A Paleolithic diet is a diet that is based on the traditional eating habits of early humans. It is commonly referred to as a Paleo diet or a Paleodiet. As its name suggests, this form of dieting is based on the dietary habits of humans who lived during the stone age. This nutritional concept is based on the belief that the dietary needs of human beings are the same as they were during the Paleolithic era and that we can benefit by acknowledging this and adjusting our diets accordingly.
Although the concept is inspired by traditional and natural foods from the Paleolithic era the contemporary Paleo diet consists of foods that are currently and commonly available. A typical Paleo Meal plan does not include grains, dairy food, processed oil or refined salt and sugar. Many of the foods that are excluded from the diet are substituted with acceptable alternatives. Honey is sometimes used as a sweetener instead of processed sugar and almond flour is considered to be a viable alternative to other common ingredients such as wheat flour.
There are quite a few popular diets that somewhat embrace the concepts of the Paleo inspired diet that have been adjusted to include some foods that are not recommended to followers of a 100% Paleolithic diet. Many dieter have claimed improved health and weight loss as a result of designing and following a Paleo meal plan. Statistics have shown that most modern diets do not work over the long-term because dieters who have been successful in achieving weight loss targets tend to regain some or all of the weight they have lost. A Paleolithic diet involves removing certain foods from the diet forever, this means that dieters change their eating habits permanently instead of temporarily.
This nutritional method first became popular in the 70s, since then it has been adapted and altered by many different authors and researchers. There are many recipes around that can be used by those wishing to formulate Paleo meal plans and lots of for and against arguments about the value of the nutritional concept in general. It is said that during the Paleolithic era when human beings did consume this type of diet certain diseases rates were not as common as they are now despite the medical advances of modern society.
The first person to suggest that following a Paleo meal plan could indeed be beneficial was a gastroenterologist by the name of Walter Voegtlin. In 1975 he self published a book that was based on his own studies and argued that because humans are carnivores they are best suited to a carnivorous diet such as the one that was eaten by ancestral stone age humans. Modern Paleolithic based diet plans allow for the fact that not all of the foods that were eaten by our ancestors are readily available and when necessary modern substitutions are made.