Poor Paleo. Where once (back in 2013) it stood proudly as the trendiest healthy-eating lifestyle in the pack, months of alkaline chatter and gluten-free baking have left Paleo on the diet shelf.
But not so for the experts and committed few. With the opening of London's first Paleo restaurant and tons of new products on the market, it's clear that we shouldn't be discounting the diet completely.
"Paleo is about more than just fat loss," says nutritionist Drew Price. "The advantages such as improved quality of nutrients, higher amounts of vitamins, minerals healthy fats and fibre mean that Paleo is a great long term choice for whole body health, including weight management."
Here's some key evidence that Paleo is here to stay, and that it might just be the secret to successful and sustainable weight loss...
A fine dining plate of Paleo
Notting Hill, London is officially the place to be for Paleo fans. Pure Taste is a ridiculously successful crowdsourcing project and also happens to now be the UK's first restaurant offering a menu of diet-focused dishes. Developed by chemistry graduate and nutritional therapist-turned-chef Holly Redman, the food is right up their with London's dining elite – we're talking garlic and rosemary foccacia, sweet potato laksa, trout and tiger prawns and chocolate orange ganache. Each dish comes with a list of diets it adheres to – not just Paleo, but egg-free, vegan, low FODMAPS and Whole30 too – but the food is so good, we reckon everyone will be booking a table there soon.
The celebs' Paleo packed lunch
We kid, this is so much more than a simple packed lunch. Soulmatefood's latest diet delivery programme is centered around the Paleo way of eating, providing truly tasty daily meals and snacks to your door, including dishes like tamari black salmon with carrot & courgette noodles, lemon, sesame & nut crusted chicken and chia nut bread with berry jam. All the noms with none of the effort. Not only does their six-day menu provide recipe inspiration but it serves as a lesson in Paleo portion control, which might well be the reason Michelle Keegan and Mel C are already big fans.
Patisserie treats get the Paleo treatment
Don't you just love it when someone takes the rules of an uber-healthy diet and manages to work them into a whole book of indulgent bakes that don't taste like sand? Yeah, us too. That's why we've pre-ordered My Paleo Patisserie by Jenni Hulet. It's out later this month and features tons of (gluten/grain/casein/refined sugar-free!) recipes that gluten and casein-intolerant Jenni has honed in her own kitchen. By the looks of the treats on her blog, this book's gonna be proof that Paleo can totally do food porn.
The gift of a gourmet Paleo dinner
Former Oxo Tower chef Pete Cookson has recently gone from heading up the kitchen at celebrity fitness camps to bringing his style of Paleo eating nationwide. Sign up for the Paleo Chef plan and you'll be sent delicious vacuum-sealed dinners to keep you on the straight and narrow from Monday through to Friday. Pete's a fan of the 80:20 rule, so if you tuck into the likes of his Thai red chicken curry, braised lamb shoulder with spiced roasted veggies and sausages with onion gravy, you can eat whatever you fancy come the weekend!
All-new Paleo products
Thought Paleo meant just meat and veg for every meal? Hell, no. Online shop Perfectly Paleo is forever sourcing new ingredients and snacks to fit the bill, and their most recent haul includes Maple Water (it has half the sugar of coconut water, you know) and Paleo Wraps that are perfect for making fajitas, a meal we could never live without. Don't fancy the sound of those? Their sister company Primal Snack Box, which sends you a box full of delish Paleo snacks every two or four weeks, is being relaunched later this month.
More on the benefits of Paleo below:
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