Paleo/Primal way of eating = finally the truth revealed?

I hate the word "diet" and I hate restrictions. These two combined are a recipe for distaster.

Only the strictest Paleo crazies will tell you never drink a beer, or eat pizza, or a piece of cake. I do all of this in moderation. What Paleo teaches is that eating natural, non processed foods and the right kinds of carbs that are optimal for your body will assist in better functioning of organs, better cardiovascular health, better skin, better fitness (internal and external) and just a better overall feeling. It also combines good nutrition with a healthy active lifestyle. I can't imagine how this can be argued. Maybe some the 'scientific facts' are embellished, but someone who uses that alone as the basis of their argument is not looking at the whole picture.

Just eat healthy *most* of the time, choose the right foods, don't eat junk, exercise daily (no extremes, just do what you can) and you'll be in good shape! Paleo isn't the "end all" to all of your weight loss problems, but I am sure that eating 300 calories of fresh fish and veggies as opposed to a 300-calorie Lean Cuisine will help you get in shape and lose the unwanted pounds.

All diets, EVERY single one of them is a way to make you eat at a calorie deficit if weight loss if the goal.

Low carb diets do not count calories. My dad regularly consumes bacon, eggs, sausage fried up in butter for breakfast, a cheeseburger (without the evil bun) for lunch, and a salad filled with bacon bits and fried chicken strips and cheese and full fat dressing for dinner. Then adds vodka martinis until he passes out. This has led to a 40 lb weight loss, so far.

He is NOT counting calories. He is losing weight. But how healthy are his heart and internal organs? I shudder to think...

For those who are interested in the medieval diet:

http://www.post-gazette.com/healthscience/20030217medieval0217p3.asp

and recipes:

http://www.godecookery.com/goderec/goderec.htm

some delicious ones, I must say, but loads of sugar.

LOL - too funny

I have a question, is the carbs listed here on MVP in your food tracking section, listed in grams? My allotted amount of cards is xxx (can’t remember right off) is that xxx grams of carbs?

I eat live a primal lifestyle and am part of the Primal blueprint community of which Mark Sisson is the author and Blogger. I dont eat grains, pasts, bread, rice or drink milk. I feel good all the time and experienced increased weight loss. After i read the book the Primal blueprint everything seemed to make sense. Mark goes into great detail with the scientific proof to back up this philisophy. Basically man has evolved over 2.5 million years eating meat, fruit and vegetables, nuts, seeds, and roots.
The introduction of agricultural was around 10,000 years ago(if i remember correctly) this is when we learned to cultivate and consume such grain foods. So from anevolutionary stand point, and from our biological history, we dont really know what the true effects of grains are on our bodies and the way in which we evolve.

But we do know Westeners and there diets are generlly horrible. a high precentage of the population is Obese, expereicning high blood pressure, diebetes ect. The truth seems to be that many people have carbohydrates(the wrong kinds) as the base of their diet.

There is a large amount of research now available about the effects of eating a diet high in carbohydrates and the effect it has on insulin productions. Basically insulin in good, we need it, but the foods the majoiryt of westernized people eats (grains, processed crap)causes extreme insulin production, causing weight gain and numerous other health issues.

I could go on but everyone interested should visit marksdailyapple.com. Its awesome wicked and the community is huge. It took me a couple months og researching and reading but i have found it hard to deny much of anything this lifestyle is about. It all seems to make sense for the first time. I feel like i've gained back control of what i eat and not longer follow the conventional wisdom which has lead many to health problems.

All diets, EVERY single one of them is a way to make you eat at a calorie deficit if weight loss if the goal.

Low carb diets do not count calories. My dad regularly consumes bacon, eggs, sausage fried up in butter for breakfast, a cheeseburger (without the evil bun) for lunch, and a salad filled with bacon bits and fried chicken strips and cheese and full fat dressing for dinner. Then adds vodka martinis until he passes out. This has led to a 40 lb weight loss, so far.

He is NOT counting calories. He is losing weight. But how healthy are his heart and internal organs? I shudder to think...

Don't shudder, he's your dad, have him get his blood work done, then you can have an informed shudder. And if I'm right the Primal diet does not advocate, bacon, sausage and vodka martinis, I believe they advocate clean meats.

Well there is a divide. The Paleo communtiy seems to be more on the clean meat side.
The Primal community (the one i enjoy) loves to eat steak, bacon, butter, avacados, red wine,
Obviously i dont indulge in all of these things everyday but they are the most enjoyed foods of the primal lifestyle.

I ordered the book yesterday, so in the future my comments will be better informed. Does Primal talk about bacon and sausage and other processed meats? I'm wondering if she advocates store bought mass produced or a more natural/organic/home made product?

I agree that a more natural way of eating is definitely better for you, but I have to say that I could barely read the article from the first link. It was SO preachy and self righteous, I'm tempted to shun the primal diet just because of the tone of that article lol.

I can see you feeling this way. I would have felt exactly the same if I read this article a few years back, because I had different beliefs (such as, whole wheat bread instead of white, etc. (which was wrong-- it does exactly the same to our body!). But now after I have done so much research, I see this article from a new perspective. I think that lady (an author) is really upset (mad?) at the government and media for spreading all the wrong info, and she is right... we are simply being manipulated...

That is what I took away from that article also.

I get a little high strung at what is being preached by the government because they don't have our best interest at heart.

bumping