Do not eat:
Cereal Crains (Wheat, Rice, Corn)
Legumes (including peanuts)
Dairy
Refined sugar
Potatoes
Processed Foods
Salt
Refined Vegetable Oils
Eat:
Grass-produced meats
Fish/Seafoods
Fresh Fruits and Veggies
Eggs
Nuts and Seeds
Healthful oils (Olive, walnut, flaxseed, macadamia, avocado, coconut)
My Personal Pros:
- Whole-food, plant based diet
- Limit sugar, grains, processing
- Back to nature
- Ethical farming of animals (pasture raised)
Cons (for me):
- Recommendation of not eating beans and peanuts. I think many people have a misunderstanding of phytates. In a nutshell (haha), soaking grains, nuts, seeds, beans prior to eating or cooking make the most of them, nutritionally. Cutting it out? Not for me, "the magical fruit" is an important protein for me!
- Cordain, one of the founding fathers of Paleo recommends limiting eggs to 6 per week. Personally, I do not agree with his concern of too much cholesterol. Plus, eggs are more humane than eating flesh, which I do try to limit.
- Over-consumption of meat...(I am seeing WAY too many bacon freaks these days. FYI, bacon is still a processed meat unless you have some secret source that does not cure, smoke, and add nitrates. To me, it does not sound very paleo based on the what the "dos" and "don'ts".
Here is what Dr. Matt, expert on food & digestive health and Naturopathic Physician has to say about the topic. Let me know in the comments what your thoughts on Paleo are. Have you tried this way of eating and are you reaping any benefits?
{edited 1/15/13}
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I agree. My dream is the day everyone gets that it isn't about a diet with a fancy name based on a principle or two. People want to be led and following a specific diet with a specific set of rules is exactly that.
ReplyDeleteGreat article by Dr. Matt too!
While I'm not exactly "paleo" and don't hate you, it's unfortunate that in many of these discussions the underlying concept is often lightly touched on before we move on to the "food lists." You know, do eat this, don't eat that, in which there are different interpretations depending on who you read and agree with, varying to a pretty wild degree. Egg-limiting is a weird old Cordain idea. Loading up on meat is not by any means a universal interpretation, nor is loading up on bacon. Some say lean meat, some say go for the fat. Some say don't eat carbs, some say have at them. Some say occasionally eating grains and legumes is fine (paleolithic people probably would have on occasion), particularly with good preparation techniques. So really there's no sense in writing an article that either dismisses or affirms the "paleo diet;" there is no such discernible thing in the world. I'm sure you're not intending to set up a straw man here, but to someone who has closely followed the developments and ins and outs of the paleo movement(s) an article like this certainly can come off that way. That Matt's article brings out unfounded claims such as protein digestion capacity issues (an elsewhere well-discussed topic, I assure you) doesn't help.
ReplyDeleteI do hope this isn't seen as an attack but rather as a constructive criticism: as a reader I felt that you were attempting to deal with a topic that you knew less about than you thought, mostly because the subject is so much broader and more complex than many would suspect, and possibly getting much of your information through secondary sources like Dr. Matt's blog and simplified primary sources like the basic info pages of various paleo "authority figures." There's a lot more to it than such a sampling would suggest, and well worth looking into.
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DeleteThanks for your note, Erik. Re-reading the post, it was probably too over-simplified and a little rough, so I've edited. I have followed the movement for quite some time as well, albeit not as closely as you. While my post certainly didn't go into much detail, it was just as the title suggested: my overall thoughts on "most people's" perception of paleo. Many people go into the diet because they've recently started cross fit, or love the idea of unlimited bacon. Dr. Matt's article which I referenced was a co-creation of our thoughts (no, I didn't just source from his article) and rather than just re-posting, I thought I'd add my two cents as they pertain to the "paleo masses". I'm not discrediting this way of eating, by any means, but from what I do know, it's not perfect. At least for my tastes. :) Thanks for stopping by!
DeleteHi Erik-
ReplyDeleteJust a quick note to mention that, based on your comments, I went and looked at the research and couldn't find substantial evidence to support the protein digestion capacity claim, and so deleted that paragraph. But- to be fair- I did find enough evidence to challenge your assertion that the claim was "unfounded."
Dr. Matt
I’m sapna, a 21-year-old software engineer. I live in thailand , I write subtitles for TV. I like your blog its really awesome.
ReplyDeleteDo visit one of my blog for paleo diet