THE paleo diet has recently become very popular with an increasing level of publicity surrounding them. However, science is still trying to unravel what exactly constitutes this diet type and why it has become so popular. So what is it, and does it offer any benefits for a boxer?

WHAT
IN simple terms, the paleo diet consists of foods that were presumed to be eaten by the very early humans – our great ancestors. In the ‘hunter-gatherer’ era of human existence, we would have eaten food sources that were readily available via capture (meat produce), growing (vegetables) or collecting (nuts and seeds). It all sounds pretty healthy, so why should boxers avoid it?

LIMITATIONS
THE limitation of this diet is the removal of a lot of carbohydrate sources. As outlined in my blog on high-fat diets, carbohydrates supply the energy needed to allow your muscles to contract and move. This becomes even more important in the last minute or seconds of each round in a fight, or in the last few minutes in training. Paleo diets largely omit sugary carbohydrates as these are genuinely man-made and full of refined carbohydrate sources; these would have been inaccessible during our early human existence. However, these carb sources play a vital role in preparation, in-competition, training and the recovery stages of your boxing career.