Paleolithic Diet
by Dr. Loren Cordain
"The Paleolithic Diet is based on eating foods that our Paleolithic ancestors ate. The "Paleolithic" refers to the Paleolithic Era, which is a formal time period on Geologic Time Charts from about 2,500,000 years ago to about 10,000 years ago. The premise is that during the Paleolithic, we evolved a specific genome that has only changed 0.01 per cent in these last 10,000 years. However, during this recent time span mass agriculture, grains/grain products, sugars/sugar products, dairy/dairy products, and a plethora of processed foods have all been introduced as a regular part of the human diet. We are not eating the foods we are genetically and physiologically adapted to eat (99.9% of our genetic profile is still Paleolithic); and the discordance is an underlying cause for much of the "diseases of civilization", "syndrome X", obesity, and "diseases of old age" that are so epidemic in our society today.
As Dr. Cordain and others' scientific research reveal - the evolutionary, genetic, and clinical evidence point to a natural (i.e., unprocessed foods), omnivorous diet as the healthiest way to eat. Dr. Cordain's research shows that 70% of the average caloric intake of Americans is from foods that did not even exist for our Paleolithic ancestors. This discordance is having tremendously negative health consequences for our society as a whole.
Our genes determine our optimum diet, and our genes evolved according to the environments in which our ancient ancestors lived, including the foods they ate. Our Paleolithic ancestors did not eat just one single diet, but rather they ate within a range of natural, unprocessed diets - depending on variables like geography, climate, competition, ecologic niche, season, and glaciations. All of these Paleolithic diets did share some universal characteristics, though:
Paleolithic Diet - the ingredients
1) The vegetable sources were:
· Plants
· Roots and tubers
· Berries
· Fruits
· Nuts
The most obvious plant food missing is grains and grain products. If you can concentrate on fresh versions of the plants above - and eliminate or drastically reduce grains, grain products, sugars, and sugar products - you will be well on your way to eating the plants that fit your genetic consitution.
2) The animal sources were:
·Wild terrestrial animals (including the muscle tissue, fat and organs, although the total amount of fat and the fatty acid composition were quite different than that found in modern domestic animals).
· Fowl
· Insects
· Fish and seafood
· Eggs"
more here
by Dr. Loren Cordain
"The Paleolithic Diet is based on eating foods that our Paleolithic ancestors ate. The "Paleolithic" refers to the Paleolithic Era, which is a formal time period on Geologic Time Charts from about 2,500,000 years ago to about 10,000 years ago. The premise is that during the Paleolithic, we evolved a specific genome that has only changed 0.01 per cent in these last 10,000 years. However, during this recent time span mass agriculture, grains/grain products, sugars/sugar products, dairy/dairy products, and a plethora of processed foods have all been introduced as a regular part of the human diet. We are not eating the foods we are genetically and physiologically adapted to eat (99.9% of our genetic profile is still Paleolithic); and the discordance is an underlying cause for much of the "diseases of civilization", "syndrome X", obesity, and "diseases of old age" that are so epidemic in our society today.
As Dr. Cordain and others' scientific research reveal - the evolutionary, genetic, and clinical evidence point to a natural (i.e., unprocessed foods), omnivorous diet as the healthiest way to eat. Dr. Cordain's research shows that 70% of the average caloric intake of Americans is from foods that did not even exist for our Paleolithic ancestors. This discordance is having tremendously negative health consequences for our society as a whole.
Our genes determine our optimum diet, and our genes evolved according to the environments in which our ancient ancestors lived, including the foods they ate. Our Paleolithic ancestors did not eat just one single diet, but rather they ate within a range of natural, unprocessed diets - depending on variables like geography, climate, competition, ecologic niche, season, and glaciations. All of these Paleolithic diets did share some universal characteristics, though:
Paleolithic Diet - the ingredients
1) The vegetable sources were:
· Plants
· Roots and tubers
· Berries
· Fruits
· Nuts
The most obvious plant food missing is grains and grain products. If you can concentrate on fresh versions of the plants above - and eliminate or drastically reduce grains, grain products, sugars, and sugar products - you will be well on your way to eating the plants that fit your genetic consitution.
2) The animal sources were:
·Wild terrestrial animals (including the muscle tissue, fat and organs, although the total amount of fat and the fatty acid composition were quite different than that found in modern domestic animals).
· Fowl
· Insects
· Fish and seafood
· Eggs"
more here
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