The Hunter Gatherer Diet-What to include and Avoid

The hunter gatherer diet, alternatively called ‘’the paleo diet’’, ‘’Paleolithic diet’’, ‘’the caveman diet’’, or ‘’Stone Age diet’’, will take you back 10,000 years, when our distant ancestors lived. They used to eat unprocessed food items, including vegetables, fruits, lean meats, fish, and other natural food sources. So this diet that specifies eating unprocessed or less processed food items is called the hunter gatherer diet. It’s designed to make your body stronger and healthier and will even possibly help you live a longer life. The hunter gatherer diet is one of those diets that people can easily adopt and follow routinely, without struggling to make it part of their everyday lives. Its concept is based on the principle that modern day food contains too many preservatives, salt and sugars that aren’t healthy for our well-being, and that by reverting to the way people ate before the advent of agriculture and modern methods of cooking we have a lot to gain.

For this reason, there are many benefits in following this diet plan: it helps to reduce body weight, maintain blood glucose levels, burn fat instead of carbohydrates, and much more.

Recommended Food Items

The food items included in this diet are rich in protein and contain very small amounts of carbohydrates or no carbohydrates at all. The main foods allowed in the hunter gatherer diet are fresh vegetables and fruits, with the inclusion of only natural herbs and spices. Many processed food items and root vegetables should be avoided, as they can’t be eaten without processing and they also contain preservatives damaging for one’s health. The caveman diet may, in a way, be complicated to follow as it eliminates many favorite food items, such as bread, sodas, snacks, and a lot of other treats that people are used to enjoying for so long. On the other hand, once you get used to it it’s easy to follow, and the health advantages it has over time are worth the effort and sacrifices.

Eggs, lean meat, and fish are highly recommended food items in the hunter gatherer diet plan. Apples, bananas, pineapples, grapes, pomegranates, oranges, and berries are the most important fruit included in this diet. Nearly all fruit – except those with high sugar content – are allowed.

Fresh vegetables such as bell peppers, spinach, tomatoes, asparagus, carrots, broccoli, and cabbage are just a few that are highly recommended in the hunter gatherer diet. Vegetables such as potatoes and sweet yams should also be removed from your food list as they can’t be eaten without processing. The important thing to take note of is that processed foods, fruits with high sugar content, and root vegetables should be excluded. The paleo diet works in a way that teaches your body to burn its most favorite fuel: fat. For this reason, it makes sure you reduce the amount of carbs you consume, since nowadays our bodies have learned to burn carbs instead of fat and store the latter for emergency cases, out of instinct, resulting in weight problems and obesity.

Dairy Products Are A No-No

In addition, dairy products such as milk, yoghurt, and cheese should be completely removed from your table if you’re following the hunter gatherer diet plan. Milk is an example of a processed food product, and processed yoghurt and cheeses only came about due to advances in agricultural technology and modern cooking habits. They are therefore excluded, considering that our ancestors would not have eaten such kinds of foods. The paleo diet prefers natural foods that can’t damage or burden our bodies in any way.

Excluded From the Hunter Gatherer Diet

Grains and gluten from bread, noodles, pasta, and cereals are also food items that have always been part of our daily diet, but unfortunately they should be eliminated if you wish to adopt the hunter gatherer diet plan. This is one of the main reasons why many people find it difficult to follow the paleo diet. If you’re used to eating cereal for breakfast, rice or sandwiches for lunch, and pasta for dinner, then you have to drastically change your menu as none of these is included in the paleo diet! Grains are prohibited because they are associated with many health problems. The same applied to alcoholic beverages, coffee, and other fermented beverages that should also be removed from your diet plan.