Paleo Diet – Guest Blog

Is a new diet trend making Vegans think twice?

As the environment has become an increasingly important focus point for many, we have moved to meal planning which is eco-friendly.  One of the biggest moves for many was to cut back on the amount of meat they consume and take on a more vegetarian diet.  The goals behind this were to create a healthy diet, lose weight and contribute to the environment.  The latest diet trend, the Paleo diet, has effectively taken all of that and thrown it out with yesterday’s trash!  Wow!! Meat is good for us?? Eating meat helps sustain the environment??

The answer to these questions is an emphatic yes!  The new Paleo diet does encourage meat consumption and also contributes to the environment.  This new diet trend sent the demand for pork to a new national record high.  Although there are still many skeptics, the pros of the Paleo Diet drastically outweigh the cons. This new diet is very inviting!

Also known as “the Caveman diet”, the Paleo diet focuses on food sources which were available in the Paleolithic Era.  Although we do not have any recipe books left behind by the caveman, theory has it that they were hunter-gatherers only able to eat what they could find. The Paleo diet mimics this theory adding an emphasis on fresh fruit, fresh vegetables, and protein.  The Paleo diet is considered as a healthy diet based on the theory that cavemen had longer lifespans than lifespans today.

The Paleo diet became popular with a book called “Paleo Diet for Athletes” by Joe Friel and Loren Cordain.  In their book, they present a good argument explaining that we are consuming too many refined sugars, cereals, and diary products and too little lean meats, seafood, fresh fruit, and vegetables. They also support their argument with an article from the New England Journal of Medicine where the American Heart Association demonstrates that weight loss is more effective when the dieter follows a diet which is high in protein and low in carbohydrate.

Even vegetarians are becoming enthusiastic about the Paleo diet! They are beginning to realize that eating meat could be more environmentally-friendly and healthy than their current lifestyle.  For example, manure regenerates the soil and grazing promotes plant growth, so it might be better to eat grazing livestock. Another example is that the high demand for vegetable products is increasing the amount of deforestation.

Although the Paleo diet is not strictly a diet aimed at being environmentally friendly, the pro’s do out weigh the con’s — especially for those meat lovers who have been ignoring their caveman like desires to chomp into a juicy steak. Don’t fret — for you can now do so with a sound mind!  There are a few Paleo Diet variations, so it might be best to find the one that you feel most comfortable with. Surely there’s no harm in trying it out yourself?  You might even realize that your love of meat is in fact not only healthy but better for everyone!

James Kim is a writer for Unique Influence, a content service that publishes articles about trends, current events, and topics of interest.

Looks like MagicKitchen.com food could work well on this diet!

Melody MagicKitchen.com blogger.