Hello everybody!
Has anyone tried the Paleo diet? I'm on my third day, going to try it for 2 months so I can have an educated opinion. I'd like to hear your thoughts on this
eating program (sounds better than diet!).
Thanx alot,

WBF

I agree,,, "eating program" does sound better than diet.
I've known a couple of people who have tried the Paleo diet but I've lost touch with them and can't comment on the results.
At face value it makes sense but like any other "eating program" you have to find out for yourself.

Anxious to see how this goes for you.

Thanx for responding lift, I will post my experience with this program soon.

Brian

If I'm not mistaken, the Paleo diet shuns all dairy (since Paleolithic man certainly consumed no dairy), but it also eliminates whole grains, beans, and other modern agricultural products. Is this the strain of the Paleo diet that you're following?

Yes it is. I wondered about cutting out all grains, since I was an avid oatmeal eater for a long time. I thought I would miss cheese more than I do, but I have not even thought of it.

I'm also starting Paleo after being totally raw for eleven weeks. I'm trying the Paleo challenge over at Mark's Daily Apple. Raw was NOT good for me, I'm excited to drop all the nuts and add back meat and lots of cooked veggies. I do drink raw milk though, but no cheeses.

I haven't had raw milk since my early childhood,,, really hard to come by these days. I'm glad that you are able to find some.
Raw sounds tough though its probably an excellent way to clean up and start over.

I wish you the best on the new diet plan,, anxious to hear how this goes for you.

I thought I'd throw in my two cents on the paleo thing because I tried it out for awhile. I'd say that I've settled into a kind of modified paleo in a way, but really when you look at it paleo is not that dissimilar from a bodybuilders diet...

Although it depends on which paleo you are talking about.

Mark's Daily Apple (google it) has some very interesing info on the subject and quite a few people have found success on his plan. Personally, it had no effect on my body either way. I had hoped to loose fat but nothing happened. I think that some people who are really addicted to carbs like processed foods/bread find great success on his plan. I do not have this problem, I really don't like bread. Personally I think his eating plan has way too much fat in it. I don't think paleolithic people really ate that much fat - it's a high energy source that was relatively hard to come by. Wild animals are not nearly as fatty as our domestic ones...and hunting is difficult - so I really don't believe in the loads of fat idea. It's kinda scary actually.

Loren Cordain was one of the first researchers to espouse paleo eating. I tend to lean more in his direction - lean meats & vegetables making up the bulk of the diet. Sounds pretty similar to standard bodybuilding right?

Anyway, I'd love to hear if anyone else has had sucess with paleo or is trying it out now...

I think "low carb" is a good way to go for many people. I know people who were technically obese, who lost a ton of weight when they tried Paleo. How awesome is it in the long term, especially for athletes who train intensely? I don't know.
This is a very well-balanced article about pros/cons of paleo--->[url=http://http://www.jonbarron.org/weight-loss/paleo-diet-review-good-bad]GREAT PALEO REVIEW[/url]
Keep us posted!
~ jeni gunn

While it is clearly beneficial to remove some "modern" foods from one's diet, such as buttery IHOP pancakes and sugary Coke, it is foolish, and perhaps downright silly, to shun beans and legumes just because cavemen did not eat them. In fact, legumes are one of the few foods found to be consumed by all the longest lived populations -- see the meticulously researched "Blue Zones" studies. In contrast, these longest lived populations eat little or no flesh. So I think the Paleo lifestyle has been pretty much debunked by science, yet it does help its practitioners to remove unhealthy baked goods, fried foods, snacks, etc.

I completely agree with vegan on this point-.
I also personally steer clear of any diet/lifestyle/training program that claims a monopoly on health or success,and this would include many of the "reasons" for the rules of the Paleo lifestyle. I prefer "low carb" and always have naturally eaten this way. However the carbs I DO consume ore diverse and this works for me....? In the article I attached earlier in this thread it illustrates this point exactly! BUT....manipulating/dropping carbs (even temporarily) HAS been proven by science to shed pounds. I say- feed your body how it works for you, and what fits best with your goals.

From what I gather on the shunning beans side it's not necessarily just because cavemen didn't eat them but because they do have a decent amount of lectins in them, which can be irritating or downright poisonous to some people.

Cavemen didn't eat tomatoes, but I think most paleo folk do now.

"Paleo lifestyle has been pretty much debunked by science" - I don't agree, this is just not the case, in fact there hasn't been that much really good research on this subject yet, most research that is cited to "debunk" paleo style diets have had really poor protocols and actually weren't looking directly at paleo diets but at fat in diets (while not controlling for processed sugars, carbs and other factors). Plus, I can recall one study in particular that was using rats...not people.

I like to look at anthropology, paleontology and even recent history to try and decipher what we'd thrive best on. I figure if I eat mostly what I'd find or hunt or catch if I were suddenly thrown out in the woods, that's probably pretty close to what I should be eating. And I can be pretty safe tossing out the processed, man-made crap.

Look at the indigenous Aleut/Eskimo/Sami peoples - they have diets that are very high in meat and have some of the longest lived healthiest people.

I read the research on the Costa Rican population too and yes it's a totally different diet than say the Eskimo one...but still they on average live a long healthy life.

So what's the answer? I dunno - but I'm guessing that it's a number of things--

1. We are amazingly adaptable
2. Might have something to do with unprocessed foods of ALL KINDS
3. I've always suspected that diet and climate may have some correlation - such as populations in colder climates can use dietary fat more efficiently.

Let's be intellectually responsible here, because your statement about lectins may scare some people concerning beans. Lectins are present in some beans, such as kidney beans, but they are destroyed when the beans are cooked. So long as you're not eating raw kidney beans (who does?) then there is no worry. AGAIN, beans and legumes are the foods found in common among the longest lived populations (see the Blue Zones study). The Inuit (Eskimo) certainly were not one of the longest living populations found. The longest-lived peoples consume small amounts of flesh or no flesh at all (in the case of the 7th-Day Adventists here in the USA). In fact the Blue Zones research was done very meticulously to circumvent the problems of hearsay and poor record-keeping about peoples ages, often exaggerated in many cultures.

If you were suddenly thrown out in the woods, you would need to survive on certain foods, of course. That in no way means that those foods are ideal for human health and longevity. I agree that humans are amazingly adaptable, though that does not mean that you'll adapt and have a very long lifespan on whatever diet you choose.

"you'll adapt and have a very long lifespan on whatever diet you choose." - well I certainly didn't mean that, I mean't that people can adapt to many different diets depending on where they live and what's available.

Not all lectins are destroyed when some beans are cooked - maybe my use of the word poisonous was harsh, I'll grant you that. I don't think anyone's gonna be scared off of eating beans if they like them and they tolerate them well. Heck refried black beans are darn yummy.

I've been eating a raw diet (just fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds) for six weeks now and honestly I think it's great. I got a little weaker at first, but after about a month I completely recovered my strength. I lost 15 ibs, and started uping my caloric intake to around 3000 calories a day and have leveled out to 185 (down from 200). I use a handy little gadget called a cronometer (cronometer.com/) that is free. I also bought the app for my phone for like $2. I take in around 600 grams of carbs, but again, only carbs that can be plucked from a tree or plant. once upon a time, if I ate 150 grams of carbs from whole wheat breads, pastas etc. I would start to put on fat, without a great deal of muscle building, so I'm really happy with the raw vegan diet. I never thought I would try something involving not eating meat, but all the crazy vegans eventually got to me. I still eat sweet potatoes (staple from my southern upbringing) made in a food processor with bok choy, dates, nuts, agave and some cacao powder. I also quit doing cardio so that I wouldn't expend any more calories which felt weird, but I'm not a huge cardio fan, so I don't really mind.
I think the most important key to any diet is to first find out how many calories you need to maintain weight without going up or down (assuming your not at an obese level), and then proceed from there with your goals.