Paleo Diet - A review of the first 2 weeks

If you’re into health, you’ve most likely heard of the paleo diet. It’s also known as the caveman diet, or as going primal. It’s the hot thing of the moment and it seems everyone is talking about it. Admittedly I didn’t know that much about it. I had a general idea as to what it was, but I really didn’t know the details. It was on my ‘things to research’ list. At the start of February, as I got ready to head overseas, I was looking for a book to read on the plane, I bought ‘The Paleo Diet by Loren Cordain.

If you haven’t heard of it, Paleo advocates espouse the fact that genetically, we’re almost identical to cavemen who roamed the earth over 10,000 years ago. On that basis, they believe that we should be following a similar diet and lifestyle as those cave men, given our genes are designed for it.

Never one for extreme, fad diets, I was wonderfully surprised to find that it was very well researched and referenced (Cordain is one of the forefathers of the Paleo movement), and for me personally, the diet didn’t appear to be an unreasonable stretch. If you google ‘Paleo diet’, you’ll notice there are hundreds of websites, some I will say are better than others. That being said, there are slight variations in different proponents views about what ‘paleo’ means. So, the general rules of the Paleo diet are

Meat, frut and vegetables

1. No grains, legumes, beans.

It’s said that as cavemen, we did not mass farm grains and legumes and they were only a very occasional part of our diet. Therefore we are not genetically able to process these grains effectively. They believe, when we eat grain, which we tend to, we end up with problems such as insulin resistance, diabetes, metabolic syndrome, obesity; the list goes on and on. The primary rule of the Paleo diet is that you do not eat these foods.

2. All the fruit and vegetables you want

Now this, I love. We know you should be eating at least 2 serves of fruit and 3 serves of vegetables a day anyway, so this is really just upping that further. You cant go wrong with too many veg, however if you’re watching your weight you may want to limit the fruit to those 2 pieces.

3. Plenty of lean meat and seafood

Grass fed meat is different to the grain fed meat you get in the supermarket. Why? It’s suggested that the balance of fatty acids in the meat is different. Grass fed meat has less omega 6, which makes it better for our health in a world where we have too much omega 6 anyway. 

4. Some nuts and seeds

Again, nuts and seeds are always a nice addition to the diet in moderation. Good fats, fibre and lots of minerals.

5. No dairy of any kind

I’ve seen mixed recommendations on this. Some people suggest you can consume dairy if you use unpasturised, unhomogenised dairy. Dairy as we know it is very different to the dairy cavemen may have consumed. It’s very different to the milk that first comes out of the cow. Its heat-treated and sprayed through things and there is possibly other stuff added to it. A glass of permeate anyone? That being said, in Australia it is illegal for retail stores to sell unpasturized milk. Why? Because there is a possibility that it is contaminated with bacteria.

Now, you can get super primal if you’re so inclined. There is a really interesting site called Mark’s Daily Apple and I have to say, this is the guy I’d be looking to for all things Paleo. http://www.marksdailyapple.com/#axzz2Mt54yTpx. He is a proponent of living the Paleo Lifestyle. This includes

Primal exercise – Mark recommends that you ‘exercise’ as cavemen would have. This means that you

1. Lift heavy things and do a lot of body weight work. They were hunter-gatherers, they carried stuff.
2. You only do high intensity cardio once every 7-10 days. Cavemen chased and hunted woolly mammoth and other dinner this often.
3. You walk a lot. He emphasises slow walking as exercise, not our usual faster kind.

Primal squatting – Cavemen didn’t have chairs. They squatted. He suggests that sitting on chairs and not squatting means our pelvis and hips are all tight and our bodies are out of alignment

Primal sleep –  Go to bed when it’s dark, no lights for the caveman.

His website is actually quite an interesting read and he has a mass following, I’d recommend having a quick look.

So, what have I found after 2 weeks living the Paleo diet?

I have been pleasantly surprised in many ways. I’ll look at the different areas and the things I was worried about.

We have found it very easy to stick to the paleo diet. Given you can eat all the lean grass fed meat, seafood, vegetables and fruit that you want, we have never been ‘hungry’ except obviously, when it was time to eat. This is a huge bonus for my partner. As I mentioned in the ‘about me’ section, he’s my biggest challenge. No matter which way I try to help him lose weight, he is forever hungry. This way of eating seems to keep him full.

It’s really quite easy to eat Paleo provided you are a little prepared. We prepare our daily food in the morning before work and take everything with us for the day. My partner says it’s easier than any other diet because he’s not restricted in the amount of food.

After food shopping. The pepsi belongs to my house guest!

 The biggest issue we’ve found is the cost. We are going through a lot of fruit and vegetables, more so than we normally would, and this is naturally more expensive. Grass fed meat also costs a small fortune. We originally had trouble searching for grass fed meat. It never occurred to me to check my local supermarket, however we did find it in Coles. It’s about twice the price of grain fed meat.

I need a bigger fruit bowl

I was genuinely surprised that I haven’t had cravings for anything. We are getting all our carbs through  fruit and veg, but I still thought I would miss grain products. I definitely don’t. In fact, I did eat one donut. I was offered a donut and I really wasn’t in the mood to have to explain why I wasn’t going to eat one, so I ate it. Yes, yes, sad but true. It actually didn’t taste that good anyway. It was very sweet. That would honestly be the first time in my life that anything was too sweet. My partner on the other hand, he is missing certain foods (if you’ve read last weeks recipe of the week, you’ll know he misses cheese), however he hasn’t missed them so much that he’s had trouble keeping to the diet. The biggest reason I think I have been ok without grains is that I really don't eat very many of them anyway. I never have bread, rice or pasta in my home. I only very occasionally eat them as a treat when I go out. This was never a conscious choice, my kitchen just evolved that way over time. I do often however use quinoa, and in winter I eat alot of lentils. The removal of grains for me personally wasnt a huge shift away from my normal diet.

Our energy levels have been one of the biggest surprises to me. It occurred to me the other day just how much energy I have. I am currently working 13+ hours a day, 6 days a week. I’m up working at 5 am. I stop work at 6pm then, on most days, I have been meeting my partner at the gym to work out. I have enough energy to go all day. I have no flat spots, no fuzzy head, and no physical or mental fatigue. After the gym, I come home and we cook dinner. I am awake and energised right up until the moment I go to bed. People have said to me that I always have good energy anyway, and that’s true, I’m not normally someone who is exhausted. I’m also not usually pushing myself so hard either. It is a genuine energy shift, and at the moment, it’s keeping me alive!

Regular readers might know that we have just come back from overseas. 3 weeks away and let me tell you, we were drinking and eating more than any nutritionist would ever recommend. My partner and I both gained weight. In the 2 weeks since we’ve started the Paleo diet, we have both lost around 2.5 kilos. Now I don’t have that much weight to lose so 2.5kgs is great for me. My partner probably has another 3 or 4kg’s to go. The amazing thing for me is how easy he is losing weight. His body loves to build muscle or fat, and keep it, but getting it off him drives me crazy. I’m a nutritionist, I’ve worked extensively and successfully with weight loss clients, surely I can help him…. er. We’re both thrilled at the results so far. Happy weight here we come.

So, all in all, would I recommend the paleo diet? Well, that’s a very individual answer and I don’t have a one size fits all unfortunately. As a general rule, providing you have no health or physical conditions, I would make the following recommendations.

-         If you have a varied diet, you eat a mix of different fruits and vegetables, a variety of meat and seafood, limited grains and processed foods and you have a little extra cash to buy the right meats, give it a go. See how you feel.

-         If you’re eating a well rounded diet, still consuming breads and pastas, but generally eating a good amount of fruit, veg and protein, first try eliminating your bread and pasta and see how that works for you.

-         If you’re eating a diet that contains a lot of processed foods, grains like rice and pasta, you’re not currently eating many vegetables or fruit, or you don’t have extra money for grocery shopping, id recommend you start by making some general healthier food choices. Work towards a healthier diet first. It’ll be a huge change for you and you will most likely struggle. You also need to be open to a much broader range of fruit, veg and meat, otherwise you’ll get bored of the same and you wont be covering your nutritional needs.

I make these recommendations because I want you to succeed. We all need to make changes that are sustainable and enjoyable. Baby steps.

Chris