|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
What is this Caveman Diet of which you speak?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The Caveman diet is also known as the Paleolithic Diet, the Primal Diet and Hunter/Gatherer diet. Dr. Loren Cordain defines the Paleo Diet as follows; “With readily available modern foods, The Paleo diet mimics the types of foods every single person on the planet ate prior to the Agricultural Revolution (a mere 500 generations ago).
Ok, that’s a good start. Now let’s go a little further in depth to what all of this means. The Paleolithic era (or Stone Age) lasted from approximately 2.6 million years ago up until approximately 8-10 thousand years ago. This was a time when humans gathered together in small, often nomadic, bands and survived by gathering plants and hunting wild game. Following on the heels of the Paleolithic, the Neolithic age kicked in. This was a time when many of the Hunter/Gatherers began settling down and introducing Agricultural cultivation and animal domestication into their daily lives.
So let’s imagine it is forty thousand years ago and you wake up hungry and unfortunately for you there are no Starbucks, grocery stores, McDonalds…… to go and get breakfast. You are limited to whatever you can pick, dig up, or chase down and kill. One thing is that you will not be partaking of Grains, Legumes, Dairy, as it will be approximately 30,000 years still before anyone is planting wheat or domesticating animals for milk and cheese. As you can see our ancestors had quite a long time before the foods of the Neolithic era were introduced into our daily lives. This is also why you will often hear the Caveman/Paleolithic diet referred to as our Evolutionary diet.
So what is allowed in this diet? Organic, Grass-fed meats (obviously if you are a hunter, wild game meats are very acceptable), Wild Caught Fish, Organic Pasture Raised Fowl and Eggs, and Organ meats, also, Vegetables, Fruit, Nuts and Seeds and Water. Do not be afraid of Fat from these aforementioned sourced animal foods. Be more afraid of the Domesticated, non-organic sources of Meats, Fowl, Fish and Eggs. Many native cultures have proven that if you ate only Grass Fed animals and/or wild caught sea life, 100 % of your nutritional needs could be met (Think Eskimos, among others). Now of course these cultures ate the whole animal (Organs, marrow, fat…) Famous Arctic explorer Vilhjalmur Stefansson, who made several daredevil journeys through the region in the early 20th century, was very intrigued by how the Eskimos survived mostly on a meat and fat diet derived from the both the land and sea. Stefansson and a colleague lived on a meat-only diet for one year under medical supervision at New York's Bellevue Hospital, starting in February 1928. The two ate between 100 and 140 grams of protein a day, the balance of their calories coming from fat, yet they remained scurvy free and in very good health.
Now please don’t think that I am espousing a meat only diet. I am simply trying to show that our bodies do very well with healthy sources of protein and fat.
For primitive man, the organ meats and fat were the most important and nutritious part of the animal, with the muscle meats coming in a distant second. He needed these sources of incredible nutrition to carry him through times of food scarcity. Vegetables are a big part of the caveman diet, especially green leafy and cruciferous vegetables. They are full of vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients and fiber. This is really one of the best sources of calcium that one is going to find in their diet (contrary to the marketing blitz, pasteurized/homogenized milk is not a great source). I am a proponent of the Paleo/Caveman diet, that being said, I eat more vegetables then most people I know. I tell people I am a Vegetarian. I just happen to be a carnivorous vegetarian.
So what do I not eat? Grains, legumes, pasteurized dairy, sugar, and just about anything in a box, bag, or freezer section. Processed carbs and fake sugars are a no-no. Also, please remember, that even pure natural honey was only a rare treat for the Paleo man, certainly not the 180 – 200 lbs. of sugar that the average American consumes a year.
One must realize that grains and beans are seeds which are meant to procreate the species. If they are eaten in their raw state, they will do everything they possible not to be digested as they travel through the system. They accomplish this by acting as a toxin to the system, in hopes of being excreted later to make a new plant. Some of these irritants are “anti-nutrients” (substances known to interfere with the body’s ability to absorb minerals) and intolerance to the proteins of the grain (gluten/gliaden). Some of these harmful affects can be somewhat neutralized by soaking, fermenting or sprouting but not all. Grains, especially wheat, are also a cause of huge sugar and insulin spikes in the body. Yes, this even goes for Whole Grains. Grains and legumes were not cultivated from 2.5 million years ago until the development of agriculture approximately 10,000 years ago. This is a long time to follow one way of eating only to have it so drastically changed 8-10 millennia ago, which compared to 2.5 million years ago is a relative drop in the bucket.
Now there are the hardcore traditionalists when it comes to what extent you want to take your paleo/caveman beliefs, with strict avoidance of any foods they consider Neolithic; whereas, some people come down a little more on the side of the Weston A. Price Foundation’s view point. They will tend to allow soaked/fermented grains and legumes and are big proponents of raw organic dairy products. This office goes with a kind of an amalgamation of the two beliefs; i.e. Meats, Fish, Eggs, Vegetables, Fruit, Nuts and Seeds, Organic Raw milk/dairy and a good clean source of water, but no grains, beans, refined/processed foods or sugar /trans fats.
The Paleo/Caveman diet tends to be more of a higher protein/fat diet and lower carbohydrate/sugar diet. The carbohydrates you eat are from vegetables and fruits, not man-made non-foods. The current Standard American Diet (SAD for short) is very high in refined carbohydrates/sugar and trans-fats and low in good sources of protein and Fat. Big Difference. The SAD leads to constant high blood sugars and insulin, hypertension, obesity, hypercholesterolemia, high triglycerides (all of which collectively are now known as Metabolic Syndrome or Syndrome X). These will then lead to all the diseases of western society; i.e. Cancer, Diabetes, Cardiovascular, Autoimmune, Dementia….. The secret to begin taking back your health is a Paleolithic type diet and exercise/resistance program. You will become healthier assuming this lifestyle and as you regain your health a nice side benefit is the dropping of unwanted adipose tissue.
We have all got to become more self reliant in taking responsibility for our health. The food industries are not the cause of Syndrome X. No one is forcing the toxic, sugar-laden, chemically-filled, nutritionally void American diet on you. The fault lies with us for eating these toxic non-foods and eliminating exercise from our lives. You and you alone are responsible for them in every respect. Your life and health are your own. Thus the best definition of a functional Paleo diet is as follows:
- Eating foods that best support the biochemistry of human animals with a multi-million year history of hunting and foraging.
- Avoiding foods, such as grains, grain oils and refined sweeteners that actively disrupt the biochemistry of these human animals.
So all in all, as stated ad nauseam by yours truly; if the caveman/hunter-gatherers did not eat/drink it or have access to it, then as a general rule, we shouldn’t eat or drink it either.
One last time a whole food Paleo/ Caveman diet consists of what?
- Organic, Grass-fed Meats (and Game Meats), Wild Caught Fish, Organic Free Range (Pasture raised if possible) Fowl
- Organic Pasture Raised Eggs
- Raw milk and cheese products (Organic preferred)
- Good Fats: Olive oil, Coconut oil, Palm oil, Fermented Cod Liver Oil
- Try to eat at least a third of your vegetables raw
Websites that I like for more information are listed below, but remember not all of these people have the exact same dietary beliefs but they promote great discussion and will give you some great ideas to help you on your journey.
www.marksdailyapple.com
www.mercola.com
www.paleodiet.com
www.gnolls.org
www.westonaprice.org
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
