Eat Healthy Like the Caveman

The skeletal remains of early humans during the Paleolithic age show that they were more strong boned and muscular than the human remains in the later geologic periods. This gave rise to the conclusion that the foods people ate during the Stone Age served to prevent excess weight and promote good health. Modern are thus well-advised to eat healthy like the caveman.Eating as the caveman did means sticking to a diet that consists of animal meat, fish, fruits and vegetables in their most basic forms. You should pick your meals on the assumption that they were the kind available to man when there was as yet no agriculture system and chemical additives and processing were not yet invented.Paleo FoodsIn the Paleolithic diet, the chief protein source was meat that came from lean animals that roamed in the wilderness and hence contained less fat. The caveman also ate a lot of fish and fowl, including insects. For the other sources of nutrition, the caveman gathered fruits and vegetables, non-starchy roots and tubers. Other sources of vitamins were nuts and berries.Sources of ProteinMost of the protein intake of the caveman came from undomesticated animals that fed on grass. For this reason, the caveman had an estimated cholesterol level of only 125 milligram per deciliter of blood as against 200 mg of modern man. This is only to be expected since domestication of animals increases their content of saturated fats. When man consumes the meat from such animals, this also drives up his blood cholesterol levels.Sources of carbohydratesThe caveman sourced his carbohydrates mostly from fruits and vegetables and less from grains. One study showed that more than 100 kinds of fruits and vegetables were consumed by the early humans. We must do the same if we want to be as strong and muscle-bound as the cavemen.Sources of fiberThe Paleo diet derives its dietary fiber also from fruits, roots, nuts and other non-cereal food plants. Fiber is essential in the proper functioning of the digestive system. Modern man frequently complains of a bum stomach because he gets his fiber supply mostly from cereals and grains, whose acid content disrupts food absorption in the digestive tract.Sources of vitamins and mineralsMeat from game animals and food from wild plants gave the caveman higher levels of vitamins and minerals on top of his supply of protein and carbohydrates. This happened because the cavemen ate their meats and food plants right after the animals were hunted and the plants gathered, with virtually no cooking and certainly no processing.Foods to AvoidThe foods to avoid that are not in the Paleo diet are any processed foods. These include canned and frozen foods as well as snack foods. You may have sugar, salt and all kinds of dairy and grains but only in moderate amounts.