How to Diet like a Caveman

The modern food industry is a wonderful thing. Through advances in science we can now feed millions more people on the same amount of land that once fed thousands. We lose fewer crops to disease and drought, and we can produce more bushels per acre than ever before. Our livestock are more healthy, the animals are less susceptible to disease, and they grow much larger (providing more food) than before antibiotics, steroids, and genetic engineering entered the picture.

Once the food enters our homes, we enjoy longer shelf life and easier preparation. Canned and dried goods can stay "fresh" literally for years. And it is quite possible to exist with no knowledge of cooking other than how to turn on the microwave.

With all of these modern advances one would think that the human species would be healthier, and better nourished, than ever in our history, but the truth is quite the opposite. While it is true that hunger is less of a problem in most of the developed world, we now face an obesity epidemic, and diabetes is growing ever more common. Disease and death from chronic overeating, and eating the wrong food, could be considered the major contributors making heart disease the leading cause of death in the United States.

By going back to the way our ancestors ate we can alleviate many of the causes of obesity, diabetes, and heart disease. This type of diet is also believed to drastically reduce incidents of cancer. The diet I’m talking about has been called many things. Some refer to it as the Hunter-Gatherer Diet, others call it the Paleolithic Diet, and in this article I’m referring to it simply as the Caveman Diet.

The Caveman Diet, as the name suggests, means we eat like a caveman; well sort of. What all of these diets prescribe is that we eat the way people ate before modern farming, ranching, or even agriculture existed. This type of diet means we eat what the human species evolved (or was created) to eat, before man learned how to place a seed in the ground or dig a crude irrigation ditch.

Hunter-Gatherer perhaps best describes the Caveman diet. If you can kill it or pick it, then that is what you eat. This is exactly what our pre-agriculture ancestors ate. In this type of diet any and all meat, including fish, poultry, beef, pork, etc. is on the menu. Also, most items that can be picked and eaten WITHOUT cooking, such as fruits and vegetables, are also on the menu. What we avoid is processed foods, added sugars, excessive salt and dairy products.

Specific items to avoid are:

• Grains - including bread, pasta, noodles (processed grains are thought to provide excessive carbohydrates that can damage our gastrointestinal tract. Other studies have show that carbohydrates are not as necessary as previously thought)
• Beans - including string beans, kidney beans, lentils, peanuts, snow-peas and peas (while very controversial, beans produce gastrointestinal problems and could result in a mineral deficiency)
• Potatoes
• Dairy Products
• Added Sugars
• Added Salt
• Canola Oil

Here is what you can eat:

• Beef, Poultry, and Fish
• Eggs
• Fruit
• Vegetables (except potatoes or sweet potatoes)
• Nuts such as walnuts, pecans, macadamia, and almond. (Do not eat peanuts, which are not actually a nut, but a bean.)
• All types of Berries
• Honey can be used as a sweetener
• Olive Oil

This type of diet is obviously extreme, and goes against most conventional wisdom. A change of this magnitude will also undoubtedly take some getting used to. Try starting with only one meal per day, with breakfast probably being the easiest place to incorporate it. As you become comfortable with your new diet for breakfast, then move on to other meals.

The goal of the Caveman Diet is to bring us back to the foods that the human body was intended to consume prior to man's ingenuity taking over. This type of diet is not without controversy, but the empirical evidence suggests that societies employing the Caveman Diet are thinner, healthier, and live longer, while greatly reducing heart disease, diabetes, and cancer.

Capstone Health and Fitness
Health, Fitness, and Diet Advice