Should we adopt the paleo diet?

The paleo diet is the diet currently fashionable to slim down and regain energy. Should sharpen his silexs, back to his cave and adopt the paleo diet?

Paleo diet, what is it?

This is the longest period of our prehistory: it began there about three million years ago and has always ended about 12 000 years BC.

It was during this period that our Paleolithic ancestors appeared very early.

To feed, they hunted the animals then, fished fish when they were at the edge of a sea or river and gathered or collected herbs, leaves, seeds and roots.

To cook, they used stones, bones, horns they gradually learned to cut better and better. They improved the situation when they mastered fire, perhaps to - 800 000 years. But it is only around - 40,000 years they invented pottery and could thus really start to cook.

Where does the paleo diet?

The paleo diet is not new! It emerged in 1985 when Dr. S. Boyd Eaton published an article on this subject, saying that the ideal diet should match that of our ancestors who died healthy, ignoring cancers and other dirt from such diseases obesity, Diabetes and now called "diseases of civilization".

This is because, according to him, it is our genes that would determine our nutritional needs. And as we have virtually the same as Grandpa and Grandma to there - 40 000 years, we have to eat like them to properly carry us.

This theory was then taken up by various scientists including Dr. Seignalet, author in 1996 of "Food or third medicine" advocating this ancestral diet and that has many followers. This book is regularly reprinted.

The paleo diet or Paleo diet has been the subject of numerous publications in the United States.

The paleo diet 21st century

There are different versions.

All agree on the major basic principles:

Meat, fish, shellfish, vegetables and fruit at will. Preferably raw.

No dairy, butter or cream, as our ancestors had not yet discovered the breeding.

Nor were dried vegetables, although it is unclear whether Grandpa and Grandma - 40 000 years did not dry the seeds they collected.

No potatoes or legumes because you have to cook their starch is digested.

No salt, no sugar: it is clear that these products did not exist then. Similarly for wine, beer, coffee and tea.

Some completely eliminate grains, arguing that agriculture had not yet been invented. Others accept rice and buckwheat.

As for oil, they are controversial. Some exclude completely and advise consuming olives, as is. But forgetting he seems this oilseed is accepted by our modern palace only after a stay in the brine. However, salt is prohibited. Other, more practical, accept cold pressed oils.

Everything you eat must obviously come from organic agriculture.

The promises of the paleo diet

If you adopt the Paleo diet, you'll first get thinner. And you must find boundless energy.

But above all, you will prevent many diseases, some even promise to heal. Bulk: breast, prostate and colon cancer, acne, cardiovascular disease, digestive disorders of all kinds, hypertension, type II diabetes, obesity and even inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis.

This is because of the wealth of the paleo diet in protein, omega-3, fiber, vitamins. And because it contains no salt, no sugar, dairy or gluten.

That paleo diet prevents these diseases, it is quite logical. Be healed, that is another matter and it is sorely lacking in evidence.

But all the authors agree to say that the paleo diet is not a "diet" to adopt only to lose a few pounds. It's a way of life that must be followed throughout it. And some communities in the United States adopted: they live "paleo"!

Should we dive into the paleo?

If you're a fan of nature, homecoming, if you do not like to cook, if you are not greedy (e), if the food does not mean anything to you, if the food monotony do not scare The paleo diet can actually entice you.

But be careful!

It's still not safe because it is likely to favor animal products, especially meat (very satiating) at the expense of the vegetables and fruits.

However, the current meat, even if they come from organic farms are much fatter than the mammoth game and that our very distant ancestors feasted. Moreover, it ignores the long-term effects of this wave of proteins combined with saturated fatty acids.

Despite what prescribers of paleo diet, we are omnivores. So it is better to take a once and for all the Mediterranean diet that combines the pleasure of eating and nutritional balance and has proven itself just as protective, if not more, than the paleo diet.