Paleo: Why it Works

As a Christian, I admittedly don't buy into the evolutionary flim flam that so often seems a default side-note in the theoretical tackle box of many mainstream paleo-eating advocates.  Every couple of years we find another skeleton in the mud somewhere that changes everything science had been preaching as fact for the previous 12 months.  (side note:  this is an interesting blurb by another paleo/Christian on the topic of faith and food.)

I do buy into the paleo-logical fact that mankind is older than grain-harvesting en-mass and processed foods-  people did eat before chemistry and combines came along.  However, I don't think we have to look back a million years to see some logical reasons why the paleo approach can work for weight loss, maintenance, and overall health.

Have you seen the documentary Fathead yet?  If not, you should.  Then, if you're into science and nutrition, read up on The Zone.  You'll notice pretty quickly that, in Fathead, Tom Naughton was essentially making choices at fast food restaurants that kept his carbohydrate/fat/protein ratio and calorie count within Zone parameters.

Anyone who's tried it will probably attest to the fact that staying in the Zone is enormously inconvenient to accomplish due to all of the label-reading and calorie counting involved.  When I tried it, I eventually ended up with a go-to list of recipes and over time got sick of having to choose between eating the same old stuff, or crunching numbers to come up with something fresh.

Think about paleo for a second:  exclude grains, processed foods, and sugar from your diet.  If you're a well balanced paleo-eater then all of your carbs from hearty portions of nutrient-dense fruits and vegetables, naturally loaded with fiber, which makes it almost impossible to get out of the Zone.  Cavemen who go bacon or steak-crazy and exclude fruits and other high GI foods in an effort to lose weight usually achieve ketosis- essentially slipping into the Atkins diet.

 get the shirt here

I'm convinced that anyone who is overweight, if they have the willpower to give up grains and sugar, can easily lose poundage, keeping themselves somewhere within the spectrum between the Zone and ketosis by eating the paleo way.  Throw in a little intermittent fasting (IF) to give the calorie deficit a boost (and your body a chance to det-tox) and excess pounds should melt away.  Intermittent fasting is another idea that a lot of paleo-eaters like to experiment with.  For more on that, check out Lean Gains-  a great blog full of science behind the benefits of giving your digestive system a break now and then.

It's been nice to land squarely in Technorati's top 100 list for health blogs over the last couple of months, but I can only stay on one topic for so long.  I have a bit more up my sleeve, but there are more important things in life than dietary speculation.  Expect to see the subject matter branch out a bit over the next few weeks on One Face.