Have you heard of Paleo Nutrition?
As I have been researching, and writing about, and LIVING the Low Carb Lifestyle, I have seen a lot of stuff about PALEO or PRIMAL NUTRITION. And the more I read about it, the more I like it.
What is Paleolithic Nutrition?
In simplistic terms the paleolithic diet is the diet eaten by hunter-gatherers during the paleolithic era (stone age). It is also called the hunter-gatherer diet and the caveman diet. In its most basic form, you eat the same diet that was eaten by hunter-gatherers.
The paleolithic diet is mostly animal based. You eat the animals you would have hunted in a hunter-gatherer society. The (usually small) animals we consider to be gross are also in scope: rodents, insects, reptiles, etc.
You eat the seasonal fruits and vegetables you would have been able to pick off the tree, or pick up off the ground, or dig up out of the dirt. Whatever they could eat before agriculture was developed.
The paleo diet rejects processed foods. Modern followers of the paleo diet also reject most concentrated sugars, even the “natural” sugars in fruit and honey. Even natural, completely unprocessed sugars cause an increase in insulin secretion, which is to be avoided as much as possible.
There are several varieties of the paleo diet. One form of paleo diet is a meat-only, or nearly meat-only diet. Some require you eat as much of your food as possible RAW, including the meat. Others have embraced cooking, as a way to make the nutrients in food more bioavailable.
Cooking our food was apparently a big part of our evolutionary process. Unlocking better nutrition from the food was instrumental in the development of our higher brain functions.
If this interests you, check out a book called Catching Fire: How Cooking Made Us Human
Another common paleo argument concerns foods that Thor Caveman did not eat or could not have eaten, but which we want to eat, like milk and dairy products. There are varieties of Paleo adherants who will not drink milk or eat cheese because stone age men did not make cheese.
However, I think the majority of modern paleos are more interested the metabolic effect of the food more than the simple fact of Thor’s comsumption or nonconsumption of it. Thor undoubtedly ate honey, though likely in much smaller amounts than we typically do. Modern paleos do not advocate eating unlimited quantities of honey, because it wreaks havoc with blood sugar and insulin levels. Likewise, if dairy products provide us with good nutrition, and do us no harm, why should we limit ourselves, just because Thor didn’t have domestic animals to milk?
Why Paleolithic Nutrition?
The typical diet we eat today is high in refined foods, like sugar and grains, especially gluten grains. It is also high in chemically-altered foods, like vegetable oil that has been altered to remain solid at room temperature and genetically-modifed soy protein. The trouble is that our highly processed diets have some pretty devastating side effects. We call these side effects the diseases of civilization: cancer, heart disease, diabetes… you know the list.
The main point of the paleolithic diet is to avoid the diseases of civilization by eating the diet that predates civilization, and therefore predates these diseases.
There is no longer any question about whether or not we can avoid the diseases of civilization through nutrition. We can.
The real question is HOW?!
About this there is much disagreement.
The original argument for paleolithic nutrition is focused on evolutionary history. Specifically, earlier hominids from the genus Homo, such as Homo habilis, evolved into us, fully behaviorally and anatomically modern humans (Homo sapiens sapiens) during the Paleolithic era.
They accomplished this by eating the paleolithic diet. Once this evolutionary adaptation was complete, the paleolithic diet is thought to have provided us with optimal nutrition. This took about 2.5 million years.
That was only about 14,000 years ago, when agriculture started to develop. There has been nowhere near enough time since the introduction of agriculture for us to adapt to a less carniverous, more herbivorous diet. Furthermore, not enough time has passed since the industrial revolution, and the invention of our highly-processed frankenfoods, for us to adapt to the frankendiet we eat now.
So, the idea was that we should revert to the paleolithic diet in order to restore our overall health to the pre-civilization level.
Some people believe that even 2.5 million years was not sufficient time to allow man to adapt to a diet, and prefer to think of modern man (Homo sapiens sapiens) as having certain nutritional needs BY DESIGN. And THAT discussion brings up conflicting beliefs about intelligent design, god, creation, evolution and natural selection, which tend to derail the whole discussion.
Whether you call it design or evolution, our bodies are what they are today. Whether we started out like this, or if we evolved to the current model, doesn’t really matter to me. I do know this: what our bodies eat, greatly affects our health and well being.
So now, the defense for the paleo diet has evolved into real scienctific evidence. According to Hurt G. Harris MD, quoted from his PaNu Blog:
The PāNu approach to paleolithic nutrition is derived from clinical medicine and basic sciences disciplined by knowledge of evolutionary biology and paleoanthropology. The best evidence from multiple disciplines supports eating an animal-based diet high in fat and low in carbohydrates and cereal grains.
If you want to see some of the solid scientific reasoning behind modern Paleolithic Nutrition, I recommend reading through the PaNu website. It is a fantastic source of solid information about Paleolithic Nutrition.
Is Paleolithic Nutrition Compatible with Low Carb?
Most Definitely. The paleo diet is as much low carb as it is anything!
The paleolithic diet is centered around meat. And they have fairly low allowances for all plant-based foods, and very low allowances for carbohydrates and grain-based foods specifically.
The people I have read about who have done paleo consistantly, seem to be quite healthy (or at least moving in that direction) eating a diet that consists of mostly meat, small amounts of vegetables, and even less fruit. Paleo is kind of like the original Atkins diet, but will even less fluff – and more FAT.
Over the past several months, I have embraced the paleo idea of eating a meat-based diet. I first tried this “nearly all meat diet” during the third and fourth weeks of the Eades’ program, The 6-Week Cure for the Middle-Aged Middle
I love the simplicity of it… and I never really developed a much of a taste for vegetables anyway!! In fact, I dislike most foods. Most of my life I’ve been dumped on for being so picky! So, having a health-centric reason to eat an all meat diet should work really well for me.
The Paleolithic diet is high in animal fat and protein, and very low in carbs. Nutritionally, the idea is to eat just enough protein, and not more. Excess protein spikes insulin! Fill up the rest of the calories you need each day with healthy fats.
In the paleo world, animal fats are the good ones. Old fashioned lard, beef tallow, butter, cream, etc. which are highly saturated, stable, solid fats, are the fats of choice. Coconut oil is debatable. The traditionalists would probably say no, because Thor did not use coconut. But the moderns love coconut fat, and enjoy many health benefits from the delicious tropical oil.
Eat some veggies, if you like them… try green ones. Low starch, low carb varieties. Not too much.
And that’s it!
Are you interested in more about information about PALEO NUTRITION?
I’m no scientist, and am not likely to debate the merits of Paleolithic Nutrition. Nevertheless, if this has interested you, feel free to check out my favorite PALEO blogs for yourself:
PaNu
paleolithic nutrition – duplicating the evolutionary metabolic milieu
Kurt G. Harris MD
Primal Body-Primal Mind
Empower your total health the way evolution intended…(and didn’t)
Nora Gedgaudas
Mark’s Daily Apple
Primal Living in the Modern World
Mark Sisson
Free the Animal
Expressing Our Primal Genes for Lean Health, Vitality and Attractiveness
Richard Nikoley
Additional Resources
Primal Body-Primal Mind: Empower Your Total Health The Way Evolution Intended (…And Didn’t)
by Nora Gedgaudas CNS, CNT
- Even if you think you are not interested in paleolithic nutrition, Primal Body-Primal Mind has critical information in it that will matter to everybody who is interested in optimal health. It tells the story of human history, from a nutritional point of view, from about 40,000 years ago up to the disastrous effects of the high-sugar, high-starch, low-fat diet that is now recommended by medical authorities in the United States.
This book has the most in-depth, yet understandable explanation of insulin and leptin management that I have ever read, and I’ve read a few. It is certainly simplified for non-scientists, but the detail really deepened my understanding of how insulin and leptin management interacts not only with eating habits but with overall health and longevity.
Primal Body-Primal Mind recommends the reduction, and even the flat out elimination, of all foods that harm us. It also goes into great detail about nutients we do need to eat, and how we can get enough of them today.
Primal Body-Primal Mind is not just about cavemen, nutrition, carbs, hormones (leptin, insulin, etc), and intermittant fasting. It is a book about LIVING WELL, and how to feed your body and your brain to live the highest quality life possible.
The Vegetarian Myth: Food, Justice, and Sustainability
by Lierre Keith
- In 21st century America, it is largely accepted without question that a vegetarian diet is more healthful than diet than eating meat. It is also assumed and accepted that vegetarianism is the gentler, more sustainable, ecological food choice.
- This book debunks those “vegetarian myths.” It is the author’s story of why she renounced vegan nutrition for meat, for both health and ecological reasons. Most reviewers (including many paleos) appreciate the author’s deep understanding and detailed explanations of the complex issues involved in procuring a sustainable, healthful food supply for our world. I have not read it yet.
Catching Fire: How Cooking Made Us Human
by Richard Wrangham
- I bought this book on the recommendation of Mike Eades, of protein power fame, but I have not gotten to it yet. According to Harvard biological anthropologist Richard Wrangham, cooking was central to the biological and social evolution of humanity. In fact, he points to a moment 1.8 million years ago, when our forebears tamed fire and began cooking, that started a series of anatomical and physiological changes that adapted us to eating cooked food and enabled us to get more nutrients out of our food than other species, while expending less energy to do so. Wrangham offers a provocative take on evolution, suggesting that, rather than humans creating civilized technology, civilized technology is what made us human.
The Primal Blueprint: Reprogram your genes for effortless weight loss, vibrant health, and boundless energy
by Mark Sisson
NeanderThin: Eat Like a Caveman to Achieve a Lean, Strong, Healthy Body
by Ray Audette
One of the original books on paleolithic nutrition.
The Paleo Diet: Lose Weight and Get Healthy by Eating the Food You Were Designed to Eat
by Loren Cordain
One of the original books on paleolithic nutrition.
Lovin’ It Low Carb
Ramona Denton
One of the things I love about primal/paleo/lowcarb/or zero carb eating is, when you do eat some asparagus or spinach with butter or mayo, it tastes like absolute heaven. ( and the occasional blueberries and fage? beyond heaven. )
Before veggies were a chore to eat. Now they feel like a treat! Nothing tastes bad when its cooked in butter and sprinkled with sea salt!
I have experienced the same thing. Now when I have vegetables, it is more like a delicacy, since I eat mostly meat and eggs.