Natural Weight Loss Diet

A natural weight loss diet relies exclusively on those natural fat burning foods that were consumed by our Pleistocene ancestors. This is not a reducing diet that you go on and, eventually, off; instead, it is a permanent way of eating better. By understanding how your ancestors ate, you will automatically understand how you should eat if you want to flourish physically.

A natural weight loss diet is very conservative and as well-grounded and tested scientifically as any eating plan could be. Especially when combined with a plan for sensible movement (exercise), it is the best way to achieve lasting weight loss.


The Pleistocene is the geological epoch that began about 2.6 million years ago and ended only about 12,000 years ago. Nearly all human evolution occurred during the Pleistocene. Your genetic code differs less than one-tenth of one percent from the genetic code of your ancestors at the end of the Pleistocene.

A natural weight loss diet is an eating plan that consists of eating foods that are as close as possible to the foods humans or proto-humans ate during the Pleistocene. We evolved eating those foods, and we are healthiest when we eat them.

What are those foods? They are foods that consist of natural sources of fats, proteins, and (unrefined or unprocessed) carbohydrates. These are the only foods consumed on a natural weight loss diet.

Unfortunately for us, there is a big difference between eating wild plant foods and eating cultivated plant foods, and there is also a big difference between eating wild flesh foods and domesticated flesh foods. The animals and plants that provide many of our foods have evolved significantly since the end of the Pleistocene.

This makes it more difficult for us to obtain the foods of a natural weight loss diet. Still, it is possible to choose foods that are as fresh as possible and as natural as possible. Incidentally, they tend to be low carb foods.

The best low carb foods from plants are non-starchy vegetables. Especially important are leafy green vegetables like spinach. Other good low carb foods are asparagus, lettuce, mustard greens, beet greens, turnip greens, parsley, kale, collard, bok choy, broccoli, cauliflower, celery, cucumber,(green, red, or Chinese) cabbage, mushrooms, peppers, yellow summer squash, and zucchini.

Unless you are extremely active physically, you would be wise to limit your consumption of root vegetables such as beets, carrots, and onions as well as from other starchy vegetables such as watercress, kohlrabi, turnips, avocados, pumpkin, radishes, and brussel sprouts.

Flesh foods are staples of a natural weight loss diet as well as being low carb. Good selections are eggs (but not more than one yolk daily) and egg whites; wild caught fish such as wild caught salmon, Alaskan halibut, orange roughy, sardines, anchovies, Chilean sea bass, trout, herring, and mackerel; shellfish such as shrimp, crab, clams, oysters, and lobster; wild game such as deer, elk, or rabbit; lean red domesticated meat from grass-fed animals such as buffalo, beefalo, and cattle that has not been treated with hormones or antibiotics; wild game birds such as duck, goose, pheasant, and quail; domestic poultry if it has been raised outside cages, feed natural foods, and not treated with hormones or antibiotics; goat; and internal animal organs such as liver, heart, pancreas, and bone marrow.

So these are the basic foods of a natural weight loss diet.

If you drink alcohol, have no more than one drink daily if you are female or two drinks daily if you are male. Always avoid sweetened alcoholic beverages.

With respect to oils, liberal amounts of omega-3 fatty acids (from deep water fish or fish oil supplements) and omega-9 fatty acids (from, for example, cold-pressed, extra-virgin olive oil) are a good idea. It is best to restrict your intake of omega-6 oils.

Drink plenty of clean water--at least two or three quarts daily.

If you are eating poorly and begin to eat much like your Pleistocene ancestors ate by using a natural weight loss diet, I predict you will begin to feel much better in just three weeks--and that you will be healthier with less body fat as well! (Avoid, however, making dramatic changes to your eating or exercising habits without the prior blessing of your physician or other health care provider.)

If you want that result, please avoid eating the following: All forms of potatoes, sweet potatoes, and yams. All dairy products. Legumes (beans, pease, peanuts, and so on). All nuts and nut butters except walnuts. All foods containing processed carbohydrates such as bread, pasta, rolls, muffins, crumpets, pastries, bagels, pretzels, doughnuts, cookies, cake, corn chips, pizza, croissants, soft drinks, granola bars, and breakfast cereals. (When digested, all carbs become sugar [glucose] and the idea is to burn fat rather than sugar.)
Avoid all grains and that includes anything made from corn, rice, wheat, oats, triticale, rye, barley, spelt, and kamut. Also avoid wild rice, teff, millet, sorghum, sugarcane, and cane sugar.

In other words, avoid anything that your Pleistocene ancestors could not have eaten including candy, sweet fruits, dried fruits, and sweetened foods.

Please do not worry about eating a low carbohydrate diet. The minimum daily requirement for carbs is zero! If you stop eating processed carbs, your body will automatically switch to burning fat for energy instead of carbs. That is what you want, is it not?

Yes, it requires discipline--especially at first. However, if you force yourself to do it for a while, you are soon going to love the way you look and feel! When the compliments start coming in, they will provide additional motivation for you to stick with the program until it becomes habitual.