Hunter/Gatherer Diet
Also known as the "paleo diet" or the "caveman diet," the hunter/gatherer diet tries to emulate the diet of prehistoric peoples who did not practice agriculture, animal husbandry, or conventional cooking techniques. Proponents claim that the diet helps people lose weight and reduces the risk of many common diseases and medical conditions.
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Think Like a Caveman
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If you were a caveman walking through wilderness, able to stop no more than a day or two at a time, what would you be eating? Chances are you would be depending on nuts, fruits and berries, and root vegetable plants. You would also hunt for game, look for eggs, and try to trap fish in local lakes and streams. You wouldn't use salt or sugar to flavor your food, and you certainly wouldn't have time to harvest and prepare grains or to care for dairy animals. You would limit your diet to what you could hunt or gather (not cultivate) and eat right away.
Foods to Avoid
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Salt, sugar, dairy, grains, peanuts, cashews, and potatoes are forbidden by this diet. This means that most, if not all, processed and convenience foods are not part of this diet.
Foods to Eat
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Meat, poultry, and fish are all allowed on this diet, and many hunter/gatherer diet proponents particularly encourage the consumption of organ meat (liver, heart, kidney, etc). Fruits, berries, nuts (other than peanuts and cashews), vegetables, and eggs are other staples of the hunter/gatherer diet.
Calorie Restriction
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The hunter/gatherer diet is considered to be a permanent lifestyle change, so while normalizing your body weight would be a side effect of the diet, you are not required to adhere to a specific calorie count.
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