Basic Paleo Diet Rules
A paleo diet refers to the way that cavemen once ate. It’s a healthier, more natural way of eating than what most people do today. There are a few rules, but they’re simple and pretty easy to follow, which is one of the reasons the diet is so popular.
Plus, it eliminates the harried calorie counting, which is the basis of most diets that fail. Instead of focusing on the food itself, what the paleo diet does is it focuses on the person and the person’s natural drive to eat – or not.
The foods you should eat on this diet are in a healthier form, less processed – so you end up gaining more vitamins and nutrients, which helps your body fight inflammation and diseases.
The first rule is to eat when your body tells you it needs to eat. Don’t just eat because it’s a certain time of day. Listen to your body. It will let you know when it’s hungry. You need to eat protein in its natural state rather than processed meats.
It’s best to choose grass fed meats whenever possible. Eat what you need to eat to feel full and don’t fret over the size of the meat, how much of it you eat or how little you eat. Just consume the food until your body has had enough.
That means no longer hungry, not full or stuffed. You have to eat slower to give your brain time to catch up with your stomach. This way of eating frees you from constantly counting calories or measuring out portions.
On the paleo diet, it’s okay to eat the fattier types of meats in your meals. In caveman times, the people didn’t worry about the fats in their meats. Make sure that you eat carbohydrates as well as fats like olive oil.
You can learn to adjust your tastes to having natural oils on your foods and on things like salads versus having preservative heavy salad dressings. Fruits and vegetables are part of the paleo diet, but you’ll want to avoid buying the ones in the cans because there are unnatural additives with foods in cans.
Remember that on this diet, you’ll want to consume food in as close to its natural state as possible. You can have these foods in their fresh state or you can cook them. You can have nuts on the paleo diet, especially ones that contain plenty of the omegas.
But if you’re following the anti inflammatory paleo diet, you’ll want to either limit the consumption of nuts or remove them from your diet altogether since nuts can sometimes trigger an immune reaction that can cause inflammations.
Take grains out of your food intake, especially ones like wheat, barley and oats. Don’t consume products that are laden with sugar. If the food has been processed in any way, don’t have it.
