Hi Jeridith, in principle the Paleo/Primal lifestyle bloomed from Dr Price's research and a few others. As for differences the only two items that would trip up most of us is vegetable oils (which tend to be highly processed, I am not speaking about fruit oils like olive and avocado) and grains (which about 60 years back seem to have turned a bad corner with all the genetic modification done to them by "science"). Your fresh foods approach with out a lot of unnecessary added sugars is right up our alley so to speak.

welcome!

Hello all! I discovered this group through a friend that posted here, and you all seem such a nice (and reasonable!) lot of folks, I thought I'd pop in .

I know almost nothing about Paleo (as rural Australia is hardly a hub of nutritional awareness), and wondered about the differences between this form of eating and the Weston A. Price Foundation guidelines, and I dared not ask on the general forums! and the WAPF group is pretty quiet (as in deadly quiet!).

If I had to acronym how I eat I would consider it to be closest to the WAPF guidelines: lots of good animal and vegetable fats, grass-fed meat, raw milk and dairy products, and fresh fruit and vegetables, avoiding factory food and unnecessary added sugar. They also recommend soaked grains, but that I don't bother with. I grind my own grains fresh when I need them, and that will just have to suffice

Where would Paleo diverge?

I've enjoyed all the threads I've read here, and look forward to reading some more

Any one interested is more than welcome to add me! I like having friends who eat real food

It sounds to me like you are already leading a healthy lifestyle and as other have mentioned you are already pretty close to paleo. The important thing to remember is that however you choose to eat, the ultimate goal is that it makes you feel good and provides the right fuel for your activities. :flowerforyou:

I'm a big Dr. Weston Price fan, and I live amongst the Inuit, one people that he researched. However, I'm not completely thrilled with where the foundation is at the moment and do not always agree with Sally Fallon. She puts the foundation at odds with Paleo when I think she should be supportive/cooperative. That said, WAPF and Paleo can go together hand in hand. Some people can tolerate legumes, grains, etc when prepared carefully. Others cannot, or choose not to. (I don't tolerate grains, legumes, lots of fruit/nuts etc.) In my opinion, raw dairy would be beneficial for many people, but if it isn't raw, it isn't healthy or worth consuming for anyone (that doesn't mean some of us don't choose to eat it anyway!).

It is my opinion that a very strict no grain, legume, and no dairy eating plan works best for me. That doesn't mean that I'm always doing that, unfortunately. My lifestyle is somewhat influenced by the traditional Inuit diet. I can't access everything they ate, or eat it the way they ate it but my macros are similar. I actually joke about myself being a "Polynesian Inuit" because of my heavy reliance on coconut and fatty animals. I'm not Inuit (my child is half Inuit) but I suspect my Irish and Northern European ancestors did not have a diet that much different.

PS: I hope you aren't eating a lot of vegetable fat in the form of refined vegetable or seed oils!

Thank you all for the warm welcome, and information on Paleo! The A in the SAD diet could just as easily be Australia, and I don't believe I've ever met anyone here mention Paleo or Primal as food lifestyles, so the information has all been very interesting!

To Akima: ewwww and yuck to processed vegetable oils! /shudder. ????. I watched some documentary on how that stuff was processed, and if I'd been any sort of fan before that would have cured me! I get my fats from avocados, nuts, tallow, lard, ghee, butter, olive and coconut oil, with the very occasional bit of peanut oil for recipes where I don't want the strong taste of olive oil. I don't make those dishes often, and next time I do, I'll come pick y'all's brains about a decent substitute.

Commercial peanut oil is certainly questionable. I like macadamia oil if I need a nut oil (I know peanut is a legume) but it's very flavourful. Avocado oil is delicious but I don't heat it. I'm so used to coconut oil that I don't think it over powers recipes but some people disagree (I used to hate all things coconut believe it or not). You could also try a lighter olive oil instead of extra virgin if the taste bothers you, but I'd make it an "occasional" use only. I don't generally heat olive oil either, but just rarely isn't a big deal. (I generally only heat coconut, palm, and animal fats.)

I actually use avocado oil specifically for high heat cooking because it has a very high smoke point. It has little to no flavor so i love it for recipes where I would have (waaay in the past) used a vegetable oil. I will also use coconut oil but feel it does impart a bit of a sweet taste which I don't mind but the hubs has commented on it. Ghee is a staple fat as well as bacon grease. When I get the opportunity to use other animal fats from "happy" animals I jump on it but it's rare around here. Love fat

Hello! I always love meeting another WAPFer! I love all the similarities between WAP and paleo. Its too bad sally Fallon (whos cookbook I refer almost everyday) has been so vocal against paleo. There are so many more similarities especially when compared to the SAD. I think many WAPers have a problem with paleo because of an overuse of nuts and nut flours on paleo. After many years of playing around with diet I know nuts and coconut and nut flower don't work for everyone and should be used sparingly.

I said something similar regarding Sally Fallon's stance on Paleo above. I sure hope that other WAPF supporters have let her know that we should be united rather than at odds. That is, we have more in common than different and could be a united front for healthy lifestyles. I was, and still am, extremely disappointed with her when she distanced WAPF from Paleo. I can't/won't eat many things in her cookbook, can't access raw dairy/dairy cultures etc, and I refuse to jump through hoops to prepare grains/legumes safe for consumption when I can just avoid them. Simpler for me, but not necessary for everyone in all situations of course.