Paleo & Primal Diet

Since the agricultural revolution, about 10,000 years ago, our diet has changed drastically. Before the agricultural revolution, our ancestors were hunters and gatherers who mainly ate wild animals and plants. After this revolution, humans started consuming more carbohydrates (sugars), gluten and less healthy fatty acids in the form of grains and dairy, which may have had an effect on the declining health of humans. Over the past 100 to 200 years, the change in our diet has accelerated even more, while we are also doing less and less physical activity. The paleo diet, also called the primal diet, is based on the eating and lifestyle from before the agricultural revolution. The paleo diet in its strictest form consists of fresh, natural products and is free of grains, legumes, dairy and processed foods. The essence of the diet consists of vegetables, sometimes fruit, natural fats, sometimes (a lot of) animal proteins and fish. Carbohydrates and sugars are also avoided. Can you kill, pick or eat it without cooking? Then it is paleo!

History of the primal diet

The paleo diet, also known as the primal diet, paleolithic diet, ancestral diet or caveman diet, is based on the food that our human ancestors ate in the paleolithic period. This was a period in history from 2.5 million to 10,000 years ago and ended when the agricultural revolution began. The idea behind the paleolithic diet is that modern humans have not changed genetically since the beginning of the agricultural revolution, and that it is more nutritious for our bodies to live and feed ourselves in the way that our paleolithic ancestors did. According to supporters, the human body is not built to process a lot of carbohydrates, sugars, salts, gluten and fats, and certainly not to process processed foods. The diet is therefore often referred to as a way of life rather than a diet. This lifestyle gained a lot of popularity in the 1970s, when various doctors and dieticians advocated this return to a paleolithic way of life.

How do you get started with the paleo diet?

If you would like to start the paleo diet, there are several steps you can follow to adopt this way of life. First, it is important to replace all processed products in your diet with something else. For everything you eat, ask yourself whether it was naturally available in prehistoric times and whether it is a processed product. For example, you will have to eliminate bread and other grain products, dairy, potatoes, beans, legumes, rice, manufactured oils and soft drinks from your diet. You also adjust your physical activity by eliminating as much inactivity as possible from your daily routine. Leave the car at home and walk or cycle to work and make sure you are also active in the evening. After all, it is not only about eating like a caveman, but also about moving like one! Then you can add foods to your diet so that your diet becomes more similar to that of cavemen from the Paleolithic period. For example, you can simply eat meat, fish, eggs, fruit, vegetables, nuts, seeds, bone broth and natural oils. You can also start doing sports and training more actively in this phase. Make sure you get enough rest, because stress and tension do not belong in a paleolithic lifestyle!

What are the benefits of the paleo diet?

Eating according to the paleo diet or primal diet has many advantages. For example, you mainly eat unprocessed, fresh and natural foods that are full of essential nutrients, making it a healthy lifestyle. In addition, you automatically exclude many unhealthy foods when you do not eat processed products. However, it is not the case that all processed products are unhealthy for you by definition. Furthermore, you become aware of your diet and lifestyle, which often automatically makes you eat healthier and exercise more. Because you eat relatively more proteins with this diet, your body uses more energy and you feel full more quickly. Eating proteins also ensures that you maintain your muscle mass, which is of course an additional advantage. Finally, you do not have to count calories and there is no portion control, which is experienced by many people as an advantage.

Bone broth

With the rise of the primal diet in the last century, the popularity of certain foods has also increased. Think of sweet potatoes, fermented products and bone broth. Bone broth in particular is very tasty and also very interesting to eat, since gelatin is not eaten much anymore these days. Bone broth is made by boiling the bones of cattle, chickens or calves into a thick jelly. Its use dates back to the Stone Age and archaeological finds all over the world have shown that our ancestors made broth from freshly caught animal food sources. Bone broth is very nutritious and is rich in gelatin, collagen, minerals and glucosamine.

Supplements That Fit the Paleo Diet

There are different variations and ideas about the paleo diet. This has to do with the fact that there is no clarity about what our ancestors from prehistoric times ate. With some variations, you can occasionally eat legumes, with other variations, a lot of meat is eaten, while other followers focus on a mainly plant-based diet. There is all kinds of information about this and there is always a form that suits you. At Ergomax you will find different supplements that can be used when you follow the paleo diet, primal diet or ancestral diet. In particular, products from Ancestral Supplements, such asBeef Liver – Grass FedorBeef Adrenal Gland with Liver – Grass Fedd fit well with an ancestral lifestyle, just likeBone broth – Pasture chickenandBone Broth – Grass-Fed Beeffrom Broth of Life. Also suitableGelatin - Collagen Hydrolysate - Wild Codfrom Ergomax andExtra Virgin Cod Liver Oilfrom Rosita on the primal diet.