Eating Paleo Guide: What Would a Caveman Do?
The Paleo diet equal parts captivating and contentious. Referred to as the “Caveman Diet,” this contemporary occurrence is grounded in one audacious inquiry: What would our ancestors from the Paleolithic eat if they were around today? The reply, it seems, does not entail Little Caesars or Dairy Queen. Instead, die-hard Paleo advocates appear to have assembled a veritable hall of fame for all the (unprocessed) foods they think befit our (Paleo) forebears: fish, grass-fed meat, fruits, mushrooms, nuts, seeds, and (for some, but not all) root vegetables. Given the potential for variety, how does the Caveman not go all Neanderthal in the gusto department?
Why Follow the Paleo Diet?
The Paleo diet promotes a return to the way our ancestors ate during the Paleolithic era, which took place before the advent of fast food, artificial coloring, and food items that require an advanced chemistry education to understand their multitude of ingredients. The Paleo rationale is quite straightforward: our bodies are not well adapted to the “modern” foods that convenience and fancy food science have made available to us, but they are well suited to the nutritional forms our ancient forebears consumed.
Proponents assert that the regimen can assist with shedding pounds, tamping down inflammation, and possibly warding off long-term maladies like obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular problems. It’s an open question whether our Paleolithic ancestors had these same concerns, but current evidence suggests that avoiding the kinds of ultra-processed foods that are so common in our diets today and eating instead a variety of mostly unrefined, highly nutritious foods seen in something like the standard cave diet has no ill effects and lots of positive ones.
The Basics of Paleo Eating: What’s In and What’s Out?
The Paleo diet is essentially about consuming these foods:
- Meats that are low in fat: The pinnacle selection here is meats that are grass-fed, wild-caught, or pasture-raised. This includes beef, poultry, pork, fish, and eggs. If it was once terrestrial, aquatic, or avian life, it is on the menu.
- Vegetables: You can’t go wrong with greens, roots, and tubers. The Paleo diet highly esteems sweet potatoes.
- Nuts and Fruits: Nature’s sweets and snack bars, in moderation.
- Wholesome Fats: All fats from coconuts, avocados, nuts, and seeds are good for you.
What is notably absent? Anything our forebears wouldn’t acknowledge as sustenance:
- Whole Grains and Legumes: No more bread, rice, or pasta. Cavemen didn’t farm wheat; neither should you.
- Dairy: They say, “Pat the cow, don’t milk it.” The Paleo philosophy excludes dairy products, asserting that they were not consumed until the dawn of agriculture.
- Sugar: Maple syrup is not Paleo despite its tree origin. Refined sugars and artificial sweeteners are prohibited. When it comes to honey, use with caution no drenching allowed.
- Hydrogenated Oils: Margarine and vegetable oils have existed only since the invention of modern science, making them a recent addition to the food supply.
Fat: Friend or Foe?
The Paleo diet doesn’t avoid fat. In fact, it welcomes it. Dietary fats from animals and fats from avocados, nuts, and seeds are lauded as laudable and vital sources of energy from good old fats. The saturated fat in, say, bacon ain’t what it used to be in terms of being a baddie. Paleo nuts (seriously, nuts and seeds are part of the diet) argue that fats are crucial for keeping you full and for your general health. And they say that in a much more palatable way than it was expressed a decade ago when fat was the enemy.
A Return to Basics
One of the Paleo movement’s main selling points is its simplicity. Today’s food is often over-processed, drained of its nutrients, and replaced with artificial ingredients. Paleo obviously doesn’t subscribe to that idea. It wants us to eat fresh, whole foods that really can nourish our bodies. Now, to eat like a human who lived 10,000 years ago would require you to do a 180 not just with your diet but also with your food-buying habits.
The Paleo way of life understands and accommodates contemporary conundrums. It, too, recognizes that not everyone has a prime cut of organic pasture-raised meat to cook and enjoy. Flexibility that oft-used word wherein lies the comfort of most Paleo practitioners exists even in the sourcing of ingredients.
The Drawbacks: Is Paleo Perfect?
Naturally, no diet is perfect. Critics of the Paleo diet highlight some pretty significant problems:
- 1. Expense: Organic produce and grass-fed meats are not inexpensive. Eating according to the Paleo diet can make a number of individuals feel as if they are stuck in the Ice Age, with their money frozen and inaccessible.
- 2. Practicality: Avoiding grains, legumes, and dairy makes dining out and social interactions difficult. Our ancestors didn’t have office parties or Taco Tuesdays. We do.
- 3. Exclusion of Nutrient-Rich Foods: For instance, legumes are very high in fiber and nutrients, yet they are forbidden. There are many nutritionists who argue that this prohibition is without foundation.
Should You Try Paleo?
Paleo is a diet that fosters the consumption of whole, unprocessed foods within a clear framework. It is not magic. It is not even a magic bullet. But many people feed food to favorable relationships with their bodies because Paleo fosters what I would call a health-at-every-size ethos. I am not hung up on weight. I am not hung up on a past that valorizes somehow the way our ancestors ate. And the next point can’t be made enough: It is very doable, with a wide variety of foods, if you are not too rigid about with what you eat when.
Keep in mind that even prehistoric humans didn’t have flawless diets. At times, the main focus was just getting by, and you should apply that same mentality when the situation calls for it. If you need to break the mold for a slice of pizza, your ancestors probably aren’t going to judge you. Just make sure that one serving doesn’t spiral into a daily dose of “cheat” food.
Final Thoughts
The Paleo diet isn’t about traveling back to the past; it’s about taking a lesson from history and using it to inform how we live today. The premise is this: If you eat what our ancestors ate, you can achieve the same health benefits they enjoyed. These principles are part of the Paleo way of thinking. Whole foods are the kinds of food items you can find in nature that are suitable for human consumption. On these two twisted paths of thought, one leading to the kitchen and the other to the doctor’s office, lie the whole-food, “Paleo” way of eating and the “Paleo” path to health.
If it’s good enough for our ancestors, who survived saber-tooth tigers and the Ice Age, to eat it, then it might just be good enough for you.
