Paleo Questions

[Angry Irishman]

I've been interested in Paleo eating or at least some variance of this for awhile. Can anyone chime in with a good book for reference?

I don't see a downside to it and I would like to give it a shot. Any thoughts on the concept in general?

 

[Awkward]

http://www.marksdailyapple.com/

?

 

[blackdogdeek]

afaik, the loren cordain and the robb wolf books are the two most prominent regarding the diet. what i typically do though is consult a friend of mine who is on the diet and ask questions.

regarding downsides, iirc, you have to be careful with your fats. you can't wildly start eating lots of red meat and think it's ok because the diet says so. you also need to make sure you are eating enough veggies so that you don't become ketogenic.

regarding thoughts on the concept, what i've read seems to make sense to me. i do also find that after not having refined carbs in so long that i do definitely feel a difference when i do occasionally cheat but this could similarly happen on any diet that restricts intake of any particular food group so this is not necessarily empirical evidence obviously.

on a recent visit to the doctor, my doctor did recommend a wheat-free diet, which i thought was very interesting coming from what seemed like a very typical general practitioner at first. he didn't recommend paleo, per se, but when i told him that's what i was doing he recommended i keep doing it and then follow-up with him in three months to see how i was doing. that appointment is coming up later this month.

 

[dkkruse]

Jack Lallane said if "man made it, then don't eat it." Paleo is a little restricitive, IMHO. I'm starting to agree with the wheat restriction too, just not looking forward to it. Another great blog for lifting and nutrition info is Jason Ferrugia. http://jasonferruggia.com/

 

[dmw16]

Along with the suggestions others have made I recently found http://www.thefoodee.com/tag/whole30/ and it seems to have some good recipes on there.

I've been eating Paleo (with some cheats and stumbles along the way) for about a year and a half and rather than list downsides and upsides here are a few thoughts and observations:

1. It can be expensive depending on how you eat now. If you eat a lot of pasta and bread now then be prepared for your grocery bill to go up.

2. I have to eat every few hours otherwise I get pretty damn hungry. But that might just be me.

3. Don't worry too much about your healthy fat intake, but be mindful of what you eat. Based on the diet you can eat a ton of red meat, but I try to limit red meat to once or twice a week and go with chicken, lean pork, and fish.

4. If high cholesterol runs in your family then keep an eye on it. I eat at least 3 eggs a day and that plus bacon on the weekends and my cholesterol is excellent, but I don't know if that's crossfit+paleo or just genetics (no one in my family has issues with it). It might be worth getting it checked now and 6 months from now to see if it's working for you.

5. I think paleo should be coupled with fairly high intensity exercise at least 3-4 days a week as it isn't mindful at all of calories and despite it being good food math is math and if you intake more than you can burn you will gain weight.

Good luck.

 

[blinky8225]

2. I have to eat every few hours otherwise I get pretty damn hungry. But that might just be me.

Really? I have had the exact opposite experience. I can now get by just eating 2 meals a day with no snacking and feel great instead of 3 meals with snacking. Paleo man probably didn't have the luxury of eating three square meals per day. Our bodies should be well-adapted to go for long periods without food once you become accustomed to burning fat instead of sugar. Maybe you're not eating enough fat or your meals are simply too small? If you're doing CrossFit, you probably need to be pushing 3000 calories per day.

 

[blackdogdeek]

Really? I have had the exact opposite experience. I can now get by just eating 2 meals a day with no snacking and feel great instead of 3 meals with snacking. Paleo man probably didn't have the luxury of eating three square meals per day. Our bodies should be well-adapted to go for long periods without food once you become accustomed to burning fat instead of sugar. Maybe you're not eating enough fat or your meals are simply too small? If you're doing CrossFit, you probably need to be pushing 3000 calories per day.

i have similarly found that i can usually go longer between meals but i find it is a direct function of the amount of fat i eat at the previous meal. at least i think it's the fat content.

 

[dmw16]

Really? I have had the exact opposite experience. I can now get by just eating 2 meals a day with no snacking and feel great instead of 3 meals with snacking. Paleo man probably didn't have the luxury of eating three square meals per day. Our bodies should be well-adapted to go for long periods without food once you become accustomed to burning fat instead of sugar. Maybe you're not eating enough fat or your meals are simply too small? If you're doing CrossFit, you probably need to be pushing 3000 calories per day.

It's possible. I have never made a point of eating a lot of fat nor have I made a point of avoiding it.

I typically eat smaller meals and just spread them out. But you're probably right that my calorie intake might be too low sometimes.

In high school and college I was pretty fat - like 5'10" and 300lbs. I've dropped about 110lbs and I'm pretty lean now, but I'm still a little hung up over how much I eat and not wanting to gain weight even if it's muscle. Stupid at this point probably.

Anyway, that's good info and I'll look at upping my fat intake a little and see if that helps. I don't usually mind eating every few hours, but when work gets busy or I get stuck in a meeting I can turn into a real dick when I haven't had food in a while.

 

[Angry Irishman]

Good information...thanks

 

[NAC]

I have Cordain’s book, but my favorite on the subject was The Deadly Harvest.

I have done pretty strick paleo for a month. Preparation was the key – always having the right foods available. The Deadly Harvest stressed eating the right meats / fats – and for example recommend you avoid bacon. I believe Cordain does in the book as well, but perhaps without the same amount of stress on it.

I found that I needed to eat more often and was hungrier than with a traditional diet – simply because it was hard to get as many calories. I guess a practitioner who allows bacon and more fat may not have this problem.

I didn’t dislike the diet, but I also didn’t suddenly feel like I had more energy or feel healthier like some folks say. Perhaps my body doesn’t dislike wheat and carbs as much as other people.

Now, I try to just go heavy on veggies, have fruit regularly, and gently avoid wheat / processed foods. But I still have sandwiches, pasta, whatever – just fewer times a week. I want to clean it up more than it has been recently – the key for me is preparation – having the right foods available.

 

[blinky8225]

The Deadly Harvest stressed eating the right meats / fats – and for example recommend you avoid bacon. I believe Cordain does in the book as well, but perhaps without the same amount of stress on it.

http://thepaleodiet.com/archives/3616

I believe Cordain has re-positioned his stance on fats, particularly saturated fat. While he doesn't outright recommend that you eat it with total disregard, he says there's absolutely no evidence to restrict your intake to the 10% level recommended by our government. I, personally, use butter and lard with reckless abandon, however.

It's not all that clear that saturated fat is dangerous: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturated_fat_and_cardiovascular_disease_controversy

And sometimes you get completely contradictory results:

For example, in Framingham, Mass, the more saturated fat one ate, the more cholesterol one ate, the more calories one ate, the lower the person's serum cholesterol.

http://archinte.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?volume=152&page=1371

IMO, the scientific evidence is too thin to modify my lifestyle.

 

[Gigantopithecus]

https://blogs.wellesley.edu/vanarsdale/2012/06/04/food/problems-with-the-paleo-diet/

 

[NAC]

http://thepaleodiet.com/archives/3616

I believe Cordain has re-positioned his stance on fats, particularly saturated fat. While he doesn't outright recommend that you eat it with total disregard, he says there's absolutely no evidence to restrict your intake to the 10% level recommended by our government. I, personally, use butter and lard with reckless abandon, however.

It's not all that clear that saturated fat is dangerous: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturated_fat_and_cardiovascular_disease_controversy

And sometimes you get completely contradictory results:

http://archinte.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?volume=152&page=1371

IMO, the scientific evidence is too thin to modify my lifestyle.

Thanks for the links Blinky. I haven't read about it recently, I guess I sort of gave up because of the controversy, but I err'd on the side of avoiding it partially because I had an uncle who died of a heart attack somewhat young.

Uh... perhaps not... I did have 6 eggs and about 10 slices of bacon this week

 

[blinky8225]

https://blogs.wellesley.edu/vanarsdale/2012/06/04/food/problems-with-the-paleo-diet/

I'm aware that there are many logical fallacies associated with cavemen didn't have these diseases, so if I want to avoid those diseases, I should eat like a caveman. However, I just simply feel better and perform better eating this way. Just because science can't explain why it works so well for so many doesn't mean I should go back to eating grains. Anyway, it's harmless to just give it an honest attempt for 30 days.