paleo diet question

[GLC1968]

Ah, those pesky crossfitters! They really have done a number on the things they embrace (first the zone diet, now paleo) - it's that totally 'gung-ho' attitude of theirs! (not that there is anything wrong with that, but everyone must consider the source)

Well Fed looks really good. I got my copy a couple of weeks ago, but haven't cooked from it yet. It is by far the best of the books I have in terms of usability in that it shows suggestions for additions/alterations, it shows quantities, the descriptions are great, etc. I also really like Make it Paleo - particularly for the 'treats' but so far, we've liked everything we've tried from it. I have also had good luck with Everyday Paleo for the recipes (I didn't even read the rest of the book!) but the food photography isn't great so it's not as enticing of a book. Every single recipe we've tried (even the ones I was unsure about) turned out delicious though.

lph - yeah, that's basically it. The idea is that for ~2.5 million years, early humans ate like this. It's only been in the last ~10,000 years that agriculture has evolved and in terms of time for a species to adapt, 10K years is only a drop in the bucket. Therefore, we are still mostly adapted to eat like the paleolithic people ate. While I'm OK with that as a starting point, it is important to take modern science (sometimes with a grain of salt!) and common sense in today's world into consideration. I mean, half of the plant life and almost all the animal life now on the planet is totally different from what it was then...so we have to be realistic about it.

V - I like your name, too! In fact, if you do eat this way and end up having conversations with people about it, it tends to go MUCH smoother if you don't use the word paleo at all. "Paleo" is like 'Atkins' or "low carb" in that it generates a lot of preconceived notions in people's heads - some right and some wrong.

[GLC1968]

By the way, I'm teasing about the crossfitters. I have a lot of good friends in real life who are very into crossfit, so I hold no malice towards them! They are just a very enthusiastic group and when they embrace something, they tend to go whole hog on it. I'm happy they have embraced Paleo as it has really brought it into the forefront and made most of these awesome new cookbooks come to light!

[TsPoet]

By the way, I'm teasing about the crossfitters. I have a lot of good friends in real life who are very into crossfit, so I hold no malice towards them! They are just a very enthusiastic group and when they embrace something, they tend to go whole hog on it. I'm happy they have embraced Paleo as it has really brought it into the forefront and made most of these awesome new cookbooks come to light!

Too late, now I'm not talking to you
I do crossfit inconsistently. I got kicked out of the first CF gym I went to - kicked out! why, because I didn't grunt, yell, and act like a He-woman. The CF gym I switched to is oddly mellow for a CF gym. I have a love/hate relationship with both CF and Paleo. CF is too cultish, doesn't think enough (about things like form), and just too macho for me. I'm too old and fat and I think could really hurt myself doing CF.
Some paleo is good, and I'm trying to do more of it, but not going whole-hog.

[westtexas]

Supposedly you are to use Ghee instead of butter. I use butter, but sparingly. I follow the diet pretty closely. I think the thing that makes it work is the low carbs plus the fat - you feel full and happy all day even without the quick fix sugar rush from the carbs. I have to be really careful when I cycle because if I start eating carbs again, it can be hard for me to stop. Thank goodness the holidays are almost over.

I started eating this way though because I found out I have celiac disease and a friend introduced me to it. Now he's trying to get me to go completely raw... and I just don't think I have the time or energy for that. This works for me. I've never felt so good in my life.

And while the dogs are not wolves (and thus humans are not cavepeople) argument is totally valid - as a side point, they have also found that high protein diets in dogs (and cats especially) with low carbs and no grains are better for them too. Especially seniors - they used to feed protein/fat restricted diets to seniors but lo and behold now we have found that they actually need more protein and fat to maintain muscle tone and brain function.

I just want to be as healthy as I can for as long as I can with as few drugs in my system as possible.

[goldfinch]

Supposedly you are to use Ghee instead of butter. I use butter, but sparingly. I follow the diet pretty closely. I think the thing that makes it work is the low carbs plus the fat - you feel full and happy all day even without the quick fix sugar rush from the carbs. I have to be really careful when I cycle because if I start eating carbs again, it can be hard for me to stop. Thank goodness the holidays are almost over.

I started eating this way though because I found out I have celiac disease and a friend introduced me to it. Now he's trying to get me to go completely raw... and I just don't think I have the time or energy for that. This works for me. I've never felt so good in my life.

And while the dogs are not wolves (and thus humans are not cavepeople) argument is totally valid - as a side point, they have also found that high protein diets in dogs (and cats especially) with low carbs and no grains are better for them too. Especially seniors - they used to feed protein/fat restricted diets to seniors but lo and behold now we have found that they actually need more protein and fat to maintain muscle tone and brain function.

I just want to be as healthy as I can for as long as I can with as few drugs in my system as possible.

Interesting about the dogs. My elderly dog has an irritable bowel and I worry about her getting enough protein on the bulky diet that she seems to need.

[GLC1968]

About the dogs...two months after we started eating paleo, we switched our dogs to a grain-free food. We had already switched to a high end food, so the grain-free version was only a slight step up in terms of cost for us. It's expensive, but the dogs are so clearly thriving on it that we feel it is worth it.

Both dogs have lost weight without any need to restrict their eating. They LOVE the food and gobble it up even near the end of the bag where that wasn't the case before. And the part that is truly amazing to me is that our oldest dog (who is only 7, so not really OLD) has had hip problems his whole life and he has recently started to improve. We considered surgery about 5 years ago, but decided to try glucosamine for a bit instead. It helped him, he didn't seem to be in pain and he got around ok so we kept up with it. Since he's been paleo? No need for the supplements anymore! He's even MORE active now without the pills. I really think it's the diet (and partially, the weight loss). He appears so incredibly healthy and vibrant now. We've even transitioned our new puppy to the puppy version of the food too.

[Veronica]

Our kitties went paleo three years ago because Tucker was a fat one year old with no energy. He's still a bit tubby, but has LOTS of energy!

Veronica

[MojoGrrl]

Interesting about the dogs. My elderly dog has an irritable bowel and I worry about her getting enough protein on the bulky diet that she seems to need.

I have a cat who had terrible irritable bowel issues when I first got her, so I put her on a raw meat diet. Cleared that problem right up! These days I'm too lazy to keep up the raw diet but I only feed her canned food that is all meat, no grain or fillers. It costs a lot but she does okay on it.

[goldfinch]

I have a cat who had terrible irritable bowel issues when I first got her, so I put her on a raw meat diet. Cleared that problem right up! These days I'm too lazy to keep up the raw diet but I only feed her canned food that is all meat, no grain or fillers. It costs a lot but she does okay on it.

I think I'll talk to my vet about options again. My dog is very eldery, 16 years old, and so far seems to need a very bulky diet or she has issues. I feed her a fair amount of canned pumpkin which she really like and seems to help. But she has been struggling again lately.