Paleo Diet for Athletes??

[BamaDave]

"Paleo Diet for Athletes" article at Runner's World

Gobbla, didn't you say you had read or are reading this book?? What did you think about it??

I want to read it, although I can't see myself adhering to a Paleo Diet (as I sit here eating cottage cheese and fruit at lunch -- and I believe dairy is a no-no on Paleo). I think the take home message for me is not to let grain-based foods substitute for fruits and vegetables (packed with more nutritional punch) in the diet.

I also don't really buy into the idea that just because some foods weren't available 10,000 or more years ago, they must be bad for us because our bodies haven't adapted to them. However, I haven't read the books, so....

It sounds like the biggest beef the paleo people have with modern diet is the lack of micronutrients from fruits and veggies and the lack of essential fatty acids. I would really like to see a comparison of people adhering to a paleo diet versus those adhering to a more modern (but healthy), balanced diet that includes abundant fruits and vegetables and EFA's. That's pretty much how I try to eat, anyway.

[gobbla]

yeppers. got it...read it. marginal value. it's basicly what you're saying with some fluff thrown in. It reccommends a diet of meat\vegis\fruit period. The notible exception is pre\during\post training sessions.

The portion on that final part is pretty large and has some nice information in it, especially for longer distances that are generally hard to find information on. Most of this information is fairly common knowledge\likely re-enforcement of what you already know.

The rest of it is kinda blah. It seems like they didn't really have enough information to really make a full book so they tossed in some tribal refferences without really any true backing on most of it...filler. It isn't organized especially well.

The nutrients are really the sticking point to the whole deal (like you suspect)...and buy in large is pretty agreeible. I mean fruit and vegitibles calorie for calorie pack a lot more nutrient punch than a slice of bread or a starch. Is that enough to really convert you? Is it enough to really make a difference in health\performance\longevity. it's hard to say without a lifelong study.

For me personally, the workout portion was the only thing that really made it worthwhile...and it is exactly the opposite of the rest of the diet. [img]smile.gif[/img] If you see it cheap...why not...don't get it expecting anything great though...it's not there.

[gobbla]

One thing that I will add to this topic is that I've cut out all grains from my everyday diet and have not noticed any negative consiquences at all. While I can't really compare to anything else it seems to be working just fine (although avoid the bathroom whenever I'm strolling away).

I mentioned it in passing in one of Mary's threads (in which she was experiancing the same) but a severe lowering of carbs seems to be hard to maintain...and doesn't really provide a great deal of benifits. Adding in fruit (be it small portions or a piece per sitting) adds in enough carbs to where you don't get the hypoglycemic "OMG I feel like I'm going to pass out" feeling after you eat or begin excersise.

It still limits carbs to a very reasonible level...which has been FAR easier to lose weight than conventional calorie counting. But still gives enough to function freely and enjoy waking hours.

[BamaDave]

Cutting out grains would be pretty hard. I don't eat a lot of grain-based foods compared to the average American, but I still include them -- almost entirely whole grains, though.

I'm still tempted to read the book, mostly out of curiosity, because I'm wondering about the basis for some of the claims of the theory. I believe Cordain has his scientific papers on his website, so maybe I'll just read those.

[gobbla]

the sad part is that it realy doesn't back up the claims for the diet. "These athletes did it and they did good" and "These tribal folk do it and they're really healthy"...it goes into how the tribals do a ton of excersise...and that's about it. [img]smile.gif[/img]

the good thing is that it's like ten bucks on amazon. so even if you get it and you don't like it, it's not like you're not going to be able to send the young'uns to college. it's fairly small, and does have some good features (pre\during\post race eating) that brings it well into the neutral category.

If you really are curious...why not?

[gobbla]

hell, if you're really interested I'll mail you my copy (I expect it back though). [img]smile.gif[/img]

we have an apo so all postage is US stateside. cost ya 3 bucks to send it back when you're done.

[BamaDave]

Thanks, Gobbla! Let me check and make sure one of our local libraries doesn't have it yet and then I'll get back to you.

[BamaDave]

Gobbla, I'll probably go ahead and buy this book. It's pretty cheap. Thanks for offering your library services!

[gobbla]

I'm here to make YOU happy. [img]smile.gif[/img]