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Is the Paleo Diet a valid option for eating healthy?

October 10, 2013

As you develop a commitment to healthy changes in your life, you’ll have to examine both the physical activity and diet choices you make. Whether you’re looking to lose weight, tone up your muscles or just be in better shape generally, it requires lifestyle changes on both fronts for you to truly see the best results.

After setting up your home gym equipment, it’ll be easy to spend time each week running on a home treadmill like the True PS100 Home Treadmill or an elliptical machine like a True PS300 Home Elliptical. Or maybe you’re preparing for a cycling race and like to spend time on a stationary bike like the True ES9.0 Home Upright Bike. Whatever your chosen method of working out is, sticking to a plan and switching up your routine periodically keeps you motivated and focused.

When it comes to the diet part of a balanced lifestyle, things can become a little more complicated. Eating healthy itself is simple, but with so many options and diet trends on the market, it can be tricky to decide which method is right for you. One such option is the Paleo Diet, also known as the caveman diet.

What is a Paleo Diet?
The Paleo (short for paleolithic) Diet, or caveman, Stone Age or warrior diet, is a meal plan that utilizes meal ideas that were likely how cavemen ate about 10,000 years ago. This includes foods that were thought to be available before agriculture, like fruit, vegetables, fish, roots, eggs, nuts and lean meats. Grains, legumes, salt, refined sugar, processed oils and dairy are excluded from this of diet plan.

A recent study from researchers at both the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine and Lund University in Sweden found that there are actual health benefits to the Paleo Diet, such as lowering cholesterol and blood pressure, improving blood sugar control and helping people feel full even though they were eating fewer calories. After just 10 days on the Paleo Diet, participants in this study showed lower LDL cholesterol and triglycerides, better blood sugar metabolism and healthier blood pressure. Their diet consisted of meat, fish, poultry, eggs, fruits, vegetables, tree nuts, canola oil, mayonnaise and honey.

If you’ve been struggling with the meal planning portion of changing to a healthier lifestyle, the Paleo Diet might work for you. It offers guidelines and structure, creating an easy-to-follow method for creating balanced and delicious dishes.