The Paleo Diet: 13 Facts About Eating Like A Hunter-Gatherer
Eat like a Neanderthal? It doesn’t sound appealing on first read, but the so-called paleo diet — supposedly influenced by the way our hunter-gatherer ancestors ate — has become increasingly popular over the past few years.
There are a lot of misconceptions about the diet, and some variations among those who follow it, but at its core it’s a diet based on healthy animal protein, nuts, and vegetables, with no or restricted grains and legumes, seed oils, and high-sugar fruits and vegetables.
“It’s a nutrient dense, hypoallergenic way to eat,” says Toronto’s Sarah Ramsden, a nutritionist and paleo fan. Ramsden changed her diet after receiving a diagnosis of multiple sclerosis, an autoimmune disorder, about five years ago. One year after being diagnosed, Ramsden turned down medication for the condition.
“I wasn’t really wanting or willing to be on medication for the rest of my life,” she says. Instead, she turned to paleo, and says that eating a whole, unprocessed, low-inflammation diet has changed her health tremendously — something that inspired her to study nutrition and led to her current career.