Curious: do you Paleo eaters also cut out alcohol?
"A flower can not remain in bloom for years, but a garden can be cultivated to bloom throughout seasons and years." - xsplat
The Paleo Diet
"A flower can not remain in bloom for years, but a garden can be cultivated to bloom throughout seasons and years." - xsplat
Quote: (09-14-2011 03:19 PM)jdelisi Wrote:
Quote: (09-14-2011 03:15 PM)Caligula Wrote:
Curious: do you Paleo eaters also cut out alcohol?
I quit 2 years ago so it was not a problem.
Would like to give it a shot, but cutting out booze would be way tougher than other adjustments.
Any thoughts from Paleo eaters who drink on how far alcohol undermines the benefits?
"A flower can not remain in bloom for years, but a garden can be cultivated to bloom throughout seasons and years." - xsplat
If you're boozing on the regular, then you're not on the paleo diet.
It's like saying well I'll do it 5 days a week, but 2 days a week I'm going to eat at Five Guys.
Keep in mind, this is not a diet, it's a lifestyle.
It's like saying well I'll do it 5 days a week, but 2 days a week I'm going to eat at Five Guys.
Keep in mind, this is not a diet, it's a lifestyle.
Say you had the typical American diet on one end, and Paleo on the other, and you were 80% of the way to Paleo. You eat quadruple the meat and a third of the grain carbs of typical Americans, and usually minimal added sugar. No soy, no vegetable oils.
Would you notice a huge change in going 100% Paleo? Because I'm at that 80% right now, and don't do the prep needed to stay 100% paleo.
Would you notice a huge change in going 100% Paleo? Because I'm at that 80% right now, and don't do the prep needed to stay 100% paleo.
Quote: (09-14-2011 03:54 PM)basilransom Wrote:
Say you had the typical American diet on one end, and Paleo on the other, and you were 80% of the way to Paleo. You eat quadruple the meat and a third of the grain carbs of typical Americans, and usually minimal added sugar. No soy, no vegetable oils.
Would you notice a huge change in going 100% Paleo? Because I'm at that 80% right now, and don't do the prep needed to stay 100% paleo.
Was just about to ask this exact same question. I'm very close to Paleo standards for dietary needs, though I enjoy an energy drink every morning and have a diet soda maybe once a week as an indulgence. Now I'm willing to cut these out if the consensus is that the last little bit will push me over the edge.
Also, in regards to alcohol and Paleo, what is everyones thoughts on a more "ancient" form of booze?
I've started homebrewing my own hard apple cider, and its about as paleo as any alcohol could get. A large earth clay jug full of juice that naturally fermented is something I could see ancient man enjoying.
I'm using 100% all natural apple juice from Whole Foods, using organic brewers yeasts, and sweetening it with 100% natural honey (as well as flavoring it with organic ginger, cinnamon, and nutmeg)
Quote: (09-14-2011 03:54 PM)basilransom Wrote:
Say you had the typical American diet on one end, and Paleo on the other, and you were 80% of the way to Paleo. You eat quadruple the meat and a third of the grain carbs of typical Americans, and usually minimal added sugar. No soy, no vegetable oils.
Would you notice a huge change in going 100% Paleo? Because I'm at that 80% right now, and don't do the prep needed to stay 100% paleo.
I was 100% paleo but in the last few months added some simple carbs/grains/starch back into my diet. I'd say I'm between 80-90% with my food intake right now and I have noticed a difference. I get a small pimple here and there on my shoulder or back and sometimes face, whereas with Paleo my skin had cleaned up 100%.
Also, and pardon this comment, but on paleo when i took a shit, it was a super clean, one-wiper. Everything felt normal and good. No foul smells and very little gas. When I eat starch, grains, and wheat (in the form of breads) it's a completely different story. My stomach bloats and I don't feel like I'm digesting well. Shits tend to be five-wipers and not a smooth experience.
I have played with high/low/no carb diets for a good ten years and settled on paleo a few years back. No one will ever convince that paleo is not beneficial for the body. No supplement, diet or anything else has made me feel the way I did when I ditched the flour/grains/starch. Not even working out had such a transformational feel to it as paleo. It was like coming out of the dead and into life. I'll caveat my praise of this lifestyle with the fact that I rarely eat out. Eating out (and over eating) used to make me feel like death.
I don't drink regularly. Sometimes I'll go a month without drinking. I can't tell if its Paleo or age, but when I go out big it kicks my ass hard. It takes a good 4 to 5 days before I'm back to peak performance. My work requires pretty intense focus both from the analytical and creative sides, I notice even minor output drops.
The 100% question is tough. If you exercise enough and are very pragmatic about your eating you can pretty much eat shit every once and a while and look just fine. Who knows, may be you'll look like one of those marathon runners with clogged arteries because they've been pounding shitty carbs for the last 30 years, good on the outside, just about dead inside.
One of the attitudes I formulated for food was if its top quality stuff, I'll eat it. I don't have a problem gobbling up a non-Paleo at a $100 a plate restaurant, but you will never catch me at Chilli's. When I started making bank I also started eating at really expensive restaurants. It almost became a game to spend as much money on dinner as possible (minus wine, which I hate anyways.) $300 a person for food was doing a pretty good job at the game. This served as an inoculation against shit food. If you do this, the next time you go to a cookie cutter sit down chain you'll realize that amazing dish is just preserved shit masked with salt and cheese (more salt.) Paleo food is fresh, and fresh is where all the real flavor is.
Keep the shitty factory food out of your life, and when you have urges for chocolate cake or whatever, you'll eat the really good stuff. No need to fall off the wagon because you ate an entire pizza.
The 100% question is tough. If you exercise enough and are very pragmatic about your eating you can pretty much eat shit every once and a while and look just fine. Who knows, may be you'll look like one of those marathon runners with clogged arteries because they've been pounding shitty carbs for the last 30 years, good on the outside, just about dead inside.
One of the attitudes I formulated for food was if its top quality stuff, I'll eat it. I don't have a problem gobbling up a non-Paleo at a $100 a plate restaurant, but you will never catch me at Chilli's. When I started making bank I also started eating at really expensive restaurants. It almost became a game to spend as much money on dinner as possible (minus wine, which I hate anyways.) $300 a person for food was doing a pretty good job at the game. This served as an inoculation against shit food. If you do this, the next time you go to a cookie cutter sit down chain you'll realize that amazing dish is just preserved shit masked with salt and cheese (more salt.) Paleo food is fresh, and fresh is where all the real flavor is.
Keep the shitty factory food out of your life, and when you have urges for chocolate cake or whatever, you'll eat the really good stuff. No need to fall off the wagon because you ate an entire pizza.
Quote: (09-14-2011 03:54 PM)basilransom Wrote:
Say you had the typical American diet on one end, and Paleo on the other, and you were 80% of the way to Paleo. You eat quadruple the meat and a third of the grain carbs of typical Americans, and usually minimal added sugar. No soy, no vegetable oils.
Would you notice a huge change in going 100% Paleo? Because I'm at that 80% right now, and don't do the prep needed to stay 100% paleo.
You'll have to try it for yourself. Dedicate 2 weeks to a strict version of the diet.
Added sugar =/= bad necessarily, just keep an eye on the amount you take in. A little in your tea/coffee won't kill you, but a bag of sugar cubes is retarded. Watch your carb intake (I never, EVER, go over 100g carbs a day. Most likely I'm around 25 or less, unless I'm working out).
Quote:Quote:
Curious: do you Paleo eaters also cut out alcohol?
Hell the fuck no.
Reason 1: Tequila is made from a plant. Drink it.
Reason 2: Wine is made from a fruit. Drink it.
Reason 3: Even the "grain" alcohols are fermented into oblivion, and the process of fermentation nukes the living hell out of most of the "bad things" in them.
A few things to note:
Note 1: Shitty beers like natty and coors are made with corn and are not good to drink. Find properly made beers (you'll have to spend at least a buck per beer you cheap fucker).
Note 2: Careful with your mixers. Juice is high in sugar and Soda is the devils jizz. Avoid it like the plague.
Note 3: Life is meant to be lived, so if you have to drink natty one night to have fun -- do it.
Don't get me started on our ancestors and shrooms....
how long does it take after you switch to a Paleo diet to start to notice the changes?
I've been eating paleo for about a year now. Constantly recommending it to friends, family and readers. Check out all of my health tagged posts for more info:
http://www.freedomtwentyfive.com/?cat=3
My two favourite resources have already been mentioned, kurt harris at archevore and Mark's Daily Apple. Tim Ferriss also recommends a very similar diet in The Four Hour Body, although he calls it slow-carb. Same principles, 90% of the same diet.
You don't need to be a 100% perfect adherent to paleo to benefit from the diet. Just do your best to avoid sugar, wheat and crappy fats, and the more successful you are, the better off you'll be, simple as that. As I write this, I'm eating a super-paleo chicken, spinach, avocado and cranberry salad, but immediately after I'm going to go drink beer for six hours. I suppose I'd be healthier with a spot of tea and a good book, but I'm young and human. Here's my post on DWP, drinking while paleo:
http://www.freedomtwentyfive.com/?p=336
The bottom line for anyone considering going paleo is this:
1) If you do your research, you'll find it's by far the best starting point for your diet whatever your goals are.
2) Once you start, you'll realize how much more delicious a life of real food is over processed crap and bland bread/pasta
3) Don't let anyone intimidate you by saying it's an all or nothing thing. When I'm 45 and boring, I'll probably eat a diet that's very close to being 100% paleo. Right now, I just do my best and that's more than enough to look good, feel great etc. If you're a poor student especially, the one drawback of paleo is that it's pricey, so don't beat yourself up if you fall short of perfection. Just work on developing good habits now.
http://www.freedomtwentyfive.com/?cat=3
My two favourite resources have already been mentioned, kurt harris at archevore and Mark's Daily Apple. Tim Ferriss also recommends a very similar diet in The Four Hour Body, although he calls it slow-carb. Same principles, 90% of the same diet.
You don't need to be a 100% perfect adherent to paleo to benefit from the diet. Just do your best to avoid sugar, wheat and crappy fats, and the more successful you are, the better off you'll be, simple as that. As I write this, I'm eating a super-paleo chicken, spinach, avocado and cranberry salad, but immediately after I'm going to go drink beer for six hours. I suppose I'd be healthier with a spot of tea and a good book, but I'm young and human. Here's my post on DWP, drinking while paleo:
http://www.freedomtwentyfive.com/?p=336
The bottom line for anyone considering going paleo is this:
1) If you do your research, you'll find it's by far the best starting point for your diet whatever your goals are.
2) Once you start, you'll realize how much more delicious a life of real food is over processed crap and bland bread/pasta
3) Don't let anyone intimidate you by saying it's an all or nothing thing. When I'm 45 and boring, I'll probably eat a diet that's very close to being 100% paleo. Right now, I just do my best and that's more than enough to look good, feel great etc. If you're a poor student especially, the one drawback of paleo is that it's pricey, so don't beat yourself up if you fall short of perfection. Just work on developing good habits now.
In regards to drinking and Paleo / Low-Carb diets, when I first did Atkins they basically made it out that if you drank while on Atkins you'd explode, or something. It was a cardinal sin of Atkins induction. They never said why.
I did some digging (I dont have the links sorry) and found out that the reason low-carb FAT LOSS diets tell you not to drink alcohol has to do with your body's nutrient prioritization.
When you ingest alcohol your body puts everything else on hold, it wants to metabolize the alcohol first. This means that you can't metabolize away the kcals in the chicken you just had because your body is going full tilt into getting rid of the booze. This, to me, was the defining reason why the "beer gut" exists.
Beer is three fold bad. Its carbs. Its calories. Its alcohol. Basically drinking beer puts carbs in your system, raising your blood sugar, causing your body to imperfectly process nutrients (storing fat rather then burning it off), and this effect is doubled because the alcohol in beer is metabolized first meaning that your body ISN'T metabolizing the carbs in the beer either, its also storing those carbs as fat.
The rule I use when drinking is:
A) Dont drink while eating, or just after eating
Give your body time to work on whatever you ate. Let that get through your system THEN hit the sauce. This isn't perfect because digestion is THAT fast, but I'm sure its much better then eating and drinking booze together
B) Try to limit the amount of calories in your booze
Beer and mixers are bad juju, especially when most bars throw a disproportionate amount of mixer in.
I used to drink rum and coke, then I switched to rum and diet, now I'm partial to just taking straight shots then having a soda water after, though I am pre-gaming the the hard cider I mentioned earlier.
Good info on drinking while dieting:
http://www.leangains.com/2010/07/truth-a...uscle.html
I did some digging (I dont have the links sorry) and found out that the reason low-carb FAT LOSS diets tell you not to drink alcohol has to do with your body's nutrient prioritization.
When you ingest alcohol your body puts everything else on hold, it wants to metabolize the alcohol first. This means that you can't metabolize away the kcals in the chicken you just had because your body is going full tilt into getting rid of the booze. This, to me, was the defining reason why the "beer gut" exists.
Beer is three fold bad. Its carbs. Its calories. Its alcohol. Basically drinking beer puts carbs in your system, raising your blood sugar, causing your body to imperfectly process nutrients (storing fat rather then burning it off), and this effect is doubled because the alcohol in beer is metabolized first meaning that your body ISN'T metabolizing the carbs in the beer either, its also storing those carbs as fat.
The rule I use when drinking is:
A) Dont drink while eating, or just after eating
Give your body time to work on whatever you ate. Let that get through your system THEN hit the sauce. This isn't perfect because digestion is THAT fast, but I'm sure its much better then eating and drinking booze together
B) Try to limit the amount of calories in your booze
Beer and mixers are bad juju, especially when most bars throw a disproportionate amount of mixer in.
I used to drink rum and coke, then I switched to rum and diet, now I'm partial to just taking straight shots then having a soda water after, though I am pre-gaming the the hard cider I mentioned earlier.
Good info on drinking while dieting:
http://www.leangains.com/2010/07/truth-a...uscle.html
Quote: (09-14-2011 01:40 AM)Docter Wrote:
As for experience, I have been on it for a year. Major notice: my acne is almost completely gone, although that was directly attributed to dairy (if I eat cheese, I break out mad the next day). Ditching dairy also cleared up my chronic congestiveness. Experiment with that though because some people can handle it fine.
I was doing some googling of dairy and acne, and came across a guy who had major success from going paleo:
![[Image: acnebeforeafter.jpg]](http://img9.imageshack.us/img9/9630/acnebeforeafter.jpg)
(The photos were taken years apart, but the guy said the acne returns if he eats gluten or dairy.)
http://www.acne.org/messageboard/Clear-S...57706.html
There's also a compilation of people's successful treatments of acne: http://www.acne.org/messageboard/Success...72158.html
A lot of the people who reported success say they cut out grains and dairy.
I know the idea behind not eating dairy is that humans haven't evolved into it because cows haven't been domesticated for that long (relatively) But usually people who have lactose issues can drink goat milk, how does that work into the Paleo scheme? Can I enjoy my chevre still?
Here is a scientific journal article about paleo and acne, from the author of "Food & Western Disease"
http://archderm.ama-assn.org/cgi/content...38/12/1584
http://archderm.ama-assn.org/cgi/content...38/12/1584
Quote: (09-15-2011 08:58 PM)Chad Daring Wrote:
I know the idea behind not eating dairy is that humans haven't evolved into it because cows haven't been domesticated for that long (relatively) But usually people who have lactose issues can drink goat milk, how does that work into the Paleo scheme? Can I enjoy my chevre still?
Can't answer that for you, but I'll add that I switched 100% to Almond milk some time ago and haven't looked back. Almond milk is infinitely better than dairy milk and leaves me with none of the issues dairy did. Highly recommended.
Watch out for nut milks (hahah, that doesn't sound good) with added sugar. I had lactose issues since I was a kid, so I've basically been cutting milk for the past 2 decades.
If you go strict paleo you should wear caveman clothes though. Combined with the Jesus beard I think it would be a winning combination.
Quote: (09-16-2011 05:13 PM)Smitty Wrote:
Quote: (09-15-2011 08:58 PM)Chad Daring Wrote:
I know the idea behind not eating dairy is that humans haven't evolved into it because cows haven't been domesticated for that long (relatively) But usually people who have lactose issues can drink goat milk, how does that work into the Paleo scheme? Can I enjoy my chevre still?
Can't answer that for you, but I'll add that I switched 100% to Almond milk some time ago and haven't looked back. Almond milk is infinitely better than dairy milk and leaves me with none of the issues dairy did. Highly recommended.
I'll look into almond milk, would be good for coffee and other things, thanks for the tip.
Sidenote....almond cheese...hmmmmm
I got rid of acne after 2-3 months on the Paleo Diet.
Book: The Acne Prescription by Dr. Perricone
In the beginning my energy levels rose incredibly and I felt enormously better. One of the best things I've done in my life. In the end it wasn't sustainable though, the lack of carbs made me too tired, hungry and dizzy.
Book: The Acne Prescription by Dr. Perricone
In the beginning my energy levels rose incredibly and I felt enormously better. One of the best things I've done in my life. In the end it wasn't sustainable though, the lack of carbs made me too tired, hungry and dizzy.
Had anyone on this board successfully bulked on the paleo diet? I figure eating paleo there will be sufficient protein, and by taking in an excess of calories it should be fine. Anyone have experience with it?
Quote: (09-17-2011 09:13 PM)Neo Wrote:
Had anyone on this board successfully bulked on the paleo diet? I figure eating paleo there will be sufficient protein, and by taking in an excess of calories it should be fine. Anyone have experience with it?
Haven't truly bulked on paleo, but I imagine the only problem is getting enough calories - it's harder to eat to excess when dairy, legumes and grains are forbidden; paleo or not, minimally processed foods are generally more filling per calorie. Guess there's nut butters, coconut cream, potatoes and bananas to ameliorate that.
Solo, did you try eating potatoes or yams? It seems like some paleo advocates are warming to them. There definitely are traditional diets that revolve around such foods.
I'm bulking right now but only doing 85-90% paleo. The term 'clean bulk' is debatable, but that's what I would consider a paleo bulk to be. You're not eating any processed or junk foods, etc.
It's hard to get all the calories in, but it's doable. I drink whey protein powder, eat a pure protein bar, and some brown rice, hence the reason I am not 100% paleo right now.
It's hard to get all the calories in, but it's doable. I drink whey protein powder, eat a pure protein bar, and some brown rice, hence the reason I am not 100% paleo right now.
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