Paleo Diet

MamaOfTwo20 wrote: »

People do because they think it is the cool thing to do and say, but for some of us it actually is doing more positives than negatives for our body. And I am definitely not starving myself! I eat 3-4 eggs for breakfast followed by some spinach, avocado, homemade salsa and 4 pieces of nitrate free bacon. That is a lean breakfast that gives me my energy and doesn't hurt my system. I am grateful to have gone Paleo.

I think it can be a good approach for some people.

I have mixed feelings about it because I see two kind of drastically different approaches. Some use it as basically an excuse to be even more limited in what they eat and cut calories in an unhealthy way--it serves to basically let them claim a "health" excuse for what is really kind of disordered eating. Generally, these people would be restricting in some other way if not paleo, but things like paleo still kind of provide a cover.

On the other hand, I've seen others who were able to use paleo to stop obsessing about restricting and even eat more/more appropriate to their activity level. My impression lately is that there's a lot more focus on not using paleo as a way to cut carbs super low and encouraging the consumption of carbs (of the approved sort) around activity. (A lot of the paleo-leaning types I know do CF, so this is related, and there tends to be a decent focus on eating to support activity.)

Anyway, I'm not anti paleo at all; I just don't agree with the essential rules (no grains, legumes, or dairy as general health advice for most people). On the stuff around the edges, like eating whole foods and sourcing meat and trying to eat the whole animal and the like, I rather like it.

Need2Exerc1se wrote: »

BFDeal wrote: »

Need2Exerc1se wrote: »

BFDeal wrote: »

Need2Exerc1se wrote: »

The 1 lb you lost is water weight from cutting carbs.

I have yet to meet anyone on these forums who really follows the paleo diet. Some say they do, but after discussion, it's clear that they don't. Most just eat high fat low carb and say it's paleo. It seems to be overly restrictive to me. But, if you feel better and are getting proper nutrition from this diet, then best of luck to you with it.

I'm not paleo so I don't have a dog in this fight but I've never understood why people get so hung up on "overly restrictive." You hear that thrown out a lot. If cutting calories is the goal isn't there always some sort of restriction? Sure, you CAN have ice cream, pizza, fast food, etc free eating/iifym/whatever you label it but it's usually in bonkers small amounts. A single piece of pizza. Baked potato and chili at Wendy's. 1/2 cup of ice cream. Yawn. Sounds like restriction to me.

I agree there is inherent restriction in any weight loss diet. But restricting foods in order to cut calories is far different than cutting out all grains, legumes, nightshade vegetables, limiting fruits, commercial meats and eggs, and the other restrictions paleo entails. Hence the term "overly" restrictive.

Whether it's overly restrictive or not would depend on your attachment to those foods and how impacted you are by giving them up. If you tell me "hey, you can't have ice cream every day" I would say "meh, I don't get enough calories to fit a satisfying amount in anyhow so who cares?" Eggs or processed meats are a different story. I get people get freaked out when they're given rules telling them not to do something. Usually they're not doing much of the thing they're being told not to do anyhow though so it's kind of funny.

I can agree with all of that. My "overly restrictive" remark was more about the fact that I've never found a single person that stuck with paleo strictly for more than a short period of time.

I have actually been on Paleo for quite some time now. I don't say that I can't have any of the "restrictive" foods - I choose not to eat them. Not for weight loss ( I lost 70lbs prior to Paleo), but for over all well-being. By doing the elimination diet, I found out how sensitive I was to gluten & dairy products.

mizzlarabee wrote: »

Hornsby wrote: »

miriamtob wrote: »

Gianfranco_R wrote: »

cmaurno2015 wrote: »

I just started the Paleo diet and I am on my 3rd day. I have already lost 1 pounds with limited exercise.

prior to paleo I ran mile after mile and ate so many processed carbs like crackers and power bars. Once I cut dairy and wheat out my energy skyrocketed.

I weigh 125 now at 5,5 and for my small frame I am thinking my ideal weight is 118. I am less hungry and concentrate better with the addition of all these healthy fats.

Have any of you had success in reaching your ideal weight through Paleo? Any tips?

here you can find support:
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/37-primal-paleo-support-group

I've been mostly Paleo since November 2014 and adhered quite strictly to it for the first two months.

This is what annoys a lot of people about the Paleo diet. Not saying you, but just in general.

I do this "mostly", so you really don't do it. It's like saying you are a vegetarian that eats meat on Saturday and Sunday.

To be fair, anybody who focuses their diet on nutrient dense foods is "mostly" paleo. It's actually that line of thinking that I find most annoying - there can be a spectrum, depending on personal preference.

What I find, I don't know, a little odd is the claim that Paleo itself is super healthy when, in fact, it's the things about it that aren't uniquely paleo, like focusing on whole, nutrient-dense foods for most of your diet, that are probably beneficial. For most people giving up grains, beans, and dairy probably doesn't improve nutrition or help with weight loss UNLESS your issue wasn't so much grains as getting most of your grains in the form of cookies and cake or refined wheat pasta/bread without being combined with nutrient dense sauces or fillings.

I mean, basing meals around protein and veggies is a pretty sensible thing to do, but it's not particularly paleo. It's something I do even now.

mizzlarabee wrote: »

Hornsby wrote: »

miriamtob wrote: »

Gianfranco_R wrote: »

cmaurno2015 wrote: »

I just started the Paleo diet and I am on my 3rd day. I have already lost 1 pounds with limited exercise.

prior to paleo I ran mile after mile and ate so many processed carbs like crackers and power bars. Once I cut dairy and wheat out my energy skyrocketed.

I weigh 125 now at 5,5 and for my small frame I am thinking my ideal weight is 118. I am less hungry and concentrate better with the addition of all these healthy fats.

Have any of you had success in reaching your ideal weight through Paleo? Any tips?

here you can find support:
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/37-primal-paleo-support-group

I've been mostly Paleo since November 2014 and adhered quite strictly to it for the first two months.

This is what annoys a lot of people about the Paleo diet. Not saying you, but just in general.

I do this "mostly", so you really don't do it. It's like saying you are a vegetarian that eats meat on Saturday and Sunday.

To be fair, anybody who focuses their diet on nutrient dense foods is "mostly" paleo. It's actually that line of thinking that I find most annoying - there can be a spectrum, depending on personal preference.

I don't know. I'm an ovo-lacto vegetarian and I think a Paleo person would have a hard time calling my dairy/legume based diet "mostly" paleo

I, however, consider it nutritious.

Need2Exerc1se wrote: »

staceyseeger wrote: »

Need2Exerc1se wrote: »

BFDeal wrote: »

Need2Exerc1se wrote: »

BFDeal wrote: »

Need2Exerc1se wrote: »

The 1 lb you lost is water weight from cutting carbs.

I have yet to meet anyone on these forums who really follows the paleo diet. Some say they do, but after discussion, it's clear that they don't. Most just eat high fat low carb and say it's paleo. It seems to be overly restrictive to me. But, if you feel better and are getting proper nutrition from this diet, then best of luck to you with it.

I'm not paleo so I don't have a dog in this fight but I've never understood why people get so hung up on "overly restrictive." You hear that thrown out a lot. If cutting calories is the goal isn't there always some sort of restriction? Sure, you CAN have ice cream, pizza, fast food, etc free eating/iifym/whatever you label it but it's usually in bonkers small amounts. A single piece of pizza. Baked potato and chili at Wendy's. 1/2 cup of ice cream. Yawn. Sounds like restriction to me.

I agree there is inherent restriction in any weight loss diet. But restricting foods in order to cut calories is far different than cutting out all grains, legumes, nightshade vegetables, limiting fruits, commercial meats and eggs, and the other restrictions paleo entails. Hence the term "overly" restrictive.

Whether it's overly restrictive or not would depend on your attachment to those foods and how impacted you are by giving them up. If you tell me "hey, you can't have ice cream every day" I would say "meh, I don't get enough calories to fit a satisfying amount in anyhow so who cares?" Eggs or processed meats are a different story. I get people get freaked out when they're given rules telling them not to do something. Usually they're not doing much of the thing they're being told not to do anyhow though so it's kind of funny.

I can agree with all of that. My "overly restrictive" remark was more about the fact that I've never found a single person that stuck with paleo strictly for more than a short period of time.

I have actually been on Paleo for quite some time now. I don't say that I can't have any of the "restrictive" foods - I choose not to eat them. Not for weight loss ( I lost 70lbs prior to Paleo), but for over all well-being. By doing the elimination diet, I found out how sensitive I was to gluten & dairy products.

The paleo diet rules are much more than just giving up gluten and dairy. You said 85% paleo earlier in the thread. Which seems pretty common and backs up my point. If the diet wasn't overly restrictive, why not be 100% paleo?

The 85% Paleo was when I allowed myself a cheat meal once a week, burger & a beer were my go-to's. I felt horrible after eating it, but I did it for the social reasons. I have been following Paleo strictly for the past 5 months because that way of eating is allowing me to reach physical goals that were being hindered by the cheat meals.

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mizzlarabee wrote: »

staceyseeger wrote: »

freeoscar wrote: »

Psalm37v4 wrote: »

I've been on a strict Paleo for 2 months. I've lost 12 lbs eating 1500 calories a day with a goal of eating 130g of protein a day, which on Paleo is challenging, but I have a rhythm now. No dairy, grains, added sugar (to include honey or maple syrup), or legumes. I feel good, think more clearly and have lots more energy. I tried it last year but my heart wasn't really in it and I quit after two weeks. This time I really wanted to give it a sincere effort and I'm glad I did.

I'm not that familiar with Paleo - why is it that you can't eat legumes?

Beans & Legumes contain anti-nutrients that prevent the absorption of vitamins & nutrients.

The "antinutrients" are phytic acid and are just as high in the nuts that are allowed on the Paleo diet.

Edit: article on legumes and Paleo http://chriskresser.com/are-legumes-paleo/

Members of the spinach family, broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, and black tea all contain antinutrients too.

I don't really think the key difference between being paleo and not is whether or not one eats pizza. (That seems to be a common "cheat" for the people I know who are sort of paleo.)

Lots of foods that are easy to fit into a low calorie diet--not that one needs to go that low cal if one is active, as Sugga says--aren't paleo. And, similarly, nothing wrong with being paleo if one wants to be, but one can easily eat in a higher calorie way while doing so.

I have 3 autoimmune diseases. Been there with all the stuff about eliminating anti-inflammatory foods.

Did nothing.

Now auto-immune suppressants? They make a difference.

Nonimouse misses the point of the Paleo diet in the modern context. Here is an excerpt from Primal Body Primal Mind by Nora Gedgoudas:
Well, of course as omnivorous hominids they would have eaten almost anything to stay alive. Presumably, we noshed on a grain or two (as certain wild species do exist) scraped up here and there when meat was scarce. Where else would we have gotten the idea to start using them more extensively later on? Of course we knew they were edible! This is a far cry away from Neanderthals getting behind a plow for eight hours a day in the field, baking bread, or eating Grape Nuts for breakfast. Setting aside the fact that Neanderthals are now known to have evolved down a very different hominid line from us, I am still comfortable assuming our Cro- Magnon forebears experimented with eating a variety of things, including the occasional handful of (nongenetically modified) grains— even enjoying a little salad- bar fare once in a while, as the environmental conditions allowed. Who wouldn’t enjoy a bit of asparagus with her steak? Nonetheless, it is widely accepted that it was, in fact, our extended dependence on the meat and fat of animals (rich in eicosapentaenoic acid, or EPA; and docosahexaenoic acid, or DHA) through these frozen winters of unimaginable duration that allowed for the rapid enlargement and development of the human brain. Meat and especially fat would have been the most coveted and important commodities of all. We never would have survived as a species without them. Our increased dependence on hunting also likely helped facilitate and develop the very human qualities that we most intrinsically value— cunning, cooperation, altruism, sharing, advanced creativity, the power to foresee the future and to be able to call upon the past in terms of the future, the capacity to evaluate with complexity, and the ability to imagine solutions— qualities not particularly found in other primates (Ardrey 1976). Also, interestingly, the dominant form of fatty acids in the human brain is omega- 3; in chimps and other primates, it is mostly omega- 6. This is a very significant distinction and one that is the likely result of these evolutionary, ice age–induced dietary changes. Many authors popularizing the notion of Paleolithic diets base their conclusive evidence on the diets of more- contemporary primitive peoples, forgetting that for most of our evolution, the world has been a very, very different place. Either way, it is evident from even the most recent analysis of primitive diets that animal- source foods and fat- soluble nutrients invariably play a critical, central role in such peoples’ extraordinary physical and mental health and freedom from disease, as characterized in primitive peoples and more traditional groups. It is also quite evident that diets consisting of
any significant quantity of carbohydrates are a strictly modern phenomenon, one that our ice age human physiology has evolved little adaptation to— or defense against. Carbohydrates, other than the largely indigestible variety found in fibrous vegetables and greens, have generally played a minimal role at best through most of human evolution. Fruit was consumed only seasonally by our neo- Paleolithic ancestors in most places, and wild fruit is extremely fibrous and smaller in size, with less total sugar content. Many potatoes and tubers would have required extensive cooking to neutralize extremely toxic alkaloids. Wild varieties that would have been available to us through most of our history as a species can be especially toxic. In other words, it isn’t likely we were eating baked potatoes with our woolly mammoth steaks— or much starch at all. In fact, of all the macronutrients (that
is, protein, fats, and carbohydrates), the only ones for which there are no actual human dietary requirements are carbohydrates. This is a critical and very fundamental point to remember: we don’t ever have to eat any sugar or starch of any kind at all in order to be optimally healthy. Our bodies can manufacture glucose, as needed, from a combination of protein and fat in the diet. As a matter of fact, glucose is really needed only in an ongoing way mainly for fueling our red blood cells. Most organs and tissues in the body, including the brain, actually prefer, if we let them, to use ketones, the energy- producing by- products from the metabolism of fats. This fact is very overlooked or misunderstood by the majority of medical and nutritional experts.

Paleo Diet Rules from Primal Body Primal Mind: Beyond the Paleo Diet for Total Health and a Longer Lifeby Nora Gedgaudas:
1. Don’t consume anything that causes a negative physiological reaction.
2. Eat good lipids from pastured meats, fish, butter, yogurt, coconuts, avocados, and a few other key sources.
3. Moderate amounts of quality protein, primarily from animal sources and some nuts.
4. Carbohydrate intake is kept low to moderate from, mainly from nonstarchy vegetables and some fruit (seasonally).

No, you are.

Jesus H...look, I don't give a rat's how you eat, but the fact is 'paleo' is not supported by archaeological evidence. THAT was my point. And spouting stuff from someone with absolutely no qualifications in that area really isn't going to convince me otherwise.

miriamtob wrote: »

Paleo isn't perfect and it could use some rebranding, but being a vegetarian isn't perfect either. It's ideals are based on some faulty premises as well. Calling it "Faleo" like you have in other threads is derogatory and offensive. How would you like we call you a Vegetard? Doesn't sound very supportive, does it? Why don't you just read the excerpt from the book? It doesn't even refute what you posted!

I did read the excerpt, it is full of misinterpretations and outdated thinking, and assumes that we can't adapt to new/different ways of eating (if we couldn't, we'd have died out a long, long time ago, the Neolithic Revolution isn't the first time our diet underwent a dramatic change). And fyi 'faleo' is a shortening of 'fake paleo'. I don't see how that is derogatory.