The Paleo Diet: I've been reading... - Gluten Free Guerr...

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The Paleo Diet

Lynxcat profile image
8 Replies

I've been reading online how some Coeliacs are turning to a moderated Paleo Diet and finding it useful. Thought this might be of interest to some and perhaps worth both consideration and discussion. Here's a link to explain the theory: aboutpaleodiet.org/

Has anyone either tried something like this or perhaps may be considering trying this so-called 'Cave-man diet?'

Picture from National Geographic.

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Lynxcat profile image
Lynxcat
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violetkathy profile image
violetkathy

Part of eating like a Paleo means excluding grains completely i.e. no Free From stuff with Codex and maize. There seems to be a growing interest in this area. Have a look at theses websites: Glutenology, Truly Gluten Free and The Primal Diet Mark Sissons. I can't tolerate any gluten or wheat or barley in GF products so These websites have been really helpful.

I'm very interested in this and have read a lot about it. It is very like the Atkins Diet. There are lots of blogs around on the subject. Nobody knows what our early ancestors ate exactly but you can be pretty sure that they only started eating grains and legumes in any quantities on the last 10,000 years with the advent of agriculture. For the previous million years it was mainly meat, fish and eggs with occasional and probably seasonal fruit and vegetables. Sugar is of course completely off the menu. If you also suffer from type 2 diabetes it should also interest you.

The argument is that this is the diet we evolved to eat over a million years and will give us optimum health and fitness. The diet we eat now has changed to quickly to allow the human race to evolve with it. If you Google 'Ancestral Health' you will find that the diet is just one strand of a whole host of subjects which include bare foot running and fasting.

The main contentious issue of the diet are that it is high in animal fat and therefore goes against current advice on this. The advocates of this diet point to some studies that suggest the bad fats are actually vegetable oils and hydrogenated fats not saturated animal fats. There is also some research on populations that still eat a hunter/gatherer diet which show they have good health but inevitably the research is done on very small populations. As soon as these people meet civilisation they get introduced to our diet! Whilst the average lifespan of our ancestors was very low (maybe 20 years) it was probably animals and injuries from accidents that killed them, a risk factor we don't have these days. Some research on skeletons of populations who lived at the time that humans developed agriculture suggest the average lifespan decreased and so did their average height.

At the end of the day this is a subject you need to go into with open eyes. For me the fact that we have only been eating huge quantities of grain based foods for 10,000 years and sugar in the last few hundred years explains an awful lot of problems people have these days including obesity and diabetes.

Lynxcat profile image
Lynxcat

My interest in nutrition was born by a book I purchased around thirty years ago by Adele Davis called 'Let's eat right to keep fit.' I initially was lent the book by a work colleague who said 'This will open your eyes.' I had only read the first chapter and went to a book shop and purchased it so that I could read it and digest it at my leisure. (Ref: quackwatch.com/04ConsumerEd...

Since those early days I have consumed many health books. This current trend to eating a 'Paleo' or 'Cave Man' diet first came to light, at least for me, by a casual talk on a sporting radio station when a lady by the name of Zoë Harcombe was explaining why people are increasingly getting wider in the girth and unable to maintain weight loss after they have dieted. She went on to say the more time a person goes on a diet the harder it is for them to lose weight. She specialises at an obesity clinic and out of interest I purchased a couple of her books: The Obesity Epidemic and Stop counting calorie & start losing weight.

zoeharcombe.com/

Copy of a free book written by Zoë Harcombe: zoeharcombe.com/the-knowled...

youtube.com/watch?v=91ee-Bv...

youtube.com/watch?v=6yFLe4Y...

Liana profile image
Liana

I have done extensive research on the Paelo diet and the Specific Carbohydrate diet. Both focus on the elimination of all grains, among other things. I have just spent the last week in and out of hospital due to Peptic Ulser Disease of the Duodeum (my small intestine is acutely inflamed) It has left me on morphine and in agony for the holidays. It was rice that triggered this lastest problem. Now my diet excludes wheat, corn, rice, buckwheat, legumes, tropical fruits, lactose, suphites, coconut, nuts etc. In essence, I will be on the Paelo diet.

My only complaint is that this form of diet doesn't allow for social interaction that focuses around food. I think that the potential for this life style to create feelings of isolation, deprivation and depression are very real. I have always worried about this and that's why I haven't embraced it more fully before. I have found a flour blend that works well for me (equal parts quinoa, sorghum and tapioca with xanthan gum as the binder) I use it for cookies, cakes and muffins. I use a combo of Teff, sorghum, quinoa and tapioca for breads. I make everything myself and eat things as treats once in a while. I have found that allows me to be social when I need to, but maintain my health. This latest episode was my own fault ... pushing the limits over the holidays. I know better, but sometimes it's hard to resist and I think ...well I can cheat a wee bit just this once. Silly me ... now I pay the price for that small indulgance of rice.

I urge everyone to find their own triggers. I believe that while there may be broad universal guidelines, we are each unique, and as a result have unique needs. I'm no doctor...this is just common sense to me.

I wish everyone a happy and safe holiday! Mine will be spent with my mother, children, grandchildren and loving husband ... that's all I really need Ü

Lynxcat profile image
Lynxcat

Not sure whether this will be of any help Liana but someone in my family had duodenal ulcers .. it happened twice to her. Her problems began by having a late breakfast. Her consultant told her that this often triggers problems of the duodenum. (As I said above it may not be of any help to you as you may already eat soon after rising - but thought I'd put a note rather than no note at all.)

Merry Christmas to Everyone! Take care and have fun, fun brings happiness and happiness helps a lot with health.

Liana profile image
Liana in reply to Lynxcat

Thanks for the info Lynxcat... I'll file it away. I didn't respond to the medication they had me on for the Peptic Ulser Disease so now they think it's gallbladder again and I'm going in for a CT-SCAN. Whatever it is its still causing problems almost 4 weeks later... hope they come up with something successful soon...

Sappho profile image
Sappho

I have been considering the Paleo diet but have yet to find a version of it that I agree with. I agree with the basic diet of meat, fish, eggs, veggies and fruit but I finding it amazing that things like coffee are still encouraged while dairy is not. Coffee is not more natural than milk is!

I have decided to change to a diet I follow when I am training for a bodybuilding contest, with protein and veggies, some fruit and olive oil. All the food I eat will be seasonal and locally grown. I think this is an important point...use the foods that grow seasonally in the area in which you live.

I am reacting to many gluten free processed food, probably because of the huge amounts of corn, soya and other additives that are pumped in there to make it taste good. It is time to put a stop me to me eating them and go natural..or as natural as I can.

Liana profile image
Liana in reply to Sappho

I agree Sappo... I make everything myself. I use organic and traditionally raised foods... no chemicals, pesticides, antibiotics, GMOs etc. I eat mostly animal, fish, seafood and poultry protiens, lactose free dairy (especially yoghurt with live cultures), veggies, potatoes, and local fruit in season. I still have terrible digestive issues and can only assume that at my age so much damage has been done it will always be a problem.

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