The First Week: Paleo Style

A vegetarian for two and a half years. A martial artist. A yogi. A runner. And now..a triathlete. I have now changed my diet to a different way of eating. After reading the book The Paleo Diet by Loren Cordain and doing some research on my own I learned more and more that the best thing for our bodies and possibly my own is not one based on ethical choices, tradition, or taste alone but one that is the most natural for our bodies. This is The Paleo Diet and my version of someone going through the experience both emotionally and physically.

What is the Paleo Diet?

Based on the extensive anthropological research in the past twenty five years Loren Cordain and his colleges as well as the further investigation by people like Aurthur De Vany a conclusion has been reached that the earliest forms of man as we know him today ate a hunter gather diet. This man lived 2.4 million years ago!! He practiced this way for a very long time and only until about 10,000 B.C. was when his diet started to change with the addition of agriculture and the harvesting of grains and later on the incorporation of a dairy supported diet. Grains and dairy are sources of nutrition and many cultures today are supported by them. However, for optimal function our bodies need the lowest form of glycemic stimulation and both grains and dairy are high glycemic and worst of all are over processed and devoid of nutrients in the society today. This means you get the calories you need but at the expense of having to eat more to get the nutritional benefits. The diet consists of lean meats, fruits, vegetables(non-starchy), nuts, and seeds. There is no suger, salt, legumes, dairy, or grains allowed. Pretty much a bean burrito. This diet is tremendously high in nutrients and insures a low insulin level. However in practice this could be a good challenge for me. We'll see what happens..

This first week I think the biggest thing was just getting used to meat again. I have to admit it tastes pretty fantastic. I have been sticking to the free range meats. On the diet it is important to get low fat meats because of the omega 6 to 3 ratio. It goes into it more in the book but when this balance is out of order, mainly not having enough omega 3's(fish oil, flax seed, avocado) the body will start to make more bad cholesterol. Fruits and veggies are like second nature to me being a veg for 2.5 years and so the combos at meal time are always pretty good.

Physically I think is what I'm waiting to see. The last time I cut out dairy there were some good things but I think mainly cutting out the carbs from grains like pasta, rice, and beans which were things that were a staple in my diet, will be the most interesting test of the diet. The diet is designed to get you on a much cleaner burning fuel then carbohydrates. What might that be? F.A.T. The rate at which we currently metabolize fat sucks and we are doing the energy thing the wrong way in our bodies. Insulin is damaging to our bodies if used to much and can burn out the pancreas aka type II diabetes. Fat is stored energy and is what we should use. It also gives us the most ATP for our muscles in an oxygen rich environment. The Paleo man or woman would go for most of the day without eating and used fat as the energy source. Something impossible to think of in today's nutritional/exercise confusion. Most weaklings crash after lunch. So far I have been a week and only once or twice have had carbs. I have done nothing different and I feel quite fine actually. I'm still running, biking, and swimming as well as doing yoga and martial arts. Muscle gain and fat lose are common but we shall see:)