Here are the key facts about the Paleo diet

The Paleo diet is similar to others like keto. It focuses on foods rich in healthy fats and protein, while cutting back on carbs. It can work if you want to lose extra weight and get fit. Below, we share more about this diet.

How the Paleo diet started:

American Abel James created this diet to help people burn fat fast and healthily. It’s rich in nutrients your body needs. It’s also easy to follow so you can stick with it without gaining weight back. It cuts carbs and replaces them with fats and protein, but their total should not pass 35%.
 

Principles of following the Paleo diet:

• Avoid eating whole grains and all legumes.

• Stay away from sugars and canned foods.

• Choose simple foods that don’t have other added ingredients.

• Eat grilled meat and grilled fish as alternatives to canned meat or tuna.

• Eat plenty of vegetables and fruits.

• Watch the amount of carbs you eat in your meals.

• Eat more proteins and healthy fats found in eggs, fish, meat, nuts, and olive oil.

• Change the types of foods you eat so you don’t get bored and lose interest in sticking to this plan, and to give your body all the nutritional variety it needs.

• Take one day a week off from this plan so you can stick with it for a whole month.

Nutrients provided by the Paleo diet:

• Vitamins: Fill half your plate with veggies and fruits that are good for your body.

• Protein :- Choose products high in protein like chicken breasts, meat, eggs, fish.

• Fats : These give your body energy so make sure to eat them. Important examples are peanut butter, coconut oil, olive oil, and nuts.

• Carbs : You can eat them in two cases. First, don’t eat too much. Second, make sure to do your workouts to burn their effects fast. You can get them by eating one potato for example.

• And weigh yourself In your plate, the nutrients should be 65% vegetables and 35% protein and fats, It's best to adopt this system as your lifestyle to get the most benefit from it.

The link between the paleo diet and increased metabolism:

There are no clear studies yet confirming the link between following this diet and boosting your metabolism. But many people do lose a lot of weight after starting it. When tested on 148 people with severe obesity, most lost about 22 to 25 kg in 6 weeks. Maybe it's because the diet relies on protein which helps you feel full longer and avoiding bad sugars found in sweets, sodas, and pastries.

Other benefits of the paleo diet besides weight loss:

• It depends on essential nutrients:

It gives the body what it needs, like vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants.

• It doesn't rely on counting calories:

When this system was created, one of its main goals was to not rely on calorie counting, unlike other diets, to better people's relationship with food.

• The system is suitable for people with diabetes and polycystic ovary syndrome:

This system helps keep your blood sugar and insulin levels balanced, so it works well for diabetics.

• It protects you from heart diseases, chronic illnesses, and cancer:

Following this system definitely lowers your risk of many diseases like heart disease and cancer. Eating healthy food boosts your body's energy and blood flow, plus these foods have antioxidants that help prevent cancer.

Drawbacks of the Paleolithic diet:

• It bans eating some healthy foods

It forbids carbs and complex starches like potatoes and oats unless you regularly work out.

• Fast weight loss

Fast weight loss can lead to losing a lot of muscle mass. So this plan is only good for people with extreme excess weight.

• This plan is not suitable for vegetarians

Vegetarians do not rely on animal protein in their diet, which is a key component of this plan.

 

Allowed foods and their amounts:

• First: Foods you can eat in large amounts

Non-starchy leafy greens: These include spinach, kale, parsley, coriander, celery, broccoli, cauliflower, peppers, tomatoes, artichokes, etc.

Protein: From meats, poultry, eggs, fish, and seafood you can eat all these in moderate amounts until you feel full without overdoing it.

Fats: From avocado, traditional ghee, butter, olive oil, coconut oil, and avocado oil. All kinds of healthy oils, fats, nuts, and nut butters like peanut, cashew, and pistachio are all allowed.

Nut-based dairy alternatives: Pistachio milk, cashew milk, coconut milk, etc.

Seeds, herbs, and spices: All seeds like chia, flax, pumpkin, sunflower, and herbs and spices like black pepper, cumin, tea, cocoa, coffee, etc. are available.

• Second: Foods to eat in smaller amounts

Fruits: All fruits are allowed. but no more than two fruits a day.

Dairy and cheeses: Choose full-fat dairy and unpackaged cheeses, and make sure to buy fresh products.

Starches: Like potatoes. but only allowed if you stick to your daily workouts.

Third: Forbidden foods

Sugar and sweets: Anything with white sugar or brown sugar like cake, biscuits, ice cream, and similar things is not allowed. Artificial sweeteners with aspartame and similar ones are banned too. Only stevia sugar and honey are allowed as sweeteners.

Starches and whole grains: Found in toast, corn, granola, oats, pasta, white and brown rice, bread, bulgur, and fast food. Only potatoes and fries are allowed for people who do sports.

Legumes: Not allowed because they take a long time to cook.

Unhealthy fats: Like hydrogenated oils, canned vegetable shortening, canola oil, sunflower oil, corn oil, grape seed oil, soybean oil, and safflower oil.

A 7-day diet plan:

Day one:

Breakfast: 2 eggs + 3 turkey breast slices + a cup of green salad with tomato + an apple

Lunch: green salad with avocado and lemon + grilled chicken breast

Dinner: a slice of steak + a dish of spinach with mushrooms

Day two:

Breakfast: full-fat yogurt with 5 strawberries and 5 berries

Lunch: tuna or salmon with green salad made of lettuce leaves, parsley, cucumber, and some cherry tomatoes

Dinner: grilled meat kofta with a bowl of zucchini soup

Day three:

Breakfast: A cup of coconut milk + 2 apples with 2 tablespoons of peanut butter

Lunch: Grilled chicken with cauliflower rice and a salad plate

Dinner: A large plate of arugula salad with cheese, veggies, nuts, and maybe some pomegranate

Day four:

aFor breakfast: Egg omelette (3 eggs + mushrooms + peppers + spinach leaves. Chop all ingredients then beat with eggs. Cook in oven or Tefal pan. Allowed to add one or two slices of cheddar cheese).

Lunch: Stuffed zucchini with minced meat and a plate of turnip, avocado, and parsley salad.

Dinner: Oven-roasted chicken wings + a plate of green salad.

Day five

Breakfast: 2 fried eggs in coconut oil or butter served with avocado slices, a tomato, and sautéed veggies.

Lunch: Vegetable soup with chicken pieces.

Dinner: Shrimp sautéed in butter with zucchini or spinach and some carrots.

Day six:

Breakfast: Green smoothie (green apple, arugula, spinach leaves, one avocado, almond milk, honey).

Lunch: Dawood Basha meatballs with cauliflower rice and green salad.

Dinner: A bowl of seafood soup made from fresh seafood products.

Day seven:

Breakfast: Veggie omelet with bread made from almond or coconut flour

Lunch: Oven grilled fish with veggies, olive oil, and lemon

Dinner: A chicken, avocado, and veggie salad

Snacks:

• Chia and coconut pudding.

• Full-fat yogurt with blended berries.

• Vegetables cut into sticks with cheese added.

• Pepper and cheese sandwich.

• A piece of dark chocolate.

• Beef or chicken soup, a great winter fix.

• Drinks like cinnamon with milk, ginger, and green tea.

• A cup of hot hummus.

Some tips:

• Prepare the products you need for the week.

• Do the exercises while following the plan.

• Check your results weekly before starting again.

• Write down your notes and stay in touch with us so we can share more tips.