What is Paleo diet and benefits for weight loss?

The paleo diet has become the most fashionable in recent times as it tries to recover the most natural diet possible by looking back in time and looking at our ancestors. The name “paleo” refers to “Paleolithic” because the basis of this diet is to recover the food that our body needs according to its physical characteristics. The food industry has prospered in the last few decades, but can what we eat be called food?

This diet wants to recover the way of eating that our ancestors had in order, thus, to bet on a much healthier method that provides our body with everything it needs to function. In this FastlyHealarticle, we will discover everything about the paleo diet to lose weight that will help you understand this new concept of eating.

What is the Paleo diet?

The way to eat in the paleo diet is straightforward: you should eat everything natural; man has not had to intervene in its production. Therefore, you can eat fruits, vegetables, meat, and fish, but pasta or sweets are not because they are products that have been processed by humans and, therefore, have been altered.

We must bear in mind that today most of the food we eat has been processed; it has gone through an industry before reaching our table. The paleo diet advocates a way of eating similar to what our ancestors of the Paleolithic era had: eating as naturally as possible to give our body the energy it needs to function.

The paleo diet is based on how our body has to get energy from food:

• The fastest way is to use the sugar in food to convert those calories into energy.
• The slowest way is to use the fat accumulated in the body that is usually burned when we perform activities such as walking, running, etc.

What is happening here? Well, our body is designed to store a minimal amount of sugar, and the rest that we take will turn into saturated fat and, therefore, it will be much more challenging to lose it. Mainly, the sugar in food comes from the group of carbohydrates, so one of the basic premises of this method is to reduce its consumption as much as possible and limit it only to healthy alternatives such as fruits and vegetables (which contain carbohydrates but In small quantities).

If we look at the diet that Paleolithic men followed, we will observe that their diet was based on the intake of plants and animals, and with only these two groups, they already had all the nutrients they needed to be strong, healthy, and at their ideal weight. So, in a very simplified way, we can say that the paleo diet is based on eating plants (which include fruits, vegetables, nuts, vegetable oils, etc.) and animals (meat, fish, and eggs).

What to eat on the Paleo diet

Now that you know the basics of the paleo diet, you must discover all those foods that you can introduce to your menu because, although it may not seem like it, many varieties can be part of your diet and, thus, seem like the way to eat that our ancestors had. Next, in FastlyHealwe will detail the paleo diet foods so that you are clear about what you CAN eat.

• Vegetables and greens

The nutritional base of this diet is vegetables and vegetables, foods found on the earth that man does not have to intervene in their production and are full of vitamins and essential nutrients for our organism without hardly containing fat.

During your diet, you can take as many fresh and cooked vegetables as you want (spinach, peppers, tomatoes, chard, mushrooms, etc.). You can take all the amount you wish to because they will only bring you benefits for your health without making you gain an extra gram.

• meats

Another of the most recurrent food sources that Paleolithic men had was hunting. Animals were part of their diet just like vegetables did, and, therefore, meat products cannot be missing from your diet either. To be faithful to one of the premises of this diet (eat naturally), make sure that the meat you buy is organic and of quality; in this way, you will avoid taking toxic or chemical products that can damage your body.

For this reason, it is not recommended that processed meats form part of your diet as they are pieces that have been treated by humans and, therefore, they will have lost most of their nutritional component; Furthermore, at FastlyHealwe already told you that according to a WHO report, processed meat increases the risk of having cancer.

Of all the meat options that there are, you should know that you can include both red and white meat (something radically different from most diets that bet on lean meats); Of course, to lose weight with the paleo diet, it is advisable to take options that are low in fat and cooked healthily.

• Eggs

Within the group of proteins from the animal are eggs, a type of food full of nutrients that also becomes a rich source of healthy fats (concentrated, mainly, in the part of the yolk). Therefore, you can take the Egg you want, as long as it is prepared lightly (no fried eggs, for example). If your goal is to lose weight, opt for healthier alternatives such as hard-boiled eggs, soft-boiled eggs, or grilled eggs. Delicious and healthy.

• Fish

Fish, foods rich in proteins, fatty acids, and vitamins that are very favorable for your body, should not be missing in your diet either. For this reason, you can include both white, blue, and seafood fish in your menu, which also makes a difference with most weight loss plans since they usually advise only taking white fish (due to its low-fat content).

• Fruits

We have already said in the previous section that carbohydrates are the foods that contribute sugar to our body. Therefore, it is important to limit them not accumulate fat. Still, they are a great source of energy and essential, too, for the proper functioning of our body.

The fruits contain a small number of carbohydrates that provide sugar that our body will convert later into energy; but, in addition, they are rich in vitamins and nutrients and barely contain fat, so they are the best source of carbohydrates that you can contribute to your diet.

• Healthy fats

Fat on a diet? Yes, on the paleo diet, fats are welcome. But not just any type, no: only those that are healthy, that is, those that come from fresh foods such as, for example, olive oil, nuts, seeds or some fruits such as avocado that is rich in fatty acids Omega 3. This type of food regulates our cholesterol levels in addition to helping us prevent heart disease.

Prohibited foods on the Paleo diet

Now that you begin to understand the paleo diet more profoundly, you must know all those foods that should NOT be part of your diet. Think that, currently, there are many manufactured food products. Therefore, they provide toxins and chemicals to our body, something harmful to our health and our body’s proper functioning. Thus, this eating method eliminates them from our menu and opts for fresh and natural products.

We are talking about products that you already suspect are harmful, such as very greasy foods, sweets, buns, soft drinks, etc. But we also refer to other products that are considered healthy and energetic but that, according to this diet, are toxic to the body: pasta, bread, cereals, flour, etc. These foods are excessively rich in carbohydrates, making our body unable to process them, and, therefore, they end up accumulating as fat.

That being said, the foods wholly forbidden on the paleo diet are:

• Sugary products: be it soft drinks, pastries, juices, etc.
• Products with flour: bread, pasta, pizza, etc., even if they are whole because their contribution in carbohydrates is not reduced.

Other foods can be included in your diet but can only be taken promptly:

• Café
• Skimmed dairy
• Came
• Dark chocolate
• Rice
• Vegetables

Paleo diet menu

With that said, below, we will give you some examples so you can design your menu on the paleo diet. We will provide you with different alternatives to understand how to put the diet theory into practice, but you can change the foods for the ones you like the most, always following the guidelines that we have set for you.

Paleo breakfast

• Option 1: Natural orange juice + Egg sautéed with vegetables + 1 cucumber
• Option 2: Omelette with ham and mushrooms + Fruit juice
• Option 3: Ham rolls 0% + Natural orange juice + 1 avocado

Paleo food

• Option 1: Chicken salad with olive oil and almonds
• Option 2: Chicken broth with vegetables + Baked meat with potatoes
• Option 3: Sautéed Spinach with Garlic + Lemon Chicken

Paleo dinner

• Option 1: Green salad + Baked tuna loin
• Option 2: Vegetable cream + Tuna omelette
• Option 3: Vegetable broth + Aubergine stuffed with tuna

This article is merely informative, at FastlyHeal .com we do not have the power to prescribe medical treatments or make any type of diagnosis. We invite you to see a doctor in the case of presenting any type of condition or discomfort.

If you want to read more articles similar to the Paleo diet to lose weight , we recommend that you enter our Food category .