New to Paleo Style diet

[the monkey]

Hey guys I am new to this site and even though the Paleo style diet is not new for me, I have decided to give it a go as I have tried some meal following it and they do work well. My question is that it says that I can eat fruits as these were present during the Paleo age, however most if not all fruits contain more than half the recommended amount of carbs for a day, or is it only grain, potatoes and beans that i should stay away from? Another question I have is what about things like dairy or whey supplement since i don't have the money to be eating whole foods based protein the whole day, or how about Natural Peanut butter since is the only one i can get? Any other help with this diet would be greatly appreciated. Another little question I read that it is good to eat root vegetables except potatoes of any kind, but what about beets?

[George Launchbury]

Hi the monkey,

EDIT: Ha ha - I started this of with 'quick answer' ...I should have known!

As a quick answer: Carbohydrate is carbohydrate however you look at it, and the limits are the limits. If you get to those limits eating high carb (sugar/starch) foods then you won't be eating a lot. That means not a lot of subsequent nutrition (vitamins, minerals, enzymes, anti-oxidants, etc). I would recommend eating the bulk of your 'carbs' from non-starchy vegetables (the more colours the better) and the occasional piece of fruit.

Fruits were present during the 'paleo' age ...but would likely not have been sweet as they have been bred to be today. They would also have been smaller, and plenty of other animals would have been eating them too (since humans had not eradicated most of them at that time).

Regards protein - you need quality. Good quality protein supplements (if you agree with that kind of thing) would cost approx the same as the real thing (if not more) ...and are man-made substitutes for the real thing. Therefore that comes down to how much effort/time you are willing to put into your health. As far as I am aware, peanuts are legumes and therefore not on the Paleo list ...depending on how accurate you want to get. They are quite carby, so keep an eye out.

Regards root vegetables - carbs is carbs is carbs. However, it is only the amount of carbs you digest that affect your insuline levels et al. If you can eat them raw, fill your boots. If you can't eat them raw ...then there is a clue there! This also means that you will assimilate more carbs from a cooked carrot than a raw one.

That is a little unclear, so to sum up (since I am a little busy at work today):

> Fruit - eat only a little

> Protein - quality is key

> Roots - eat them raw

> For all health choices - Carbs is carbs, is carbs ...however you look at it.

> Excess carbs, and damaged fats are the #1 dangers to your health (it's a tie).

IMPORTANT:

If you are looking at lists of carb content of foods, I would steer clear of Glycaemic INDEX and instead look at Glycaemic LOAD. This takes into consideration the portion size rather than whatever amount of food contains (I think) 100g of carbohydrate. It does change things. Better yet, look at the ECC (Effective Carbohydrate Content) which is the amount of carbohydrate in the portion, minus the fibre.

Hope some of this incoherent ramble helps? Ask away if anything is unclear, and anyone else should feel free to chime in. There are many perpectives on Paleo style nutrition, and balances between performance and purism (after all, it's not a historical re-enactment ...or we wouldn't be allowed on the internet).

Regards,

George.

[the monkey]

Thanks a lot George for the answer. About the protein supplement, I mentioned it because i get it for free since my best friend's dad is a product manager at GNC so he gives us any surplus or anything that is GNC brand for free or extremely cheap. I get the thing about fruits and roots so as long as i stay with my limit its good however it comes with the price of eating less veggies and other things so it's a win lose situation depending on how i want to take it. I guess, like you said, that it depends on how strict and pure i wanna get the diet, of course the closer the the real paleo the better i guess, i will try and do my best. If anyone has other tips or advice on kind of making the switch i would really appreciate it, and also is it normal to feel something weird in my stomach like if it was being sucked in even though i have eaten a good amount of food? I have not eaten any grains since yesterday after 4 and i feel like there is a suction pump connected to my stomach, it is weird but not anything that hurts or bothers too much.

[George Launchbury]

You're welcome.

I imagine someone else here can give you the lowdown on protein powder (and not being funny, but I wouldn't be sure GNC own brand would be considered high quality).

Re: fruits/roots; It's not good simply because you stay within your limit ...it's just not bad. The trick is to maximise nutrition while staying within a safe level of glycaemic loading. It's not even really about being a paleo purist - adequate nutrition is vital to a progressive and injury free training schedule, not to mention good all-round health. Getting your daily intake of carbs is not vital. If you can get twice as many nutrients from the same amount of carbohydrate (usually less) by eating more vegetables than fruit/roots ...you'd be crazy not to. As I have stated before (I think): Good health is going to require an investment in time, effort and money. The better the investment, the better the returns.

Cheers,

George.

P.s. Expect all kinds of interesting sensations (although none of them should hurt). You may get the mother of all headaches from caffiene/sugar withdrawal (and general detoxing) if you don't get enough water.

[the monkey]

I see thanks a lot George i will do my best then, one funny thing is that i thought i would actually feel weak but it is the total opposite. Now that I remember, i would feel really slow after eating my 60+g of carbs breakfasts, it is really interesting the difference it has made to eat eggs with a lot of vegetables, avocado and olive oil and some tea rather than a whole wheat bagel, fruit preserve, a banana, and some soy milk

[Edward Smith]

With dairy even though it isn't really part of the paleo-style diet, it's alright to eat (in my opinion) in small amounts. Things like topping an omlette with cheese, milk in scrambled eggs, some cream for a treat. I just think dairy shouldn't be consumed in large amounts or be a major part of the diet.

Ed

[Edward Smith]

Actually a question I have is (hope you don't mind monkey) how does cooking with out adding carbs (sugar, honey, etc) increase the carbs or is it that it reduces the nutritional value (vitamins, minerals, anti-oxidants, etc) increases the carb to 'nutrition' ratio?

Thanks,

Ed

[George Launchbury]

Hi Ed,

I would guess that it is due to the fibre being broken down in some way, so there is more available carbohydrate. Therefore lightly steaming would be much better than boiling the veg into a soggy mess.

George.

[the monkey]

Well i gotta say i tries this kind of diet yesterday and at first it felt right but then later i did not feel as well. Either way i always try to have what i could call a "paleo meal" once or twice during the day which has no grains or large source of carbs specially as the day goes on. One thing i noticed yesterday was that even though i was consuming a good amount of calories per meal (300-500) i was too hungry the whole day, but then when i eat things with lo GL and GI whole grains i do not have this same problem even though it might not pass the 200 calorie range. I think that in my case i will just mix the best of both worlds, i will base my meals on lean protein and some healthy fats then have the source of low GL & GI carbs as a side in one or two meal and a small amount in my snack if anything, i will follow your advice George and try to eat these sources raw if possible or lightly steamed.

[Edward Smith]

Whatever works for you. Even just doing what your doing will put you light-years ahead of the majority. Why go with lean meat? Saturated fat isn't really bad, just make sure it's naturally occuring saturated fat, so long as it's a bit of fat of the side of a steak and not oozing out of salami.

Ed

[the monkey]

Thanks Ed, i know saturated fat is not bad but it is just the whole "fat is bad mentality", it is kind of hard to break the cycle.

[Coach Sommer]

Low carbs does not automatically equate to high protein. This is quite a common misinterpretation when first significantly reducing cards in the diet. If anything, it is in actuality much closer to low carb equals higher fat. If you are having difficulty maintaining your energy levels during the day or are feeling unreasonably hungry shortly after meals, I would recommend judiciously beginning to adjust your amount of dietary fat upward until the situation resolves itself.

I would recommend reviewing all of Ido Portal's posts on nutrition for far more detailed information than I have provided here. Also, I have Gregor's (one of the moderators) views on nutrition helpful as well.

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer

[Ortprod]

GNC sucks.

Your best best if you want a "cheap" protein is to go with optimum nutrition from what I have heard.

Best proteins (IMO):

#1 Goat whey (tastes a little different at first but then you eventualy fall in love with it. Mixes REALLY easily and is suppose to have a 300% absorption rate or some such number. Low GI for people watching there carbs. I still use it and think it beats all other protein.)

#2 SAN Infusion (has EVERYTHING YOU NEED in it. Flax seed, omegas, CLA and a bunch of amino acids. Does have carbs though. This is a really THICK protein and tells you to use 4 scoops with about 40+grams of protein.)

#3 Myogenics Myolean (This stuff tastes AWESOME. Does have carbs. Pretty good at mixing.)

#4 Isopure (pretty good stuff. Tastes a little artificial and I recommend staying away from flavors like "apple melon" BLEGH. Stick to the basic flavors when buying protein, chocolate or vanilla. This one also has no carbs BUT uses a sucralose sweetener.)

Let me know if you can't find these online and I can try to post some links. Best bet is to find your stuff online and buy bulk.

[Gregor]

GNC sucks.

Your best best if you want a "cheap" protein is to go with optimum nutrition from what I have heard.

Best proteins (IMO):

#1 Goat whey (tastes a little different at first but then you eventualy fall in love with it. Mixes REALLY easily and is suppose to have a 300% absorption rate or some such number. Low GI for people watching there carbs. I still use it and think it beats all other protein.)

#2 SAN Infusion (has EVERYTHING YOU NEED in it. Flax seed, omegas, CLA and a bunch of amino acids. Does have carbs though. This is a really THICK protein and tells you to use 4 scoops with about 40+grams of protein.)

#3 Myogenics Myolean (This stuff tastes AWESOME. Does have carbs. Pretty good at mixing.)

#4 Isopure (pretty good stuff. Tastes a little artificial and I recommend staying away from flavors like "apple melon" BLEGH. Stick to the basic flavors when buying protein, chocolate or vanilla. This one also has no carbs BUT uses a sucralose sweetener.)

Let me know if you can't find these online and I can try to post some links. Best bet is to find your stuff online and buy bulk.

1. Only powder Whey. Beacuse ordinary whey has to much bad fat. Powder whey in other hand is alot of more pure an is concetrated whey(isolat to, but is expensive).

2. the Best protein meal you can get in powder Meal as lunch, dinner or just before going ro sleep and not post work out meal (PWS).

3.ordinary powder proteins. I prefer more carbo hidrates after work out.

4. same as nuber 3.

[Gregor]

ONE THING OBUT DIETS:

In all diets you must consume carbohidrates (except in low carbo diet an ketonic diet), proteins and faty acids (very important!!!!!don't exclude that). Don't forget for a lot of vitamins (especialy in diet times), SALT!!! (very important for body hidrations-> better toxic secretion, more power, better health) and in the last plenty water.

1. eat fruits and vegetables

2. diffrent carbohidrates (like in fruits and vegetables, potatoes, corn, glucose:after training)

3. proteins (meat, fish, powders)

4. vitamins and minerals (food and suplements)

5. water

In diet is important that you have deficit in day or weakly plan. Aprox. 15% deficit of caloric intake in one day or whole weak.

I preffer weak beacuse you can decrease and increase your caloric intake for your needs.

For training day a little suficit and for non-training daya little biger deficit.

So in whole weak you must get aprox. 15% of deficit.

Fat burners works only with your food diet and not before, remember that!!!!!! It's only a dot on a above of the letter i.

One more thing, you can create your own fat burner with sport supplements with lest cost and usualy more effective.

About paleo diet: It's just a popular diet and it's far from optimal diet.

"and excludes grains, legumes, dairy products, salt."

I don't agree with that in grains you can get good fatty acids, dairy products are good for obtaining your mental state (you won't eat junk food) and SALT look above, very important!