Paleo Foods

Dude didn't even read past the Exhibit A for pro/neg grain studies because you say "clinical" when those are BOTH observational studies...fail

Yeah, guerilla and I had a similar debate in one of the alternative medicine threads and that's what triggered the "clinical trial" thing. I made a mistake, boo fucking hoo.
 


Evidence that all oils are bad for you- period.

I was eating a ton of red meat and egg whites along with low carbs, and voila, minor coronary disease started creeping in (and I'm an endurance cyclist and avid cardio freak), so along with a visit to the doc, I started to do my due diligence on cholesterol and diet.
One thing is hard to argue: The one country or region with virtually zero heart disease is a region of China which in essence abstains from meat, all dairy and wheat based foods. Essentially, a plant based diet.

Bears taking a look at it people.. Boring, yes. Healthy? Hell yes.

I'd be very sceptical of his claims - he's using them to pitch a product.

Also, most of his publications are about cancer surgery techniques - and they're letters or literature reviews as opposed to original research.

He only has 3 publications on cholesterol

Esselstyn C cholesterol - PubMed - NCBI

(And a few more diet-based ones).

None of the studies I could see were controlled properly, and crucially, he didn't do a control where people had a vegetarian diet with normal fat levels (unless I've missed it). It's pretty well established that switching to vegetarianism / minimal meat is better for you. But that's got as much to do with things like polycyclic hydrocarbons in meat as it has with fat levels.

His credentials as a cancer surgeon are impeccable, but that doesn't necessarily translate to being an authority on diet. Scientists and clinicians (especially surgeons) are a very different breed, and good clinicians very rarely make good scientists (and vice-versa).
 
Forgot to mention, I'm also taking Pregnenolone and DHEA. Both are precursors to testosterone. I had very low testosterone levels and I was told to take this by Dr. Kalish - basically to stimulate/jump start my testosterone/sex hormone production again. Let me tell you, taking things that increase testosterone is possibly the best fucking thing ever. Testosterone is fucking AWESOME. These are both available over the counter, as well, but I most definitely would not recommend taking either of DHEA or pregnenolone unless you talk to a Dr. first and get your levels tested. My testosterone was a 51/160. For reference, my mom's (post menopausal, 57 year old woman) level was 57. Granted, her hormones are awesome, but still. A 57 year old woman had higher testosterone than me, a 23 year old male.

Tried to make this post an edit but it wouldn't let me. Sorry for spamming my [awesome] sig everywhere.

Nah, the right levels of testoterone are awesome. Mine were too high throughout most of my teens & 20s, and it caused me no end of grief. I was like a fucking tomcat, alternately fucking and fighting anything that moved. It's good to have some sanity at last now they've dropped a bit and I have control over my brain.
 
I think this is an appropriate place to put this quote:

"Be careful about reading health books. You may die of a misprint.”
 
I like almond milk. Mix it with whey protein and peanut butter, couple ice cubes in my new badass blender couple times per day. Good stuff.
 
Well, depends. What do you eat regularly? I also am very skeptical of anyone that doesn't really know much about health (not saying that's you, just in general), that tells me that they "feel good" and are "healthy". Because they usually aren't even close to it, and their definition of "feeling good" is more like "feeling average". I don't think people really have a feel for how you should feel, physically and mentally, as a healthy person. Granted, all of that is pretty hard to measure and whatnot, but whatever.

To me, the first step would be cutting out grains/gluten, dairy, and processed foods for 30 days. And then see how you feel. After the 30 days are over, I'd wait one more week, and then try to introduce grains slowly back into your diet. The point isn't to actually get them back in your diet (personally, I don't think there is a single person on this planet who can truly eat gluten without any issues, as the "grains" we eat today are not really grains), but to see how they make you feel.

For me, I stopped eating grains for 30 days to see what was up - because I didn't feel like grains were causing me any issues. When I tried to eat them again on day 35 or so, I would get headaches, my stomach would be insanely bloated, and I would feel like shit for the rest of the day - symptoms that I didn't have before. My theory on why this happened is that I had fucked up my system so bad that I couldn't really feel the damage it was doing. When I took it out and my system had time to actually repair, when I reintroduced it it was like "what the FUCK is this shit" and went haywire.

Anyway, I think that's a good place to start.

Well probably half my calories come from dairy (skim milk, instant breakfast, yogurt, etc.) and most of my other calories come from fruits and nuts. I am big on caloric restriction, mostly because I'm too busy to be hungry, and it's been shown to be one of the best things you can do to improve your health. (I would also take a guess and say I'm one of the few people who is not negatively affected by dairy.)


Although I agree that diet is personalized, you run into problems when trying to self diagnose. Correlation doesn't mean cause and effect and a scenario like the one you outlined could've been caused by a dozen other things and does not provide you enough information to make such a drastic change like that. Furthermore placebo makes a big difference, when you are testing on yourself it is not double blind and your own bias can effect the outcome. If you read negative things about grains before trying this study your brain will almost certainly trick you into thinking you are feeling better than you actually are when you aren't taking grains (and the opposite when you start back up on grains again).

I try to dictate my diet based on what studies show. For instance red grapes and bananas are shown to have lots of health benefits, so I eat lots of both. Red meat is shown to be terrible for your health (as are processed meats) so I try to avoid both of those as much as possible.

I think with personalized health it's a bit of a guessing game until scientists are able to use genetics to determine what type of food is better for each person.
 
I been on the paleo diet for around 6 weeks now, the only downside is the price - damn gets expensive eating organic meat, veg and fruit. Otherwise I feel awesome and the weight is falling off me, I did live on a diet of fast food before though.

Much easier to eat this way working from home, I eat a cooked breakfast and lunch, while my house mates eat shit out, or pack their sandwiches.

Grains are filler food for 3rd world countries, we have the luxury of being able to afford to eat well and look after ourselves, why not take advantage?
 
I been on the paleo diet for around 6 weeks now, the only downside is the price - damn gets expensive eating organic meat, veg and fruit. Otherwise I feel awesome and the weight is falling off me, I did live on a diet of fast food before though.

Stay paleo and your lack of medical bills throughout your lifetime will more than pay for the organic veggies, grass-fed beef, and farm-fresh eggs.

In the past 2 years I've paid about $75 for "sick care" medical bills. It was a strep throat test that was... negative. Oops.

Back in the day, we used to spend a LOT more time and resources on our food, and far less on healthcare. Now it's flipped. I'll take a return to the former.

Good thread.
 
I once went one week without eating chocolate, mad cravings.

So I bought some chocolate. While eating the chocolate I felt awesome, after eating the chocolate I felt satisfied... and awesome.

Chocolate = Good

I once went my whole lifetime without eating anything green. I didn't crave it at all, ever. I was repulsed at the sight of it... But I decided I would be "healthy" one day and eat a salad instead of my normal mcdonalds. Tasted like crap, felt shitty while eating it, just kept craving my mcdonalds after eating it.

Green food = Bad , Mcdonalds = Good.

I drink a litre of pepsi daily. I once went a couple weeks without drinking my pepsi... OMG such bad cravings. It was obvious my body was telling me it needed the pepsi. So I got some pepsi and it felt awesome drinking it and I felt so satisfied afterwards.

Pepsi = Good

My body knows best. I just listen to it cause it always wants what's good for me.
 
For every one person coming in here saying something is good for you, you get two people coming in saying it's bad. Which is pretty much reflective of the data as well. Is it any wonder we, as a society, are so confused? The only thing that is ever consistent is do whatever in moderation. So that's what I try to live by.

That being said, I've always liked the Paleo idea. I wonder if Whole Foods has a Paleo section like that Steve's original site so I can just grab some bags of goodness.
 
I like Almond Milk.
I enjoy it too. Not a big fan of milk/dairy in general, but if I have to have milk these days, it's either whole milk or almond milk. Typically, the only time I have milk is with cereal and I don't really eat breakfast anymore so, I don't really have the time for it.

When I start making smoothies again I will probably start moving back over to almond milk every once in awhile.
 
Paleo really is the way to go - I went paleo while bulking and was able to put on some clean pounds, not to mention I felt so much better. It is important to little by little reintroduce things into your diet though, there were a few times where I went nuts from the plain taste of my chicken and rice and would feast on McDonalds for a few days.

Remember to go on a diet you can SUSTAIN as a lifestyle, not just something you're going to do for a couple of months/weeks.
 
What's the general consensus among paleo people towards honey?

Local honey is good to help with allergies. I would suggest buying from a local bee keeper. Honey is a natural sweetener, keep in moderation.

A few bullets I want to hit.
-If your talking to someone about the paleo or primal lifestyle and they mention it being low-carb, atkins or any other other fad diets, walk away or stop reading their posts. Paleo/Primal is more than just low-carb. You can actually eat a lot of carbs if you want to. Most atkins meals are heavily processed foods and tons of additives.

-Forget everything the government or big companies tell you. Do your own research. Key things to research: Fats (including transfats), sugars (including HFCS), grains, legumes. Yes legumes are poisonous!!!

-Primal/Paleo can be expensive, if you need to do it on a budget you can. If you need to save a few cents and eat rice, go for it. I live on the 80/20 rule, my wife does this 100%.

I hate coconut milk and almond milk, I dont know how my wife can drink this stuff. The only time I have dairy is when I cheat and have a bowl of cereal (its my weakness). We use coconut oil for cooking now instead of veg or olive oils.
 
hey clear -- for legumes, are you referring to them being poisonous because of lectins? i've been hearing a lot about that as of late (not that i eat them anyway, just not a food i enjoy) but curious to hear your thoughts on it. I've been told that lectins are the "next gluten", lol.


also, to the people commenting on my testing strategies - i.e. that it's not that reliable to eliminate foods and then bring them back in and draw conclusions - you are for the most part, correct. my decisions weren't solely based on how i felt after eating them (though that was obviously a huge factor - if something makes you feel like shit when you eat it, don't eat it), i also was working directly with a dr (dr. kalish, the man) and did some testing on my mucosal barrier function.

basically your mucosal barrier is the lining of your gut - if it is compromised, you end up having food particles in your bloodstream. when food particles go into your bloodstream frequently (i.e. eating the same foods a lot), your immune system is all like "WTF?" and starts attacking them because it thinks they are foreign invaders. that's how a lot of people develop food intolerances. also, when your immune system is constantly reacting to shit like that, eventually it's function gets compromised because it can't sustain fighting shit off all the time.

anyway, my mucosal barrier function was really low and this is almost always caused by grains (gluten) because they are insanely hard to digest. so that played another large factor in my decision.

and finally, i feel a bajillion times better every day since I cut them out of my diet.

so yeah. i don't think i did the wrong thing.

turbo -- you just have to figure out who to trust, that's all. when dudes are quoting observational studies and saying grains are good for you - you just have to remember that observational studies basically mean nothing. watch the youtube vid that was posted about the difference between observational studies and clinical studies. it's pretty crazy. LOTS of bad science going down in our country unfortunately. and ultimately, you just need to test what works for you.

i do think there is some truth to moderation, but to me eating bad foods in moderation means you're going to only have "moderate" health. and I have no interest in being mediocre. :)
 
turbo -- you just have to figure out who to trust, that's all

No, no, no, no, no!

Fuck no!

Figure out who to trust? C'mon seiux, wtf?

Should you trust "mainstream" info sources? Fuck no!

Should you trust viral YouTube vids that "tell it like it is" or blogs written by people who conveniently promote supplements/ebooks/whatever? Fuck no!

This is WickedFire and as an open minded marketer, you should know better.

I mentioned this a few days ago and you agreed with me: everyone has a more or less hidden agenda. Ok, so what to do then?

It's really not complicated IMO: analyze the information mainstream info sources provide, analyze the information alternative info sources provide and use your brain. In other words, do everything humanly possible to filter out shitty information because no matter which info source we're talking about, you will be overwhelmed by shitty/inaccurate stuff.

Trusting everything that has the word "mainstream" attached to it and claiming that folks who recommend alternative theories are crazy or whatever is just plain wrong.

Trusting everything that has the word "alternative" attached to it and claiming that folks who recommend mainstream theories are brainwashed or whatever is just as wrong.
 
No, no, no, no, no!

Fuck no!

Figure out who to trust? C'mon seiux, wtf?

Should you trust "mainstream" info sources? Fuck no!

Should you trust viral YouTube vids that "tell it like it is" or blogs written by people who conveniently promote supplements/ebooks/whatever? Fuck no!

This is WickedFire and as an open minded marketer, you should know better.

I mentioned this a few days ago and you agreed with me: everyone has a more or less hidden agenda. Ok, so what to do then?

It's really not complicated IMO: analyze the information mainstream info sources provide, analyze the information alternative info sources provide and use your brain. In other words, do everything humanly possible to filter out shitty information because no matter which info source we're talking about, you will be overwhelmed by shitty/inaccurate stuff.

Trusting everything that has the word "mainstream" attached to it and claiming that folks who recommend alternative theories are crazy or whatever is just plain wrong.

Trusting everything that has the word "alternative" attached to it and claiming that folks who recommend mainstream theories are brainwashed or whatever is just as wrong.

Dude, I said nothing about trusting mainstream or alternative or really anything remotely close to what you interpreted it as - but to clarify: While it's extremely important to learn as much as you can on your own, it helps to know people who are legitimate experts in their field to accelerate the learning process, etc. You just need to do your own research so you can make the correct judgement on whether these people are legit or have no idea what they are talking about. I think that's a pretty fair statement. There are plenty of people out there who can most definitely add value to your health.