The Paleo Lifestyle and/or Diet

[VicDorfman]

I've been eating a Paleo Diet almost all of my adult life (turning 26 in a few weeks).

Every now and then I'll have a cheat meal (beer, rice, chips, whatever) but it tends to make me a little sick and the insulin spike gives me an instant headache.

The main issue I've had that you might have experienced as well is Low Energy.

If you're doing jitz and you're experiencing this, there are 2 good workarounds:

1. Eat a little more fruit
2. Eat more fat

I basically never ate fruit but I decided to see how it would impact my energy levels for BJJ and the difference is too stark to ignore. A low glycemic fruit (apple, citrus, some berries) before practice does the trick, and it's hard to go overboard since even an apple tastes painfully sweet.

If you've been eating Paleo for a while, your body undergoes fat adaptation and begins to use fat as the primary energy source instead of carbs, so don't be shy with the grass fed butter, full fat meats, organs, coconut oil (or butter), etc.

Just my experience, hope it helps somebody! :-)

[Erik Wesley]

IMHO Paleo is heavily overrated. Attached is a video from Jon Hinds. Among other things, he is the founder of the Monkey Bar Gym, the Pan-am 2000 Brown Belt Champion, and owner of Lifeline Fitness. Lifeline makes the best training toys on the planet. Anyhow, nutrient rich is the way to go. Think of calories as a limited daily allowance of money. What do you get for them, what are you buying for them? How many nutrients? Approaching diet in this manner is the way to go if you ask me. Jon trained me and I'm a great trainer. My 2 cents.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSjBmn_cOpo

[Billy Paternoster]

Thanks everyone for all of your inputs. I feel this a great discussion and we need to keep it going. Also Tom, it's good to put a face to the name that has been so helpful as I just watched MTS 38 and there you were haha. Everyone thank you again, I'm trying to switch my diet to something a lot more healthy than what it is. I know a couple people that have just started doing paleo, one is a huge crossfit freak and loves the diet and the other was a some what over weight gal and two weeks into she feels more energized and has lost like 11.5 pounds in two weeks. I'm just one of the people that goes all out when I find something new that interest me. I ask a lot of questions and do a lot of research, so I really appreciate all of these responses.

[Kurzy]

Sure, I understand that is not a technically correct statement, but I was trying to illustrate clearly that animals are a component in the cycle, and petroleum works as a (unsustainable) substitute, because it is decayed organic matter.

Thanks for the correction though. I should be more careful about what I say.

I wasn't trying to correct you bro.
I personally don't believe that petroleum is from organic matter in any way, and instead I think it is a naturally occuring by product of the earth and all it's mechanics including mantle, molten core, tectonic plates, pressure, movement, minerals undergoing high pressure disintegration, etc. But that is something for another thread! LOL.

[Tom Van]

I wasn't trying to correct you bro.
I personally don't believe that petroleum is from organic matter in any way, and instead I think it is a naturally occuring by product of the earth and all it's mechanics including mantle, molten core, tectonic plates, pressure, movement, minerals undergoing high pressure disintegration, etc. But that is something for another thread! LOL.

Oh, alright then. Well, I'm certainly no geologist, so that's possible. I thought that was the consensus though.

[Erik Wesley]

Check these out: http://www.mikemahler.com/online-lib...egan-diet.html
www.nutrientrich.com http://www.thechinastudy.com/ http://www.dietsinreview.com/diets/the-thrive-diet/

The bottom line is that, much unlike our paleolithic ancestors, we have access to everything. From grass fed Montana Buffalo to Japanese Chlorella algae, you can buy anything and everything under one roof these days. I have been working as an endurance/nutrition coach for a long time, and nothing has gotten results like Thrive. I know a handful of ultra-endurance athletes and bodybuilders who have had great success with high fat/ketone based diets, but those are only relevant towards very specific athletic goals. If you are an ultra-marathoner who essentially jogs 200 miles (like most of out ancestors did as hunters) then yes, it makes sense to have a ketone based metabolism. In MMA, you need to go anaerobic however, which means you need sugar on hand in your muscles (glycogen stores). Try to do a carb-starved diet and then explode, good luck. A cyclist I was training tried this, lost weight, felt great and had absolutely ZERO sprint to his legs because he was out of glycogen. Do not pass Go, do not collect $200. Food for thought (no pun intended).

[Tom Van]

IMHO Paleo is heavily overrated. Attached is a video from Jon Hinds. Among other things, he is the founder of the Monkey Bar Gym, the Pan-am 2000 Brown Belt Champion, and owner of Lifeline Fitness. Lifeline makes the best training toys on the planet. Anyhow, nutrient rich is the way to go. Think of calories as a limited daily allowance of money. What do you get for them, what are you buying for them? How many nutrients? Approaching diet in this manner is the way to go if you ask me. Jon trained me and I'm a great trainer. My 2 cents.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSjBmn_cOpo

I am glad Mr. Hinds found relief to his arthritis, and people should definitely do whatever works for them. It did sound to me from the video though that he didn't simply cut out animal products. It sounded like he cut out grains and processed foods as well. So, to me it seems hard to say that it was the cutting out the animal products that did it. Especially, since there are so many anecdotal accounts of people curing their arthritis symptoms using a Paleo diet, which includes grass fed and wild caught meats. It also sounded like he needs to consume so many fruits and vegetables to get adequate nutrition that he needs to liquefy his food. That is not surprising since he removed one of the most nutritionally dense foods on the planet from his diet.

Of course, that's great if it works, and it sounds like it does. So, people should go ahead and try it if they want. I just wanted to point out that it is not so easy to point the finger at "animal products". Pardon me if I got the wrong idea from that video.

[Tom Van]

Also, it seems like some people have the wrong idea, but a Paleo-type diet does not have to be ketogenic. You can get plenty of glucose from starchy foods: yams, sweet potatoes, bananas, etc. Many people that eat a Paleo diet prefer to take a ketogenic approach, but there is a very wide range. And, the correct approach definitely depends on the goals of the individual.

[Billy Paternoster]

alright I'm officially lost, time to do more research!

[VicDorfman]

Check these out: http://www.mikemahler.com/online-lib...egan-diet.html
www.nutrientrich.com http://www.thechinastudy.com/ http://www.dietsinreview.com/diets/the-thrive-diet/

The bottom line is that, much unlike our paleolithic ancestors, we have access to everything. From grass fed Montana Buffalo to Japanese Chlorella algae, you can buy anything and everything under one roof these days. I have been working as an endurance/nutrition coach for a long time, and nothing has gotten results like Thrive. I know a handful of ultra-endurance athletes and bodybuilders who have had great success with high fat/ketone based diets, but those are only relevant towards very specific athletic goals. If you are an ultra-marathoner who essentially jogs 200 miles (like most of out ancestors did as hunters) then yes, it makes sense to have a ketone based metabolism. In MMA, you need to go anaerobic however, which means you need sugar on hand in your muscles (glycogen stores). Try to do a carb-starved diet and then explode, good luck. A cyclist I was training tried this, lost weight, felt great and had absolutely ZERO sprint to his legs because he was out of glycogen. Do not pass Go, do not collect $200. Food for thought (no pun intended).

True that, Erik.

Paleo isn't necessarily the optimal diet for hardcore athletes. In terms of mitigating disease and inflammation, life extension, mental acuity, and quality of life in the present tense (stable mood, high sex drive), something paleoish is hard to beat.

You're right on about glycogen depletion, and Robb Wolf recommends sweet potatoes/yams to restore muscle glyc, and I've found that the yams, plus the extra fruit to be more than enough to keep me energized, even for competition.

Also super important to optimize Vitamin D levels, which are directly related to testosterone levels.