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PALEO DIET, MEDITTERANEAN DIET OR INTERMITTENT FASTING: STUDIES SHOW WHICH IS BETTER

By Şubat 3, 2020 No Comments

Most healthy eating plans work under perfect conditions. You just follow the guidelines, and then a trimmer, healthier you!

  1. Paleo

 

The Paleolithic diet, caveman diet, consists of vegetables, fruits, eggs, nuts, meat and fish. No refined or processed foods, no sugars, no grains, no legumes, and no dairy.

 

  1. Mediterranean

The Mediterranean diet is based on the traditional eating habits found in southern Italy and Greece in the early 1960s. It focuses on plant-based foods, heavy on vegetables, fruits, legumes, fish, olive oil and some nuts.

 

  1. Intermittent Fasting

 

We have looked at intermittent fasting in 3 previous posts (May 2, 2019, June 9, 2019 and November 24, 2019). Please review them to refresh your memory.

 

My recommendation is 16 hours fasting and 8 hours eating.

 

Two studies of real-world eaters shed light on which healthy eating strategies actually work in the real world.

 

  • Skip Paleo. A study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition followed 250 people for a year with minimal professional support, allowing them to opt into a Mediterranean food plan, intermittent fasting (2 days a week eating 500-600 calories), or a Paleo plan with a bit of dairy, legumes and grains. At the end of a year, the Paleo plan had by far the lowest adherence, with just a third sticking to it, and the lowest weight loss, at 4.6 ponds. The Paleo eaters also showed no improvements in blood pressure or blood sugar levels.
  • Intermittent fasting works best. It seems very maintainable: 54 % of people were still fasting twice a week after a whole year, losing an average of 11.2 pounds, and showing lowered blood pressure.
  • Mediterranean is also a smart choice. Take note: The Mediterranean eaters had the highest adherence rate, at 57 %, and lost an average of 10.1 pounds, with improvements in both blood pressure and blood sugar levels.
  • You will not eat healthfully at a restaurant. A study in the Journal of Nutrition of 35,000 people over a 13-year period found that if you walk into a restaurant, your chances of adhering to your healthy eating plan is zero. Specifically, just 0.1 % of restaurant meals were of ideal nutritional and dietary quality – and the 1 in 1,000 is probably not going to be you. On average, Americans get over 20 % of their calories from eating out. Pretty scary, don’t you think?

 

I want to end with a short note on my diet. My diet is over 90 % paleo; I’ll have a slice of cheese once in a while or some lentils and the only dairy I consume is home made yogurt. I also practice intermittent fasting; fast for 16 hours and eat for 8 hours. I’m very healthy, and my immune system functions admirably (I hardly ever get sick); THAT ISN’T BAD FOR AN 80-YEAR-OLD.

 

That’s it for now my friends; see you all the next time.

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