Paleo Diet for Weight Loss

The primary reasons people begin eating the paleo way are to lose weight or to attain ultimate physical fitness.  Trainers of CrossFit, an intense exercise craze started in California, encourage CrossFitters to pursue the paleo diet for weight loss and vitality.  And, with plenty of scientific research backing the diet’s beneficial properties, the paleo diet is a healthy, delicious way to lose weight and look your best.

According to paleo enthusiasts, the diet alone is enough to help you lose weight.  By eating a diet that is naturally void of simple carbohydrates, dairy, and refined sugar and sweets, your body will easily let go of fat.  With a plate full of fruits and vegetables, your calorie consumption will automatically be lower than if you exchanged those vegetables for high-calorie French fries or ate beef or bacon instead of a serving of leaner meat, such as fish or chicken.

The paleo diet will also help you lose weight by making you feel satisfied, causing you to eat less and crave less junk food.  With a standard diet that allows fatty meat, sweets, and grains, your diet consists of more fat and calories while providing only minimal nutrition, leaving your body feeling unfulfilled and craving more nutrition.  Thus, with a standard American diet, you will eat more.  With the paleo diet, you eat low-calorie, high-nutritional foods, so your body gets plenty of the nutrients and minerals it needs.  When the body is satisfied nutritionally, your stomach is satisfied and you will feel less like mindlessly snacking or overindulging.

Fat cells in your body respond to the types of food you eat, and are responsible for releasing Leptin, a hormone that lets your body know when you have had enough.  Research has shown that when you eat a diet high in carbohydrates, such as the Standard American Diet, your body experiences frequent bursts of insulin.  Eventually, your body becomes resistant to insulin, and you need more leptin (and more fat cells) to convince your body you are full.  The result is eating more food to feel the effects of the Leptin.  Thus, you gain weight.  With the paleo diet, you will cut out those carbohydrates and retrain your body to be sensitive to Leptin, and fat will naturally decrease.

The paleo diet will also provide you with more sustained energy to get you through your workouts.  If you want to lose weight, you need to exercise, and exercising can be hard when you are feeling sluggish and heavy from a less than superb diet.  The paleo diet, however, feeds your cells the nutrition they need and increases your energy.  Your blood sugar will stabilize on the paleo diet, so you won’t have to deal with spikes and dips in energy.  Because of your newfound energy, you will be able to increase the intensity of your workouts once you have transitioned to a paleo diet, ultimately leading to loss of excess body fat.

Transitioning to the paleo diet will automatically help you lose weight by regulating blood sugar and insulin resistance, helping your body feel full and fully nutrient-rich, and decreasing the amount of refined sugars and excess carbohydrates in your diet.  Your workouts will be easier and your body will naturally respond to the diet’s energy-giving nature.