There are a number of foods that are included in the paleolithic diet that is also known as the caveman, the hunter-gatherer, or even the Stone Age diet.
These Paleo recipes include all the important components such as carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals, proteins, fats, antioxidants, and more. An important point to be noted here is that many foods of the paleolithic age are not available today.
Meat and eggs are the prime components of this diet. Here, meat would include seafood too. Primarily, the animals from which meat comes should be fed on an organic food list. Thus cows, goats, and sheep should be fed on green pastures including grass. Similarly, a chicken must be raised on insects, grains, and such other stuff. The fish must come from the wild, or else they should be fed on what wild fish eat.
Another fact remains that the meat available today is very high in saturated fats. This was not the case earlier. Hence people are advised to opt for low-fat meats. The fat is then substituted from various other sources.
The vegetables are an integral part of the paleolithic diet. Green peas as well as beans are considered as legumes and thus not included. Even though the vegetables should be eaten raw, but this may not be possible in some cases. Starchy tubers such as cassava and potatoes do not form a part of this diet.
The fruits form a part of this diet. But fruit juices, as well as dry fruits, are to be avoided.
What’s In The Paleolithic Diet
Paleolithic diet includes nuts and seeds. Do note that peanuts are considered as legumes and hence do not form a part of this diet. Cashew is also not included as it cannot be eaten raw. As a substitute for dairy, unsweetened almond milk or coconut milk can be used.
The oils which can be included are those that are extracted from the permitted plants. These would include flaxseed oil, olive oil besides nuts oil. Fish oil supplements can be included.
Water can be consumed in large quantities. Besides this, a limited amount of tea and coffee is also allowed. Also, low amounts of beer and wine can also be taken.
Basically, the paleolithic diet is a result of research that has been done on the food of our ancestors. After the paleolithic age was the neolithic age in which farming was introduced. At that time, the human diet changed a lot leading to a decline in human health. This trend has continued in the last century. Besides, the last two decades have witnessed a massive surge in this decline.
A number of foods are restricted in the paleo diet. This is because these foods were just not available to our ancestors. These include added sugar foods, processed foods, or food additives. Our ancestors had limited access to grains, and that too only whole grains. Other restricted foods include legumes, dairy products, or artificial sweeteners.
The allowed foods are meat, eggs, nuts, fruits, vegetables, and even little amounts of honey. Also, animals need to eat what comes naturally to them. Thus, cattle need to eat grass and not grain. This way the animals would contain less saturated fats and will be generally healthier.
Benefits Of The Paleolithic Diet
As per the statistics available today, the options available to people who follow this diet are quite limited. This is because nearly two-thirds of the food that comprises the staple diet of modern man was not available to man at that time.
There are various benefits of this diet. It includes foods that have a high nutrient density. The food eaten by modern man today includes a lot of processed food that has no nutritive value. This way, the caveman diet provides good nutrition. Besides, it will be able to provide a much higher quantity of vitamins and minerals.
This is very simple to take. There is no need to do any measuring of any calories or nutrients. Simply choose the foods from the allowed list, that is all.
The paleolithic diet is a food plan that focuses a lot on physical activity and healthy recipes. The paleolithic diet has a lot of benefits for the modern generation that is afflicted with various lifestyle diseases.
