Sigh!
Read all you can about the Paleo diet, or I should say way of eating because the word "diet" has a lousy connotation.
Find yourself a doctor who believes that maintaining a healthy body is more important and beneficial than treating a sick one with pharmaceutical drugs.
Stop eating grains and dairy products (for real, no cheating) for a month and see the results.
This is what I did. So...
You can google Paleo and read the first few lines of the info you find and dismiss it.
You can tell me that there's no difference between doctors, they all pretty much know the same thing, although I would argue against that since I've brought up stuff with my primary physician that he had no clue about (this is where you respond that my primary is a bad doctor and I should change him. Actually he is quite open minded about researching and learning and does not suffer from a G-d complex).
And you can tell me the results I've gotten must be from something else and not from eliminating grains and dairy. Trouble is, I didn't do anything else. I chose to do this because of some lingering injuries that were taking way too long to heal and that had all but eliminated my ability to do my workouts. All I did was change what I ate. Didn't change the amount, didn't count calories, or blocks, or points. Didn't starve myself or skip meals. Didn't drink my breakfast or lunch. Just cut out grains and dairy.
So what were my results?
Dropped 15 lbs. in one month.
Lingering aches and pains either went away or were dramatically reduced.
Consistent energy levels throughout the day (no need to provide you with internet links to back this up. I have a glucose meter that I used regularly which never registered readings with greater than a 20 mg/dL fluctuation).
And, just so you have an idea of the food that I'm eating, here's a sample day.
Breakfast: bowl of assorted sauteed vegetables (onions, peppers, broccoli, cabbage, sweet potato) with chicken, grapes.
Lunch: large salad with grilled chicken.
Snack: walnuts.
Dinner: Flounder, zucchini, cauliflower, onions, cantaloupe, raspberries.
Everything is cooked or dressed with extra virgin olive oil. Occasionally I may have a glass of wine (or two) with dinner.
So, please, go ahead and tell me how I am not getting the nutrition and "energy" that I need by not including a few slices of whole wheat bread, a glass of milk, a serving of brown rice and some grated cheese in my diet.
“Welcome to the original site for the Paleo Diet, your lifelong plan to optimize health and well being."
New York Times Bestselling Author
Loren Cordain, Ph.D., the world’s leading expert on Paleolithic diets and founder of the Paleo movement
The Paleo Diet is based upon eating wholesome, contemporary foods from the food groups our hunter-gatherer ancestors would have thrived on during the Paleolithic era, the time period from about 2.6 million years ago to the beginning of the agricultural revolution, about 10,000 years ago. These foods include fresh meats (preferably grass-produced or free-ranging beef, pork, lamb, poultry, and game meat, if you can get it), fish, seafood, fresh fruits, vegetables, seeds, nuts, and healthful oils (olive, coconut, avocado, macadamia, walnut and flaxseed). Dairy products, cereal grains, legumes, refined sugars and processed foods were not part of our ancestral menu.
Decades of research by Dr. Loren Cordain and his scientific colleagues demonstrate that hunter-gatherers typically were free from the chronic illnesses and diseases that are epidemic in Western populations, including:
Obesity (they would starve, if they actually existed)
Cardiovascular disease (heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, congestive heart failure, atherosclerosis) (
Type 2 diabetes
Cancer
Autoimmune diseases (multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, etc.)
Osteoporosis
Acne
Myopia (nearsightedness), macular degeneration, glaucoma
Varicose veins, hemorrhoids, diverticulosis, gastric reflux
Gout
Since she doesn't actually have an ancient sub-human to test on, this is demagogue bullschlacha.
Higher protein intake – Protein comprises 15 % of the calories in the average western diet, which is considerably lower than the average values of 19-35 % found in hunter-gatherer diets. Meat, seafood, and other animal products represent the staple foods of modern day Paleo diets.
35% protein is legit. I'm down with that. It's expensive, though.
Lower carbohydrate intake and lower glycemic index – Non-starchy fresh fruits and vegetables represent the main carbohydrate source and will provide for 35-45 % of your daily calories. Almost all of these foods have low glycemic indices that are slowly digested and absorbed, and won’t spike blood sugar levels.
There are starchy fruits and vegetables?
Higher fiber intake – Dietary fiber is essential for good health, and despite what we’re told, whole grains aren’t the place to find it. Non-starchy vegetables contain eight times more fiber than whole grains and 31 times more than refined grains. Even fruits contain twice as much fiber as whole grains and seven times more than refined grains.
I agree with this completely. Hemp has even more fiber than any of this too. I still like grains for their energy, which there is a lot of.
Moderate to higher fat intake dominated by monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats with balanced Omega-3 and Omega-6 fats – It is not the total amount of fat in your diet that raises your blood cholesterol levels and increases your risk for heart disease, cancer, and type 2 diabetes, but rather the type of fat. Cut the trans fats and the Omega-6 polyunsaturated fats in your diet and increase the healthful monounsaturated and Omega-3 fats that were the mainstays of Stone Age diets. Recent large population studies known as meta analyses show that saturated fats have little or no adverse effects upon cardiovascular disease risk.
Omega-6 won't make you fat really, but if you consume a ratio of it greater than 1:4 (O6:O3), it promotes free radical growth in your body, which is bad and will make cancer in time. Trans-fat is very bad, as it does not store properly, so it makes heart disease and obesity, and it's a pain to work off. Anything outside of breast milk with trans-fat, hands off. Saturated fats make you fatter faster than any other fat (except trans). I don't know where she got her study from, but cardiovascular disease isn't really the issue for me.
Higher potassium and lower sodium intake – Unprocessed, fresh foods naturally contain 5 to 10 times more potassium than sodium, and Stone Age bodies were adapted to this ratio. Potassium is necessary for the heart, kidneys, and other organs to work properly. Low potassium is associated with high blood pressure, heart disease, and stroke – the same problems linked to excessive dietary sodium. Today, the average American consumes about twice as much sodium as potassium.
I am vehemently oppose to the tirade against salt. Salt as found in the stores, aka. sodium chloride (NaCl2) is not in fact salt, it is naked salt. Salt is one of the most complex molecules found in nature having over 100 of the known elements in a single molecule. It is extremely important for male development, and reduces your risk of heart disease. You can tell it's real salt if it's wet, as it contains magnesium, which is a water-hogging element, and one of the first they'll take out in order to sell it. That's right, sea salt or river salt or bathtub salt or wherever they find it is irrelevant because so long as they strip most of the elements off for sale, it suddenly becomes bad for your heart. Real salt or not, you need it for testosterone production, so I use a lot.
Net dietary alkaline load that balances dietary acid – After digestion, all foods present either a net acid or alkaline load to the kidneys. Acid producers are meats, fish, grains, legumes, cheese, and salt. Alkaline-yielding foods are fruits and veggies. A lifetime of excessive dietary acid may promote bone and muscle loss, high blood pressure, and increased risk for kidney stones, and may aggravate asthma and exercise-induced asthma.
That is true, and high acidity foods cause cancer, which should also include sugar. Acidic things like lemons, on a side note reduce the acid in your body. It's important to balance these, however, as your body should always be slightly acidic.
Higher intake of, vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and plant phytochemicals – Whole grains are not a good substitute for lean meats, fruits, and veggies, as they contain no vitamin C, vitamin A, or vitamin B12. Many of the minerals and some of the B vitamins whole grains do contain are not well absorbed by the body.
I agree completely. And I also eat grains, and do just fine.
I weigh 200 pounds when I'm doing hardcore cardio, so I need more energy than most. I don't want to lose weight, and have no aches and pains unassociated with my injuries, so none of your listed benefits are my selling point. If you want to stay lean, do that, but your getting into the protein fast if you work out a lot, and you're wasting it. I like to gain a good two or so pounds a week working out, and grains keep me from getting into my protein fast, because I can't afford a 35% meat diet.
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