Your Thoughts on Paleo?

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  • Aleciajones
    Aleciajones Posts: 153
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    I don't follow a strictly paleo diet but I have felt a lot better since I cut out 95% of bread and pasta, etc. I eat bread maybe twice a week but it uses to be daily. I don't crave grains and unless it's a really great pastry/ bread piece I have found the taste has become rather bland. I finally eat the daily recommended veggie (more so). I really feel this is a diet I can maintain since I don't miss grains and will likely at some point totally remove it.
    Many in my family are diabetic, I'm over weight (morbidly obese is more accurate) and my mom had symptoms of celiacs disease. She passed in 2010 so no way of knowing if she really had it now. not sure if it's hereditary but even my grandmother has begun reading about it-a book called wheat belly.
    I made garbanzo bean cupcakes this past weekend, very passable even to kids. One of the easiest ways to start is next time you go to the store avoid the inner aisles where packaged, preserved, processed items are.
  • Acg67
    Acg67 Posts: 12,142 Member
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    I just thought I'd chime in with a response from Skeptoid about paleo diets, as I find it to be a balanced view:
    http://skeptoid.com/episodes/4277
    The "paleolithic diet" is a fad diet based on excluding from the diet any foods developed in recorded history. Like most restrictive diets, it's generally perfectly healthy and low calorie. And, like most other diets, if adhered to it should indeed result in weight loss and generally better health. Those are the facts.

    Unfortunately, many promoters of the paleo diet go well beyond the facts and make untrue and irresponsible health claims, such as their diet will prevent all sorts of diseases. That's just an unscientific sales pitch. If you want to be in great shape, exercise a lot and eat well. That's the most basic health advice of all. There is no one magical fad diet that's needed, certainly not one as arbitrarily defined as this one. If you were to survey the world's top athletes, I think you'd find very few who owe the credit to a fad diet and not to hard work and healthy living.

    Personally, I look at paleo recipies and ideas as a great source of healthy food ideas, I've noticed positive changes in myself as I eat less dairy and grains, more veggies, eggs, nuts and meat. I think Michael Pollen's food rule #1 is a great guideline: "Eat food, not too much, mostly plants." http://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/news/20090323/7-rules-for-eating

    Uh oh, I've found if you should so much as question the superiority of the Paleo Diet the more zealous of the adherents can get up in arms
  • funkycamper
    funkycamper Posts: 998 Member
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    I've found that zealots of any particular eating plan, not just Paleo, get up in arms sometimes. Even those who advocate for moderation do it sometimes.

    If Paleo works for you, great. If not, maybe you might like it if you ate 80-90% of the time Paleo but also allowed yourself some splurges with non-Paleo foods. And there are probably a million other "or this, or that" eating plans you can try.

    Just find something that is sustainable and doesn't make you feel deprived.
  • Amayrial
    Amayrial Posts: 139 Member
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    I'm allergic to gluten and have trouble with some dairy, so I eat more paleo then anything else. I feel better when I dont eat a lot of carbs, even the non-gluten ones.

    Like others have said, what you pick for a diet plan will only work if you are willing to sustain it for the rest of your life. Trying it never hurts though :)
  • tyoung75
    tyoung75 Posts: 51 Member
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    The more research I do, the more it makes sense. And all of your input has been extremely helpful as well. I went cold turkey and went straight Paleo starting Monday morning. I've been very pleased. I've noticed I eat a ton of food to hit my intake goals for the day and feel so full but still have so much energy unlike when you eat all the processed stuff. I thought I couldn't live without cheese, but so far I've not missed it so much. I guess only time will tell but for now seems to be the right decision.
  • mmapags
    mmapags Posts: 8,934 Member
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    I do a slightly more moderate version called Primal based on the book The Primal Blueprint. It is not as hard a line on diary for one thing. I'm not sure what the other differences are as I'm familiar with Primal but have not read any othe books on Paleo. I think the most important factor is compliance. Any diet will help you lose weight if you eat in a deficit. For me, the advantages of this style diet are most beneficial for those that have allergies/ sensitivities to grains and lactose (diary). There is no silver bullet diet for diabetes prevention or any other heatlh issues in my humble opinion. One possible benefit for those with a history of diabetes in their family is the limited carb intake, generally no higher than 150 grams per day, that has the effect of keeping insulin concentrations more level and insulin sensitivity higher in most folks.
  • sapalee
    sapalee Posts: 409 Member
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    I love Paleo, and I think of it as a lifestyle rather than a diet. No one wants to be on a diet forever. I have had huge sucess with managing blood sugar, IBS symptoms, fatigue, and overall body composistion. I've cheated a few times with pizza or pasta and I felt it pretty quick (bloat, cramps, cravings), I'll only do this maybe once a month from now on. It is difficult at first but it gets much easier. After a strict 30 days I have brought some cheese and greek yogurt back in. The carb and especially the sugar cravings really wane off when you're not constantly eating the crap.
  • sapalee
    sapalee Posts: 409 Member
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    Love this!
    paleo_chart1.png
  • emanp
    emanp Posts: 8 Member
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    I could have posted this comment myself, I'm in the same boat... Gluten gives me heartburn and cow dairy gets me all stuffed up... The funny thing is how long it took me to realize that's what was going on. Pay attention to your body, treat yourself like a science experiment, do what gets results and makes you feel good.
    I'm allergic to gluten and have trouble with some dairy, so I eat more paleo then anything else. I feel better when I dont eat a lot of carbs, even the non-gluten ones.

    Like others have said, what you pick for a diet plan will only work if you are willing to sustain it for the rest of your life. Trying it never hurts though :)
  • tyoung75
    tyoung75 Posts: 51 Member
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    I love Paleo, and I think of it as a lifestyle rather than a diet. No one wants to be on a diet forever. I have had huge sucess with managing blood sugar, IBS symptoms, fatigue, and overall body composistion. I've cheated a few times with pizza or pasta and I felt it pretty quick (bloat, cramps, cravings), I'll only do this maybe once a month from now on. It is difficult at first but it gets much easier. After a strict 30 days I have brought some cheese and greek yogurt back in. The carb and especially the sugar cravings really wane off when you're not constantly eating the crap.

    This is exactly the information I am looking for. Thanks for the input! VERY helpful!
  • savvystephy
    savvystephy Posts: 4,151 Member
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    Like many above have said, everyone is different and it's a personal choice.

    I was strict Paleo for a while, but I have had to incorporate some grains back into my diet (not a whole ton of them, but just one or two grainy items a day) because I was on such a deficiency of some minerals, I got angry all the time, had some other problems. So really, you just have to find what works and makes you feel best. I know this works well for many people I have talked with.

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