What Is Paleo Diet? 7 Meal Paleo Diet Plan, Benefits And Foods To Eat And Avoid!

Have you ever wondered if the secret to a healthier and leaner you lie hidden in the dietary habits of our ancient ancestors? Indeed, today, this ancient way of eating has resurged as a modern nutritional revolution – the Paleo diet. 

Fitness has become the priority for people, not only for looks but also for good health and a healthy life. Despite multiple dietary plans emerging every year, the paleo diet has remained a chief preference among fitness enthusiasts and dieticians. 

The paleo diet is based on the idea of imitating the food habits of our hunter-gatherer ancestors from thousands of years ago. Although it is difficult to determine precisely what our ancestors consumed in different parts of the world, researchers believe they relied primarily on whole foods. 

So what is a paleo diet, and what are its benefits? How do you include a paleo meal plan to maintain fitness and lead a healthy and sustainable lifestyle? Let us dive into the topic and find the answers! 

Table Of Contents

1. What Is A Paleo Diet?

2. 7 Meal Paleo Diet Plan

3. What Are Paleo Diet Benefits?

4. Foods To Eat While On A Paleo Diet

5. Foods To Avoid While Following The Paleo Diet

6. The Final Say

7. FAQs

8. References

What Is A Paleo Diet?

A paleo diet, also referred to as the Paleolithic diet, is a dietary approach that involves consuming foods that early humans ate. It's rooted in the notion that the human genetic makeup has not entirely adapted to the dietary shifts brought about by modern agriculture.

In paleo meal plans, certain foods are excluded from the diet that have become more readily available due to farming, such as grains, legumes, and even dairy products. Instead, eating whole, unprocessed foods like vegetables, nuts, seeds, and lean meats is emphasised. 

Paleo diet foods can help you eliminate your existing health problems and obesity and may be advantageous for your overall health. But for best results, a paleo diet should be coupled with physical activity to see long-lasting transformation. 

7 Meal Paleo Diet Plan

To begin with your paleo plan, you must keep in mind the proportion of food you must take to start your paleo journey. Depending on that, here is a sample paleo diet chart for weight loss or paleo diet recipes that will help you incorporate a simple yet healthy diet plan:

What Are Paleo Diet Benefits? 

Including a paleo diet plan in your fitness routine can also bring an array of benefits. A 2023 study published in the journal Clinical Nutrition found that people with obesity who followed a paleo diet for 12 weeks had significant reductions in their weight, body fat percentage, and waist circumference.

Now, let’s discuss some paleo diet benefits: 

1. Helps With Muscle Gain And Fat Loss  

The paleo diet includes many meat products, and with that comes healthy protein. Protein is necessary for making new cells, like muscle mass. On top of that, the more muscle you have, the better your metabolism will work – heck yeah! 

Muscles require energy to function, and to support larger muscle groups, your body must store more energy within them. A robust metabolism, in turn, aids in weight loss by burning more calories even when you're at rest. So, the paleo diet's protein-rich content can not only help you gain muscle but also assist in shedding excess body fat.

Also Read: How Long Does It Take To Build Muscle? Read To Know!

2. Promotes Better Gut Health  

Sugar, unhealthy fats and other processed foods all cause inflammation within the intestinal tract. When there’s too much processed food, and you add a lot of stress, you can get what’s known as “leaky gut syndrome”. The paleo diet excludes all sugar, bad fats and processed foods to help people return their gut health to normal. 

3. Providing More Vitamins And Minerals  

The paleo diet often promotes eating the rainbow. Vegetables are a huge part of the diet, and eating a variety of veggies is recommended based on what season you are in. Each colour of vegetable provides different nutrients, such as vitamins A, C, K, and E, along with magnesium, zinc, and folic acid, to name a few. 

4. Promotes Better Digestion And Absorption  

In the paleo diet, it is suggested to eat foods that people have adapted to digest over the past thousands of years. Grass-fed beef is something you can readily digest and absorb because our ancestors have survived off of it for a long time. Those who have digestion problems or feel super bloated by the end of the day could see a big difference after trying a strict paleo diet for one month.

5. Reduces Inflammation  

Inflammation may be the leading cause of cardiovascular disease. The paleo diet suggests numerous anti-inflammatory foods, reducing your risk for cardiovascular disease. One of the chief compounds the paleo diet emphasises is omega-3 fatty acids, which makes the diet anti-inflammatory. Omega-3 fatty acids can also help lower the risk of cancer and arthritis.   

6. Increases Your Energy  

Do you need that energy drink or excess cup of coffee because what you eat does not supply you with sufficient energy? The paleo diet focuses on foods with a low glycemic index (sugars absorbed slowly). This can help avoid the low point that typically occurs after eating refined starches or quickly absorbed sugars. 

7. Helps You Lose Weight  

While this is not the primary objective of the paleo diet, it can quickly happen. The paleo diet is a low-carb diet; removing processed foods alone can drastically reduce one’s carb intake. The paleo diet believes extra carbs will make a person gain unwanted fat, and by limiting carbs to the times a person works out, they can lose weight.   

8. Enhances Overall Health  

The paleo diet’s primary focus is to avoid foods that can harm your health and makes it easy to prevent crappy foods by giving you a simple guide only to eat what cavemen would have been capable of eating. This is not exactly a perfect system, but it'll ensure you are eating whole foods and enhance your overall health.   

9. Decreases Allergies  

The paleo diet instructs on minimising allergenic foods like grains and dairy. Many people cannot digest these foods, so the paleo diet recommends removing them for at least one month. However, it's important to note that the paleo diet sometimes allows fitness personnel like athletes to reintroduce certain foods like oats. 

10. Promotes Brain Health  

The paleo diet suggests that the best sources of protein and fat come from cold-water fish, specifically wild-caught salmon. Salmon is packed with omega-3 fatty acids – missing in numerous diets. Omega-3 fatty acids contain DHA, which is good for the eyes, heart and brain development. It is known to improve memory concentration and cognitive function. 

Foods To Eat While On A Paleo Diet

Note the paleo diet food list provided below to know which food groups are to be included in a paleo diet meal plan: 

Also Read: Olive Oil For Cooking- 5 Health Benefits 

Foods To Avoid While Following The Paleo Diet

While you are on a paleo diet, you must remember to follow a strict diet routine. Only then you will see the positive impact of the diet plan. Hence, below are some of the foods you must avoid while you are on a paleo diet:

1. Packaged And Processed Foods

Do smart grocery shopping. Everything that's labelled is not healthy. Hence, you should avoid eating packaged and processed food and switch to a healthy diet plan. 

2. Vegetable Oils 

You should avoid consuming vegetable oils like canola oil, soybean, and corn oil. They have a high amount of unhealthy fat, which is not good for your health and may cause adverse effects. 

3. Trans Fats 

They are found in various processed foods and margarine, which is unsuitable for health. So you must not consider or take trans fat in your daily meals and try to avoid as much as you can. 

4. Sugary Products

Soft drinks, sodas, packaged juices, candy, pastries, and fruit yoghurt should be avoided and not be eaten as they contain added sugar. Instead, you can eat some of the healthy paleo desserts that are easily available. 

5. Grains And Legumes 

Beans, pasta, lentils, bread, pasta, buns, etc., are all a paleo diet. However, check the food label and encourage intelligent grocery shopping to avoid these ingredients.   

The Final Say

The paleo diet is modelled after what hunter-gatherers are believed to have followed. A paleo diet includes meat, fish, eggs, seeds, nuts, fruits, veggies, and healthy fats and oils.

Avoid consuming processed foods, grains, and sugar, as they can cause various health disorders. You can also begin your diet plan with paleo foods by adding modern healthy foods like grass-fed butter and gluten-free grains. For more information related to customised diet plans, you can consult our expert dietitians at ToneOp.

FAQs

1. Is paneer allowed in the paleo diet?   

No, dairy components like paneer are generally avoided on a paleo diet. Paneer is typically excluded from the paleo diet because it was not commonly consumed during the Paleolithic era.   

2. Is ghee OK in a paleo diet?   

Ghee is excellent for a paleo diet because ghee is packed with vitamins and nutrients that can be great for any kind of diet that you're following. 

3. What are the 3 disadvantages of the paleo diet?

The 3 major disadvantages of the paleo diet are that it can bring a lack of energy in the body, bad breath, and a lot of food cravings. 

References

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2787021/ 

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