Paleo SHIFT

It can really be as simple as replacing your pasta with veggies,

*kitten* no.

What she said^^^

I sense this thread will go places.

I agree, above all do what works for you...but I just can't get behind Paleo advocating eating "mostly meat and veggies." Veggies yes, duh, but the grain-fed, factory-farmed, hormone-and-antibiotic-filled meat we eat is not "what cavemen ate." And grass-fed organic meat is crazy expensive, and still not a health food.

I don't want the world to go vegetarian, I just think meat needs to be in moderation, not half your plate at every meal, Paleo-style. Study after study has shown that every serving of red meat increases your risk of heart disease, cancer, and many other chronic diseases. Obesity certainly does too, but you don't need to eat meat every day to lose weight.

There was no time in human history where our diet exactly matched out physiology. If we are "designed" to do anything, it is to eat a wide range of foods and make do with what is available.
There was also no Paliolithic person who had access to mango and zucchini at the same time.
European cavemen often went long stretches of time without any fresh plant matter in the winter.
Seaside cavemen did not eat the same diet as mountain cavemen. Etc. Etc.

TA: the Egyptian slaves who built the pyramids subsided almost entirely on beer...maybe I should peg that era as the golden age of human nutrition

Fantastic reply. I was going to put designed in air quotes and point out that there is no scientific basis for the paleo diet.

Paleo involves lifestyle changes, not just dietary changes. In 2005 my immune system crashed. I developed severe depression, diabetes, constant migraines, aches and pains everywhere, and peri-menopause started. In 2009 I started vomiting every time I ate. Not because I was trying to, but because I couldn't keep food down. I was diagnosed with a Hiatus hernia of the oesophagus - the valve was burnt open at the top of the stomach! The doctor gave me drugs to reduce the acid my stomach produced, but that didn't stop the vomiting.
2010 I went and saw a dietician who specialised in FODMAPS - intolerance to various food sugars. She also suggested I might have IBS and leaky gut - no kidding!

I went on an elimination diet. No more pip fruit, stone fruit, onions, and various veges like broccoli. Eliminated gluten and lactose. Oh yay - no more vomiting, but I still wasn't well.

2011 - discovered Paleo/Primal. Rob Woolf, Sarah Ballantyne, Mark's Daily Apple, Dr Cordaine and others. Removed all grains from my diet, all legumes, all nightshades, almost all dairy (except for some cheese and butter). Diabetes control looking much better. No more vomiting, no more headaches, let alone migraines, no more aching joints. I lost a bit of weight, my gut is much better. The depression is less worse, the anxiety attacks are less frequent.

Then earlier this year I decided to try Keto-Paleo. Max 50g carbs, 90g ish (mostly) Saturated Fats, 160g protein daily. Goodbye coffee and wine. The weight is falling off, people are commenting what a happy, bouncy person I am. I'm feeling the best I can ever remember.

Paleo/Primal IS NOT FOR EVERYONE. But for those of us who have been chronically unwell for most of their lives, it is a LIFESAVER. Try it before you dis it.

Paleo involves lifestyle changes, not just dietary changes. In 2005 my immune system crashed. I developed severe depression, diabetes, constant migraines, aches and pains everywhere, and peri-menopause started. In 2009 I started vomiting every time I ate. Not because I was trying to, but because I couldn't keep food down. I was diagnosed with a Hiatus hernia of the oesophagus - the valve was burnt open at the top of the stomach! The doctor gave me drugs to reduce the acid my stomach produced, but that didn't stop the vomiting.
2010 I went and saw a dietician who specialised in FODMAPS - intolerance to various food sugars. She also suggested I might have IBS and leaky gut - no kidding!

I went on an elimination diet. No more pip fruit, stone fruit, onions, and various veges like broccoli. Eliminated gluten and lactose. Oh yay - no more vomiting, but I still wasn't well.

2011 - discovered Paleo/Primal. Rob Woolf, Sarah Ballantyne, Mark's Daily Apple, Dr Cordaine and others. Removed all grains from my diet, all legumes, all nightshades, almost all dairy (except for some cheese and butter). Diabetes control looking much better. No more vomiting, no more headaches, let alone migraines, no more aching joints. I lost a bit of weight, my gut is much better. The depression is less worse, the anxiety attacks are less frequent.

Then earlier this year I decided to try Keto-Paleo. Max 50g carbs, 90g ish (mostly) Saturated Fats, 160g protein daily. Goodbye coffee and wine. The weight is falling off, people are commenting what a happy, bouncy person I am. I'm feeling the best I can ever remember.

Paleo/Primal IS NOT FOR EVERYONE. But for those of us who have been chronically unwell for most of their lives, it is a LIFESAVER. Try it before you dis it.

that's great! awesome story

*this is not directed at anyone in particular*

There's nothing wrong with eating "Paleo", if it works for you, you love the food, and you don't feel deprived. That said, there is nothing magical about this diet. It is not the golden ticket to health.

You aren't really a Paleo eater anyway.

There was no time in human history where our diet exactly matched out physiology. If we are "designed" to do anything, it is to eat a wide range of foods and make do with what is available.
There was also no Paliolithic person who had access to mango and zucchini at the same time.
European cavemen often went long stretches of time without any fresh plant matter in the winter.
Seaside cavemen did not eat the same diet as mountain cavemen. Etc. Etc.

Plenty of people are perfectly healthy while eating wheat and beans.

People can get adequate nutrition from "synthetic" food. My aunt has a paralyzed stomach and has subsided off a dietary shake pumped directly into her small intestine for years.

In extreme cases, diets like this can lead to orthorexia. Though the diet may be perfectly adequate, it isn't exactly mentally healthy if you can't bring yourself to take a bite of the chocolate chip cookie your nephew just baked for you.

ETA: the Egyptian slaves who built the pyramids subsided almost entirely on beer...maybe I should peg that era as the golden age of human nutrition

An intellegent and beautifully written post.

Had to check I was still in Food and Nutrition for a second there!

well...because humans have been around for 2 million years, and only in the last 10000 years have humans been farming. We haven't adapted to these new foods, because science tells us that our dna is still exactly the same as the cavemans.

Yes, we have. Beneficial mutations take as little as 2000 years to sweep through the general population.

Apart from all the other inconsistencies already covered here, the plain reality is that a "human" today is already different from what a "human" was 20,000 years ago. Evolution does not stand still, and it moves at a much more rapid pace than most people seem to understand.

I think for me, eating paleo is about putting foods into my body that our bodies were designed to handle.

Our bodies really weren't designed to handle bread and processed foods.

why are our bodies not designed to eat grain? Humans have been eating grains for thousands of years....

well...because humans have been around for 2 million years, and only in the last 10000 years have humans been farming. We haven't adapted to these new foods, because science tells us that our dna is still exactly the same as the cavemans.

Epigenetics. Also, New Scientist has explained why from that scientific perspective, paleo is nonsense... http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21929311.200-health-myths-we-should-live-and-eat-like-cavemen.html Here's another from Scientific American. http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=why-paleo-diet-half-baked-how-hunter-gatherer-really-eat

I think for me, eating paleo is about putting foods into my body that our bodies were designed to handle.

Our bodies really weren't designed to handle bread and processed foods.

why are our bodies not designed to eat grain? Humans have been eating grains for thousands of years....

well...because humans have been around for 2 million years, and only in the last 10000 years have humans been farming. We haven't adapted to these new foods, because science tells us that our dna is still exactly the same as the cavemans.

...Actually science says the exact opposite.

In cultures that have historically drank milk, lactose intolerance can be as low as 10%. In cultures that have not, it rarely gets below 70%. Milk drinking is a fairly recent adaptation. The gene that allows the production of lactase beyond infancy has certainly been selected for in some cultures.
Besides, if you are going to claim that we are perfectly adapted to the paleolithic diet, which one do you mean? The diet of the Europeans, which was incredibly meat heavy, especially in the winter? That of the Middle eastern people? African paleolithic people? They were all very different from each other and very different from the diet of any modern "paleo" eater.

some people havent evolved