It seems like everywhere we turn, someone is talking about the Paleo Diet.
So, what is it exactly?
The protein-packed nutritional plan, which started becoming a craze a few years back, is based on the idea that for optimal health people should feast on whole and unprocessed foods like they did in the caveman days i.e. the Paleolithic era (hence why it's often called the Caveman Diet as well). That means dining on grass-fed pastured meats and eggs, veggies, wild-caught seafood and lower starch vegetables, like leafy greens, for example.
That also means skipping dairy and caffeine, eating nuts in moderation, doing away with processed foods and refined sugar, and scrapping potatoes, grains and processed oils from the diet as well. So, no more cookies and pastas.
As the Paleo Diet started to get more and more attention, a few Paleo restaurants started popping up around the globe, with the very first in Berlin at fine dining restaurant Sauvage, which opened its doors in 2011. The restaurant has been so successful that it recently opened up a second location in Prenzlauer Berg.
As for what they're whipping up in the kitchen there, diners feast by candlelight on Steak Sauvage—grass fed filet mignon, licorice-jus, wild broccoli, romanesco and a macadamia nut crumble, as well as scallop carpaccio, wild duck rillettes with honey fermented blood orange peel and hibiscus marmalade, pan seared scallops, lamb tajine, wild boar and bacon burgers served up with real fermented ketchup on grain free buns and and a Paleo twist on Chocolate mousse (it's made without sugar), among other things.
All of the desserts are processed sugar free, with chefs using the natural sweetness of fruits, herbs and spices, raw honey or coconut blossom nectar instead. They also bake, fry and cook with organic clarified lard or suet, and unrefined palm oil or coconut oil; The bread and crackers served up are made from soaked and sprouted nuts, seeds, vegetable and nut flours.
Sauvage's owner, Boris Leite-Poco, said that the Paleo diet results in "greater energy levels, increased muscle mass, clearer skin and even an enhanced sex drive."
"Many think the Paleolithic diet is just some hip trend, but it's a world wide phenomenon," he told Der Spiegel magazine in an interview, according to the UK Independent. "The trend is probably strongest in the United States where people who have had enough of fast food and generations of illness have taken it up."
Mr Leite-Poco also added that after "going Paleo" two years ago, he has enjoyed a medication-free life.
Celeb foodies who follow the Paleo diet or Paleo-like diets include Megan Fox, Miley Cyrus, Jessica Biel and Matthew McConaughey.