The Primal Blueprint

[_way_]

As many of you are aware, I recently canceled my subscription to vegetarianism. While I received words of congratulations from forty-eight separate people on Facebook, I never did explain the whole situation. Here goes.

I have engaged myself in "The Primal Blueprint." This initially came as a recommendation from Dave, and then subsequently from

Comments

[kusoyaro]

How does that book address the fact that the average life expectancy of people during pre-agricultural society was probably 30-40 years old?

[_way_]

Boom! Teachered!

[grungettarocks]

Hsien - modern medicine takes care of most plights that caused early death. HUGE killers were simple infections from minor wounds, much less the major diseases no longer common. Don't even get me started on how advances in sanitation in the last 200 years have influenced life expectancy. (You should be in my class the day we talk about chamber pots and where people used to dump them!). Hell, fairly recently (historically speaking) it was thought odd and suspicious for a midwife to wash their hands before delivering a baby!

Way - what the heck ARE you eating on an average day? After reading some stuff by Michael Pollan and the like, I went pretty gung-ho about eating "real/whole" food rather than processed food with additives, but the thought of cutting out grains makes my soul shrivel up in terror!

[_way_]

Let's take today for example.
Breakfast: Two eggs fried in butter. Smoked salmon. A handful of strawberries.
Lunch: Chicken tikki masala and a side of saag paneer from the Indian place near work.
Snack: Avocado. Protein shake with frozen blueberries and probiotic supplement.
Dinner: Arugula salad topped with roasted pepitas, yellow bell pepper, tomato, and diced sea scallops (sauteed in white wine). Sesame oil as salad dressing.

[jimmyen]

I made an effort this year to try and correct some of my more slovenly eating habits. Unfortunately being a student most of the time imposes some barriers and most of the progress in this regard has been in finding vegetable-rich and sodium-poor frozen options, campus food, and meals which can be quickly assembled in the space that constitutes my kitchen. I would nevertheless be interested in nutrition discussion so it can rattle around in my head awaiting a time when I have more resources on which to act.

[grungettarocks]

I picked the book up at the library today. You'll have my review at Corbo Bash, Mr. Way.

[_way_]

I warn you, Sisson seems hardly literate at times. It's not a fun read, and the editing was quite poor.

[smoovygee]

What are your thoughts on detox diets?

Someone I was talking to yesterday mentioned she was on the Lemonade Cleanse (also known as Master Cleanse) and it just sounded like she was basically starving herself. Nor can I find what toxins are being flushed from your body when you follow them.

[_way_]

Detox diets can be fine if they're done properly. Basically, if you prime your liver for a week, detox for a day, and then properly transition back to normal for the next 2-3 days, it's good for you. The way most people do the cleanses/purges, though, it's suddenly unleashing a ton of toxins into their respective livers all at once. I am too swamped right now to provide a source, but can if you want to read more.

[smoovygee]

Nah, that makes sense. I'll do my own research. Thanks for the info!

[rippetoe]

Really? Everything I've read is that detox diets are mostly bullshit and it boils down to just drinking more water. The bloated, terrible feeling a lot of people get after eating shittily is generally sodium bloat/glycogen bloat/aftereffects from drinking. Skipping a meal or two and doing a workout will burn off the glycogen, eating some veggies will get some vitamins in your body, and drinking a ton of water will clear out the sodium. Bam, you're feelin' fine.