Paleo diet is a diet repeating a model of caveman eating behavior lived in the Paleolithic (Stone Age). In those days, cavemen ate mostly meat, fish, root vegetables, nuts, fruits and berries.
Energy value of such diet was sufficient to cavemen could not only hunt daily, but also overcome the vast distances looking for food.
In addition, by eating mainly berries, nuts and meat, cavemen evolved. Therefore, many nutritionists say that paleo diet menu contains all the necessary for normal growth and development of modern man.
The uniqueness of paleo diet menu is that dozens of products that modern man is accustomed to consume daily are excluded. Therefore, choosing paleo diet, you should be ready to specific dietary restrictions that initially may cause discomfort.
- The advantage of paleo diet menu is that it includes only natural products and semi-finished products, fast food, dairy fats, hydrogenated oils, soda, and other products that may affect metabolism and cause dangerous diseases, are completely excluded.
- The disadvantage of paleo diet menu is that it practically does not include products containing synthetic sweeteners, flavor enhancers and preservatives. Therefore, the products included in the paleo diet menu weakly affect the taste receptors, and the food prepared from such products seems tasteless.
You can make up Paleo diet menu plan by yourself or find different variants of paleo diet on the Internet. When choosing paleo diet online, it is necessary to pay attention to several factors.
To the dietary restrictions do not cause serious discomfort; start paleo diet gradually. Paleo diet for beginners should contain more dishes that a person likes.
Junk foods can be gradually excluded from the paleo diet for beginners and then to include new products that can be consumed daily.
When making up a shopping list for paleo diet menu, it is necessary to include in it different colored vegetables and fruits that will make the food look attractive.
You can choose from hundreds of different menu plans for paleo diet only those ideas that you like the most. Choice of recipes for paleo diet menu can be based on taste preferences, ease of cooking and cost.
- Budget option of paleo diet menu should include inexpensive varieties of fish, cheap meat and poultry, inexpensive vegetables, fruits, berries and nuts.
- The most expensive paleo diet menu can consist of lobster, wild salmon, marbled beef, exotic fruits and vegetables, truffles, olive oil, pine nuts.
Shopping list products that can be included in paleo diet menu can be found online in just a few minutes.
- A variety of paleo diet menu recipes is published in cookbooks that potential buyers can order online in any country of the world (such as, United States, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, South Africa, Ireland, United Kingdom).
- Free paleo diet menu practically does not differ from the paleo diet menu published in expensive books. The most popular free paleo diet menus are published in author’s blogs created by dietitians or experts in the field of food and nutrition.
Real feedbacks about paleo diet menu can be found on online forums. Generally, paleo diet is used for weight loss and maintenance of healthy weight. Therefore, positive feedbacks about paleo diet menu are left by only those visitors of forums who managed quickly to reduce their body weight by means of strict dietary restrictions.
Paleo diet menu for weight loss may include hundreds of different products. So, obese people who have decided to lose weight by means of paleo diet should not worry that their food will be monotonous.
It is recommended to start weight loss program with a short-term paleo diet lasting up to two weeks (14 days). After evaluating the results of short-term diet therapy, paleo diet menu plan can be changed.
If your body weight was insignificantly reduced two weeks after the start of paleo diet, when cooking you should use:
- Less oil, fatty meats and sugar
- More vegetables, fruits, low-fat varieties of fish
If the short-term paleo diet provides a gradual weight loss, you should adhere to it as long as the body weight will no longer declining. The maximum effect of paleo diet is achieved a few months after the start of diet therapy.
For the maximum result, paleo diet should be combined with regular physical activity. Paleo diet helps to improve metabolism and physical activity accelerates it. Thus, affecting the metabolism by two different methods, the maximum results will be achieved in minimum time.
Despite the fact that paleo diet is not a low-calorie one, products containing a lot of calories (bread, soda-water, fast food) are excluded from it. Due to the restrictions of using high-calorie food, paleo diet can cause a severe hunger.
To control a feeling of hunger, the recommended daily calorie intake and energy spent on physical activity when planning paleo diet menu should be taken into account.
The optimal daily calorie intake for men and women is different. Therefore, paleo diet menu for men may differ from paleo diet menu for women.
Given that paleo diet does not include the consumption of dairy products, this diet is contraindicated in children. For normal child’s growth and development, dairy products should be consumed every day.
Remember that unbalanced diet does not promote weight reduction; moreover, it creates potential health risks. Therefore, any diet (including paleo diet) should include a sufficient amount of useful nutrients that contribute to the normalization of metabolism and maintenance of healthy weight.