A beginner’s guide to Paleolithic nutrition

[saturnfan]

I have wanted to start a thread about this for a while, and I figured since I have been eating “primal” for two months now, that it would be a good time to discuss my experiences with the diet. This introductory post may be a little long, but anyone who is interested in losing weight, addressing medical aliments, or both, should take the time to read this. Also, I want this to be a friendly discussion, I am not writing this to denigrate your current eating habits, but rather to share some information that everyone might potentially find useful.

So I will start with myself and my experiences with the diet, two months in. Basically, I have never been thin, but to be fair to myself, I have also never been severally overweight. I have also never been all that fit, either. I was probably in my best condition at ages 18-22, where I weighed a relatively healthy 165 (Based off my height. According to height and weight charts, I should be in the 150s), worked in a moderately active job and was diligent about avoiding junk food. However, at some point my eating habits deteriorated, I changed to a non active job and I started to pack on the pounds. As of two months ago I weighed 212lb, a full 50-60lbs overweight. For a 25 year old, I was getting sick a lot and had zero energy. When I say I had no energy, I mean none. I was finding it hard to go through a day without needing naps or to find enough energy to do basic chores.

I had tried diets before, but could never last more than a week or two due to the restrictive nature of most diets: intensive exercise coupled with a reduced fat, reduced caloric diet. Needless to say I would be starving all week and eventually would always quit. But one day I was browsing the documentaries on Netflix and came across a film entitled “Fat Head”. The premise of the movie is that Morgan Spurlock is an idiot, and you can actually lose weight by eating at McDonalds for 30 days strait. The trick, however, was to keep your carbohydrate count under 150, avoid the sodas and make smarter ordering decisions. While the movie does not promote a Paleolithic lifestyle, it did get me interested in it so I did some quick research and decided to jump in head first. I ordered a few books, but went ahead and started the diet with little research or any overall plan. I was just armed with the basic facts: eat meat, vegetables, nuts and fruit. Do not eat anything else.

So two months later, I have lost 17lb and have increased energy levels. Because my energy levels were so low to begin with, I have only recently started to work in exercise. Other aliments I would get a lot, like colds and allergy problems have subsided significantly (although two months might not be a long enough measuring stick). I have read three books on the subject since I started, so I am continually tweaking my diet whenever I learn something new. So if you are still reading, I am going to share some basic facts about Paleolithic nutrition and why I think you should give it a try.
For starters, a Paleolithic diet is based on the theory that humans are not meant to consume grains because our ancestors would never have eaten them. In the millions of years of human evolution, humans only ate what they could kill or forage: meat, vegetables, nuts and fruits. That is how humans lived, until 10,000 years ago when man first started to master agricultural. The advent of agricultural has had a double edged sword effect on humanity. Cereal grains allow us to mass produce food and support huge populations, but it comes at significant cost to our health. Pre-agricultural man would almost never have gotten heart diseases, cancers, diabetes or suffered from obesity. Our genetic makeup wants us to live fit and healthy lives and our current eating habits prevent that from naturally occurring.

In the research I have done over the past two months, it seems there are two popular versions of the Paleolithic diet. The Paleo Diet by Dr. Cordain (a PhD researcher) and The Primal Blueprint by Mark Sisson (a fitness expert). Both diets are 95% the same with one key difference, and a host of smaller divisions. The key difference is that Cordain wants you to limit your fat intake by avoiding certain fatty meats (like lamb) and keeping tabs on your saturated fat intake. Sisson argues that isn’t necessary since pre-agricultural man would have specifically preferred fatty meat over lean meat. I personally just eat the meat that I want to. Other small differences revolve around exercise techniques, the role of dairy, supplements, allowable indulgences, etc. The main point to take from this is that with any scientific research, there is always more research to be done, so as time passes, need studies will emerge to help us hone our diets.

If you are interested in learning more I suggest the following books and websites:

The Paleo diet – Cordain

The Primal Blueprint – Sission

NeanderThin – Audette (this is a great beginner’s book, its short and very to the point)

The Paleo Cookbook – Cordain (If you are inept at cooking, like I am. You will want this simple cookbook)

http://www.marksdailyapple.com

http://cavemanforum.com/

http://www.primal-palate.com/

If you are convinced that you want to start immediately, here is all you need to get started:

Eat
Meats, vegetables, fruit and nuts. Use healthy oils like coconut and Extra Virgin Olive Oil. Don’t be afraid of fat, it is your friend. Eat organic if you can afford it, but it’s not absolutely required. I personally try to eat around 20% organic to lower my exposure to additives and such.

Don’t Eat

Cereal grains (including whole grains), potatoes, processed foods, sugar, legumes, rice, beans. Those are the main offenders, but refer to the books for a comprehensive list.

Why you should give it a try

- No portion control or calorie counting. Those hunger pains you have are there for a reason. You are hungry, eat!

- The diet can be used to address both weight and health issues. Even if you are thin, you will benefit from the diet by reducing your chances of getting heart disease, cancers and other ailments.

- It’s easy! Once you get past the first few weeks, you will see just how easy it is prepare meals and savor the true flavors of food. You won’t be hungry and will feel great.

- You don’t have to give up all your favorite foods at once. Cordain argues that you will receive all the benefits of the diet even if you adhere to it only 90% of the time. However, be reasonable with your indulgences.

What you should know before starting

- You will be very tired and sluggish the first 1-3 weeks. You might even get sick. Remember that you body is undergoing a massive dietary change and is not used to converting fat for energy. Instead, it’s been using grains for that purpose.

- You friends and family will most likely ridicule you, try to thwart your efforts and overall be unsupportive. Not eating grains is incomprehensible to most people.

- Eating primal can be expensive. However, it’s probably cheaper than being in the hospital.

- This is not a fad diet, this is a lifestyle change.

Well that concludes my post, I hope some members here find it useful, and I hope I didn’t come off a preachy or pushy. If anyone else is currently on the diet, share your experiences. Also feel free to talk about Paleolithic nutrition in general.

[o.pwuaioc]

Do you have scientific evidence? Has this been published in peer reviewed journals? Your results are promising, but anecdotal and the sample size is merely one person. If you have more along these lines, that might be more convincing to some of the skeptical among us.

[MrPopo]

Now this isn't intended to be mean spirited, but why are you taking the time to put this information forth? It runs counter to your claim that you're not trying to put anyone's diet down.

[mjmjr25]

Now this isn't intended to be mean spirited, but why are you taking the time to put this information forth? It runs counter to your claim that you're not trying to put anyone's diet down.

It was suggested in the "Fitocracy" thread that Saturnfan dedicate a thread to this topic.

With that said, @saturnfan, the first post is so long we are going to have a hard time picking where to start a comment / debate about it. Instead, this thread will turn into most likely the opposite of your intent?

[saturnfan]

Do you have scientific evidence? Has this been published in peer reviewed journals? Your results are promising, but anecdotal and the sample size is merely one person. If you have more along these lines, that might be more convincing to some of the skeptical among us.

Sure, here is a large amount of published research by Dr. Cordin:

http://thepaleodiet.com/published-research

Also, I am sure you are familiar with Jarad Diamond, author of Guns, Germs and Steel? You might like this article, since it's pretty short:

http://anthropology.lbcc.edu/handoutsdocs/mistake.pdf

[saturnfan]

Now this isn't intended to be mean spirited, but why are you taking the time to put this information forth? It runs counter to your claim that you're not trying to put anyone's diet down.

It was suggested in the "Fitocracy" thread that Saturnfan dedicate a thread to this topic.

With that said, @saturnfan, the first post is so long we are going to have a hard time picking where to start a comment / debate about it. Instead, this thread will turn into most likely the opposite of your intent?

@MrPopo I put in the effort because you never know if it might help somebody. I also didn't insult anyone (at least not intentionally), so it never ran counter to my claim.

@mjmjr25 A hard question to answer. If I have inadvertently put people off to the diet due to my long post, then I suppose they wont try it. But if one person finds it interesting enough to pursue, then it was worth the effort.

[CFFJR]

I didn't see anything wrong with the first post. Experience is an important part of this sort of thing. Its not like he's selling anything.

I know that elmagicochrisg follows this plan as well. I don't know how his experience compares to yours saturnfan, but he does it.

As for me, while I've (successfully) cut back on a lot of the grains I eat, I simply couldn't do it permanently. Asking an Italian man to give up on bread and pasta is a really tough sell. You'd probably have better luck convincing a turtle to fly.

So it was nice to read the first post and learn that its not necessary to give it up 100%. That makes the whole thing much more appealing to me.

Its become something that I'd be far more likely to consider than before, so I appreciate it.

[o.pwuaioc]

You'd probably have better luck convincing a turtle to fly.

[CFFJR]

You'd probably have better luck convincing a turtle to fly.

You'd think I would have thought of that huh?

That's a slap your forehead mistake.

[RyaNtheSlayA]

Pre-agricultural man would almost never have gotten heart diseases, cancers, diabetes or suffered from obesity.

That's because pre-agricultural man would die from an infection that stemmed from a small cut at the already ripe age of 25.

Also you have no way of knowing that for sure. You may be correct about diabetes and obesity, but with the average lifespan back then heart disease would have rarely been able to present itself, and the same goes for cancer.

I don't eat much in the way of wheat, my dad's girlfriend is gluten free, and in general our foods are very lean. I have no issue with trying to be more healthy, so do whatever works for you. You mentioned your eating habits were fairly terrible in the first place, so I don't think you can say for sure that this diet specifically was the root cause of your weight loss, I'm sure any improvement to your diet would have had the same effect.

I'm not trying to say you're wrong, but just because humans didn't eat grains before hand doesn't mean that we can't or shouldn't, or that it leads to being overweight.