Paleo Eating Program

I eat healthy, why not make up your own diet instead of telling people you eat like a caveman. It sounds so ridiculously stupid.

A very good point, however, the average person doesn't know about Macros, Micros, blood sugar spikes, glycemic index etc.
So it is hard to produce the right nutrition if you know little about it.
Its opening up the hood of a car, getting someone who doesn't know mechanics, pointing to everything and naming it. Engine,carberetta etc and telling them to fix it!
I have not read into Paleo, but from what people are suggesting is that is pushing them in the right direction to eat the correct foods at the correct time of day.

I still think cutting legumes out and quinoa is completely ridiculous. Especially when you sprout them, they are so very good for you and easily digestible. Also dairy if you have no problems with that, why cut it out, same with peanuts, I can go on and on. There is something wrong when you have to bring a list or get an app on your phone with you to see what is acceptable to eat and what isn't based on someone elses unfounded opinion as to what you should be eating. Sure cut out almost everything from anyones diet and they will lose weight, that is obvious especially coke and processed foods. There are far better ways to figure out how to eat healthily than this. Seriously, eat like a caveman? It sounds so stupid. Why not say I have taken the processed food out of my diet, or I don't eat white bread, or I am gluten free because gluten irritates my system, or I am allergic to peanuts, or I am a vegetarian etc etc....
And eating at correct times of day that is a myth. You can eat your calories whenever you see fit.

Again i half agree with you.
Dairy obviously has benefits of Calcium and other micro nutrients. And Legumes are a good source of protein for vegetarians.
However eating at correct times of day does help.
I know there is intermittent fasting etc, but again whos to say that your home made nutrition plan is better then IF?
Eating at period through the day regulates blood sugar and doesn't allow it to spike, insulin kicks in takes the glucose you get a blood sugar low, you get hungry. Thats the cycle if you eat the wrong things at the wrong times!
One reason for obesity.
Regulating what and when you eat is good for staying full, without stuffing your face.
The body can only take a certain amount of Macros at at time so no point using lots of your calories each meal. Its better to break them up into smaller meals every 2-3 hours to keep your metabolism going and to regulate blood sugar

this is a myth and there is no scientific basis for consuming a meal every 2-3 hours. That is definitely not proven. It is personal preference. For example I am a quantity eater and do really well with IF. It works amazingly for me. I eat in the later evening predominately. Your metabolism doesn't need to keep going, that is also a myth as well as regulating blood sugar.

I highly recommend doing some investigation into the Paleo diet before making any judgments. Even people within the Paleo community eat differently, but there are certain overarching guidelines. However, the "caveman" term is not really used anymore, because as people point out, there was not one caveman. Some populations primarily ate carbohydrates from fruits and vegetables, some ate primarily protein from seafood (like the Eskimos). The main thing to keep in mind with the Paleo diet are: foods that were available to someone (not necessarily everyone) during the Paleolithic era.

Most things that you find in a Paleo cookbook weren't around back then either, because I'm sure most ancient populations simply didn't cook ingredients together the way we have grown accustomed to. It's definitely a hybrid, but it's a hybrid based on the historical information we have. So let's not get too carried away with being "perfect cavemen." That's certainly not going to happen, nor is it expected!

As for information on grains, dairy, legumes, etc. I definitely recommend reading It Starts With Food or Robb Wolf's The Paleo Solution. They will have much more information into the theories and explanations for why those foods should be eliminated or at least minimized. I would try to explain but I couldn't do it justice.

Last point: nowhere will you find someone saying "You can't EVER eat XYZ" Yes, the Paleo diet recommends not eating certain things, but they also realize that we live in a society where this isn't the norm. As long as it doesn't derail your health (like having celiac or being lactose-intolerant) then there's no reason not to have it for special occasions.

Why not decide for yourself on what you can tolerate?. Why call it Paleo or Primal or eating like a caveman? Seriously the terminology is so irritating to me. Everyone should listen to their own bodies plain and simple. Putting a stupid name to it just takes your power away. I decide what works for me and what food makes me feel good or bad or which foods make me tired or give me energy. We are all different that way. If you eat the foods not recommended then you are not following that diet or lifestyle as some call it. Similarly if you eat meat occassionally, you are not a real vegetarian. Or if you eat bread occasionally, then you are not gluten free. People call this a lifestyle so why would you allow those foods in your life part time? That makes no sense. But if you choose it for yourself, you have all the power to decide what works for you and what doesn't. Simple.

Why not decide for yourself on what you can tolerate?. Why call it Paleo or Primal or eating like a caveman? Seriously the terminology is so irritating to me. Everyone should listen to their own bodies plain and simple. Putting a stupid name to it just takes your power away. I decide what works for me and what food makes me feel good or bad or which foods make me tired or give me energy. We are all different that way. If you eat the foods not recommended then you are not following that diet or lifestyle as some call it. Similarly if you eat meat occassionally, you are not a real vegetarian. Or if you eat bread occasionally, then you are not gluten free. People call this a lifestyle so why would you allow those foods in your life part time? That makes no sense. But if you choose it for yourself, you have all the power to decide what works for you and what doesn't. Simple.

The primary basis of the Paleo diet is that you only eat foods that were available to man in the paleolithic period. That way all of the foods that came about after the advent of agriculture (grains, dairy, legumes, and processed foods) are out.

Seems strange...didn't agriculture evolve because it lead to healthier humans?

NO. Do some basic research into anthropology. The health of humans declines drastically as soon as they change to an agrarian society. This is widely observed by anthropologists looking not only at ancient societies, but also on more contemporary hunter/gatherer societies. The diseases (diabetes, cancer, autoimmune disorders, bone deformity, tooth decay, depression etc, etc) that most of us deal with now are referred to as "the diseases of civilization" because they did not exist in hunters/gatherers. Look into the work of Dr. Weston Price (and there are many others).

We enjoy all the foods that we eat, and really haven't had any issues not eating grains. Especially when you realize how unnatural and potentially bad for you they are, it's pretty easy to say no thanks and focus on eating foods that won't cause you problems.

How are grains unnatural, unless you mean genetically modified ones? Meat is also produced unnaturally, with hormones and even genetically modified chickens - but there are more natural versions of both available.

Humans are not able to safely ingest and digest raw meat, and don't have the claws and jaws of carnivores, so I don't think you could say we are made to eat meat any more than we are made to eat grains - but we can eat both. I am thinking during the ice age there was less of a fruit vegetable diet available, but we still have a lot of physical features(like hand shape) in common with our primate ancestors who ate primarily fruits and buds.

We enjoy all the foods that we eat, and really haven't had any issues not eating grains. Especially when you realize how unnatural and potentially bad for you they are, it's pretty easy to say no thanks and focus on eating foods that won't cause you problems.

How are grains unnatural, unless you mean genetically modified ones? Meat is also produced unnaturally, with hormones and even genetically modified chickens - but there are more natural versions of both available.

Humans are not able to safely ingest and digest raw meat, and don't have the claws and jaws of carnivores, so I don't think you could say we are made to eat meat any more than we are made to eat grains - but we can eat both. I am thinking during the ice age there was less of a fruit vegetable diet available, but we still have a lot of physical features(like hand shape) in common with our primate ancestors who ate primarily fruits and buds.

I'm really trying hard not to put in a bunch on comments in this thread, but I just can't STAND when I see outright FALSE info.

Um, yes, humans are perfectly capable of eating raw meat/organs/fat, and raw meat is not only safe to ingest, but the healthiest way to eat it. Of course, it is unsafe when it is from a factory farm, has been processed, and shipped around the world and stored. Duh. I live with Inuit people. Many of them still eat their original food, and it is often eaten raw (granted, less often than in the past there were no electric stoves-fuel for burning was in VERY short supply and it was important to eat enough fat, not just burn it all). I eat raw meat myself, but not when it's in a plastic package in the store.

Do we really have to go back to the physiology? We have the body of an OMNIVORE, very similar to other omnivores actually. No we have different traits than the primates who are vegetarian. For instance, learn about the differences between the digestive system of a Mountain Gorilla and a human. If you want to be vegan, go for it, but stop this ridiculous argument. Not one Paleolithic human society was vegan. Not one.

We became human by growing huge brains. This occurred because we learned to hunt and chose the fattiest foods that we could get our hands on. For the most part, that was other ANIMALS, but people also took advantage of whatever other things that were in season and available locally. For some groups, that included nuts, seeds, fruits etc. However, the groups, like Inuit, who had almost no access to plants, lived just fine on animals. Even raw.

The primary basis of the Paleo diet is that you only eat foods that were available to man in the paleolithic period. That way all of the foods that came about after the advent of agriculture (grains, dairy, legumes, and processed foods) are out.

Seems strange...didn't agriculture evolve because it lead to healthier humans?

No actually once agriicultue developed our brains got smaller and body's got weaker we developed osteoporosis and tooth cavities, cancer etc
It developed as it was easier and allowed us to stay in one place - easier for community etc

We started living longer, though, in agricultural societies - cancer and osteoporosis are diseases of old age. And it's hard to deny that quite a lot of the things we take for granted today have been developed after the dawn of agriculture-how could this have happened if it had such a detrimental effect on the brain?
Our primate ancestors ate a diet that was 95% herbivore and 5% insects/meat - I've been reading some material that shows that increasing the meat consumption, especially fish consumption with Omega-3s- probably helped with human evolutionary brain development.
But our brains are still fueled by glucose - it is "the only fuel normally used by brain cells". So complex carbohydrates are brain-healthy, not the opposite.
http://www.fi.edu/learn/brain/carbs.html

Low carb diets are linked with decreased exercise capacity and increased fatigue:
http://www.brianmac.co.uk/articles/scni18a3.htm

I considered this myself several months ago. I researched as well, and I foun the same whacky info. Too many conflicting things. Of course, I think this is because what our cave man ancestors ate depended on where they were geographically. What was available to some was not available to others. People near the equator would surely have different food available as opposed to hise further away. I think it is a hard diet to nail down for that reason.