What is the Paleolithic diet?

Often referred to as the Paleo or Stone Age diet, this way of eating has become increasingly popular in recent years.

I wouldn’t go so far as to call it a fad diet, but it certainly is a ‘fashionable diet’ and as with most things fashionable there is often a significant price tag attached.

If you have even been tempted to enter a ‘Paleo’ café you will know what I mean, you often pay top dollar to sit on concrete blocks or milk crates and eat grass…well I may be exaggerating just a little but the point is this diet can unfortunately be unnecessarily expensive.

The driving ideology behind the Paleolithic diet is the belief that this is the diet that man evolved on, the diet that is coded for in our genes, what we are biologically designed to eat naturally.

Our ancestors hunted, gathered and lived off the land only eating what they could find until the Neolithic period when agriculture and the art of processing grains revolutionized man’s diet.

Fundamental to this diet is the belief that our bodies cannot cope with recent (12 000 years’ worth) of agricultural evolution, specifically with processed grains, sugars and artificial flavorings.

Nutritionally speaking the Paleolithic diet is a sound, balanced and healthy option.

Protein can constitute up to 35% of daily energy requirements, which can concern some, however high protein, high ‘good’ fats and low carbohydrate eating plans are becoming increasingly popular and recognized as a healthier option.

Food is encouraged to be all organic, free range, wild caught and in the case of beef grass fed as opposed to grain fed and this is where the expense generally comes in.

The good news is this can be a relatively flexible eating plan that can cater for most tastes, consisting primarily of seasonal fruits, vegetables (excluding potato), eggs and poultry (chicken, duck, turkey, quail), meat including beef, lamb, pork, venison and any wild caught or collected seafood.

The exclusions are no dairy, sugars (apart from naturally occurring in fruit), grains, legumes or processed oils.

However you don’t have to follow the rules to the extreme to benefit from this healthy eating plan, a little ‘cheating’ is acceptable (just don’t tell the fanatics)!

Even gradually minimising the amount of grain based foods is a productive start.

Milk products for example are avoided with the theory that no other animal in the entire kingdom drinks milk beyond infancy, but if you can’t do without a little ‘juice of cow’ in your tea this is ok.

Deciding what is ‘paleo ok’ and what is forbidden can be a little tricky.

Peanuts for example are a great source of natural nutrients but legumes are excluded from the diet, ask the question why though and you enter an anthropological verse ideological minefield!

Do you follow a Paleo diet? Do you feel better eating this way?

Image courtesy of Shutterstock.com

35 Comments

- - Melissa89 said
  - 27 Jul 2016
    1:06 pm
It sounds good in theory but I don’t feel I could stick to it long

- - mom112217 said
  - 12 Jun 2016
    2:49 pm
I have heard about the Paleo diet but have not yet tried it!

- - Mummytoabeautifulprincess said
  - 03 Jan 2016
    11:12 pm
I find it way too restrictive personally. A few of my friends are enjoying it though.

- - mom90758 said
  - 02 Jan 2016
    6:48 pm
I wouldn’t be able to follow a strict Paleo diet. I couldn’t live without legumes and some grains like quinoa for example.

- - mom81879 said
  - 17 Nov 2015
    1:42 pm
The Paleo way is what celebrity chef Pete Evans is going on about. I personally found the diet to restrictive in its wholeness. I do adhere to most of it though, just not all of it

- - mom109229 said
  - 30 Sep 2015
    10:06 pm
This was an interesting mini article. Thanks for posting!

- - Carmjoiner said
  - 22 Mar 2015
    4:06 pm
Sounds just too hard a diet should be simple eat less exercise more.

- - zoedono said
  - 22 Jan 2015
    1:26 pm
I am intrigued by this Paleo diet, but feel that it would be difficult for a time poor working mum of 3 kids under 4yo!
I understand the theory of it, and it makes sense!
I do wonder what the kids will eat though, especially on the days when I cannot throw Rafferty’s Garden Snack bars at them like seagulls!

- - stepmom107932 said
  - 17 Nov 2014
    7:27 pm
Cutting out whole food groups is BAD! always has been and always will be also our bodies are always evolving to fit our lifestyles.

- - mel1 said
  - 10 Nov 2014
    5:30 pm
I think cutting down on processed foods is key. I don’t like cutting out whole food groups though.

- - linaianna said
  - 03 Nov 2014
    12:46 pm
Great reading thanks for sharing.

- - mom93821 said
  - 31 Oct 2014
    6:23 pm
Thanks for sharing this information on paleo diet which is new to me. Interesting read.

- - shortaez said
  - 26 Oct 2014
    5:46 pm
I’ve heard great things about the paleo way to eat

- - jabelle said
  - 23 Oct 2014
    2:21 pm
I’m about to embark on GAPS and hopefully be able to eat paleo after a couple of years. No more crap for me!

- - mom73211 said
  - 19 Oct 2014
    12:19 pm
Interesting article, I don’t diet as such but eat a lot of fresh fruit and veges, drink a lot of water, moderation is the key to any lifestyle choice.

- - Lov'n'Life said
  - 17 Oct 2014
    1:52 pm
no although we do try and eat natural not processes and when you do you do feel worse for it

- - jaimilayt said
  - 14 Oct 2014
    2:03 pm
Great article! I’ve always been interested in trying a Paleo diet but always found it tricky
- mom56870 replied
  
  06 Nov 2014 , 10:01 pm
  It is awesome. I have recipes here http://gustopaleo.com
- - Gurtling said
  - 13 Oct 2014
    2:55 pm
As a vegetarian I eat foods that are unprocessed and mostly natural and organic, i think doing what’s right for yourself is important.

- - june11 said
  - 13 Oct 2014
    1:26 pm
They are forgetting that our early ancestors (like indigenous people of many countries) probably ate the seeds(grains) off some native weeds etc. The Paleo Diet is not for everybody. I personally stuck to it for 6 weeks and never had any energy most of the time. I also suffered from really bad headaches. Although I felt so tired I found it hard to sleep.

- - robyn_smithwick said
  - 07 Oct 2014
    3:24 pm
I cant make up my mind on this topic. I am one of those people that sticks to a healthy diet and that consists of a little bit of everything in moderation. That is every now and again have something that you fancy even though it might not be on the top of the good nutrition list! Ilike to have a chocolate eclair from the local bakery once every 8 weeks with a nice long glass of full cream milk for lunch!lol!!!
- mom94125 replied
  
  19 Oct 2015 , 2:15 pm
  yeah love the milk ideas for sure.