Using the Paleo Diet for Fat Loss - Good Plan or Terrible Idea?

By Bobby James


It is natural to want to lose weight. Even if it's only a few pounds, it's something everyone wants. The best way to do this is to eat a healthy diet and have a good exercise regimen. But some people need more. They want to lose weight faster. This is exactly why we're deluded with fad diets. The inventors of these diets are well aware of this need so they come up with ways to give people what they want and profit from that. This is where the Paleo diet comes in. Whether or not this diet is a fad diet is still hotly debated. What's certain, though, is that it's an extremely popular diet program. So, will this diet work for you? Keep reading to find out!

A gastroenterologist named Walter L. Voegtlin is said to be the inventor of the Paleo diet. In 1975, Voegtlin had his book, The Stone Age Diet, published. In his book, he stated that humans are carnivores. He wrote in the book that man's meat eating habits started way back from the Paleolithic era. He stated that man's original diet consisted mainly of protein and fat, and not a lot of carbohydrates. Voegtlin made this conclusion based on what he saw on his own treatment of a variety of dietary ailments (e.g., IBS, Crohn's disease). Note, though, that Voegtlin is neither an archaeologist nor a historian.

You should know by now that any weight loss program needs to involve a good amount of exercise. So if you choose to do the Paleo diet, you need to exercise. Carbohydrates are only a small portion of the diet, and when we exercise, our body needs carbohydrates for energy. Luckily the diet isn't completely carbohydrate free. Still, you might want to adjust the ratio if you hope to really burn calories through the exercise that you need to do to stay healthy.

Most diets restrict the size of your meal portions. With healthy diet, however, portion size is relative. The size of your meals depends on how you're using the diet. Obviously if you want to use this diet to lose weight you are going to go with smaller portion sizes. But if you are following it for athletic purposes you might want to increase your portion sizes.

So should you get on the Paleo cookbooks diet? It's completely your decision. You'll find that this diet has a number of variants so you can easily move on to a different one if you find it's not something for you. Really, the only person who can tell you whether or not it will be good for your health is your doctor. If you want to lose weight, talk to your doctor to find out if this diet is right for you.




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