legumes puts our bodies at risk by not getting vital vitamins and minerals such as calcium, vitamin D and B vitamins.
So going back to the question, does this sound too good to be true? Diets are just that, they are too good to be true. That is why each year new fad diets cycle through the media. Diets are something that we cannot sustain over long periods of time causing people to cycle on and off of them, losing weight, and regaining weight. Unfortunately keeping weight off for good is a gradual process but the good news is studies have shown that your health can be improved with relatively minor weight reduction of 5-10 percent of body weight. Secondly, adopting a healthy lifestyle, eating smarter and moving more can improve your health status even if you don’t lose any weight at all.
3 Steps to Maintaining a healthy weight for the rest of your life, is all about balance:
- Make Smart Choices from Every Food Group (Grains, Vegetable, Fruit, Dairy, and Meat groups)
- Get the Most Nutrition from Your Calories
- Balance Food and Physical Activity
For the full article associated with these 3 tips to weight loss success click here.
Source: Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics
If you like having a step by step plan to follow, try creating your own MyPlate Food Plan.
