Myths On The Food Pyramid – Do They Really Exist?
The recent news that the US Department of Agriculture is recommending that we eat 16 servings of grains with 3 servings of proteins per meal seems to be a bolts out of daime. Well, I guess you could say that.
The new recommendations are down right scary. Gone are the days when one or two servings of whole grains were considered the bare minimum to be healthy. No, we are talking about mega servings here. Four or five servings of whole grains a day will now be recommended.
along with these new guidelines comes a new figure about serving sizes. This is much smaller than the old one. I have to question the new figure and whether it is justified. Are we now going to see the replacing of the humble white bread with bagged rice?
Along with these new guidelines, there are some other changes as well. The Mediterranean diet is now getting lumped in with the other “lifestyle” diets, with Atkins and the paleo diets to name a few.
It seems as though more and more people are stuck with the same three meals a day, seven days a week. With the new school of thought on eating, we are now seeing the Paleo diet become a lot more popular. This is not to say that you cannot eat meat and cheese sandwiches on a Paleo diet – you can definitely enjoy those meals. It is just about setting a few realistic goals and then developing a healthy lifestyle.
So what exactly is a Paleo diet?
The Paleo diet is set up on giving a balance of nutrients. In fact, scientists say that our modern diet is actually far from natural. In the past, people did not eat harmful preservatives, artificial chemicals and food additives. They ate all natural foods.ruits and vegetables were not processed, were unprocessed and were therefore organic.
Today, however, our food stuffs are stuffed with chemicals. We add butter and other oils to make fried foods more appealing. We process our fruits and veggies to make them look more appealing. We use artificial chemicals to make tomatoes more resistant to disease and bigger and juicier.
This is not natural. Our modern foods are thoroughlyprocessed, and unfortunately this process doesn’t leave us with a quality product. In fact, the quality of our food has gone down. However, when you eat Paleo diet foods, you are assured that you are eating real food.
For instance, did you know that adding a bit of coconut oil to your diet can lower your cholesterol by up to 15%? Or that adding fish oil to your diet can lower your risk of developing heart disease? It’s true! With the Paleo diet, you are assured that you aren’t making your body accumulate toxins. Your body becomes more energetic, your mood improves, and you don’t suffer from fatigue or aches.
Now you might be asking – “If I am not gaining weight, I don’t need to do anything different, right?” Well, you areREADY! For instance, you might find yourself experiencing changes in your weight. These dramatic weight changes are caused by the Paleo diet as it institutes a cleansing diet, which means you cleanse your body of toxins and restore that balance which nature has bestowed upon us. As you progress on the Paleo diet, you will be able to lose even more weight, while still maintaining it if you were to add more Paleo foods to your diet.
This is where eating Paleo foods will really pay off. You will find that even though you eat meat, dairy products, eggs and fats, you are consuming most of these in your diet. Meat, in particular, is given to you in such high esteem that you will find it difficult to break it off. With the Paleo diet, you will find that eating meat is not the problem you have. Chances are that you will feel great as you look and feel better, and will not have to worry about living much longer than your body is meant to live.
As you can see, Paleo foods are certainly something that you can benefit from. There is a lot of speculation on exactly how the Paleo diet will perform, but there isn’t any other scientific proof that these foods are highly effective. What they do is giving you an idea of how a certain lifestyle should be lived as part of your overall health, and it should be part of your life from this day forward. You may find that you have to alter your diet, but the overall decision is one you can’t really reverse. Once you get into a Paleo diet, you really have no choice but to make the best out of life, and this is a lifestyle change that can ultimately provide centuries of healthful benefits for your entire family.