The Paleo diet dates back to the Old Stone Age. Surely, no one predicted -- or even gave a thought -- that our ancestors' way of life, particularly diet and food consumption, would still affect modern lifestyles. Here is the history of the Paleo diet and how some meal plans are based on the prehistoric lifestyle.
(Pre)-history of the Paleo diet
During the Paleolithic Age, people's primary source of livelihood is hunting. They hunted meat and gathered nuts, fruits, and vegetables to eat. Their diet primarily revolves around what food sources are available in their environment and at their time. This then became the core principle of a Paleo diet, promoting a more natural and organic diet, as it is considered to be more suitable to our bodily systems.
In 1975, gastroenterologist Walter Voegtlin said in his book, The Stone Age Diet, was among the first instances which promoted the paleo meal plan. He introduced a plethora of varying approaches, detailing the restrictions and rules. However, despite discrepancies, all these approaches sport the similar core values of the Paleo diet.
Kerry Torrens, a British nutritionist, said the Paleo diet is not the ideal diet plan if you aim to lose weight since the goal of a Paleo diet is to promote a natural way of eating and food consumption. She highlights that the Paleo diet cuts off sugar, salt, refined, and processed food.
Torrens also said that a Paleo diet is more in tune with the natural digestive processes and how our bodies are fueled. Their food is low in fat but high in protein as the diet veers its focus in the consumption of wild and lean meat. The diet also contains a large amount of plant-based foods.
However, other views debunked Torrens' claims. It was impractical to base a diet on prehistoric times when the human body evolved through millenniums. The ways of modern 21st-century living are drastically different from our ancestors as they have to hunt and gather their food.
What's inside the diet?
Since agriculture was not yet developed during the Paleolithic Age, people during the said era had a different digestive tract. Over time, with the revolution in food preparation, cultivation, and the consumption of processed foods, there may be some foods that cannot be digested by our system.
Thus, food such as root vegetables, crops, legumes, peanuts, cereal grains, potatoes, processed foods, dairy, salt refined vegetable oils, refined sugars, to name a few, affect your gastrointestinal tract.
For your meal plan, consider eating meat, fish, eggs, vegetables, fruits, nuts, spices, herbs, and healthy fats instead. Regularly consuming these can help improve the overall health of your digestive system and your body.
You can also indulge yourself with some treats such as chocolates and wine. Opt for dark chocolates as the cocoa content is 70% higher. As for wine, fill your stash with red wine since they are rich in antioxidants and other beneficial nutrients.
You can also drink tea (specifically green tea) and coffee. Both of these have high antioxidants contents.
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