The Paleo Diet could be very healthy or it could cause health problems.
Here are some of the pros and cons.
Pros Elimination of Processed, Packaged and Prepared Foods Processed, packaged and prepared foods are typically too high in sodium.
Excessive sodium consumption increases your risk of high blood pressure.
These foods also contain artificial preservatives and additives that could be bad for your long-term health.
There is evidence suggesting that food additives play a role in a variety of conditions, including ADHD, epilepsy and autism.
Canned foods and those in plastic packages may be contaminated with BPA, a plasticizer that is known to be an endocrine disruptor.
Endocrine disruptors interfere with growth and may have carcinogenic activity.
Reduced Risk of Heart Disease A reduced risk of heart disease could accompany any eating plan that is low in saturated fat, low in sodium and moderate in terms of calories.
Since fish is allowed on the Paleo diet, you could eat salmon.
I use salmon as an example, because it is rich in the omega-3 fatty acids that are good for the heart.
The number one source of saturated fat in the typical American diet is cheese.
Cheese would not be allowed in this eating plan.
Eliminating packaged, prepared and processed foods would reduce your sodium intake.
Sea salt would be allowed on the diet.
So, it is not necessarily low in sodium.
When it comes to calories, you would still need to monitor your calorie consumption.
This is not necessarily a low calorie eating plan.
Cons Difficult to Stick With Long-Term But Very Possible Unless you live like a caveman, it will be difficult for you to avoid advertisements for all of the modern foods that could be causing your health problems.
Even finding adequate supplies of the foods necessary for the eating plan can be a problem that makes it difficult to stick with for a long time.
Increased Risk of Food Poisoning Some, but not all of the people who follow the Paleo eating plan, promote using only raw or partially warmed foods.
This practice increases the risk of food poisoning.
Only cooking meat thoroughly kills e-coli and other bacteria that cause food poisoning.
These are some of the pros and cons of a Paleo Diet.
If followed closely, it may be very beneficial.
For more on Paleo Diets - Pros and Cons please click on the Paleo Diet link in the resource box below.