Purpose

The purpose of a paleo diet is to eat foods likely eaten by early humans. The diet is based on the idea that our genes are not well adjusted for modern diets that grew out of farming.

Farming made foods such as grains and legumes more easily available. And it introduced dairy. Also, farming changed the diets of animals that people ate. The paleo diet idea is that these changes in diet outpaced the human body's ability to change, or adapt. This mismatch is believed to contribute to obesity, diabetes and heart disease today.

Why you might follow a paleo diet

You might choose to follow a paleo diet because you want to:

• Lose weight or keep a healthy weight
• Reduce heart disease, or cardiovascular, risk factors