The primal diet is a product of a well-known book called “The Primal Blueprint”, written by Mark Sisson, a successful American athlete.

The diet focuses on eating higher amounts of protein, natural fats and vegetables. The diet encourages you to eat foods in their most natural state; this includes Raw milk over processed or pasteurised milk. It also promotes the consumption of Organic foods, where possible.

The key idea is to only eat foods that our primal ancestors would have had access to. This eliminates processed foods and grains.

• Meat: Beef, lamb, chicken, turkey, pork
• Fish: Salmon, trout, haddock, shrimp, shellfish. Always select wild-caught and sustainable fish
• Raw or fermented dairy: raw milk and cheese
• Vegetables: Broccoli, kale, onions, carrots and more
• Fruits: Apples, bananas, oranges, pears, avocados, strawberries, blueberries and more
• Complex carbohydrates: wild rice, quinoa, sweet potatoes, yams, turnips
• Nuts and seeds: Almonds, macadamia nuts, walnuts, hazelnuts, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds.
• Healthy fats and oils: Extra virgin olive oil, coconut oil and avocado oil.
• Pure maple syrup and raw honey

You should always try to select grass-fed, pasture-raised and organic foods. This diet cautions nightshade vegetables like potatoes, peppers and tomatoes.

• Sugar, except natural sugars like honey or maple syrup: Soft drinks, fruit juices, table sugar, candy, pastries, ice cream and many others.
• All grains: bread, pasta, wheat, spelt, rye, barley
• Refined vegetable oils: Soybean oil, sunflower oil, cottonseed oil, corn oil, grapeseed oil, safflower oil and others.
• Trans fats: Found in margarine and various processed foods. Usually referred to as “hydrogenated” or “partially hydrogenated” oils.
• Artificial sweeteners: Aspartame, sucralose, cyclamates, saccharin, acesulfame potassium. Use natural sweeteners instead.
• Highly processed foods: Everything labeled “diet” or “low-fat” or that has many additives. Includes artificial meal replacements.
• Soy: soy contains phytates which bind up minerals in food, this means the minerals are unavailable for our bodies to use.
• Alcohol: Alcohol doesn’t offer anything you can’t gain from a healthy Primal Blueprint diet.

Mark brings a unique background to the health and wellness sphere. As an elite athlete, he finished in the top 5 at the National Marathon Championships and became one of the world’s most renowned triathletes. Despite his world-class conditioning and exceptional fitness, Mark often found himself sick.

Once his competitive days were over, he searched for a way to keep his health in check and his body fat low without having to run hundreds of miles a week. He also tried to find out how to heal some of the chronic “itises” he had developed while over-training (arthritis, tendinitis, gastritis, sinusitis).

Mark became convinced that our modern diet had strayed far from that of our primal ancestors and our health was suffering as a consequence. He learnt by cutting out sugars and carbohydrates found in processed foods, he could make a profound change in his health.

The body only burns through the sugar and carbs it needs for its immediate energy requirements. The rest it dumps into fat storage. By maintaining a diet high in sugar and carbs you’re likely to gain more weight every year. This can lead to excess weight and chronic life-threatening health issues.

Mark didn’t have to eliminate the foods he enjoyed most and neither do you. Beyond cutting out excessive carbs and grains, along with processed foods and hydrogenated oils, there really is no sacrifice or struggle involved. You can eat all the healthy fats, meats, fruits, vegetables and decadent treats like dark chocolate you want! That’s because these healthy foods are essentially made up of protein and fat—macronutrients that the human body has evolved to prefer. Grains like wheat and corn were only introduced in the last 10,000 years or so, and we just don’t take well to the processed sugars and carbohydrates they contain. After all, grains—and packaged processed foods—were never part of our primal ancestors’ diet.

Eating ‘Primally’ became the first layer to the ‘blueprint’ for building a healthy body. The more Mark studied our primal ancestors, the more he realised that there are more lifestyle behaviors beyond diet which contribute to a healthy life. The foods our primal ancestors ate, the amount of sun they got and the  movement they engaged in to survive, all this shaped their genome. While the world has changed in innumerable ways in the last 10,000 years (for better and worse), the human genome has changed very little and thus only thrives under similar conditions. Simply put, if you want a good future you better listen to the past. That’s where The Primal Blueprint comes in. The blueprint will teach you, not only how to eat in a way that will help your body and genes become efficient at fat burning and muscle building, but also how you can increase your longevity and wellness by reducing disease and illness.

Watch this video by Mark Sisson, the author of The Primal Blueprint, to gain a deeper understanding of the benefits to the diet.