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Paleo Diet

paleo dietFor thousands, if not millions of years, humans have been omnivores. In fact, just about every animal eats some other creature with eyes and legs. Gorillas eat bugs along with their vegetables. When giraffe eats leaves, do you think they wash them or remove the bugs? Every society in the history of the world has eaten meat and/or seafood.
Studies show there are many health benefits by going “Paleo”. Paleo refers to those who consume our ancestral diet of mostly vegetables, meat, and seafood. In addition to those foods, add in nuts, seeds, eggs, avocado, coconut, and fruit.

Pretty simple

but enough to bring us through millions of years of evolution.Ten thousand years ago brought the Agricultural Revolution. This method of farm feeding led to an explosion of world population. The grain produced such as wheat, barley, and rye, has to be heavily processed for us to eat it. Our bodies just do not recognize this food. Additionally, human milk is meant for baby humans, cows milk is meant for baby cows, and rat milk is meant for baby rats. You get the picture. Corn and soy were not available to our ancestors yet it is estimated 60% of the American diet comes from these two crops. Sugar may be the ultimate villain of all. Paleo people would have seasonal fruit and a rare honey treat. The fruit back then was much different than today. Modern fruit has been cultivated over the years to select the absolute sweetest varieties loaded with the unhealthy fructose molecule.

So now you want to go Paleo but don’t know where to start? Here is my plan that has worked for my patients over the years.

How to Start a Paleo Diet

Week 1. Go organic. If pesticides kill bugs, they will kill us. Organic is the best way to ensure avoiding genetically modified foods (GMO). Find your local grocer or farmers market and learn about all the organic options. If you drink coffee, make it organic. No more Starbucks or Dunkin Donuts. Meat must be free-range and grass -fed and seafood has to be wild.
Week 2. Give up added sugar. If sugar is on the label, consider it unhealthy. It causes heart disease and damages the immune system. Watch out for other names such as maltodextrin and brown rice syrup. If you do not recognize an ingredient, Google it and learn the source. This is the week to stop the toxin known as alcohol.
Week 3. Time to say goodbye to gluten. Gluten is a nasty protein found in wheat, barley, and rye. It is associated with inflammation and leaky gut syndrome. I have no doubt gluten causes cardiovascular disease.
Week 4. Kick all grains to the curb, even the gluten free ones. The gluten free products are loaded with unhealthy carbs along with other questionable ingredients.
Week 5. Save the dairy for baby cows. Yes this goes for goat and sheep milk. Learn how to use nut milk and about soaking nuts and seeds. This is a good time to get rid of any carbonated beverages.
Week 6. Absolutely no corn, soy or other beans, even if organic. Corn is all sugar and soy has a litany of negative effects on thyroid and other hormones. This is the week you will want to get rid of coffee.
Week 7. Get the fruit out of there, consuming only one piece or handful per day at most. In fact, you can get rid of fruit altogether as a little sugar will only make you crave more.
Week 8. If you are still eating potatoes, now would be a good time to stop. Yams and sweet potatoes are okay if you eat them raw.
Eight weeks and now you are Paleo. Eat plenty of vegetables with all meals. Breakfast can be a nut seed mixture with coconut flakes and a nut milk. I usually do my greens powder for breakfast along with a scoop of spirulina/chlorella in a large glass of water. Of course, eggs with veggies are a treat. Lunch is a big salad with a hamburger patty or sliced turkey. I may forgo the meat and just use olives, nuts, and seeds with an avocado. Dinner is usually another salad along with cooked vegetables and some animal protein. We love our grass fed steaks and wild salmon.

Take the Eight Week Paleo Challenge. You will be glad you did. Find a doctor who can check your lab tests before and after to see some striking changes.

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