Paleo

W30 is an elimination diet, but paleo isn't. The (flawed) concept behind paleo is that people in the paleo era didn't eat grains, beans/legumes, or dairy (this last is true, for adults), and therefore that we must not be adapted to consume them and would be healthier if we did not. The claim doesn't really make a lot of sense as we now know that people did eat grains and beans/legumes (not to mention tubers like potatoes!), and with respect to dairy it's pretty easy to identify populations that very quickly became adapted to it (lactase persistence mutations that many populations, including those in northern and western Europe have).

I did it for a while in part to force myself to get 100% back to homecooked meals for a while, and found it pretty easy since I don't really care about grains (I like pasta but can go without) much and I do like to cook. But with the exception of dairy (which I am currently not eating anyway for other reasons), none of the paleo foods are really ones I tend to be tempted by or to overeat. In particular, when I'd get stuck needing to get lunch out and couldn't even get a lentil soup or black bean and kale stew, I found it extremely irritating. Also, since I think beans and lentils are affirmatively healthy additions to a diet, I started questioning the claims and found they did not stand up. Maybe some overeat grains, but for me they are the last foods I'd overeat (I still mostly have to actively include them in my diet).

Foods with fat + sugar or fat + starch + salt are often easy to overeat, but they aren't all banned on paleo, and plenty of just basic healthy eating plans limit them.

Anyway, I'm not down on paleo as a way to eat (other than I think it can make it tougher than it needs to be), as I think it can be healthy and I found it pretty easy (except when I had to get a meal out from limited lunch options) and I love diets that emphasize cooking from scratch and lots of veg, but if you look at the underlying claims they don't hold up.

psychod787 wrote: »

sofchak wrote: »

So here’s the deal - Paleo is really an elimination diet. The focus is mainly on removing a lot of foods that commonly cause health issues (think allergies, auto-immune flare ups, migraines, etc) from your diet. The objective is to remove all these foods at the same time for a minimum of 30 days (whole30 program), then reintroduce certain foods conscientiously over time until you uncover your triggers/allergies.

From personal experience, this is how I learned that I’m allergic to wheat, brown rice, certain cheeses and certain legumes.

With that said, Paleo is a very restrictive diet - no bread or wheat at all, no dairy products, no rice, no white potatoes (depending on the version you follow), no legumes (including peanut butter!), and only natural sugar (maple syrup and honey are fine, but processed white sugar is not). Anything you eat should be minimally processed, so mayo and ketchup should be made from scratch and pretty much forget about shopping for anything down the middle aisles of a grocery store.

I share all this because Paleo is not a silver bullet. It’s not an easy lifestyle to follow by any means. As someone who has to live this lifestyle due to allergies, in reflecting on it all, I wouldn’t choose this lifestyle if I had a choice - it’s frustrating, time consuming, expensive, and sometimes downright boring.

Unless you have a legitimate reason to suspect you have a systemic health issue that stems from food as the trigger whereby you don’t know what specific food is the cause, I don’t recommend going this path. Don’t make the process of losing weight harder than it has to be by restricting foods that are perfectly okay to eat.

My thoughts almost exactly. You have now removed many of the foods that trigger people to over eat. Increased protein and less food reward when followed the waycor was originally designed. It has many flaws. We know many of our ancestors had varied diets. In different regions they could be dramatically different. Ancient hunter gathers were opportunist. We have evidence of ancient grain consumption going back 40000 years. Not stating that these are the same grain we eat today, but still grains. I think an unrefined paleo style diet can be quite healthy, bbuutt..... can you stay on it forever? If you can.. then awesome! Most people can't.

Actually they have now found evidence of grain consumption going back 120,000 years.

I used to eat paleo and I am grateful for it. I have an autoimmune disease and have always had digestive issues. Through paleo I figured out what foods were causing the problem and I feel much better now.

But I don't eat paleo anymore. It's really restrictive and not sustainable for the long haul. After eight months, I went bonkers on the forbidden foods. I quit smoking at the same time so I gained 60 pounds. That led to six years of trying to find another magic bullet - vegan, HCLF, etc. I think I actually developed that eating disorder where you're obsessed with clean eating.

I am so thankful for MFP. I am slowly getting my head back on straight and just enjoying food again.

Love Paleo. I don’t eat Paleo 100% but most of the time. My favorite cookbooks are Daniel Walker Agsinst All Grain - Paleo Comfort Foods
Favorite bloggers are Paleo Hacks, Paleo Grub, Num Num Paleo , Paleo newbie, Elana’s Pantry. The book explanation “Paleo Solution”. Hope this was helpful

amcalmond768 wrote: »

Does anyone follow the paleo lifestyle? I am looks for some tips and guidance on how to make meals more interesting. Any advice on paleo would be great!

Paleo works for me very well. I also stress my water intake and having fruit before noon. Every once in a while I will eat something off my diet, but stay with it. There is a Paleo magazine. https://paleomagazine.com/