Paleolithic diet article

[Guest guest]

I'm posting this but do not necessarily agree with it......

Washington Post

By Ianzito

Saturday, January 2, 2010

Here's a question for the weight-conscious: How often do you see a fat

caveman? Exactly. Maybe excepting Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble, most

portrayals of the people who lived 12,000 years ago depict svelte folks

baring rock-hard -- if hairy -- abs. What's their secret? Surely it's great

exercise to be out chasing woolly mammoths and foraging for berries all day.

And it helped that there were no Fruity Pebbles or venti white chocolate

mochas hundreds of generations ago.

But, seriously, what if we ate like our Paleolithic ancestors? That would be

lots of lean meats, nuts, fresh fruits and vegetables; no grains, salt,

sugar, legumes or dairy products. Some people do, and it's called the Paleo

diet -- short for Paleolithic, which refers to the era before agriculture

took hold, a movement away from a hunter-gatherer lifestyle that resulted in

settled societies, and, eventually, Twinkies and couch potatoes.

The idea is not as weird as it sounds, says Jeremias, a jewelry

artist and research assistant at the American Institutes for Research, as

she strolled through the P Street Whole Foods Market recently. After nine

months of following the meal plan religiously (with minor lapses for

chocolate's sake), Jeremias, 27, says " eating Paleo " has beaten back

debilitating migraines. She insists she sleeps better, her allergy symptoms

have disappeared, her mood has improved, and -- not her goal but a nice

bonus -- she has shaved 10 pounds off her solid 5-foot-5 frame.

" I did get a cold, I think, like a few months ago, " she adds, " but it was so

mild that it was almost hard to tell if I was sick. "

What's not to like? Only giving up things like rice, which sometimes feels

strange when she visits her Vietnamese mother in Woodbridge, where Jeremias

grew up. But she's getting used to adaptations, such as forgoing noodles in

her pho, or using coconut flakes mixed with almond meal for flour.

She has a system. At Whole Foods, wearing a vintage-ish white dress over

blue tights and tall black boots, she plops organic apples, ginger, avocado,

parsley and crisp fennel into her cart, but skips quickly past the aisles

stocked with bread and pasta. From the dairy sections she grabs only a

half-gallon of coconut milk and a pint of Coconut Bliss ice cream made with

coconut milk and agave ( " Finding Paleo-friendly ice cream was like the holy

grail for me, " she says). She looks longingly at but bypasses a table of

chocolate, considers turkey jerky for a snack, and picks wild-caught

yellowfin tuna to cook for lunch. It's $19.99 a pound.

" I was taught to never feel bad about spending money on food and what I put

in my body, " she says.

She figures she spends $100 a week for groceries, and puts effort into

preparing meals that are " really beautiful and really delicious. . . . It

makes me really happy about being on this diet and staying on it. "

She started the diet last spring on the advice of her fitness coaches at

CrossFit MPH near Logan Circle, which offers nutrition counseling with its

supervised, high-intensity group workouts. Her coach Main says there's

no fancy electronic equipment, but a lot of old-fashioned calisthenics --

" very prehistoric movements. "

Main says at least half of his gym's 80 or so members follow the diet pretty

consistently, thanks to his convincing pitch that " this is how our human

bodies have evolved to consume and process our nutrition " before the " onset

of modern agriculture. " ( " Modern agriculture " can sound like a disease in

Paleo-speak.)

He has followed the diet himself for two years, and believes he's better

able to power through tough workouts, recovers from intense exercise more

quickly and has greater " mental clarity. "

The scientific premise, as Main suggests, is that our dietary needs were

formed 500 generations ago and are nearly identical to those of Stone Agers.

This was first proposed in the 1980s, but popularized with 2002's " The Paleo

Diet, " by Loren Cordain, a professor at Colorado State University. Cordain

points to Paleo man's proper balance of omega-3 and omega-6 fats, a balance

that would have prevented chronic heart conditions. He also details the

havoc starchy carbohydrates cause for blood glucose and insulin levels and

the toxicity of sodium.

Cordain writes that our Paleolithic ancestors were " lean, fit and free from

heart disease and other ailments that plague Western countries. " Now, he

adds: " Look at us. We're a mess. We eat too much, we eat the wrong foods,

and we're fat. "

No argument on that last part.

It's near impossible to even guesstimate how many people are eating Paleo,

but you'd likely find followers at one of the 1,000-plus CrossFit affiliates

across the country, including at least 15 in the Washington area. Most are

educating their clients about eating Paleo, says LaLanne, owner of

LaLanne Fitness in San Francisco and the grandnephew of the fitness guru

Jack LaLanne. The younger LaLanne is a writer for Cordain's Web site,

http://www.thepaleodiet.com.

The shadow of doubt

Of course, there are skeptics. Harvard professor of social sciences and

paleontology expert Pilbeam writes by e-mail: " I think it's quite

possible there have been at least some genetic changes since the Neolithic

[the period after the Paleolithic when anthropologists think farming was

born] that would modify digestive processes (enzymes, etc.) to adjust to

what have been in many cases quite radically transformed diets, " and he

points to most modern humans' ability to digest milk.

Jeremias is tired of feeling like she has to defend what she chooses to eat,

and has reached a point at which she's not concerned with the nitty-gritty

of the scientific data. " I feel like I shouldn't have to be an encyclopedia

of medical research, " she says. What's important is that she's never felt

healthier.

Still, she says, " I hesitate to talk about it sometimes, especially with my

friends because I feel like I'm kind of a weird eater now. " Her best friend,

a vegetarian, teases Jeremias by calling her a paleontologist.

Jeremias lives in a group house in Mount Pleasant with four other people in

their 20s, including one who's into drinking green health shakes, a

quasi-vegetarian and, according to his housemates, a " pizza-by-the-slice

guy. " Jeremias keeps her own white mini-fridge on top of her housemates'

beer fridge (Jeremias rarely drinks alcohol, which is not strictly Paleo).

In September she attempted to wow her housemates with a five-course

Paleolithic extravaganza, she says, " so they can understand why I'd want to

eat this way. " It worked, though not to the point of converting anyone.

Shoup admits, " We were kind of skeptical at first, " but then came that

dinner: sesame tuna; lettuce wraps with ground turkey and veggies in an

almond-butter sauce; a fennel-and-apple salad; a " pasta " dish made with

spaghetti squash noodles and coconut milk; and roasted asparagus. While

Jeremias is out of earshot preparing lunch after the shopping trip, Shoup

reports, " It was amazing. "

Modernity does intrude, even for the most ardent Paleophile. Dark chocolate

" is my cheat, " Jeremias admits. " Everybody has that one thing that they need

for their sanity. " She sometimes puts chocolate chips in her Paleo pancakes

(almond-nut butter, eggs, unsweetened applesauce, vanilla and cinnamon fried

in coconut oil).

But now when she does eat off the diet: " I immediately feel physically ill,

bloated and really lethargic. I think [before eating Paleo] I was probably

feeling like that all the time. "

[Guest guest]

Thank you for this interesting article, Francesca. So many theories to choose from! What's a person who is trying to maintain a "healthy lifestyle" to do? For me, I read all the options that I intuitively think are "rational and have some scientific backing", and try to maintain balance and "listen to my body". Have a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year!

Best regards,

Ed Urbanski

Greendale, Wisconsin

From: Francesca Skelton <fskelton@...>Subject: [ ] Paleolithic diet article"support group" < >Date: Saturday, January 2, 2010, 11:29 AM

I'm posting this but do not necessarily agree with it......Washington PostBy IanzitoSaturday, January 2, 2010Here's a question for the weight-conscious: How often do you see a fatcaveman? Exactly. Maybe excepting Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble, mostportrayals of the people who lived 12,000 years ago depict svelte folksbaring rock-hard -- if hairy -- abs. What's their secret? Surely it's greatexercise to be out chasing woolly mammoths and foraging for berries all day.And it helped that there were no Fruity Pebbles or venti white chocolatemochas hundreds of generations ago.But, seriously, what if we ate like our Paleolithic ancestors? That would belots of lean meats, nuts, fresh fruits and vegetables; no grains, salt,sugar, legumes or dairy products. Some people do, and it's called the Paleodiet -- short for Paleolithic, which refers to the era before agriculturetook

hold, a movement away from a hunter-gatherer lifestyle that resulted insettled societies, and, eventually, Twinkies and couch potatoes.The idea is not as weird as it sounds, says Jeremias, a jewelryartist and research assistant at the American Institutes for Research, asshe strolled through the P Street Whole Foods Market recently. After ninemonths of following the meal plan religiously (with minor lapses forchocolate's sake), Jeremias, 27, says "eating Paleo" has beaten backdebilitating migraines. She insists she sleeps better, her allergy symptomshave disappeared, her mood has improved, and -- not her goal but a nicebonus -- she has shaved 10 pounds off her solid 5-foot-5 frame."I did get a cold, I think, like a few months ago," she adds, "but it was somild that it was almost hard to tell if I was sick."What's not to like? Only giving up things like rice, which sometimes

feelsstrange when she visits her Vietnamese mother in Woodbridge, where Jeremiasgrew up. But she's getting used to adaptations, such as forgoing noodles inher pho, or using coconut flakes mixed with almond meal for flour.She has a system. At Whole Foods, wearing a vintage-ish white dress overblue tights and tall black boots, she plops organic apples, ginger, avocado,parsley and crisp fennel into her cart, but skips quickly past the aislesstocked with bread and pasta. From the dairy sections she grabs only ahalf-gallon of coconut milk and a pint of Coconut Bliss ice cream made withcoconut milk and agave ("Finding Paleo-friendly ice cream was like the holygrail for me," she says). She looks longingly at but bypasses a table ofchocolate, considers turkey jerky for a snack, and picks wild-caughtyellowfin tuna to cook for lunch. It's $19.99 a pound."I was taught to never feel bad about spending

money on food and what I putin my body," she says.She figures she spends $100 a week for groceries, and puts effort intopreparing meals that are "really beautiful and really delicious. . . . Itmakes me really happy about being on this diet and staying on it."She started the diet last spring on the advice of her fitness coaches atCrossFit MPH near Logan Circle, which offers nutrition counseling with itssupervised, high-intensity group workouts. Her coach Main says there'sno fancy electronic equipment, but a lot of old-fashioned calisthenics --"very prehistoric movements."Main says at least half of his gym's 80 or so members follow the diet prettyconsistently, thanks to his convincing pitch that "this is how our humanbodies have evolved to consume and process our nutrition" before the "onsetof modern agriculture. " ("Modern agriculture" can sound like a disease inPaleo-speak.

)He has followed the diet himself for two years, and believes he's betterable to power through tough workouts, recovers from intense exercise morequickly and has greater "mental clarity."The scientific premise, as Main suggests, is that our dietary needs wereformed 500 generations ago and are nearly identical to those of Stone Agers.This was first proposed in the 1980s, but popularized with 2002's "The PaleoDiet," by Loren Cordain, a professor at Colorado State University. Cordainpoints to Paleo man's proper balance of omega-3 and omega-6 fats, a balancethat would have prevented chronic heart conditions. He also details thehavoc starchy carbohydrates cause for blood glucose and insulin levels andthe toxicity of sodium.Cordain writes that our Paleolithic ancestors were "lean, fit and free fromheart disease and other ailments that plague Western countries." Now, headds: "Look at us. We're

a mess. We eat too much, we eat the wrong foods,and we're fat."No argument on that last part.It's near impossible to even guesstimate how many people are eating Paleo,but you'd likely find followers at one of the 1,000-plus CrossFit affiliatesacross the country, including at least 15 in the Washington area. Most areeducating their clients about eating Paleo, says LaLanne, owner ofLaLanne Fitness in San Francisco and the grandnephew of the fitness guruJack LaLanne. The younger LaLanne is a writer for Cordain's Web site,http://www.thepaleo diet.com.The shadow of doubtOf course, there are skeptics. Harvard professor of social sciences andpaleontology expert Pilbeam writes by e-mail: "I think it's quitepossible there have been at least some genetic changes since the Neolithic[the period after the

Paleolithic when anthropologists think farming wasborn] that would modify digestive processes (enzymes, etc.) to adjust towhat have been in many cases quite radically transformed diets," and hepoints to most modern humans' ability to digest milk.Jeremias is tired of feeling like she has to defend what she chooses to eat,and has reached a point at which she's not concerned with the nitty-grittyof the scientific data. "I feel like I shouldn't have to be an encyclopediaof medical research," she says. What's important is that she's never felthealthier.Still, she says, "I hesitate to talk about it sometimes, especially with myfriends because I feel like I'm kind of a weird eater now." Her best friend,a vegetarian, teases Jeremias by calling her a paleontologist.Jeremias lives in a group house in Mount Pleasant with four other people intheir 20s, including one who's into drinking green health

shakes, aquasi-vegetarian and, according to his housemates, a "pizza-by-the- sliceguy." Jeremias keeps her own white mini-fridge on top of her housemates'beer fridge (Jeremias rarely drinks alcohol, which is not strictly Paleo).In September she attempted to wow her housemates with a five-coursePaleolithic extravaganza, she says, "so they can understand why I'd want toeat this way." It worked, though not to the point of converting anyone. Shoup admits, "We were kind of skeptical at first," but then came thatdinner: sesame tuna; lettuce wraps with ground turkey and veggies in analmond-butter sauce; a fennel-and-apple salad; a "pasta" dish made withspaghetti squash noodles and coconut milk; and roasted asparagus. WhileJeremias is out of earshot preparing lunch after the shopping trip, Shoupreports, "It was amazing."Modernity does intrude, even for the most ardent Paleophile. Dark

chocolate"is my cheat," Jeremias admits. "Everybody has that one thing that they needfor their sanity." She sometimes puts chocolate chips in her Paleo pancakes(almond-nut butter, eggs, unsweetened applesauce, vanilla and cinnamon friedin coconut oil).But now when she does eat off the diet: "I immediately feel physically ill,bloated and really lethargic. I think [before eating Paleo] I was probablyfeeling like that all the time."

[Guest guest]

Hi Francesca:

This reminds me of an expensive brand of cat food that was making all kinds of

claims about how healthy it was for cats. So I emailed their customer relations

department and asked for the evidence on which those claims were based. I asked

if they would please send me references to studies showing that cats fed their

brand of cat food were healthier or lived longer than those fed the much less

expensive major national brands of cat food.

Naturally I got no reply.

Or an advertising blurb an overweight friend sent me a couple of weeks ago

claiming that one individual lost 55 pounds in four months because of exercising

(doing it their way) twelve minutes a day. They provided journal references,

but of course they in no way supported these, obviously ridiculous - work out

the numbers - claims.

It might be helpful if some references were provided indicating that

people/animals on a paleo diet are healthier or live longer than those eating a

sensible diet (we all have a pretty good idea about what most of us here regard

as a sensible diet).

Of course, we know full well that if we were to ask we would never be sent any

serious references. But I would certainly be willing to read the abstracts of

any that were provided. And if some were sent I doubt I would be impressed.

Rodney.

>

> I'm posting this but do not necessarily agree with it......

>

>

> Washington Post

> By Ianzito

> Saturday, January 2, 2010

>

> Here's a question for the weight-conscious: How often do you see a fat

> caveman? Exactly. Maybe excepting Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble, most

> portrayals of the people who lived 12,000 years ago depict svelte folks

> baring rock-hard -- if hairy -- abs. What's their secret? Surely it's great

> exercise to be out chasing woolly mammoths and foraging for berries all day.

> And it helped that there were no Fruity Pebbles or venti white chocolate

> mochas hundreds of generations ago.

>

> But, seriously, what if we ate like our Paleolithic ancestors? That would be

> lots of lean meats, nuts, fresh fruits and vegetables; no grains, salt,

> sugar, legumes or dairy products. Some people do, and it's called the Paleo

> diet -- short for Paleolithic, which refers to the era before agriculture

> took hold, a movement away from a hunter-gatherer lifestyle that resulted in

> settled societies, and, eventually, Twinkies and couch potatoes.

>

> The idea is not as weird as it sounds, says Jeremias, a jewelry

> artist and research assistant at the American Institutes for Research, as

> she strolled through the P Street Whole Foods Market recently. After nine

> months of following the meal plan religiously (with minor lapses for

> chocolate's sake), Jeremias, 27, says " eating Paleo " has beaten back

> debilitating migraines. She insists she sleeps better, her allergy symptoms

> have disappeared, her mood has improved, and -- not her goal but a nice

> bonus -- she has shaved 10 pounds off her solid 5-foot-5 frame.

>

> " I did get a cold, I think, like a few months ago, " she adds, " but it was so

> mild that it was almost hard to tell if I was sick. "

>

> What's not to like? Only giving up things like rice, which sometimes feels

> strange when she visits her Vietnamese mother in Woodbridge, where Jeremias

> grew up. But she's getting used to adaptations, such as forgoing noodles in

> her pho, or using coconut flakes mixed with almond meal for flour.

>

> She has a system. At Whole Foods, wearing a vintage-ish white dress over

> blue tights and tall black boots, she plops organic apples, ginger, avocado,

> parsley and crisp fennel into her cart, but skips quickly past the aisles

> stocked with bread and pasta. From the dairy sections she grabs only a

> half-gallon of coconut milk and a pint of Coconut Bliss ice cream made with

> coconut milk and agave ( " Finding Paleo-friendly ice cream was like the holy

> grail for me, " she says). She looks longingly at but bypasses a table of

> chocolate, considers turkey jerky for a snack, and picks wild-caught

> yellowfin tuna to cook for lunch. It's $19.99 a pound.

>

> " I was taught to never feel bad about spending money on food and what I put

> in my body, " she says.

>

> She figures she spends $100 a week for groceries, and puts effort into

> preparing meals that are " really beautiful and really delicious. . . . It

> makes me really happy about being on this diet and staying on it. "

>

> She started the diet last spring on the advice of her fitness coaches at

> CrossFit MPH near Logan Circle, which offers nutrition counseling with its

> supervised, high-intensity group workouts. Her coach Main says there's

> no fancy electronic equipment, but a lot of old-fashioned calisthenics --

> " very prehistoric movements. "

>

> Main says at least half of his gym's 80 or so members follow the diet pretty

> consistently, thanks to his convincing pitch that " this is how our human

> bodies have evolved to consume and process our nutrition " before the " onset

> of modern agriculture. " ( " Modern agriculture " can sound like a disease in

> Paleo-speak.)

>

> He has followed the diet himself for two years, and believes he's better

> able to power through tough workouts, recovers from intense exercise more

> quickly and has greater " mental clarity. "

>

> The scientific premise, as Main suggests, is that our dietary needs were

> formed 500 generations ago and are nearly identical to those of Stone Agers.

> This was first proposed in the 1980s, but popularized with 2002's " The Paleo

> Diet, " by Loren Cordain, a professor at Colorado State University. Cordain

> points to Paleo man's proper balance of omega-3 and omega-6 fats, a balance

> that would have prevented chronic heart conditions. He also details the

> havoc starchy carbohydrates cause for blood glucose and insulin levels and

> the toxicity of sodium.

>

> Cordain writes that our Paleolithic ancestors were " lean, fit and free from

> heart disease and other ailments that plague Western countries. " Now, he

> adds: " Look at us. We're a mess. We eat too much, we eat the wrong foods,

> and we're fat. "

>

> No argument on that last part.

>

> It's near impossible to even guesstimate how many people are eating Paleo,

> but you'd likely find followers at one of the 1,000-plus CrossFit affiliates

> across the country, including at least 15 in the Washington area. Most are

> educating their clients about eating Paleo, says LaLanne, owner of

> LaLanne Fitness in San Francisco and the grandnephew of the fitness guru

> Jack LaLanne. The younger LaLanne is a writer for Cordain's Web site,

> http://www.thepaleodiet.com.

>

> The shadow of doubt

>

> Of course, there are skeptics. Harvard professor of social sciences and

> paleontology expert Pilbeam writes by e-mail: " I think it's quite

> possible there have been at least some genetic changes since the Neolithic

> [the period after the Paleolithic when anthropologists think farming was

> born] that would modify digestive processes (enzymes, etc.) to adjust to

> what have been in many cases quite radically transformed diets, " and he

> points to most modern humans' ability to digest milk.

>

> Jeremias is tired of feeling like she has to defend what she chooses to eat,

> and has reached a point at which she's not concerned with the nitty-gritty

> of the scientific data. " I feel like I shouldn't have to be an encyclopedia

> of medical research, " she says. What's important is that she's never felt

> healthier.

>

> Still, she says, " I hesitate to talk about it sometimes, especially with my

> friends because I feel like I'm kind of a weird eater now. " Her best friend,

> a vegetarian, teases Jeremias by calling her a paleontologist.

>

> Jeremias lives in a group house in Mount Pleasant with four other people in

> their 20s, including one who's into drinking green health shakes, a

> quasi-vegetarian and, according to his housemates, a " pizza-by-the-slice

> guy. " Jeremias keeps her own white mini-fridge on top of her housemates'

> beer fridge (Jeremias rarely drinks alcohol, which is not strictly Paleo).

> In September she attempted to wow her housemates with a five-course

> Paleolithic extravaganza, she says, " so they can understand why I'd want to

> eat this way. " It worked, though not to the point of converting anyone.

>

> Shoup admits, " We were kind of skeptical at first, " but then came that

> dinner: sesame tuna; lettuce wraps with ground turkey and veggies in an

> almond-butter sauce; a fennel-and-apple salad; a " pasta " dish made with

> spaghetti squash noodles and coconut milk; and roasted asparagus. While

> Jeremias is out of earshot preparing lunch after the shopping trip, Shoup

> reports, " It was amazing. "

>

> Modernity does intrude, even for the most ardent Paleophile. Dark chocolate

> " is my cheat, " Jeremias admits. " Everybody has that one thing that they need

> for their sanity. " She sometimes puts chocolate chips in her Paleo pancakes

> (almond-nut butter, eggs, unsweetened applesauce, vanilla and cinnamon fried

> in coconut oil).

>

> But now when she does eat off the diet: " I immediately feel physically ill,

> bloated and really lethargic. I think [before eating Paleo] I was probably

> feeling like that all the time. "

>

[Guest guest]

hi Francesca

i find some questionable things with this. the dieter

hails from a Vietnamese family. most Vietnamese are

very thin and they eat rice as a staple. i can

understand avoiding breads and pastas, but not rice.

and then, grabbing coconut milk and ice cream in the

dairy aisle? that doesn't appear prudent.

cheers,

Arturo

Paleolithic diet article

Posted by: " Francesca Skelton " fskelton@... fskelton2002

Sat Jan 2, 2010 9:29 am (PST)

<snip> Only giving up things like rice, which sometimes feels

strange when she visits her Vietnamese mother in Woodbridge, where Jeremias

grew up.<snip>

<snip>From the dairy sections she grabs only a half-gallon of coconut milk and a

pint of Coconut Bliss ice cream made with coconut milk and agave>