5 Tips from a Beginner's Guide to Paleo
Eating paleo can be tricky at first, but once you get the hang of it, it’s a lot easier than you think. We’ve rounded up five of our favorite beginner paleo recipes that are easy to prepare and will help you eat healthier than ever before! These quick and easy meals are sure to change your life, so give them a try!
1) Avoid Processed Sugar
When you eat processed sugar, your body sees it as poison and produces insulin to reduce its impact. Unfortunately, all those high doses of insulin force your body to store any excess calories as fat. The best way to avoid eating too much sugar is by sticking with naturally sweet foods like fruits and vegetables. In fact, many nutritionists recommend eating an entire rainbow of produce every day for optimum health—especially when it comes to weight loss.
2) Get Plenty of Protein
Protein is one of your body’s building blocks, and it’s also necessary for maintaining muscle mass. And because it takes more energy to digest protein than carbs or fat, you get more calories for fewer calories with high-protein foods. There are lots of ways to add more protein into your diet—including lean meat, poultry, fish, eggs, tofu and other soy products (like edamame). Snack on nuts when you feel like something small and crunchy.
3) Don’t Stress Over Fats
Omega-3 fats are often in short supply on paleo plans. But don’t sweat it—there are plenty of healthy ways to boost omega-3 consumption (such as walnuts, pumpkin seeds, flaxseeds and fish). Just be sure not to overdo it with polyunsaturated fats. The World Health Organization advises that people keep their daily intake of those fatty acids between 5 and 10 percent of total calories—and most western diets provide much more than that.
4) Skip The Grains
Grains are another group of food that’s often on people’s do not eat lists. But while they may not be paleo, that doesn’t mean they don’t have their place in your diet. People with celiac disease, for example, can benefit greatly from small amounts of grains as long as they also take precautions with how much gluten they eat and what other foods are on their plates at any given time.
5) Enjoy Healthy Oils
While coconut oil and olive oil are popular paleo-friendly oils, you may not be aware of their equally tasty cousins. Sesame, flaxseed, avocado and peanut oils are all full of monounsaturated fat (the good kind) and can be used in place of regular cooking oils as long as they’re stored in dark bottles away from heat and light.
conclusion
What is paleo? No, it’s not the Paleo Diet. It’s a way of eating that prioritizes foods high in nutritional value—and anything else is verboten. That might sound restrictive, but it really isn’t.
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