PALEO FOR DUMMIES GUIDE ★★★★☆ 5387 REVIEWS:

 The guide for beginners of the paleo diet

The Paleo diet is based on eating as our ancestors did. If a caveman could not eat it, neither can you. This refers to anything we can hunt or collect (meat, fish, nuts, vegetables and seeds). I'm sorry but you will have to stop eating things like pasta, cereal and sweets. Instead you will eat things like chicken with vegetables and avocado.

I don't like keeping track of how much I have eaten or become obsessed with how many grams of a nutrient I have consumed. Not only do I hate counting calories, but I also know that calories are only half the problem (400 calories from doritos do NOT affect your body in the same way as 400 calories from high-quality vegetables and protein.)

Fortunately, if you can expand your horizons and remove certain types of food from your diet, you can stop worrying about counting calories FOREVER. I would love to suggest a particular type of diet in which you do not have to count calories and you can also eat until you are no longer hungry. Oh, and it can help you lose weight, gain muscle and be in the best shape of your life.

I know it sounds like an ad for a supplement or a diet book that you would watch on television at 4 in the morning. It is not, it really works and has helped many people get amazing transformations (including my clients and myself). I am talking about the paleo diet.

How does the paleo diet work?

Oh my god, another "diet." I know it sounds like a marketing tactic, but it's really legitimate. You see, thousands of years ago, before Bimbo, Nestle and other "healthy food" options, our ancestors thrived as hunter-gatherers. And although it has been a long time since then, our genetics have not changed much since then.

The average homo sapiens back then: Tall, muscular, agile, athletic and very versatile.
The average homo sapiens now: Overweight, out of shape, stressed, unhappy, fatigued and dying from several predictable diseases.

So what the hell happened? The Agriculture. Thousands of years ago humans discovered agriculture, the agricultural revolution began and we went from being hunter-gatherers to farmers. We settled in one place, formed societies and progressed to what we are now.

The problem is that our bodies never fully adjusted to eat all the grains we are growing. As Robb Wolf (One of the pioneers in this diet style) would say: think of a 100-yard football field. The first 99 and a half yards is the time that humans were hunter-gatherers. As we became very good at hunting and gathering, our bodies adapted to that lifestyle for thousands of years. The last half yard represents our species after the agricultural revolution, where our diets have changed but our genetics have not.

So, instead of eating meat, vegetables and seasonal fruits, we have become a species that "depends" on grains (bread, pasta, rice, corn, etc.). The government continues to recommend 6 to 11 servings of grains a day and people are becoming fatter.

66% of us are overweight, 33% are obese, and those numbers are only getting worse.

There is clearly something that is not right. The Paleo diet is made for us to eat again as we are biologically designed, allowing us to reach our genetic potential and start living healthier immediately.

What is the paleo diet?

At that time, grains were not part of our diet.

As Mark of Mark’s Daily Apple points out in his “definitive grain guide” article, the beans cause a strange reaction in our system. They are composed of carbohydrates, which are converted into glucose (a type of sugar) in our system to be used as energy (any glucose that is not used as energy is stored as fat).

In addition, most grains contain gluten and lectins. What are they and why are they bad?

Gluten is a protein found in cereals such as rye, wheat and barley. It is being said that many of the population may be gluten intolerant. Over time, people who are gluten intolerant can develop medical conditions if they consume it, such as dermatitis, joint pain, reproductive problems, acid reflux and more.

Lectins are natural toxins that exist in grains to defend against consumption. These lectins can prevent our gastrointestinal tract from being repaired from daily use. This can cause all kinds of damage.
As Mark puts it in his article: grains are unhealthy at best, or dangerous at worst.

The Paleo diet almost completely eliminates sugar. Unless it is from a fruit, you cannot consume it. Sugar causes ups and downs of energy in your system, it becomes fat if you don't use it immediately and completely alter our bodies.

So no grains, no sugar and no processed foods. Many studies show that an incredible number of diseases and health problems can be reversed with these three changes.

But then where do I get energy?

If we are not consuming more than 300 grams of carbohydrates a day, where should we get our energy?

Our bodies are designed to function with a lower number of calories than we are used to eating, so eating less of these is not a big problem. When carbohydrates are absent, our body will take the accumulated fat and burn it in a process called ketogenesis.

What I am trying to tell you is that our bodies are very efficient.

So less carbohydrates equals less glucose in our system, which means that our body will have to burn fat as a fuel source.

So all carbohydrates are bad?
No. Carbohydrates have a purpose in our diets, but they are not essential. I prefer to get my carbohydrates from vegetables, sweet potatoes and fruits. Why? These types of foods grow in nature and do not have to be processed in any way to consume them.

The other advantage of vegetables is that you can eat as many as you want and you will never get fat. They have many nutrients and very few calories (6 servings of broccoli have 180 calories and only 36 grams of carbohydrates. A single serving of pasta has 200 calories and 42 grams of carbohydrates).

What about dairy?

Dairy products are difficult, since most Paleo people tend to move away from them (a portion of the planet is lactose intolerant and those who are not usually have some kind of aversion to them). Why? Because no other animal drinks milk past childhood. The hunter-gatherers did not carry cows with them while they were traveling (the milk was consumed as a baby and now). As with grains, our bodies are not designed to consume a large amount of dairy.

So no grains, no dairy, what can I eat on this diet?
If we get rid of grains, processed foods and dairy, we have only the things that occur in nature:

Meat - Fed with PASTO, not grains. Grains cause the same problem in animals as in humans.
Birds - Chicken, duck, chicken, turkey ... things with wings that fly.
Fish - Wild fish, since mercury and other toxins can be a problem in farm fish.
Eggs - Preferably those that are enriched with Omega-3
Vegetables - Once they are fried, eat as many as you want.
Oils - Olive oil, coconut oil, avocado oil - think natural.
Fruits - They have natural sugar and may have more calories, so limit them if you try to lose weight.
Nuts - They have many calories. They are good as a snack, but don't eat whole bags of them.
Tubers - Sweet potatoes and sweet potatoes. They have a lot of calories and carbohydrates, so they are good for after training to replenish your glycogen levels.
Choose any of the things on this list and eat whatever you want from them (except those listed). You will feel better and you will be healthier.

Why won't I get fat?

Because these meals are so nutritious and filling that it is almost impossible to eat too much.

To get the same number of calories from a bag of doritos or bread you would have to eat 2 trucks full of broccoli and spinach. It is obviously an exaggeration, but you understand my point. A giant plate of vegetables and a reasonable portion of meat can keep you full for hours while eating high-carb foods can make you more hungry in no time.

When I have to lose weight for the holidays, I eat a 100% paleo diet and I can lower my body fat percentage in a few weeks.