Are you wondering what a paleovedic diet is? If so – hopefully you’ll be able to learn more about a paleovedic diet in this post, and find out whether it’s right for you.
You may have heard of the Paleo diet, whereby you base your diet on whole, unprocessed foods and live as the cavemen did! However, you may not have necessarily heard of the paleovedic diet. It may sound gimmicky, but this personalised diet where paleo meets Ayurvedic nutrition has long been studied and deemed effective by those who have chosen to adopt it.
Combining the principles of the Paleo diet with Ayurvedic teaching, it encourages eating colourful, nutrient dense foods. Though it may seem simple, it isn’t just a case of increasing your fruit and veggie intake. Instead, the Paleovedic diet involves focussing on nutritional foods that are customised to your Ayurvedic body type.
What makes a paleovedic diet different?
As time has passed, we have significantly changed our way of eating. As processed foods become more common, it’s tempting to choose the least nutritious options available, instead of indulging in a diet that’s packed with the right stuff.
However, this certainly isn’t the case with the Ayurvedic approach to food. With Ayurvedic medicine reminding us that we should eat to live, meals tend to be planned critically and carefully to ensure maximal nutrition, tailored to your dosha constitution. Instead of eating for psychological comfort or loneliness, the Paleovedic diet brings eating back to its rawest form and works on genuine hunger instead of alternative reasons for eating.
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So, though Ayurvedic nutrition isn’t complex, you should follow the nutritional guidelines for your Vata, Pitta or Kapha body type! Whereas Paleo means avoiding sugar, refined carbs and other groups, Ayurvedic eating revolves around reducing inflammation, warming or cooling the body and ridding the body of toxins. As the Ayurvedic diet is personalised, it’s more realistic to keep up with in the long-term compared to strict Paleo.
If you’re looking for reasons to try the Paleovedic diet, why not find out more about it below?
Paleovedic is more personalised that Paleo
Though we’ve touched on this briefly above, the Paleovedic diet is much more personalised than Paleo. Aiming to provide a long-term solution to eating, it is tweaked based on your own personal needs. If you have tried Paleo and found it too restrictive, you’re unlikely to find the same issues here. As Paleo tends to be excessively low in carbs, you can sometimes feel weak or unfulfilled. For each dosha in Ayurveda, there’s a way to balance it through diet. With the Paleovedic diet, you can easily tweak your diet to keep your system balanced. For example, if you’re a Vata type, you tend to run cold, and will therefore want a diet rich in warm and grounding foods (like meat, fats and turmeric). It’s all carefully calculated, so it’s an interesting diet to follow.
Paleovedic is good for the body
As science has shown, the Paleovedic diet can help to reduce inflammation, stabilise blood sugar, lower LDL cholesterol, reduce the risk of diabetes and improve the severity of autoimmune conditions. Focused on balancing the body’s doshas, it’s certainly worth exploring should you suffer from any of these conditions.
A Paleovedic diet focuses on more than just food groups
With the Paleovedic diet focusing on nutrient-rich herbs, spices, fruits and veggies, it’s an undeniably healthy diet. Unlike the Paleo diet, it’s not simply a matter of avoiding refined carbs, but instead it’s a much more holistic approach to eating.
What should I be eating on a Paleovedic diet?
You should be focusing on nutrient-dense foods, and there are numerous foods that fit the bill. Make sure that you have plenty of dark coloured fruits and vegetables, as the deeper the colour, the richer in phytonutrients they tend to be! Where possible, aim to eat the skins of fruits and vegetables, as most of the antioxidants lie here. A particularly detoxifying vegetable is the humble beetroot. Rich in antioxidants and contributing to healthy liver function, it’s an excellent food to incorporate if you can!
In addition, you should look to spice things up in a big way. As spices are considered medicinal in Ayurvedic practice, you should aim to incorporate them to keep your body ticking over. As spices are incredibly nutrient-dense and are great at reducing inflammation, they help to improve your body’s general health and make your food taste way better!
Foods to avoid on a Paleovedic diet
As with any specific diet, there are things that you’ll need to avoid if you’re looking to reap the diet’s full benefits. In general, you’ll want to avoid white flour and wheat flour as these refined grains have the most nutritious components removed. In addition, you’ll only want to use healthy vegetable oils such as coconut and olive oils. Some industrial oils are simply too heavily processed to justify! Similarly, much like in the Paleo diet, you’ll want to avoid refined sugars as they tend to encourage inflammation which you’ll be looking to avoid on the Paleovedic diet.
Of course, depending on your dosha type you may need to add or subtract some of these foods, but in general, you’ll want plenty of protein, vegetables and fermented foods to keep your body in top working order!
In conclusion
Overall, the Paleovedic is a highly regarded, nutritious way of eating that’s sure to leave you full and satisfied. If you’re looking to truly invest in the Ayurvedic way of living, the Paleovedic diet is a great place to start.
