Convince me (or not) that Paleo makes sense

Hi All,

I have never really understood the 'paleo' basics. Besides the fact that semantically the diet makes little sense I want the reason why things like legumes, peanut butter, potatoes, dairy are off limits. I can go with the idea that gains aren't the purest form of what we should be eating (even if I don't adhere and eat whole grains) and even dairy to some extent but I struggle intuitively with the other stuff.

I also am not looking for "I eat paleo and feel great" but more concrete reasons why physically we as a species should not consume these items. If you tell me it has a certain effect on the body I would like a medical study I can look at to learn more.

Finally, I often get the impression Paleo is a bit 'all or nothing'. There are certain non-Paelo items I will never give up. Full stop. Is there benefit/room for a modified version?

If you can't give up peanuts, beans, any kind of dairy, sugar, grains of any type, then you may as well forget trying paleo. Maybe try to just eat as much whole foods as you can and limit your pre-processed/packaged stuff and your sugar intake to less than 20% of your diet.

Then be happy that you feel so healthy after about 30 days of it! :flowerforyou:

Back in those days, men use to beat women on the head with clubs, drag them to the cave, and rape them. Should we go back to that also?

Is there any evidence that cavemen lived healthy passed 100 years old? I highly doubt it.

Nuff' said.

Yep. I'm with you. lol

I also am not looking for "I eat paleo and feel great" but more concrete reasons why physically we as a species should not consume these items. If you tell me it has a certain effect on the body I would like a medical study I can look at to learn more.

Such studies do not exist.

These kinds of posts just invite attacks. I tire of having my personal experience discredited and ridiculed. Perhaps you should join a paleo/primal group and ask questions there? We are happy to help if the interest is genuine. Also, there is lots of research out there and lots of books (with valid sources) that you could read.

I have resolved many health issues, some of them life-threatening, by changing my diet. A wonderful side effect is the steady weight loss while never, ever being hungry (unless it's real hunger). I LOVE how I eat.

CHEERS!

Now go fry us up a big mess of real bacon!

CHOP CHOP!

I don't know much, but I had a good friend who was Paleo that told me one at a bar night "Red wine and Guinness are Paleo!"

Hmmmmmm.

That lead me to believe that it was a contradiction--I can have wine but I can't have a piece of fruit? I'm going to assume the cavemen weren't enjoying a nice cold Guinness draft on their days off.

Also, do we realize how different we are from Paleolithic era cavemen? We are not the same as they were, in any way. So, it's a hard sell for me to believe that I should get in touch with my primal roots for optimum health.

That being said, feel free to prove me wrong with facts. These are just my general impressions from my exposure to the diet.

You really choose to judge the lifestyle based on one person's justifications for what they eat? I do what works for me, sometimes it includes a food that isn't completely "paleo" such as red wine, but I don't justify it. I'm actually a little more "primal" than "paleo" but all of those terms are pretty meaningless; I just eat what is healthy for ME.

Please, do some research. Paleo includes fruit. And, newsflash, humans are still genetically the same as pre-agriculture. Evolution does not occur in 10,000 years (you could double check with anthropological archaeologists on that). The way we eat now bears NO resemblance to our original hunter/gatherer diet. But don't take my word for it, you can do what I did, RESEARCH. History, anthropology, politics, nutrition, biology, etc. Fascinating stuff, really. And, don't just stick your nose in a book, go get some real life experience and check out your aboriginal neighbours (if they weren't completely obliterated). Trust me, they know a thing or two about how the world works.

A Paleo diet is very low carbs.
A side effect of going low carb is being irritable.
Discussions on the internet can make you irritable.

Already irritable + Paleo diet (more irritable) + internet access (even more irritable) = Uh Oh. This isn't going to turn out well.

A Paleo diet is very low carbs.
A side effect of going low carb is being irritable.
Discussions on the internet can make you irritable.

Already irritable + Paleo diet (more irritable) + internet access (even more irritable) = Uh Oh. This isn't going to turn out well.

Is 150g of carbs daily considered "very low carb"? I seldom fall below that amount.

And I'm definitely not irritable.

I guess I'm doing it wrong.

Hi All,

I have never really understood the 'paleo' basics. Besides the fact that semantically the diet makes little sense I want the reason why things like legumes, peanut butter, potatoes, dairy are off limits. I can go with the idea that gains aren't the purest form of what we should be eating (even if I don't adhere and eat whole grains) and even dairy to some extent but I struggle intuitively with the other stuff.

I also am not looking for "I eat paleo and feel great" but more concrete reasons why physically we as a species should not consume these items. If you tell me it has a certain effect on the body I would like a medical study I can look at to learn more.

Finally, I often get the impression Paleo is a bit 'all or nothing'. There are certain non-Paelo items I will never give up. Full stop. Is there benefit/room for a modified version?

IMHO, it comes down to portions. Not one specific group of foods; be it protein/carb/fats.

That being said... I am following a path of nutritional ketosis and the ingestion of carbs knocks down the levels of beta-hydroxy buterate (BHOB) due to the increased levels of insulin that result from the carbs being eaten. Hence I eliminate carbs for the most part (~5% of my caloric intake instead of around 60-65%).

There's a plethora of information on ketogenic diets here: www.reddit.com/r/keto It has a simple FAQ and citations to literature if you're interested in that. It is not the same as the Paleo diet though. Keto allows nuts and dairy but shys away from most fruits (sugars in them).

Paleo in it's natural state is really just a plan of how to eat foods. You simply strive to eliminate pre-agricultural products from your diet.... essentially no processed foods. It is not designed around being a weight loss miracle, it doesn't ascribe to a certain marconutrient ratio make up (keto does) and it certainly isn't designed to induce ketosis (but it can occur if you don't have carbs from fruits to offset the lack of processed grains/sugars).

All in all you could consider the paleo (paleolithic for long names) diet as the "ancestor" diet. Just imagine modelling the foods you allow to be available to yourself based off of seasonal availability. Strive for grass fed meat sources, free range chicken and egg, etc.

Ultimately it's trying to get away from processed foods that our bodies aren't so readily adapted to eating and efficiently digesting. It works great for some and not so much for others.

A Paleo diet is very low carbs.

All I can say here is "Wrong"... Unless "very low" means under 80%...

A side effect of going low carb is being irritable.

A side effect of going high carb "is" irritability of the bowel.

Discussions on the internet can make you irritable.

I'll give you that one... :laugh: