Paleo Diet for Beginners

Today I’m going to talk about the Paleo diet. I’ve been eating a paleo style for over a year at this point and love it. I honestly cannot imagine ever going back to eating another way. It’s great for weight loss which is a big reason I chose it. Paleo has been proven to reverse or put into remission a great number of the autoimmune diseases that are spreading throughout the world. The basic premise is to attempt to replicate the diet of our ancient hunter gatherer ancestors.

I have been a fan of restricting carbohydrate consumption for several years now. At first I read Atkins book. I actually preferred all the science included in the book. Which has set me down the path of one of my three obsession. Nutrition. I find nutrition to be extremely interesting. It’s an amazing field filled with lots of “experts” without proven research or evidence. So many people will take what they are told by the government on how to eat as complete truth and law when they are utter tin foil hatters in every other way. I strongly feel that Atkins has gotten a bad reputation recently which is very undeserved. He got a lot more right than Dr.Oz. Atkins just didn’t go far enough it’s not just quantity of carbs but the food they come from.

So how do you switch to a paleo diet. basically eat meat, veggies,eggs, moderate fruit and nut consumption. Stay away from processed foods. Avoid sweeteners, whether real or artificial. Completely eliminate all grains, dairy and legumes. these include but are not limited to: Wheat, barley, rye, corn,amaranth,milk, yogurt, cheese,  all beans, pea’s and peanuts. Special  exceptions may be made for green beans if you like them on occasion. The only dairy exceptions are grass-fed butter or ghee , heavy cream and  Cottage cheese. I would still recommend these only in limited quantities.Also limit nut’s they are very easy to snack on and consume massive amounts of calories. Also even though a potato is a vegetable it is to be avoided for its huge amount of carb’s, sweet potatoes are acceptable.

That’s it. It’s that easy. Build your meal around variation of whole foods. Brown some meat, saute some veggies. Eat a salad with a good portion of meat and oil and vinegar dressing. Heck I’ve been trying salads with not dressing and have learned that lettuce actually has a flavor. You don’t even need recipes. Just a skillet. I like to combine ingredients and see how it goes. It you want fancy meals try the Paleo Comfort Foods book I’ve made a few from it and they have all been amazing.

Some people have tried to over complicate this and make it difficult and find reasons why they can’t. I’ve done it and thousands of others have as well.  If you want more in-depth history and scientific explanations I suggest you grab a copy of Robb Wolf’s book The Paleo Solution. That was the first book I read in the Paleo sphere and still my favorite. Robb has an amazing way of explaining things.

So go ahead and give it a try to see if you feel better. I sure do. You can check out my meals for the week article on some ideas for what to eat. Stay healthy my friends