Paleo Diet... yes.. no..

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Replies

  • amy1612
    amy1612 Posts: 1,356 Member
    My only beef is with the name of this diet. It is not fitting for what people eat on it. Dont call it a caveman diet / diet of our ancestors and then eat this stuff. Thats my beef.

    Thanks for qualifiying, I think that thats a reasonable argument, unlike saying that theres something wrong with using grain free flour for baking, etc. I can see your issue with saying youre 'eating like a caveman' when cavemen probably didnt bake muffins using coconut flour...an issue with semantics rather than actual dietary choices?
  • jonski1968
    jonski1968 Posts: 4,490 Member
    YES...
  • secretlobster
    secretlobster Posts: 3,566 Member
    I did it for about six months but I couldn't give up bread forever. I've taken a lot of the principles with me and they changed my life - Eat mostly meat and vegetables, avoid heavily processed foods, etc. - I will say that when I was strictly primal (another variety of paleo, honestly it doesn't even matter... Just people out trying to sell a book title), I felt absolutely fantastic. I was bouncing off the walls with energy and I never felt bloated or puffy.
  • Phrak
    Phrak Posts: 353 Member
    My only beef is with the name of this diet. It is not fitting for what people eat on it. Dont call it a caveman diet / diet of our ancestors and then eat this stuff. Thats my beef.

    Thanks for qualifiying, I think that thats a reasonable argument, unlike saying that theres something wrong with using grain free flour for baking, etc. I can see your issue with saying youre 'eating like a caveman' when cavemen probably didnt bake muffins using coconut flour...an issue with semantics rather than actual dietary choices?

    Excatly, sometimes i cant actually articulate my argument very well in text format. I have no beef with the dietary choices (totally personal choice), i actually use a lot of them. I am just rubbed the wrong way when someone says they are eating this ancestral diet, yet are eating lemon squares etc etc. Just a bad naming is all. Ill bow out now :)
  • callmeBAM
    callmeBAM Posts: 445 Member
    I don't see how it can be bad for you as long as you're paying attention to what you're eating and make sure to get all the nutrients necessary to function.

    I also don't necessarily agree with the idea behind it...not that it's bad...it just seems that most of the people who do it are doing it because "that's what our ancestors ate thousands of years ago"...

    It's perfectly reasonable that our bodies would adapt and evolve to benefit from other foods (like grains) over time.

    OP explicitly asked "I would like to hear from people who are on it or have tried it. "
  • callmeBAM
    callmeBAM Posts: 445 Member
    Paleo diet is flawed, the majority of what people seem to eat on that diet never existed back then anyway. BRB eating paleo cookies, brownies.

    OP explicitly asked "I would like to hear from people who are on it or have tried it. "
  • twinmom01
    twinmom01 Posts: 854 Member
    FYI to those who follow the Paleo diet and currently cut out bread. Julian Bakery is debuting The Paleo Bread at the end of this month and will have two varieties: one using almond flour and the other, coconut.

    http://www.facebook.com/ThePaleoBread

    this is my point to a "T". More frankenfoods made with these random paleo ingredients to satisfy the deprived.

    Not really "franken foods" as all the ingrediantes are whole clean food products that go into the making of the item.

    I know personally I have tried making bread and stuff using almond and coconut flour and just haven't had much luck (other than a awesome sweet potato brownie I made) - I really have no need to have bread in my life so I stopped trying to make it.

    I think the problem is two fold...

    FIRST
    you have people like me who started eating this style because they wanted to clean up thier diet...I went to eating clean and then found out I have some issues with grains...not an allergy - just bloating and feeling uncomfortable when I eat some of them...some I have no problem with - others you do not want to be in a room with me, so i delved further and found Paleo/Primal - not because of the whole caveman thing - but rather it was a lifestyle I was already eating a majority of the time and I choose to bring myself more in line by dropping grains pretty much all together - a majority of things that are considered "off limits" in paleo I wasn't really eating anyway so for me the switch was easy....you also have people who eat this way because of dietary restrictions due to things like Chrons, Celiac, IBS...so they eat Paleo because the foods are what is best for their body.

    SECOND
    people try and make a quick buck or exploit the lifestyle...you have people out there who are truely invested in the Paleo lifestyle because of clean eating...and you do have a group of militant PALEO people who say this is why we eat this way...but there are so many different "rules" based on who and what you read...so it can be confusing to people and cause massive amounts of misinformation...as I said in my previous post I pretty much adhere to the basic tennets and eat within that realm.

    The whole breads and sweets are basically an offshoot of simply eating clean without the use of grains and other items that are considered "off limits" under the basics of Paleo...

    I think a lot of time people get confused and have a misunderstanding of what Paleo is and what it can do... I have read where people think they will loose a lot fo weight if they do Paleo...and some people do...just like anytime you make a conscience decision to watch what you eat and get some exercise in chances are you are going to loose weight...I have also read about the misconception where "eat however much you want"...the idea is to eat to satiety...since the lifestyle is more inclined to an overall lower carb, higher fat & protien eating style you can find yoruself satied on less food...so you wind up eating less because you feel fuller longer.

    I have had people ask me how I have lost the weight I have lost over these past 8 months...granted it isn't a huge amount but for my body type it is quite a difference (BTW in addition to eating the Paleo lifestyle I also watch my calorie intake and have a fairly routine exercise plan) and as soon as I mention I basically eat a lot of meats, veggies and fruits and cut out things like breads and pastas they get all indignent and tell me they could never cut out breads and pastas...well great you don't have to...

    I have had a number of people ask me for more information and I have provided it to them and told them if they want to try it they really have to do it for a month...just cut things out for a month and try it...I have had some friends do it, love it and now basically live it...I have had others who tried it and decided it wasn't for them...to each their own...
  • shonatariro
    shonatariro Posts: 2 Member
    I've tried a Paelo challenge with my Crossfit group for 30 days and to be honest with you, it was soooo hard for the first 2 weeks and then after that, I really enjoyed it! I had so much more energy and my body was thanking me for it. I regret going back to a normal diet and I'm actually jumping back on board the Paleo boat soon. But I think it's about the change in dietary habits more than being strict to Paleo. Cutting down high fructose sugars and high starch intake is always going to make you feel better and healthier, even if you don't cut them out completely. Like any dietary change, it requires planning ahead and commitment until it becomes a lifestyle and not just a diet. I recommend Paleo or modified Paleo or simply eating healthy.
  • callmeBAM
    callmeBAM Posts: 445 Member
    the paleo diet is good if u want to drop to a certain weight relatively quickly...but you have to make sure you eat a lot of starchy veggies like carrots so that you get your carbs...it makes going hard in the gym not so easy

    False. Flat out FALSE.
  • songbyrdsweet
    songbyrdsweet Posts: 5,691 Member
    Paleo is a little restrictive for me, but I'm doing Primal and I LOVE it! But I don't really like bread/pasta/rice so that stuff is easy for me not to eat.
  • callmeBAM
    callmeBAM Posts: 445 Member
    paleo diet - Really just gluten free/dairy free people creating frankenfoods because they deprive themselves to be part of some fad.

    OP explicitly asked "I would like to hear from people who are on it or have tried it. "
  • Beth720
    Beth720 Posts: 661 Member
    I'm still trying to figure out how bacon qualifies as a paleo food.
  • callmeBAM
    callmeBAM Posts: 445 Member
    It's really just a marketing gimmick. People have been eating "paleo style" forever, without needing a silly name for it.

    Really? When I go to the grocery store I don't see ANYTHING with "paleo" on it. That is a very curious marketing strategy.
  • tigersword
    tigersword Posts: 8,059 Member
    FYI to those who follow the Paleo diet and currently cut out bread. Julian Bakery is debuting The Paleo Bread at the end of this month and will have two varieties: one using almond flour and the other, coconut.

    http://www.facebook.com/ThePaleoBread

    this is my point to a "T". More frankenfoods made with these random paleo ingredients to satisfy the deprived.

    Again, justify the word 'frankenfood'....these are things made with pretty natural ingredients as far as it goes, almond flour, etc is often used in regular baking. I get your issue that eating cakes is not very 'cavelike', but calling it 'frankenfoods' is just tripe. Theyre far less frankenfood than the processed rubbish you see on supermarket shelves. I have a friend with Crohns, and she eats flour free/grain free cakes as she cant have regular, what is your beef with this?

    Well if the whole problem with wheat and wheat flour is the fact that people have only been eating it for 10,000 years so it isn't paleo, almonds have only been around for about 5,000 years, and back then they were poisonous until intentional agriculture and cross breeding (aka genetic modification) bred the poison out of them in about 3000BC.

    So not only would paleo man have not been able to have crushed almonds into flour, even if he could have, it would've killed him.

    Again, like someone else said, the diet itself is fine for people that want to do it, it's the ridiculousness of the name and the complete disregard for the realities of the so called reasoning of it.

    Just call it wheat and legume free. Stop trying to pretend that it has anything at all to do with the way humans used to eat, because it doesn't, at all. It's a thoroughly modern concept, and the only tie-in to the paleolithic era is some snake oil salesman decided that inventing this ridiculous story would make him rich, and it has.
  • tigersword
    tigersword Posts: 8,059 Member
    It's really just a marketing gimmick. People have been eating "paleo style" forever, without needing a silly name for it.

    Really? When I go to the grocery store I don't see ANYTHING with "paleo" on it. That is a very curious marketing strategy.
    And now you've figured it out. "Paleo" has nothing to do with food. It's a marketing gimmick invented to sell books and monetize websites.
  • amy1612
    amy1612 Posts: 1,356 Member
    My only beef is with the name of this diet. It is not fitting for what people eat on it. Dont call it a caveman diet / diet of our ancestors and then eat this stuff. Thats my beef.

    Thanks for qualifiying, I think that thats a reasonable argument, unlike saying that theres something wrong with using grain free flour for baking, etc. I can see your issue with saying youre 'eating like a caveman' when cavemen probably didnt bake muffins using coconut flour...an issue with semantics rather than actual dietary choices?

    Excatly, sometimes i cant actually articulate my argument very well in text format. I have no beef with the dietary choices (totally personal choice), i actually use a lot of them. I am just rubbed the wrong way when someone says they are eating this ancestral diet, yet are eating lemon squares etc etc. Just a bad naming is all. Ill bow out now :)

    :) Again, thanks for clarifying.

    As for the OP, I am currently dairy, legume and grain free, seeing how it gos, its only been 5 days, I feel ok, thoug have had a couple of headaches and have drank a lot of water. Give it a go if you're interested. I have IBS so I find eating more 'cleanly' makes me feel better. I'd never tried cutting dairy before , so Im doing that and then will reintroduce to see whether it affects my IBS :)
  • ImperfektAngel
    ImperfektAngel Posts: 811 Member
    Paleo diet is flawed, the majority of what people seem to eat on that diet never existed back then anyway. BRB eating paleo cookies, brownies.


    haha!
  • callmeBAM
    callmeBAM Posts: 445 Member
    It's perplexing that everyone who does Paleo or Primal only has good things to say about it. The only haters are those who don't know anything about it or think they are experts because they read an article.
  • twinmom01
    twinmom01 Posts: 854 Member
    It's perplexing that everyone who does Paleo or Primal only has good things to say about it. The only haters are those who don't know anything about it or think they are experts because they read an article.

    Exactly!!!!

    I love when people state "oh moderation is all you need" - umm did they ever stop to think that some of us that follow Paleo/Primal did that...that we followed the "standard" rules and it simply didn't work out so well...that the reason people seek out other ways to nourish their body because the "standard" way of doing things simply does not work for everyone....
  • tigersword
    tigersword Posts: 8,059 Member
    It's perplexing that everyone who does Paleo or Primal only has good things to say about it. The only haters are those who don't know anything about it or think they are experts because they read an article.
    What's perplexing is that a diet that has been around forever suddenly is being called "paleo" and people are fawning over it like it's a brand new concept.
  • songbyrdsweet
    songbyrdsweet Posts: 5,691 Member
    Hay guise! Just came in to be like

    CHILL THE EFF OUT

    it's food, not capital punishment, ya? :)


    These--and ANY--diets are what you make of them. If you want processed foods, fine. If you want au natural, fine. Do whatever works for you. Try it out. Fit it to your lifestyle. I always have my diary open. Do I eat perfectly? No way. Does it matter? Apparently not, cause I look damn good.

    Cheers! :drinker:
  • dyannajoy
    dyannajoy Posts: 466 Member
    You'll want to view it more as a lifestyle. My brother has been doing it for years and he encouraged me to give it a try.

    I won't get into the theories or rationale behind it, that's already been hashed out elsewhere and there are many resources on the web for people to do their own research.

    I went completely strict for 30 days to get an idea of what foods are irritating to me by slowly experimenting and adding things back in. I dicovered that I am in fact sensitive to many grains, something I wouldn't have realized without giving it a try. When I "cheat" I have a whole host of problems for a day or two and I'm encouraged to keep with it, you begin to decide whether junk is really worth it.

    Here is some of what we've experienced
    - Less to no cravings for sweets and junk
    - IBS symptoms improved or gone
    - No more afternoon crashes
    - Feeling satiated
    - Drop in BF%
    - Real food tasting better
    - Surprisingly easy to go wothout the breads and pastas, I thought this would be the hardest part, but again, cravings go away quickly.

    My problem with strict paleo long term is that it is difficult to get my calories up high enough without eating when I'm not hungry. I have been eating cheese and some yogurt again since about March which helps get calories up, but no more milk. Even the cheese and yogurt sometimes triggers IBS, so I'm working on limiting that.

    I've also been playing with adding oats in, so far so good. My brother also does this to help fuel his intense workouts and meet calories. It's not paleo but it hasn't bothered either of us like gluten does and some adaptions need to be made for athletes.

    This may all be more info than you need... but it's been a very positive experience for me. I'll stick with it long term as a lifestyle, not a diet, but not beat myself up when I "fall of the paleo/primal wagon" All you can do is give it a try and see for yourself if you think it's doable. Just remember that it can be very nutritious and healthy.

    thank you sooooo much for sharing your experience with paleo. I am just starting down this road and so far it is amazing! I have fibromyalgia, and my body soreness is all but gone! a miracle for me really. I also have more energy and the cravings are GONE! Yesterday my husband and I went out for lunch at a lovely Italian restaurant and I could have cared less about the bread to dip in olive oil! Even though my husband was nom nomming it all up :) I had an amazing salmon salad with a lemon vinagrette and I did not feel deprived for even a moment.............quite the opposite actually.......I felt very very satisfied. And oh yes.....the weight is coming off too :bigsmile:

    I don't care what it is called........or what the *history* is on it........I just like it as a way to eat. period. Thanks!

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