Paleo diet: honest debate
robs_ready
Posts: 1,488 Member
I've been reading a lot about the paleo diet recently, for a number of reasons, I wish to eliminate certain food types from my diet.
From what I've read, paleo diet restricts grains and only meat can be consumed if it's fed it's natural diet.
The diet advocates lots of fruit and vegetables, limited dairy (preferable none but that's not going to happen), nuts etc...
Some concerns are raised about lacking particular minerals, and that it's a restrictive diet.
I'd be happy to hear any comments on the diet, as I plan to begin shortly.
From what I've read, paleo diet restricts grains and only meat can be consumed if it's fed it's natural diet.
The diet advocates lots of fruit and vegetables, limited dairy (preferable none but that's not going to happen), nuts etc...
Some concerns are raised about lacking particular minerals, and that it's a restrictive diet.
I'd be happy to hear any comments on the diet, as I plan to begin shortly.
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Replies
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What appeals to you about this plan?0
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What are your objectives?
Do you think you can sustain it?
Why do you prefer it to other Ways of Eating?0 -
I don't like diets that restrict for basically no reason. This is one of those diets.0
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Thanks for the responses guys, it's quite complicated actually.
Im doing it for a number of reasons If I'm being honest;
1.Optimal physical health, clean eating.
2.To have better skin
3.To feel less tired associated with insulin spikes or food group intolerance.
4.To aid with left over symptoms of adhd as a child, inattentiveness and sleep problems.
5.To curb appetite
May all sound a bit too much, but I want to go wirh a diet which advocates better eating and doesn't cut out meat (I can't live without meat)
It's not that I'm anti grain, I'm just trying to determine whether it agrees with me or not.
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I don't know. I wouldn't do it personally. Too many dumb rules. My life is hard enough without having to figure out what the cow I'm eating was eating.
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Cool, any paleo dieters out there with any success on the diet?0
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robs_ready wrote: »Thanks for the responses guys, it's quite complicated actually.
Im doing it for a number of reasons If I'm being honest;
1.Optimal physical health, clean eating.
2.To have better skin
3.To feel less tired associated with insulin spikes or food group intolerance.
4.To aid with left over symptoms of adhd as a child, inattentiveness and sleep problems.
5.To curb appetite
May all sound a bit too much, but I want to go wirh a diet which advocates better eating and doesn't cut out meat (I can't live without meat)
It's not that I'm anti grain, I'm just trying to determine whether it agrees with me or not.
Do you think cutting out pasta or the occasional apple pie will give you all of that?
You could just eat a better overall diet. High in greens and fresh produce, with meat and dairy as you like.
It's called "eating better" it works well and doesn't require strict elimination, for example, of legumes, coffee or alcohol.
But certainly give it a try. Keep in mind the question - "Is this sustainable?"
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'Clean eating' (whatever on earth that is) or a paleo™ diet is not required for optimal physical health.robs_ready wrote: »1.Optimal physical health, clean eating.
A paleo™ diet is not required for you to have better skin.robs_ready wrote: »2.To have better skin
A paleo™ diet is not required to feel less tired due to insulin spikes (OH NOES INSULIN SPIKEZ) or food group intolerances.robs_ready wrote: »3.To feel less tired associated with insulin spikes or food group intolerance.
A paleo™ diet is not required to aid ADHD symptoms and sleep problems.robs_ready wrote: »4.To aid with left over symptoms of adhd as a child, inattentiveness and sleep problems.
A paleo™ diet is not required to curb appetiterobs_ready wrote: »5.To curb appetite
A paleo™ diet is not required for 'better' eating.robs_ready wrote: »May all sound a bit too much, but I want to go wirh a diet which advocates better eating and doesn't cut out meat (I can't live without meat)
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robs_ready wrote: »Thanks for the responses guys, it's quite complicated actually.
Im doing it for a number of reasons If I'm being honest;
1.Optimal physical health, clean eating.
2.To have better skin
3.To feel less tired associated with insulin spikes or food group intolerance.
4.To aid with left over symptoms of adhd as a child, inattentiveness and sleep problems.
5.To curb appetite
May all sound a bit too much, but I want to go wirh a diet which advocates better eating and doesn't cut out meat (I can't live without meat)
It's not that I'm anti grain, I'm just trying to determine whether it agrees with me or not.
Even assuming the diet accurately describes paleo man, do you believe they had less of the five issues you listed? There is evidence that ADHD might have been more common in Paleolithic man, if anything. Having a natural tendency not to sleep soundly, to be constantly moving and looking, to react very quickly to changes in the enviroment - do those sound like traits evolution would be removing from humans during an era of commonly struggling between being the predator and being the prey?0 -
EvgeniZyntx wrote: »robs_ready wrote: »Thanks for the responses guys, it's quite complicated actually.
Im doing it for a number of reasons If I'm being honest;
1.Optimal physical health, clean eating.
2.To have better skin
3.To feel less tired associated with insulin spikes or food group intolerance.
4.To aid with left over symptoms of adhd as a child, inattentiveness and sleep problems.
5.To curb appetite
May all sound a bit too much, but I want to go wirh a diet which advocates better eating and doesn't cut out meat (I can't live without meat)
It's not that I'm anti grain, I'm just trying to determine whether it agrees with me or not.
Do you think cutting out pasta or the occasional apple pie will give you all of that?
You could just eat a better overall diet. High in greens and fresh produce, with meat and dairy as you like.
It's called "eating better" it works well and doesn't require strict elimination, for example, of legumes, coffee or alcohol.
Not a coffee drinker anymore but tea is always nice (I'm British) don't really eat legumes and alcohol turns me into an *kitten*. So I guess it's not that bad after all?
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As for the actual evidence it mimics ancestoral human diets... They advocate eating meat which hunting and scavenging is only appeared in the last two million years, and became common maybe 500K to 1 million years ago, yet say we haven't had time to adapt to eating grains, even though evidence of sedges are found in ancestoral bone fragments dating to 4 million years ago.0
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robs_ready wrote: »I've been reading a lot about the paleo diet recently, for a number of reasons, I wish to eliminate certain food types from my diet.
From what I've read, paleo diet restricts grains and only meat can be consumed if it's fed it's natural diet.
The diet advocates lots of fruit and vegetables, limited dairy (preferable none but that's not going to happen), nuts etc...
Some concerns are raised about lacking particular minerals, and that it's a restrictive diet.
I'd be happy to hear any comments on the diet, as I plan to begin shortly.
I did a 3ish month experiment with it, back in the day. For me personally it was a disaster. I ended up having some nasty digestive issues, bad breath, lethargy etc. And my grocery bill was INSANE. I didn't notice any positive differences either-no real weight loss etc. I'm glad I tried it, just for the personal data, but I'd never try it again.0 -
'Clean eating' (whatever on earth that is) or a paleo™ diet is not required for optimal physical health.robs_ready wrote: »1.Optimal physical health, clean eating.
A paleo™ diet is not required for you to have better skin.robs_ready wrote: »2.To have better skin
A paleo™ diet is not required to feel less tired due to insulin spikes (OH NOES INSULIN SPIKEZ) or food group intolerances.robs_ready wrote: »3.To feel less tired associated with insulin spikes or food group intolerance.
A paleo™ diet is not required to aid ADHD symptoms and sleep problems.robs_ready wrote: »4.To aid with left over symptoms of adhd as a child, inattentiveness and sleep problems.
A paleo™ diet is not required to curb appetiterobs_ready wrote: »5.To curb appetite
A paleo™ diet is not required for 'better' eating.robs_ready wrote: »May all sound a bit too much, but I want to go wirh a diet which advocates better eating and doesn't cut out meat (I can't live without meat)
Who said it was?1 -
In for an honest discussion about pseudoscience0
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I tried it. It was a pain to be restrictive with no real results to justify the extra work or meal planning. By all means go ahead and try it for yourself. If you like it go with it it, if not try something new. I just look to hit my macros now. No special restrictions.0
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robs_ready wrote: »EvgeniZyntx wrote: »robs_ready wrote: »Thanks for the responses guys, it's quite complicated actually.
Im doing it for a number of reasons If I'm being honest;
1.Optimal physical health, clean eating.
2.To have better skin
3.To feel less tired associated with insulin spikes or food group intolerance.
4.To aid with left over symptoms of adhd as a child, inattentiveness and sleep problems.
5.To curb appetite
May all sound a bit too much, but I want to go wirh a diet which advocates better eating and doesn't cut out meat (I can't live without meat)
It's not that I'm anti grain, I'm just trying to determine whether it agrees with me or not.
Do you think cutting out pasta or the occasional apple pie will give you all of that?
You could just eat a better overall diet. High in greens and fresh produce, with meat and dairy as you like.
It's called "eating better" it works well and doesn't require strict elimination, for example, of legumes, coffee or alcohol.
Not a coffee drinker anymore but tea is always nice (I'm British) don't really eat legumes and alcohol turns me into an *kitten*. So I guess it's not that bad after all?
Paleo British Tea?0 -
I hated it and I was miserable.0
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As for the actual evidence it mimics ancestoral human diets... They advocate eating meat which hunting and scavenging is only appeared in the last two million years, and became common maybe 500K to 1 million years ago, yet say we haven't had time to adapt to eating grains, even though evidence of sedges are found in ancestoral bone fragments dating to 4 million years ago.
I'm quite aware that a large portion of the population can eat grains and I'm not suggesting food groups are 'evil' or intolerable due to evolutionary reasons.0 -
sunnybeaches105 wrote: »In for an honest discussion about pseudoscience
Well that's your opinion out the way I guess1 -
Never mind the debatable point of whether or not paleo truly represents what all, or most, of our distant ancestors ate. A diet that consists mostly of vegetables, fruit, high quality meat and nuts is not overly restrictive and can be extremely healthy, without the kind of planning, and supplement use, that you'd need for going vegan, for example. If you eat organ meats and marrow, the diet would be even better.
What minerals are in grains that you can't get in the foods on your paleo plan?0 -
sunnybeaches105 wrote: »robs_ready wrote: »EvgeniZyntx wrote: »robs_ready wrote: »Thanks for the responses guys, it's quite complicated actually.
Im doing it for a number of reasons If I'm being honest;
1.Optimal physical health, clean eating.
2.To have better skin
3.To feel less tired associated with insulin spikes or food group intolerance.
4.To aid with left over symptoms of adhd as a child, inattentiveness and sleep problems.
5.To curb appetite
May all sound a bit too much, but I want to go wirh a diet which advocates better eating and doesn't cut out meat (I can't live without meat)
It's not that I'm anti grain, I'm just trying to determine whether it agrees with me or not.
Do you think cutting out pasta or the occasional apple pie will give you all of that?
You could just eat a better overall diet. High in greens and fresh produce, with meat and dairy as you like.
It's called "eating better" it works well and doesn't require strict elimination, for example, of legumes, coffee or alcohol.
Not a coffee drinker anymore but tea is always nice (I'm British) don't really eat legumes and alcohol turns me into an *kitten*. So I guess it's not that bad after all?
Paleo British Tea?
Dont knock it till you try it it's good stuff!0 -
queenliz99 wrote: »I hated it and I was miserable.
Miserable as a result of being too restrictive, could you be a bit more specific?0 -
toughmudderMN wrote: »I tried it. It was a pain to be restrictive with no real results to justify the extra work or meal planning. By all means go ahead and try it for yourself. If you like it go with it it, if not try something new. I just look to hit my macros now. No special restrictions.
Thanks, I agree it's more of an experiment I plan to introduce foods back in, if I feel any positive impact of the diet. I'm not looking at it as a long term commitment.
Maybe I'm not explaining myself well enough, but I plan to start as basic as possible and build up.0 -
lithezebra wrote: »Never mind the debatable point of whether or not paleo truly represents what all, or most, of our distant ancestors ate. A diet that consists mostly of vegetables, fruit, high quality meat and nuts is not overly restrictive and can be extremely healthy, without the kind of planning, and supplement use, that you'd need for going vegan, for example. If you eat organ meats and marrow, the diet would be even better.
What minerals are in grains that you can't get in the foods on your paleo plan?
It was more to do with milk (the mineral concern). But calcium can be acquired from other sources.
Maybe paleo is the wrong word, I just think the diet mimics what I'm trying to achieve.0 -
I am the polar opposite. I mostly follow a vegan lifestyle. I never binge or crave anything. I eat so much grain and pastas and rice and I still lose weight. From what I understand the pales diet restricts these things. I love my high carb low fat diet! My acne has cleared up and I have more muscle toning. I understand that this transition is difficult for many people, but meat already freaked me out, I get nauseous when I smell eggs and I am lactose intolerant. The hclf vegan lifestyle was made for me!0
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PricillaKorea wrote: »I am the polar opposite. I mostly follow a vegan lifestyle. I never binge or crave anything. I eat so much grain and pastas and rice and I still lose weight. From what I understand the pales diet restricts these things. I love my high carb low fat diet! My acne has cleared up and I have more muscle toning. I understand that this transition is difficult for many people, but meat already freaked me out, I get nauseous when I smell eggs and I am lactose intolerant. The hclf vegan lifestyle was made for me!
I completely respect your view but you're talking to a man that couldn't even go vegetarian let alone vegan. I guess we both have the common denominator which is fruit and veg, both known to be good for us!0 -
I have been doing different degrees of Paleo eating for about 6 years. I have gone Whole 30 strict before and I have done 80/20 and here is my take:
Positive Aspects:
-I started eating way more fruits and vegetables
-I eat better quality meats
-I became a better cook
- I tried vegetables that I had never tried before
- I lost 2 dress sizes
Negative Aspects
- It is really hard to be that restrictive all the time
- Social eating becomes really hard (things like resturaunts, family gatherings, and potlucks)
You can get all your vitamins and minerals eating Paleo. In some cases, you may need to entertain eating some things you have probably never eaten before (like organ meats, canned fish with the bones, and black strap molasses).
Right now I am not really eating Paleo. I eat oatmeal, quinoa, and rice pretty regularly. I was eating dairy from cows milk before my son's doctor asked me to cut dairy out of my diet. I eat bread a couple times per week.0
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