Ancient 'Paleo' diet key to healthy living and weight loss, some say

Friday, September 03, 2010 by: Jonathan Benson, staff writer
Tags: paleo diet, health, health news

(NaturalNews) Eat like a cave man to lose weight, build muscle and feel great. This is what advocates of the "Paleo" diet say is the key to healthy living, a diet that consists only of meat, vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds and mushrooms -- also known as the "Paleolithic", or Paleo diet.

A recent Chicago Tribune article tells the story of Rick Larson, co-owner of a West Sacramento, Calif., gym called CrossFit. Larson, a Paleo diet supporter, explains in the story that many of his gym members were getting great workouts, but that few were following healthy diets. After experiencing incredible success himself on the Paleo diet, he decided to offer the program to his members as well.

"For the first time in my life, I started to feel quite healthy. I didn't get any respiratory problems, my arthritis problems went away, and I felt like I gained more muscle mass," he explained in the report about his own experience. After 11 weeks on the diet, he was also able to drop excess weight and achieve a body fat percentage of 2.7.

Fifteen of Larson's gym members agreed to participate in the diet program and also experienced good results, including Santinia Pasquini, 33, who dropped eight pounds after just one week.

The key to the Paleo diet is to avoid all refined sugars, grains, dairy products, beans, legumes and anything processed. Though difficult, advocates say sticking to a Paleo diet fits the human genetic makeup better than most modern diets because it represents the foods that our ancestors ate and thrived on.

According to Johny Bowden, Ph.D., C.N.S., in his book The Most Effective Natural Cures on Earth: The Surprising, Unbiased Truth about What Treatments Work and Why, the Paleo diet has other benefits, including helping to clear up acne.

"[T]he Paleo Diet might not entirely clear up acne in every single person who has acne, but it will almost always have an important positive effect on blood sugar and weight," he says.

Sources for this story include:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/health/sns-hea...