What's the Paleo Diet? I'm getting asked this question a lot. The simplest explanation is that the Paleo way of eating tries to mimic "how cavemen ate" or something to that effect, but it goes without saying that that isn't exactly completely possible, since I've traded in my spear and fur clothing for a laptop and a latte. Basically, after reading about it for awhile, I think that the main idea behind it is to eat naturally. Eat foods that have been around for a long time and that we know are good for us--like meat, vegetables, fruits, nuts, coconut, cacao (in the tasty form of dark chocolate), and healthy fats. Don't eat anything found in a box that's loaded with chemicals. Common sense dictates that anything that has a super long shelf life probably isn't going to be easily digestable for you and make you feel good. These new processed foods were never around 100 years ago. Also, avoid grains.
WHAT?! No grains?! Grains are healthy right?! I see pictures of grains on Kellogg boxes and in Kashi commercials. We've been told they are healthy our whole lives. What kind of wack job would say that grains aren't healthy? Well, a lot of people are saying that in fact, and people a lot smarter than me. Humans have only been eating grains for a tiny part of our history, and there's a lot of studies coming out recently which suggest that people may still may have a hard time tolerating grains. If you're sensitive to grains you may have a whole bunch of different symptoms. Fatigue, worsened allergies, sinus pain, gas, bloating, arthritis, unexplainable migraines, difficulty concentrating, mental "fog" on awakening, and on and on. The biggest offender? Gluten, a protein found in wheat. You may have noticed the "gluten free" craze. This is because more and more people are starting to realize that it's not normal to feel slightly ill and/or tired all the time, and a lot of their symptoms may be contributed to wheat. But even if you don't have all these unexplained ailments we've all seemed to have accepted as "normal", you still might notice that you're hungry all the time. You still might have noticed that bread and cake and bagels and all your other favorite foods aren't very filling. This is because eating foods that contain grains--especially the genetically modified grains of today that have a higher gluten content--causes an insulin response in your body that shoots your insulin levels up briefly to diabetes range. Now maybe you're one of those lucky people that doesn't notice these problems. But, there's still a good reason to eat less grains than you do now. Vegetables and fruit have more nutrients per calorie than grains do. We do need to eat carbohydrates. Carbohydrates are good. But, vegetables are more nutritious, and they don't make your blood sugar all crazy, and they won't have the possibility of giving you all these wackadoodle symptoms. Maybe one day I'll be able to explain the science behind this more thoroughly. But all I can say now is that any food that causes your blood sugar to sway that much is just going to increase your appetite and make you feel tired, not to mention give you a lot of extra glucose floating around your veins to get stored as fat and all that other fun stuff.
But behind the scientific reasons of eating this way, there's just a whole lot of common sense. It's getting harder and harder to stay thin and healthy these days. Obesity, diabetes, and cancer are all on the rise. And what do we see people eating nowadays? Fast food, chain restaurants, sugar, soda. Obviously our life of convenience is catching up with us, and unless we step back and try to make some improvements sometimes, we are never going to feel at our best.
Of course, I SAY that, but I love junk food too. It seems like I have to eat it at least every couple days or I miss it. So me starting this diet on Monday is a little daunting. I can come up with a whole list of things I'll miss. Tortilla chips, ice cream, Reeses cups, cake, pizza, and bread. I love these foods so much, I honestly think I will HAVE to find a way to incorporate them into my diet again, or I'll go crazy. But those are all foods that make me feel tired. I would love to have a lot of energy and leave all that behind me. I hope I can do it.
To sum up, eating Paleo is about being a true "predator". It's not about "grazing" all day on foods that don't sustain you or give you very much energy and that make you want to lay on the couch and vegetate. It's not about whining that you need another cookie to feel right about the bad day you had (which is what I usually do!). It's about eating foods that help you perform at your best and that are naturally good for humans and that are naturally tasty. I guess after reading about it for a couple weeks, I've already kind of bought into this whole "primal" fantasy surrounding it. I would love to have increased energy. I would love to be able to accomplish anything I set out to do, with improved mental clarity and energy. I would love to be able to play with my daughter all day long and still not be tired. And like everyone else, my personal life has its bumps in the road, so I'll be glad to take whatever boost I can get.
Anyway, one of the best websites I've seen explaining the reasoning behind the Paleo Diet can be found here over at Nerd Fitness: http://nerdfitness.com/blog/2010/10/04/the-beginners-guide-to-the-paleo-diet/ . He can probably explain it better than I can. Plus, he has a cool picture of Lego cavemen.
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