I thought I'd start at the very beginning - often the best place - and give a quick description of what a paleo lifestyle and diet is all about. I should mention that I'm no expert and am very new to the paleo way of thinking and eating.
Before looking at what paleo IS it is important to say what it is NOT. It is not a fad diet, it is not another to add to a string of yo-yo diets, and it is not a regime which promises to have you looking like a supermodel forever in the space of seven days.
However, eating in this way will undoubtedly aid and support weightloss and improve health in any number of ways imaginable.
Essentially it is a 'back to basics' way of eating. It is a complete avoidence of modern, processed, convenient foods and a return to nourishing, whole, unrefined foods. By approaching food in a paleolithic way, we eat as our ancestors would have done, pre-industry and even pre-agriculture. The cavemen and women of such a paleolithic era ate the food that we were genetically and evolutionally designed to eat.
While I hope, as this blog grows, to look in a bit more detail at some of the individual elements of a paleo diet, for now - here are the basics!
The paleo food pyramid shows the ideal foods we should be eating - plenty of lean protein (meats, fish and eggs), lots of vegetables and fruit, natural fats (coconut oil, avocados, fish oils, nuts and seeds).
You won't see any refined or processed foods in this pyramid. A paleo diet eleminates all grains. Grains, such as oats, corn, wheat, etc. would not have been available as a food source before the introduction of agriculture. Also eleminated are all forms of dairy, and all legumes. Legumes differ from vegetables (this was news to me) and include things like peas, beans and pulses. The only sugars you will eat as part of a paleo diet will be those in fruits. These will be limited (hence being high up the pyramid) and will always be eaten with a protein source in order to aid their correct digestion - more about the science at a later date!
To sum up this first post - if a caveman didn't have access to it - neither should you. A general rule of thumb is : if it comes in a packet with ingredients to read, then it won't fit with a paleo lifestyle.
My next post will hopefully detail the reasons that I came across Paleo and what I hope I can achieve through eating and living this way.
