The Paleolithic Diet
You’ve heard me mention the “Paleolithic diet”, characterized by consumption of fruits, veggies and protein (fish, poultry, tofu, lean meat) and minimal consumption of grains, corn, and cereals. Its called “Paleolithic” because it is the foods our ancestors ate throughout most of our history and presumably the foods we evolved to be able to utilize the most efficiently.
It is only in the last 10,000 years or so that we have changed from strictly hunter gatherers and turned to agriculture as a major source of our caloric intake and with that, increased consumption of grains and the like.
As a species, though, we haven’t had enough time to evolve the digestive system to efficiently use these; evolution works really slowly!
Let’s look at what happens when you eat, say, a bowl of microwave popcorn. These types of high glycemic carbohydrate foods, which tend to be milled or processed before consumption (which speeds their digestion), get very quickly absorbed in the digestive tract as sugar.The rapid rise in the blood sugar level after this type of meal causes the body to secrete massive amounts of insulin from the pancreas in a desperate attempt to keep the blood sugar level steady. A reliably steady blood sugar level is necessary for optimal working of the brain, muscles and other organs. The high insulin level leads to increased deposition of the sugar as fat (our “pack rat” bodies which have evolved to prepare us for times of starvation before 7-11’s don’t know what else to do with the excess sugar besides stick it in the “closet”-ie our thighs or gut) and an increase in the chemicals that are responsible for inflammation in the body. By eating LOW FAT grains, cereals (and other high glycemic carbohydrates as well) we end up with excess body fat, diabetes, heart disease, arthritis and a number of other chronic diseases. In short, not good!
Fruits and vegetables, in general, have a lower glycemic index, that is, they are absorbed more slowly, as is protein, and therefore have much less of an effect on blood sugar levels and less tendency to end up “in the trunk”! And they also do not encourage the formation of the chemicals of inflammation. Less inflammation means less disease. In short, good!
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this site is crazy .. we've got the best of the best!!! hands down ;)
paleo... however you spell it (just kididng. im not that dumb ;) ).. cant be summed up in two words basically... "WHOLE FOODS" that's the best diet in my opinoin. b/c you can't get bread as a whole food, unless you eat that SPROUTED GRAIN food, which is beyond uber healthy for you..
stick to whole foods and you'll never have a problem, ;) as long as you use nutrition as your guide,.. .which means a variety of different foods from each "group"
grains, dairy, fruits, veggies, meat, produce, etc.
Great
stuff again, How can I have missed this site out! You have people that are world class here!
Bring it into focus...
Love all the info in this article. Thank You....
Sean Forson ~ Aka "SUPERMAN"
Fit Trainer ~ Evolutions Fitness & Rehab Center
Tulare, Ca.
Thanks Doc!
I didn't know this but I'm glad to know it now ( NO MORE POPCORN! ) lol Michael T
Paleo Diet
Hey Guys,
The Paleo Diet has gained some popularity over the years thanks to people like Loren Cordain. They often tout the Paleo Diet and being beneficial b/c it is more "natural" to eat this way and they point out the fact that Paleo man didn't suffer ills such as diabetes, heart disease or cancer. I often point out that Paleo man also only lived to be about 25, so there wasn't much time to develop these serious illnesses.
That said, I do agree with the Doc that many folks eat far too many processed carbohydrates, sparing the all-important fruit and vegetable categories. Unfortunate, but something that seems to be improving the more it appears in the news.
FYI--Traditional popcorn is a whole grain, so don't give up on it completely!!
Brian Zehetner MS,RD,CSSD,CSCS
JamCore and Myfittribe "Nutrition Guy"
Do no harm
Well, I suspect that Paleolithic man didn't die at 25 because he didn't eat right. In fact, we know little about the causes of their dramatically shortened life expectancy (since there were obviously no records kept from that era) Most of our guesstimates at their life expectancy are projections based on comparative evidence vs actual gathered statistics. And yes, because they didn't live very long, they didn't have time to develop the oxidative and free radical damages to their cell structures that we do. One thing some experts agree on is that part of the issue is that ancient man mostly died of trauma and infection. Not from cancer or heart disease or diabetes (north america's #1 killers). Here are some other points to consider:
1. Dramatically increased infant mortality rate (close to 40% in Roman times) and deaths resulting from childbirth complications are a big part of the shortened life expectancy.
2. Homo Sapiens is simply a young species. Our genetic evolution has really just gotten started. Genes that promote longevity will naturally become selected as a species evolves so ipso facto, part of our longevity has to be related to longevity-related genes being passed on from our ancestors.
3. So much of the food we eat didn't even exist 10,000 years ago! Most of the fruits, vegetables and grains we eat are the products of selective breeding and other genetic variations. Tomatoes for example didn't even exist in the "modern" world until a few hundred years ago. And most of the grains we eat are domesticated, selectively bred genetic variants.
4. It's really only in the last 100 years that our life expectancy has increased dramatically, and that is mostly due to the advent of modern medicine and pharmacology. This co-incided with the discovery of oil, which has catalyzed the rapid population explosion and technological advances of modern society.
5. All of what I just said is irrelevant. The real fact of the matter is, some people eat poorly, don't exercise and smoke 20 cigarettes a day for 80 years and still live to be 100. Other people take such good care of themselves and they die when they are 50. Does this mean you should stop taking care of yourself? Of course not. There is an Oxfam saying I love to apply to our bodies. DO NO HARM.
Smoking will not improve your quality of life, and it has been proven to cause harm. So why risk it?
Drinking sugary pop all day will not improve your quality of life, and it has been proven to cause harm. So why risk it?
Eating highly refined foods will not improve your quality of life and have been shown to cause harm. So why risk it?
The Paleolithic diet (in my opinion) is a form of DO NO HARM for our bodies. Why choose potential risk, and elevated statistical probability for disease, when you can eat a good, healthy, tasty (paleolithic) diet and possibly reduce those risks?
Paleo Diet
You make some reasonable points (yes, most Paleo people died of attacks, accidents and other traumatic incidents), but let's address the jist of the matter...in other words, from #5 on down :)
Before you say certain foods or habits won't improve your quality of life, you better define "quality of life." Some of the things you mention absolutely improve the quality of life for certain individuals, and I know of many examples in the clients I see everyday. Why risk it, you ask?? Because they want to...it's that simple!! People weigh risks to benefits and often come out on the opposite side from folks like us...that's just the way things are.
I learned early on in my career that not everyone eats for health or longevity or disease prevention. I hope they do, but that simply isn't reality for all people.
FYI--Missing out on the nutrients from whole grains, sweet potatoes, yogurt, legumes and other no-no foods that the Paleo Diet discourages isn't worth it to me...I'll take the risk. And I'm gonna enjoy every bit of my brownie tonight as well. Moderation, balance and variety my friend :) LOL
Ahhh...life is good!!!
Brian Zehetner MS,RD,CSSD,CSCS
JamCore and Myfittribe "Nutrition Guy"
P.S. There is a Paelo Sports Nutrition book, and since I own a sports nutrition consulting company, I was very curious. Big shocker, but they promote the traditional Paleo Diet most of the time and then "encourage" plenty of carbs during training!! I found that pretty funny!!
True enough
Well, I certainly don't agree with 100% of the Paleo diet. Basically the part I agree with is eating whole, unprocessed, un chemical laden foods. Carb intake is obviously an important component to an athletes performance, especially those with high glycogen loads. You're not going to want to carb-up on the run with brown rice or spinach. Haha.
Also, I suspect that Paleo man had access to carbs in relative quantity. Tubers, berries, fruit, grains, etc were all probably easily accessible, just not in the highly refined, sometimes genetically engineered varieties we have today.
Also, I doubt most people consciously weigh the risks of diet choices. I think most people are misled by advertisers, corporations, and even the regulatory agencies to some extent. So making informed decisions is very difficult (if not impossible) for the average person. Couple that with the fact that many people are oblivious to their food choices, it doesn't paint a pretty picture.
However, like you said, moderation is key (where have we heard that before!), so like you, I will be enjoying my treats here and there without guilt, but rather with gusto.
carbs for training
Brian, I don't have the book so I am curious why they promote plenty of carbs during training? Certainly we get more calories from fats and we can only store a limited amount of carbs as glycogen with the rest being stored as fat. It seems to me the high carb intake they suggest must be "good" low glycemic index carbs, ie fruits and vegetables. Interestingly, sweet potatoes actually have a lower glycemic index than regular white potatoes.
Darren Clair, MD
Vibrance Health Services
do no harm
Well said, thank you for the apt advice, it works well in so many situations not the least of which is the Hippocratic oath!
Darren Clair, MD
Vibrance Health Services
grow own food
i hope in 5 years time i will be able to get a land and grow most of my food myself. that way i can control the quality of my own food.
Yes
This is also a goal of mine. I think if more people in the so called modern world at least tried this, the world would change for the better. Like this year, even in our small garden I got a huge yield of food. And I didn't put a single chemical or spray down. I barely even weeded. I guess you could call it an "organic" garden. Also, we started composting almost all of our food waste (on top of recycling) and we barely put any garbage to the curb each week. Supposedly, people say that there is not enough agricultural land mass in the world for everyone to grow their own food. But driving through the city, I see a lot of green grass that could at least in part be used to grow vegetables and grains. Right now, they say that it takes 10 calories of fuel and energy to make 1 calorie of food. Personally, I think that is a bit crazy. Aside from a bit of compost and water, I spent 0 calories of energy to make the food that came out of my garden and it didn't even really cost me anything. Well anyway, that is just my rant :-)
I agree
This summer I was given a couple of tomato cuttings by a friend and have been growing them for a few months now.
It's the first time I've grown anything since that sunflower way back in school, lol.
Considering it was just 2 plants I've had quite a few tomatoes from them. Shame the winter is coming in to kill them now but I've definately had my eyes opened.
I wouldn't mind growing a few other things too and leaving out all those chemicals.