Wednesday, November 9, 2011

In Defense of Paleo (and bending the rules)

I happened to run across a blurb on US News and World Report's list of the top 20 eating plans today.  Their ranking system is suspicious to say the least, putting Paleo in 20th place, even behind Atkins.  The numbers in the survey are worth noting, though, in that the Paleo Diet only worked for 19% of people who tried it, while the Vegetarian diet (ranked 9th) worked for over 93%.



Paleo understandably got a bad rap for it's difficulty to adhere to, but there was also this, and I quote from this article:
. . . .most versions [of the Paleo diet] didn’t hold true to the Paleo diet plans or rules.
If that's true, then wouldn't it seem that they were never on it in the first place?  Most of the reasoning shown here for the bad rankings seems due to the lack of data from controlled [tax-funded] studies.  There seems to be a guilty-until-proven-effective-by-the-establishment rule in effect.  On top of all that, the entire segment has somewhat of a cynical tone to it.  Apparently they didn't talk to these folks, or these fine specimens, or those who penned most of the reviews here.

That said, adhering to the paleo way of eating can be a real challenge- especially if your significant other isn't on board, and your pantry is well-stocked with high-GI temptation.  My wife is a happy (and fit) carb-o-holic, who asked me 10 minutes ago whether I would partake if she prepped a large bowl of popcorn.  I stood strong this time around, but it wasn't easy.

A lot of us, myself included, try to practically align ourselves with Paleo principals, but tend to fudge on things like grass-fed ($$$) meat and an abundance of organic veggies.  We may even buckle once in a blue moon to the beckoning of spaghetti, lasagna, or free donuts.  We refuse to be socially awkward when our hosts bring out a gi-normous carrot cake with inch-deep frosting.  I think that's healthy. . . . to a point.

The season of eating is upon us- it begins with surplus Halloween candy abandoned in the breakroom at work.  Soon there will be Thanksgiving potlucks, Christmas parties, New Year's Celebrations, egg nog, and hot chocolate.  Personally, when I give an inch and pick up a tiny box of Milk Duds it becomes really tough not to take a mile.  Maybe our next topic to explore will be tactics for fighting the urge and avoiding the bulge this season.

2 comments:

  1. see also: http://www.marksdailyapple.com/gateway-foods-the-slippery-slope-of-just-a-bite/

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks for sharing that- impeccable timing!

    ReplyDelete

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