The Caveman Diet

THE 5 RULES CAVEMEN AND WOMEN FOLLOWED FOR FIRMER STOMACHS...

Many evolutionary scholars believe that our ancestors would have had flat stomachs and natural six-packs due to their apparent low body fat. If so, what did they do differently? I can guarantee they weren’t running on a treadmill, jogging around a park or lying on an ab crunch machine to build washboard abs!

Below are 5 simple daily lifestyle differences from modern man or woman to our ancestors and the reasons that health and nutrition experts – including myself – believe we are fatter and they were fitter. Could you apply any of these to your modern day life?

5 Caveman Lifestyle Rules To A Firmer Stomach:

10,000BC - The hunter gatherer:

She wakes up at the crack of dawn by the light rays of the sun hitting her iris and skin, slowing melatonin production (the sleep hormone) while instantaneously stimulating adrenaline to boost mental and physical alertness (the alert and stress hormone). Her breathing and heart rate quicken, her sympathetic nervous system becomes active and her brain becomes alert. She wakes with the sunrise, slowly, so her body and mind become alert gradually.

Modern day: BEEP, BEEP, BEEP, BEEP. Our frantic and demanding alarm clocks dictate our wake up. But without the natural sunlight our bodies, brains and hormones remain asleep.  So we snooze. Snooze again. And ONCE MORE… This poor wake up strategy creates a cascade of events that LEAD TO EXCESSIVE FAT STORING ON OUR STOMACHS. 

Tip: Try a daylight alarm clock to wake up with a more natural light in the Winter months.

10,000BC - She seeks water to rehydrate her body:

Off she goes to a fresh water supply. The water is likely to be cold and thus it sits in her stomach until it reaches her body’s core temperature – this has the benefit of increasing caloric consumption and helps to wake up the digestive system. Her brain and body start to revive with a vital supply of fluid to hydrate joints, circulation, digestive juices, liver cleansing and brain function.

Modern Day: Perhaps after struggling to get up, we grab a or cup of tea or coffee, forcing the adrenal glands to wake up and increase brain alertness. Slowly but surely, while yawning and feeling worse for wear you get on with your day. Sugar and coffee are the foundations to a fat tummy, sunlight and water are the foundations to a fit one.

Tip: Start your morning with a pint of water with a dash of pink sea salt and lemon.

10,000BC - Food Time:

Alert and hydrated, she walks to pick fruit from local trees and bushes while the hunters seek to bring back organic animal foods. They eat little and often. They eat natural, unprocessed, ripe and organic foods daily. They walk, climb, dig, sprint, hunt and fight just to eat. Fresh food and movement is just a way of life for her and has the advantage of promoting a very toned tummy.

Modern Day: We eat with too much space between essential meals, activating a famine survival response (find calorific foods, store more body fat for emergency fuel) and often starve ourselves until the evening, then stuff our faces with sugars and poor quality trans fats (the preferred energy sources when food is scarce). We eat food that is fast and convenient and we barely travel 3 minutes to collect it, in fact we want it to come to us on a plate (think deliveroo!) Daily eating in modern life is too sugary for breakfast, too little for lunch, too much for dinner and too processed. Bad news for your Abs.

Tip: Try to add extra steps into your day and eat fresh and healthy food as much as possible.

10,000BC - It’s afternoon:

This time of day would include play and socialising, building the bonds between the tribe. Often including sprinting, jumping, climbing, wrestling, throwing; all creating bonds and burning belly fat.

Modern Day: We are at our least active part of the day, least social and circulation and energy are sluggish.  Instead we opt to guzzle a large coffee and eat a large sweet treat. This is the part of the day fat storing goes into overdrive.

Tip: An afternoon stretch, swim, short workout or even walk could help here. If you've got kids or a dog it's a great time to go with them.

10,000BC Night Time:

Night time might have consisted of a light snack and some unwinding with the sunset. As the day becomes night her parasympathetic nervous system kicks in, melatonin increases production and she starts to feel sleepy. She slowly enters a long night of well rested sleep full of repair and rejuvenation.

Modern day: We are on our way home, the journey is rushed and stressed which spikes your adrenaline, blood sugar has dropped so we now crave simple sugars and fatty foods. We eat the quickest thing available and have desert too.Then sit in front of the TV which prohibits your sleep hormones and stops your body from unwinding. A few hours later with a belly full of un-digested food we attempt to sleep and fail.

Next: A poor night sleep follows and we increase sugar and caffeine for the next day just to get through. This combined result of poor quality food, poor quality sleep, poor quality fluids are the key foundations to a fat storing process around our midsections.

Tip: Switch of phones and electronics at least an hour before bed, keep the temperature cool, eat as early as possible and try some deep breathing or meditation to relax and calm the mind ready for sleep.

The Laws Of Our bodies

We have learnt to trick, manipulate and overcome our body’s need for natural living via processed foods, artificial lights and stimulants. The side effect being fat around your midsection.

Now, cavemen might have died young, had little to no cures for illness, disease and often struggled in harsh weather conditions. No, going back to caveman living is not the ideal way to live!! Even for a flat stomach.

But, listening to the hormonal balance of the body, giving it what it needs to thrive is vital to achieving health and a flat stomach. Modern living with ancient requirements needs work.

Below are 10 easy to implement ancient rules to a flat stomach that you can apply today.

1. Wake up using a lumie light (mimics natural sunlight)

2. Drink water often all day (1 pint as soon as you wake up)

3. Eat fresh, eat natural and organic (in that priority order)

4. Eat small and often

5. Walk to work and walk to lunch everyday

6. Eat a good sized lunch (when you metabolism is most prepared)

7. Exercise in a way that is fun and social daily (Make it fun, do it with others)

8. Occasionally restrict your food for a meal (intermittent fasting helps use stored belly fat)

9. Eat small at night (when digestion is poor)

10. Turn off the lights early (give your body darkness to unwind)

Start to reintroduce these 10 ancient rules of the cavemen and women 10,000 years ago and you will see pounds drop and health improve effortlessly. Plus, it’s fun!

Could the caveman style life work for you? I'd love to know your opinions in the comments!

Anthony Delamare