Thread: What Specific Advantages Can I Get from Paleo Diet?

The first week is AWFUL. Your strength and endurance will drop while your body is in transition. Also, you can still use potatoes while eating Paleo, which will help with the glycogen levels.

However, once you turn the corner from "normal" to Paleo, you start to feel better and more alert. You'll also notice changes like less bloating (duh), better sleep, clearer allergies/skin, etc.

So, what's a paleo breakfast?

Originally Posted by Built

So, what's a paleo breakfast?

Whole eggs, 4-6 oz of ground beef (I use sirloin), and 2 servings of fruit (picking whatever is in season is preferred).

Originally Posted by Rodja

Also, you can still use potatoes while eating Paleo, which will help with the glycogen levels.
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. . that's sweet potatoes, not the std spuds. Diet generally restricts sat fat as much as possible - I think 2-3 whole eggs from memory.

Why sweet but no regular potatoes - and why no green beans btw?

isnt white rice natural? asian's are the skinniest healthies people on the planet and they eat rice 3-4 times a day but they eat it with fish and veggies only.

You can use either red or sweet potatoes on Paleo (I forget the actual reasoning) and green beans aren't allowed because they're technically legumes, which is not part of the diet (neither are peanuts, BTW).

Right, but what's wrong with legumes?

ChrisSmithWebGuy give us a response so we'll know you're not a bot. You smell fishy

Originally Posted by Built

Right, but what's wrong with legumes?

fuck that, I eat legumes.

Peanuts are related to the type of fat they contain.

I'll have to read my book on the legumes part, Im about to kick it off again.

Two things wrong with legumes: they need to be cooked to be eaten (same problem with grains) and they also contain phytates.

You can eat green beans raw. What are phytates, and why are they a problem?

Built and others - I've been meaning to ask your opinion on the Paleo diet. This thread is relevant enough to ask I believe. I do not wish to try it, but want to understand it better.

Here is where it stands from what I understand:

Paleo Diet argument:

The Paleo guys want to restrict grains because they claim that grains only became popular in our diets after the agricultural revolution - so they conclude that since Paleo man didn't consume grains, they should not either. Their logic is that since the agricultural revolution was only about 10k years ago, that must simply not be enough time for mankind to have evolved to optimally include grains in their diet.

Lyle McDonald's rebuttal to Paleo Diet:

From what I gather, Lyle McDonald's stance on this is that he pretty much questions two main assumptions that the Paleo dieters make:

1. The whole notion that 10k years is not enough for us to adapt to a particular diet. He points to a book called "The 10,000 Year Explosion: How Civilization Accelerated Human Evolution".
2. The notion that grain was only introduced 10,000 years ago.
He cites some evidence that grain was introduced much earlier, although I'm not sure how frequently it was eaten (grass-seed consumed by the Mozambique 105k years ago)
He goes further to dismiss the Paleo dieters as a bunch of idiots and hypocrites (i.e.why not cut out cars? Paleo man did not use cars).

Dr. Cordain's rebuttal to Lyle McDonald/Mozambique study:

On the other hand, it seems that Dr. Cordain dismisses the Mozambique grain consumption study as highly unlikely.

Where do you guys stand on all this?

Originally Posted by Kenny537

Built and others - I've been meaning to ask your opinion on the Paleo diet. This thread is relevant enough to ask I believe. I do not wish to try it, but want to understand it better.

Here is where it stands from what I understand:

Paleo Diet argument:

The Paleo guys want to restrict grains because they claim that grains only became popular in our diets after the agricultural revolution - so they conclude that since Paleo man didn't consume grains, they should not either. Their logic is that since the agricultural revolution was only about 10k years ago, that must simply not be enough time for mankind to have evolved to optimally include grains in their diet.

Lyle McDonald's rebuttal to Paleo Diet:

From what I gather, Lyle McDonald's stance on this is that he pretty much questions two main assumptions that the Paleo dieters make:

1. The whole notion that 10k years is not enough for us to adapt to a particular diet. He points to a book called "The 10,000 Year Explosion: How Civilization Accelerated Human Evolution".
2. The notion that grain was only introduced 10,000 years ago.
He cites some evidence that grain was introduced much earlier, although I'm not sure how frequently it was eaten (grass-seed consumed by the Mozambique 105k years ago)
He goes further to dismiss the Paleo dieters as a bunch of idiots and hypocrites (i.e.why not cut out cars? Paleo man did not use cars).

Dr. Cordain's rebuttal to Lyle McDonald/Mozambique study:

On the other hand, it seems that Dr. Cordain dismisses the Mozambique grain consumption study as highly unlikely.

Where do you guys stand on all this?

The reasoning goes a little further than that, actually. First, grains are one of the most highly genetically engineered crops in the world (corn leads the way here). The agriculture revolution is, broadly speaking, a new phenomenon and civilization as we know it is not much more than 6000 years old (the first major cities were Uruk in Ur in Sumer). Second, there is the issue of phytates, which are essentially anti-nutrients. They deplete the body of key minerals like zinc and magnesium. Paleo man obviously ate grain at some point some point, but it was not their primary source of calories. Finally, there is the allergy issue. Many people are unaware that they actually have mild allergies to wheat, oats, corn, dairy, etc. This constant consumption of these foods can lead to, amongst other things, hypercalcemia, hypercortisolemia, an inflammatory state, lowered GH/IGF-1, etc.

Can you post your source for that paragraph please?

Originally Posted by Kenny537

Can you post your source for that paragraph please?

I don't have a specific source for this as it's just what I've learned over the years. Most grains are highly GE (there actually a huge push to get foods that are GE to be labeled right now); I figured this was common knowledge at this point.

Here's phytates/phytic acid:
Phytic acid - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I'll dig up the data later when I get home.

I've looked at this diet so many times over the years - I've got friends who are so deep into it, they publish some amazing recipes for the foods.. but I always stop when I realize there's no place in it for Diet Pepsi....