Note to self: eating less grains = good for me.

[raze__the_rose]

A couple years ago or so I heard about the paleolithic diet, which is not so much a weight loss diet as a lifestyle change that includes eliminating sugars, grains, dairy, and legumes from the diet and eating mainly meats, vegetables and fruits, nuts, and seeds

Comments

[rifumi]

I think it pretty much boils down to less carbohydrates, one way or the other

[raze__the_rose]

Not specifically, as you are getting a lot more carbs from fruits and vegetables (this isn't Atkins or anything). But they're definitely different carbs.

[rifumi]

Well, I think you would have to eat quite a bunch of fruits or vegetables to match the carb content of processed grains (which sort of by necessity are carb-loaded, as they are a way of storing a lot of energy content in a smaller space than what raw food would require).

[raze__the_rose]

Well, I'm tracking my nutrition and carbs made up 40% of my diet yesterday, which is a little low, but I didn't eat apples or anything either. Grains are definitely the densest source of carbs but lots of other foods are high carb as well; for example a slice of bread is only slightly higher carb than an apple. In any case I'm not counting carbs (I only looked up the above mentioned 40% out of curiosity), I'm just eating less wheat, corn, etc. I am eating pizza tonight as James really wanted to order in (I'm obviously not being really strict about it) but I do feel better when I focus on fruits, vegetables, and protein for my meals.

[acrimsonrelease]

Sounds like it's going well for you. :) I think having some grains at dinner is a good idea...that way you're not completely depriving yourself and lead yourself into craving them more.

I love bread! And pasta! And I'm not a big fan of meat. :( Otherwise I'd totally give this a shot.

[theswordmaiden]

Thanks for talking about this. I did an entry on paleo nutrition some time ago but it was inconclusive: http://theswordmaiden.livejournal.com/145139.html

[raze__the_rose]

There has been quite a lot more research done in recent years I think, and the scientific community all seem to agree that humans never stopped evolving, are still evolving, and indeed may be evolving at faster rates than ever before.

I think if we hadn't adapted to eating grains, we would not now be living twice as long as our ancestors. Grains certainly provided a very dense calorie source that allowed us to stop the hunter/gatherer lifestyle, and allowed specialization (science, art, etc) since food was available at home.

I think in general any dietary plan that calls itself "the best one ever for everyone!" is bunk and that's not what I'm saying this is. But for me, it works well... even though I'm not really eating paleo now, I still feel better.