Anyone who has dieted knows that a low-fat, high-carbohydrate diet produces weight loss only in the short term. The conventionally recommended reduction in fat and protein causes the body’s metabolism to slow and stop weight loss. In dieting circles, this is called the plateau. It is actually the body’s survival response to a period it perceives as famine or possible starvation.
A Naturally Low-Carb Diet Promotes Optimum Weight
The original low-carb diet, (aka the Paleo Diet or Primal Blueprint), is naturally low in carbohydrates without limiting healthy carbs like fruits and vegetables. To lose weight on a low-carb paleo diet, you don't need to count carbohydrates, calories, or fats. You'll improve your overall health simply by eliminating unnatural foods, thus reducing the unhealthy fats and high-glycemic carbohydrates that lead to obesity and other chronic diseases.
The low-carb paleo diet eliminates foods that contribute to the diseases of Syndrome X, including obesity, while promoting foods, including healthy carbs, that prevent those diseases. You'll lose weight while eating all you want from the paleo food groups: meats and organs, fruits and vegetables, and healthy fats, without suffering the hunger and cravings of unnatural, restrictive diets.
Our need for fruit is responsible for our sweet cravings, so turn to fruit instead of refined sugar products to satisfy those natural cravings.
Protein and Fat are Key to Healthy Weight Loss
Perhaps the most important change you can make to your diet to promote weight loss is to include animal protein with every meal. Animal protein raises your metabolism causing you to burn more calories, it satisfies your appetite so you don’t overeat, and it improves insulin sensitivity.
The combining of plant proteins, in lieu of eating meats, significantly raises our carbohydrate intake. Animal proteins are more efficient for weight loss. All calories are not created equal. Our bodies burn calories from carbs and fats at a much lower rate than those from protein. Vegetarians might consider a Pescetarian Diet.
It is also important to eat adequate healthful fats. Fat provides the fatty acids necessary for proper cellular and brain functioning, and it allows us to metabolize nutrients from other sources. Like protein, fat also causes us to feel full and so helps with appetite control.
Exercise
While following the paleo diet, your weight will normalize over time. Adding exercise and decreasing caloric intake can speed up the process. Regular exercise improves insulin metabolism, increases good cholesterol, lowers blood pressure, strengthens heart and blood vessels, and reduces stress.Make physical exertion a regular part of your life by taking advantage of opportunities to use your body.
Sources:
Cordain, Loren. The Paleo Diet. Wiley, 2010.
Sisson, Mark. The Primal Blueprint. Primal Nutrition, Inc., 2012.
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