Sport Paleo Diet

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Skull Pilot

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Loren Cordain, Ph.D. in the book Poses the theory that the diet of hunter gatherers from preagricultural society is actually what our bodies have evolved to eat. He supports this by saying that the diet of modern times, especially the one outlined in the food pyramid with its heavy reliance on grains, cereal and dairy products is responsible for many of the health issues we face today. The FDA recommended diet promotes insulin resistance and contributes to a host of chronic health problems from obesity, diabetes and heart disease to tooth decay.

The diet is simple and quite easy to follow. In short 50-60% of your calories should come from lean animal sources and seafood. Grass fed or free range meat sources are preferred over grain fed. The rest of your calories should come from fruits, vegetables and starchy roots (no potatoes or yams) and nuts (not peanuts) You should eliminate all grains,beans, cereals and dairy from your diet as these were not consumed by Paleolithic hunter gatherers.

This isn't the first time I've come across the idea that our switch to agriculture has actually been deleterious to our health. In the book by Jared Diamond, he supports this claim with fossil and archaeological evidence that supports the claims of Cordain.

Very interesting reading. I've been moving toward a diet of this type for some time now as I monitored my progress and listened to my body for clues to what it needed to function optimally. Comments?
 
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What was the life expectancy of Paleolithic hunter gatherers?
 
Im not a big fan of dairy being a prime source of protein..Especially when people have bowls of ceral for breakfast.. there is just so much other sh*t that goes along with it. Anyways.. This sounds pretty interesting Skull Pilot.
If you get into it, I'd be interested in how you feel/progress.
 
Christa said:
What was the life expectancy of Paleolithic hunter gatherers?
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That comparison is not valid and stems from our perceived superiority over more primitive people.

The life of a Paleolithic man was inherently more dangerous than ours. There was no medicine to speak of and infection killed more people than just about anything else. They hunted large wild animals with primitive tools. It was not their diets that contributed to shorter life expectancy but their environments.

If you look at Paleo like tribes such as the Yanomamo of South America, you'll find that those who live to old age do not suffer from the accepted modern diseases of old age. High blood pressure, Alzheimer's, heart disease and osteoporosis and many cancers are remarkably absent.

There is fossil evidence that shows pre agricultural men were taller than those raised on a post agricultural diet. Paleo men averaged over 5'7" while early farmers (3000 B.C.) averaged 5'3". If their diet was better and their lifestyle safer, shouldn't the farmer have been taller?

Take into consideration that the agricultural society and the diets of today have their roots only 500 generation ago (10,000 years). Compare that to the the paleo lifestyle and diet that existed for over 2 million years and that the paleo diet was the diet of our evolution from ape to man and the argument that it is a better diet for us gains credibility.

It is reasonable to assume that a paleo diet combined with modern medicine would extend modern man's life expectancy is it not?
 
While I'm not one to jump on the bandwagon, I will say that what I've read in the past about this 'diet philosophy' does make a lot of sense at its core.

In a nutshell it really wants you to move away from processed foods, especially processed carbs...and very especially processed grains like breads, common breakfast cereals, etc.

Paleo man may have had a life expectancy of 35 (or whatever low number it is)...but that also takes into account sleeping in huts on the ground, in all forms of weather, all times of the year...and not having a clue what germs and illness was. How many paleo men and women died of a simple fever because they did the exact wrong things to get better?

I think there are definitely things to be learned from our ancestors and from this diet/study/research. We know that evolution is a very slow process...15,000 years isn't really enough time to drastically change our diets...and heavily processed foods have barely been around 200 years...certainly not enough time for us to evolve to where we could process HFCS or trans fats properly...making them not a health risk.
 
This diet philosophy surely has validity. Interestingly enough, the government has a hand in dairy and grains. Prices of milk are regulated by the government. When the Atkins Diet (similar to what you speak of) swept the country - all of a sudden ads came out saying that dairy (esp. milk, i.e. "24 oz. in 24 hours") is necessary to lose weight. Thirdly, WIC is a gov. program for Wemon, Infants, and Children that gives free milk, cheese, eggs, and cereal, beans or pb, and juice to impovrished families. Interesting? Many books, including Atkins, revert to the idea that our primitive ancestors used a diet of this sort. I once had a doctor who said that milk is not necessary and it's a government sceme of some sort. He said he had been to other countries where they don't drink milk like us and they are growing fine. On the other hand, why are our bodies equiped to process these foods if we aren't supposed to eat them?
 
Please don't confuse this with Atkins. the Atkins diet is very high in saturated fats and sodium. And any diet that will allow you to eat a pound of bacon but not an orange is obviously unbalanced and unhealthy.

The Paleo diet specifies lean protein from meats (grass or range fed preferably), poultry and seafood. There are no restrictions on fruit and vegetables except for grains, legumes, beans and dairy none of which were eaten by Paleo man. Almost all fats are from healthy oils like flax, olive etc and a moderate amount of nuts.

Your comments on government are well put. As long as our government has a vested interest in any sector whether it's food, or gasoline or anything in between, the best interests of the people will be secondary to the continuation of government control. How could the FDA come out and say that a diet that does not include large amounts of dairy and grains is better for you when they have so heavily invested both money and reputation in the food pyramid?
 
I suspect 'ancient' animals had less fat in them to start with. I think the fact that we practically force feed cows to bulk them up for slaughter plays some role in how fatty the meat comes out. Back then, they had to graze when food was available, just like hunter/gatherer paleo man did.
 
malkore said:
I suspect 'ancient' animals had less fat in them to start with. I think the fact that we practically force feed cows to bulk them up for slaughter plays some role in how fatty the meat comes out. Back then, they had to graze when food was available, just like hunter/gatherer paleo man did.
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that's an excellent point.

All of the preferred animal protein sources recommeded in the Paleo diet are NOT grain fed but rather grass fed or in the case of poultry free range where they can eat a more natural diet that includes insects and such.

Not only are the grain feeds used unnatural for our livestock but many times animal by products are mixed in. All this results in fatter animals and fatter people.
 
The Paleo Diet what can I say..well in the words of Victor Kyam, we liked it so much we bought the company. Or in other words we created Paleoworks to promote the cause. Folks this is truly an amazing diet, or I should say way of life as it's certainly no quick fix pill or fad diet. It is however a genuine sustainable solution to anyone wanting to lose weight and live a healthier happier life.
That's right the benefits are far beyond controlling obesity or losing weight, which happens without having to think about it. You have increased energy, you feel and look younger, your teeth are brighter and stronger. Oh yeh and you get to dramatically reduce the chances of contracting things like Cancer, Heart Disease, Alhzeimers, Gout, Depression, the list goes on but I won't.
 
I know this thread is almost as ancient as paleolithic man, and appears to have been bumped purely for sales-pitch purposes, but I'm just going to throw this out there...how the fuzz does anyone prove or disprove that paleo man didn't eat beans or grains, or drink milk? Sounds like something that's entirely unfalsifiable to me. I agree that having grains as the foundation of the food pyramid is just a marketing ploy and isn't based on what's actually healthy for us, but lettuce be cereal, the paleo diet is based on unfalsifiable presupposition.

I don't see any reason why peanuts, legumes or milk should be eliminated from the diet. As for grains, I think they're something that we can eat and live to tell the tale, but they're non-essential, so add or remove them from your diet based on your personal needs.
 
Goldfish said:
I know this thread is almost as ancient as paleolithic man, and appears to have been bumped purely for sales-pitch purposes, but I'm just going to throw this out there...how the fuzz does anyone prove or disprove that paleo man didn't eat beans or grains, or drink milk? Sounds like something that's entirely unfalsifiable to me. I agree that having grains as the foundation of the food pyramid is just a marketing ploy and isn't based on what's actually healthy for us, but lettuce be cereal, the paleo diet is based on unfalsifiable presupposition.

I don't see any reason why peanuts, legumes or milk should be eliminated from the diet. As for grains, I think they're something that we can eat and live to tell the tale, but they're non-essential, so add or remove them from your diet based on your personal needs.
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Of course everyone is entitled to their opinion, however before forming one, one ought to ensure they have all the evidence.
 
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