The word paleo is short for paleolithic diet which means a diet based on what was the presumed eating habits of our ancestors in the stone age before the development of agriculture.   The basic premise is that our bodies haven’t evolved with the rest of modern society, and the modern diets of now aren’t aligned with how our bodies work.  The modern paleo diet is based on the idea that if we eat more like cavemen, we can free ourselves of many of the most common human health concerns – obesity, heart disease, diabetes, cancer, arthritis, osteoporosis, etc., as well mental health issues.  In a sentence, this presumed diet is to eat meats & vegetables, nuts & seeds, some fruit, little starch and no sugar.  Boom.

Now, for the purposes of my blog and for being practical, I must say there are some obvious things that have changed since the stone age that we cannot ignore.  Were cavemen making brownies out of coconut cream concentrate and cocoa powder?  No.  Were they using a mandoline to make pretend noodles out of a zucchini?  Definitely, not.  Did cavemen have the time and motivation to kill a cow, grind the meat, add some spices, form it into a patty, grill it in their fire and then find a great piece of lettuce to wrap said patty in and enjoy it with some no sugar-added ketchup.  No chance.

There’s a lot of haters out there that will knock the paleolithic diet for reasons similar to the examples I just gave above.  This is not extreme… we are not trying to live like cavemen….we have electricity and cars and ovens and online stores.   But, if we can take what modern society has taught us about food and nutrition, challenge those ideas with something as simple as evolution and hope to make human race not die off because of disease, then I think it’s worth following the basics of these cavemen’s habits.  I will fight the urge to continue spewing my personal opinions at you and let you take a look at some of my favorite articles and info that I’ve come across over the years from the modern-day paleo geniuses that we are lucky to have around to do all the research for us!

http://robbwolf.com/what-is-the-paleo-diet/

http://www.marksdailyapple.com/definitive-guide-to-the-primal-eating-plan/#axzz2cWvtzp00

http://www.marksdailyapple.com/definitive-guide-grains/#axzz2cWvtzp00

Click to access GlycemicNov02.pdf

Click to access 58_07_Phys_and_Food.pdf

I could probably post 20 more links, but I won’t.  Do your own research if you want to learn more!  There’s countless, websites, blogs and books!