Paleo diet, crazy or worth it?

WendyTerry420

Any diet that tells you to completely avoid certain foods is ridiculous. That's according to my doctor, and IMHO. Your body is an amazing machine, it will tell you what it needs and what is best for it.

My body told me it really wanted bagels every morning. And candy after lunch. And ice cream after dinner. It told me I wanted to snack all day long. If there is sugar in my diet, I don't trust a damned thing my body tells me.

Now that I have eliminated foods with added sugars most of the time, I trust my body more. Except for coffee. It tells me I really need coffee.

I agree that sometimes our bodies are pretty retarded! :laugh:

Septlondon

I have lost 35lb (started before joining MFP), feel fantastic, lots of energy, off asthma medication, no more pain in joints, no more gastric reflux, much more positive outlook on life. The lifestyle seems to suit my body, I am very greatful. The freedom from constant hunger is a gift.

MissAnjy

I think anything is "crazy" that you can't maintain.

vabchloser

I always thought the "eat what the caveman eats" diet was dumb since their life expectancy was like 25-30 years. That's just my personal opinion. I'm not judging anyone's diet.

Zeromilediet

I always thought the "eat what the caveman eats" diet was dumb since their life expectancy was like 25-30 years. That's just my personal opinion. I'm not judging anyone's diet.

You think cavemen died young because of what they ate? Seriously?

I'd think other factors like no healthcare plan, primitive neonatal care, central heating, grocery store on every corner, no predators when you go out to get something to eat ... maybe things like that might have an impact?

picklestew

agree with Zeromile. What is interesting are the studies looking at modern day hunter/gatherer groups of people who basically eat paleo. You don't see much heart disease, diabetes or autoimmune diseases. Check out writings/blogs by Gary Taubes or Robb Wolf for some interesting insight into the science behind it all.

emtjmac

Grains are awesome. I love grains. I will never stop eating grains and they are good for me and everyone should eat them unless they have some sort of allergy to them. Eliminating them is a bad choice.

amy1612

Grains are awesome. I love grains. I will never stop eating grains and they are good for me and everyone should eat them unless they have some sort of allergy to them. Eliminating them is a bad choice.

*insert Bane from Batman voice here*

For you

sweetalker

Any diet that tells you to completely avoid certain foods is ridiculous. That's according to my doctor, and IMHO. Your body is an amazing machine, it will tell you what it needs and what is best for it.

My body told me it really wanted bagels every morning. And candy after lunch. And ice cream after dinner. It told me I wanted to snack all day long. If there is sugar in my diet, I don't trust a damned thing my body tells me.

Nooo, your body said it was *hungry*, and needed nutrients and fiber, and you *chose* to feed it bagels and candy and ice cream and processed sugar. It told you to "snack all day long" because it was STILL hungry, because it still hadn't gotten those nice nutrients and fiber it asked for before. And after all this crappy eating I'll bet it told you "I don't like this kind of food you're feeding me" by giving you stomachaches, and headaches, and making you feel tired all day. Am I right?

vabchloser

I always thought the "eat what the caveman eats" diet was dumb since their life expectancy was like 25-30 years. That's just my personal opinion. I'm not judging anyone's diet.

You think cavemen died young because of what they ate? Seriously?

I'd think other factors like no healthcare plan, primitive neonatal care, central heating, grocery store on every corner, no predators when you go out to get something to eat ... maybe things like that might have an impact?

Perhaps, but that is why I stated it was just my personal opinion. Nothing to get upset about.

caribougal

Any diet that tells you to completely avoid certain foods is ridiculous. That's according to my doctor, and IMHO. Your body is an amazing machine, it will tell you what it needs and what is best for it.

My body told me it really wanted bagels every morning. And candy after lunch. And ice cream after dinner. It told me I wanted to snack all day long. If there is sugar in my diet, I don't trust a damned thing my body tells me.

Nooo, your body said it was *hungry*, and needed nutrients and fiber, and you *chose* to feed it bagels and candy and ice cream and processed sugar. It told you to "snack all day long" because it was STILL hungry, because it still hadn't gotten those nice nutrients and fiber it asked for before. And after all this crappy eating I'll bet it told you "I don't like this kind of food you're feeding me" by giving you stomachaches, and headaches, and making you feel tired all day. Am I right?

Actually, I disagree. I very rarely was truly hungry as in growling stomach hungry. I often felt like I wanted to eat though. And I would get shaky if more than a couple of hours went by in between meals. I associated Low blood sugar with hunger. But it wasn't hunger -it was my pancreas going crazy in all its pre-diabetic glory asking for more carbs. I did eat veggies, fruit, and protein too, but way more carbs than anything else. Once I went Paleo, I replaced those low-nutrient carbs with high-nutrient veggies, and my sugar cravings disappeared and so did my sugar shakes and obsessing over meals. Now I can go for hours fueled by good food. I can get hungry without getting hypoglycemic. It's an awesome change.

mensasu

Now I can go for hours fueled by good food. I can get hungry without getting hypoglycemic. It's an awesome change.

That has also been one of the best changes for me and my husband. He would have terrible hypoglycemic attacks and always carried an energy bar just in case. Now he can also go hours and has not had any attacks. In addition we have found that our arthritis and other body pains have pretty much disappeared. For us, we had had earlier allergy tests that showed we were sensitive to a variety of grains but had never had the determination to go grain free until 6 months ago. We had long given up artificial sweeteners and once you give up the commercially prepared foods which have hidden grains you pretty much are also giving up sugar. We have both lost a lot of weight easily with just walking as our exercise. This "paleo/primal" tag is misleading. Going grain/sugar free has been around for many years under many tags. Just google William Banting Letter on Corpulence from 1864. Although I often see "you are not a snowflake" posted on these topics I do believe that different things work for different people. So for us, Paleo (actually primal cause we do dairy) is worth it for us.

I should mention that we have tried many other diets in the past including "high protein", "the zone" and "the just cut out the junk food" but we have never been able to stick with them for long. The cravings were so bad. This time round - no cravings - and we have made the mental decision that this is now our way of life not just a diet so that may also have a lot to do with our success.

Akimajuktuq

I always thought the "eat what the caveman eats" diet was dumb since their life expectancy was like 25-30 years. That's just my personal opinion. I'm not judging anyone's diet.

So, you've leapt to the conclusion that early demise equals poor nutrition??? Yeah, that's a common fallacy. Doing some research on anthropological archaeology would help you clear up a few things. They didn't all die young, but those that did, died in accidents (hunting is dangerous!) and from starvation (food scarcity NOT poor nutrition). Lots of research out there to check out. Paleolithic people were also, on average, many inches taller than Neolithic people, and without the diseases of the Neolithics as well.

I also think it's dumb that people are taking the "eat like a caveman" thing literally. It's just a quick and fun way to refer to eating minimally processed, natural foods. Just like how I tell my child that we "eat like a dinosaur". Well, no we don't!

bcattoes

I always thought the "eat what the caveman eats" diet was dumb since their life expectancy was like 25-30 years. That's just my personal opinion. I'm not judging anyone's diet.

You think cavemen died young because of what they ate? Seriously?

I'd think other factors like no healthcare plan, primitive neonatal care, central heating, grocery store on every corner, no predators when you go out to get something to eat ... maybe things like that might have an impact?

Certainly some deaths were diet related. Cavemen would certainly not have a consistent or always healthy diet. Unlike us, they did not have easy access to food 24/7 365 days a year. They ate what they could get, when they could get it. None of us would really want to eat like they did.