Diet Decisions

Imagine having a strong digestive system and immune system. On top of that, your metabolism is greatly boosted.

These are the benefits of Whole30, a diet plan formulated in 2007 by Melissa Hartwig, a certified sports nutritionist, and her husband, Dallas Hartwig, a functional medicine practitioner. Together, they’ve authored two books titled “The Whole 30” and “It Starts With Food.”

“Our program is about pushing the reset button with relationships with food,” Melissa said. “We eliminate problematic food groups that trigger bad health.”

The program begins with a 30-day elimination of added sugar, alcohol, grain (whole and refined), legume, and dairy. When the 30 days are complete, people begin reintroducing these foods back into their diet one at a time. That paints a clear picture of how some foods negatively affects health.

“From there, it’s up to each individual to make an informed decision whether or not he or she wants these foods to be part of their diet going forward,” Melissa said. “Then they can figure out what diet is best for them.”

The diet stresses the importance of meat, seafood, eggs, vegetables, and fats from fruits, oils, nuts, and seeds.

It’s so easy a caveman could do it. Well, it might not necessarily be easy, but it sure seems to be healthy.

Dr. Loren Cordain is one of the world’s leading experts on the Paleo Diet, which emulates what our Stone Age ancestors consumed. He has been prominently featured in newspapers, magazines, and talk shows.

“The essential tenant of contemporary “Paleo” diets is not to precisely consume the wild foods our ancestors ate, but rather to emulate the food groups they ate with modern foods commonly available at supermarkets,” he said. “The majority of our calories should come from fresh fruits, vegetables, unprocessed, grass-fed fresh meats, fish, seafood, free-ranging eggs, nuts, and seeds.”

Dr. Cordain authored “The Paleo Diet,” which first hit bookshelves in 2002. “People worldwide send me emails, letters, and telephone calls about how this lifelong dietary concept has changed their lives for the better and resulted in improvements in health and well being,” he said. Current meta analyses of all randomized controlled trials of Paleo Diets indicate this lifelong way of eating promotes health and freedom from chronic disease better than do current institutional and governmental recommendations.”