The paleolithic diet is a dietary lifestyle based on foods that were consumed prior to agriculture and animal husbandry. To be more precise, these foods include: meat, shellfish, fish, tree nuts, roots, fruit, berries, mushroom and so on. Foods which result from agriculture or animal husbandry are completely excluded: grains, dairy, legumes, sugar and any modern day fast foods. The paleolithic diet bases its philosophy on the lifestyle of our ancestors. They consumed food that was easy to gather or hunt, in specific locations. The paleolithic diet does not indicate how much you should eat. You can basically eat as much as you please. The consumption of modern day fruit is somehow frowned upon. Our ancestors did not consume large quantities of fruits. The fruits they did scarcely consume, however were hard to find.
The paleolithic diet is based on several premises. One of them states that humans evolved their nutritional needs based on the foods which were available at the time. The nutritional needs of the modern humans are believed to have remained the same with the ones of our Paleolithic ancestors. Followers of the paleolithic diet also believe our metabolism has not been properly adapted to handle the foods that have become available after agricultural practices. The paleolithic diet bases its core idea on the fact that modern men are not adapted to our everyday modern diets. Most of the modern day medical problems (obesity, cancer, heart disease or diabetes) are believed to have appeared because of this inability to properly metabolize these “new” types of foods. They claim that people who adopt the paleolithic diet will end up living longer lives, they will be more active and healthier at the same time.
People who disagree with the paleolithic diet claim that its premises are wrong. They say our ancestors did in fact consume legumes and grains. They also say that humans are more flexible when it comes to their nutritional needs. Since the Paleolithic period was quite long-lasting, people have undergone major changes in all that time. They say that the hypothesis that humans were genetically adapted to specific diets is not yet sustained by science. Nonetheless, if you are interested in reading more about the paleolithic diet, make sure to check out Rob Wolf’s article on the subject. He has an entire website dedicated to the paleolithic diet. You can find numerous recipes,diet plans and all the information you may require.