Everyday there is a new diet trend claiming to be the best way to lose weight and the Paleo diet is based on the diet that our ancestors may have had with promises to turn anyone from “not to hot.”
The Paleo diet is based on food that our cavemen (cavewomen) ancestors may have eaten.
Foods such as, fish, meats, fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds. In essence anything that a hunter or gatherer would have been able to obtain.
Its purpose is to return the body to its original way of eating because what the average person eats is not right for them genetically.
However, is this really how our ancestors ate? Does this diet work?
In general, yes, this is what humans 10,000 to 25 million years ago ate. Whatever they were able to get their hands on and was edible was all fair game.
“Of all the diets the paleo diet is the number one googled diet two years in a row,” Doctor Oz said on his show.
Its popularity with society must mean that the diet must work.
“I tried it for a few weeks,” Iris Rivera said. “But I didn’t see any results I wanted, so I ended up doing keto.”
As the founded of the paleo diet, also known as whole30, Dallas Heartwig said, “different diets work for different people.”
Each persons body is different and reacts differently to different diets.
“I did paleo for a few months,” Imna Rodriguez said. “And I lost a lot of weight, but I also did zumba exercise everyday.”
Rivera found that the diet didn’t work for her, while Rodriguez said that it did.
A big factor that plays into weight loss is exercise. While speaking to Rivera she didn’t mention doing any vigorous exercises, aside from walking around her neighborhood.
Rodriguez coupled her diet with doing zumba daily.
In an article by Ellen Healy for genetics health club, she states that the key to weight loss is not going to the gym or changing the way you eat, but going to the gym AND changing the way you eat.
Rivera found results doing the ketogenic diet because by cutting out carbs from her diet, she was able to put her body into ketosis which is when your body uses fat for fuel rather than the carbs.
In the paleo diet you are cutting out all carbs. Another name for the paleo diet is whole30.
In this diet you have the ability to eat carbs that come from whole foods, such as fruits, potatoes and whole grains, all of which are not allowed in the keto diet.
Doctor Mike, a popular youtuber and practicing physician said, because you are eliminating processed foods and sugars, “that itself will cause you to lose weight.”
Any diet that you couple with exercise will help you lose weight.
The dangers of going along with diet trends, such as paleo being the most searched, is everyones body reacts differently and for those who do not see results can find frustration and quit.
The science behind paleo shows that, yes, eating like a caveman did will help you lose weight, but it is something you have to test and see if it works for yourself.
With trial and error you can cut out certain foods and add foods based on what helps you lose the most weight in the healthiest way possible.