About Paleo and the Paleo Challenge - Part 5
This is part 5 in a series. Part 4 - Entire series
So Now What the Hell Do I Do?
So what have we added up so far? There's a logical line of reasoning that suggests we'd expect our bodies to be evolutionarily optimized for eating the same things our paleolithic ancestors ate before the dawn of agriculture and animal husbandry 10,000 years ago. That means eating a diet of vegetables, meats, seeds,
nuts, some fruit, very little starch, and no grains, dairy, or added sugars. Through a long series of independent studies conducted by scientists, there is a mounting pile of evidence that this line of reasoning is consistent with how our bodies seem to operate. The Paleolithic diet shows itself effective at preventing and even reversing the causes of obesity, insulin resistance, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, heart arrhythmias, clotting disorders, and digestive issues. There's initial evidence to suggest it's helpful in preventing or even reversing neurodegenerative disease, depression, cancer, autoimmune disorders, arthritis, osteoporosis, and a host of other illness. It's really a remarkably compelling argument.
But even if you've been convinced of all of the scientific evidence and the logical chains that eating Paleo is the healthiest way to live your life, diet is such an integral part of our lifestyle that the prospect of changing a diet regimen is daunting. It makes meals with friends or family complicated, having to explain what must seem to them as peculiar. It makes eating out require more haggling, asking waitstaff to substitute this for that ("what do you mean you want a burger without the bun?). And it means having to plan your meals with a little more foresight and intention.
Having eaten mostly consistent with the Paleo diet for six months and having eaten strictly Paleo for the last five weeks, I can say without hesitation that in my life it has been worth it. I feel better. My body aches less. I sleep better. I don't have energy ups and downs throughout the day, and my mental acuity is consistently sharp. Previously annoying medical issues like alopecia, eczema, and hypoglycemia have basically gone away. My body has gotten leaner and more muscular. It's really the best diet I've ever been on.
But even with all of the anecdotal examples, scientific studies, and persuasive argument, you may still not be ready to change your lifestyle. Don't worry - you can still take something away from all of this.
It's pretty mindboggling just how resilient the human body is. We can do some pretty rough things to our muscles, our skin, our digestive system, and our brains, and somehow, most of the time, our bodies manage to bounce back. Eating grains, dairy, and sugar isn't going to kill you like drinking drain cleaner or liquid nitrogen would kill you (unless you're diabetic, celiac, or afflicted with some other rare condition). What it will likely do, and the extent to which will vary based on the extent of their presence in your diet and variations in individual biology, is make you ill more often, make your mind and body operate less optimally, put you at risk for some pretty unpleasant diseases, and generally degrade your health and quality of life.
It's also not an all-or-nothing game. You can make incremental improvements in your diet and still see massive improvements in your body's function. Maybe for breakfast you skip the orange juice, the sugary coffee drink, the bowl of cereal, or the pancakes - instead you have a pork chop, some eggs, and a cup of coffee with coconut milk. Maybe you pack a lunch of a broccoli crown drizzled in olive oil with some leftover chicken from dinner last night instead of going out for fried rice or pizza downtown. You could even just shift dinner -- instead of accompanying every plate with white rice, potatoes, pasta, or a dinner roll, just double up on the vegetables.
You can also make incremental improvements by giving up certain things that really are some of the worst offenders. Coca-cola and other sugary drinks are an obvious place to start - maybe vow to give those up. Cook and make salads using healthful oils like olive, coconut, and avocado oil. Scratch shortening and foods deep fried in shortening from your diet (basically anything deep fried at a restaurant is fried in shortening unless they say otherwise). Do a little research to find local farms and ranches that sell meats from animals free to graze for their naturally preferred diets.
Incremental changes like this are great steps toward lowering the glycemic load in your diet and improving the fat composition in your foods. It will reduce the anti-nutrients doing damage to your digestive tract; it will increase your intake of vitamins, minerals, and anti-oxidants; it will help you feel full and avoid energy crashes during the day; and it will help you lose weight and avoid cardiovascular disease.
One extremely simple thing you can do, even if you change nothing else, that would have noticeable benefits in your body's overall health is supplement your diet with a good, quality fish oil rich in EPA and DHA omega-3 fatty acids. I recommend Carlson specifically because it doesn't taste like you're spooning down fish oil, it doesn't skimp on EPA and DHA by using a lot of ALA the way other fish oils do, and if you keep the liquid in the fridge, it stays fresh and potent. A week after I added it to my diet, I noticed my joints became far less inflamed after intense workouts and I started sleeping better. Consult a fish oil calculator to figure out how much of your fish oil to be taking.
Now that I'm off the 100% strict Paleo Challenge, I don't keep perfectly strict Paleo anymore. I've had a couple beers and a glass of wine. I knew the ketchup at Bob and Edith's was probably some generic ketchup chock full of corn syrup, but I had some anyway. But for the most part, a lot of the changes have stuck - and having gone through the challenge I'm at a baseline where I can notice stark differences in the way my body functions when I stray a bit from the diet. From there I can make decisions about the trade-offs between the diet and things that make me happy (like bourbon whiskey) even if they aren't Paleo.
But What If I'm Vegan/Vegetarian?
It probably deserves mention that I was vegetarian for 5 years. When I was in college and eating in the dining halls, my food options were limited to what they served me, and there was nothing ethical, natural, or humane about the meats they served. I like to think I'm a conscientious being, and I was uncomfortable eating meats from animals that I knew lived horrific and uncomfortable lives only to be faced with an undignified and gruesome death with zero respect paid in the process for the sacrifice it offered so that my life might be sustained. At the time and at my pay grade, there was no viable option for meats from animals who lived a humane life and faced a dignified death. So I cut out meat entirely. The market has changed now, and I have ready access to meats that are raised with dignity and respect. I'm comfortable eating meat knowing their sacrifice is honored.
If you're vegan or vegetarian because you believe it's healthier for you than the Paleo diet, I respectfully disagree both from my own experience and from my research. In comparing veganism and vegetarianism versus the standard American diet, there are clear and definite benefits to reduced consumption of palmitate and increased consumption of fruits and vegetables, but in the typical vegetarian or vegan diet, where meats once stood, grains and legumes take their place. Vegan and vegetarian diets are very rich in gluten, lectin, and phytates as well as carrying a higher glycemic load. Vegans and vegetarians are at higher risk for diabetes and hypoglycemia, for vitamin and mineral deficiencies, and for autoimmune disorders. It's simply not the diet we evolved to eat.
That being said, if you're a vegan or vegetarian because you believe it's unethical for humans to find food sources from animal products, humanely raised or otherwise, we ought to have a different conversation. I'm in no position to disagree with your ethics. They are your own, and you should follow your heart and intuition in deciding what's right and wrong. Your adherence to that ethical standard means you put yourself at greater risk for personal health complications and diminished quality of life in order that animals will not be raised and slaughtered in your name. Whether that trade-off is worth it is up to you.
I still encourage you to apply some of the nutritional science I've shared with you toward your dietary choices. A lot of manufactured vegetarian and vegan foods rely upon the worst qualities in grains, particularly wheat gluten and hydrolyzed vegetable protein. If you look at the ingredients, for example, on Morningstar Farms breakfast sausage patties, you find wheat gluten and hydrolyzed soy protein as the top ingredients. You should do your best to avoid these ingredients. Don't compensate for the absence of meat or other animal products in your diet by loading up on grains and carbs - instead, load up on vegetables and healthful oils. For vegans, clearly fish oil is off the table, but you still can get your necessary long chain omega-3 fatty acids from sea algae - remember that flax seed only contains ALA, not EPA or DHA.
Questions
I'm always learning more about this diet, and there's always more to learn. I encourage you to please share this series with your friends and family, particularly if you're eating Paleo and need a good resource to share your journey with the people you love. If you have any questions or if I can be of any assistance in helping you decide what's the best way to incorporate this knowledge into your own diet, please don't hesitate to send me an email. I'd be happy to continue writing on this topic.
