|
 |
| |
The Cave Man Diet
This is officially known as the 'Paleolithic Diet'. In a nut shell (excuse the pun), this diet is based around the food groups that our primitive ancestors consumed, before the agricultural revolution about 12,000 years ago. The rationale goes that the human body adapts genetically through environmental changes very slowly - about every 100,000 years. If we've only been eating crop-based food for around 12,000 years and refined, factory-based food for around 200 years, then our digestive systems are a long way from adapting to either of these foods, as opposed to the foods that we've been consuming for millions of years.
Here's the list of foods you wouldn't find on the cave man's menu:
• Grains - including bread, pasta, rice and noodles
• Potatoes
• Beans
• Dairy products
• Sugars
• Alcohol
• Caffeine
• Especially all refined and processed carbohydrates and junk foods.
What the cave man eats:
• Red meat, poultry and fish
• Fruits and vegetables - especially root vegetables such as carrots, beetroot, turnips, radishes, celeriac, etc.
• Nuts (except peanuts or cashews) and seeds
• Berries
• Eggs - yes, even the yolks
Yours truly is on Day 7 of this diet as I write, and here are some modifications and exceptions I've made to suit my lifestyle and tastes.
• Grains - For breakfast I sometimes have porridge made with organic thick rolled oats, quinoa and oat bran. Mixed with almond milk and blueberries, this is the only grain-based carbohydrate food I eat, and only in the mornings. High in nutrition, low on calories, and great before a run or a bike ride.
• Caffeine - I refuse to give up my early morning espresso. Period.
• Alcohol - For the month of this diet, I'll stick to red wine only with some evening meals.
The usual common sense rules apply and I'm eating every 3 hours, trying to consume a blend of quality proteins, carbohydrates and fats with each meal.
The thing to remember about successful changes to your diet is to avoid becoming a fanatic. It's ok to fall off the wagon occasionally.
by David Menhennett
David Menhennett is Training Manager at Pure Fitness and hails from a martial arts background that includes freestyle karate, judo, kung fu and kick-boxing. He became a full-time personal trainer in 1999 and was based in Sydney, Australia before moving to Thailand for resort work at the end of 2002. He now resides in Hong Kong, loving its fast pace and unique energy.
David is a qualified trainer and educator for NASM, specialises in postural based exercise and integrated stabilisation training, and teaches Fit Ball and Les Mills RPM.
>> More about David
|
|
|
