Paleo Diet

The Paleo Diet (http://www.thepaleodiet.com/) is based off the idea of eating how our ancestors ate thousands of years ago - therefore NO legumes (soy, peanuts, beans), cereal grains, potatoes, dairy, sugar, processed foods...actually it is easier to say what is in then what is out.
Paleo includes:

• LEAN Meat (red; beef, deer ect.; white: pork, turkey, chicken etc; water: fish/crabs/shrimp etc.)
• Fruit
• Veggies (no starchy veggies, except yams ok)
• Nuts (except cashews) and oils (olive)

***

Encouraged Foods Lean Meats  Lean beef (trimmed of visible fat) Flank steak Top sirloin steak Extra-lean hamburger (no more than 7% fat, extra fat drained off) London broil Chuck steak Lean veal Any other lean cut Lean pork (trimmed of visible fat) Pork loin Pork chops Any other lean cut Lean poultry (white meat, skin removed) Chicken breast Turkey breast Game hen breasts Eggs (limit to six a week) Chicken (go for the enriched omega 3 variety) Duck Goose Other meats Rabbit meat (any cut) Goat meat (any cut) Organ meats Beef, lamb, pork, and chicken livers Beef, pork, and lamb tongues Beef, lamb, and pork marrow Beef, lamb, and pork “sweetbreads” Game meat Alligator Bear Bison (buffalo) Caribou Elk Emu Goose Kangaroo Muscovy duck New Zealand cervena deer Ostrich Pheasant Quail Rattlesnake Reindeer Squab Turtle Venison Wild boar Wild turkey Fish Bass Bluefish Cod Drum Eel Flatfish Grouper Haddock Halibut Herring Mackerel Monkfish Mullet Northern pike Orange roughy Perch Red snapper Rockfish Salmon Scrod Shark Striped bass Sunfish Tilapia Trout Tuna Turbot Walleye Any other commercially available fish Shellfish Abalone Clams Crab Crayfish Lobster Mussels Oysters Scallops Shrimp Fruit Apple Apricot Avocado Banana Blackberries Blueberries Boysenberries Cantaloupe Carambola Cassava melon Cherimoya Cherries Cranberries Figs Gooseberries Grapefruit Grapes Guava Honeydew melon Kiwi Lemon Lime Lychee Mango Nectarine Orange Papaya Passion fruit Peaches Pears Persimmon Pineapple Plums Pomegranate Raspberries Rhubarb Star fruit Strawberries Tangerine Watermelon All other fruits Vegetables Artichoke Asparagus Beet greens Beets Bell peppers Broccoli Brussels sprouts Cabbage Carrots Cauliflower Celery Collards Cucumber Dandelion Eggplant Endive Green onions Kale Kohlrabi Lettuce Mushrooms Mustard greens Onions Parsley Parsnip Peppers (all kinds) Pumpkin Purslane Radish Rutabaga Seaweed Spinach Squash (all kinds) Swiss chard Tomatillos Tomato (actually a fruit, but most people think of it as a vegetable) Turnip greens Turnips Watercress

Encouraged Foods Nuts and Seeds Almonds Brazil nuts Cashews Chestnuts Hazelnuts (filberts) Macadamia nuts Pecans Pine nuts Pistachios (unsalted) Pumpkin seeds Sesame seeds Sunflower seeds Walnuts Foods To Be Eaten In Moderation Oils Olive, avocado, walnut, flaxseed, and canola oils (use in moderation—4 tablespoons or less a day when weight loss is of primary importance) Beverages Diet sodas (These often contain artificial sweeteners such as aspartame and saccharine, which may be harmful; you’re better off drinking bottled and mineral waters.) Coffee Tea Wine (two 4-ounce glasses; Note: Don’t buy “cooking wine,” which is loaded with salt.) Beer (one 12-ounce serving) Spirits (4 ounces) Paleo Sweets Dried fruits (no more than 2 ounces a day, particularly if you are trying to lose weight) Nuts mixed with dried and fresh fruits (no more than 4 ounces of nuts and 2 ounces of dried fruit a day, particularly if you are trying to lose weight) Foods You Should Avoid Dairy Foods All processed foods made with any dairy products Butter Cheese Cream Dairy spreads Frozen yogurt Ice cream Ice milk Low-fat milk Nonfat dairy creamer Powdered milk Skim milk Whole milk Yogurt Cereal Grains Barley (barley soup, barley bread, and all processed foods made with barley) Corn (corn on the cob, corn tortillas, corn chips, corn starch, corn syrup) Millet Oats (steel-cut oats, rolled oats, and all processed foods made with oats) Rice (brown rice, white rice, top ramen, rice noodles, bas mati rice, rice cakes, Rice flour (all processed foods made with rice) Rye (rye bread, rye crackers, and all processed foods made with rye) Sorghum Wheat (bread, rolls, muffins, noodles, crackers, cookies, cake, doughnuts, pancakes, waffles, pasta, spaghetti, lasagna, wheat tortillas, pizza, pita bread, flat bread, and all processed foods made with wheat or wheat flour) Wild rice Cereal Grainlike Seeds Amaranth Buckwheat Quinoa Legumes All beans (adzuki beans, black beans, broad beans, fava beans, field beans, garbanzo beans, horse beans, kidney beans, lima beans, mung beans, navy beans, pinto beans, red beans, string beans, white beans) Black-eyed peas Chickpeas Lentils Peas Miso Peanut butter Peanuts Snowpeas Sugar snap peas Soybeans and all soybean products, including tofu Starchy Vegetables Starchy tubers Cassava root Manioc Potatoes and all potato products (French fries, potato chips, etc.) Sweet potatoes Tapioca pudding Yams Salt-Containing Foods Almost all commercial salad dressings and condiments Bacon Cheese Deli meats Frankfurters Ham Hot dogs Ketchup Olives Pickled foods Pork rinds Processed meats Salami Salted nuts Salted spices Sausages Smoked, dried, and salted fish and meat Virtually all canned meats and fish (unless they are unsalted or unless you soak and drain them) Fatty Meats Bacon Beef ribs Chicken and turkey legs Chicken and turkey skin Chicken and turkey thighs and wings• Fatty beef roasts Fatty cuts of beef Fatty ground beef Fatty pork chops Fatty pork roasts Lamb chops Lamb roasts Leg of lamb Pork ribs Pork sausage T—bone steaks Soft Drinks and Fruit Juices All sugary soft drinks Canned, bottled, and freshly squeezed fruit drinks (which lack the fiber of fresh fruit and have a much higher glvcemic index) Sweets Candy Honey Sugars

The important thing about the Paleo Diet is that it is focused around the 40% carbs (from fruits and veggies), 30% fats (from nuts and oils), 30% protein (lean meats).

I don't agree with the fundamental ideology of the Paleo Diet; being that we need to eat like our ancestors did because that is the way we are genetically developed to consume.  It has been through thousands of years of evolution that we have adapted to all of the "forbidden" foods in the Paleo Diet.  The reason I think this is a great way of eating is because it is focused on simple things: fresh, organic, unprocessed foods - foods packed with loads of nutrients and no chemicals.  It also is structured to limit your intake of bad saturated fats (side-note: not all saturated fats are bad, coconut oil is one of the best fats you can consume and it is mainly saturated.  Eggs and meat also include good saturated fats - but can be consumed in excess which creates a problem - most bad saturated fats come in processed foods).  It also eliminates simple sugars outside of fruit and limits fruit to AM (breakfast) or if you are an athlete around when you work out (ie. pre and post).  A typical day on the Paleo diet for an athlete looks something like this:

wake up

-Oatmeal (you can only eat cereal grains around work-outs) or eggs and fresh fruit

(Work-out)

-post-work out recovery of carbs and protein (ie. fruit and meat or a protein powder)

Lunch: salad with meat and vegetables with an omega salad dressing

pre-workout snack:

fruit and nuts

(Work-out)

post-workout recovery of carbs and protein

Dinner: lean meat cooked in a small amount of olive oil with steamed veggies with some olive oil

A controversy of the Paleo Diet is CARBOHYDRATES:
Many believe that carbs are the source of what makes us FAT.  Their case is that carbohydrates are the easiest form of energy to digest and assimilate into glucose which is the easiest form of nutrition to store as a glycerol (fat).  Therefore if a high concentration of carbohydrates are consumed what is not used as energy in that moment will be stored as fat, and because they are digested quickly that will mean that you will go through more calorie requirements but not use all of them.  What does this mean?  That you should eat small amounts of carbohydrates throughout your day to fuel your life.  Because then you will be feeding your body the right amount of energy when it needs it.  That is the emphasis of the paleo diet because you eat carbohydrates in the form of fruits/veggies and sometimes whole grains and therefore you are eating them with other proteins/fats and they are digested slower and throughout your day.  You are also not eating any simple sugars without protein, fat, fiber and so you are not spiking your insulin levels to create fat storage - your insulin levels and thyroid function can stay level all day which increases your metabolism and decreases your hunger.

The questions I got a lot on the Paleo Diet were:

• So you do not eat any carbs?  All Fruits, Veggies, Whole grains, Sweet Potatoes are carbohydrates - eating an apple or 100 calories of soda = the same amount of carbohydrate calories consumed - the major difference and why you would eat the apple over the soda is that the apple comes with vitamins, minerals, and fiber to slow down digestion of the sugars and therefore does not spike your blood sugar = fat storage.  This is the major difference between all commercial carbs and whole food carbs:  Nutritional depth
• Are you on the Atkins diet? NO - for one there is no dairy and this diet is specifically geared to significantly lower your intake of animal saturated fats which are favored on the Atkins diet.  Paleo also emphasizes you increase your intake of all fruits/veggies whereas the Atkins limits all Carbs, even the whole food ones.  Most importantly because of the emphasis on veggies you do NOT go into Ketosis on the Paleo diet - you have enough glucose stored in your body because you replenish is with whole food carbohydrates. (side note - if you smell ammonia while or after working out you are in Ketosis and need to eat carbs right away! - this is a sensory reaction to protein break-down in your body due to too little energy - I recommend honey or fruit)
• How do you have enough energy?  I eat plenty of fruits and veggies and when I need them whole grains and sweet potatoes (side note - only eat organic sweet and reg potatoes) - also eating dietary fats = lots of energy and increase your metabolic ability to break down your own body fat as energy.