Going Paleolithic!!
It’s something I’ve been considering for a while. I’ve been interested in how the body has evolved, how it is meant to move and what it should eat for some time. More recently I’ve become even more interested in what we ate before we started modifying our food sources.
See between the last 5-10 000 years we humans have altered are food sources so much that what we eat today is a far cry from what the ancestors of our foods were pre farming. I recently wrote about how our ancestors would have annihilated us and that this would have had a lot to do with better sources of food and more active lifestyles. So as a result of a little more research I’m going to try and go Paleo!
Now it’s virtually impossible to eat completely ‘wild’ or ‘hunter and gatherer’ these days, but I’m going to give it a go. Basically I’m going to try eat whole natural foods. You see the human digestive system can’t eat grains as they are, they have to be modified. Basically grains were the first refined foods. Whereas most fruits, vegetables, nuts, meats, fish, seeds and eggs can be eaten as they are. It is no coincidence that people end up with wheat and dairy intolerances as these foods are not as nature intended and our bodies will react to them.
The following is a list of what not to and what to eat:
“The essentials of the Paleolithic Diet are:
Eat none of the following:
· Grains- including bread, pasta, noodles
· Beans- including string beans, kidney beans, lentils, peanuts, snow-peas and peas
· Potatoes
· Dairy products
· Sugar
· Salt
Eat the following:
· Meat, chicken and fish
· Eggs
· Fruit
· Vegetables (especially root vegetables, but definitely not including potatoes or sweet potatoes)
· Nuts, eg. walnuts, brazil nuts, macadamia, almond. Do not eat peanuts (a bean) or cashews (a family of their own)
· Berries- strawberries, blueberries, raspberries etc.
Try to increase your intake of:
· Root vegetables- carrots, turnips, parsnips, rutabagas, Swedes
· Organ meats- liver and kidneys (I accept that many people find these unpalatable and won’t eat them)
Expect some minor tuning problems- don’t worry, you can deal with them:
· It will take some time for your body to adjust to the changes after all these years. There is a huge surge in your vitamin intake. There is a huge decrease in your toxin intake.”
The above is taken from: INTRODUCTION TO THE PALEOLITHIC DIET, by Dr. Ben Balzer, family physician. To take a look at this great web site visit here
For the last 2 weeks my diet has mainly consisted of 4 eggs a day, nuts (various), fish, berries and salad and I feel good for it.
Now I’m not going to become a food hermit and I will eat foods that our outside of what is considered ‘Paleo’ occasionally but most of the time I’m going to eat like a caveman!!
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Hi BJ,
Good write up and I can vouch for the Paleo diets effectiveness and have seen some great results with those looking to lose weight.
All the Best
Nice one BJ!
I’ve been eating more this way over the last few months. Cut out a few of my previous staples of tons of yogurt, rye bread etc. Also use less carbs in my post w/o shake and just have water while training.
I’m sure it’s healthier, i’ve not noticed any downside and continued to get stronger.
Keep us posted on your progress. If anyone wants to get more in depth on the subject, Robb Wolf does a great weekly podcast – http://www.robbwolf.com
hello. I advise you to see the following site, for me is the best and has information straight about the paleo diet.
http://www.thepaleodiet.com/
Kind regards
Bernardo
Sounds great, been looking for something like this for a while, well maybe not the kidneys and Liver (shudder):-)
Humans just confuse the hell out of me, I cant figure us out, I mean in relation to the other animals on this planet, what an odd bunch we are!
I think our ancestors ate a lot of nuts and whole foods. Apparently before flour we used ground nuts to make bread and ate large quantity’s of hazelnuts, at least in England and Ireland anyway.
Great Article BJ,
I have just in the last month changed to the paleo diet and lost 4% body fat. I’ve been doing a lot of research on it and the more I do, the more it seems to make sense. I’m even writing an e book on it for my cleints now!
The last time we irishmen took potatoes out of our diets over a million of us died in a famine, so from a historical point of view its the only part of this diet i will struggle with. Processed foods reduce your efficency to fight off foreign invading micro organisms by up to 50% half an hour after consumption lasting roughly five hours. this can be the difference between serius infection or avoiding it. Its why these guys were a different breed
the paleo diet gets great and fast results for clients. its really good at getting rid of the love handles as this is where fat is held when people are eating a lot of starch and refined sugars. Another big fan is charles poliquin, its on his pre-course reading for biosig. also all the other benefits of increased nutritents, reduces acidosis etc makes it a gr8 starting point for al my new pt clients.
Most of us who originate from English, Irish, Scottish or Welsh ancestry have actually only been eating potato’s from the 15th century onwards. Previously I had thought potato were here forever. Wheat bread was also not eaten much, in Ireland cakes made from ground hazelnut flour were commonly eaten, also raw hazelnuts,wild fruit, meat,dairy and wild veg.
http://www.ravensgard.org/prdunham/irishfood.html