Nowadays, it seems like there’s always a diet trend that promises to keep you healthy and make you lose weight. However, do these diets really deliver on their promises? Or are they just passing trends?
Is the Paleo Diet really healthy?
According to Paleo diet proponent Robb Wolf, the Paleo diet in a nutshell means that you need to eat fruits, vegetables, lean meat, seafood, nuts, seeds, and healthy fats. Basically, it means eating the food that our caveman ancestors ate, hence the Paleo diet.
However, Professor Helen Truby, Nutrition and Dietetics head at Monash says otherwise. She says that the trendy paleo diet might be “too extreme”. She adds that people nowadays “no longer have a lifestyle that’s like a caveman so eating like one is probably not a great idea.”
Based on a study conducted by the University of Melbourne, they found that the high fat and low carb food that’s required by the Paleo diet can cause rapid weight gain and health problems in as little as 8 weeks. They add that this weight gain mostly happens to inactive individuals on the diet.
The Paleo diet is harmful for people with diabetes or pre-diabetes
According to the UC Davis Health System, extreme Paleo diets can cause a deficiency in vitamin D and calcium, which can harm a person’s bone health. It can also be harmful for people that have diabetes or have been diagnosed with pre-diabetes.
Professor Truby also shared, “There are a lot of diets that are very extreme, very stringent paleo types of diets aren’t great.”
She adds, “Some of the things with super foods is … the experiments have been done on single items, rather than a whole of diet; it’s very difficult to say that one thing is actually going to really make a huge difference in a diet that’s not that good.”
“A lot of the chronic diseases that we have, that people suffer from, can actually be prevented in part by lifestyle choices and by good diet in particular,” Professor Truby shares.
What food should I feed my family?
The most important thing that you should consider when it comes to what food your family should eat is to make sure that they are eating a balanced diet that has all the vitamins, nutrients, as well as providing the energy that they need daily.
Here are a few of the types of food that your family needs:
- Fruits and vegetables – Fruits and vegetables provide your body with essential vitamins as well as fiber for digestion. Make sure to give your family fruits and vegetables everyday.
- Proteins – Proteins are essential for building muscle and it also repairs your body. You can get protein from meat, beans, or tofu.
- Whole grains/wheat – Whole grains and wheat gives your body fiber for digestion. They also help protect your heart, and they can make you feel full.
- Dairy – Dairy is important to keep your bones healthy. Dairy products such as milk or cheese provide calcium and vitamin D that your body needs.
READ: The healthiest diets around the world and what they have in common
Sources: pubs.ext.vt.edu, abc.net.au, parentherald.com
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