The Paleo Plan, in a nutshell, from Nora's book (p.215). Greatly restrict or eliminate sugar and starch (preferably eliminating gluten completely); keep your grass-fed and wild-caught protein intake adequate; eat as many fibrous, "aboveground," non-starchy vegetables and greens as you like and eat as much "good" fat as you need to satisfy your appetite. Our physical and mental health can improve with this eating plan.

     Consuming a diet closely paralleling that of our ancient human ancestors is the best insurance we have to avoid dietary deficiency, mental illness, and cognitive decline. It is the optimal choice for our minds, emotions, immune systems and overall physiology. A balanced biochemistry through proper eating allows us to respond, rather than reaction, to the world around us. The purpose of a Paleo diet is to live fully, live healthfully, and live happily as long as we can.

     This is a summary of the research I have done so far on the Paleo Diet. I began eating Paleo when my sister and her husband changed to Paleo and saw extreme improvement in health. I decided I had to try it for at least a month and see if it helped heal my gut and marked my calendar on May 25 as the beginning date to ensure I didn’t suffer any longer than one month. However, it has been 10 weeks and I am still eating Paleo because I feel pretty good and have lost 33 pounds, so far. I have made many mistakes along the way (putting myself into extreme ketosis, not eating enough carbs and nutrients, eating dairy) but have settled into a way of eating that works for me. Everyone should listen to his or her own body and strive for optimal health according to personal chemistry. This is what works for me and this is what I have read so far that I found helpful.

     I try hard to eat 6 times a day, 3 meals and 3 snacks, to keep my blood sugar level and my energy constant. I eat a serving of protein, a couple of servings of vegetables, a salad and a little fruit for something sweet. I eat nuts and seeds for snacks and use coconut milk (unsweetened) instead of milk. I personally don’t tolerate dairy, but there are many dairy products one can eat on Paleo. Organic, grass-fed dairy is best as the more natural the product, the better the human body can process the food.

     Planning ahead is a key element to always feeling satisfied. I slowly removed everything I shouldn’t eat from the house so that there are only Paleo foods to choose from. I have a cooking day where I shop and then grill all of my meat and cook all my vegetables and then make single serving portions in plastic bags which I freeze so that I can grab my lunch for work or heat up a snack if I am feeling hungry. Salads are easy and quick, so having my protein and vegetables prepared makes it really easy.

     I recommend going cold-turkey and committing for 6 weeks to Paleo eating. The withdrawal from sugar and grain based, simple carbohydrates is wickedly painful and you can expect a raging headache and lethargy until your body has expelled all the toxins. I think 2 weeks was my point of starting to feel better from the withdrawal and could truly start a 4 week trial of the Paleo plan. A good 24-hour fast or detox might be a good plan if you have the will power. I have removed all grains and all sugar and all oils except for olive and coconut oil from my diet. Because I was already gluten-free, the grains weren’t as hard as I thought they would be to remove. I do miss them. I miss sugar as well, but fruit tastes sweeter and better now.

     The basic rule I follow: No sugar, twice the butter. Good fats are good for you and we are getting back to natural fat to help us feel satisfied and help our body with natural foods the body knows how to process. Everything we put in our body is either a toxin, a medicine or just neutral calories, so why not choose foods that help us rather than hurt us? Our body is then free to fight diseases and problems and help our metabolism instead of fighting the toxic food we are shoveling in so rapidly it cannot be processed and is stored as fat. Good fats include fattier cuts of meat or fish, nuts, seeds, avocados, coconut, butter, ghee, olives and olive oil.

     Cheat meals or days are highly recommended. I personally allow myself a cheat meal because I take advantage of a cheat day and feel terrible the next week. Because I have gluten issues, I do not eat gluten at all, even with a cheat meal. I highly recommend keeping a food and mood log to track what you are eating and how you are feeling so you can trace the foods that make you feel energetic or sick or depressed. The mind and the body are linked to what we eat.

     Paleo eating is not new but is gaining popularity again based on the scary rise of modern diseases from our modern way of eating.