The paleolithic diet

Recently I’ve been researching the Paleo diet. I dislike that word ‘diet’; I can’t stand eating to a schedule, or that feeling of depriving myself. But I also dislike the way my body has reacted to foods for the last year or so (grains and sugar (especially when combined)) so I spend a lot of time thinking and planning what I put in my mouth. However, I do like the word ‘Paleo’, which stems from Paleolithic, which in archeological terms, denotes to the early phase of the Stone Age, lasting about 2.5 million years, when primitive stone implements were used.  To me, the idea of a Paleolithic diet has a mythological quality to it, in that, the whole idea of eating like out ancestors did, in theory, resonates deeply with me because eating processed foods make me feel generally shithouse, so I love the ideology behind getting back to nature and eating organic wholesome foods that don’t include grains. But if I let my imagination run wild for a minute, the actual process of eating identical to cavemen loses its romanticism as soon as I consider the treatment of animals and the idea of eating them in mass quantities. I find red meat abhorrently disgusting! It’s just so… so fleshy. And meaty. Kind of like eating one of my mates. (Dog moves away from me.) Seriously, I cook it for my daughter–I’m blessed with a voracious meat eating teenager–and I would eat it if nothing else where available, but I don’t like it. I hate touching it. Even wear rubber gloves to make meat patties. But if the criteria for a Paleo diet (see chart below) is correct, then I’m already there.

Late last year I started seeing the chiropractor/kinesiologist, Nick Foley, (who also does gene testing, which I will blog about another time); one of the first things he told me to do was to stop eating grains and sugars–which I already knew but sometimes it helps to hear it from someone else. And tomatoes. Tomatoes are a big problem for me, I didn’t realise just how much until this practitioner told me to lay of them, and now that I have stopped eating them, I really can notice that they cause my sinuses to throb and make me more sensitive to chemicals (everything even smells stronger after eating them, if you can believe that). I also changed to coconut oil and began buying all organic fruit and veggies. He had me off the fruit for a while and that was torture, but I think this was just to get the sugar out of my system. Now I’m only eating dates, fruit and dark chocolate for my sweet fix! A diet high in vegetables and protein (I eat a lot of fish and some chicken) is what he recommended. So apart from the dairy element–I love my yogurt!–I have the paleolithic bases covered, and must say that I feel in touch with our cavemen/women ancestors from the stone age. (Even if I do wear rubber gloves when touching raw meat.)

Do you have any food sensitivities? Have you tried eating paleolithically? Would you try it?

More Health and Fitness News & Tips at Greatist.

Here the world’s #1 expert, professor Loren Cordain, explains what you need to know and answers common questions. For example: Is Paleo always low carb? What’s wrong with vegan diets? What single dairy product is ok to eat? (If you want to know the answer to that one–without watching the clip–it’s butter.)

You can visit Dr. Cordain’s website here

Related articles

• Science in Support of the Paleo Diet (diabeticmediterraneandiet.com)
• HealthWatch: Can Paleo Diet Extend Your Life? (sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com)
• 5 Tips on How to Stay on a Paleo Diet (maxwellmed.wordpress.com)