To the Paleo Folk Here ...

JohnNull

If there's anyone that has been here for a few years, you may recall a user named Johnny Null (roughly two years ago?), who was convinced that the Paleo shtick was complete nonsense. I have returned to apologize for being so very wrong.

I will try to keep this as brief as I can, while still covering the main points.

I had an episode of This Week in Paleo pop up in one of my podcast feeds, one largely centered on consumption of sugar. I was reminded that there's really no good reason to ingest straight-up sugar. I had dropped refined sugar out of my diet in the past and decided to do it again. My wife jumped on-board pretty quickly. This gave me a little nudge to listen to other episodes.

At the time, I had psoriasis on my wrists that would come and go, seemingly at random. It would get bad enough to crack and bleed. My doctor prescribed a topical steroid that did absolutely nothing. The results that people said they were getting by going Paleo was pretty compelling. I decided to go back and re-listen to Robb Wolf's Paleo Solution podcasts, this time without already having my mind made up that it was all BS.

I was rapidly coming to a point of "why not try it?". However, I had already set myself up as finding the whole thing absolutely absurd. I had convinced my wife that it was really baseless. I thought perhaps I could do it by myself and she could later decide if she wanted in after seeing what results, or lack thereof, I would realize. I sheepishly mentioned to her that I was considering giving it a go. She was surprised and didn't quite know what to make of my swing.

That weekend, a dear friend invited us over for a night of pizza, booze, and talking. That night I had very bad stomach pains. Me. With an absolute iron stomach. I was convinced that I should try ("lowish carb") Paleo eating.

As neither of us was really sold yet on the idea, we went in two stages. We decided that on the first of September 2011, we'd knock out gluten and refined sugars for a month. If that worked, we could do the immune protocol/food reintroduction deal that Robb Wolf promotes. Within three days, my psoriasis had healed a good amount. Within a week, my wife's ... digestive issues ... that she's had basically all her adult life was gone. We both began losing bodyfat at a good pace.

To wrap this up before becoming a novelette, I have since determined that my body does not do well at all with nightshades. Peppers or even paprika can irritate me to the point that my psoriasis will return. Using MFP, I had gone from 245# to 175# by counting calories. However, it was a soft, puffy 175#. Very much a "wheat belly" kind of situation. I have since gone down to 156# and now come back up to 165#, all while putting on muscle and still losing bodyfat. I sleep better, I recover better, and my mind is sharper than it's been in a long time. I don't get the energy crunches I used to. I am physically just more capable than I used to be, and I get better results working out just 1-3 times a week than I would get counting calories and kicking my *kitten* 5-6 days a week. My wife is seeing similar results, and is now fitting into clothing that would not have fit her since middle school. Neither of us has counted a thing since going Paleo.

I am not posting this to create a debate. I am posting this because I was completely wrong, and I am publicly admitting it and apologizing.

freerange

I remember you and I having lively discussions in the past. Glad you found something that works for you.

JohnNull

"Lively" is probably very kind. Haha!

Thanks.

wackyfunster

Was probably not the sugar, but rather some substance in the food that you have a sensitivity to. There is a test you can get that evaluates inflammatory response to a variety of foodstuffs. I suspect if you do a single-factor control (i.e. same diet plus or minus sugar alone), you'll find that it does not have any negative effects (that is what I found, at least).

Not knocking your results, as someone with a ton of food sensitivities, avoiding stuff that I have a reaction to has made a night and day difference in my health and quality of life... I just have not seen any evidence that sugar is actually a factor for most people (I have tried 0 sugar and gluten free both for 3+ months with 0 effect, personally). IMO most people would be better served by getting tested for their specific sensitivities rather than making assumptions based upon generally inaccurate lists of inflammatory/anti-inflammatory foods.

For the record, I am going keto paleo (for a while at least) starting Thursday, so am not opposed to the diet, just think that a lot of the claims re: inflammation are misdirected, and the diet in general is overhyped. With that said, I certainly applaud anyone's efforts to eat better.

emtjmac

Glad it's working for you. I don't believe in it and will never do it because I think it's unsustainable and a fad. I eat a balanced diet as best I can as recommended by nutritionists. I do not have food sensitivities.

pickledginger

Terrific that it has worked so well for you both! I need to try a serious elimination diet at some point, to find out what (besides gluten) I need to avoid.

And bless you for being gentleman enough to acknowledge your earlier mistake.

busywaterbending

welcome to the way we are supossed to eat!



happy and healthy life!

PaleoPath4Lyfe

I am part of those lively conversations also. I was July24Lioness back then.................

Congrats on you and your wife's success.

JohnNull

Thanks, all.

@wackyfunster: It's not a sensitivity to sugar, rather the fat that comes with it. Or the excess.

For "sensitivities", we went through and did the elimination deal. Remove a food for a month or more, reintroduce on the heavy side for a week. Nightshades screwed me so hard, I refused to go past the third day. I'm overall good with dairy, but I think my skin is ever so slightly better without it.

Gluten is kind of funny. I had the typical bad gluten response for months and months. I now am at the point that if I have a small forkfull of birthday cake, I don't wake up with pains in the middle of the night. I still avoid it completely at all other times.

I appreciate your input. We did take several months trying to reintroduce one variable at a time.

Defren

I eat Primal, and have done for quite a few months now. I came across this lifestyle through someone I met on an internet forum, it was a health forum (diabetes). He taught me about paleo/primal and as I was doing Atkins I thought why not. I cut out all grains, I don't drink any milk, and radically upped my sat fat intake. My BG's are completely normal, infact my BG 2 hours post prandial can be lower than a non diabetic. My health including cholesterol is fabulous and I have lost 99lbs in weight. I look so much younger and feel so much better. I will never change how I eat. With only around 18lbs left to reach goal, I am now looking toward maintenance which I am more nervous about that losing. :-) I find my diet now leaves me completely satiated, and the idea of having to eat more to maintain is a bit worrying.

Sorry, I'm waffling. I wish you and your wife many happy tomorrows, and loads of luck on this phase of your journey.

JohnNull

Thanks and congratulations to you! That's fantastic!

SanteMulberry

I eat mostly Primal. I eat no sugar and very little grain (only the odd bowl of oatmeal or a piece of organic 100% rye bread on my workout days) I started about six months ago and I have lost 24 pounds so far with my body reshaping in an astounding way. I have lost five inches off my waist so far and I am feeling better than I have felt in a long while. My blood sugar and cholesterol readings have returned to normal (they were high before) and I am completely off my blood pressure meds (I was taking the maximum dose of Micardis and Norvasc). I will NEVER go back to eating sugar and a lot of grain.

Elleinnz

Bump

amanda6393

Great story! And yet somehow familiar....:bigsmile:

StaceyL76

Bump! Thanks for posting this. = ) Paleo eating has changed my quality of life - in a big way!

caribougal

Welcome back. I didn't know you before but glad to hear of your success story. I've been Primal since July. Come join the Paleo/Primal group on here... I bet you can help others just starting out.

JohnNull

Thanks for the invitation. I shall join.

Zeromilediet

I don't remember you ... so many on here believe paleo has nothing to offer and I got tired of playing tennis with citations ;-)

It was about 6 years ago when I first came across this way of eating and my first response was 'no way I'm giving up pasta! That's crazy talk!' Almost two years ago I needed to lose weight and was baffled how cutting back on calories and pretty much feeling hungry all the time was not producing any results. What's more I'd developed a BELLY! Not overnight, but after I turned 50, it slowly bloated out ... very disturbing for someone who was The Skinny One all my life. Five pounds a year was becoming the norm and it had to stop. Having worked previously as a researcher, the obvious approach was to investigate why exactly a low-fat, low calorie diet was not working: I was ready to gnaw my arm off! The theory for a paleolithic way of eating surfaced again along with challenges to the widely disseminated belief in low fat and thermogenesis in humans. What was there to lose in exploring this further, and altering my eating habits? Only weight, fat & inches as it turns out. Not to mention inflammation, acne, and so many other little things that still become apparent.

I know among the objections is this is considered a restrictive diet, but I don't feel that way at all. There's a tremendous emphasis and pressure to focus on weight loss, when it should be all about health gain. No, I don't eat bread, cereal, and well, anything with sweetener in it (which is pretty much any processed food), and yes, about 50% of my calories are fat (not oils). And I feel fantastic. It's ridiculous to have more energy than I did 20 years ago, but that's the way it is for me. The desire (craving even) for sweets has slowly disappeared and eating these foods in moderation makes about as much sense as would smoking in moderation.

I'm happy to learn this has been beneficial for your family ... some are unable to see results for a variety of reasons. Good for you!

SanteMulberry

Hi Zeromilediet,

You said: "What was there to lose in exploring this further, and altering my eating habits? Only weight, fat & inches as it turns out. Not to mention inflammation, acne, and so many other little things that still become apparent."


I'm glad you said that about the acne! I have had acne since I was a teenager, (a LOOOONG time ago). I have a familial tendency to high blood sugar/diabetes. Apparently, what causes the acne is that the high blood sugar (exacerbated by a diet full of sugar and grain) causes high insulin, which, in turn, causes high cortisol and acne. My acne has completely disappeared since I went Primal. My skin took about four months to completely clear (I had a lot of clogged pores) but it is totally gone now. I have to use moisturizer for the first time in my life!

judychicken

Bump

Bakkasan

I don't remember you ... so many on here believe paleo has nothing to offer and I got tired of playing tennis with citations ;-)

That sums up MFP. Congrats to OP for finding a way to overcome, no matter what anyone else says(in this case, yourself!)

prokomds

Congrats on finding something that works for you and makes you happier/healthier!

While going full-paleo seems a little extreme to me, I've been conscientious about upping my protein (and fat, consequently), and somewhat lowering my carbs, and I think it has definitely increased my energy. Before I had a lot more very carb-heavy meals (you know those meals where everything on your plate is white/yellow? hahaha), and now the main difference is that I make an effort to add in more meat/veggies. I have to say, it's so easy, I have a real hard time following the people who say they struggle to get enough calories...