Founded almost a decade ago in 2010, PaleoHacks rapidly went on to become an extremely popular community for proponents of the Paleo Diet. Centered around a discussion forum where users can post questions, recipes, and food reviews, PaleoHacks caters to beginners and seasoned dieters alike. The idea behind developing the community was that even though the Paleo Diet has gained rapid popularity in recent years, people are often either completely overwhelmed with how to start the diet, or they end up feeling isolated because it’s such a unique style of eating.
By allowing like-minded people to connect over the internet, the discussion form has helped people all around the world find fellow dieters that they can confide in. With the forum acting a support group, people tend to be much more successful in achieving their dieting goals, and they find it easier to hold themselves accountable for staying consistent and sticking to lifestyle changes.
Users are known to review everything from scientific studies in the modern nutrition literature to the latest opinions on the best way to cook a steak, as the Paleohacks philosophy promoted a multi-disciplinary approach to maintaining optimal health. Specifically, the community approach to health revolves around four main pillars:
- Recipes–Even if a diet is the most nutritious collection of foods in the world, people tend to stick with the regimen much easier if there are tasty meals to cook. Paleo-compliant recipes for everything from breakfast to healthy afternoon stacks are constantly being posted on the website, and there are even lots of instruction sets for how to make a healthy morning smoothie drink.
- Lifestyle–As part of finding the proper support group, the community encourages a holistic lifestyle change when transitioning to the Paleo diet. These include surrounding yourself with people that value their health, throwing away non-Paleo foods, and eliminating environmental toxins around a person’s living quarters. There are even Paleo-type skincare regimens being posted on the forums regularly, showing that users have a true commitment to the Paleo lifestyle as a whole.
- Fitness –When adopting the Paleo diet, the transition goes much smoother with a dedicated workout routine. The proper routine tends to increase energy and boost discipline, making the initial Paleo dieting phase much easier to stick to. A wide variety of workouts are shared regularly among community members, and these can include everything from no-gym-needed style bodyweight exercise routines like push-ups and pull-ups to more advanced powerlifting programs involving compound exercises like the deadlift and the squat.
- Health–It’s one thing to be told to what to eat, but it’s another to understand why you should eat it. With such a large variety of Superfoods being part of the Paleo diet, much effort is made to let users know exactly why certain foods are included as recommendations.
More specifically, the PaleoHacks Community & Cookbook promote all of the following foods:
- Ample Amounts Of Pasture-Raised & Grass-Fed Meat – Favorite Paleo staples include pasture-raised bacon, grass-fed steaks like tenderloin and ribeye, and other sources of grass-fed meat like lamb. In addition, some amount of eating grass-fed organ meats is also encouraged.
- Large Portions Of Omega-3 Rich Seafoods –The liberal use of fish such as Salmon, Sardines, Herring & Mackerel are all encouraged. Shellfish like shrimp also play a large role, as shrimp contain healthy amounts of iodine.
- Pasture-Raised Eggs –Being one of the most complete foods on the planet and containing almost every well-known nutrient except for Vitamin C, it’s no surprise that eggs feature prominently in PaleoHacks recipes.
- Frequent Use Of Certain Oils –Coconut oil is well-known as a staple of the diet, as is olive oil and the oil from high-fat vegetables like avocados.
- Plenty Of Veggies –Last but not least, Paleohacks also promotes the use of both colorful and fibrous vegetables. Kale, spinach, and cauliflower are just a few of the veggies which feature prominent in the PaleoHacks Cookbook.
A Pretty Interesting Cookbook With Plenty Of Bonuses Included
With such a heavy emphasis on the use of nutrient-dense foods, this is definitely a different kind of books. Instead of trying to get dieters to trick their body or trying to convince people to hop on the latest fad eating plan, the PaleoHacks Cookbook seems to pride itself on the use of what it claims are sound nutritional principles that are sustainable for the long term.
There is no certainty any shortage of material in the book, as the recipe collection is actually an entire digital product which includes:
- 150+ Meal Recipes For Breakfast and Lunch Plus Dinner & Snacks.
- The Paleo Dieter’s Guide To “Eating At Paleo Restaurants” –This is a Bonus Book included with the Cookbook that shows new Paleo dieters how to make sure they keep their discipline when eating out. The guide, for example, tells users how to carefully select Paleo-compliant diet items from the menu and make sure they are cooked exactly how they would be at home. With so many people eating out these days, many people feel were looking for a guide to help them navigate the choices they frequently face at restaurants.
- The 30-Day Jumpstart –Also included as a Bonus Book with the main Cookbook, the 30-Day Paleo Meal Plan provides a definitive template for people to follow over the first month of using their new Cookbook. With the 30-Day Jumpstart, users may find it much easier to make a standard shopping list so they always know what to pick up at the grocery store and they can easily fill their fridge with the right kind of foods.
- Paleo Foods and Fails –This part of the collection is meant to compliment both the main book and the bonus books, as it provides examples for shopping lists to help implement the 30-Day Jumpstart program and make sure that grocery shopping is easy and fun. By providing detailed lists of which foods are approved and which foods people should watch out for, the Paleo Foods and Fails Guide help users “set it and forget it” when it comes to deciding which foods are okay.
The Product Makes Heavy Claims…And It Might Just Back Them Up.
With so many people focusing on improving their health and fitness these days, finding the right diet is at the forefront of everybody’s mind. Even doctors are now starting to agree that our dietary habits play an integral role in our health (or lack thereof). Some of these doctors have even gone so far as to say that eating the wrong kind of foods can be a major contributing factor to modern disease trends.
However, these same doctors agree that eating the right type of foods can be used for:
- Avoiding High-Blood Pressure & Chronic Hypertension –Although the subject of what actually causes high blood pressure is up for debate, many doctors agree that eating the wrong types of fats and combining this with a high sugar intake can be a contributing factor to high blood pressure.
- Fighting Heart Disease For A Longer And Healthier Life –Year after year, heart disease shows up as one of the most frequent causes of death among people of both genders. Even though the medical profession agrees that environmental factors play a large role, diet is more and more being looked at as a contributing factor. More specifically, proponents of the Paleo diet believe that following the Paleo eating template can help slow down inflammation and help maintain a healthy heart.
Not only are diseases like heart disease and high blood pressure more and more prevalent among populations all around the world, but there is also a disturbing trend of increasing anxiety and sadness in developed nations.
Although the PaleoHacks Cookbook can’t make the claim to magically solve all of these problems, the foods inside the book have definitely been promoted by a variety of medical professionals as being safe to eat. That doesn’t mean that some of the recipes are not without controversy, however, as some people are wary of things like the high amount of dietary fat contained in a few of the food combinations.
An Insider’s Look At The Contents
Even though the cookbook and related bonus books are not without their detractors, there was clearly a lot of effort put in to the product, and it does come from a reputable source.
The main eBook is definitely a lot more than simply a collection of recipes, as there are several sections on how to effectively implement long-term changes for sustainable dietary success.
The book gives people tons of options to choose from, so even if there is a set of recommended foods that people are not partial to, they can always pick something else. The recipe guides are very clear and precise, with easy-to-follow instructions for making lots of different meal types.
Everything is written in a pretty easygoing manner, so people who may have been intimidated by all of the buzzes behind the diet have absolutely nothing to fear.
Here’s Why You Might Consider It
Nobody wants to devote tons of time and effort to following an over-complicated system of “eat this not that, and on this day at this time to boot”. After all, an overwhelming set of complex instructions usually just leads to burnout.
Besides that, most people are busy and they simply won’t ever take the time to develop different habits.
The reality, however, is that the book makes every effort to show the reader how implementing the system could actually be simpler than the diet they’re most likely eating.
Changing behaviors can be stressful and challenging, but this product strives to make it as easy as possible.
Everything from how to shop for the right foods to how to eat out without compromising results is covered in either eBook or the bonus books, and some people report that they even the habit-building phase because they have so many new tools to use.
User Reactions Tell A Compelling Story
Seeing as how the PaleoHacks forums are such a vibrant community, it’s not surprising that reactions to the cookbook are plentiful. The real test, however, is whether people who are new to the diet and the lifestyle find this to be an easy product to implement.
Every product will always have skeptics, but there is definitely an overall positive sentiment among people who decided to take the leap. Further worth noting, is the fact that many of the cookbook biggest advocates are professional health experts in their own right, only adding to the credibility of the claims made in the book.
The Problems Are There…But They’re Pretty Small
Mostly, users report the following disappointments and suggestions to improve further versions of the book:
- The main cookbook and all of its associated bonuses are in purely digital form. This means that people who like reading paper books or want a physical copy to put on the coffee table won’t have that option available to them.
- The recipes are reported to taste great, but they require a good degree of discipline to make sure that all of the steps are followed in precisely the order they were written.
Overall Opinion
The latest PaleoHacks Cookbook has caused lively discussion within the Paleo community and beyond, and several skeptics have found themselves converted.
As the diet continues to pick up steam, brave souls who want to try something new may just be well-served to give it a try.
