There's a lot of buzz around Paleo-type diets these days, particularly among the Crossfit crowd. I've tried Paleo before, but I've been doing a lot of re-investigating over the past week and I'm finding out a lot of interesting things. My previous diet post wasn't posted that long ago, but it left me feeling really unsatisfied. On paper it seemed like a logical plan and while it was flexible, it was ultimately very imbalanced which made it difficult to adhere to. Perhaps I was the subject of too much boredom and didn't give my last plan a good solid try, but for whatever reason I'm pretty excited about and proud of all the digging around I've done this time around. Besides, there's nothing like a month long lay-off to brood over new training and nutritional strategies.I plead the case of a modest recreational athlete in moderate-good physical condition. I consider my time valuable and as such am always looking to improve my performance. More often than not that is through nutrition. Aside from obvious strength-to-weight ratio benefits, proper nutrition is paramount in recovery which is most certainly the limiting factor in performance improvement by way of training.
I tried the Paleo diet around the turn of the new year and that lasted for about a month. I made the common misconception that Paleo is synonymous with a low-carb; it is not. So that's why that got left behind. However, I've stumbled across some interesting information that is sparking quite a bit of interest for me.
Paleo 2.0
- About the only things "the experts" have can come to a consensus on is that we should eat less processed food.
- Fad diets have run the gamut from raw food only, vegetable only, meat only, raw meat, low carb, high carb, etc...
- Most of the food we ate throughout history are not available to us now (either in type or quantity)
- There is no one specific diet consumed by the entire succeeding species of humans
- Our bodies are very good at adaptation and can / have thrived in a variety of different settings and conditions with drastically different eating habits.
- "'Paleo' no longer refers to any particular diet eaten at any particular time, but in the sense of 'old.' traditional neolithic, paleolithic, and modern foods that we know are healthy or are similar nutritionally or metabolically to what archaic diets might have been like.." - "emulating" rather than replicating.
- More on this later, but there is a growing body of supporters who assert that as we come to be more and more skeptical of fads, that we should not abandon sound medical advice in the hope of retaining a certain pedagogy of eating.
- Avoid wheat (specifically gluten): potatoes, sweet potatoes, root vegetables may be considered "grey area foods", but they are certainly better options than bread, crackers, cookies, and pasta. I can probably hand this without too much problem, however, I may include rice as it technically grows and provides some grain benefits (see sub-bullet above).
- Avoid fructose ("low-fat" stuff and fruit [especially concentrated juice]): Fructose, the sugar in fruit, is apparently digested differently than glucose and is, in combination with wheat, among the top disease instigators throughout "nutritional transitions." Typically I don't eat much fruit anyway, but it is probably far lesser evil than whatever your sweet tooth has you craving.
- Avoid Linoleic Acid (part of the Omega 6 fatty acid family): Stop eating temperate vegetable oils (corn, soy, canola, falx, etc...) and limit or exclude nuts. Robb Wolf's Paleo Quick Start Guide suggests that 1 - 2 oz of nuts per day should still be fine.
More on Paleo 2.0
This is another article from a different source that has a lot valuable information as well and expands on some of the above principles.- Dairy may be okay without gluten. First, though, the article recommends removing both and then adding dairy back after the body has "detoxed" from gluten. Preferably "dairy" is limited to hard cheese, (real) butter, ghee, and not so keen on other pasteurized options. This shouldn't be a problem for me as I don't eat much dairy, though I do like it.
- Avoid nightshade vegetables: Apparently eggplants, bell peppers, tomatoes, and unskinned potatoes can all cause disease issues. This sucks because tomatoes and bell peppers are two of my favorite vegetables. I may have to let this one go in the hope that the benefits of well washed produce outweighs the potential negatives. Other produce warnings can be found (here) courtesy of PBS.
- Avoid Legumes (peanuts, beans, lentils): This is another seemingly controversial point. While both cases for and against seem to have legitimacy, its probably best to take a different approach: start with the best available (though imperfect), most strict Paleo plan, and then experiment with adding different things in to find out what works best for you.
My Adjustments and Thoughts:
- I hate to bring up calories, but its still important and foundational to weight loss / gain. It certainly is not that be-all-end-all,b ut there is a lot of merit to it. Eating "the right foods", or even cutting back / out the bad ones, can go an awfully long way; but so does common sense. This is where your your personal history, experimentation, and adaptation come into play. Not everyone requires the same amount of fuel and too much "good" food is still "too much" food.
- Fruit probably isn't necessary. If you're ancestors were European, they probably weren't eating too much fruit in February (thanks Tim Ferriss). Fructose (the sugar in fruit) isn't exactly Plaeo friendly anyway (reference). However, thinking on a continuum, rather than black and white, an apple is probably a better choice than whatever you sweet tooth is actually craving.
- Adherence: There's a ton of good information here (Robb Wolf podcast ft. Tim Ferriss). I'm certainly not one of the grains are the devil types that you may find in hard-line Paleo circles. Although being grain free (Paleo being old / pre-agricultural revolution) is one of the main tenets of the Paleo diet, I prefer to fall back on the staple of if it doesn't grow, don't eat it. This seems to make a lot more sense to me. Rice... okay, pasta and bread... how can I grow a garden of noodles? Dairy... unless its butter or you're milking you're own cow / goat, probably not. Nevertheless, a good starting point is to cut it out for a while and then re-introduce it. Similarly, this is why a lot of people fail at their New Year's resolutions of weight loss; there are too many behavioral changes demanded at once.
- Moderation. I've written quite a bit about cheating, and so have others (link). The bottom line is this, take your progress where you can get it. This may come in a variety of flavors.
- Eating "healthy" 6 days of the week is better than one or two.
- Eating 80-90% "pure paleo" and allowing room for some favorite non-paleo foods (whole grains, etc...) is far better than the way most Americans eat.
- There may be plenty to complain about with legumes and grains, but not nearly as much as McDonald's and Pop-Tarts.
- Is the point getting through? I've also had a recent thought though that planning a "cheat meal", just one indulgence, or any number of occurrences may be doomed from the start. While I do think its a good idea to give yourself a break or a "treat" now and then, regular intervals of stimulation lead to stimulus adaptation. Basically, what used to be enough won't eventually satisfy. Here is a good article on the myth of a balanced diet and portion control. A more appropriate plan of action might be to see how long you can go without eating any junk food, if you have to, eat some non-paleo but still generally healthy foods; or better yet a willing indulgence of "paleo-safe" foods (similar ideas are discussed here). And only on the very rare and irregular occasion make the conscious and intentional decision to eat something you know is unhealthy but absolutely delicious (don't deny it, they're made to taste good so we eat more and make the manufacturer more money!).
- After doing some more investigating I found myself liking the plain and simple look and feel of what is listed on the climbstrong website (I've discussed this before). Pretty much the nifty little pyramid is quite convenient for both grocery shopping (via the method above) and daily consumption. I was also reminded of another previous method and that is the "Diet Solution" by Scivation. Yes, yes, I know it is a bodybuilding website and the designers are bodybuilders, but that doesn't mean they don't have something valuable to share. Particularly, Scivation gives pretty simple template for "meal creation": select protein source, if lean add fat source, add vegetables, post-workout carbs. What's good about this combination is that it will allow me to eat as much as I deem necessary on any given day so long as the food meets some certain criteria.
- Apparently there is still a lot of hubub floating around about saturated fat and cholesterol, but there is more and more information being produced that runs counter to the idiom of 30 years ago that consumed cholesterol increases cholesterol in the blood. It may, but not nearly to the degree that once though. (see here, here, here, and here).
- Some Other Good Resources:
- Paleo Approved Carbs
- On Beans and Nuts
- Good Resources on Macronutrients and Processed Foods
- "Debunking" (but supporting) Paleo
- Tim Ferriss and Robb Wolf discuss a few things (particular note on beans / lentils)
- Rice
- Cost. A lot of people, myself included, have used the excuse that eating healthy is "too expensive" at some point or another. It does seem absurd that a dozen cheese burgers cost a nickel and an meager salad costs $8 (thanks Jim Gaffigan). Many counter that point by boasting their grocery bill as an "investment on their health." The above complaint is just as illogical as "exercise takes too much time. (many many trainers have proven the contrary)" My last grocery bill for ~2 weeks was $76.94. That's less than $6 / day. Granted, I did have a couple things at home prior and may eat out once or twice over that span, but you get the idea. Take your progress where you can get it. Maybe you're budget doesn't allow for steak and salmon every night, you can still do pretty good with chicken and ground beef (preferably grass fed / farm raised, but even if not...).
Pilot Testing:
- Unknown to anyone reading this, I actually began my "paleo reboot" almost a week ago and this post has been amassing itself ever since. I was planning on weeding the garbage out of my cabinets while I "ease into" and polish the details of this post.
- 6/18: Eating "generally" healthy, but still included some dairy, peanuts, and grains.
- 6/20: Removed dairy and peanuts, still some minor seed oil use.
- 6/21: Planned cheat meal turned into cheat DAY, leading to the above section on cheating.
- 6/23: With empty cabinets and an empty fridge I headed to the grocery store.
- Updates to come...
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