Pondering a paleo lifestyle?
Paleo is a way of eating that truly goes back to basics. Put simply, a paleo-style diet prioritises real, whole, and unprocessed foods that we could theoretically forage, hunt and gather in our historic past (pre-agricultural / Paleolithic era). In its purest form, the goal is to eat as naturally as possible - an abundance of fruits and vegetables, wholefoods like nuts and seeds and lean fish and grass-fed meat - just as our ancestors did. Naturally, the diet is packed full of more healthful than harmful foods that our bodies have evolved to thrive on, a stark contrast to the contemporary Western diet, high in processed and refined foods. Processed foods are said to be a mismatch for our body’s functioning, of which regular and heavy consumption can lead to various health issues such as diabetes, obesity, and heart problems, among others.
By the very nature of a paleo diet, you will eat more raw foods. Eating food in its natural state aims to maximise your body’s absorption of its enzymes, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. Better absorption of all-important nutrients can aid your body’s digestive system and improve gut health. Read more about the benefits of eating food in its raw form here . In a nutshell, the diet is premised on eating food that is more in tune with what our bodies need to refuel and nourish itself. The natural way of eating contains more of the good stuff: nutrients-dense, fibre-rich and high-protein food; and less of the not so good stuff: sugar and salt, processed and refined foods.
While there is a list of paleo-friendly foods, what people ate during the Paleolithic era had a lot to do with where and how they lived, so there’s no single detailed meal plan you'll follow. Rather, there are core paleo principles, centred on eating wholefoods that might have been available in this era, long before modern farming and agriculture developed around 10 decades ago.
Core Paleo Principles
Prioritise whole, unprocessed, nutrient-dense, nourishing foods. High-quality proteins and fats are part of the mix, but so is a diet packed full of vegetables and even some (gasp!) carbohydrates. In essence, eat nutrient-dense vegetables and fruits, including leafy greens and blueberries; nuts, seeds and spices, fermented foods, wild-caught seafood such as salmon and lean grass-fed and pastured meat, eggs, and healthy fats. The diet is not low fat but instead promotes the inclusion of natural fats from pasture-fed livestock, fish and seafood as well as nuts, seeds and their oils. Healthy fats are encouraged such as the unsaturated varieties and oils like olive, flax, walnut and avocado.
Paleo is relatively low in carbs but rich in lean protein and plant foods. These plant foods contribute essential fibre, vitamins, minerals, and phyto-chemicals. Unlike other low-carb diets, paleo eating doesn’t promote salty, processed meats and it encourages the inclusion of certain fruit and vegetables. Taken together, the paleo way of eating (but not always) adds up to a diet that's protein- and fibre-rich, contains an average amount of fat, and is low in carbs.
Avoid foods that are harmful than healthful. Modern farming introduced inflammatory and gut-wrecking foods such as dairy, legumes and grains into our diets. When regularly and heavily consumed, with foods like soy, sugar, and processed seed and vegetable oils, these can trigger inflammation, cause digestive problems, or unsettle our natural metabolic processes. A paleo-style diet omits dairy, grains, starchy root vegetables as well as sugar, in favour of wild, non-starchy fruit and vegetables, honey and lean protein. These former foods provide less protein, iron and fibre than the unprocessed equivalents. On top of this, they are often full of sodium and preservatives, some of which may increase the risk of health problems such as cancer and cardiovascular disease.
Science aside, paleo eating has its merits. By getting back to eating natural (whole)foods, you can stay healthier and happier. Quite simply, you’ll begin to feel great. You’ll experience more energy, and feel more satisfied faster, because the foods you do eat are packed with good sources of fibre, protein, nutrients, minerals and antioxidants your body needs. A diet rich in lean protein and plant-based foods can make you feel fuller, for longer, reducing cravings and curbs the hunger.
Eating paleo needn’t be super strict. There’s a plethora of different modern paleo approaches, all with similar principles, but with varying rules and restrictions. Some relaxed fans allow the consumption of dairy products, while others are particularly selective with fruit and vegetable varieties, so as to limit fructose content. If you like the idea of paleo but can’t commit to a strict plan, why not consider partly paleo? For, a diet that is so rich in nutrient-dense wholefoods, certainly there are benefits from incorporating aspects of the paleo diet in your everyday life.
Our say: the Natural Abundance way.
At Natural Abundance, we have a passion for promoting healthy lifestyle choices, and are obsessed with crafting healthy and delicious paleo-based (gluten free, dairy free, no processed sugars, etc.) and raw snacks, which focuses on embracing more of the good stuff (vegetables, nuts, seeds) and eliminates the inflammatory and gut-wrecking stuff (processing, refined oils, sugars, salts etc.) While our healthy eating philosophy is paleo-centric, we appreciate that no one diet works for everyone. The raw truth is, a lot of people can benefit from a gluten-free, dairy-free, refined-sugar free diet, but at the heart of it, we support eating whole (real) foods.
The main thing though - if you’re pondering a paleo lifestyle - is making it work for you. For those of you wondering how to make a go of it, start with simple steps. The paleo diet simply gives us a starting point from which to decide how to nourish ourselves in the modern world. Begin by increasing real foods in your diet or adding delicious Natural Abundance staples to your pantry. We make our paleo crackers (100% Raw crackers and 95% Raw crackers) interesting, with unique flavour combinations, we know you’ll love! The moreish flavours will engage your palate and spur some inspiration to make this way of eating enjoyable.
Our way offers a flexible approach to help you get back to basics, incorporating the paleo way of eating, with our delightful selection of natural and healthy crackers, that you can dress up with mouth-watering toppings, or devour on their own.
If you’re after scientific evidence -
Dr. Loren Cordain (originator of The Paleo Diet) and colleagues from the disciplines of nutrition, medicine, and anthropology, claim to have uncovered the science that underscores the foundation of the paleo diet. They suggest (and we agree) that there are stark differences when comparing paleo eating to the modern Western diet. The contemporary Western diet, we know, is high in processed and refined foods, which isn’t a good match for human body functioning, and can lead to health problems including heart issues, diabetes, and obesity, among others. Based on this idea, there’s evidence that the simpler and cleaner diet of our prehistoric ancestors could be better for your health. Paleo eating is said to promote an array of health benefits (and cause fewer health problems) and is often used to address a wide range of autoimmune conditions, blood sugar imbalances, obesity and more.
On the surface, paleo eating can improve your health by eliminating high-fat and processed foods that have little nutritional value and high amounts of calories. The nature of the diet embraces fruits and vegetables that are packed with healthy vitamins, minerals, and fibre, which fills you up faster, so you eat less. Prioritising wholefoods packed with nutrients your body needs (over pre-packaged and processed foods) will make you more satisfied and helps satiate hunger signals, curb cravings and weight gain. A diet rich in lean protein and plant-based foods can make you feel fuller, help control blood sugar levels, reduce sodium and help you lose weight.
Getting under the skin, a paleo diet can help to balance energy as you will eat foods with a lower glycemic load. Glycemic load is a measure of how much a meal will impact blood sugar and insulin levels. Eating paleo meals often has a low glycemic load, so will reduce energy dips. Also, paleo-style diet is anti-inflammatory in nature (eliminates inflammatory foods such as vegetable oils, refined sugar, and processed food) so it eases the pressure on our body’s digestive system to properly digest foods and absorb the nutrients needed to nourish itself. While weight loss can be a result of eliminating such a wide range of foods like grains, dairy, processed foods and sugar, many followers of paleo do so not to lose weight, but rather, to address a digestive or inflammatory health issue.
A growing body of evidence strongly suggests the paleo diet has wide-ranging therapeutic effects on metabolic diseases, mental health, autoimmune disorders, and much more [19-47]. Because paleo foods are anti-inflammatory in nature, there are very few chronic illnesses or diseases that do not respond favourably to it.
The paleo diet can improve key ratios extremely important to your health: Nutrients, fatty acids and acid-base balance. Paleo eating can bring those ratios back into the balance for optimum health. For example:
The sodium-potassium ratio, which in a Western diet typically sits at 10:1, should actually be around 1:2 for optimum health.
The ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acids. A paleo diet, based on fish, fresh lean meats, and healthy fruits and vegetables, is said to naturally provide an optimal ratio.
The high sodium-to-potassium ratio typically found in Western diet is a contributor to an acidic imbalance. An acidic diet can lead to inflammation and contributes to osteoporosis. Increasing potassium consumption (with vegetables) can help osteoporosis.
But even if the claims of paleo eating can be validated, you can't separate it from the overall lifestyle of that the Paleolithic age. The intense physical demands of living outdoors, foraging for wild berries, and hunting and gathering, surely aided in the overall health of these people being far more physically active. Rather than being viewed as the ultimate solution to good health, paleo eating should be considered as one of many dietary options, while supplemented with a healthy, active lifestyle.
References:
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