Here’s a Few Paleo Diet Benefits
What exactly are the benefits of the paleo diet? Is it really that great for you? As with anything nutrition, as long as you don’t severely restrict your diet the paleo diet can have many benefits! Check out these paleo diet benefits to see if it’s for you!
Paleo Diet Benefits: What Are They?
The merits of following a paleo diet have been hotly debated, particularly from a nutritional point of view.
The argument is that following a diet that closely resembles that of our Paleolithic hunter-gatherer ancestors carries the most nutritional benefits to our bodies.
As humans, our digestive systems haven’t adapted overtime at a rate quick enough to keep up with the production of processed food and additives, resulting in us not being able to process the substances involved.
Unfortunately, with many of these processed foods being branded and marketed as ‘convenient’, there are large percentages of the population that aren’t getting the correct nutritional intake, leaving them sluggish and lethargic.
If you’re particularly unlucky, a poor diet could even see you end up with digestive disorders such as coeliac disease, gastroparesis, metabolic syndrome, and diabetes.
With this in mind, it’s easy to see why this popular diet (when not taken overboard) is becoming so widely adopted.
So what are the actual benefits of following a paleo diet?
1. Healthy Gut
1. Healthy GutOne of the major benefits of a paleo diet is that it cuts out rubbish, including unnatural fats, processed food, and refined sugar, all of which are bad for your digestive system.
Scientifically speaking, foods that are refined or highly processed contain ‘cytokines’, which directly cause inflammation of your intestinal tract.
Next time you’re about to fill yourself up with white bread, fried foods, or sugar and salt-filled ready meals, you might want to consider what this is doing to your gut.
Paleo foods, on the other hand, contain everything that is natural and, as such, these substances are easy for your body to digest, absorb and convert into energy.
2. Vitamins and Mineral Intake
As the paleo diet doesn’t advocate eating anything that wasn’t available to cavemen, much of the food you consume when following it is fresh fruit and vegetables.
Naturally, this results in your intake of essential vitamins and minerals being enhanced.
Seasonal fruit and veg are also preferred, meaning that a full range is consumed that have a diverse variety of fantastic nutritional benefits.
3. Increased Energy
The average human diet currently contains refined sugars and starches that, after being consumed, create a spike in energy. Great, isn’t it? Not really. The downside to this spike is that it’s not sustainable and after an hour or so comes the inevitable crash.
By consuming foods that have a low glycemic index, the energy contained within them is released in a slow and steady way, meaning your energy levels are also stable and sustainable – no energy crashes, tired spells, or feeling lethargic.
4. Reduce Fat & Weight Loss
It’s well known that the same foods that are bad for your health in the everyday diet, such as processed and fried foods, are also the main cause of weight gain.
As the principles of the paleo diet don’t include any rubbish, it is low in carbs, low in trans fat, and low in sugar, which naturally leads to a reduction in fat and helps with weight loss in a natural and sustainable way, without the need to starve yourself or crash diet.
5. Improves Overall Health
This is one of the unsung paleo diet benefits! A stodgy, poor diet can eventually lead to your body rejecting certain substances like insulin. By over-feeding your body sugary crap, your body eventually won’t be able to recognize when the cells are full or when they require the transfer of energy.
The paleo diet is proven to reduce insulin secretion, and sensitivity and improve glucose tolerance whilst limiting the body’s intake of fructose.
For all these reasons, the body and mind perform at optimum levels, with enhanced mental clarity and optimal body and brain function.
There is even some evidence to suggest that following a paleo diet may help with medical conditions such as acne or other skin problems, and even asthma.
Wrap-Up
Overall, the paleo diet is much better for your body and mental clarity than the average diet, and carries many other benefits as listed above.
By using the principles laid out by the paleo diet, you’re essentially giving your body the best possible chance of functioning as well as it can, and thriving with all the vitamins, minerals, and nutrients that it needs.
- 5 Nutritional Benefits of a Paleo Diet - November 26, 2015
- What Are the Best Sports Foods for Athletes? - October 29, 2015
