Paleo Diet?

I often feel that people hear processed foods and thing things like Pop Tarts or other severly processed foods. With paleo diet its more strict than that. Flour, whole wheats, milk, and basic things that benefit the body are also considered processed. Some people have success cutting this out, some people do not. Women really need to tread lightly as our bodies needs calcium and they are used to getting it from dairy products. Basically anything that was not readily edible by cavemen is not on this diet. NOT all fruits and veggies are allowed as some need to be cooked in ways that were not available back in this pre-historic times and thus were considered inedible. My friend lives by this diet and I do love how much bacon she can eat....she feels healthier, but she surely has not lost any weight!

Does anyone have research on matched diets keeping calories and macros identical but one diet has all paleo approved foods and one includes a mixture of both, that shows the Paleo diet leads to significantly better outcomes?

I know its not what you are asking for but I did this myself. Did everything by the book and didn't lose a pound. Switched to "paleo" weight fell off. HOWEVER I also have hormonal imbalances. That is what could have been preventing my weight loss while on a traditional calorie counting diet. So althouh its not a study and it is purely anecdotal, I have seen first hand the benefits in my life. And I also believe more people have hormonal issues like the ones I had than we think. And many are undiagnosed. So when I see someone struggling to lose weight while counting calories, I offer them info on the paleo diet because it can make a differeence depending on that persons hormones.

No doubt if you have specific intolerances to things, it's obviously a good idea to cut them out. But for people that don't, are their significant benefits to doing so?

Does anyone have research on matched diets keeping calories and macros identical but one diet has all paleo approved foods and one includes a mixture of both, that shows the Paleo diet leads to significantly better outcomes?

I know its not what you are asking for but I did this myself. Did everything by the book and didn't lose a pound. Switched to "paleo" weight fell off. HOWEVER I also have hormonal imbalances. That is what could have been preventing my weight loss while on a traditional calorie counting diet. So althouh its not a study and it is purely anecdotal, I have seen first hand the benefits in my life. And I also believe more people have hormonal issues like the ones I had than we think. And many are undiagnosed. So when I see someone struggling to lose weight while counting calories, I offer them info on the paleo diet because it can make a differeence depending on that persons hormones.

No doubt if you have specific intolerances to things, it's obviously a good idea to cut them out. But for people that don't, are their significant benefits to doing so?

I think for someone who is doing fine and all their bloodowork is fine by "everything in moderation" than good for them. But people either struggling to lose or have high cholesterol or other health issues I see no down side to switching up the diet to a more natural "healthier" way of eating. Someone could be thin with bad bloodowork. You know and I know dietary fat is not the enemy so I know you are aware of the benefits on cholesterol and other serum results by eating more animal fat. Just because someone is thin doesn't mean everything is ok on the inside. Or someone like my mom who has excelle t bloodwork but is overweight. (she has thyroid issues too that's why she is overweight). So for someone who has met the two conditions of no weight issues and no health issues, that's awesome and keep it up. But for people with those issues that aren't being corrected on a traditional calorie in/out moderation diet, I think we both know the paleo diet premise could be beneficial.

I agree the premise could be beneficial, what if someone just started eating more whole nutrient dense foods but still ate grains, legumes and dairy, would they not see as much as an improvement if they cut all those things out or severely limited them?

Does anyone have research on matched diets keeping calories and macros identical but one diet has all paleo approved foods and one includes a mixture of both, that shows the Paleo diet leads to significantly better outcomes?

I know its not what you are asking for but I did this myself. Did everything by the book and didn't lose a pound. Switched to "paleo" weight fell off. HOWEVER I also have hormonal imbalances. That is what could have been preventing my weight loss while on a traditional calorie counting diet. So althouh its not a study and it is purely anecdotal, I have seen first hand the benefits in my life. And I also believe more people have hormonal issues like the ones I had than we think. And many are undiagnosed. So when I see someone struggling to lose weight while counting calories, I offer them info on the paleo diet because it can make a differeence depending on that persons hormones.

No doubt if you have specific intolerances to things, it's obviously a good idea to cut them out. But for people that don't, are their significant benefits to doing so?

I think for someone who is doing fine and all their bloodowork is fine by "everything in moderation" than good for them. But people either struggling to lose or have high cholesterol or other health issues I see no down side to switching up the diet to a more natural "healthier" way of eating. Someone could be thin with bad bloodowork. You know and I know dietary fat is not the enemy so I know you are aware of the benefits on cholesterol and other serum results by eating more animal fat. Just because someone is thin doesn't mean everything is ok on the inside. Or someone like my mom who has excelle t bloodwork but is overweight. (she has thyroid issues too that's why she is overweight). So for someone who has met the two conditions of no weight issues and no health issues, that's awesome and keep it up. But for people with those issues that aren't being corrected on a traditional calorie in/out moderation diet, I think we both know the paleo diet premise could be beneficial.

I agree the premise could be beneficial, what if someone just started eating more whole nutrient dense foods but still ate grains, legumes and dairy, would they not see as much as an improvement if they cut all those things out or severely limited them?

I would venture to guess it depends on the ratio of those foods to the rest of their diet. As long as they were getting enough of their macros and keeping calories in check I don't think it would be that bad. Hence the 80% 20% rule so many of us talk about. HOWEVER the only problem with that is that for some people its very hard to eat those things minimally and they get caught up in a binge situation. I mean you don't hear about people binging on broccoli so obviously there is something to those "no no" foods that cause people to over eat. Like popcorn is my vice. And the whole time I have been doing my paleo I still eat it when I want it. I don't believe in resrtiction or guilt about food. I just find a way to work it into that 20% category.

I agree 20% seems about right, but I personally wouldn't put grains/legumes/dairy in that 20%, that'd be more reserved for things like ice cream and stuff like that

I often feel that people hear processed foods and thing things like Pop Tarts or other severly processed foods. With paleo diet its more strict than that. Flour, whole wheats, milk, and basic things that benefit the body are also considered processed. Some people have success cutting this out, some people do not. Women really need to tread lightly as our bodies needs calcium and they are used to getting it from dairy products. Basically anything that was not readily edible by cavemen is not on this diet. NOT all fruits and veggies are allowed as some need to be cooked in ways that were not available back in this pre-historic times and thus were considered inedible. My friend lives by this diet and I do love how much bacon she can eat....she feels healthier, but she surely has not lost any weight!

If someone is struggling what's the harm in limiting grains and such?

Right because you have no issues with those foods. But for many people they cause a different hormonal response in the body and therefore should be limited. But if you went on the paleo diet you probably wouldn't see much of a diffrence unless of course you have cholesterol issues or something like that. If someone is struggling what's the harm in limiting grains and such? If it works it works. I don't see harm in limiting them. They don't provide nutrients that can't be found elsewhere. So if one is struggling with traditional dieting why not give it a try? I mean it works for lots of people so there must be something to it. And I don't just mean weight loss either I mean health wise also.

And I agree people with intolerances should limit them, it's the notion that people who don't have intolerances should limit them for better health, weight loss what have you I take issue with.

I often feel that people hear processed foods and thing things like Pop Tarts or other severly processed foods. With paleo diet its more strict than that. Flour, whole wheats, milk, and basic things that benefit the body are also considered processed. Some people have success cutting this out, some people do not. Women really need to tread lightly as our bodies needs calcium and they are used to getting it from dairy products. Basically anything that was not readily edible by cavemen is not on this diet. NOT all fruits and veggies are allowed as some need to be cooked in ways that were not available back in this pre-historic times and thus were considered inedible. My friend lives by this diet and I do love how much bacon she can eat....she feels healthier, but she surely has not lost any weight!

you can have diary and still be paleo.

It focuses on whole foods, minimally processed. It eliminates gluten because some people are intolerant. You don't really realize you're intolerant until you get rid of it for a while (about a month) and then try to reintroduce it into your diet only to realize how bloated it makes you feel. It eliminates dairy for some of the same reasons. I am slightly gluten intolerant, a severe bread, pasta, and cheese binger so eliminating those foods has really eliminated my source of overeating. You're generally eating more nutrient dense foods as opposed to calorie dense foods so it reduces the likelihood that you will over consume calories. Most people lose weight when they switch to this style of eating because they are consuming a larger volume of food while still eating at a deficit.

I've followed the basics of it off and on for the past three years. I don't agree with the good carb/bad carb ideology that some of the main supporters of paleo/primal have, Sisson, Cordain, etc. Most people will agree with the benefits of a minimally processed, whole foods diet... they just don't like the extremism of completely eliminating foods based on sketchy scientific studies. I honestly can't blame them.

I've switched over to more of a "if it fits in my macros" approach. I've learned how crappy gluten makes me feel as well as eating highly processed foods (fast food, junk food, etc.). I went a little crazy during the first couple weeks but now I think I'm starting to learn this moderation thing pretty well. I still eat mostly a minimally processed diet, limited gluten, limited dairy, but if I want a beer, I drink one... or two, or three , if I want a slice of cheese, I eat it, if I want some ice cream, I eat it. In moderation.