I never had any health issues, I just wanted to be the healthiest version of me I could be. I read Wheat Belly and The Primal Blueprint and was sold. I eat 95% of my meals primal and have one grain/legume meal--Saturday night (usually Mexican food or gluten-free pizza). I NEVER do gluten at my free meal because I've discovered I get awful intestinal cramping and bowel issues if I do now.

I have resolved so many health problems that I truly see Paleo as the answer for everything. Not everyone agrees.

QFT. My mom has RA and I KNOW she would be better off if she'd go paleo, but her quack doctor thinks the answer is always more meds. Pisses me off.

My husband and my daughter both play Rugby and are very much into Crossfit. When they came to me and said they wanted to go Paleo to improve their sport performances. After reading about it and researching, I realized that a lot of my health problems were related to my diet. Just switching to a Paleo diet, no additional exercise etc. I dropped 30 pounds fast. No more migraines. No more lack of energy, depression, trouble focusing etc. I was doing great until I got unexpectedly pregnant at 41 and lost the baby at 5 months along. After that, my weight went up 50 pounds due to my depression/dropping off Paleo eating etc.

Now, I'm back on the Paleo diet. It's been over 50 days and I've dropped 31+ pounds. I feel so much better and I look healthier too. I'm very happy with the Paleo lifestyle!

Health issues. I have Celiac Disease and Candida. Although there are a few things on Paleo that I'm not supposed to have because of the Candida, it's the plan that makes the most sense for me.

I was doing it faithfully at the beginning of the year, and I felt amazing! I got really into cooking the Paleo way. I wish I never stopped - but I can't focus on that. I have to keep moving forward!

I am so looking forward to sleeping and having energy, along with losing weight.

When I found out I was severely lactose intolerant, I started searching for dairy free recipes and found Paleo in the process. I found recipes easier by searching for Paleo recipes. So I read up on Paleo for about a year while using Paleo recipes frequently at home, but still eating dairy free breads and other dairy free non-Paleo foods. Then I decided to commit 64 days ago.

I happened to overhear a girl in my women's studies class in university talking about a new way she was eating called paleo and how great it was in regards to feeling better and her skin clearing up, etc and I had logged that information in the back of my mind. Several months later, after a long period of unemployment and having way too much time to think it popped into my mind again. After a quick Google search, I decided to borrow The Primal Blueprint from my local library and quickly devoured it. I connected with so many of the points outlined in the book: general feelings of lack of energy, inability to go for longer periods without a meal, inability to stick to traditional weight loss diets, stomach aches at almost every meal, constant bloatedness, the sense of eating more aligned to our ancient ancestors, etc. I decided to go for it, and it was a decision I wish I could have made many years ago I still feel this is the best way of eating for me simply because of all the health benefits I've received from it (ease of weight loss, consistent energy, remarkably diminished food cravings and stomach aches, etc.).

I got on MPF after getting chubby whilst living in Europe. I was freaking out about going home to NZ for xmas to summer/bikini weather and being fat. So I found MFP and counted calories like an idiot. Completely miserable the whole time. I had friended a German girl on here and she had a freaking awesome body and was super active and she keep talking about paleo. I thought bless this poor German girl, she must have bad English and she's probably confuse the word paleo with something else....Cos why was she talking about a time period on a diet and fitness site? Anyway I lost a bit of weight through CICO and after a summer in NZ returned to Sweden and forgot about it.

Moved back to NZ and after slowly gaining weight back, found out I had a wedding to attend. My sister looks like barbie, tall, skinny, blonde. I was short and chubby and was fretting standing next to my sister and the rest of my skinny and super tall family members in wedding pics looking like a whale. So back on to MFP and CICO. But it didn't work...the more I dieted the more miserable I was and I wasn't losing any weight. The German girl on my FL update her profile pic to show off her lean and muscly bod and again mentioned paleo. So I googled it. One week out from the wedding and I swapped to primal/paleo. Lost over 2kgs and a lot of centimeters and thought great. Went to the wedding and forgot about paleo.

Several months later summer was approaching. My friend invited me to the beach and I found I couldn't get my bikini bottoms over my thighs. So back to MFP but this time I thought I'll do that paleo thing again. Five days in I noticed I didn't have a headache and my chronic back and neck pain that I'd had for 11 years started disappearing. I lost weight and felt great.

I started paleo for the weight loss and stayed for the health benefits.

I actually started by doing a LCHF/Ketogenic diet, but realized what I was doing was basically the Primal Blueprint anyway, since I didn't do the processed foods like some people on low carb plans do. Basically all that left was meats, eggs, full fat dairy, low carb veggies, occasional nuts and berries.

I like this way of eating because it's helped with multiple health problems including anxiety, insomnia, gallbladder pain, and acid reflux. I had been taking medicine for all of those on a regular basis but I've been medicine free since April!

The weight loss has been great too, but even without the weight loss I would keep eating this way for the health benefits.

I actually stumbled upon Mark Sisson's book, The Primal Blueprint, before it was released. I emailed him and we had a fabulous conversation. We were close in age. I was working at the time with an Integrative MD as her nutritional consultant in the area of food sensitivity. I also was a patient! I had lost 100 pounds but had stalled in my weight loss and had a whole lot of digestive issues. My gallbladder was gone, I was Celiac and Casein allergic...with multiple sensitivities of my own. I had reduced my sensitivities from an all time high of 23 down to 5, but I was prone to Leaky Gut and was sooooo frustrated!

As soon as Mark's book came out, I ordered it. Then the cookbook. I gave it to my doc as a Christmas present and began to counsel my clients in the benefits of Paleo. It's been a process for me (holding out for the one piece of GF toast in the morning!) but I actually feel better when I don't eat it. Also, for me, I still need to take supplements for digestive support (Ox Bile, HCL, digestive enzymes and probiotics.) GI tract does not function optimally without those add-in's. But the proper Primal/Diet is first and foremost what I know my body needs.

BTW...Mark laughed at my name (Grok Granny.) ha ha Those were the early days. I am sure he has seen multiple variations of "Grok" since.

Increasingly crippling arthritis was what started me on this path. Two years ago walking was painful, I could barely get in or out of a car, driving a stick shift was a misery, I couldn't stand more than 30 seconds without increasing pain. Spent a lot of time sitting down. When the pain started to be constant even when I was lying down, in bed, I finally went to the doctor. He gave me Celebrex and told me to take it for a week and come back.

Miracle! Pain was gone. I went back, happy, for next appointment. He told me I would be taking Celebrex every day until I needed knee replacements, I'd have the surgery, and be fine. I asked him how I'd know when I needed knee replacements. He said, I'd know.

That told me that the Celebrex was just masking pain while the damage to my knees continued to grow.

I researched natural treatments for arthritis and came up with Robb Wolf's website. Got his book from the library and the science made sense. Found his plan a little hard to stick to, though. Then I discovered Primal Blueprint and Mark Sisson's website. 80/20 clicked, and made the plan workable for me. I am such an all or nothing person...

In the meantime, saw an ad for Celebrex on TV and was horrified at the long list of side effects and warnings. Stopped taking Celebrex. On the advice of a pharmacist friend I started taking glucosamine-chondritin and high doses of vitamin C.

It took six months to be pain free. In that time I also started sleeping well, lost the nightly heartburn I'd gotten used to, and lost over 30 lb without trying. (That also was a great help for my knees.) Instead of low-blood-sugar shakes if I didn't eat every two hours, I started going for hours without even feeling hungry.

About four months in my joints weren't hurting but my tendons started hurting like crazy. Another friend advised taking green-lipped-mussel supplements. It took six or eight weeks for the tendon/ligament pain to subside. I wonder if perhaps my body was de-toxing? I wasn't able to come up with any other explanation for that pain, but it's gone now.

I also had to eliminate nightshades from my diet, in order to be completely pain free. After 60 days of auto-immune protocol, I was able to re-introduce nuts, eggs, and full-fat dairy (i.e. full cream, sour cream, and occasional full-fat cheese or ice cream -- I want to try making coconut cream based ice cream, though, and see how my body reacts). Eating tomato, potato, peppers, or spices made from peppers guarantees three days of joint pain and stiffness. Drat.

I dieted for years, was even bulemic for part of that time (in college, and in order to meet the military weight standards after college), but was never able to stick to a diet before.

Being pain-free is incredibly motivating.

Mine's both weight and health issue, but mostly it's because I want to stay alive and active for a long time for my children.

I was researching super low calorie diets when I came across primal/paleo eating. It instantly made sense to me. As I researched it, it made more and more sense. Especially since I was already eating a diet of organic and mostly homemade foods. I happened to be making a LOT of bread and eating it, too. I make awesome bread.

After dropping grains and beans, my MS symptoms and menopause symptoms abated tremendously.

The weight has been slower coming off, but my husband swears my legs look completely different. Which is nice - whether or not it's true.

This is not just how I eat, it is also how I live. I own and work a sustainable farm on over 100 acres and I am a food advocate active in groups that promote soil health, water quality, fight pesticide drift, and want the best possible food available for all American families.

To answer the topic question:

For me it just seemed like pure common sense.