Paleo Diet

cowgirlslikeus86

I thought about trying the Paleo way of eating. The basic idea seems sound.
However, I am loosing quite well just watching my macros/calories and excercising. I am worried that I won't get the carbs I need for running if I try paleo. I feel great and have tons of energy like never before. Maybe someday I will try it.

spngebobmyhero

I thought about trying the Paleo way of eating. The basic idea seems sound.
However, I am loosing quite well just watching my macros/calories and excercising. I am worried that I won't get the carbs I need for running if I try paleo. I feel great and have tons of energy like never before. Maybe someday I will try it.

If you are worried about carbs, the paleo way of eating recommends sweet potatoes. Paleo isn't necessarily a low carb diet!

kasebrad

Some aspects of the paleo diet are useful - obviously we need to focus on eating a more diverse set of vegetables and fruits, nuts, legumes, tubers, lean meats, etc. That's clearly a huge benefit of the diet (given that people ARE indeed trying to mimic what hunter-gatherers ate - simply eating the same old meat and vegetable every day would not reflect a hunter-gatherer diet. Keep in mind that research suggests they did much more gathering than hunting, and that most of their calories came from plant products and small animals, like reptiles, rodents, insects, etc.)

However, aside from allergies, there is no legitimate reason to completely eliminate grains and dairy from your diet. It is true that the shift from hunter-gatherer groups to agricultural societies diminished health because of the dependency on grains. The issue was, these societies were basing their entire diet around grains - obviously, you should not exclusively eat grains, or primarily eat grains like many populations have in the past. But, eating them in moderation - paired with meats, vegetables, and fruits - is not an issue. Similarly, there is little reason to abandon dairy products - in the past and today, they are an excellent source of protein, fat, and calcium. Most modern people fulfill their calcium requirements by eating dairy products, so giving them up could potentially result in a deficit.

Additionally, arguing that the body is not well-adapted to eat grains and dairy is a bit short-sighted. Our bodies are constantly adapting to new challenges. That is why the ability to digest lactose exists at all. The "natural" condition is actually lactose-intolerance, but societies with a history of pastoralism evolved the genetic ability to digest lactose in adulthood - just within the past 10kya or so! Yes, in general, we are physically the same as our hunter-gatherer ancestors - but, we have changed in some ways. Our bodies adapted so that we could include a new rich nutritional source (dairy), thereby increasing survivability.

The paleo diet has some good things to offer, but overall, I definitely would never advocate it. I apologize for the rant, but as a biological anthropology grad student, I kind of had to throw in my two cents

A very well presented and balanced point of view. I didn't see it as a "rant" at all. I would only partially disagree with the grain statements and diary statements. I think the grain thing is very individual. The are many that do have issues with grains as eveidenced by the gluten intolerance and celiac issues that are out there. Some don't have as much sensitivity. For those that do, myself included, the Paleo/ Primal/ Hunter Gatherer style diet works well. There is also the phytate and mineral absorbtion issue as evidenced by the preponderence of mineral defeciency in areas of the world where grains are the majority of the diet. There are some ways to minimize this by presoaking rice or wheat in vinegar that neutralizes a good portion of the phytates. So, it's really an individual thing from person to person.

I would present pretty much the same argument for lactose. The whole dairy thing is somewhat of a gray area in general. Some who follow this diet are against it. Some, like Mark Sisson, are more moderate. There is also a distiction in the difference between bovine dairy and goat and sheep dairy, the later being for more friendly for digestion. Also, there is some agreement that fermented dairy is very positive. Again, there are extremes in those who follow the diet that would not agree but a I follow a moderate path that involves goat milk and goat milk cheese and yogurt. I make it myself from raw goat milk and digest it well. I also have issues with Cow's milk digestibility and inflammation causeing flu like symptoms and bloating. Again, some people and people groups in different regions of the world have adapted just fine to dairy, like say the Masi is Africa. Others have issues.

Your .02 was appreciated!

Good points! I actually meant to mention that it could work for those who do suffer with gluten and lactose intolerance, but for those of us who don't, it doesn't seem necessary.

kasebrad

Didn't the father of the Paleo diet say something to the effect of, "Our ancestors had to eat this way to stay in shape so that they could run away from the Dinosaurs that were always chasing them?" I'm sure I'm only paraphrasing... but - I can't take this stuff seriously after that.... LOL!

But seriously, ANY DIET that forbids you to eat something, is just a diet and not a maintainable lifestyle. If you can do something like this for a month or so and have it help you cut out processed crap - thats great, but really - are you going to never eat a potato for the rest of your life?

I prefer to lose weight the old fashioned way, moderation.

Hey, good for you! But I don't see anyone coming here minimizing or condescending to your decision. Follow your own path with integrity but why do you feel it's your place to ridicule someone elses?

No condescending - just the truth. He really did say that - but, then later recanted when someone called him out on the utter lack of knowledge of human history. I mean, from someone who is supposed to be an expert in anthropology, its telling when he didn't even know that humans and dinosaurs did not ever coexist together and fact lived what - some 2 million years apart?

Ooooh man, I hope you were joking on the 2 million years apart bit. Dinosaurs went extinct 65 million years ago, and humans have existed for no more than 200,000 years, lol.

Wait, are you saying she may have made a mistake or misspoken?

Yeah...correct me if I'm wrong, but he/she said that dinosaurs and humans lived 2 million years apart, which is far from accurate

mmapags

I thought about trying the Paleo way of eating. The basic idea seems sound.
However, I am loosing quite well just watching my macros/calories and excercising. I am worried that I won't get the carbs I need for running if I try paleo. I feel great and have tons of energy like never before. Maybe someday I will try it.

You know, if you are in a good zone and feel great, why mess with it. BTW, the whole low carb thing is often overplayed in relationship to a Hunter/ Gatherer style diet. If doing nothing wildly active and you are at a good weight, you strive to keep them around 150 grams per day. If you are working out heavily and are not trying to burn off fat, you increase them in such a way that you are maintaining energy through your workouts. The key thing is to keep insulin sensitivity high and resistance low. If you are losing effectively, that is not an issue for you.

CindyBretta

I thought about trying the Paleo way of eating. The basic idea seems sound.
However, I am loosing quite well just watching my macros/calories and excercising. I am worried that I won't get the carbs I need for running if I try paleo. I feel great and have tons of energy like never before. Maybe someday I will try it.

You know, if you are in a good zone and feel great, why mess with it. BTW, the whole low carb thing is often overplayed in relationship to a Hunter/ Gatherer style diet. If doing nothing wildly active and you are at a good weight, you strive to keep them around 150 grams per day. If you are working out heavily and are not trying to burn off fat, you increase them in such a way that you are maintaining energy through your workouts. The key thing is to keep insulin sensitivity high and resistance low. If you are losing effectively, that is not an issue for you.

I would be concerned about getting enough carbs to run with Paleo as well. Since you are losing weight and have great energy, I would just keep doing whatever you are doing. But if you do decided to do Paleo, I would suggest doing it gradually, or at a time when you are not racing or training.