Ever heard of the paleo diet? No? Not bad. There are now many popular food trends - veganism, vegetarianism, Low Carb. The range is wide.

Paleo is definitely one of the most popular. For a few years people have been relying more and more on Stone Age nutrition: vegetables, meat and fruit instead of sweets and pasta!

But is the Paleo diet healthy? And to what extent is it suitable for meal prep recipes?

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Stone Age?

Paleo comes from the Greek and can be derived from “Palaeolithic”. This is the technical term for Paleolithic. Paleo describes a form of nutrition that is based on the “hunter” and “gatherer”-principle oriented: i.e. as natural as possible.

Cereals, legumes and dairy products are no longer available. So it's less of a diet as you normally know it, but rather a form of nutrition that is supposed to keep you healthy.

Today's blog post is about what's on the menu and what benefits this diet entails brings.

The menu

So to speak, everything that was before is on the plan: fish, meat, vegetables, nuts and fruit. The idea behind it: the human organism is still adjusted to the "Stone Age" diet. That is, “original” and “natural” foods are considered species-appropriate and healthy.

Everything that people used to hunt, pick or fish is allowed in the Paleo diet. carbohydrates include potatoes and rice .

The “allowed” foods include:

1. Fish and meat
2. Honey
3. maple syrup
4. Nuts and seeds
5. Vegetables
6. fruit
7. Healthy fats (e.g. walnut, or olive oil, coconut oil)
8. eggs

The “prohibited” foods include:

1. Pulses, including soy products
2. Dairy products
3. Grain products such as pasta, couscous, cakes, special white flour
4. any additives
5. refined oils and fats
6. Sugar and sweets
7. Alcohol, soft drinks or coffee

The benefits

As you can already see from the menu just listed, there are definitely many fruit and vegetable varieties as well as organic meat, fish and healthy fats on the list.That sounds great, doesn't it?

Paleo is not necessarily about avoiding certain foods, but rather a change in diet to a health and fitness to pursue lifestyle

Another important and interesting factor that also belongs to the Paleo diet is exercise. Here, too, Paleo “followers” ​​like to take Stone Age people as role models. Physical activity is essential for a healthy body and mind.

The diet and lifestyle of our modern western world is considered very unhealthy, since more and more people with processed food, as well as high sugar consumption and Lack of exercise.

How does Paleo really work?

We have compiled various results from scientific studies in order to be able to give you a better understanding of how the Paleo diet affects your body.

• After twelve weeks Paleo diet, it was found that the insulin sensitivity of the subjects with Type 2 diabetes improved by approximately 45 percent.
• Test subjects with increased cholesterol levels showed improved blood lipid levels.
• A study of overweight women found that fat percentage, as well as body weight and waist circumference within two years reduced significantly.

Because you absorb many nutrients through plenty of vegetables, nuts and fruit, your performance- and Ability to concentrate, your sleep, as well as your skin and your digestion be influenced positively.

Disadvantages?

As great as it all sounds - unfortunately the claim that the human organism is still designed for Stone Age nutrition has not yet been scientifically proven.

Critics and experts point out that increased protein consumption increases the risk of arteriosclerosis and gout unfortunately cannot be ruled out. We therefore definitely recommend a regular check of your nutrient supply using a blood count with your treating doctor. Clarify or observe with the doctor whether this diet could be suitable for you.

Abandoning milk and whole grain products can also have negative consequences because valuable calcium, B vitamins and iodine fall by the wayside.

This is how you can make the transition!

If you would still like to try the Paleo diet, we have the following tips for you to make the changeover a success.

1. Don't change your diet overnight, but step by step - just cut out one food after the other.
2. Since we mentioned earlier that iodine deficiency can occur, we also recommend using salt fortified with iodine when cooking.
3. Also make sure not to eat too much meat, but instead focus on vegetables and fish
4. Feel free to access vegetables that you don't know yet!
5. If it's too difficult to avoid dairy and grain products, you're welcome to use homemade Paleo bread. Milk alternatives would be nut drinks made from almonds or hazelnuts, for example.

Conclusion

What clearly speaks in favor of the Paleo diet is the fact that it is based on natural and fresh high-quality products. Depending on this, you can also optionally customize products. For example, some people give up sugar and grains, but not milk.

So you have a certain flexibility and can adapt the respective ingredients to your needs.

An advantage is definitely that the diet as a whole has a high proportion of vegetables and a amount of healthy fats (nuts, seeds, fish).

In order to be able to integrate the Paleo diet into your everyday life, we also recommend that you try meal prepping. Meal Prepping is a way of “pre-cooking” your favorite meals. Ideally, these should last a few days and you no longer have to worry about what you want to eat in the near future. You practically cook for stock.

For Paleo Meal Prep implementation and preparation, it is definitely a good idea to have a certain inventory at home. These include suitable lunch boxes, bento boxes or special Meal Prep Boxes. These should be leakproof and airtight.

Are you still unsure? Feel free to visit our purchasing advisor! We're happy to help!

If you have any further questions for us and our team, please get in touch using the contact form! We look forward to seeing you!

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