Paleo - Pros/Cons

weathergirl320

What is your point? Yes people have misconceptions about the diet, yes people think its restrictive, and yes people get Hung up on the name. And? Your point?

The point is that the OP asked about pros and cons. Dietary restrictions are cons and since we're discussing the paleo diet it makes sense to list the cons, since that's part of what the OP asked about.

Every diet has restrictions. Even calories in out...you still have to eat less. So how is paleo any more restrictive?

One restriction of the paleo diet is that you are eliminating food items without considering whether or not the individual needs to eliminate those food items. Arbitrary elimination is a restriction.

How on earth is that more restrictive than counting and measuring and weighing all my calories???

Regardless of whether or not you are counting calories, you still need to eat the appropriate amount of food and paleo is not special in this regard.

I most certainly did post the pros and cons. Then those were nit picked by you and someone else. So you should go back and read what I wrote if you care. And its not arbitrarily eliminating a Food group. There is tons of reseach out there so Google it. And again, you have proved my point that paleo is no more restrictive than a plain old diet of counting calories. So whats the problem again?

weathergirl320

So basically you don't understand.....thanks for proving my point.

That wasn't nice. Did the person you are quoting make a personal attack on you or did you just feel the need to be rude because someone doesn't agree with you?

Yes she did. Read up. I don't care if someone disagrees with me hello its an open forum unlike some people on here.

secretlobster

This is for me personally...

Pro: the 3 month period when I followed Primal living (95% at least) was when my body felt AMAZING. I had an abundance of energy, and had no food cravings whatsoever.

Con: Extremely difficult to live by forever. I would if I could, though it has changed my eating for the better, in general.

Silver_Star

There really is no cons. You eat whole foods but not dairy or grains.

No Dairy or grains sound like two pretty big cons to me.

i agree. I am on a low carb diet ..for a little while..and it was HELL the first few weeks!!!:explode:

i am now able to shackle myself before i turn into a witch when i crave bread or icecream.:sick: :devil:

Drunkadelic

I see that your avatar is one of my heroes, Ron Swanson. Ron Swanson would not speak to an MFP member in this manner. Ron Swanson probably wouldn't speak to anyone at all unless he had to (or if it involved meat-- a beloved Paleo staple). Ron Swanson would completely ignore this thread and many others.

One day, Ron Swanson will discover paleo and join us just so he can eat all of the bacon and eggs that we have.

EDIT: Paleo should really be renamed The Man Diet or The Mostly Carnivore but A Little Omnivore Diet.
MEAT!! That is all.

Pretty much. What a disgrace.

Oh and who here enjoys a good dose of irony? http://www.facebook.com/Paleo.Movement

Doing_The_Unstruck

If you eat a well balanced "paleo" diet there are no real cons. You can get all your macro and micronutrients following the diet. The only thing that can be a con is it's a pain in the *kitten* long term.

IMO, it's just another fad to sell books and products. To truely eat paleo, you would need to eat local seasonal foods of your ancestors. I don't believe they bought hormone pumped beef or GMO chemical covered produce at local supermarkets back then.

Acg67

http://healthylivingclinic.blogspot.com/2012/03/day-in-life-of-paleo-warrior.html

pattyproulx

To answer the original question:

There are a ton of pros (main one being better overall health) and many cons (main one being difficult to stick by), but they've all been covered on here.

Only way to know if it works for you is to give it a try. Give it a month and see how you feel and decide if eating grains and sugar are worth it for you.

I've been doing it for two years now and love it. I won't pretend to be following it to perfection, but I aim for about 80-90% and have found that the closer I am to 100%, the better I feel.

PaleoPath4Lyfe

I think it all comes down to personal preference. But why stick by a way of life where someone else decided what you should be eating? Quinoa is not a grain so I am not sure why that is in the list. I pick and choose what I want to have in my diet based on the way foods make me feel. I would not follow something like this because I like to do things my own way. If legumes don't give you issues, why take them out? If this is an excuse to eat cleanly, then why not just eat cleanly? I do know of a couple people that have specific food allergies that are on this and swear by it. I guess where I have the problem is following someones idea about what I should be eating. I would rather make my own decisions and listen to my own body but that is just me. I wouldn't want to admit that I was following a specific food plan because that seems temporary and not a permanent solution. Moderate approaches are always the best in my opinion. Just like politics and religion, we all cut and paste what works for us.

Most people that I know remove legumes and lentils because of the anti-nutrients that can keep other nutrients that you consume at the same time from being absorbed.

Anothers that I know also exclude seeds and most nuts because of the imbalance between the Omega 3 to Omega 6 balance.

PaleoPath4Lyfe

If you eat a well balanced "paleo" diet there are no real cons. You can get all your macro and micronutrients following the diet. The only thing that can be a con is it's a pain in the *kitten* long term.

IMO, it's just another fad to sell books and products. To truely eat paleo, you would need to eat local seasonal foods of your ancestors. I don't believe they bought hormone pumped beef or GMO chemical covered produce at local supermarkets back then.

Tell that to Art Devaney who has been at this for over 30 years. Clean eating for health is NOT A Fad and most of these people have their information for FREE so there is no reason to purchase the books.

Most people eat local and seasonal and purchase their meats, eggs and raw dairy from local farmers.

I know many, many people like myself that rarely, if ever set foot in a grocery store any longer.

pattyproulx

I think anything in life that does not let you enjoy "a little bit of everything" can't be all that great for you. I don't see how anything so restrictive can help in the long run. Keep word: moderation

Gah - told myself I wouldn't respond to anything else on here, but to me this is just too poor of an argument and I see it *all the time*.

Why on on earth would one think that a lifestyle needed to include 'a little bit of everything' to be considered healthy and sustainable? Where does one draw the line? A little bit of coke, a little bit of weed? A little bit of cigarettes, a little bit of booze? A little bit of trans fats?

I'm not saying that eating grains is like doing heroin but I'm saying that the fact that a lifestyle promotes the exclusion of certain things that it deems unhealthy doesn't mean it can't be 'great for you'.


And just because you eat a mainly-paleo diet doesn't mean that you can't cheat here and there (or even regularly include foods that you would like to eat that aren't considered paleo).
It's not a religion or an all-or-nothing thing; anyone can personalize it as they please.

For me, based on experience and what I've read, I've decided that grains and sugar aren't things that I want to put in my body regularly -though it doesn't mean that I won't indulge in a piece of pie every once in a while.

RonSwanson66

I think it all comes down to personal preference. But why stick by a way of life where someone else decided what you should be eating? Quinoa is not a grain so I am not sure why that is in the list. I pick and choose what I want to have in my diet based on the way foods make me feel. I would not follow something like this because I like to do things my own way. If legumes don't give you issues, why take them out? If this is an excuse to eat cleanly, then why not just eat cleanly? I do know of a couple people that have specific food allergies that are on this and swear by it. I guess where I have the problem is following someones idea about what I should be eating. I would rather make my own decisions and listen to my own body but that is just me. I wouldn't want to admit that I was following a specific food plan because that seems temporary and not a permanent solution. Moderate approaches are always the best in my opinion. Just like politics and religion, we all cut and paste what works for us.

Most people that I know remove legumes and lentils because of the anti-nutrients that can keep other nutrients that you consume at the same time from being absorbed.

Anothers that I know also exclude seeds and most nuts because of the imbalance between the Omega 3 to Omega 6 balance.

More arbitrary bull****. Nearly all vegetables contain some sort of anti-nutrients. Even fiber (while not technically an anti-nutrient) can hinder absorption of other nutrients.

PaleoPath4Lyfe

To the person I put on ignore the rule of thumb regarding anti-nutrients in fruits and vegetables is as follows:

Raw fruit contains negligible amounts of anti-nutrients, so this is ok to eat. Raw vegetables differ in their anti-nutrient content. The basic rule is that if the raw vegetable is bitter in taste, it has too high an antinutrient level, so should not be eaten.

PaleoPath4Lyfe

I think it all comes down to personal preference. But why stick by a way of life where someone else decided what you should be eating? Quinoa is not a grain so I am not sure why that is in the list. I pick and choose what I want to have in my diet based on the way foods make me feel. I would not follow something like this because I like to do things my own way. If legumes don't give you issues, why take them out? If this is an excuse to eat cleanly, then why not just eat cleanly? I do know of a couple people that have specific food allergies that are on this and swear by it. I guess where I have the problem is following someones idea about what I should be eating. I would rather make my own decisions and listen to my own body but that is just me. I wouldn't want to admit that I was following a specific food plan because that seems temporary and not a permanent solution. Moderate approaches are always the best in my opinion. Just like politics and religion, we all cut and paste what works for us.

Most people that I know remove legumes and lentils because of the anti-nutrients that can keep other nutrients that you consume at the same time from being absorbed.

Anothers that I know also exclude seeds and most nuts because of the imbalance between the Omega 3 to Omega 6 balance.

More arbitrary bull****. Nearly all vegetables contain some sort of anti-nutrients. Even fiber (while not technically an anti-nutrient) can hinder absorption of other nutrients.

Raw fruit contains negligible amounts of anti-nutrients, so this is ok to eat. Raw vegetables differ in their anti-nutrient content. The basic rule is that if the raw vegetable is bitter in taste, it has too high an antinutrient level, so should not be eaten.

RonSwanson66

To the person I put on ignore
.

LOL.

You really have issues with definitions.

JayByrd107

There really is no cons. You eat whole foods but not dairy or grains.

No Dairy or grains sound like two pretty big cons to me.

Well the OP can't have dairy. Personally, I don't like the idea of removing all grains anymore. Maybe OP can keep the grains in.
When I said no cons I meant in terms of health. Can get all the vitamins and minerals without the dairy and grains. I think low carbers can have certain vitamin and minerals lacking in their diet

Grains on their own don't even taste good. its pretty much just filler food. If you don't need any fillers, how is that a con? Oatmeal for example, who actually enjoys a bowl of plain oatmeal? I personally stopped eating oatmeal simply because its gross without some type of sugar.

Me. Hell, I'll even grab a handful of oats and eat them raw.

victoria4321

Grains on their own don't even taste good. its pretty much just filler food. If you don't need any fillers, how is that a con? Oatmeal for example, who actually enjoys a bowl of plain oatmeal? I personally stopped eating oatmeal simply because its gross without some type of sugar.

Me. Hell, I'll even grab a handful of oats and eat them raw.

You must definitely be in the minority then. I don't know many people who could toss some dry oats in their mouth and start munching away.

RonSwanson66

Tell that to Art Devaney who has been at this for over 30 years

Getting nutritional advice from an economist makes about as much sense as having your dietician manage your financial portfolio.

victoria4321

Tell that to Art Devaney who has been at this for over 30 years

Getting nutritional advice from an economist makes about as much sense as having your dietician manage your financial portfolio.

How about all the people on MFP giving nutritional advice? I don't think each and every knowledgeable person here is a nutritionist.

PaleoPath4Lyfe

To the person I put on ignore
.

LOL.

You really have issues with definitions.

No, i put you on ignore and then took it off to respond to your nonsense.

You should go attack the vegans and vegetarians for a while and leave us alone.

Seriously, go somewhere else.