More and more health food blogs are popping up that tout the benefits of a primal or Paleo diet. What exactly is a Paleo Diet? Well, the easiest way to decipher what it is is to call it the caveman diet. Some of them even appear to want to club their veggie eating neighbors over the heads with a drumstick.
The basic idea is that we need to eat what cavemen ate before modern inventions like farming and food processing. So they eat fish, lean meats, eggs, nuts, fruit, greens, and seeds. They do not eat grains, legumes, dairy, bread, and processed foods. Overall I think the paleo diet is a million times more healthful than the SAD. It has many ideas that I already see value in due to my love of an even MORE primal diet, raw foods… no dairy, no grains, no legumes, but also no meat. That said though I think the paleo/caveman ideal is a bit false because it relies heavily on meat and certainly cavemen did not have meat on the menu every night seeing as how they had to catch and kill it. During warmer weather I am sure they would have much preferred to sit back and munch on fruits and nuts rather than go chasing after a wild animal. So it seems in my mind that meat may have been on the menu but not as the main course, especially when plant based foods were prevalent. And while they did eat lean meats they also ate WILD game… not pastured chicken and cows. Although I have seen some paleo diet enthusiasts proclaim they only eat wild game like elk, turkey, moose, buffalo, etc. I see some holes in the logic but I cannot deny that compared to what we see around us today it is a very healthy way to eat.
The paleo diet often has to defend itself against the raw foodies who declare their way of eating is even more primal. I would tend to side with the raw foodists. If we are the products of evolution and we evolved from primates… they are primarily raw vegans. If we are the products of creation than there is also a good Biblical case for the fact that we were intended to eat as herbivores.
I have also seen the argument that the paleo diet is more planet friendly than that of vegetarians and vegans but I see some problems with this argument. First because it assumes that vegetarians and vegans support mass agriculture of grains and legumes, which do negatively impact soil. But there are PLENTY veg enthusiasts that don't eat any of those things. Also let's not forget that much of the grains, corn, and soy that are being produced today are actually being grown as feed for livestock that can then be turned into meat. Its not the vegetarians and vegans growing all those crops! Paleo enthusiasts will then remind you they support grass fed livestock but any large scale livestock operation, even if it is grass fed, has environmental issues… top soil is eroded, trees are stripped away to make pastures, and mass amounts of waste can't be disposed of properly, etc.
Some paleo eaters also assume that vegetarians and vegans endorse plant only agricultural systems but actually I have been raw, vegan, vegetarian inclined for a couple years and I don't think that way at all. Even if we don't consume "meat" many would still raise chickens for eggs and sell or use chicken manure for crops. Others would raise cows for milk and cheese and use or sell the cow manure for crops. Others still would raise beneficial animals for their own enjoyment… like horses and goats. Everyone is so black and white about everything and a lot of assumptions are made all around when they should be agreeing that plant and animal farm operations are equally bad when they get huge in scale and the smaller, family farm model is what needs to make a comeback. It is often grudgingly admitted that a true paleo diet is not sustainable for the current population. I have actually read on several paleo blogs that their ideal is to eliminate all farming and let the population reduce itself (aka let people starve and die) so that we can get back to a true hunter gatherer society.
Overall I like what the paleo diet is all about I just wish that the more vocal supporters weren't so militant about their meat and about telling everyone that you NEED it to survive. That is just silliness IMO. But getting back to the basics is always a good thing and that is essentially what the paleo diet is about, getting closer to what we ate BEFORE farming and getting closer to what we should be eating as a species.
A good blog about the subject is Mark's Daily Apple. The guy who writes the blog also wrote a book called The Primal Blueprint.
Also there are the popular Paleo Cookbooks.
Are you familiar with the paleo diet? What are your thoughts?
ummm.. as an Anthropologist, I’m stunned by many of the statements above. Current theories believe our paleo ancestors lived more like scavengers than hunters/gatherers. It’s easier to eat off a dead carcass than hunt one down yourself – and a lot safer too, so long as you stay away from other scavengers. I’m all for fad dieting, though, since it helps speed the evolutionary process. ;)
Thanks for bringing this topic up, Im sure many havent heard of it yet! I liken the paleo diet to atkins in a way. lots of meat, no breads right? LOL I do see *some* positives, but it does have flaws. But so does veganism, all raw, etc. I think the best thing to do is to have a good balance preferably w/ stuff from your garden/farm as the main food! I agree with you, everyone is so black and white. People need to follow their intuition more than the media (and even blogs hehe ^_^). I am all about local or self grown. AND homecooking from scratch. If you do all the work, you know exactly whats in it, plus it cuts the bad stuff down (like dessert, some meat, pasta) bc they are labor-intensive. But the most important issue I see to start with, is to inform people about where food comes from for most the population. That right there would change a lot of people! ~ Ashley :)
PS: One thing I noted was your evolution=apes thing. Kinda threw me off bc everything Ive ever learned about evolution, pointed nowhere near us evolving from apes. But I do agree, we have many things in common with them. lol
The Paleo Diet, like other diets, sounds very interesting and I’m sure it can be of benefit to many people. I think a lot of people need to start embracing and encouraging a plethora of diet and food alternatives.
I am a huge supporter of the primal diet. I have been reading Marksdailyapple.com for several years now. He actually doesn’t dislike vegans and vegetarians. He obviously is not one but his wife is. She periodically posts on the site. She eats eggs for the protein and has some yogurt for the calcuium and the probiotics. He really does encourage you to have a diet that fits you not everyone else. It’s not an all or nothing kind of thing. This way of living has changed my life and I have never felt better.
Allowing for individuality makes it very difficult to clump all of humanity into one optimal diet plan, yet most theories out there preach to the masses. As a nature loving, green gal, I was evolving more and more towards veganism over the years. This way of eating seemed in line with my beliefs but there was one problem, I wasn’t feeling very well. When I discussed it with a naturopathic doctor, her first question was “what’s your blood type?” According to the Blood Type Diet theory, with Type O blood my body needs plenty of animal protein, lots of veggies, some fruit and nuts and a small amount of grains (no wheat) with very little dairy. So I went from beans to beef (grass fed that is) and from slug to superwoman, eating closer to a Paleo diet than I ever expected. Accepting this theory means had I been blood Type A, I would have thrived on a more vegan like diet. No diet is right for everyone, but it is good to be informed so we can all have the opportunity to explore the options. Remember Hippocrates: Let food be your medicine and medicine be your food. If you are feeling great, physically and emotionally, you are most likely eating well. If either of these should become compromised, it’s time to play “detective.”
As for the question “what does my blood type have to do with?” if your interested in finding out more (no affiliation here) check out the work of Dr. Peter D’Adamo.
I agree that the paleo diet has some great points and also that we don’t have to be dogmatic about it. I’m studying it right now, but don’t intend to be 100% paleo or anything else for that matter. I think the most important factor in our diet is to stick to natural foods as much as possible, whether that means vegetarian, raw foods or organic meat and dairy. Beyond this, you have to listen to your own body and find out what works for you.
Hi! I just wanted to say that my husband lightly follow the paleo diet. We didn’t get into it because of any claims that it’s more natural because the first humans ate that way. I personally think that argument is a bit silly. We just thought through research (that mostly my scientist/research loving husband did, but he did show me his findings) that eating a diet based on lean meats and protein, fruits and veggies, with a huge cutback on grains, was the way to go.
I have to say, this has been amazing for us. Almost all of our diet (say, 85/90 percent) comes from fresh or frozen (or dried, in the case for fruit) produce, lean meats, and eggs. Other commonplace things in our diet are nuts, cheese, and some dairy. We eat absolutely no high fructose corn syrup, almost no sweets, carbs or added sugars. We eat almost no processed foods. I’ve taken to making a lot of foods myself (nut butter, salad dressing, jam, applesauce.)
We have been living this way for a little over a month, and I’ve felt great. I have a chronic pain and fatigue disorder, and have noticed that I’ve had a lot more energy and a lot less pain, and also my delicate stomach is hardly ever upset (I used to have stomach aches every day, even though I was still eating healthier than the rest of my family.)
We’ve also been looking into the raw food thing. We have found many raw food recipes that could replace certain foods that we eat, and that look amazing, so we’re going to try incorporating that into our diet. I’m especially excited about green smoothies.
I do hate how militant many paleo followers are, but obviously not all are this way. And I have to say, I have met many more militant vegans than I have paleos (I was a vegetarian for three years and received a lot crap for not going ‘all the way’) That could also be just because I know many more vegans than paleos. I’ve found that the most vocal are often the most militant – most people that aren’t out to tell you what to do are also content sitting quietly at home eating their respective diets.
I personally don’t think that one diet fits all, or that one is better than the other. We chose this because it sounded good for us, and is working. If veganism or any other diet is keeping someone happy and healthy? I think that’s awesome. We’re all just people trying to do what we think is best for our bodies.
I began eating paleo or “cavey”, as my husband likes to say, after my thyroid surgery. I felt that I didnt want bread, pasta or cereal stuck in my throat, so I didnt eat them. Funny enough, the foods I was eating-soups and stews, were making me lose weight! Upon researching this, I found that my new style of eating was called paleo, and that many people were doing it. I am not a literal cave girl, but I do avoid processed food, and try to eat basic meats, veggies, and fruits. My husband is starting to eat this way too and he says he feels better already (hopefully the weight loss of his “wheat belly” will begin soon.) My thyroid surgery was 4 months ago and I have dropped 2 dress sizes since I was weighed presurgery. Better than that, I feel great.