What is the Paleo Diet?

            I think that in order for us to have a rich and thoughtful conversation regarding my transition I have to explain what exactly I am getting myself into. And while it is still really hard to get one concise definition of what the paleo diet is, I am going to do my best to present you with what I believe the paleo diet is and what that really means in terms of what I do and don’t eat.

            OK! Let’s start with the basics: what do I eat and not eat on the paleo diet? I found this great and simple table of what I can and can’t eat, according to the paleo idea of sticking to things that you can gather, hunt or fish, on ThePaleoDiet.com:

EAT:                                                   DON’T EAT:

                              Grass-produced meats                             Cereal grains

                              Fish/seafood                                           Legumes (including peanuts)

        Fresh fruits and veggies                           Dairy

        Eggs                                                      Refined sugar

        Nuts and seeds                                        Potatoes

        Healthful oils:                                          Processed foods

        Olive, walnut, flaxseed,                           Salt

                              Macadamia, avocado, coconut                Refined vegetable oils

While this list seems straight-forward and simple enough, the hard part for me is understanding why I have to give up some of these seemingly innocent things in order to live a healthier lifestyle. Let me start with legumes and since this subject is way over my head I am going to focus on the arguments presented by Jeremy Hendon, who is the editor of Paleo Living Magazine. He sets up his arguments by providing 10 reasons why legumes are harmful. While it would be extremely interesting and fully enriching to go through every single one together, I don’t think either of us wants to do that, so let’s focus on the ones I think are particularly important.

Hendon suggests that, “Phytates prevent minerals in a particular food from being absorbed…This is particularly important if you’re considering replacing meat and animal fat with legumes, since meat and animal fats are some of the most nutritious foods you can eat” (Hendon). This is particularly important for me because, prior to going paleo I was following a vegan lifestyle. My diet consisted of lots and lots of beans and in all honesty I liked the way they tasted, but I did occasionally feel heavy and bloated after say a vegan burrito bowl with black beans. I never felt as good as I do now while eating beans regularly.

Next Hendon talk about Lectins, which are a class of proteins that plants produce partially in order to protect themselves from predators, claiming that the two main effects of lectins are that they cause “Leaky Gut” and they lead to increased inflammation in your gut (Hendon). Now that sounds terrifyingly gross, don’t you think? He also goes into talking about how some things found in legumes cause allergic reactions, which I find extremely interesting because a few years back I was diagnosed with “Chronic Hives.” In other words, I don’t really know why I am breaking out every day and not having any particular food allergies. I can honestly say I haven’t had an episode in a few weeks, and while I can’t be one hundred percent sure that my diet change played a role, I cannot say it didn’t either.

I know all this technical jargon about the body’s reaction to things could seem very intimidating. Yet, understanding how things work within my body in relation to one another, and learning about the effects of legumes on my body allows me to make smarter decisions and gives me a better sense of body control, which promotes my mission for wellbeing.

Abel James is an advocate for eating real food. He recalls that, “We don’t need to go back millennia to witness a startling decline in health and increase in obesity. We really can just look back a generation or two. Our grandmothers knew that processed foods, namely carbohydrates like grains, starch, and sugar, make us fat. And when our grandmothers bought food, it was usually local, organic, and free of most chemicals… Not by choice, mind you, but by default. Once upon a time, food was food” (James). I agree with his approach of eating real food as an easy way to explain what the paleo diet is. But it is not conclusive, because it does leave out what is considered real or not.

We can definitely go into great detail and try to identify and explain what the paleo diet is, yet I wouldn’t feel satisfied because my goal is not to get you to follow a certain diet. My goal is to achieve wellness, and the only way I can do that is to find what works for me. I have never been the kind of person to tell myself what I can and can’t have. Even when I was a new mother with 40 lbs of baby weight to lose I didn’t restrict my diet. Instead I looked for what worked for me at the time. I ate clean fats like avocados and butter to help me continue to nurse my newborn and to sustain my high cardio and heavy weight training routine.

Abel James is a great resource to have because he is approachable and allows himself to define what works for him. For example, he redefines paleo in terms that work for him. He will occasionally have dairy and legumes. Does his alterations make him a hypocrite or a liar? No, I don’t believe it does. I think what it does show is the kind of smart body control that I am advocating and it makes him human. What everybody can agree on is that processed food is not good for anyone. Processed foods are created by man and machines. It is food that can’t be hunted, gathered, or fished. I could go into all the gross and scary things that can be found in processed foods, but I am not here to scare you either. Just want to make you think before you chew.

                                                Work Cited

Cordain, Loren. "What to Eat on The Paleo Diet." The Paleo Diet. Thepaleodiet.com, n.d.

            Web. 30 Apr. 2014.

Hendon, Jeremy. "10 Reasons to Avoid Eating Legumes." Paleomagazine.com, 9 May              2013. Web. 02 May 2014.

James, Abel. "What Is The Wild Diet?" Fatburningman.com, 25 Sept.

            2012. Web. 01 May 2014.