Saturday, May 5, 2012

Paleo Diet?

SO what is the difference between this new diet called "Paleo" from what Ive been learning in "Wheat Belly"?. In General the two are not much different. They both teach to eat WHEAT-free products, it teaches you the true harm that gluten causes and teaches you how to eat healthy good fats. The Paleo diet is based on the assumption that the ideal diet is one that out paleolithic ancestors ate thousands of years ago. The same nutrients and and foods they consumed over two million years of their hunter-gatherer existence. In the small time that the modern human has lived we have been consuming wheat products and sugar that did not exist in the Paleolithic era. Even fruits were a scarcity to them, on top of the fact that the fruit available today has been breed to be much sweeter. Paleo Diet also" focuses on the ideal ratio of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids based on the ratio found in game animals of the kind our ancestors would have hunted and consumed" states Dr.Davis. In wheat belly the focus is more on the harm that gluten causes to our gut  over many years and eventually turns most of us into diabetics, heart disease ridden and even cancer. So which you say is the better diet? After having read both books, my own opinion is either one which fits your preferences is good. They both will lead you to a healthier life. Paleo is a bit stricter in something like how many eggs you should eat in one week, only because of the belief that hunter-gatherers did not often eat eggs so we should not either. In another book I read "Good Calorie, Bad Calorie", it says eat all the eggs you want. Regardless, the fat in the egg yolk is good fat, whether you want to limit your intake or have them whole for breakfast each morning is really up you. No one has died from eating eggs everyday, at least to my knowledge that is:) Eating a healthier fatty diet satisfies you more, leaves you less hungry throughout the day. So even if fat has 9 calories compared to a carb 4 calories, you are still gonna consume less due to a more satisfying feeling of a fatty diet---less consumption of food. Get it? you are satisfied with less.

Sadly the truth is that not one diet from wheat belly to Paleo has been extensively studied enough to conclude how much is too much or too little, quantities are just an assumption. However, much evidence from the past and from the studies conducted about fat consumption has NOT linked a high fat diet to heart disease. This is just a confused notion that the government proposed to publicize because they wanted a quick answer to give the Americans to save them from heart disease......has it really? Heart disease STILL remains as one of the the number one causes of death amongst Americans.  Regardless of their recommended "LOW FAT" diets, people still die of heart disease!!

 The more I read the more I eat better for my health. Weight loss will come as just an added bonus. I used to be obsessed with the scale and every little pound I lose or gain. I don't want to live by the scale, I want to live for my health and eat to live not live to eat. In time I will see the results I seek, it may take weeks or months to see results, but I will be healthier along the process. I am taking this as a journey and not as an end result. Its a change for a better life, not a temporary fix to my weight problems. I'm coming to the end of week two, and I'm still adjusting. The challenging part for me is I have a unique schedule. I work night shifts from 7pm to 7am, so on those shifts Im forced to adjust my eating schedule according to my sleep wake times. Then on my days off force myself back to a normal persons sleep wake cycle. I have not exactly mastered the art of night shifting, but I am doing the best with what I know is best for me. If I'm hungry I eat, if not, I don't. But I am slowly learning the difference of a TRUE hunger, versus a drop in my blood sugar thus me wanting to run to food, quickly. Ive learned, its OK to be hungry, for the most part you should always be a little hungry. Food tastes better when your hungry, and when your hungry it allows your body to be in a fat-burning mode until you give it food to burn. After all, out ancestors ate when ever food was hunted, and that was not everyday. Sometimes they'd go days without eating! A little hunger never killed anyone;) Look its been challenging, prepping my meals, listening to my body for true clues. I'm not perfect, so I'm still working on when to know exactly when I'm truly hungry. The good thing is I don't count calories and I don't weigh  myself everyday. NO MAS! I want eat for the sake of fueling my body and continue on about my day. OH I forgot to mention. There was this one day I was extremely nauseous and dizzy, I couldn't figure out why. But in one of my books it said this could be a reaction of my body of consuming less sodium and my metabolism changing, the solution was to consume a cup of chicken broth to balance my sodium....and guess what IT HELPED! Whew! one bump in the road, but I'm not giving up. So for my reward tonight in celebration of Cinco de mayo, I will be having a few glasses of wine! YAY, better than alcohol made from sugar cane! haha.....as always stay safe;)

1 comment:

  1. Having Problems FOLLOWING with your Paleo Diet?

    Do you want to munch on some delicious recipes as soon as TONIGHT?

    Check out this book: Paleo Hacks Cookbook.

    ReplyDelete