Paleo Diet

[bbennett]

Anyone here try it? Thoughts?

[DOSS]

My friend Roger was talking about it last year.. other than that I haven't heard anything.. Also interested in other peoples thoughts/ experiences :)

[canyonphile]

My boyfriend lost about 15-20 lbs. on it last year after we moved from CT (where it's easy to be sedentary because it sucks so much being outdoors).

What he noticed immediately after starting it was that he no longer had any of the "carb crashes" he used to get back when we lived in AZ and used to run and hike a lot. He was following it pretty religiously until he lost the weight, but then slacked off a bit to eat things that he does like from time to time (like my home-made bread and mac 'n' cheese ). He gained some weight back, but no biggie, since he mostly wanted to get back in his normal weight range.

What we did incorporate permanently from that diet is: 1) eating full-fat foods (yogurt, cottage cheese, etc.); 2) ditching all fats save for butter and olive oil; 3) buying organic eggs, milk and butter where possible.

I've not actually read the book (which we own), but as of yesterday (following several days of eating way too much during our holiday trip), I've decided to more or less follow it myself to lose a few pounds of dough I put on and to have more energy for running and hiking.

Interestingly, I'm currently reading a book called Pandora's Seed that is essentially about the radical changes that occurred in Homo sapiens when we switched from being nomadic hunter-gatherers (that the paleo diet is based on, of course) to agrarian-based societies that began consuming significantly increased amounts of carbohydrates. This happened about 10,000 yrs. ago, which is around the time the population of humans started its exponential growth curve as well.

Really good read, and ties in well with the whole paleo diet concept.

[apcronnelly]

I've done a strict version of eating paleo a few times, not to lose weight but to remember how your body feels when your not stuffing yourself with processed foods. If you're familiar the CrossFit community, this is the nutritional advice they will offer.

I'd check out www.whole9life.com or read Robb Wolfs Paleo Solution for better info.

[reverse_dyno]

I recently heard a discussion with Gary Taubes. He argues that there is no evidence that eating a low-fat diet is healthy and that we are currently not sure what the best diet is. The paleo diet reduces the consumption of simple carbohydrates and sugars, which is probably the best way to lose weight. Taubes theory is that eating a lot of simple carbohydarates and sugars lead to both type two diabetes and an increase in fat cells. Both are caused by excessive insulin release triggered by eating simple carbohydrates. The atkins diet also reduces ones consumption of simple carbohydrates.

If Taubes is correct, all you have to do is reduce your intake of simple carbohydrates to lose weight. All the other stuff that the diets tell you to do is pointless. Whether you eat all meat or all vegetables, you will get the same weight loss benefits, because you are not eating simple carbohydrates. You just have to remember that whether or not a diet is healthy in the long run is a completely different issue.

Interview with Gary Taubes
Good Calories, bad calories, Gary Taubes

[bbennett]

This is all very good info. Thanks a bunch for the input. I started reading The Paleo Solution yesterday and I think I'm going to give it a go for 30 days and then reevaluate. I'm debating whether or not to wait until after Christmas. Maybe I'll blog about once I commit.

[apcronnelly]

Good for you. Any and everyone would recommend waiting until after the holidays, you might be setting yourself up to fail if you don't! I forgot to mention Robb Wolf's podcast answers infinite questions and is more in depth to the health benefits of eating real food.