Paleo..... your thoughts?

My 25 year old son swears by that lifestyle. He runs, lifts, etc. He has also slimmed down he doesn't really need to lose weight he is trying to build muscle. I just ordered "The Primal Blueprint" book through Amazon, haven't cracked it yet From what little I do know I think it would be a great way of life, I just refuse to live without bread now and then. LOL

Potatoes rice and corn are very high glycaemic index, they are not overly nutritious foods and AFAIK humans have not been eating corn that long. Beans and lentils are crammed with minerals and great for keeping the blood sugar stable which you need on long runs so you don't hit the wall, sweet potatoes are more nutritious than white ones. Remember you sweat out extra minerals with a regular fitness regime and your needs for all micronutrients and antioxidants are increased significantly not just the macros. It is possible to be healthy without grains providing you eat far more nuts, seeds, beans and lentils. If you also go dairy free be sure to plan how you are going to replace the calcium, it is a key mineral in muscle contraction not just bone health.

I have been eating this way for years (Paleo) and absolutely LOVE it! I now keep the weight off much more easily, and feel a thousand times better too with no bloating, excellent digestion & elimination as well as overall better energy! I highly recommend it! I rarely eat corn or potatoes though, and stick with yams and brown rice.

How are you doing paleo if you eat those? What would be 'paleo-like' about your diet?

As far as diets go, I don't think paleo is too bad. I just love dairy too much to ever consider it.

Remove the paleo name and it sounds fine. That diet is not paleo- it's a whole-foods based diet.

I have been eating Primal for about 4 months and love it!! I'm not so sure that you can really go Paleo/Primal while keeping those food items in your diet - the methodology behind both plans do not include grains and legumes, so unless you are only eating them maybe 10-15% of the time, you really aren't eating primal. Perhaps a Whole Foods Diet would work better for you.

There is a Primal/Paleo Support group on MFP and there have been quite a few threads about training for marathons while eating Primal. People seem to train and run marathons while eating Primal without any problems. the increased energy levels you have while eating Primal typically compensate for the limited carb intake, although, I believe that they do provide some allowances before and after training really hard. Perhaps you may want to join the group and read some of the threads - If you haven't read The Primal Blueprint, you may want to check that out as well.

Looking for opinions on going Paleo. I'm marathon training right now, so my thoughts are to KEEP the potatoes, rice, corn, and beans -- all foods in their original, natural form. !

i don't understand? are you going to eat uncooked potatoes and rice??

A month of eating paleo landed me in the hospital. Just got out yesterday. No thanks.

I doubt that was it. You should probably avoid sharing misinformation for now and try to find out what really landed you in the hospital.

Did it for a few months about a year ago. Didn't see any improvement in heath or physique but I already ate a healthy whole foods diet as I do again now. Paleo is a healthy diet but not more so than a diet of whole, nutritionally dense foods and it can be very difficult to comply with due to it's somewhat restricitve nature.

The exception to this is if you have grain/ gluten/ diary sensitivities. If that is the case, it can be a very good diet for reducing the inflamation factors. For me, the restrictions seems large and the benefits seemed slight compared to a nutrient sense whole food diet. So, I discontinued it.

A month of eating paleo landed me in the hospital. Just got out yesterday. No thanks.

Modern agricultural production methods can leave foods lacking in vital nutrients. You could probably try it again, but make sure you are supplementing on occasion with vitamin c, vitamin d, and trace minerals. You were probably lacking in copper or magnesium or calcium or all three. Anyone who lives north of the mason-dixon line needs extra vitamin d in the winter.

I don't do it, but I highly recommend it. Any diet centered around whole natural foods is a decent step in the right direction.

I highly recomend reading the book "Finding Ultra" by Rich Roll. He trains for Ultra Iron Man events on a vegan diet, awesome book and has lots of food tips that could help you on your paleo diet and marathon quest. I am following a mostly vegan diet that allows only venison and salmon 4-5 meals per week. No dairy, no eggs. I am training for the Lake Placid Iron Man in July. I feel great, weight is coming steadily off and my energy level is high. I ran 15 miles today with no problems.

My thoughts: Why not?

Sounds like another dumb diet to me.