Read The Paleo Diet for Free Online Page B

you’re doing it.
    Here’s how the Paleo Diet compares to the faddish low-carbohydrate diets we discussed in the previous chapter.

    Item
The Paleo Diet
Fad Low-Carb Diets
Protein
High (19-35%)
Moderate (18-23%)
Carbohydrate
Moderate (22-40%)
Low (4 -26%)
Total fat
Moderate (28-47%)
High (51-78%)
Saturated fat
Moderate
High
Monounsaturated fat
High
Moderate
Polyunsaturated fat
Moderate
Moderate
Omega 3 fat
High
Low
Total fiber
High
Low
Fruits and vegetables
High
Low
Nuts and seeds
Moderate
Low
Salt
Low
High
Refined sugars
Low
Low
Dairy foods
None
High

The Fundamentals of the Paleo Diet
    The Paleo Diet is based on the bedrock of Stone Age diets:
    Eat lots of lean meats, fresh fruits,
and vegetables
    From the work my research team and I have done in analyzing the daily food intake of hunter-gatherer societies, we have found the ideal dietary ratio. Although you don’t need to count calories with the Paleo Diet, if you did you’d find that a little more than half—55 percent—of your calories comes from lean meats, organ meats, fish, and seafood. The balance comes from fresh fruits and vegetables, some nuts, and healthful oils.
    My research team and I have spent years analyzing what Paleolithic humans ate—running hundreds of computerized analyses exploring every conceivable dietary component, varying the amounts and types of plant and animal foods that were available to our ancient ancestors. No matter how we mixed up the ingredients, seven dietary characteristics consistently emerged. They are the Seven Keys of the Paleo Diet—your guidelines to weight loss and good health.

The Seven Keys of the Paleo Diet
    1. Eat a relatively high amount of animal protein compared to that in the typical American diet.
    2. Eat fewer carbohydrates than most modern diets recommend, but eat lots of good carbohydrates—from fruits and vegetables, not from grains, starchy tubers, and refined sugars.
    3. Eat a large amount of fiber from nonstarchy fruits and vegetables.
    4. Eat a moderate amount of fat, with more good (monounsaturated and polyunsaturated) fats than bad (trans and certain saturated) fats, and nearly equal amounts of omega 3 and omega 6 fats.
    5. Eat foods with a high potassium content and a low sodium content.
    6. Eat a diet with a net alkaline load.
    7. Eat foods rich in plant phytochemicals, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants.
    The Seven Keys optimize health, minimize the risk of chronic disease, and cause excess weight to melt away. This is the way we’re genetically programmed to eat.

Just the Foods You Can Hunt and Gather at Your Supermarket
    You don’t have to eat wild game meat (unless you want to) to achieve the same health benefits that kept the world’s hunter-gatherers free from the chronic diseases of civilization. The mainstays of the Paleo Diet are the lean meats, organ meats, and fish and seafood that are available at your local supermarket.
    Here are some high-protein foods that are part of the Paleo Diet:
    • Skinless turkey breast (94 percent protein)
    • Shrimp (90 percent protein)
    • Red snapper (87 percent protein)
    • Crab (86 percent protein)
    • Halibut (80 percent protein)
    • Beef sweetbreads (77 percent protein)
    • Steamed clams (73 percent protein)
    • Lean pork tenderloin (72 percent protein)
    • Beef heart (69 percent protein)
    • Broiled tuna (68 percent protein)
    • Veal steak (68 percent protein)
    • Sirloin beef steak (65 percent protein)
    • Chicken livers (65 percent protein)
    • Skinless chicken breasts (63 percent protein)
    • Beef liver (63 percent protein)
    • Lean beef flank steak (62 percent protein)
    • Lean pork chops (62 percent protein)
    • Mussels (58 percent protein)
    Although you may think of hamburger, eggs, cheese, milk, and legumes as high-protein foods, think again. None of these foods can hold a candle to lean meat and fish when it comes to protein content.
    • Eggs (34 percent protein)
    • Cheeses (28 percent protein)
    • Legumes (27 percent