{"id":2015,"date":"2016-12-29T13:53:30","date_gmt":"2016-12-29T00:53:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.frot.co.nz\/design\/dietnet\/?p=2015"},"modified":"2021-05-18T09:39:45","modified_gmt":"2021-05-17T21:39:45","slug":"intro-to-paleo-diet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.frot.co.nz\/design\/dietnet\/2016\/12\/29\/intro-to-paleo-diet\/","title":{"rendered":"What exactly is the PALEO diet?"},"content":{"rendered":"

When it comes down to the bottom line, Paleo is about eating REAL FOOD. That\u2019s all. You can take it in lots of different directions, but the commonality is eating food, not industrialised “fake food”.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve written before about eating Real Foods, but not specifically explaining Paleo. Today I\u2019m not going to go into a lot of the why\u2019s but am just aiming to give you an overview of what is covered.<\/p>\n

<\/center>The Paleo diet was first written about by Dr Loren Cordain. Over time, the Paleo movement has grown enormously and learnt a lot about how nutrition really works. For example, Dr Cordain recommended low fat meats, but now we know it\u2019s more important to ensure the meat is pasture raised. So if you heard about Paleo back in the day, things may be different now.<\/p>\n

The first thing to determine is whether a food is real or not.<\/h3>\n

Rule of thumb \u2013 could your great grandmother have made this food in her own kitchen? If the answer is Yes, it\u2019s a real food, made by nature. If the answer is No, it\u2019s been made by an industrial process, and doesn\u2019t belong in our bodies.<\/p>\n

This means eliminating:<\/p>\n

\u2022 Artificial flavours or sweeteners, preservatives or chemicals of any kind
\n\u2022 Transfats and most vegetable oils (which are actually nut or seed oils)
\n\u2022 GMOs
\n\u2022 Soft drinks
\n\u2022 A lot of prepackaged foods, though some tinned or frozen food is fine<\/p>\n

Whatever direction you take your diet in from here \u2013 start with this basis.<\/p>\n

<\/center><\/p>\n

Next question \u2013 how long have humans eaten this food?<\/h3>\n

The next theory of a Paleo diet is that certain foods have only been eaten for a comparatively short period of time. There is archeological evidence that when these foods were introduced, human health deteriorated. Maybe a lot of people have still not adapted to them.<\/p>\n

These foods are:<\/p>\n

\u2022 Dairy products (although the Primal diet allows unpasteurised, grass fed dairy)
\n\u2022 Grains
\n\u2022 Legumes
\n\u2022 Processed sugars<\/p>\n

Other \u201cReal Food\u201d diets allow grains and legumes if they are properly prepared, but it\u2019s not strict Paleo.<\/p>\n

So what can I eat?<\/h3>\n

Pretty much everything else! It’s very similar to the GAPS diet<\/a> that I have posted about before.<\/p>\n

Protein:<\/h3>\n

\u2022 Meat, poultry, pork (fresh or frozen) \u2013 Pasture raised is best. Don\u2019t be frightened of eating meat. As long as you\u2019re digesting it, it\u2019s very nourishing.
\n\u2022 Organ meats (eg. liver or kidneys) are a good source of fat soluble vitamins A & D
\n\u2022 Bone broths or meat stocks
\n\u2022 Fish (fresh, frozen, canned in water)
\n\u2022 Eggs \u2013 preferably free range and organic<\/p>\n

Optional \u2013 if you tolerate it:
\n\u2022 Dairy from pasture raised animals and preferably fermented (yoghurt, Kefir, fermented cream, cheese)<\/p>\n

<\/center><\/p>\n

Fats:<\/h3>\n

\u2022 Butter or ghee (if you tolerate them)
\n\u2022 Fresh coconut, coconut oil or coconut milk \/ cream. Also coconut flour for baking.
\n\u2022 Extra Virgin Olive oil (for salad dressings)
\n\u2022 Tallow, lard, chicken or duck fat (for cooking)
\n\u2022 Avocado (preferably the whole fruit, not just the oil)
\n\u2022 Nuts & seeds, preferably \u201cactivated\u201d (soaked, then dehydrated) or as butters<\/p>\n

See my post on Good fats vs Bad fats<\/a> for more info.<\/p>\n

<\/center><\/p>\n

Carbohydrates:<\/h3>\n

\u2022 Low carb vegetables – asparagus, beetroot, beans (fresh), broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbage, capsicum, cauli, celery, chokos, cucumber, eggplant, garlic, kale, leek, lettuce, mesclun greens, mushrooms, onions, parsley & other herbs, radish, spinach, tomato, watercress, zucchini
\n\u2022 Medium carb vegetables – carrot, celeraic, peas, pumpkin, swede (rutabaga), turnip
\n\u2022 Higher carb vegetables, in moderation – kumera, yams, sweet potato or parsnips
\n\u2022 Fermented veges such as sauerkraut
\n\u2022 Fresh or frozen fruit (in moderate amounts)
\n\u2022 Small amounts of dried fruit (but always imagine what they would be like rehydrated (for portion control, as they are easy to overeat) \u2013 good for baking<\/p>\n

<\/center><\/p>\n

Flavourings and Condiments:<\/h3>\n

\u2022 Unprocessed (grey) sea salt
\n\u2022 Herbs & Spices (pure, with no additives)
\n\u2022 Natural sweeteners in small amounts eg. Honey, maple syrup, dehydrated cane juice (rapadura, muscavado)
\n\u2022 Cacao\/cocoa or carob powder can be used in baking. Some people also use small amounts of arrowroot or tapioca starch to go with nut and seed flours in baking.<\/p>\n

<\/center><\/p>\n

Drinks:<\/h2>\n

\u2022 Water \u2013 preferably free of chemicals, including fluoride \u2013 spring or aquifer water, bottled water (check the source here<\/a>), filtered water (preferably remineralised)
\n\u2022 Nut, seed or cashew milk
\n\u2022 Juice of veges (& a little fruit)
\n\u2022 Fermented drinks \u2013 coconut water kefir, milk kefir, beet kvass, kombucha
\n\u2022 Herb teas
\n\u2022 Tea or coffee (preferably freshly made, not instant)
\n\u2022 Alcohol in small amounts, unless you\u2019re chronically or acutely ill<\/p>\n

<\/center><\/p>\n

That all sounds pretty straightforward \u2013 is that all there is to it?<\/h3>\n

It can be that simple, but you can also put your own spin on it.<\/p>\n

Paleo doesn\u2019t have to involve being low carb, or going ketogenic, or including intermittent fasting. But it can. All of these can be very beneficial, for some people, but for now, just note that going Paleo doesn\u2019t mean you have to include those aspects.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re Type 2 diabetic, you may need those lower carbs. But if you\u2019re an endurance athlete, you may need a higher carb intake. If you\u2019re a post menopausal woman or suffering from adrenal fatigue, you may also need a certain amount of carbs in your diet.<\/p>\n

For more info in LCHF (low carb, high fat) check out this recent post on Steemit by @triddin<\/a> on how he\u2019s using it to manage diabetes.<\/p>\n

Now I know what to do, shall I start today?<\/h3>\n

<\/center>Some people like to jump in the deep end, but I generally recommend that people ease in slowly, making one change at a time.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s one small change you can make today?<\/h4>\n

That will depend on where you\u2019re at now in your eating. If you\u2019re reliant on processed foods, it could be changing from margarine back to butter, or reducing your soft drink intake, or making mac\u2019n\u2019cheese from real cheese instead of a packet.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re already eating mostly Real Foods, you might start thinking about whether you can change to pasture raised meat, or start making sauerkraut.<\/p>\n

Most of the recipes on my\u00a0Recipe website<\/a>\u00a0are suitable for Paleo diets.<\/p>\n

Originally posted on Steemit:\u00a0https:\/\/steemit.com\/paleo\/@kiwideb\/so-what-exactly-is-the-paleo-diet-should-we-care<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When it comes down to the bottom line, Paleo is about eating REAL FOOD. That\u2019s all. You can take it in lots of different directions, but the commonality is eating food, not industrialised “fake food”. I\u2019ve written before about eating Real Foods, but not specifically explaining Paleo. Today I\u2019m not […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[39,37,40],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.frot.co.nz\/design\/dietnet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2015"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.frot.co.nz\/design\/dietnet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.frot.co.nz\/design\/dietnet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.frot.co.nz\/design\/dietnet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.frot.co.nz\/design\/dietnet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2015"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"http:\/\/www.frot.co.nz\/design\/dietnet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2015\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2128,"href":"http:\/\/www.frot.co.nz\/design\/dietnet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2015\/revisions\/2128"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.frot.co.nz\/design\/dietnet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2015"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.frot.co.nz\/design\/dietnet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2015"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.frot.co.nz\/design\/dietnet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2015"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}