How to do the Paleo diet or Primal Diet – Part 1
In this article I’m going to explain how to do the Paleo diet and how to make it work best for you! For those of you who’ve become regulars on the blog you’re probably getting the idea that success stories on the paleo diet are more the rule than the exception. Judging by the number of emails and questions I’ve been getting on facebook there is still a lot of confusion about what the Paleo diet consists of and where the lines are drawn.
If you listen to Paleo gurus like Robb Wolf, Mark Sisson or Loren Cordain each will have a slightly different stance on what the paleo / primal diet is and isn’t, where you can blur the rules and where you can’t.
The number one rule on the Paleo diet is to avoid Gluten.
Gluten is the protein defence mechanism that some plants developed to stop animals eating their genitals (seeds). There are people who can eat traditionally prepared wheat (barley or rye) products without experiencing a decline in health. Most of them have northern African abstraction (where wheat has been consumed for longest – Jesus had brown skin and probably stood amongst a genetically gluten tolerant group when he was on the mount giving out bread).
Even if you’re in this minority the chances are you’ll look feel and perform better if you’re 100% gluten.
If you don’t think gluten is a big deal then you need to do more research. There are conservative estimates that life-expectancy would increase by 10 years simply with the elimination of gluten. On the flip-side if you have any degree of gluten intolerance your chances of dying on any given day are 6 times higher than if you stopped consuming gluten!
Even occasional exposure can cause inflammatory cascades that last for months. It’s your pizza and it’s your decision. If you want to make an informed one on Gluten check out www.thedr.com or wheat belly.
So if I can’t eat wheat what can I eat??
Eat meat and vegetables plus some fruit and a few nuts flavoured with herbs and spices and smart dairy up to your tolerance!
The higher the quality of meat and vegetables the better. I always try for free range or organic meats and wild caught fish as well as organic vegetables. If you can’t afford even the cheapest cuts of meat and vegetables look at where you’re spending your money and see if your budget is in-line with your values.
STATISTIC: In america the percentage of disposable income spent on food has halved over the last 50 years. (I dare say this is a rich-world trend.)
Even so if you truly can’t afford to buy, grow or steal quality food then focussing on bulk cheap cuts of meat and frozen vegetables should see your shopping bill come down if you’re used to buying cereals and processed foods that sell you more air, soy and sugar than real food and leave you sick and hungry paying for prescription drugs instead of healthy and nourished.
You can either pay for good food now and enjoy improved performance and quality of life or you can pay in health care costs, disability and decreased quality of life in the future! My aim here is to make the choice a little easier
Beyond these foods you can add lots of herbs and spices to make a limitless amount of meal options. Paleo is only as boring as you are! How exciting are wheatbix for breakfast everyday. Some say that you would be better off eating the box!
Change up your meats, vegetables and sauces as often as you like and you never have to eat the same thing twice. If it was enough variety for every generation of every species up until the last 2-20 generations to eat what nature had to offer we can get by without pop-tarts too!
Is steak tartare on your menu?
Eggs are often a breakfast staple for many people. I suggest that you stick to about 12 soft cooked organic eggs a week, which for me is 2-3 serves. I don’t count raw eggs in shakes on this tally because raw eggs aren’t as likely to cause allergies as cooked eggs.
If I just ruined your breakfast plans for the next 6 years then you need to be a bit more creative. I often just drink a tea first thing in the morning and then eat part of my lunch at around 8am. Find what works for you and do some googling or buy some recipe books on amazon if you’re getting stuck for ideas.
In my next article I’ll be trying to demystify the dairy dilemma!
Made with Bullet