A beginner’s guide to Paleolithic nutrition

[MrPopo]

@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.

See, the fact you can't see it is the problem. It's similar to the Christians who try to explain to me why my lack of faith in Jesus is flawed.

But as mentioned, this is a split off of another thread, and it wasn't completely unsolicited, so carry on without further interference from me.

[Xeogred]

Nothing wrong with the first post to me, I think this is definitely interesting stuff. My friend just started a diet similar to this, he's doing the small portions but more meals a day thing, but throwing in dairy and stuff to try and put on muscle. Well, I guess with that said he's probably doing a completely different thing... lol. But yeah, sounds like lots of meat, fruits, and veggies from what he's told me.

For me I'm not overweight but have got a little gut going, but the energy issue is insane with me. My mother is anemic though so maybe I just got that as well, but I sure as heck could eat a lot healthier than I do. I'd definitely like to give something like this a shot someday. I'm not Italian, but as CFFJR joked it'd be pretty tough for me to put down pasta since it's like my favorite food... yet I do realize it's one of the worst out there.

Isn't rice a really healthy meal in many cases though? I mean it's more grains, but yeah. I see a lot of cases in the tiny bits of research I do off and on that suggest eating more rice is a good thing.

[pepharytheworm]

Just out of curiosity, what the difference between this diet and the Atkins (former fad) diet. I haven't done any research on both but from what I have heard both seem to support low carbohydrates and high meat consumption.

[Erik_Twice]

anyone who is interested in losing weight, addressing medical aliments, or both, should take the time to read this.

I think that, if you are worried about your diet you should ask a dietitian.

Jumping into diets, specially ones where Wikipedia lists dozens of dietitians opposed to it is not a good idea me thinks.

"This dietary approach is a controversial topic amongst dietitians[16][17] and anthropologists,[7][18] and an article on the National Health Service of England Choices website suggests that it may be a fad diet.[19] Critics have argued that if hunter-gatherer societies failed to suffer from "diseases of civilization", this was due to a lack of calories in their diet, or a variety of other factors, rather than because of some special diet composition.[20] Some researchers have taken issue with the accuracy of the diet's underlying evolutionary logic.[20][21][22]"

That's just the third paragraph in the Wikipedian article and it already criticizes most of your post! Anything that has so many experts complaining requires far more research than just reading stuff on the internet, I wouldn't toy with my health-

Just my two cents.

EDIT: CURSE YOU WIKIPEDIA! NOW I'M WASTING MY TIME LEARNING!

[Lokkenjawnz]

Just out of curiosity, what the difference between this diet and the Atkins (former fad) diet. I haven't done any research on both but from what I have heard both seem to support low carbohydrates and high meat consumption.

I'm not hugely well-versed on the Paleo diet, but it does seem to at least resemble the Atkins diet, which itself is a Keto diet. Basically the idea is that you remove carbs from your body to force yourself to use fat for energy instead, which really isn't how the body is supposed to work. It will definintely allow you to lose weight and gain muscle mass, and fairly quickly from what I've read, but I've also seen that it tends to make you feel like total shit, it does vary greatly from person to person.

The way I figure it, if you're worried about your diet and nutrition, go see an expert. I personally would recommend an actual doctor, as they're going to have more knowledge on it than any Dietician or Trainer. Do your research thoroughly, this is your body you're messing with, you've got to be careful!

[Ivo]

I don't buy the idea that humans are not evolutionarily prepared to eat cereals or grains. Corn was certainly consumed by native americans and the same goes for potatoes as far as I know. Wheat can also be consumed without being milled, and before being agriculturally grown it was wild. You must in fact praise the pioneers of agriculture that instead of eating the seeds for nutritional value right now decided to try to "throw it away" on the ground for greater delayed benefit. That is a big sign of intelligence there. It also paved the way for civilizations which despite what anyone says have lead to a much increased average lifespan.

Lack of food and malnutrition was a big issue before agriculture, which is why pretty much nobody used to die from having too much food. This lasted well after agriculture started, except that some of the "rich" people probably did die from being too fat (while most "peasants" basically didn't). In fact, it is depressing to remember that many people around the world TODAY (which is overpopulated) really do not have to worry about any of those issues - because they die of malnutrition :/

I don't think the current prevalence of health issues now in "rich" countries is at all indicative that we now eat the "wrong kind" of food, but rather that many of us (by choice, at least to an extent) eat too much of certain kinds of food (whereas our ancestors simply wouldn't even have the choice to make, similarly to a good chunk of the population in "poor" countries).

That isn't to say that avoiding certain types of food isn't going to help e.g. focusing on sweet natural fruit over sweet artificial sweets or drinks. I just don't see the point in not having potentially healthy (particularly if they are "whole"), relatively cheap cereals in the diet at all.

More important if your diet is working for you great! Just be sure to check that you aren't somehow missing any important significant nutrients.

Ivo.

[AmishSamurai]

As someone who studies Anthropology, I will say that while the idea of hunter-gatherers living on the bare minimum and constantly starving is false (they have to work a small fraction of the time to feed their groups that agriculturists do), the idea they never became obese, got diabetes, or things like that because they didn't eat grains is impossible to prove from evidence left behind (skeletal remains), and seems dubious to me at best. I see cutting back on processed junk (I've been trying to do the same myself), and I do have friends that lost weight on Atkins-styled stuff, but different diets work better for different people. As long as you're not jumping off the deep end with raw food-ism or anything like that. That diet's just ridiculous.

[elmagicochrisg]

I follow this diet more or less. I did some adjustments that make me feel better though.

Basically paleo is:

- lean meats
- fish
- vegetables
- fruits
- nuts
- seeds
- berries

- no grains
- no dairy
- no food you cannot eat raw (eg potatoes)
- no processed food

My adjustments:

- lean meats and fatty meats
- fish
- vegetables
- fruits
- berries
- african yams and sweet potatoes (occasionally)

- no nuts
- no seeds
- no grains
- no dairy
- no processed food

Every diet has its flaws. I don't think fatty meats are bad for you, same goes for the occasional yams and sweet potatoes. I say occasional because of the higher glycemic index of these foods. As for nuts, they just irritate my intestines and don't make me feel good. I don't think nuts and seeds should be in the paleo diet. They should be placed in the same category as grains if you ask me...

Oh yeah, and I do eat a non-paleo meal every once in a while. Just not every day. Maybe once a week one meal or so. It's not good for you, but screw that. Sometimes you gotta relax and do what you wanna do...

[saturnfan]

Ah, this is exactly what I wanted, a nice debate! Now I am not going to address everyone's concerns, but I will try to answer a few of the questions/concerns:

@General_Norris: you are absolutely right, consult with a doctor before any life style change.

The difference between the Atkins diet and the Paleo diet is pretty significant. The Atkins diet forces you to eat 0 carbohydrates in order to put your body in a metabolic state known as ketosis. During ketosis, your body will burn off fat like crazy to keep you alive and you will lose weight quickly. Your eating options are only meat and cheese, resulting in nutrient deficiency and massive ph imbalances in your blood.

The Paleo diet wants you to eat meat, fruit, vegetables and nuts in order to obtain adequate nutrition. It is not a 0 carb diet, it is a diet that doesn't want you to eat refined carbs. For example, on the diet should eat 50-100carbs a day for weight loss, 150 carbs to maintain weight .

When it comes to the life span of hunter-gathers, the average life was 30-35, depending on who you ask. Life expectancy dipped into the low 20s after the advent of agricultural and did not return to the 30s until a few hundred years ago. When it comes to how healthy pre-agricultural man was, I think it is unlikely they would have been malnourished because it doesn't make any evolutionary sense. Would other animals in nature have been constantly battling with malnourishment in the olden days?

It is certainly an interesting topic, with lots of things to read about. However, I would suggest that it is not required to be an expert in evolutionary biology to be on the diet. If you think the research has merit, consult a doctor and try the diet for 30 days and see how you do.

[Croooow!]

I was on the Paleo Diet for most of the spring and summer of this year and I also lost over 15 lbs and gained a lot of strength. I still consumed dairy as my dad's family were dairy farmers back several generations and no one had issue with consuming raw milk. I was in better shape than I was in high school and had a lot more energy for outdoor acitivities. Two months ago I would have told everyone to go on the Paleo Diet as I felt that good.

However, I started getting burnout big time several weeks ago and transitioned back into eating wheat while limiting sugar (finding bread and pasta with little added sugar is very tough). Since then I've had a host of gatrointestinal issues pop up. I blamed adding bread again but I tested negative for Celiac (thank God) but it turns out my gallbladder has shut down. My mother had a similar issues with her gallbladder and hers shut down after she was on the Atkin's Diet. While my experience may be atypical, I would recommend everyone checking out their family medical history extensively before pursuing the Paleo Diet.

Looking back on it I still think the Paleo Diet has a lot of merit but not because gluten is the poison to my system that I thought it was. Cutting out all bread and sugar has the indirect benefit of requiring you to eliminate pretty much all processed and fast food. While I liked to think that consuming a primal diet was the cause of my weight loss and strength gain, I'm starting to think that the removal of processed and fast food was responsible for a bulk of my results.