Five Reasons to Go Paleo in 2017

Spoiler – the Paleo diet isn’t about throwing it waaaaay back to our Paleolithic ancestors because they were so much healthier and happier. At its simplest, going Paleo is about searching for what truly works for your body. And it’s a safe bet that a diet low in toxins and rich in high-quality nutrients – in other words, a Paleo diet – is going to work for you. Let’s look at five reasons why.

1. You’ll start thinking about the quality of your food.

A perpetual myth in the weight-loss world is the notion of calories in/calories out. It doesn’t matter what you’re eating, as long as you’re not eating too much of it. But you can blow up that theory in a heartbeat. If you ate 2500 calories from cakes and cookies every day for the next six months, how would you look and feel? If you ate 2500 calories in veggies and proteins every day for the next six months, how would that compare?

Going Paleo means looking for the best quality food, and that means a bit of sleuthing, which is a great way to reconnect with food sources. So many of us forget that our foods all start somewhere – as an animal, in the ground – and getting to know the butcher or becoming a regular at the co-op or farmer’s market can be really grounding.

2. You’ll limit toxins.

And boy, are there a whole lot of toxins in today’s over-processed foods – stuff like pesticides, industrial seed oils, gluten, chemicals, sugars, all of which limit our bodies’ abilities to function properly. Reducing the ingestion of these toxins is one of the biggest reasons to consider adopting a Paleo lifestyle.

3. You’ll boost nutrients.

A crazy percentage of Americans are considered malnourished. And it isn’t because they aren’t eating enough. Appallingly, it’s because they’re eating foods that may taste good but lack anything in the way of nutrition. The upshot? A generation of malnourished folks and an alarming epidemic of disability and disease. It isn’t just contributing to big health problems – diabetes, heart disease – but also to issues like constant colds, exhaustion, digestive problems and skin conditions. You know, the stuff typically associated with people who can’t afford to eat well.

When you go Paleo, a big focus is on eating nutrient-rich foods like healthy fats, vitamins, minerals, lean proteins – the kind of stuff our bodies need to function at an optimal level, and the kind of stuff that’s missing from the average diet. When your meals are primarily made up of processed grains, sugars and legumes, you have a nutrient problem.

4. You’ll have science to back you up.

It’s easy to find statistics to support almost any argument, but there’s a solid amount of noncontroversial science to support the benefits of eating whole foods. Just look around – industrially processed foods are doing no one any favors. It causes overindulgence, messes with hormones, disrupts digestive function – the list goes on and on. Going Paleo isn’t going to fix everything for everybody, but there’s plenty of scientific research to back up the argument that it’s going to help.

5. You’ll be a believer soon enough.

The vast majority of folks adopting a Paleo lifestyle notice a significant difference in the way they feel, and it’s enough of a game changer that they’re hooked. If you’re interested in enough in going Paleo that you’ve read this far, you can stop right here. Try it yourself, and then make the call based on your own reaction to it.

Wondering where to begin? You can start by clearing out the nutrient-void crap in your cupboard, picking out a few easy recipes over at paleonick.com and stocking the freezer with a little Paleo insurance. And stay tuned – we have a lot to say about going Paleo.