Guest Post: Autumn Cavender
The Paleo Diet is often hailed as the “Caveman’s Diet”. Often, moving towards the future is something that’s beneficial for progress. For the Paleo Diet, this isn’t the case. How does looking far back in our ancient ways of life help us improve our current health and wellness?
When we look at the present statistics on lifestyle-related diseases, the results can be pretty alarming. Over 32.5% men and 35.5% of women now suffer from obesity, which can be translated to almost 1 out of 3 people in America! Just when you think these numbers are crazy, wait until you hear more: the current obesity rate in children rose to 18% compared to the 1970’s which was only 4%. The numbers are increasing, and they’re increasing exponentially.
The Major Lifestyle Problem: Being Overweight Or Obese
Now, what does obesity have to do with health? Size doesn’t matter, right? Yes, and no. Even if you may feel comfortable in your own skin, your body may be not. Apparently, obesity or being overweight leads to a number of health complications:
- Sleep Apnea – your air passageways can be blocked by surrounding excess fat. This can cause a lack of restful sleep, which we all know have its debilitating effects on the body.
- Obesity Hypoventilation Syndrome – excessive fat can also cause difficulty in breathing due to suppressed posture and constriction of the lungs due to fatty tissue. This can lead to a lack of supply of oxygen in the body, which may make you feel exhausted, lose mental focus, and have poor circulation.
- Diabetes – often people with obesity have high blood sugar, which causes insulin resistance. Diabetes presents a lot of complications which may even be deadly when not given prompt attention.
- Cancer – obesity is also tied to a number of cancers, namely: breast, colon, endometrium, esophagus, kidney, pancreas, and thyroid. Fat cells are high in Estrogen levels, which are conducive to some types of cancer cells.
- Cardiovascular diseases – fatty deposits in the bloodstream can cause blockages in the blood vessels, as well as the heart. This may cause complications such as heart attack, stroke, or blood vessel ruptures.
As you experience these symptoms, you may also notice a decreased quality of life, inability to do your usual routines, and a host of other mental or emotional issues. Indeed, having a poor diet is really considered a major lifestyle problem.
If these complications make you cringe, then maybe you’re just ready to hear the solution for obesity and being overweight: The Paleo Diet! What are the ways that Paleo Diet can help you lose weight, improve your health, and take control of your life?
What Are The Ways That The Paleo Diet Can Help Improve Your Life?
Is A kickstart To A Healthy Lifestyle
Perhaps you’ve been waiting for that “magical” moment to finally commit to a healthy lifestyle, but it seems that the turning point isn’t happening. The decision to commit to the Paleo Diet can help give a strong start to a healthy lifestyle. Since Paleo Diet involves clear-cut rules about what and what not to eat, you will be better disciplined to continue this commitment in other areas of your life.
Is Aimed To Give You The Right Nutrition That Your Body Needs
The body is compared to a complex machine–it functions well if it’s given the right elements for calibration. If a car needs fuel, engine oil, and other types of substances to run properly, the body needs nutritious food to be at its optimum state.
Taking in large amounts of unhealthy fats, processed sugars, and other chemicals you find in processed food will make your body experience malfunctions–hence the health complications mentioned above. The Paleo Diet gives you a proper guideline for consuming whole foods–which provide your body with the right nutrition sans the excess fats, sugars, and junk.
Can Give You Energy
Have you ever felt sluggish, unmotivated, and just plain tired after eating a bunch of fast food burgers and processed sugars? You shouldn’t be experiencing this in the Paleo Diet. The Paleo Diet derives energy from natural sources such as lean meat, citrus fruits, nuts, and fish.
Guess what happens if you have a boost of energy? Then you’ll be able to do many of the things you only wished to do when you were eating a pile of junk–like, maybe, skydiving, motocross, or rock climbing? Maybe not that extreme, but you get the idea.
Can Support Mental Clarity
As previously mentioned, the lack of a proper diet can cause a lack of mental clarity, and may even be a risk factor for mental health issues such as anxiety. The Paleo Diet is used in many programs, such as centers that have a holistic approach to addiction, mental health, and a host of other related problems.
Food options such as avocados, walnuts, blueberries, and salmon can help boost brain function and avoid the symptoms of mental health problems. It goes without saying that a healthy mind is a result of a healthy body.
Can Help You Regain Your Confidence
Weight loss is associated with self-perception and self-confidence, and a great way to get started on this goal is through changing your diet. Although surgeries and other medically-assisted procedures can help, the most holistic way you can do to change your appearance is by starting on a diet that not only helps you lose weight but also improves your health.
In turn, you will feel more confident about your body–you can now fit the clothes you’ve been staring for hours at the rack, you’ll be participating in social gatherings, and you feel like you don’t need to hide anything–that’s the magic that a healthy lifestyle can do.
Eat Your Way To Improvement, Start The Paleo Diet
For some, it may seem counterintuitive to eat when they’re suffering from health and weight issues. That’s the point of adopting a nutrititional, well-balanced diet–it’s not always about how much you eat, but it is also about what you eat.
As you discover more benefits of the Paleo Diet, you will realize that you can definitely eat your way to improvement.