Nutrition : Paleo Diet

Have you ever heard of the Paleo diet?

It’s a diet based on foods with little or no processing and can include any type of natural food, such as meats, fish, fruits, vegetables, leafy greens, nuts, roots and tubers, because these foods were eaten in the caveman times.
 
This diet is based on the concept that all natural foods available that don’t require processing may be consumed without any restrictions, and that processed foods like cookies, pizza, bread or cheese are prohibited, says nutritionist Tatiana Zanin.
 
Foods allowed on the Paleo diet:
 
Some foods allowed on the Paleo diet are:
• Meat, fish;
• Roots and tubers such as potatoes, sweet potatoes, yams, cassava;
• Apples, pears, bananas, oranges, pineapples and other fruit;
• Tomatoes, carrots, peppers, zucchini, squash, eggplant and other vegetables;
• Chard, arugula, lettuce, spinach and other leafy vegetables;
• Nuts such as almonds, peanuts, walnuts or hazelnuts.

However all these foods should mostly be consumed raw, you’re allowed to cook meat, fish and some vegetables with a little bit of water for a short period of time.
 
Paleo diet menu
 
This menu is just an example to help us better understand how you can do this diet.
 
Breakfast – 1 cup of fruit salad: kiwi, banana and purple grapes with sunflower seeds and nuts.
 
Lunch – red cabbage salad: tomato and carrots seasoned with lemon juice and a grilled steak, and a orange for dessert.
 
Snack – almonds and an apple.
 
Dinner – Fish fillet with baked potato, arugula salad, tomatoes and seasoned peppers with lemon juice and a pear for dessert.
   
The Paleo diet is not recommended for athletes that are trying to gain muscle mass since this diet will not provide sufficient energy, therefore reducing performance during training that can lead to muscle damage. Even though these foods are rich in protein they lack the energy you would usually get from carbohydrates.
 
According to this concept, the Paleo diet helps prevent chronic diseases like high cholesterol and also helps you lose weight, because it is high in protein and fiber, which reduces and helps control appetite.
 
  In my opinion this diet is a good choice so that you can begin eliminating processed foods.
 

 Ideally, we are not supposed to eat processed foods, but this can be difficult because there are days when we feel like eating chips, so try eliminating as many processed foods as you can and slowly replace it with natural foods. It’s best to start slowly so that it will become easier and more natural to you. When you begin replacing processed foods for natural foods your palette will become more refined and when you have fruit it’ll be as sweet as honey.