Best Diet for Training

People have been asking me about what diet they should be doing to get the best from their training. I'm not a fan of any diet per se, just a fan of healthy eating with the odd treat thrown in but I will post, over the coming weeks, different diets and any concerns that I might have about them. That way you can make your own mind up.

Today it's the Paleo diet.

This is a diet based on foods similar to what was eaten in the Paleolithic era. It includes lean meats, fish, eggs, fruit, vegetables, nuts and seeds, typically foods that were obtained from hunting and gathering. The diet limits (but doesn't totally eliminate) foods that became common when farming emerged like dairy, legumes, potatoes, grains, refined sugar and highly processed foods.

The idea of the diet is to return to a way of eating that's more similar to what early humans ate. The reasoning is that our bodies are mismatched to the modern diet and this mismatch is believed, by some, to be a contributing factor in the prevalence of obesity, diabetes and heart disease.

Dietary Concerns - The diet, in general, is healthy. The main difference between this and other healthy diets is the absence of legumes and whole grains which are good sources of fiber and vitamins. Dairy is also absent which is a good source of calcium and protein. However, there is plenty of protein in the diet itself so that's not a worry. You can also get your fiber from green veg, nuts and seeds and calcium from plant-based milk, canned fish and leafy greens so this combats the potential deficiency that may occur.

Overall, not a bad diet to consider if you're looking to try one. The paleo way also says you can eat 2 non-paleo meals a week which makes it a little easier.

The only downfall is if you are sticking to this diet rigidly, some of these whole, natural organic foods that some hardliners recommend can be more expensive to buy.