I can’t get away from it. The Paleo. It’s everywhere. My natural grocery store has a display devoted to Paleo cookbooks and reference texts. The blogosphere is all but saturated with titles like Paleo Hacks, Paleo on a Budget, Everyday Paleo, and The Paleo Plan. My damn Pinterest feed is littered with Paleo affirmations. Hell, I’ve even tried to cash in on the fad, labeling some of my recipes as “paleo/primal friendly.” But no matter how often I see the “benefits” of the Paleo diet spewed about from various sources, frankly, it seems like a crock. And as far as I can tell, it is:
5 Reasons Why Your Paleo Diet is Pathetic
1. It’s not the be-all, end-all of eating styles. One could probably notice the same benefits with any change of diet. “There’s this tendency to want to find the normal human diet,” said Randolph Nesse, professor of psychiatry and psychology at the University of Michigan, who might be called a father of evolutionary medicine, in a recent interview on NPR.org. “But every single diet you pick has an advantage of some sort. Humans have lived in all kinds of places and we have adapted to all kinds of diets.” Basically, there is no one perfect solution to all of your eating dilemmas.
2. Paleo could very well be harmful to your body in the long-term. A strict Paleo diet can be labeled as a “ketogenic diet,” meaning it is high in fat, low in carbs, and contains an adequate amount of protein. However, this type of eating could be robbing your body of essential nutrients and taxing your organs. Additionally, those who are prone to eating disorders could suffer even more. Scott Abel, a prominent online health and fitness coach, posted this warning on Facebook in response to the popularity of keto diets: “Let’s be clear here. I’ve been coaching clients with eating disorders for well over a decade now. And while all diets and long-term attempts at calorie deprivation run the risks of begetting eating disorders, certain diet “styles” are riskiest. Far and away the riskiest diet styles for turning into eating disorders are diets that severely restrict carbohydrate – keto-type diets in particular. Of my experience with eating disorders, I’d say over 80% of clients with eating disorders or suffering metabolic consequences were triggered by “keto” type diets and associated carb-restricting attempts. For people who already have the psychological traits associated with eating disorders, these types of diets are like putting a lit match to a gasoline tank. Do with that information what you will–but at least consider it! That “diet” may feel to you like its working “for now,” but there may be serious and long-term consequences ahead.”
On top of that, it is now common knowledge that consuming too much red meat can lead to health problems, namely, heart disease. NPR reported on this downfall of the Paleo diet in June 2012.
3. Paleo was founded on a myth, and cutting out entire food groups just doesn’t make evolutionary nor scientific sense. Paleo-philes seem to operate on the notion that our ancestors were a particular type of person, hunting and gathering a specific type of diet, and that our bodies are “designed” to process only certain types of foods. Barbara J. King, a biological anthropologist at the College of William and Mary, reported on NPR in October 2011: “Here’s where science most forcefully speaks back. First, ancient hunter-gatherer groups adapted to local environments that were regionally and seasonally variable — for instance, coastal or inland, game-saturated or grain-abundant (eating grains was not necessarily incompatible with hunter-gatherer living). Second, genes were not in control. People learned what worked in local context for survival and reproduction, and surely, just as in other primates, cultural traditions began to play a role in who ate what. In short, there was no single hunter-gatherer foraging strategy, and genes no more “designed” our eating behavior than they designed our language or our ways of relating between the genders.”
To further this point, Jane Lear, in her article, “If You Believe in Science, Don’t Go Paleo,” contends, “As far as I’m concerned, the idea that there is essentially one Paleo Diet is up there with the equally ill-founded notion that there is one cuisine that defines India, say, or China. Proponents [of the Paleo diet] may put forth clear and logical—thus easy to understand—arguments, but that doesn’t necessarily make them correct. (Before you get your knickers in a twist, think about the Flat Earth Society. And the Tea Party.).” Ha!
4. It’s expensive. And exclusionary. Paleo isn’t for everyone; it’s for the upper-class. I couldn’t find any good demographics for the typical Paleo eater, though this survey came close. Essentially, the typical Paleo is an American, between the ages of 21-40, who is college-educated, and married without children. The survey linked above didn’t ask about race nor income, but I can assure you, as a person who tried to adhere to this diet, it’s freakin’ expensive. When you’re buying nothing but grass-fed, local meats, substituting tons of produce for your formerly-found-in-grains fiber, relying on nuts to fuel you, and investing in expensive ingredients like coconut flour and the like, the grocery bill adds up. Restrictive diets like veganism and Paleo exist only where they CAN exist. People who can’t afford to make distinctive choices about which food groups they eat simply don’t consider these diets an option at all–in the U.S. nor anywhere else.
5. Individual bodies have individual needs at any given time. One of my favorite nutrition gurus, Annemarie Colbin, writes in Food and Healing, “…there is no one diet that is right for everyone all the time. It is crucial that each person contemplating a change in diet monitor his or her body’s feedback, the feelings it emits of “okay” or “not okay”(10). I felt a bit hypocritical in typing this piece, since I have test-driven many diet styles from veganism to even Paleo. Friends will tell you that I’m borderline insane in my efforts to stop people from imbibing so much dairy. Yet, when my son was born and we began breastfeeding, and my body was taxed of calories and fat, I knew I had to give up on being vegan. I allowed meat back into my diet. Then some dairy. And now, you could call me a regular omnivore. I listened to what my body needed, and this should always be the case.
In an excerpt from Diet Recovery 2, author and creator of 180DegreeHealth.com, Matt Stone, asserts that we can never be positive about what is “healthy” and “unhealthy” for us:
So, ultimately, is the Paleo diet bad? No, not if that’s what you feel your body needs to be doing at this time. I can attest that a vegan diet introduced me to the idea that my body functions best without too much dairy. I learned how to cook new foods in different ways. I got educated about the horrors of factory farming and our food supply. But when my body needed a change, I listened, and I was informed, and I broke the rules. That is how a health journey begins, by breaking a prescribed doctrine and doing what is right for YOU.
Want another great resource? I glean so much info, inspiration, and insight from Amber the personal trainer behind GoKaleo.com. A couple of my sources in this post were found originally via Go Kaleo’s Facebook page. If you’re looking for a simple philosophy about health, “eat well, move, get enough sleep,” and powerful motivation to boot, I urge you to follow Go Kaleo. She’s pretty badass and one of my internet heroes.
Do you adhere to a Paleo diet? Have you tried it?
What are your thoughts on the Paleo fad?
photo credit: TheBusyBrain via photopin cc
photo credit: Lord Jim via photopin cc
photo credit: Ack Ook via photopin cc
More from Healthful Mama:
- Sugar Is Toxic: Avoiding Sugar & Changing Your Diet (Part 3)
- “I Can’t Eat That”: A Guide to Diverse Eating Styles & Dietary Restrictions
- What to Eat & What to Avoid, Take 2: Diet Affects Breast Milk
- Healthier Eating: It Ain’t Always Simple
- What Does “In Moderation” Mean to You?
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Thank you for this!! I have several friends who are on the Paleo diet, and my biggest concern is they completely cut out food groups. As you say, it’s not for everyone and everyone’s needs differ greatly.
Exactly. I know I function much better when I have some grains. I couldn’t function without rice & quinoa!
Sadly – there are many in the paleo world that perpetuate the view that paleo is a low carb diet. The Kitavan Islanders studied extensively by Lindeberg, ate a a high carb diet.
Paleo has a disfuncional relationship with the low carb movement. Paleo is carb agnostic. You should eat the carbs you need to support your body’s needs. Paleo changed my health dramatically – I will never go back to eating some foods as they trigger auto-immune reactions for me.
When you trash paleo – you do not acknowledge the profound effects it has on people like myself with auto-immune conditions and you ignore the growing amount on research supporting this dietary template for those with health conditions such as type 2 diabetes and auto-immune issues.
I personally suscribe to the well researched work of Paul Jaminet “Perfect Health Diet”
Julianne, I’m sorry that you think I “trashed paleo;” I acknowledged that diet shifts can certainly open people to healthier ways of eating/living. I will check out “Perfect Health Diet,” but will admit that the title sounds, like so many of the Paleo tenets, unattainable.
Haha. — “I’m sorry you think I trashed Paleo.”
Page title – “5 Reasons Why Your Paleo Diet is Pathetic.”
1. The vast majority of practitioners don’t suggest a ketogenic approach, rather, as Julianne suggests, the level of carbohydrate that matches your activity level.
2. You won’t find any serious proponent of the lifestyle suggesting our bodies were ‘designed’ to eat certain types of food. Rather, the environment of evolutionary adaptedness (EEA) was one were certain types of foodstuffs didn’t exist in modern form, or at all, therefore, our bodies are more well adapted to certain foods. Many studies suggest this is the case.
3. It’s expensive – What kind of argument is this?
This is more an artefact of the way we produce and consume food and modern industrial agricultural process. Some Paleo foodstuffs are only more expensive because they are more scarce. More demand will result in more competition and lower prices for currently rare foods.
4. Do what is right for you. Agreed. The argument is that the main tenets of the Paleo diet, followed by many people is probably going to be good for them. Better than too much high glycemic index carbohydrate, processed food, etc. There is no requirement for it to be high meat, high fat that seems to scare everyone else so much.
This post was in response to the idea that “everyone should be eating Paleo,” and in response to the seeming inability to escape the trend. So, #3: no Paleo denies it’s not more pricey to eat this way. My inclusion of this fact is not so much of an argument against the diet itself, but against the idea that it should be a goal for everyone. I like how you haven’t attacked what scientists and anthropologists have said on this–what are the “many studies” that suggest we’re more well-adapted to certain foods? And by “we,” you, of course, mean Anglo Americans, right?
Why isn’t this a global phenomenon? Why isn’t the WHO jumping to educate the masses: “Avoid Grains!” “No Seeds!” I’m just thinking out loud here, but really, why are privileged Americans so worthy of such a “revolutionary” theory?
I have to STRONGLY disagree with your article and actually the first thing that popped into my head when I saw the title was “Oh boy here goes another grain lover on a tangent!” Even suggest that people eliminate grains and they get all kinds of cranky. Probably because they are ahem… addicted to all the sugar, but that is neither here nor there.
1. I have tried many diets over the years (and at length) and nothing…not vegan, not vegetarian, not raw, not traditional WAPF, nothing changed my health for the better more so than paleo.
2. Paleo is not low carb. Why perpetuate this flawed thinking?
3. Paleo was not founded on a myth. You describe how humans adapted to eat different foods to survive. This is true but does it follow that the foods they adapted to be able to even stomach suddenly become optimal for health? What??? No way! Many humans have adapted to eat grains and gluten yet that does not mean they are or ever will be optimal for good health. It just means we have become better able to tolerate sub standard food and much of these tolerances “evolved” because they provided a survival advantage in times of shortage or when the best foods were not available. The nutrient profiles show us what the optimal foods are and eating other things just because we have built up a tolerance throughout the generations previous does not make those choices healthy or optimal.
4. Yes, it is expensive. My health is worth it. I do the best I can with what I have. That is all anyone can do.
5. We do need different foods at different times and paleo folks usually follow a 80/20 or 90/10 rule to make exceptions for those times. Though these exceptions are usually treats, not because bad food is actually NEEDED. This is one of the reasons I LOVE the paleo community, they are not militant like so many other diet dictocrats.
But Tiffany, how do you explain that the Paleo fad seems to be strictly an American trend? Is the rest of the world eating “wrong?” Is this diet a sustainable model over the long-term? The “myth” I refer to is the idea that there is one version of Paleolithic Man that seems to drive this theory of eating. As for the cost, are those who are unable to afford the high cost of Paleo diets not “worth it?”
Qualifying foods as ‘best’ or ‘sub standard’ based solely on nutrient density IS militant, and also smacks of disordered thought processes. Calories are a nutrient, and calorie dense foods (like grains) are extremely valuable both historically and contemporarily. I see far too many clients suffering with the symptoms of straight up starvation because of their ‘nutrient dense’ (but calorie deficient) diets. This line of thinking is way too easy to take to an unhealthy extreme.
I think Paleo is okay…as long as people aren’t eating very low calorie and very low carb. People need to eat what helps them the most.
Many people tend to go low carb on Paleo; some for “health reasons”, some for weight loss reasons (Atkins Diet style), and…
…some people go too low carb, because it can be a pain in the butt for them to have to bake and prepare foods with specialty flours and it takes time to cook/prepare all those veggies (so you don’t go too low carb).
When I did Paleo, I tended to go too low carb for weight loss reasons and because it was a hassle to prepare the carb foods. It was much easier to eat veggies, meat and fat. I wasn’t eating enough calories or enough carbs. I got better when I started eating wheat again. And drinking whole milk. The generic statement (^^^^^^^) that wheat/grains/sugar are subpar or suboptimal is false.
An interesting idea to ponder…
A few weeks ago, I read a blog post about how cool carbs are (because they really are) and read about a group of tribal people going to great lengths to get some honey from a bee hive that was very high in a tree. They’ve been doing that for ages.
http://healthyurbankitchen.com/blog/carbsandsugar/#more-1368 (picture of the honey hunters is in this blog post)
Native Americans in my neck of the woods like to roast agave hearts. It tastes like a cross between pineapple, molasses and sweet potato. To roast one takes days and is very laborious AND there’s a chance you can get poked by one of its leaves (which hurts like crazy and could break the skin and lead to infection). It is also believed that this happened in Prehistoric times.
http://www.crossingworlds.com/articles/agave.html
Hunter gatherers and indigenous people seem to eat sugar and carbs whenever they can.
So, along these lines… if a Hunter Gatherer hadn’t eaten for days and came across a bush with a few edible berries and a bunch of bananas, I’m sure that Hunter Gatherer WOULD eat the bananas first (as long as he or she knows that a banana is edible). And why? Because he or she KNOWS that those bananas are going to provide good fuel. The berries, with all those millions of healthy, miracle antioxidants won’t be first choice on that prehistoric person’s list.
And…what if a hunter gatherer comes across some tuber vegetables verses some leafy vegetables? That hunter gatherer will most likely NOT stand around and ponder which veggies have the most nutrients, but will go for the tuber first. He’s going to dig that bad boy tuber out of the ground (and check to see if there are others close by), cook it and eat it.
One thing I think that the Paleo movement fails to recognize is that they are emulating a very mythical and somewhat suboptimal diet (if you actually eat what the paleolithic people ate – no most didn’t have coconut oil, almond milk or bacon).
Hunting and gathering evolved into a more agrarian society where crops became more widely used because these people KNEW that food crops like corn, wheat and rice could support and feed more people. So they went for it. For the most part, people didn’t balk at this idea of having more reliable forms of food that could be stored and used as a good calorie base for their diets.
Many of us, on the other hand, are at liberty to eat what we want and we can eat Paleo, as long as we can afford it. Yes, it can get expensive and I think it’s okay for people to eat what they want if they can afford it. I usually only buy organic food and spend more on it than others do…but I think it’s the right thing to do for my health. We make this possible by going without cable TV and some other things.
And yes, the Paleo crowd CAN get dogmatic and elitist (like when they write stuff about grains being bad and wheat being suboptimal)..just like any other fad diet.
Wheat and grains are NOT subpar. And if you can’t eat them, did you ever think maybe your body is subpar for not being able to eat them in the first place? Just a thought, not an insult.
The books by Taubes and Dr Davis are not logical, they DO have cherry picked scientific studies and have contributed to making people give up grains and carbs…when many of them probably didn’t need to.
I think blog posts like this are a reaction to the dogmatic nature of the Paleo diet. It’s good to see dialogue like this.
Great points, Beth! Thanks for taking the time to share your experiences and insight. I’ll be checking those links out, too.
You bring up so many good points, particularly those about how an agrarian culture evolved based on societal requirements and the fact that we’re not all built the same.
Thank you for this article. I’ve been a vegetarian for 20 years, but I am so tired of these fad diets and their proponents, that I could spit. One week, dairy is bad. The next week, it’s good. Same with carbs, gluten, eggs, take your pick. It’s pathetic. Secondly, the people on these diets tend to carry with them a certain self-righteousness that makes me want to utter obscenities. I’m THRILLED that you have the time/energy/money to carry out these diets, but here’s the reality: Not everyone does. It’s not as simple as saying “My health is worth it.” So is mine, but the bottom line is, if I want to keep a roof over my head, I cannot go around purchasing $7 or $8 bags of specialty flour, gluten-free foods, free range meat and the like. I cannot do it. Period. (And before you jump down my throat, I DON’T eat at McDonald’s, and I am not filling my shopping cart with Doritos and Ho-Hos. And I am neither obese nor overweight).
Thanks for your input, Vegetarian!
I’ve been paleo for almost 4 years and the improvements I have seen have been life changing. I was previously a healthy vegan but was suffering (and yes, I was consuming lots of fruits and veggies, healthy fats, little sugar, little bread, little soy).
Paleo does not mean low carb! I don’t know why people continue to spout this. Yes, there are some people that do lower carb than others (especially those trying to lose weight or fight cancer) but the majority keep their carbohydrate level at between 50-150 grams per day.
And your comment about too much red meat being harmful? Have you done any scientific research on that? Browsing a fellow blog doesn’t count.
http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/early/2010/01/13/ajcn.2009.27725.abstract
http://content.onlinejacc.org/article.aspx?articleid=1132823
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16467234
And why do you have a picture of a gross cheeseburger in a post about paleo? That is the exact opposite of paleo. Also, anyone with a history of disordered eating should be careful with any type of new eating to their body. That is not the average person.
And I do have two children but there are ways to do paleo on a budget. Buying a CSA share for fruits and vegetables and buying 1/2 of a cow and storing in a freezer are one way to reduce costs. And yes, as Tiffany said, my health and my family’s health are worth it.
With the new research out there on how bad sugar is for your body, especially the articles in the NY Times last week, you’d think you would do a post about that instead.
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/02/27/its-the-sugar-folks/
And I’m sure you are well aware that wheat raises your blood sugar more than sugar? Yes, cutting out food groups is not for everyone. But when those food groups are sugar, unhealthy oils/fats, grains (especially gluten) and legumes (especially soy), it’s worth it to feel not just physically but emotionally better.
So, why does it have to be Paleo? Cutting out sugar (not a whole food), processed oils, and junk soy is just good advice. You don’t have to be on a restrictive diet to do that. The cheeseburger pic accompanies the quote from Matt Stone, which if you read it, would explain the fast food photo.
Low carb: are those who are jumping on the paleo bandwagon really understanding how to do it in a non-damaging way? Is everyone educated? And how would you explain to a single mom, living in a 2-bedroom apartment, living on one-income, how buying a 1/2 of a cow is do-able, let alone more healthy for her and her family? How to create simple, affordable meals that provide enough calories? Is this the answer to the so-called American health crisis? Buying cows?
You also might want to check out Gary Taubes and his books as well as the book Fat Chance and Wheat Belly from doctors who are adamant against gluten and pro-higher fat diets.
Wheat Belly is on my to-read list. There is no denying that a diet overly-wrought with gluten or sugar is going to become a health issue, but I don’t think we need to go to extremes calling paleo the miracle.
People who’s argument is essentially ‘Go read an illogically conceived diet book based on cherry picked science taken out of context’ don’t really even deserve a response. Scientific studies are so easy to find that basing an argument on a diet book is lazy thinking at it’s finest.
Good post, HealthfulMama!
I agree with Amber, great post on a well intended but misguided fad diet that will soon be on the scarp heap of the Beverly Hills Diet, Atkins, 80/10/10 etc etc etc. LOW CARB is not PALEO KETO diets are SO not Paleo.
“Wheat belly” is worse than “Good Calories, Bad Calories” when it comes to making an unpalatable mess of cherry-picked research and unsubstantiated claims combined with elementary errors about human biology.
Thanks but I actually linked 3 scientific studies and have more to link if you need them.
Your links suggest saturated fat isn’t a driver of heart disease. I don’t have an issue with that, i actually agree with it. Your links do NOT show that carbs (Taubes), wheat (Davis) and sugar (Lustig) are toxic and the drivers of western disease (which is what each diet book author purports respectively.
Good article. You’re being a little too nice though. Fad diets really deserve a bit more abuse
Ha! Thanks, Alan.
One of the places the paleo diet has led me is to the notion of eating traditional foods. I am currently healing some major gut problems on the GAPS diet and paleo felt like basic training for this! I think paleo is pretty strongly American because we are so out of touch with real foods in this country that it takes a major shake up like the paleo/primal diets to catch our attention. Instead of being dismissive of people’s journey’s towards health, let’s be supportive and keep a lamp lit in case they make a move outside their current plan.
The only part of this post that is dismissive is the title, the rest of my claims are supported with expert analysis. I could have used the modifier “ridiculous,” “silly,” or “whack, yo,” and I suppose most would have focused on just the title, anyway. In my conclusion, I do note that paleo can open doors for people seeking knowledge about dietary health, but I’ll just assume you didn’t read that part, either.
And are we (Americans) really so stupid that we don’t know what food is?
Frankly, I don’t have a ton of science to back this up, but in my personal experience (as someone with ulcerative colitis), paleo doesn’t work for me. My body literally cannot handle protein+fat+ complex carbs (like veg) all the time.
Which is why what you wrote about “listen to your body” resonates so much with me!
I normally don’t watch reality TV but have recently started watching “Biggest Loser” last night as I was blogging. Jackson (the 21 yr old) had a really great statement when he went home and was talking with his Mom. Something as simple as ‘Most of America doesn’t know what good nutrition is.’
I do agree that ‘fad’ diets are appealing, but people should research foods and decide what’s best for them. Unfortunately, (youth) schools don’t teach you the truth about nutrition. I have a hard time understanding (after so many studies that vegetarian/low meat diets are good for your health) why people insist on eating lots of meat. Personally, I go for a plant& veggie, whole grains mostly diet. I do not think this is “perfect” and I definitely occasionally gorge on some brie, but I’m happy with my body and health.
And as a fellow blogger & marketer, EXCELLENT choice for title.
(I won’t say I haven’t picked an absurd title for clicks…)
Keep it up Gretchen!
I am a personal trainer who decided it was time to learn more about nutrition and physiology to better help my clients. I have read all the books mentioned and a whole lot more on both sides of the arguments. I do follow a whole foods approach which I would say is closest to the paleo ‘fad’ to nutrition which helps everybody that does it including myself. Some things I’ve noticed.
1) People get so emotionally attached to one diet or fired up against another that they don’t see the simlilarties that are providing the health benefits.
2) EVERYONE cherry picks data to support their points. It’s important to look at the studies used to prove these points and see how honest they are.
3) Too many people make very strong stances based on little to no actual knowledge or understanding of what they are promoting.ie Ancel Keys and the lipid hypothesis.
4)I’m sorry to say it but the general population truly does NOT have any idea what is food, much less healthy food for consumption. A high percentage of what we eat has been made by us in the last 60 or so years which means until then it did not exist or what not edible in nature.
5) We can survive off of a very wide range of foods but to thrive there are many we should not eat.
6) I respect everyone’s interpretation of studies and such but you can tell when someone hasn’t educated themeselves on nutrition as much as they should before blogging about it.
A) when you say sugar doesn’t cause Disease…type 2 diabetes IS a high sugar disease.
B) if you say wheat is good… Plants have defenses, this one has a lot of good ones that affect humans. And all of it is processed and basically the same as eating straight sugar. Fruit and veg have fiber.
C) I’ll end here. If someone says Vegetable oils and artificial sweeteners are good… Just walk away.
Craig, vegetable oils and artificial sweeteners have no place in my kitchen or in my body…blech.
You have a good point about wheat having natural defenses. Wheat is notorious for having phytates, which can strip much-needed minerals out of the intestines before those minerals have had a chance to be absorbed by the body. One way to help break phytates down is to soak, sprout and ferment it. Other people avoid (as many) phytates as they can by eating white flour, instead of wheat flour. I have read that ancient people and past generations soaked and sprouted their wheat, whether on purpose or accidentally. It served them well. They were able to survive, thrive, and not ingest a lot of the phytates and anti nutrients in the process.
And I use the word “thrive” because agrarian people and their predecessors were able to carry on with hard labor, a lot more physical activity and still produce offspring. Many of these people overcame illness and prospered. It’s very obvious that their grain-filled crops were giving them optimal health for what they needed to do.
Many of us aren’t thriving, even though we’re surviving…and I have heard anecdotal stories about women being “infertile” and having hard pregnancies even while eating a nutrient-dense Paleo diet or a vegetarian (or even vegan) diet. When they got off and started eating more carbs (or meat) and dense calorie foods, they were able to get pregnant.
Many traditional people also “prepared” other grains and nuts (like corn) before eating them…something that we modern day people don’t do enough of in our fast paced and ignorant lives.
And lately, I have heard a few stories of white flour breads and foods helping to heal people with IBS problems…when nothing else would work (including nutrient dense, traditional foods).
Eating wheat based foods helped me to get some dense calories into my body and overcome severe thyroid symptoms I was experiencing after being on a sometimes very low carb Paleo diet.
Many other plants have natural defenses as well. Because I have thyroid issues now, I cannot eat raw broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, kale, or any other Brassica-vegetable types because of the goitrogens that adversely affect my thyroid. I’ll eat them cooked sometimes, as cooking deactivates some of the goitrogens in them. I also don’t eat soy at all…I use a bit of miso paste every now and then to flavor my food.
Fruits usually don’t have defenses, and I eat more of those. Cucumber, olive, and tomato salad is a yummy fruit mix that I like. I like tubers for dense carbs too. And I’m no longer afraid to eat bananas.
I think it’s very important for people to eat what helps them to feel their best. And I think it would be helpful if more people ate homemade, whole foods, instead of dining constantly on fast foods and other yuck (but a little junk food every now and then is NOT going to hurt).
I truly don’t think that one diet is perfect for anyone. We have different needs. As long as it’s really food than I say do what works for you. Paleo wouldn’t work for me, i think my husband would do okay on it but not me.
Hey Beth. You make very good point about soaking and fermenting grains to eat them. That makes them much less toxic too our digestive system. The heavy grain diet that is recommended for health includes little to no preparation which keeps the phytates at full strength.
I agree that growing our own food gave us the energy we needed to keep up with the amount of hard Labour it takes to produce them. However,hunting and gathering took much less time and energy overall to acquire foods that were higher in energy and nutrients like animals and tubers. Anthropologists can easily tell the difference between hunter gatherer remains (taller, stronger bones and muscles with good teeth) and agriculturalists (smaller, more disease and poor bone structure)
Lisa, there is never way of eating that is good for everyone. We all have the same basic physiology. Animals and plants raised naturally and not processed. Everyone else will thrive eating this way.
For what it’s worth i really like to discuss with people who don’t get defensive.
I’m loving the dialogue you two have started, Craig & Beth!
Interesting article. I started to try paleo around the middle of last year, first doing the standard no dairy, no legumes, etc. I felt great, full of energy and my IBS symptoms were much more manageable. When I eat wheat, gluten and sometimes legumes I feel a little crappy. I feel like paleo was a good way for me to encourage myself to eat better (I’d been eating low calorie, low fat, and was low in iron and run down) and start feeding myself well, lots of calories, and lots of fresh food. I dont tend to buy ‘organic’ meat, etc, because its not viable in my budget. I buy the best I can, and I dont feel bad about that.
Fast forward to now, could my diet be described as paleo….probably not by stict paleo followers….I eat dairy, I eat chickpeas in their various delicious forms and the occasional grain (rice or corn. My IBS is still not rearing its ugly head very often, I still feel pretty good, and Im happy with what I eat, which is a well balanced, good diet for me. I never went ‘low carb’ with paleo purposefuly, in terms of I made sure to eat sweet potatoes, lots of fruits (dried and fresh). I like that Mark (Sisson, marks daily apple) talks about eating ‘primal’ as something good to do, but not something to stress over and get bogged down in the detail of….want some soy sauce, some pasta…dont panic, just dont eat them ‘all’ the time.
I agree its not for everyone, eat what’s best for you personally and enjoy food
Amy~ I think you hit the nail on the head exactly. Paleo can be a great starting point for making major change (as veganism was for me), and can introduce one to how the body feels without X, Y, or Z. Sort of like a modified elimination diet. I also agree with the idea that these hard and fast “rules” are not something to build a life around!
Brave post Healthful Mama! I have nothing new and insightful to add to this list, however, I do want to thank you for courageously speaking your piece, and quite elegantly, I might add. You have spoken for so many of us.
Kudos to you!
Thank you, Lisa!
What I dislike very much about paleo is the ‘elitist’ attitude it can foster in people. Someone on a forum told me I couldnt be serious about fat loss if I was still eating fruit and not willing to ‘cut it out’. I will continue to eat and enjoy fruit. Some people become so indignant about their own journey that they cant accept that works for them isnt for everyone.
The elitist attitude is why I wrote this post! There is something a little cultish about the paleo followers. Not all, mind you, but many won’t.let.it.go. I agree–eat that damn fruit, girl!
I’m baaaack!
I just came across an article that totally dashes and severely undermines the myth of “The Egyptian People Started Eating Grains and That’s Why They Had Clogged Arteries”.
I’m posting a link here. It would be great material for an article. I think Melissa McEwen and Hunter.Gather.Love has already written about it – a fabulous article.
http://news.yahoo.com/study-even-ancient-mummies-had-clogged-arteries-001655831.html
So…I strongly disagree with Craig and others about grains being bad. This is not a defensive tactic (I wasn’t going to comment here again until I saw the recent mummy news). It’s new information for you and other no grain people to look at and consider. People started thriving when agriculture took place.
If you want to discuss issues like this with people who don’t get defensive (aka counter your points, debate, possibly turn your theories upside down, cause you to question your diet, etc), the Paleo forums are full of people who share your same viewpoint.
I’m am SO FASCINATED by this! Thanks for the share!
When I read the title of this post I figured you’d be attacked by the Paleo followers, so kudos to you for speaking your mind. I really understand what you mean about the elitist attitude, to most Paleo is all or nothing and I disagree with that, because as you clearly stated that everybody is different. However, I think you failed to mention the serious negative effects that grains have on some people and might not even know they could benefit from avoiding them.
I’m glad you mentioned that it includes an excessive amount of protein and the negative effects of this, however I disagree with your statement “consuming too much red meat can lead to health problems, namely, heart disease” you are misleading your readers because the truth is that conventional meet (hormones, antibiotics, unhealthy feed, etc) IS harmful, but grass-fed meat is healthy and essential, this is why:
-Higher in antioxidants beta-carotene and vitamin E
-Higher in the B-vitamins thiamin and riboflavin
-Higher in the minerals calcium, magnesium, and potassium
-Higher in total omega-3 fatty acids
-A healthier omega-6 to omega-3 ratio (1.65 in grass-fed beef versus 4.84 in grain fed)
-Higher in conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), a potential cancer fighter
-Higher in vaccenic acid (which can be transformed into CLA)
Meat also provides our body with essential saturated fats
Once again, I commend you for this article, I am a regular follower therefore I value your opinion but I think this article fell a bit short.
Thanks for your comments, Stephanie! Grass fed meat is certainly more healthy, but, once again, everything in moderation. I encourage everyone to find what works best for them, but check-in with their bodies, and not feel like they have to be committed to one end-all, be-all diet “solution.”
Absolutely right! Oh and my Pinterest feed is inundated with Paleo posts, too. So I’m pinning this one, if anything to create balance
ONly paranoid Internet crackpots basj soy. The Okinawans are the longest lived people on the planet. Their diet is very rich in soy.
All of these Internet Blogshpere sites are utter nonsense.