The Truth About the Origin Diet
The Origin
Diet is one of a number of diets that belong to the trend of
Paleolithic Dieting. The central idea of this diet and others like it
is that the best way to increase longevity through diet is to consume
a diet that is similar to that which our ancient ancestors would have
eaten in the Stone Age. Today, we eat and drink many things that our
bodies are not optimally designed for. This is actually one of the
reasons why obesity has become such a major health epidemic in the
United States.
Our bodies
are designed to store calories more efficiently than we can burn them
off in order to help us survive periods where food availability is
scarce. Now that we live in a country where food is plentiful, we
still crave the foods that help us survive when things get tough, but
we no longer have any appreciable risk of starvation, and many people
actually suffer from malnutrition while simultaneously being obese.
The
Origin Diet at a Glance
The
Origin Diet revolves around taking up habits in diet and nutrition
which attempt to replicate those of our ancestors from the stone
age.
This
diet avoids processed foods and is heavy on whole grain foods.
Exercise
is central to the Origin Diet.
Who
Should Try the Origin Diet?
This is
actually an incredibly safe diet which is suitable for any person
with the drive and desire to institute significant changes in both
their lifestyle and their diet. This health plan could work for
nearly anyone.
Who
Should Not Try the Origin Diet?
Unlike
many other fad diets, there really is no common group that this diet
is not recommended for. The primary barrier with regard to this diet
is price tag. The types of foods recommended with this diet are a bit
more expensive than the common processed foods which flood our
grocery stores. Before starting this plan, make sure that you have
the budget to fulfill the requirements of the diet.
Also, this
diet is fairly strict, and if you are the type of person that can't
resist temptation, you may need to look elsewhere for a diet plan
which gives more wiggle room when it comes to cheating.
The
Specifics of the Origin Diet
The author
of the Origin Diet is a dietitian named Elizabeth Somer. She explains
that two of the main reasons that Americans are getting sicker is
because they don't engage in enough physical activity and they eat
too much unhealthy food. She argues that these two facts alone are
responsible for at least half of the cases of heart disease and over
two thirds of the cases of cancer in our society today.
She
believes that the weight gain that occurs in middle-aged men and
women in America is not primarily the result of hormone imbalance or
factors associated with aging, but to the increasingly sedentary
lifestyles of people in the United States today. Human Growth Hormone
and Testosterone Levels do decline slowly over time, but this alone
is not responsible for weight control issues in American society,
although it does play a role, and poor diet and exercise habits do
have a negative impact on healthy hormone production while increasing
the concentration of hormones like cortisol that are associated with
increased mortality risk.
Somer
believes that by engaging in a diet which follows the patterns of our
ancestors, we enhance our health and hormone balance and keeping our
bodies stronger and healthier deeper into the lifespan. She goes on
to site specific risks that the Origin Diet serves to mitigate. It
reduces the risk of cardiovascular issues such as high blood pressure
and heart disease, and it reduces the risk of psychological issues
such as depression and memory loss.
There is
even evidence that such a diet can encourage bone health and help
prevent cataracts. Finally, the Origin Diet increases metabolism,
which both burns excess fat and increases metabolism which vastly
increases energy levels and reduces fatigue. All of these benefits
come together in order to help individuals live longer lives and drop
pounds more effectively.
It is
important to note, that, like the Eat Better, Live Longer Diet, this
is not explicitly considered a weight loss diet, although it can
easily encourage weight loss through healthier eating choices. This
diet is designed primarily to optimize your health and the processes
of your body so that you can live longer and healthier.
The
Idea Behind the Origin Diet
Most of
the nutrition recommendations of the Origin Diet are deeply rooted in
scientific research. Somer's diet plan places an emphasis on the
consumption of unprocessed foods eaten in their purest forms. There
is strong evidence that foods like these provide nutrients optimally,
especially compounds known as phytonutrients which have the
capability to ward off illness and disease.
The Origin
Diet also includes a lot of nutrition options which are high in
fiber, because these foods have the ability to both control
cholesterol and balance blood sugar, reducing the prevalence of
Insulin spikes and reducing the risk of Diabetes significantly.
The Origin
Diet is not only a nutrition plan, however, it is a way of life.
Somer relates Five Stone Age Secrets that have the ability to
supplement and amplify the benefits provided by this diet. She argues
that this diet is healthier for human beings because it works better
with the way that our bodies have been designed over thousands of
years. The Origin Diet also gives you the opportunity to adapt to its
precepts over time. These five principles when combined help develop
your body into the finely tuned machine that it was designed to be by
evolution.
Exercise
is vitally important to this diet, because we were historically
hunter-gatherers living off of the land. If we wanted meat we had to
hunt down wild game or herd domestic animals. If we wanted other
foods, we had to forage for them. Our Stone Age lifestyle was an
incredibly active lifestyle, and the Origin Diet seeks to replicate
this high level of physical activity.
The
Specifics of the Origin Diet
The Origin
Diet places a powerful emphasis upon natural foods that one would
find in the wild, and foods which are nutritionally similar to these
foods. Although this diet is highly Paleolithic, you won't be rooting
and foraging yourself. Canned foods will often suffice for your diet,
and just because a food is frozen, doesn't mean that it is bad for
you. Some processed foods are even allowed, as long as they meet
certain guidelines. Even fat-free salad dressing is okay in
moderation
In her
book, Somer provides a number of suggestions for meals, which can be
prepared to meet the daily requirements of the diet each day. The
book also provides recipes to make a number of dishes which fit the
specific needs of the diet.
Unlike
many other forms of diet, there is no explicit nutrition plan and
there are no complicated dietary exchanges. As an alternative, the
Origin Diet provides a set of specific guidelines for you to follow
in order to change the way that you eat.
The
Origin Diet suggests the following every day:
Two
servings of lean protein
Three
servings of starch from vegetables
Three
servings of foods rich in calcium
Six
servings of whole grains
An
acceptable dinner would be something along the lines of chopped
walnuts, raisins, wheat germ, and soy milk. A typical lunch would be
nonfat milk, green salad with no-fat dressing, and a whole wheat
grilled chicken sandwich. Dinner would be nonfat milk, broccoli,
baked potato, and baked salmon with veggies.
One of the
central tenets of this diet is to limit the intake of unhealthy fats.
The primary sources of meat-protein should be wild game, shellfish,
fish, and poultry breast. Another thing this diet shares with many
other successful diets is a concept she refers to as grazing. She
believes that it is generally better to eat five or six modest meals
and snacks across the entire day, rather than packing all of the
calories into breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
Expert
Opinion on the Origin Diet
Nutrition
specialists pretty much universally agree that the Origin Diet is an
incredibly healthy diet, although they do have some concerns
regarding the viability of the diet for some people. Avoiding overly
processed food is very important, and if you don't have time to
prepare your own meals or you have to eat conveniently this may be
hard to do.
Also, some
may find it hard to switch from beef and pork to wild game, either
because of a lack of availability or because of the increased cost
added to the food budget. On the other hand, many experts believe
that you could replace wild game with lean cuts of beef and pork and
still have a successful and workable diet. If you can work with the
restrictions of this diet, you will inevitably have success in
improving your health.
Like most
other effective diets, the Origin Diet does not only concern
nutrition, but also stress control and exercise. The Origin Diet
includes a variety of suggestions regarding ways that you can include
physical activity into your everyday life, and also provides a list
of suggestions regarding ways that you can alleviate stress and take
the time to relax.
Overall,
this is a very balanced and healthy diet. It revolves around the
consumption of whole grains, vegetables, fruits, and places a high
emphasis on healthy soy products. Overall, there are really only two
ways that this diet is deficient: Vitamin D and Calcium. If you are
under the age of fifty, Vitamin D won't be a problem, because you can
easily get what you need with a little bit of healthy and
conscientious sunlight. On the other hand, you may need to start
looking for fortified foods and supplements if you are over fifty
years old, because our bodies start to make Vitamin D less
efficiently.
The Origin
Diet only recommends up to three servings of dairy each day. This is
more than many other nutrition plans, but this is still not enough to
meet your Calcium needs for the day. Men and women over the age of
fifty need between 1,200 and 1,500 mg of Vitamin D and Calcium every
day.
The best
ways that you can get Vitamin D without turning to supplements are
through fortified yogurts and milk. If you start trading dairy milk
for soy milk, make sure that your soy milk is properly fortified with
Vitamin D and Calcium, because this is not always the case.
The good
thing about this diet is that there isn't a real necessity to
compulsively count calories throughout the day, because the basic
rules of the diet limit your ability to overeat, because of a focus
on nutrition dense rather than calorie dense foods.
This diet
is also great because the foods that you eat will both have a high
fiber content and will for the most part be unprocessed or lightly
processed, meaning that your hunger will be abated more quickly which
will also help you eat more reasonable meals. This, in combination
with the required exercise of the diet, will make you be sure to lose
weight as long as you follow the diet appropriately.
What is
the Calorie Count for the Origin Diet?
Unlike a
lot of other diets, there is no explicit calorie count for the Origin
Diet. The main thrust of this diet is learning about the foods you
eat and choosing foods that are densely nutritious and high in fiber.
Also, the strict limit on processed grains, sugar, and unhealthy fat
will also go a long way to naturally curtail your daily intake of
calories, even without explicitly trying to cut calories.
The
Origin Diet Diet Recommendations
Wild Game,
Seafood, Chicken Breast, Legumes, Fresh Vegetables, Fresh Fruits,
Whole Grains, Canola Oil, Olive Oil, Exercise
The
Origin Diet Things to Avoid
Fast Food,
Whole Fat Dairy, Fatty Meats, Refined Foods, Processed Foods,
Inactivity
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