THE PALEOLITHIC DIET - SHOULD WE EAT LIKE

OUR "CAVE MAN" ANCESTORS?

By Tom Venuto

THE PALEOLITHIC DIET - SHOULD WE EAT LIKE OUR "CAVE MAN" ANCESTORS?

BY TOM VENUTO

The "paleolithic," "stone age," "cave man," or "neanderthal" diet plans have been around for a while

and there are quite a few books that have been written on the subject.

In general, with a only few minor constructive criticisms, I think they are right on point, and will benefit

your health and definitely your fat loss efforts.

A "Paleo Diet" or "cave man" diet is actually very similar to the bodybuilding diets I often recommend

and this is most definitely a great way get very lean, very fast.

On physique competition diets (bodybuilding, fitness, figure, etc), you leave the lean proteins, lean

meats, nuts and seeds, the green veggies (fibrous carbs), and some fruit in the diet, while reducing or

removing ALL processed foods and SOME of the grains and starches. (usually the dairy products go

too).

When it comes to maximum fat loss, the removal or reduction of grains and calorie dense starchy

carbs in favor of lean protein and veggies will definitely help speed the fat loss process - even if that's

only because it reduces caloric density of the food intake, although there are other reasons.

Lean protein (fish and meat) + good fats & nuts + lots of green veggies + some fruit = a lean body!

2

And that's basically what the "paleolithic" diets recommend, because the principle there is to

eat like our "stone age" ancestors did - before there was McDonalds, Coca Cola and other junk

food.

The premise is that since our genetic code (the human genome) has changed less than 0.02

percent in 40,000 years, this means that our bodies are still expecting to get the same foods

and nutrition they were getting 40,000 years ago.

By eating what our "stone age" hunter and gatherer ancestors ate, say the paleo diets, we will

rid ourselves of the health problems and the obesity problem that has only recently begun to

plague us as a result of modern lifestyle and processed manmade foods.

Forty thousand years ago, you had to eat nature-made food. There was no food in cans, boxes

or packages was there? The packaging was peel, a skin or a shell!

There were no TV dinners. There was no drive in fast food. There were no convenience stores.

There was no corn syrup. There was no white sugar. There were no hydrogenated oils. No

chemicals. No preservatives. No artificial anything

There was only what could be hunted and gathered: Meat, fish, nuts, seeds, plants, vegetables,

fruits.

3

My only real constructive criticism is that some of these programs not only recommend removal of all

grains and starches (and even dairy), they outright condemn them - sometimes unfairly, I believe.

They say that agriculture arrived on the scene only 10,000 years ago, so foods produced as a result of

agriculture should also be on the "banned" list and that includes 100% whole grain products and even

rice, potatoes and other starches which are not manmade.

The truth is there are some starchy carbohydrates and grains which are very minimally processed or

completely unprocessed (the only processing being cooking).

Also, some people can metabolically handle starches and grains just fine, while others cannot. The

same can be said for dairy products.

This is known as metabolic individuality. Because this individuality exists from person to person, I

don't believe it's necessary to recommend that "EVERYONE" cut out "ALL" the starches and grains

"ALL" the time.

I do believe that many people are getting an overdose of refined carbs and sugar and that moderating

intake of concentrated carbs almost always accelerates fat loss.

However, the nutrition program you choose should depend on your metabolic/body type, your current

body composition and state of health as well as your goals (maximum fat loss vs. muscle growth vs.

maintenance, vs. endurance athletic performance).

4

I don't believe that "agriculture" and everything that came with it is "evil." I believe that highly

processed and refined and packaged foods are the "nutritional evils" we should be aware of.

To remove brown rice, 100% whole grains, sweet potatoes, oatmeal, legumes and so on for healthy

carb tolerant people, especially those who are highly active and or already at a normal body fat level

doesn't make a lot of sense to me.

In particular, for athletes with a high energy expenditure, eating the concentrated complex, starchy

carbs and grains - from natural sources - can be quite important.

Sure, there are some "renegade' nutritionists who prescribe high fat diets for endurance athletes and

claim that will provide high energy and high performance, but that is controversial.

Also, an explanation for athletes successful on such plans may be that they are metabolically suited

for more fat and protein to begin with, so that conclusion shouldn't be generalized to everyone.

thats the trouble with so many programs -- the creators might say, "It worked for me and for some of

my clients, so this is the way EVERYONE should do it.“

Everyone is different, so the true inquiring minds will inquire about what is best for THEM, not the

other guy... In the case of highly active healthy people and athletes, I would ean towards a decent

amount of natural carbs for performance goals (and pull back on starches and grains when goals

change to maximum fat loss).

5

The key word here is NATURAL!

There is a HUGE difference between natural starches and grains and refined starches and grains.

For example, look at old fashioned unsweetened oatmeal versus sugary, white flour cereal grains. How can you throw those together into the same category??? They are no where near the same, but often they get lumped together by those who are adamantly "no-grain" or "no-cereal" allowed.

What about sweet potatoes? why cut something like that out of your diet? They are not processed or man made at all are they?

Aside from that minor quibble I have with some of these programs being too strict with their "Absolutely no grains or starch allowed," there is a lot anyone can learn from the "paleolithic" eating concept.

The questions raised from these programs and books are good ones:

"What were we eating tens of thousands of years ago?" "What are we genetically and environmentally predisposed to eat?“

"what has gone wrong with the modern day diet that has led to so much disease and obesity which didn't exist thousands of years ago?“

I believe that too many people get caught up in low fats or low carbs or whatever the trend of the month is, but the real source of our problem is neither fat nor carbs, it is an excess of processed, refined man-made food! (combined with a serious shortage of exercise)

6

If you study and understand the concept of eating according to your personal goals and your

unique body/metabolic type first, then I believe you will get even more benefit from the further

study of the "paleo" eating concept, as you will be informed and flexible enough to adapt it to

your personal situation.

ANY good nutrition program - for health or for fat loss - is going to be focused on natural foods

and it will teach you how to get the processed food OUT and the natural food IN.

Keep in mind what Fitness Icon Jack Lalanne has always said,

"If man made it, don't eat it!“

THAT is the essence of eating how we're supposed to eat!

Copyright 2006 Tom Venuto

Tom Venuto is a natural bodybuilder and author of the #1 best selling e-book, "Burn the Fat,

Feed The Muscle,” which teaches you how to burn fat without drugs or supplements using the

little-known secrets of the world's best bodybuilders and fitness models. Learn how to get rid of

stubborn fat and turbo-charge your metabolism by visiting: http://www.burnthefat.com To get

Tom's free fitness newsletter, visit http://www.tomvenuto.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Tom_Venuto

7

8

Hope you’ve enjoyed this paleo article.

For more Paleo news and tips, get your

free copy of The Paleo Diet Guide at:

http://bit.ly/paleonewslist

9

More Free Paleo Guides!

Facebook Twitter Instagram http://bit.ly/paleonewsfacebook http://bit.ly/paleonewstwitter http://bit.ly/paleonewsinstagram

Youtube Pinterest Blogs http://bit.ly/paleonewsyoutube http://bit.ly/paleonewspinterest http://bit.ly/paleonewsblogs

Other Paleo Resources you might enjoy…..

Paleo Recipe Guide- 370 delicious taste-

tested paleo recipes

Practical Paleo: A Customized Approach

to Health and a Whole-Foods Lifestyle

1000 Paleo Recipes

10

STILL HAVE QUESTIONS ABOUT THE PALEO DIET?

“YOUR GUIDE TO PALEO” HAS THE ANSWERS!

Click Here!

11