The Paleo Diet. Learning from our evolution

[Bruunhilde]

The Paleo Diet. Learning from our evolution

Thanks Determinator,

Flavor of MCT = 0. I haven't had it alone, but when added to a protein shake, no flavor impact, when cooking with eggs, no flavor impact. That's one of the things that make me feel it can't be good, overly refined anything. Makes me wonder if it's going to be one of those oils they find is unstable years from now.

Your point about the casien protein is worrisome, especially since I've gotten used to relying on it for added protein when needed. But then again, I'm a big raw whole milk advocate, wish milkmen still existed so you could get your fresh daily milk delivered to your doorstep! I had a friend on a dairy and at one point the US govt passed yet another law/regulation on milk and they could no longer drink their own cows' milk legally. Raw milk is hard to get - it spoils so fast that sometimes it's bad when you buy it.
I didn't know lowfat milk didn't work for digestion, I thought any fat would do it. I know calcium needs fat to pass the blood brain barrier (hopefully I got that right) but the gist is I knew some fat needed to be in milk but didn't know ALL of it had to be there. Skim milk isn't worth drinking especially if you're into taste!
I'm trying hard to get into ketosis. I'm wrapping up my first week on this diet and most people get into ketosis in a day or two, it's taking me (so far) five days with no cheating at all. No dairy, no gluten, no high glycemic veggies, no grain at all, no AL. The only thing I can speculate on is I'm not eating enough period.

[Determinator]

The Paleo Diet. Learning from our evolution

Bluejay so nice to have you. have you tried yam flour? I heard about this from one of Robbs podcast questions.

Bruunhilde, sounds like your don't have much to worry about as you're doing very well. I've heard you can buy shares in a cow (sounds odd I know) and then legally you can obtain it's unprocessed milk. naturally it would be handy if the cow is located somewhat close by! Lowfat is better than nonfat but full fat is even better. incidentally there's another route here: get cream or half and half instead of milk. cream has much less lactic acid in the first place. any ideas how many calories per day your consuming?

[Bruunhilde]

The Paleo Diet. Learning from our evolution

Hi Dete,

I'm on a very low calorie diet with almost no fat, just enough fat to be healthy and I can add MCT in for cooking or if I just want more fat. Although it can cause loose stools. It's supposed to help get me to ketosis.

I'm on about 800-1000kc a day. I know, I know, I've never done anything quite this low before. Don't give me all the preaching about how it's not healthy, I needed a kick start and will not remain on this for more than 4 weeks at any time. I'm eating three meals a day with protein, veggies and fruit.

Once I'm off this I'll go paleo/atkins ish for a month and see how it goes. I was looking envyingly at the coconut flour in Sprouts the other day and thought of you. And that cupcake receipe someone posted somewhere ...

By the way, pure MCT oil is liquid. Also, it's made of all medium chain triglycerides, where as coconut oil is a mix between the medium chain triglyceride and longer chain triglycerides. I learned something else too. Psyllium husk isn't an ideal form of fiber compared to chia or flax because psyllium take moisture out of the colon and can cause constipation.

[Bruunhilde]

The Paleo Diet. Learning from our evolution

Det, the diet doctor I spoke with about MCT told me that MCT helps get you into ketosis. Its supposed to boost your metabolism. I think MCT is just isolating the MCT from the rest of the oils in the CO to limit the amount of fat you take in but to increase the impact of the fat calories in MCT. It gives me diarrhea but then so does too much L-glut.

[Determinator]

The Paleo Diet. Learning from our evolution

Bruunhilde, how are you feeling/doing?

I've just recently listened to this fantastic podcast by Chris Kresser and I think I need to listen to it again soon. so much excellent info. and some surprises too. he covers omegas 3 and 6 in GREAT detail as well as the controversy about farm raised fish.

http://thehealthyskeptic.org/podcast...h-and-fish-oil

[Bruunhilde]

The Paleo Diet. Learning from our evolution

Hi Dete, thanks for asking, I'm well, how are you? Still in and out of ketosis? I still can't get a strip to test positive for it - do you really have to just "dip it" instead of passing it through a stream? The container says "dip" or you may lose the reactive agent. Would love to know ...

Do you know if coconut flour has starch in it? Or does the body think it's just fiber? Also, someone posted a cupcake recipe here and I can't find it! Do you recall who posted it, I think it was a woman doing paleo who you speak posted with.

Thanks for the link, I think it will be helpful for alot of people here. I am proud to say I know alot of this already (what he said in the podcast). I just listened. Took some notes for lurkers.

I learned that DHA and EPA aren't only in animal products but also in marine algae. I like to take my frozen fish oil when I'm hungry on my diet which is apparently not ideal, but he says you should take it with a high fat meal to increase absorption. I do know about Omega 6 and no one ever believes me because all they hear me say is "omega" and they are programmed to think that's GOOD. Omega 6 - that we have too much in our diets already, need to reduce it. I also didn't know Omega 6 competed against Omega 3 for enzymes, so insufficient Omega 3 can cause inflammatory disease. I currently take 3 gelcaps a day of Costco Enteric Coated Fishoil which has 684mg Omega 3. My holistic dr was suprised that this particular type of Costco oil was high quality, I guess the clear caps aren't as good. I wonder how you measure your Omega 6 intake?

Loved hearing that selenium protects against mercury toxicity. Wow.
I also didn't know nuts were high in Omega 6 so that's higher than he recommends for a paleo eater. Thanks again for the link, this is a great resource.

By thew ay, I saw a Youtube video on just where gluten is, and was bummed to find it in EVERYTHING like my stand by canned soup (which happens to be a CAN which has BPA's just like plastic water bottles).

By the way, since we last posted, I have upped my L glut but learned that L-glutamine of 2-3grams gives me the runs. I wonder if it's the brand, MRM. L-glut is supposed to HEAL the gut, not upset it.

Sorry to ramble on but I know, since you listen to podcasts and read blogs, that you have a great, long attention span!

[Determinator]

The Paleo Diet. Learning from our evolution

how wierd...L Glut has never given me the runs even in HUGE doses. ?? I'll have to dig around on that.

yes, marine algae was looking good until I saw the price. yikes. I'll stick with the fish oil caps and eating fish as much as possible.

I don't have a scientific method for measuring my omega 3's. I take 4 to 6 capsules of the whole foods brand which was the best deal. my main focus now it reducing omega 6's as I'm eating way too many nuts.

I think I posted the cinnamon muffins originally...lemme try to find it

[Bluejay]

The Paleo Diet. Learning from our evolution

How are all the paleo-people doing?

Det - I hadn't heard of yam flour. I kinda watch my oxalate intact so not sure if that would be good for me.

I made Fife's coconut cheddar muffins this week. I may try his basic coconut bread today. Feel like a piece of bread. Anyone try that recipe?

I've been trying to find a grass fed whey powder. Mercola's has soy. I thought he was against soy? I found one from the Warrior Diet guy. The lecithin he uses is from sunflower seeds. I went ahead and ordered some.

best,

[Booktree]

The Paleo Diet. Learning from our evolution

Hi Paleo People,

I am coming over here from my former haunt, the Meds Forum. I have pretty much given up on baclofen due to side effects, and I cannot seem to tolerate any kind of meds these days. I don't know if my brain/body have become more sensitive as I've gotten older or what, but they just affect me in ways that are very unpleasant. And then when you have one side effect, the doctors just add on another med, and then another, until I don't know what's going on anymore in my body.

So, I'm really interested in more holistic and natural ways of healing the brain and body. I am very encouraged by what I have read here about the Paleo Diet. I bought Cordain's book last week and have just started reading it. It sounds very promising and just makes a ton of sense in terms of the body's genetic inheritance.

I went grocery shopping today, and I thought buying all these new types of foods was going to cost me an arm and a leg. However, I actually spent far less than I thought for well over a week's worth of food. I bought salmon, shrimp, ground buffalo meat, organic chicken breasts, some other organic meat, and lots of organic fruits and vegetables. It was weird walking down all the aisles of the grocery store, and just going "nope, don't need that, nope won't be needing that..." I think I only visited like three aisles of the grocery store where I bought all the good stuff.

I'm also not really keen on cooking or spending a lot of time in the kitchen, especially during the work week when I come home exhausted after work, but I am going to try doing most of my cooking and preparing of meals on the weekends.

Anyway, I'm excited to try this lifestyle change. Thanks for all the posts that have been so informative.

[Bruunhilde]

The Paleo Diet. Learning from our evolution

Hiya Book! I'm not an expert on paleo but I'm becoming quite good at eating just protein, vegetables, fruit and chocolate.

It helps with my cravings for AL. I find wheat products and milk make me crave AL.

It's amazing that we can save so much money by being AF, or by reducing somewhat, and I think my current diet has great quality food and even if I go all organic, it's much cheaper because I'm not buying ready-made stuff. And today I treated myself to a king crab leg! Zowee.

Welcome! I'll be learning as you post, so post away! And by the way, by going AF, in less than 3 weeks my blood pressure has dropped so much I eliminated one of my three pills. I'm on 25mg/baclofen a day though, which I THINK helps me with the AL. Xanax helps more, but ... I'm not endorsing any drugs, just sayin'. Cheers!

[Rusty]

The Paleo Diet. Learning from our evolution

Thanks for this thread! I learned a lot today. Unfortunately with my schedule these days, I don't have time to post or lurk, but it has educated me in many ways!

[Booktree]

The Paleo Diet. Learning from our evolution

Bruunhilde;1090272 wrote: And by the way, by going AF, in less than 3 weeks my blood pressure has dropped so much I eliminated one of my three pills. I'm on 25mg/baclofen a day though, which I THINK helps me with the AL. Xanax helps more, but ... I'm not endorsing any drugs, just sayin'. Cheers!

Hi Bruun! That's so cool about your blood pressure dropping!

Have you eliminated salt? That one's going to be hard for me. I have no trouble giving up the grains or sugar (well, potatoes will also be hard), but salt is going to be hard, and also my bit of half-n-half in my coffee every morning. I learned today that it's not the *sodium* part of salt that is so hard on our bodies, but the other half of salt--*chloride*. This is what makes salt so acidic, not the sodium. Cordain writes "Chloride may also be more to blame than sodium as a dietary cause of high blood pressure."

Anyway, my main motivation for the Paleo Diet is to help regulate my blood sugar levels, which have always been unstable. I've had hypoglycemia as long as I can remember. I remember eating huge plates of pasta and being dizzy with hunger only a couple hours later. Crazy! Weight loss would be a nice benefit too, as I was in an in-patient treatment facility for 7 months last year and put on some excess weight in there.

I was also encouraged to read in the Cordain book that this way of eating can also help with autoimmune disorders, of which I have three (Hashimoto's Hypothyroidism, endometriosis, and granuloma annulare).

I'm just taking baby steps here at this point as well. I still have a frozen pizza in my freezer, a bag of bread, some cheese, milk, and other things in my cupboards. I feel bad just throwing them out. But I'm looking forward to incorporating the lean meats, fruits, and vegetables into my diet and seeing how it goes.

Cheers to you as well!

[Bruunhilde]

The Paleo Diet. Learning from our evolution

Booktree;1090722 wrote:

Have you eliminated salt? Cordain writes "Chloride may also be more to blame than sodium as a dietary cause of high blood pressure."

Anyway, my main motivation for the Paleo Diet is to help regulate my blood sugar levels, which have always been unstable.

Booktree, I actually ADDED salt because my sodium level was 25 on a "normal range" of 50-300. I read in the Yahoo thyroid group I belong to that your body can't hang on to water if it doesn't have enough salt. Sure enough, I added celtic salt to most of my meals and didn't have to pee every 30 minutes all day and all night. Seriously, it helped me alot. And it's still only 50 at the bottom of the range. I started eliminating salt when I was in my early 20's due to hypertension which is why it was so low- well, that and all the water I'd drink to re-hydrate after AL. So salt had nothing to do with this as far as I can see - I upped my salt intake abour 18 months ago with no impact on my blood pressure.

Try cinnamon for helping your hypoglycemia, and avoid the pasta, eat the protein instead. I guess that's your plan, though, with paleo! It would be great if you could fix all those problems with a diet! I'm so pleased to be showing results so early on. I think I'm more strict than paleo but I believe the basic principles are similar.

Good luck! I too have carbs all over the freezer and panty. Ug. They're getting old though. Getting ugly enough to toss!

[Determinator]

The Paleo Diet. Learning from our evolution

Booktree great to have you. have you been listening to the Robb Wolf podcasts? I'm so impressed by him and also Chris Kresser both of which are very well versed in autoimmune disorder and nutrition. Bruunhilde, my BP is low and always has been so I'm still using salt at this time myself.

Rusty, pop in when you can!

well, time to put out the campfire and snuggle up in the back of the cave

[Booktree]

The Paleo Diet. Learning from our evolution

Hi Bruun, thanks for the tip about the cinnamon. I will definitely try that out.

Determinator, hi and thanks for the info about the podcasts. I have a hard time, for some reason, processing information aurally... it's weird but I don't retain anything of what I hear. If Wolf and Kresser have websites where I can read articles, I will definitely check those out.

Btw., a friend of mine mentioned this book called "Against the Grain" by Richard Manning. It sounds fascinating, and I thought you guys might be interested as well. Here is the description of the book from Amazon:

"In this controversial and prodigiously researched condemnation of our current and past systems of growing grain, Manning argues that the major forces that have shaped the world--disease, imperialism, colonialism, slavery, trade, wealth--are all a part of the culture of agriculture. He traces the beginnings of agriculture to the Middle East, where plants were abundant and easily domesticated in coastal areas; hunter-gathers, who became fishermen, formed settlements near river mouths. Manning skillfully details the historical spread of agriculture through the conquest of indigenous peoples and describes how this expansion led to overpopulation, famine and disease in Europe, Asia and Africa. Sugar agriculture was supported by slaves and farming by laborers who grew produce for the rich while the workers ate a high carbohydrate diet (potatoes, rice, sugar, bread) and ingested no protein. In the U.S., modern agriculture has evolved into an industrial system where agribusiness is subsidized to grow commodities like wheat, corn and rice, not to feed people but to store and trade. According to Manning, agricultural research focuses on just these few crops and is profit driven."

Wow. It's always seemed that the vegans/vegetarians had all the moral arguments on their side, but reading this makes me feel quite virtuous in going Paleo!