Paleo?

Is anyone following the Paleo lifestyle? Has anyone considered it? Those that are familiar, what are your thoughts?

Im starting the whole 30 tomorrow (omg ughh) but I think it has a lot of health benefits. I dont plan to weight myself during the first 30 days, or really track calories, but I am going to commit to the plan. I'm doing it mainly for some stomach/digestive/inflammation relief - the reviews are pretty awesome. 

I got a couple cook books and even though it appears to have some super high fat recipes, there are some really good looking options. 

Thanks for you feedback! The whole 30 sounds like a great plan.

Paleo is Hollywood, not Science. We can't eat like our paleo ancestors because:

-Our paleo ancestors didn't have one kind of diet. Their diet was very varied depending on what time during the Paleolithic era you are talking about and what part of the world. Some of them even consumed grains and others consumed dairy!

-The type of foods they ate simply don't exist any more. Cows are domestic and didn't exist during Paleo times. Chickens didn't start being farmed or eaten in great quantities until around 1960! Our vegetables and other foods are very different now too.

-There is no evidence that Paleo man did not die of heart attacks. Most of them died too young to get heart attacks but for the ones that did live longer, we don't know if they died from heart attacks because that kind of death doesn't leave much of an archeological record.

-Our genes change at quite a rapid rate and have had some major shifts since Paleolithic times including many that make digestion of dairy and wheat easier for us. In fact, in some ethnic groups, lactose intolerance is virtual unheard of because of these genetic shifts.

That's just for starters.

Personally, I think it's great to cut out processed foods as much as possible from our diets and the Paleo diet does that. But it goes way beyond that and that makes it a very hard diet to stick to. In fact, most people that I know who say they eat Paleo constantly consume dairy and grains.  So they are basically eating High Protein - Low Carb but calling it Paleo.

For the most part, I think it's just a big fad. That's why you have things like "Paleo for Athletes" which promotes a diet that isn't remotely Paleolithic but it has that word attached to it so people will by the book in droves!

I think it appeals to the romantic in some of us to want to eat like our ancestors. But personally I don't want to eat like people who died when they were barely 40 and lived a hard-scrabble existence. I don't see the point. I now has it all over back then.

i've been doing Whole 30 for the past three weeks.  Basically protein, veg, fruit, seeds, nuts, healthy fats.  No artificial sweeteners (that was hard!), no sugar/grains (easy peasy, been doing that since surgery), no dairy (also hard - "you mean no CHEESE?"), no legumes.  I feel pretty great, and have lost 12 lbs. in like the first 13 days, so I'm back within 3 lbs of my rock-bottom.  (Weight in my signature is current.)  They say not to weigh during the 30 days, but that wasn't something I could commit to, I've been a daily weigher since surgery.  There are tons of cookbooks out there, but if you're interested in Whole 30, get the book It Starts With Food by Dallas and Melissa Hartwig.  They also have a website, Whole 9, that has a Whole 30 section if you want to get the program for free.

I don't necessarily subscribe to the "eat like our ancestors" philosophy.  But I do like the anti-inflammatory/anti-hormonal elements of the program.  I don't see myself making a lot of changes once the 30 days are over, aside from probably adding back in cured meats (ham, bacon) and sausage, which all have a teensy bit of sugar, and perhaps some cheese as a condiment. I may add back a protein shake too, as my protein intake is lower these days due to the restriction being very strong with all this dense protein and veg.  They recommend you add back one thing at a time and see how you feel after a few days, so that's my plan.

I don't recommend a Paleo style of eating for new ops.  You need to be out a couple years, and be able to tolerate the meats and veggies that are called for.  All the cottage cheese and greek yogurt I ate in the first couple years practically made my success possible.

Thank you all for the explanations, opinions, and experiences.  I'm not trying to start the lifestyle now, I'm really early out and don't tolerate nearly enough foods.  I was thinking about it well into my maintenance phase.  I was considering it because of the ideals of not eating processed foods.  I would like to eat clean and not cut out anything from diet ie. fruits, vegetables, dairy, grain.  I know this is way down the road but I'm just researching.  Thanks again!

I will start out by saying that I am a Christian and do not believe the Earth is millions of years old or that we evolved in any form.  I trust God's Word, the Bible, regarding the creation of the world and universe and in a 6 day creation and 1 day of rest.  With that said:

I have researched it and am trying to cut out processed foods and grains.  Not ready to lesson my dairy yet and budget cannot go completely organic.  But I am making an effort to eat as naturally as possible.  My reason for giving up the grains is that I have Crohn's disease and possibly Celiac as well.  I went gluten free over a year ago, before I had surgery and I have felt amazing giving up the gluten.  At first I just did the wheat, then felt better giving up all gluten and now have cut out oats and lessoned popcorn/corn and am feeling even better, joint wise too.  I also react badly to preservatives, so staying away from the processed foods has lessoned my sinus issues and sinus headaches as well as the excess phlegm. 

I believe we should be thankful and grateful for all food, for as we know, there are many people in this world that wouldn't care what food they had as long as they could have a full belly.  I get that.  But I also understand that with wisdom and understanding of our bodies and how we feel when we eat certain foods, should be a factor in what we choose to eat.  Nourishing our body is more than just taking in calories.  It is a well balanced life style, physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually.

Blessings on your journey and research!

I follow the premises set out by Weston A.Price. He was a dentist who travelled around the world during the 1930's; from Alaska, to South America, to Australia, to New Zealand, to Asia, to India, to Africa, Swiss Alps, to Canada, +++...totaling 14 different countries. He studied teeth, gum disease, dental arches, malformed jaws, size of nasal passages of various tribes. He observed the tribes who were most robust and healthy (and healthy mouths) had in common 5 dietary characteristics, even though their native diets were extremely varied due to their location. They are: 1. animal proteins, including organ meats & fats; 2. fermented foods from fish (if available),dairy(if available), meat, fruit, veggies; 3. bone broth; 4. raw fruit and veggies; 5. nuts, seeds, & grain sprouts.

This is my target and I use organic and grass fed, and wild caught foods. I don't always achieve my goal and for a time I'm sidelined by recovery (liquid protein), but I shall return to this way of eating.

His book, Nutrition and Physical Degeneration, make a very interesting read.