Considering Paleo

VictoriaWorksOut

Hi, I am researching Paleo and am considering giving it a try, but have few questions. Maybe someone who has had longer experience with it can help me to get some clarity.

From what I read, different authors in their Paleo books can be wrong (as per other Paleo book authors/ knowledgeable fans). This is somewhat confusing. Is there right Paleo and wrong Paleo?
For example, this review was very informational and pointed me towards more reading that I need to do
http://www.amazon.com/review/RPOX3S9MYO82K/ref=cm_cr_dp_title?ie=UTF8&ASIN=0470913029&nodeID=283155&store=books

Another hold back that I have is not eating grains. I believe in God, and believe that He created us. Based on that, in Bible God provides as with whole grains, including Wheat, as staple of our diets. Many times Biblical fasts are based on grains-only diet. I can't fully accept argument that grains are modified, and thus bad. All food that we eat today is not fully nutritional as it was even just 100 years ago, because soil is depleted of nutrients. Meats are full with hormones and medicines. To eat 100% organic is not realistic.

Have you been completely wheat free, and for how long?

I am not new to "fasting" junk food. Every January I do Daniels fast (no processed food, no meats, no flour containing food, no dairy, water only to drink, no sugars, no cafeen) and know very well how body feels when it goes through cleaning itself and being full of energy while eating basic food.

I think for most Americans any diet works to start with because it is a change from junk-food based diet. More important then finding a new diet is to find a change we can make that will become our lifestyle for a long term success.

monkeydharma

From what I read, different authors in their Paleo books can be wrong (as per other Paleo book authors/ knowledgeable fans). This is somewhat confusing. Is there right Paleo and wrong Paleo?

Well, there's facts, interpretation of facts, and opinions based on facts (to varying degrees).

This approach to eating is based on the concept that Man's dietary needs are still the same as they were in prehistoric times. The difficulty is that we can only surmise what a paleolithic diet consisted of, and that is what gives rise to the different 'denominations' within the movement. The thing to remember is that the 80/20 rule (or Law of Diminishing Returns, if you will) applies here as elsewhere: certain foods were most likely not eaten by prehistoric man, and their subsequent inclusion into our diet has given rise to numerous chronic disease states.

Another hold back that I have is not eating grains. I believe in God, and believe that He created us. Based on that, in Bible God provides as with whole grains, including Wheat, as staple of our diets.

Here's your problem: grain-based agriculture is only about 10,000 years old. The christian bible is significantly less than that, since it postulates a 6,000-year-old Earth. Based on the archaeological record, man has been around for a couple hundred thousand years at least. So, while your bible is a post-agricultural document, and it treats grains as the staff of life, you've still got all of prehistory where that wasn't the case.

Primitive hunter/gatherer diets were based on what is edible without modification - even if later on, we learned to cook to improve flavor. Plants that are good for us are edible raw. So are animals. Grains, on the other hand are not. Same with legumes. Sugars in a plant are healthy in seasonal amounts - refined sugar (no matter the source) is not. Avoiding these foods is the "80%" that provides the most benefit. The other 20% is the part that people squabble over.

I can't fully accept argument that grains are modified, and thus bad.

I don't know who makes that assertion. The badness of grains is that:
- they are not edible without substantial modification (soaking/leaching, grinding, cooking, etc.)
- eaten raw, they have detrimental effect on the human body
- Man performs best as a low-carb animal (derived from plant sources); grains provide too many carbs, which in turn creates both insulin and inflammatory issues; which in turn acts as a basis for most of Modern Man's chronic debilitating illnesses

Meats are full with hormones and medicines. To eat 100% organic is not realistic.

Wrong. Only modern American agribusiness produces feedlot meat that is full of hormones and medicines. Pastured animals not only are grain-free, but since they are in an inherently healthier environment (feedlots are some of the most disease-ridden, unhealthy places in the world), they do not need growth hormones OR antibiotics. None of the meat I eat contains any of those things.

80/20 applies with organics as well. Whether organics are 'more nutritious' or not is open to debate; what ISN'T is that produce spayed with pesticides are poisonous to us. If you avoid the produce that is produced with the most pesticides, you'll improve your health. The more you avoid - the better.

Have you been completely wheat free, and for how long?

I have been on a hunter-gatherer diet for 1.5 years. Completely grain-free? No, because life places the occasional food item in my path (family gatherings, etc) where it is better to partake than refuse. But I am 99% grain/legume/sugar free, and as a result, my labs have improved tremendously, to where I no longer have a problem with triglycerides, high cholesterol, arthritis, and other maladies.

VictoriaWorksOut

monkeydarma, thank you for taking your time and share your insight. Very helpful!

That is awesome that by changing your eating you are able to let your body to heal itself. I don't have any health issues, just want to take pro-active approach since what we eat matters.

Interestingly, you mentioned arthritis. This will be slightly off topic, but still fits. About a year ago I read a book How and When to Be Your Own Doctor by Dr. Isabelle A. Moser (free pdf download on web is available if you google). It is about how processed food cause all kinds of illnesses, and how water fasting and few more things can cure all illnesses. I did 5 day water fast and as a result, once I started introducing the food back, I learned that I have mild allergy to dairy - it inflamed my glands, my throat started feel itchy. Dr. Moser discussed that cow's milk gives most people mild allergy that we do not notice since it is not radical. It can be seen as puffy face, arthritis as we get older and as it accumulates over years. My grandma had bad arthritis in her later years. That made sense. I still eat dairy products but take break from them, and let my body clear it out.
That's one thing I remember seeing on pictures every time after fasting dairy, my face looked very good and had no puffiness.

MMAQueen

I can't think of any bible verse that says you have to eat grains. God Gave us animals and vegetation to eat, he didn't say we had to eat any specific ones, just certain things we should avoid. You can do Paleo with out eating pork, and other things that are not allowed in the old testament.

I've been doing paleo for 2 weeks. with the added restriction of no pork, 0 dairy (some people allow it), shell fish or shrip or other sea insects.

monkeydharma

Dr. Moser discussed that cow's milk gives most people mild allergy that we do not notice since it is not radical. It can be seen as puffy face, arthritis as we get older and as it accumulates over years. My grandma had bad arthritis in her later years. That made sense. I still eat dairy products but take break from them, and let my body clear it out.

Well, I eat very little cow dairy - mostly goat and sheep dairy, which is more easily digestible. Although cow dairy is by far the most-consumed in the US, more people worldwide eat goat and sheep dairy. I use goatsmilk butter and yogurt, and a variety of goat and sheepsmilk cheeses.

One of the nice things about this is that neither goats nor sheep are 'feedlot' animals, so even if they are not certified organic, they are pastured and the next best thing.

VictoriaWorksOut

I can't think of any bible verse that says you have to eat grains. God Gave us animals and vegetation to eat, he didn't say we had to eat any specific ones, just certain things we should avoid. You can do Paleo with out eating pork, and other things that are not allowed in the old testament.

I've been doing paleo for 2 weeks. with the added restriction of no pork, 0 dairy (some people allow it), shell fish or shrip or other sea insects.

Maybe you have seen in freezer section in grocery store Ezikiel bred, from Ezikiel 4:9 that was heated by the desert and eaten uncooked.
“Take wheat and barley, beans and lentils, millet and spelt; put them in a storage jar and use them to make bread for yourself. You are to eat it during the 390 days you lie on your side."

More info for reference on this bread if you are interested
http://www.answerfitness.com/213/ezekiel-bread-healthy-food-day/#more-213

God did give us all food to enjoy (New Testament), and in moderation, as indulging overly in anything becomes sin. I don't eat pork either, have not for over 20 years. There are few things that I don't eat based on Old testament, even though in New Testament it says we can eat all food (I Timothy 4:1-5). My biggest pitfall in food is sweets, like for so many of us. :ohwell:

MMAQueen

I can't think of any bible verse that says you have to eat grains. God Gave us animals and vegetation to eat, he didn't say we had to eat any specific ones, just certain things we should avoid. You can do Paleo with out eating pork, and other things that are not allowed in the old testament.

I've been doing paleo for 2 weeks. with the added restriction of no pork, 0 dairy (some people allow it), shell fish or shrip or other sea insects.

Maybe you have seen in freezer section in grocery store Ezikiel bred, from Ezikiel 4:9 that was heated by the desert and eaten uncooked.
“Take wheat and barley, beans and lentils, millet and spelt; put them in a storage jar and use them to make bread for yourself. You are to eat it during the 390 days you lie on your side."

More info for reference on this bread if you are interested
http://www.answerfitness.com/213/ezekiel-bread-healthy-food-day/#more-213

God did give us all food to enjoy (New Testament), and in moderation, as indulging overly in anything becomes sin. I don't eat pork either, have not for over 20 years. There are few things that I don't eat based on Old testament, even though in New Testament it says we can eat all food (I Timothy 4:1-5). My biggest pitfall in food is sweets, like for so many of us. :ohwell:

sweets are my downfall as well, though, since starting this diet i have been craving them a lot less! I'm not super strict and allow myself honey as a sweetener when baking, but I find it doesn't give me the cravings that regular sugar does. It used to be once I had something sweet, I would crave it more and more. I'm able to eat something sweetened with honey and not crave more.