The first two questions many people ask before attempting the Paleo diet are, “Is this diet healthy?” and “What are some Paleo health benefits?” To answer the first question, it is safe and is not harmful to your overall health in any way. In fact, the Paleo diet can actually be quite beneficial to your health.

Otherwise known as the Stone Age diet, the Paleo diet follows the idea that the foods the cavemen ate were natural and better for our bodies to digest and process. Today’s foods are far from natural as they are genetically modified, laden with chemicals, and often processed beyond recognition. The food industry has become a science lab with our bodies being the guinea pigs for their new food “creations.”

If you think about it, row upon row of the foods at the grocery store all essentially look the same. The popular documentary “Food, Inc.” points out that most foods in the grocery store aisles are just corn masked and created to look and taste like other foods. Corn is made into high fructose corn syrup and it finds its way into cereals, barbecue sauce, dressings, soda, and even breads.

Choosing to eat foods from the Paleo plan can help your body to recover from the onslaught of unhealthiness that has overtaken our plates. While it might be difficult for some, the benefits of changing your diet are numerous.Here are some health benefits that are often associated with the Paleo diet.

Weight loss: Because you are only eating natural, unprocessed foods, your body is able to digest them quickly and use the nutrients. The foods contained in this eating plan are extremely beneficial for weight loss and many people who try the Paleo diet will experience some form of weight loss.

Reduces Diabetes: The Paleo diet contains non-processed foods, low fat foods, and does not contain foods with high sugar content. Therefore, your risk to develop diabetes is greatly reduced to an extremely low percent.

Removes toxins: Processed foods found in fast food or snack food contains many chemicals and ingredients that build up in our digestive system. The Paleo diet helps improve digestion and in turn, removes the buildup of waste and toxins that have accumulated in the intestines, kidneys, and stomach.

Overall better feeling: Because of the healthy nature of the Paleo diet, most people have noted that they experience a much better overall feeling after a short period of time. This better feeling includes a person having more energy, a higher productivity level, and increased focus both at work and home.

With all these Paleo health benefits, everybody should try to follow the Paleo diet. While you do not get to enjoy the delicious sweet treats, pizza, or beer, there are still plenty of tasty foods you can eat that will provide you with everything you need.

The Paleo diet is extremely safe and will benefit you and your overall wellbeing. If you are still unsure about trying this age-old eating style, then talk to your doctor. Chances are your doctor will tell you the same thing – the Paleo diet is safe and is good for your health.

One of the trendy diets that have gained some attention is the Eat-Clean Diet. The Eat-Clean Diet is “a lifestyle way of eating that allows you to eat more, weigh less, and become the healthiest you can be.” We will look for the positives and negatives of this diet, and how it would fit with a proper diet for the average person trying to lose weight on a long-term basis.

This diet is rich in plant food, including whole grains, fruits, vegetables, and lean proteins, nonfat dairy and healthy organic fats. Their emphasis for good health and weight loss is 80% food, 10% exercise, and 10% genes. Cornerstones of the plan are regular exercise and a calorie-controlled diet high in fiber, with lean protein to satisfy hunger on fewer calories.

A nutritious breakfast with high fiber carbohydrates, lean protein and some healthy fat throughout the day will boost metabolism. Each meal during the day should be between 200-300 calories, a complex carbohydrate with protein should be part of every meal, and drink at least eight cups of water daily. Add weight training and physical activity a minimum three days a week for about 30 minutes, and you should lose about three pounds a week. So far, we would agree with everything they say.

Exercising, consuming fruits, vegetables and lean meats while controlling portion sizes, and exercising is the recommendation of any credible diet. Also, the total elimination of artificial ingredients, preservatives, sugars and trans fat no credible dietician would disagree with. But we disagree with the total elimination of saturated fat, foods “whose ingredients you can’t pronounce”, the elimination of alcohol except perhaps a once a week glass of red wine. We also disagree with the part about bringing your own food when to avoid eating in restaurants.

There must be more latitude to cheat on your diet, or only those willing to live the most Spartan lifestyle will be able to maintain it over the long-term. Dining out occasionally is a social experience, and for any program to ask you to eliminate that would be asking quite a lot. Instead, work the dining out experience with eating healthy, portion controlled food, and if the portions are too large have the discipline to take the surplus home.

If you are in the habit of eating out just because you don’t want to go to the bother of cooking, either get into cooking (which if you give it a shot you might find you like it), or get into one of the many great meal delivery plans available. And as for alcohol, studies have shown that small amounts can be cardio-protective, and the same goes for saturated fats: too much might be harmful but the body can handle small amounts.

So our conclusion on the Eat-Clean Diet is in its basic form with its nutrition-rich recipes and easy to read manner can be very helpful for dieters to move to a healthy lifestyle. But its highly structured approach takes so much fun out of dining that most people may see it as too restrictive to maintain on a long-term basis. Look it over, and apply its beneficial aspects.