The Paleo Diet! soooo easy, a Caveman can do it?  The REAL "skinny" on this rather extreme, latest fad diet that is sweeping the country! 

Well, it was bound to happen! Me commenting on the Paleo Diet that is sweeping the country claiming to be the answer to losing weight, being healthy, and living close to nature!  Hmmmm, so where do I begin?  I think I'd begin in saying,  I wouldn't follow it.  But everyone has to make their own choices.  And I hope to arm you with enough information that you can decide for yourself. The fact that it has the word "diet" in it, already makes me forewarned that it is a diet, and those tend to phase out over time!  So now, let's talk about the pros/cons!  But first, a snapshot of what this "Diet" is about.  Think of the food pyramid.  This back to the caveman type eating, promotes the largest, bottom of the triangle to be devoted to meats/eggs/fish, but LOTS of meat!  And while they "say" they promote "wild meats," like buffalo, deer, elk, etc. which I agree is less fat, grass fed, etc., in truth all of the blogs I see show recipes replete with hamburger, beef, bacon and sausages, you name it. Most every meal!  I have two problems with this. 1) Consuming large amounts of fatty meats has never been shown to be a modern day, healthy way of eating.  I do not promote you to be a vegan, although I am a mostly vegan, because you need PROTEIN, true. And most won't balance it as vegans. But the source of your protein needs to be varied and much of it NOT from meats/dairy/etc. WHY? Because MOST of today's meats are grown/bought/eaten from horrendous conditions. PLEASE watch Forks Over Knives (the documentary) to see I am correct!  The greatest health statistics have shown for ages, that groups like the Seventh Day Adventists, folks who live in the Hunza countries, where they eat mainly high end grains/roots/veggies and fish, have one of the longest and healthiest lifestyles! Folks may think they are screening their meats and dairy, but it is FILLED with hormones and antibiotics, nitrates, and who is really going to pay outrageous prices for grass fed, totally organic meats for every meal.  Meat will just become, "bought at the grocery store, meat.." and that makes me cringe!  Not that you can't eat meat. But when you do, have it be a deck of card size, definitely,hormone/antibiotic/nitrate free!  In Caveman days, the colon was soooo short, and they had incisors galore, (our teeth are flat for grinding) and so meat didn't sit in yards of a maze of a colon!  Where it sits now for up to 12 hours, inflaming and putrifying!  Creating digestion issues, cancer issues, inflammation issues. Nope, I just cannot swallow, after 38 years of studies, that large amounts of meat should be the base foundation for our diet! Yes, it contributes to weight loss when you eat no carbs, but c'mon now, is it healthy?  MEAT is one of the foods that makes you most acidic, NOT alkaline in ph...and you THRIVE in an alkaline ph.  Now for 2) Dairy is part of the meat equation...cheeses, drinking and cooking with milk, etc. etc. And dairy is a liquid, straight to the body source of hormones/antibiotics, etc. And it is the greatest of mucous creators, and clogger of the year, for the lymphatic system, sooooo vital for keeping the body detoxed! So we want to have our base diet be meats/probably farm raised salmon, dairy? NO NO, did I say NO!  Yes, she did...smile!

  

Now while I appreciate Paleo folks saying they are trying to eat whole/real food, I preach that, it does not override the two main parts of their "diet!" Heavy meat intake.  And NO grains! They do allow veggies/some fruits, and do as I said, promote them to be organic, whole, not packaged/canned, and I can appreciate that! And they do allow NUTS, one of the basics of my diet, if not oiled and salted, especially almonds/walnuts/pistachios/cashews and Chia seeds, etc.  And I will agree, wholeheartedly, that MAN, in his desire to make food fast, quick, and easy, refined it, concentrated sugars, made carbs a dirty little name!  And I see processed, wheat/gluten refined carbs as a HUGE problem in the SAD, standard American diet! But, I believe, that the right, complex, gluten free carbs are part of a balanced diet for us, serving as glycogen delivered properly, not in a sugar high, so the brain can function, energy is fueled, and grains like brown rice, quinoa, non-gluten flours can be filled with necessary vitamins and nutrients. AND once the refined sugars/processed white carbs are taken out of the system, the body can adjust and digest these enzyme intact whole/complex/ wheat free carbs, and allow us not to go into a state of deprivation, where we will NOT stick with a healthy eating plan for life! Oh, trust me! And while the Paleo diet tries very hard to make "baked goods, and goodies" out of their own devices, why not just use the real deal in moderation, and break the BAD carb addiction, and slowly learn to like the healthy carbs in moderation. Yes, we know we become addicted to refined sugar, white carbs, but I broke that 37 years ago, and still get to eat red velvet, non gluten cupcakes for a treat, have some pumpkin custard, a piece of cheesecake only once in awhile, and I'm surely not giving up my Kind wheat free granola, or legumes or beans in soup or Mexican food...lol...I want BALANCE and WHOLENESS in my eating, but NOPE, not deprivation. 

So, yep, the choice is yours. To try another "DIET," like this one that is sweeping the blogs, having folks swear by it...like they did the Atkins diet, the Zone Diet, the South Beach Diet, and on and on. Isn't it enough, to just try to have your lifestyle gradually stairstep to less processed in general, healthier meats, less dairy, more veggies and whole fruits, like berries and apples, and to put in exercise, cardio and core development, and to pursue a whole life concept spiritually/mentally as well??!!!   And yes, live to be a 100 and enjoy getting there! Sooooooo, I will teach you correct principles I have learned for now, nearly 4 decades. Nothing faddish. Just common sense, and the tricks to "tweek" what you already do, to make a better version. I'm sorry. I'm not a cave woman. I'm a sixty something, multitasking woman, trying to keep on the journey, eat the best I can to block my genetic time bombs, to avoid degenerative disease and to still enjoy eating while empowering my body! CHEERS to each of you! I LOVE having you follow with me! Be reasonable. Be balanced. Most of all be healthy and happy! Linda: AKA: HealthAngel ;-)