Paleo is not historical re-enactment (again) and fish for breakfast
Originally published at invisible druid. You can comment here or there.
Okay, so I know I've said this before, but I'm going to keep saying it over and over till it sinks in everywhere (including into the minds of people who do not read this blog). Paleo is not a historical re-enactment. Period.
About every few weeks I hear about some expert saying that eating paleo is fine, but the diet is stupid because the paleolithic is a very long period and we don't know what ancient humans ate.
Okay, I'm going to break this down for you.
a) we sort of do know what they ate. Not for every meal, nor how it was prepared, but we have a pretty good idea of what lived and died in that (very long) era.
b) it doesn't matter what they ate. Not specifically. Does it matter if a paleolithic man ate gazelle and otter versus cow and duck? No, it does not. Does it matter if one tribe ate a lot of tubers and fat tissue while another lived almost entirely on meat and blood? No, it does not. Both groups were eating natural foods that they were designed to eat. They're not difference species. A hunter from he tuber tribe could go live with the other tribe and in 2 weeks his body would totally used to the diet of meat and blood.
c) What they ate is WAY less important than what they did not eat. Paleolithic man did not eat pizza and pie. He did not drink milkshakes. He ate natural foods.
The paleolithic is a long time period. And what's more, there were hunter gatherers among us for thousands of years after. There still are. And some of them eat a lot of carbs and some eat a lot of meat and some eat a lot of fat. And they're all healthy. So that tells us that the exact diet is less relevant than the type of foods in general. Because what these people are not eating is a lot of fructose, a lot of processed grains, and a lot of easy calories in the form of packaged processed crap.
Some hunter gatherers even eat a little grain (gasp). Granted, this is naturally occurring grains that they did not farm. So, if you want to live that lifestyle, by all means go walk 5 miles to gather some spelt and then bring it home and whip it into a flatbread or gruel after soaking it. But that is not an excuse to eat a big mac.
Just saying "there was no one paleolithic hunter gatherer diet" is correct. it's also useless information, because there is no one modern paleo diet. I used to eat very low carb. Now I eat a little bit more moderate carb, because I've lost some weight. Some people on a paleo diet eat sweet potatoes (or white potatoes) with every meal. Some people eat a ton of fruit. Some people eat nothing but raw meat and eggs. Some people eat bacon and eggs every morning and have a ton of big salads. These people are all eating a paleo diet (just like our ancestors were when they ate woolly mammoth and a bunch of tubers that don't even exist anymore). The fact that they are different diets is a feature, not a bug. The paleo diet is not Nutrisystem. You can eat the foods you like and need. Make it work for you.
On that subject, I want to talk about fish for breakfast real fast. Lots of cultures do this. It's good for you and satisfying. Seriously, give it a shot. Nut up and try fish for breakfast. If the only thing that's holding you back is the cultural pressure of eating eggs and bacon for breakfast, you're doing yourself a disservice. Kick that conventional wisdom to the curb. In most countries, fish is a normal part of breakfast (in Japan and Norway it's huge). Do this.