Paleo diet is a particular type of diet that has been extensively used for decreasing the prevalence of metabolic syndrome like obesity, cardiovascular diseases and diabetes.

The principle of Paleo diet is based on the theory that the increasing morbidity rate is directly linked with consuming processed food and western dietary pattern thus Paleo diet is formulated in order to decrease the prevalence of these metabolic disorders and morbidity rate. It mainly focused on consuming those food materials, which have already consumed in ancient time especially during the Paleolithic era. The diet is mainly plant centered and it includes, fruits, vegetables especially non starchy vegetables, nuts and seeds. It also emphasizes on lean protein preferably unprocessed meat, seafood, fish, egg and it discourages sugar, processed foods, grains and dairy products

Though there are some more flexible versions of Paleo diet available that allow some dairy products like butter, cheese and also include some tubers such as sweet potatoes

Purpose of consuming Paleo diet

• The main purpose of Paleo diet is to return to the way of eating, which is more likely to those foods that early humans ate
• The main reasoning of the diet is that human body is genetically mismatched to the modern dietary pattern that means changing in farming practice or other food processing technique ultimately outpaced the ability of the body to adapt
• This mismatching is thought to be one of the most contributing factors of diabetes, obesity and cardiovascular diseases

• Thus consumption of Paleo diet is believed to be an effective way for reducing the susceptibility of these diseases as it involves those unprocessed foods that are consumed by human in early days

Who should follow a Paleo diet?

• Individual who want to lose their body weight
• Individual who want to maintain ideal body weight
• Individual who want to protect themselves from the detrimental effects of metabolic syndrome
• Diabetic individual or those individual who are at risk condition
• Individual who suffer from cardiovascular disease or who are at risk condition or who have a family history of cardiac disorders

Health benefits

Role on weight management

• We all know that in recent time obesity becomes one of the most vital health issues throughout the world and it is considered as an important cause of increasing morbidity and mortality rate thus it is better to prevent obesity in order to obtain a healthy life
• Consumption of Paleo diet is considered as an effective dietary management for obesity as it not only helps in reducing body weight but also helps in maintaining healthy body weight
• An individual obtain abundant fibre, micronutrients and protein from Paleo diet, all of which are extremely essential for facilitating weight reduction

• Its protein and fibre contents are accountable for delaying stomach emptying thus help to keep an individual full for a long period of time, which ultimately hinders appetite as a result decreases extra calories intake
• As it does not contain refine sugar or too much starchy food or fatty food or processed food thus its consumption does not increase the risk of gaining weight

Role on muscular health

• Consumption of paleo diet is associated with promoting a leaner physique
• Maintaining of such physique is very useful to make an individual able to handle their life challenges and regular activity in a better way
• It may also support muscle growth if anyone engage himself or herself in weightlifting while on paleo diet

Role on blood sugar regulation

• As Paleo diet does not contain refine sugar thus its consumption is thought to be very effective for lowering the risk of increasing blood sugar load as a result helps in maintaining normal blood sugar level
• Foods, which are mainly present in Paleo diet are extremely rich in fibre, which plays vital role in decreasing blood sugar level by delaying the rate of glucose absorption from intestinal epithelial cells
• Consumption of Paleo diet is also associated with improving insulin sensitivity thus helps in stabilizing blood sugar concentration hence consumption of Paleo diet is considered as safe for diabetic patient and consumption of such diet is also related with reducing the susceptibility of diabetes mellitus

Role on detoxification

• Consumption of paleo diet is recognized as one of the most important ways of becoming healthy as it stops the intake of various things that bring an individual down such as refined sugar, trans fats, MSG, processed foods, junk foods, fast foods etc
• Whereas the foods, which we can consume through paleo diet are rich in vitamins, minerals, fibres and phytonutrients, which exert potent antioxidant activity that help to decrease the concentration of free radicals in body and protect the body from their harmful effects as a result reduce the risk of developing chronic diseases
• It is also related with cleaning the body by promoting toxin elimination process and plays vital role in decreasing the prevalence of waste accumulation within body as a result promotes over all wellbeing

Role on cardiovascular health

• Consumption of such diet is extremely useful for reducing the risk of developing cardiovascular diseases as it plays imperative role in maintaining a healthy cholesterol level, which is considered as one of the vital key features of cardiac health
• Increased level of cholesterol is responsible for increasing the prevalence of plaque formation within blood vessels by depositing fat within vessels thus increases the susceptibility of blockage and atherosclerosis

• As it provides enough fibre to body thus its consumption is thought to be very effective for promoting overall cardiac health as fibre helps in improving cholesterol balance hence lowers the prevalence of blockage, atherosclerosis and coronary artery diseases
• On the other hand its cholesterol lowering activity is also associated with improving endothelial health as it prevents arterial hardening by inhibiting plaque formation and promotes blood circulation too
• It helps in preventing hypertension as well
• Whereas foods present in this diet are loaded with antioxidants and phytonutrients that help to protect the heart from oxidative and inflammatory damages as a result help to promote cardiac activity
• Moreover consumption of paleo diet is very useful for obtaining a healthy cardiac system. It has also seen that individual who consume paleo diet are less susceptible to develop heart attacks

Foods that should be included in Paleo diet

Below listed foods can be included in a paleo diet –

• Any fruits
• Green leafy vegetables
• Yellow or red coloured vegetables
• Nuts
• Seeds
• Fish especially those which are rich in omega 3 fatty acid such as salmon, tuna, mackerel and albacore
• Oil extracted from seeds or nuts like walnut oil or olive oil
• Lean meat especially those meat, which are obtained from grass fed animals

Foods that should be excluded from Paleo diet

Below listed foods should be strictly avoided –

• Refined sugar
• Fatty foods
• Starchy foods
• Grains like wheat, barley, oat etc
• Dairy products
• Legumes such as lentils, peas, beans, peanuts
• Highly processed foods

Sample menu

Below mentioned menu will provide an overview of paleo diet –

Breakfast: Broiled cantaloupe and salmon with salad and fruits

Lunch: vegetable soup with lean meat and salad

Snacks: celery sticks or carrot sticks and nuts

Dinner: Lean meat soup or roasted fish with steamed vegetables and fruit dessert

Consumption of such diet is really very effective for promoting overall wellbeing and it plays vital role in decreasing the prevalence of obesity, diabetes, hypercholesterolemia and cardiovascular diseases.

Andrikopoulos, S., 2016. The Paleo diet and diabetes. The medical journal of Australia, 205(4), pp.151-152.

Cambeses-Franco, C., González-García, S., Feijoo, G. and Moreira, M.T., 2021. Is the Paleo diet safe for health and the environment?. Science of The Total Environment, 781, p.146717.

Cordain, L., 2012. AARP The paleo diet revised: Lose weight and get healthy by eating the foods you were designed to eat. John Wiley & Sons.

Frassetto, L.A., Schloetter, M., Mietus-Synder, M., Morris, R.C. and Sebastian, A., 2009. Metabolic and physiologic improvements from consuming a paleolithic, hunter-gatherer type diet. European journal of clinical nutrition, 63(8), pp.947-955.

Pitt, C.E., 2016. Cutting through the Paleo hype: The evidence for the Palaeolithic diet. Australian Family Physician, 45(1/2), pp.35-38.