What is the hype with Paleo?

It seems that everywhere you turn; someone is talking about the Paleo Diet. In general, I like to stay away from any fad diets and encourage “everything in moderation”. However, when I continuously hear about something, I have to know more about it! So after doing a little research, I am here to report that it seems like an easy to follow diet that involves little to no risk health-wise.

The basic premise is that our ancestors (cavemen) followed a hunter/gatherer approach to eating. During these times, it is said that there was little to no obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. The idea of the diet is to embrace this lifestyle to better your overall health.

Foods that can be consumed are meats, seafood, veggies, fruits, nuts, seeds, eggs, and healthy oils (i.e. olive, flaxseed, etc.). Things not allowed include anything processed, dairy, grain, and refined sugars. The diet does allow 3 non-Paleo meals per week though. All of this sounds pretty healthy to me and easy to follow except for giving up dairy/grain! I will have to explore this further as dairy and grain have been recently in the spotlight and questioned by many health experts.

Aside from what I know about the actual diet description, I do know that it can help with weight loss. I have many personal friends who have lost weight with the diet and claim that it is wonderful. However, in order for me to give an honest opinion on something, I need to experience it. Starting tomorrow, I will try the diet for 7 days in order to give a full report on what it is like to follow this diet. I feel once I have completed a week, I can report more honestly what the hype is about the Paleo Diet.