Paleo / Gluten Free Diets

Dibleym

I have just recently begun the paleo lifestyle (if I call it a diet it will never stick, haha) and find myself eating just as much as I used to, but thinning out- not necessarily losing weight, but toning up and thinning out all over. I used to LOVE eating things like spaghetti and lasagna, and my boyfriend was reading Marksdailyapple.com and eating paleo before I was, so to eat together and support his change I started finding recipes like Zucchini Lasagna, and Spaghetti squash in place of spaghetti pasta. Everything tastes fresher, and even though I don't work out much I find myself thinning out like I said before. I'm not missing any of my old pasta and bread meals because I just find substitutes.

I'm a college student, too. So after buying food paleo style I can credibly say there's no truth in saying its all that expensive! That is, if you like leftovers.

Also- as an ice cream addict I recommend you get Yonanas, its a fruit-to-fro yo maker. Look it up, tastes just like the real thing and cheaper than buying tons of ice cream, too!

lhalket

I'm reading Mark Sisson's book The Primal Blueprint 21 Day Total Body Transformation - he's a bit out there for me but seems to know his stuff - it's basically eating no processed foods at all and eliminating wheat, rice, etc.etc. from your diet. He also has a book Primal Blueprint Quick and Easy Meals. I was able to digitally download it from my library - but be warned - the calorie count on the meals are BIG - however, there are some good recipes in there.

You can also get information from his website - www.marksdailyapple.com

bcattoes

Helps with what?

I'm just trying to explain that the fact you have to peel something doesn't make it bad for you, but you HAVE to do severe processing to grains in order to keep them from being unhealthy. In fact the only grain I would consider un-harmful is white rice.

Whether you consider something healthy does not determine whether it is, in fact, healthy. Eat the way you want, but I prefer to stick to scientific evidence to decide healthy vs. unhealthy for me. Including legumes and grains pretty much daily has been working for 1/2 century for me.

Yeah, right.............just like the so called scientific evidence that stated that Cholesterol and saturated fat is what caused heart disease and now you have so many heart doctors and surgeons coming out saying it is the refined grains and other refined carbohydrates and sugar that causes it, not the cholesterol and saturated fat.

<BIG roll eyes> The new scientific research is telling a much different story than what you have been told. I will continue to go with the NEWEST research, not research that is so old and outdated.

And I will say this..............the way I went back to eating, is the way I grew up eating. To have even home made bread, or any heavy carbohydrates when I was growing up was a rare thing. We grew up eating, meats, fats, fruits and vegetables and RAW dairy straight from the farm.

There is something to that, as that is how most farmers live still where I grew up and now live again.

Here is just one of many doctors that are starting to speak out more and more:

http://www.sott.net/article/242516-Heart-Surgeon-Speaks-Out-On-What-Really-Causes-Heart-Disease

Ignoring "old" research is ignorant. To get a good picture of how nutrition affects the body, all research should be considered. This is why recommendations change. It is a natural part of science. And, while there is still much to learn, when the whole of nutrition science is considered, it is the mix of fats and carbohydrates that seem to have the biggest impact on cardiovascular diseases.

Eating overly processed grains that have had the bran and germ removed or too much added sugars along with saturated and trans fats seems to be the most dangerous diet.

Eating whole grains with the bran and germ intact and limiting added sugars while eating mostly unsaturated fats has the least associated risk.

What you ate growing up doesn't really figure into the equation at all.

Acg67

I'm reading Mark Sisson's book The Primal Blueprint 21 Day Total Body Transformation - he's a bit out there for me but seems to know his stuff - it's basically eating no processed foods at all and eliminating wheat, rice, etc.etc. from your diet. He also has a book Primal Blueprint Quick and Easy Meals. I was able to digitally download it from my library - but be warned - the calorie count on the meals are BIG - however, there are some good recipes in there.

You can also get information from his website - www.marksdailyapple.com

I'd suggest you do a tad more research and then reassess if Sisson "seems to know his stuff "

PaleoPath4Lyfe

There really is no such thing as "whole grain". You can't eat it straight from the plant out of a field and it has to be highly processed in order to be edible.

This is not true. "Whole grain" does not refer to the whole plant, it is a term that means the germ and bran were not removed before consumption. It is possible to eat many grains "processing" them with nothing other than your hands.

That small sprinkling of what they call whole grain is ground up so fine and still have to be fortied with nutrients because yes, they are still stripping the nutrients out when they process it to be fit to be consumed.

That sounds real healthy. I prefer to eat things that don't need to be fortified with nutrients to be eaten and considered healthy.

You are the exact type of person (and there are many of you out there) that they want. Sheeple that just eat up and drink the koolaid of false knowledge they feed you.

As someone else mentioned, white rice is the only "safe" grain, if there are any safe grains.

Quinoa is not a grain either. It is a seed.

News flash, grains are seeds too. How do you think wheat reproduces? Live birth?

Grains are grasses if you want to get technical. Not all grains are seeds. Quinoa is more closelessy related to beets and tumbleweed, not wheat, rye or barley.

I don't want to get technical, I want to get accurate.

Grains are not grasses but a part of them. All grains are seeds. Yes, they are in a different class of plants but that doesn't change that grains are seeds just as much as quinoa. Merriam Webster's definition of a grain: a seed or fruit of a cereal grass.

I grew up farming in farm country in the Midwest. I just talked to my Uncle who is still a farmer................

All cereal grains are GRASSES and are cultivated for their "grain". Quinoa is a seed, not a grass - therefore it is NOT a grain. Not all seeds are grains.

I am done with this conversation.

You all think what you want to think.

bcattoes

I grew up farming in farm country in the Midwest. I just talked to my Uncle who is still a farmer................

All cereal grains are GRASSES and are cultivated for their "grain".

Well, there ya go. Definitive proof.

mmapags

@mmapags...who would that comment be directed to if you don't mind me asking?

His comment was directed at PaleoPath4lyf. He was responding to the comment about grains not being seeds.

Correctomundo!!

Firefox7275

I am not making anything up. All breads and grain products (cereals) are fortified..........even the ones that say "whole grain".

There really is no such thing as "whole grain". You can't eat it straight from the plant out of a field and it has to be highly processed in order to be edible.

There are plenty of foods that need a modest amount of processing to be edible, safe or palatable. If you think wheat berries, oat groats and pot barley are highly processed you have a very strange idea of what that term means: all can be eaten raw but soaked, sprouted or simply simmered in liquid. Don't try to pretend the average paleo proponent eats whole raw unbutchered food animals, blood skin bones marrow connective tissue plus all the organs and their contents.

Acg67

I grew up farming in farm country in the Midwest. I just talked to my Uncle who is still a farmer................

All cereal grains are GRASSES and are cultivated for their "grain".

Well, there ya go. Definitive proof.

Appeal to authority ;P

Spartan_Guy

Has anyone ever tried these diets? I have gotten some very good advice from a very good friend recently and she highly encourages eating a Paleo and Gluten free diet. I am willing to try, I know that I need to start eating to live and not living to eat.... I have just turned 29 and have dedicated this year to taking care of my health and being the healthiest me I can be. I vow to look better in my 30s than I have in my 20s.

I have Celiac Disease, and have been on a gluten-free diet since I was two. I've never had trouble with my weight, but I have always led a fairly active lifestyle, and spent more than a decade as a competitive swimmer. Probably the biggest benefit to a gf diet is that many of the easy unhealthies, like pizza, beer, etc, aren't options (or, at least they weren't for many years). With the recent popularity boom for gf products, now you can find just about anything gf, though it's more expensive. So, while I will indulge in the occasional gf cookie, generally my diet consists of fruit (I stick to bananas, clementines, oranges, apples), vegetables (salad for lunch, and usually, dinner, with only 1 tablespoon of a fat free dressing), greek yogurt, walnuts, chicken, tuna, and sometimes gf pasta. I guess that sounds boring, but I do mix things up with salmon, the occasional burger (no bun) and other things. It seems to work for me (or, maybe I'm just used to it, lol).

One of the biggest drawbacks to the gf diet is carb intake. If your goal is just to lose weight, then cutting carbs can really help. But, once you're at your ideal weight and want to maintain a healthy lifestyle, finding enough carbs can be difficult on a gluten free diet. Sometimes I notice it during really tough workouts when I just don't have the energy.

Anyway, good luck! Several people at my boxing gym are trying the Paleo diet, and having success.

ChelseaM18

I was so into carb free/low carb/paleo/keto/you name it a year or so ago, but I realised losing and gaining and maintaining weight is so simple that it looks complicated. I've had a much easier life and better results from a balanced diet of each macronutrient of roughly 40 carbs 30 protein and 30 fats. It all boils down to caloric intake and a good (no need for optimal or precision) diet once you're being honest with your food intakes and portions. Life is easier when you keep it basic!

neanderthin

Has anyone ever tried these diets? I have gotten some very good advice from a very good friend recently and she highly encourages eating a Paleo and Gluten free diet. I am willing to try, I know that I need to start eating to live and not living to eat.... I have just turned 29 and have dedicated this year to taking care of my health and being the healthiest me I can be. I vow to look better in my 30s than I have in my 20s.

I have Celiac Disease, and have been on a gluten-free diet since I was two. I've never had trouble with my weight, but I have always led a fairly active lifestyle, and spent more than a decade as a competitive swimmer. Probably the biggest benefit to a gf diet is that many of the easy unhealthies, like pizza, beer, etc, aren't options (or, at least they weren't for many years). With the recent popularity boom for gf products, now you can find just about anything gf, though it's more expensive. So, while I will indulge in the occasional gf cookie, generally my diet consists of fruit (I stick to bananas, clementines, oranges, apples), vegetables (salad for lunch, and usually, dinner, with only 1 tablespoon of a fat free dressing), greek yogurt, walnuts, chicken, tuna, and sometimes gf pasta. I guess that sounds boring, but I do mix things up with salmon, the occasional burger (no bun) and other things. It seems to work for me (or, maybe I'm just used to it, lol).

One of the biggest drawbacks to the gf diet is carb intake. If your goal is just to lose weight, then cutting carbs can really help. But, once you're at your ideal weight and want to maintain a healthy lifestyle, finding enough carbs can be difficult on a gluten free diet. Sometimes I notice it during really tough workouts when I just don't have the energy.

Anyway, good luck! Several people at my boxing gym are trying the Paleo diet, and having success.

Sweet potatoes and yams are your friend.

Spartan_Guy

Has anyone ever tried these diets? I have gotten some very good advice from a very good friend recently and she highly encourages eating a Paleo and Gluten free diet. I am willing to try, I know that I need to start eating to live and not living to eat.... I have just turned 29 and have dedicated this year to taking care of my health and being the healthiest me I can be. I vow to look better in my 30s than I have in my 20s.

I have Celiac Disease, and have been on a gluten-free diet since I was two. I've never had trouble with my weight, but I have always led a fairly active lifestyle, and spent more than a decade as a competitive swimmer. Probably the biggest benefit to a gf diet is that many of the easy unhealthies, like pizza, beer, etc, aren't options (or, at least they weren't for many years). With the recent popularity boom for gf products, now you can find just about anything gf, though it's more expensive. So, while I will indulge in the occasional gf cookie, generally my diet consists of fruit (I stick to bananas, clementines, oranges, apples), vegetables (salad for lunch, and usually, dinner, with only 1 tablespoon of a fat free dressing), greek yogurt, walnuts, chicken, tuna, and sometimes gf pasta. I guess that sounds boring, but I do mix things up with salmon, the occasional burger (no bun) and other things. It seems to work for me (or, maybe I'm just used to it, lol).

One of the biggest drawbacks to the gf diet is carb intake. If your goal is just to lose weight, then cutting carbs can really help. But, once you're at your ideal weight and want to maintain a healthy lifestyle, finding enough carbs can be difficult on a gluten free diet. Sometimes I notice it during really tough workouts when I just don't have the energy.

Anyway, good luck! Several people at my boxing gym are trying the Paleo diet, and having success.

Sweet potatoes and yams are your friend.

YES! I forgot to mention that--I eat at least two sweet potatoes (big ones) a week. SO good for you, and tasty too!

neanderthin

Has anyone ever tried these diets? I have gotten some very good advice from a very good friend recently and she highly encourages eating a Paleo and Gluten free diet. I am willing to try, I know that I need to start eating to live and not living to eat.... I have just turned 29 and have dedicated this year to taking care of my health and being the healthiest me I can be. I vow to look better in my 30s than I have in my 20s.

I have Celiac Disease, and have been on a gluten-free diet since I was two. I've never had trouble with my weight, but I have always led a fairly active lifestyle, and spent more than a decade as a competitive swimmer. Probably the biggest benefit to a gf diet is that many of the easy unhealthies, like pizza, beer, etc, aren't options (or, at least they weren't for many years). With the recent popularity boom for gf products, now you can find just about anything gf, though it's more expensive. So, while I will indulge in the occasional gf cookie, generally my diet consists of fruit (I stick to bananas, clementines, oranges, apples), vegetables (salad for lunch, and usually, dinner, with only 1 tablespoon of a fat free dressing), greek yogurt, walnuts, chicken, tuna, and sometimes gf pasta. I guess that sounds boring, but I do mix things up with salmon, the occasional burger (no bun) and other things. It seems to work for me (or, maybe I'm just used to it, lol).

One of the biggest drawbacks to the gf diet is carb intake. If your goal is just to lose weight, then cutting carbs can really help. But, once you're at your ideal weight and want to maintain a healthy lifestyle, finding enough carbs can be difficult on a gluten free diet. Sometimes I notice it during really tough workouts when I just don't have the energy.

Anyway, good luck! Several people at my boxing gym are trying the Paleo diet, and having success.

Sweet potatoes and yams are your friend.

YES! I forgot to mention that--I eat at least two sweet potatoes (big ones) a week. SO good for you, and tasty too!

You bet, sweet potato makes up the lions share of my carb consumption along with a ton of veg.

brower47

There really is no such thing as "whole grain". You can't eat it straight from the plant out of a field and it has to be highly processed in order to be edible.

This is not true. "Whole grain" does not refer to the whole plant, it is a term that means the germ and bran were not removed before consumption. It is possible to eat many grains "processing" them with nothing other than your hands.

That small sprinkling of what they call whole grain is ground up so fine and still have to be fortied with nutrients because yes, they are still stripping the nutrients out when they process it to be fit to be consumed.

That sounds real healthy. I prefer to eat things that don't need to be fortified with nutrients to be eaten and considered healthy.

You are the exact type of person (and there are many of you out there) that they want. Sheeple that just eat up and drink the koolaid of false knowledge they feed you.

As someone else mentioned, white rice is the only "safe" grain, if there are any safe grains.

Quinoa is not a grain either. It is a seed.

News flash, grains are seeds too. How do you think wheat reproduces? Live birth?

Grains are grasses if you want to get technical. Not all grains are seeds. Quinoa is more closelessy related to beets and tumbleweed, not wheat, rye or barley.

I don't want to get technical, I want to get accurate.

Grains are not grasses but a part of them. All grains are seeds. Yes, they are in a different class of plants but that doesn't change that grains are seeds just as much as quinoa. Merriam Webster's definition of a grain: a seed or fruit of a cereal grass.

I grew up farming in farm country in the Midwest. I just talked to my Uncle who is still a farmer................

All cereal grains are GRASSES and are cultivated for their "grain". Quinoa is a seed, not a grass - therefore it is NOT a grain. Not all seeds are grains.

I am done with this conversation.

You all think what you want to think.

I don't care where you grew up, inconsequential. I don't care who your uncle is, inconsequential.

All grains are a component of different grasses. All grains are the seed portion of those grasses.

Never said quinoa was a grass.

Never said quinoa was a grain.

Yes, not all seeds are grains but all grains are seeds.

You never should have started this conversation by saying that grains are not seeds. If you asked your farmer uncle what he uses to plant his grasses, he'd tell you he uses seeds. If you then asked him if the seeds are the grain portion of those grasses, he would say yes.

I'm only going to think what's so obviously correct.

mmapags

I was so into carb free/low carb/paleo/keto/you name it a year or so ago, but I realised losing and gaining and maintaining weight is so simple that it looks complicated. I've had a much easier life and better results from a balanced diet of each macronutrient of roughly 40 carbs 30 protein and 30 fats. It all boils down to caloric intake and a good (no need for optimal or precision) diet once you're being honest with your food intakes and portions. Life is easier when you keep it basic!

I totally agree. With the caveat that some people are reactive to gluten or lactose. In that case the common sense thing is to avoid or eliminate them. In the absense of these issues, KISS or Keep It Simple Stupid. It make long term compliance easier and day to day management easier.
The more fanatical of the advocates of the diets that elminate things claim that people have issues with reacting to these things and don't know it. They are not completely wrong and much of that lays at the feet of the medical profession and the tendency to treat symptoms instead of diagnose causes in many cases. But, the % of the population that this represents is not determined by any reliable data that I've ever seen and I've seen the fanatics claim number like 55% to 60% of the population. To that I say nonsense!

caribougal

This thread is so entertaining with the great grain/seed debate.

I think it's so much more fun to debate which is at the root of chronic inflammation..., and thus, higher CRP values, which correlate to higher risk of CVD, diabetes. Is it low carb/high fat or low fat/high carb diet. Begin...

PaleoPath4Lyfe

There really is no such thing as "whole grain". You can't eat it straight from the plant out of a field and it has to be highly processed in order to be edible.

This is not true. "Whole grain" does not refer to the whole plant, it is a term that means the germ and bran were not removed before consumption. It is possible to eat many grains "processing" them with nothing other than your hands.

That small sprinkling of what they call whole grain is ground up so fine and still have to be fortied with nutrients because yes, they are still stripping the nutrients out when they process it to be fit to be consumed.

That sounds real healthy. I prefer to eat things that don't need to be fortified with nutrients to be eaten and considered healthy.

You are the exact type of person (and there are many of you out there) that they want. Sheeple that just eat up and drink the koolaid of false knowledge they feed you.

As someone else mentioned, white rice is the only "safe" grain, if there are any safe grains.

Quinoa is not a grain either. It is a seed.

News flash, grains are seeds too. How do you think wheat reproduces? Live birth?

Grains are grasses if you want to get technical. Not all grains are seeds. Quinoa is more closelessy related to beets and tumbleweed, not wheat, rye or barley.

I don't want to get technical, I want to get accurate.

Grains are not grasses but a part of them. All grains are seeds. Yes, they are in a different class of plants but that doesn't change that grains are seeds just as much as quinoa. Merriam Webster's definition of a grain: a seed or fruit of a cereal grass.

I grew up farming in farm country in the Midwest. I just talked to my Uncle who is still a farmer................

All cereal grains are GRASSES and are cultivated for their "grain". Quinoa is a seed, not a grass - therefore it is NOT a grain. Not all seeds are grains.

I am done with this conversation.

You all think what you want to think.

I don't care where you grew up, inconsequential. I don't care who your uncle is, inconsequential.

All grains are a component of different grasses. All grains are the seed portion of those grasses.

Never said quinoa was a grass.

Never said quinoa was a grain.

Yes, not all seeds are grains but all grains are seeds.

You never should have started this conversation by saying that grains are not seeds. If you asked your farmer uncle what he uses to plant his grasses, he'd tell you he uses seeds. If you then asked him if the seeds are the grain portion of those grasses, he would say yes.

I'm only going to think what's so obviously correct.

My background DOES have bearing. I took AG classes in highschool.

Your are mixing the meaning of the word seed. In the context you are using, then every thing that you plant is a seed, which is NOT true.

You plant apple seeds to make apple trees grow, etc. That doesn't make apples seeds.

Stop twisting words.

Corn, wheat, rye are all GRASSES that produce seeds. But it doesn't take away from the fact that they are GRASSES.

Quinoa is a seed, not a grass.

The grass you grow on your lawn comes from seed, also, but that grass is not a seed.

I know you know the difference, you are trying to twist words to make them mean what you want, but you can not change that.

Jxnsmma

wow... everyone is wearing extra knotty panties in this thread. Im outta here...

binknbaby

One of the biggest drawbacks to the gf diet is carb intake. If your goal is just to lose weight, then cutting carbs can really help. But, once you're at your ideal weight and want to maintain a healthy lifestyle, finding enough carbs can be difficult on a gluten free diet. Sometimes I notice it during really tough workouts when I just don't have the energy.

Yes, this can be difficult. I also have hypoglycemia, so I am pretty much always craving carbs. Finding the balance between carb and protein, while not going (too much) over fats and cholesterol, is a challenge. I've found that using beans/legumes for both protein and carb, and also using potatoes for carbs, has been helpful. Yes, veggies are awesome, but don't provide quite enough protein to settle my hypoglycemia. I need much longer-lasting energy to keep my blood sugar up so I'm not constantly consuming carbs. Yams are also great for hormonal issues for women (like me--with PCOS), so I use those as well.