Paleo Diet

[zeebs]

Hi ladies, I went to a new doctor (a very smart internist) for my chronic pain. He introduced me to the Paleo Diet, which basically is a diet based on evolutionary biology.

Essentially, the following foods are totally off-limits because they cause the epithelial cells in the intestinal lining a lot of distress and proteins in them can be carried to other parts of the body and cause extensive damage: cereal grains (corn, rice, wheat, etc), legumes (peanuts, beans, etc), and tomatoes (though the harmful proteins in these are less plentiful than in grains and legumes). The diet discourages excessive fat or dairy intake as well.

http://www.thepaleodiet.com/

It's all based on sound science, and I'm very optimistic that it will help me. Has anybody else tried it?

[Rhys]

I have to do low carbohydrate on account of the diabetes, but as far as I can tell, the fats they told us were artery-clogging - aren't. The ones they've tried to replace them with are, and the worst offenders are low fat products because they replace the fats with sugar. I had the extreme displeasure of going over Ancel Keys' (the guy who started this anti-fat eating mania) research and - oy gevault! If you want bad methodology, look no further.

There are protein deficiency diseases. There are fat deficiency diseases (and for most people, eating normal fats, not frankensteined lab creations, is essential). There are no carbohydrate deficiency diseases.

If you want to do the paleo thing, why not? It's safe, and it seems to work for most folks who try it.

I think sugar, and high fructose corn syrup are our biggest culprits, and HFCS the moreso, because fructose is harder on your liver. Tomatoes have fructose, which may be why you're not supposed to eat them.

[Rhys]

I'll also mention that research in this stuff is a minefield. I do believe there's plenty of evidence that too many carbohydrates are Very Bad For People. But I've seen people go positively religious on anti-carbohydrate kicks. Then the other side flakes and uses junk science to try to prove that Lots of Carbohydrates Are Good. Nah, really, they aren't. On the other hand, a piece of cake at your niece's birthday party won't destroy your immune system, either.

If you want to see some actual decent uses of grains and how to prepare them check the Weston Price Foundation - westonaprice.org

Also check Gary Taubes' Good Calories, Bad Calories book - he's actually a credible science writer (and has a masters degree in science himself), outlining some of how we got to where we are today with diet hysteria. It's a fascinating story.

[egerandi]

I have a book about paleo diet, grabbed it after looking into it a bit while trying to get on the low glycemic diet a couple of years ago.

I'm not a scientist or doctor, but I think yes, that's how our bodies started, no grains and such, but wouldn't they have evolved to digest new things? Dunno... I love my grains, I eat all sorts that you may only find in international cuisine, like teff or amaranth. I do try to limit carbs, and don't overindulge in anything (try hard not to, hehe). Unrefined grains seem to be beneficial as far as I can tell, with limited carbs and other stuff like protein, minerals, vitamins.

If that's what your body requires that you restrict certain elements, and it's scientifically backed up that you won't have issues because of cutting out certain things, go for it. Good luck and hope you feel healthier soon!

[Rhys]

We haven't had time to evolve that far, actually (spooky, huh?). But in traditional societies, people did know how to prepare grains to get most of the bad stuff out of them and keep the good stuff in them, unlike a lot of what we do - and don't do - today. Your diet wasn't based on things like refined white flour even in societies that used grains.

I really do like the Weston Price foundation - they're honest, but they aren't totally anti-grain, anti-meat, anti-whatever the fad of the week is. They make a lot of sense. The late Dr Price was one of the dentists who found back in the 1920s and 1930s that a proper diet (including grains) reversed dental cavities in children. I know there were a couple of other dentists who hit upon the same concept around the same time, but why the research wasn't pursued more, I don't know. From what I've looked at it certainly seems credible - I don't believe they were making it up.

[Xarata]

I'm not a scientist or doctor, but I think yes, that's how our bodies started, no grains and such, but wouldn't they have evolved to digest new things?

I remember as a kid hearing about the blood-type diets, essentially saying that our bodies respond to different types of diet and exercise based on our blood type. Type Os do best with proteins, Type As do best with veggies, Type Bs are pretty balanced and can eat pretty much whatever, and type ABs vary in combinations of proteins and veggies. http://www.dadamo.com/program.htm

I always found it pretty interesting...

[egerandi]

Yeah, I guess I'm just hesitant - I love my whole grains I quit refined stuff out of my diet a long time ago, as much as I could. The paleo diet sounds good, just not sure how viable it is for the most of us, given the price of the majority of items it includes. If we want to keep it local, that will add up in price of fruit and veggies especially during the colder months. Lean protein is always more expensive than the fattier types of meat... etc. I'm not trying to be devil's advocate, I've been considering trying it, just for weight loss, but I already consider myself a healthy eater, and healthy in general. Although, I could use a bit more energy

[karen]

Personally I gave up on nutrition research about the fourth or fifth time "they" told me eggs were going to either kill me or cure me (can't remember which at this point). Julia Child and her husband both lived to get very old, and she had a great quality of life well into her 90's. So I go with that...I eat what makes me happy.

It doesn't seem like it would be unhealthy to try the Paleo diet at least for a few weeks. If you feel better that's great, if not try something else.

Have you looked into MSM? I use MSM gel on my aches and pains, and it's my favorite topical analgesic. I know general aches are a lot different than chronic pain, but it helps me quite a bit, and it's cheap because they sell it in huge bottles for use on horses.

[Ladybug914]

A woman I know on another forum is following this diet and has nothing but praise for it. She has thyroid issues and had been miserable for a long time; then started this diet and is feeling so much better.

[Rhys]

Some diets can have remarkable instant results for some folks, and for others, not so much. They may still work but you won't get the 'I lost ten pounds my first week and have so much energy!' as a rule. It does happen, but it's really rare.

And you do have to use some common sense. i don't have lots of money to begin with, but even for people better off, here at least it'd be pricey to buy all organic grass-fed meats (non-organic is maybe $10 - $20 per pound, organic is around $30 - $70 per, food's more expensive than in the US). And the government completely quashed the buy local initiative for fruit and veg - I've no idea why, because that was working out well for everyone, even in the sense of more money being made so they got more taxes.

But I do mark that all this diabetes and obesity epidemic came into being around the same time that HFCS was approved for human consumption - and the consumption of sugars and starches went absolutely through the roof and is still growing, because we were told that meat, eggs, and all fats except hydrogenated ones were bad for us. Which is totally backwards advice for most folks.

Throw in how land has been ruined by both things like civil engineering (straight rivers flood way easier than windy ones and filling in marshlands - not such a great idea), as well as farmers being paid to overgrow certain crops, not grow other crops and so much soil being destroyed, and you've got a mess of worldwide proportions. Plus farmed fish versus wild, and all the rest of it - that's not in our control, and again - unless you can fork over $400 per week for groceries....

Then add in that in most families both people have to work, so there's seldom time to make proper meals anymore, at least not every single day, and few people want to spend their entire week-ends cooking.

So do your best, be sensible about it, if you can't pronounce it it's probably not good to eat lots of it and don't worry too much. Though most of us can stand to cut down on carbohydrates and increase good fats. But that doesn't mean everyone has to make sure they're eating 30 grams or less per day of carbs - it'd drive ME nuts trying to micromanage to that point, and I have to be especially careful.

Some folks can manage a vegetarian diet, especially if they cheat around the edges and eat some high-quality dairy and/or fish with it. Some can't.

Mostly what I dislike is what's been done to the earth in an attempt to make profit - we've managed to destroy a good deal of arable land in the process. And got lots of bankrupt farmers and fritos in return. Doesn't hardly seem fair, but I don't think anyone here has the political clout to stop that kind of thing.

One can only hope that at some point sanity will prevail.