If you want to know the whole biology and science behind an evolutionary lifestyle such as Paleo, Robb Wolf’s “The Paleo Solution – The Original Human Diet” is mandatory reading. He takes complex biological issues and makes them palatable and he’s so funny that you’ll laugh out loud yet still be in awe of what we don’t know about our bodies and what they need.
In a nutshell, the Paleo Diet is grain-free, dairy-free and no refined sugar. It’s eating real food – clean food – which means no processed food but that really isn’t food anyway. Grains and people don’t mix well and cause all types of chronic illnesses and conditions. The good news is the remedies are as simple as choosing a hamburger (preferably grass-fed) without the bun and eating more veggies but…it may not be easy at first due to the illusion of “I can’t live without bread or pasta” and the sugar addiction that grains trigger.
Everybody has a story and everyone will have different reasons for trying the Paleo Diet and ultimately different benefits will emerge. That huge scope is why this is so important. Grains are negatively affecting our bodies in such a multitude of ways that it’s incredible that by simply making a few different choices to what we eat, we can alter the whole course of our quality of life no matter at what age.
Grains cause malabsorption issues and damage the gut lining. Once the gut is damaged, we are at risk for inflammation and autoimmune disease. The body can no longer fight off the systemic inflammation and causes elevated insulin levels especially since the standard diet is loaded with processed foods, refined sugars and starches like potatoes and legumes – hence, add weight gain to the list of health issues that are waiting in the wings if they haven’t made their symptoms known already. By the way, that after dinner bloated feeling is actually not normal.
Some examples…and only some…of the more than 80 types of autoimmune diseases that are so commonplace today are Celiac disease, gluten sensitivity, asthma, diabetes, Lupus, infertility, Multiple Sclerosis, Rheumatoid Arthritis, autism, depression, hypothyroidism, Fibromyalgia, Psoriasis, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.
Even those of you who say but “I’m not sick” probably knows of someone who has one or more of these issues in addition to the general obsession to lose that last 5-10 lbs. I have not met a single person who has eaten a Paleo diet for even a few weeks that has not had a noticeable difference in WHATEVER their primary issue or concern was. I haven’t heard nor seen a single negative response from following this lifestyle either…and “I don’t want to” is not a reason but a choice. If you begin to follow a paleo style diet, you will see improvements occur not just superficially in the mirror but also in the blood work.
Let’s get to the nuts and bolts and get you on your way with The Basics…