The Paleo Lifestyle and/or Diet

[Erik Wesley]

All I know is that 98% of Vegetarians never get Cancer of any kind, and that the other 2% are smokers. "The China study" is a fascinating read. Not here to start a fight, I have just seen a million fad diets come and go over the years and it seems to me that Paleo is no different. What was the average lifespan of a Paleolithic hunter/gatherer? Have we learned nothing since? All food for thought. 3 things that I am POSITIVE about are 1) Chlorella supplementation 2) Maca root as a caffeine/energy drink replacement and 3) Cordyceps. Cordyceps is the crown jewel of Chinese medicine and is appropriately expensive as shit. When I was playing Rugby for Shanghai the old Mr. Miagi-esque Dr. would feed us that stuff and holy balls if it isn't awesome. As an adaptogen, it brings your systems into balance, either energizing, speeding recovery, stimulating or sedating depending on where you are. One never "has" to liquefy foods, but what can chew better as to make nutrients more bio-available, you or a vitamix? Jon Hinds is the only 49 year old I have seen who can do 1-armed handstand pushups, that much is for certain. As previously stated the concept, whether meat or not, I like to think of is as calories as money in a bank. What are you "buying" with those dollars? How many nutrients? What combination of foods maximizes that investment. Whatever is the highest, is the best.

[Chris Fong]

I've started a new diet (about 1.5 weeks in) which is essentially paleo/ketogenic 6 days out of the week w/ a huge carb refeed day 1 per week. On the paleo/keto days, I'm staying under 50 grams of carbs and getting approx 350 grams of protein (2x bodyweight). I found that there was a limit to the amount of calories I could physically consume just through meals eating this way, so I've been getting an additional 1k or so calories/day from peanut butter. I find I need 3,500+ calories per day in order to have enough energy to get through my workouts and bjj.

On the 1 high carb refeed day, I'm eating around 800 grams of carbs and get 5000+ calories. The idea behind the refeed day is that long term ketogenic diets inhibit muscle growth and periodic carb spikes are necessary to replenish glycogen stores. Sounds bro sciency when I explain it, but I'm no nutrition expert. Info on the diet can be found here:

http://chaosandpain.blogspot.com

Results so far (1.5 weeks in): Loss 2 inches around my waist, gained 3 pounds of bodyweight, increased weight lifted in each workout session (so increased strength).

[Tom Van]

"The China Study", while an interesting read, is not scientific experiment. It is a book based on an observation. It has been thoroughly debunked by a number of individuals, but most thoroughly by uber-nerd and former vegan Denise Minger: http://rawfoodsos.com/the-china-study/

The life expectancy argument has been addressed by Eaton, Cordain, and Lindberg here: http://thepaleodiet.com/wp-content/u...ents-Paper.pdf

The fact that Mr. Hinds can do a one-armed handstand pushup, is not necessarily indicative of much more than the fact that Mr. Hinds is an exceptional athlete. Any case can be proven with one example. I could prove to you that smoking extends your life by finding a ninety-something year old smoker. But, we should not be interested in the outliers. We should be interested in the majority, and the majority of vegans are skinny and rather frail.

The money analogy that you mention is interesting and valid. Meat is of course extremely nutrient dense, and one of the few foods that you can survive on solely for an indefinite period of time. It is fairly uncontroversial that care must be taken on a vegan diet to obtain proper nutrition. Mr. Hinds himself stated that he was gaining fat and losing muscle until he made a conscious effort to diversify his food intake. I view this as a rather large negative, and evidence that the diet is sub-optimal. Not to mention that anyone concerned with choosing local seasonal foods would be hard pressed to thrive on such a diet, unless he lives in one of very few regions on Earth with weather capable of producing diverse produce year-round.

I do not want to turn this into a back-and-forth vegan vs paleo thing, but since at least a few people are looking to this thread for advice, I felt I needed to reply, lest someone think that T. Colin Campbell has actually proven that meat causes cancer. Like I mentioned briefly in a previous post, I maintained a strict vegan diet for a full year. My experience was rather negative, and I credit that diet with the mouthful of cavities that I gained in that time, where I had previously had healthy teeth all of my life. If anyone wants to try it, I say go for it, just do as Mr. Hinds does and be careful to eat as diverse a diet of fruits and vegetables as possible to maximize your nutrition.

Maybe try each approach for two months and see which one makes you feel the best.

[Billy Paternoster]

I bought the Paleo Solution two days ago and I'm a little half way through it. I'm turned onto this diet as how I want to eat the rest of my life. I have yet to do the diet, but Mr. Wolf does a very good job breaking everything down listing a lot of facts on why this plan works and why being a vegan really doesn't. I have a lot of the same stomach problems Mr. Wolf describe in the beginning of the book and the same with my brother, who I will be turning the book onto once I'm done reading it, it's amazing on all the results as well. I know many vegans who actually put on a lot of weight and I now know what it's due too after just reading half of this book. No offense to Mr. Hinds or what he believes in but after watching that video and going over what he eats really turned me off of even wanting to try it. The fact that I can still eat meat, cut out gluten(grains), and gain muscle and loose stomach problems which has been describe to me a couple of RN's that I have issues with gluten is just awesome to me!

[Kurzy]

I have cut out all breads, wraps, crusts, crackers, rice, pasta and anything else I can think of, just for about a week now. I have also cut out sugars. I use honey for my coffee and I drink beer too, so thee are carbs there.
I have lost about 6 pounds, but that's also due to Jits I'm sure.

I was wondering: Where do bacon and eggs fit into this paleo menu?

I just ate two eggs and about 7 strips of bacon, so I am curious.

[snoogens44]

eggs are a staple of the diet. bacon should be organic and minimally processed.

[Gannard Reyes]

I started an abridge paleo lifestyle by minimizing the carb intake not eliminating it thoroughly. I started in mid march and have lost twenty pounds. I do jiujitsu twice a week and before I had little to no energy during rolling, now I am able to hang with the guys that workout and train a lot more then me. Just for keeping tabs I started at 265lbs and now am at 241-244 depending on what time of day. The paleo lifestyle has worked for me.

[VicDorfman]

I do not want to turn this into a back-and-forth vegan vs paleo thing, but since at least a few people are looking to this thread for advice, I felt I needed to reply, lest someone think that T. Colin Campbell has actually proven that meat causes cancer. Like I mentioned briefly in a previous post, I maintained a strict vegan diet for a full year. My experience was rather negative, and I credit that diet with the mouthful of cavities that I gained in that time, where I had previously had healthy teeth all of my life. If anyone wants to try it, I say go for it, just do as Mr. Hinds does and be careful to eat as diverse a diet of fruits and vegetables as possible to maximize your nutrition.

Maybe try each approach for two months and see which one makes you feel the best.

I was a full vegan for a few months too, Tom. Even tried fruitarianism.

Results? No energy, no sex drive, no concentration, loss of muscle mass, felt like a bitch.

IMO paleo isn't a "diet" but it's actually our ancestral way of eating and no more a diet than a cheetah eating gazelle.

[Billy Paternoster]

I have been doing it for a little over a week or so finally and I love it. I have not watched my weigh, but I generally feel a lot better as a whole already. I have not been to jits class due to time restraints and a nasty cold but I should be back next week, so I'm curious to see how the energy level will be.

[Kurzy]

I was a full vegan for a few months too, Tom. Even tried fruitarianism.

Results? No energy, no sex drive, no concentration, loss of muscle mass, felt like a bitch.

IMO paleo isn't a "diet" but it's actually our ancestral way of eating and no more a diet than a cheetah eating gazelle.

Great post. The Paleo "diet" is totally natural, in my opinion. Even before I ever heard of it, a couple years ago I was dabbling in fasting, etc, and people thought I was nuts. (No food for 20 days)

I rationally explained that I think it's totally fucking nuts to think it's normal to eat a double big Mac combo with super sized fries and pop! Our ancestors never ate like that throughout history. They ate a handful of berries here and there, a small animal here and there, a large animal once in a while, etc, but primarily they were eating minimally but drinking a lot of water.

Anyways, I don't fast these days, because I'm not terribly overweight or anything, I just did it for detoxification on a cellular level. I haven't been to class for a week and a half (Have a cut I don't want to get infected) but I still ended up shedding another pound, yet no change on the beer intake!

My wife is getting frustrated here and there, because she forgets that I'm not eating a lot of the stuff she would normally use for dinner, so a few times we've ended up having a bowl of potatoes or rice that we have to pawn off on someone. lol. She's starting to remember now though. Yesterday she and the kids were craving a burger and fries, so I bought it for us for dinner. My burger was a double burger with extra veggies. I threw the bun in the garbage and ate teh stack of meat with a knife and fork. It was awesome. I didn't miss the bread at all.

This change in eating habits took about a week or two to get used to, but wow. I seriously have more energy, and I don't crave any bullshit like Doritos or Poutine or whatever.