As one of the most physical sports in the world, Australian Rules football has seen its fair share of cavemen, but the Melbourne Demons have decided to go one step further.
The AFL team have mandated their players to go on the highly publicised paleo diet in a bid to be better conditioned ahead of the new season.
The regimen, commonly known as the Caveman Diet, is based upon the theory that the human body is only designed to ingest naturally occurring foods, meaning followers can only consume that which was available in the Paleolithic era, before the dawn of agriculture and processed produce.
That means no carbs and no dairy, although the Demons have been allowed to keep rice and milk on the menu. The effects have been dramatic, with players losing weight and improving their fitness.
‘We were looking at any way we could get the group to improve. We had look at the science and felt it was worth a try,’ Demons elite performance manager David Missons told the Herald Sun newspaper.
‘We suggested they do it three weeks before they returned to training because you need a period of time for your body to adjust. You can get some flat spots when you first get on it as your body adapts to the decrease in carbs.
‘It’s individual, but a lot of them have said: “I’m not going back, I feel great on it, I’m sleeping well, I’m recovering really well and I’m performing well at training”.’
