Anyone here tried the PALEO DIET?

by StAnn 33 Replies latest social physical

• 

  label licker

  Actually, you don't eat a whole lot of meat on it. You will eat at the most two servings per day of protein (the size of your palm) and the rest is tons of veggies along with some fruit, seeds, nuts and eggs. Some days you'll have the nuts and eggs and no meat. The meat should be grassfed but good luck trusting anyone unless you see the farm itself.

  Go on facebook. Paleo Lifestyle and Diet. You'll see some of their recipes which are really good plus you can download their books for twenty-seven dollars.

  The man that helped design this diet was the doctor who was also interviewed in the movie called King Corn. You can download the movie for free off the internet. Once you see that movie you'll understand why there's so many health problems and alot of it due to grain.

  It's a really good lifestyle change but everything is made from fresh foods. You'll love it!
• 

  Jeffro

  I've only heard of this 'Paleo Diet' very recently (and haven't heard much). It can't do any harm to eat a balanced diet, especially reducing (or eliminating) the amount of processed foods from the diet.

  It's fairly likely though that people during the Paleolithic period ate whatever they could find (which probably didn't include a lot of processed foods), and they probably didn't obsess about 'carbs'. They probably also burned more calories obtaining their food than most people do today.

  Some ethnicities are simply more prone to certain conditions than others due to many years of genetic deviation. For example, as has been noted above by another poster, native Americans (and also indigenous Australians) are much more prone to diabetes than Europeans. No 'fad diet' is going to suddenly alter genetic predispositions to certain conditions, though healthier diets in general may help not to exacerbate certain conditions.
• 

  StAnn

  Interesting points, all. I'm lactose intolerant, so this diet appeals to me. Too many low carb diets are loaded with cheese and yogurt.
• 

  Phizzy

  MMMMMmmmmmmmm , lots of Mammoth steaks !
• 

  LisaRose

  I was thinking about trying it myself, I have a medical condition (interstitial cystitus) , and some people with it said it helped them. But I have already given up gluten, and the IC diet is already pretty restrictive (no caffeine, most fruits, peppers, chocolate, juice, spices, onions, vinegar, alcohol), so I have a hard time getting my head around giving up anything else. I do think it's probably healthier than the average American diet of fast food and other Junk. In researching various diets I realized that the current focus on cutting down on all fats is probably wrong, so I experimented with eating more fats. The object was to see if that caused weight gain or raised my cholesterol. I switched from non fat milk to 2%, ate all the cheese and meat I wanted, and made desserts with coconut oil. I also did gluten free, but I ate other grains and some sugar, and I made no attempt to limit calories. You would think my cholesterol would skyrocket and I would gain weight . Not only did I not gain weight, my overall cholesterol dropped by 100 points, and my blood pressure dropped as well. I was shocked, I had suspected that the current emphasis on low fat was probably wrong, but I did not expect to see that much of a difference. I am now convinced that fat, even naturally saturated fat, is not bad for you. Of course the exception to that is hydrogenated fats, but I think everyone knows that is bad for you.
• 

  obfuscatetheobvious

  Hi StAnn,

  Yep, have been on a version of the Paleo Diet for about 4 years. Although I really hesitate to call it the Paleo Diet, for similar reasons brought up by other posters.

  Its funny but the Paleo Diet is part of the reason I woke up! You see, I came to the Paleo Diet via CrossFit , which is an exercise program that my wife and I joined up to about 4.5 years ago. I kept on hearing it called CultFit by many other fitness professionals. One of the Cross(Cult)Fit "GB" members, Robb Wolf, was excomunicated, had his name basically wiped from all memory. All over the Paleo Diet. The way it was done, the rhetoric was so familiar to me. I had stayed away from reading negative CrossFit stuff until then but after that incident, I looked it all up. I couldn't help but make a direct comparison to my JW life. So funny what triggers the wake up!

  Anyhoo, the Paleo Diet (even though we don't call it that) basically works for my family because my wife and daughters are coeliac and I am wheat intolerant, so a gluten free diet seems to work well for all of us. We eat meat from as free range, grass fed source as possible. Mostly beef, lamb, wild meats. Some poultry. We are not scared of the fatty bits, if it cooks off, we skim it off, if it stays on we basically eat it. As many vege as we can fit on plate/or eat. We used to limit fruit but don't anymore, we never have with the kids it's an open pantry. As a family our tummies don't seem to handle dairy well, so we limit dairy to butter and ghee. We restrict our sugar intake to honey and fruit. The girls have gluten free bread/wraps for school.

  I suppose our approach now could be catagorized as gluten free first, "paleo" second. We are a lot more open minded then when we first started Crossfit as no one has the right/best/correct solution for anything - diet, exercise, religion lol! My advice for what it is worth is find the approach that seems to offer the goals that you want to acheive, follow the program outlined (Whole30 is an example) and then take some time to look back over the experiment to see what worked for you. Take the good bits, tinker with the bad bits (or get rid of them completely).

  Hope that helps.

  Cheers Ob
• 

  Chariklo

  Yes, I did it and stuck to it for about nine months, some three years ago, and I still keep to it more or less, but not now so strictly.

  It suits me. I find it a very natural and healthy way to I eat. Basically, you stick to anything that early man could have hunted, killed, caught or fished for, plus anything that could have been picked, plucked, gathered, dug up, etc. anything edible that would have been in the natural environment, and, as far as possible, anything grown or cultivated organically is best.

  So, all manner of fruit and vegetables, nuts, meat, fish, fowl etc. I was told to avoid cereals and especially wheat, though a little oatmeal or rye bread was allowed, and to avoid all dairy produce, as well as potatoes. Oh, and you are supposed to eat offal, preferably three times a week, i.e. liver, kidneys, heart etc.

  I found that after a while I really craved milk and cheese. (Eggs were allowed, by the way). And the smell of freshly-baked bread really made my mouth water. It was those banned foods that I found I just had to start eating again. But, I lost nearly two and a half stone, and felt healthy.

  Now, I still keep largely to the same principles, but I do eat bread (wheat) and freely use all dairy products. Plenty of fruit and green vegetables are very important, as are root vegetables, at least twice a day.

  I enjoyed it! It was recommended to me by a friend who is a nutritionist. Even so, I felt that some carbohydrate must be essential, and I did eat some rye crisp read, and a couple of oatcakes most days. I avoided using butter if I possibly could. Don't miss breakfast. That's important.and also, instead of eating two or three large meals a day, be prepared to eat a little snack when youbegin to feel hungry. Every snack should contain protein in some form. I ate a lot more nuts than usual. Almonds are particularly recommended. Also, not too many peas and beans, for some reason which I forget.

  I recommend it as a diet to lose weight and as a way of life.

  http://ultimatepaleoguide.com/caveman-diet/
• 

  Pickler

  Some good tips? Get a slow cooker, too easy to cook roasts in there & then slice it up & leave in the fridge - so you have a big stack of cooked meat ready to go!

  Next, on a home day I slice up a lot of onions, capsicum with herbs & caramalise with olive oil & balsamic, sometimes I add mushroom, whatever veg you like - this is the base. This is the most important thing, it provides a really nice sauce that stops food from being dry and/or boring.

  This vegetable base sits in the fridge & you can add in to eggs in the morning, with spinach, for an omelette. You can add it to a lunch salad, wrap or toasted sandwich. You can top it with a fried egg for lunch.

  At night grab some of the meat, & add to the veg & dinner is almost ready.

  If there's a particular veg you want to add, then you are just cooking one thing at night, when your tired & hungry, like broccoli, asparagus or fennel & then adding to what is already ready. I stir through spinach most nights.

  Melt some blue cheese on top if you like (makes everything fancy!!!) Any non paleos or kids add some rice or pasta. Stir through cream or sour light cream if you like.

  Dinner is done - its paleo, but you can adapt it for non paleo eaters.

  good luck!
• 

  Berengaria

  So what was the lifespan of Paleolithic Man?
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  StAnn

  Hmm, lots to think about. Chariklo, I bookmarked that link, thank you.