I always knew through common sense that much of my health future would be due to what I ate each day.  But, through the years there have been all kinds of diets introduced through the media touting health benefits and weight management, which made it hard to tell which ones were really good for me.  

When I turned 50, someone forwarded me a video of a Doctor who had been diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, and she found that she was able to reverse most of the symptoms of her MS by following what is known as the "Paleo Diet".  

Although the video intrigued me, the real turning point came when less than a week later, my personal physician (a holistic, alternative practitioner) told me that he and his wife had started a diet that he really believed was great for health.  He called it the "Hunter-Gatherer" diet.  As he described it to me, I realized he was referring to the "Paleo Diet".

Here is a definition which I found which describes the Paleo Diet:

"a diet based on the types of foods presumed to have been eaten by early humans, consisting chiefly of meat, fish, vegetables, and fruit, and excluding dairy or grain products and processed food."

In its most basic form, it is a diet that consumes foods that our ancestors (caveman) would have eaten.  WHOLE, UNPROCESSED FOOD!

From that point on, my husband and I decided to try the Paleo Diet, and we LOVE it!  There are many delicious recipes out there in books and on the internet. Here are some great paleo recipes.

I can honestly say that this diet is one that has measurably changed our health.  One example, my husband always struggled to get good blood work numbers each year for his physicals.  After starting the Paleo Diet, ALL his lab numbers improved.  My lab numbers were always pretty good, but now they are even better!

Another major benefit we noticed was the ease of maintaining our weights on this diet (which is actually a lifestyle, not a fad diet).  Also, the Paleo diet fights inflammation in the body, which is a major cause of so many illnesses today.  I noticed that my joints and back hurt much less when I started eating the Paleo foods.

One of the biggest challenges we found with the Paleo Diet when we first started doing it was that we no longer would be eating the usual breads.  After a short time we got used to it, and we started feeling much better staying away from the grains!

However, we every so often get a craving for some baked goods, so we had to find the recipes for baking some breads and muffins that were Paleo.

The flours that are mostly used for the Paleo Lifestyle are ALMOND Flour and COCONUT Flour!  Here is one of our favorite recipes that my husband loves making.  These muffins are good for breakfast with a nice Egg Omelet with veggies and some bacon (All Paleo)!

PALEO BANANA NUT MUFFINS:

4 Ripe/Soft Bananas, mashed with a fork 

4 Eggs

1/2 Cup Almond Butter

2 TBSP Coconut Oil, Melted

1 TSP Vanilla

1/2 Cup Coconut Flour

2 TSP Cinnamon

1/2 TSP Nutmeg

1 TSP Baking Powder

1 TSP Baking Soda

1/4 TSP Salt

Instructions:

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Line a muffin tin with cups. In a large bowl, mix using a hand blender the bananas, eggs, almond butter, coconut oil and vanilla.  

2.  Add the coconut flour, nutmeg, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda and salt.  Blend until it is a wet mixture.

3.  Scrape sides of bowl with spatula and pour batter evenly into muffin tins, filling each about 2/3 full.

4.  Bake for 20-25 minutes (check with toothpick until clean). Serve warm or store in refrigerator.  Makes 12 muffins.

Other variations include adding blueberries or small apple pieces.  

These muffins are really yummy, and the only sugar in the muffins comes from the fruit.  My Grand-babies LOVE them, and we do too! :)