Tom Woods Goes Primal!

[KingNothing]

I read about this diet about five years ago and have been doing a variant of it ever since. I just call it "common sense." Vegetables good. Processed food and sugars are bad.

Count your calories, and pack a lot of nutrients into your meals and you'll be fine.

 

[heavenlyboy34]

well....kinda sorta.

Eating refined carbs like sugar and white flour are not good for you, not in any way.

vegetables, whole grains and other carbs that don't spike your insulin levels are great for your body. Particularly vegetables which are antioxidant rich.

as far as primal goes, my biggest concern is that very high protein diets have been connected to high rates of cancer and disease whereas you see the exact opposite in raw food diets.

Correlation is not causation. Many other cultures still live a "primal" type lifestyle and are healthier than typical western high-carb diets. I believe this was mentioned earlier in the thread.

btw-grains do spike insulin levels. That's why high-carb diets often lead to insulin resistence and type II diabetes.

 

[KingNothing]

Atkins died of a heart attack. And it's a horrible diet, because when the eliminate all carbs and whatnot, your cholesterol skyrockets and you're susceptible to stroke or heart attack. All things in moderation.

And the carbs in fruits and vegetables give you energy.

The key is to eat the right types of carbs!

 

[trey4sports]

Correlation is not causation. Many other cultures still live a "primal" type lifestyle and are healthier than typical western high-carb diets. I believe this was mentioned earlier in the thread.

btw-grains do spike insulin levels. That's why high-carb diets often lead to insulin resistence and type II diabetes.

yeah, and i would make a similar argument to the one you made..... correlation is not necessarily causation. There are a lot more variables at play.

 

[KingNothing]

well....kinda sorta.

Eating refined carbs like sugar and white flour are not good for you, not in any way.

vegetables, whole grains and other carbs that don't spike your insulin levels are great for your body. Particularly vegetables which are antioxidant rich.

as far as primal goes, my biggest concern is that very high protein diets have been connected to high rates of cancer and disease whereas you see the exact opposite in raw food diets.

Ever see Fork Over Knife? It's an interesting documentary that agrees with your premise, though I'm not entirely sold on it.

I would suggest that it's best to just keep it simple - eat as many vegetables as you can. Eat some fruit and nuts. Eat less chicken and eggs. Eat even less red meat. Avoid refined sugars, fried foods, white bread, etc

 

[trey4sports]

I believe in primal as scientifically valid and the healthiest way to live. Unfortunately, I just wasn't raised to appreciate vegetables at all, and pastas & grains are among my very favorite things to eat. There's just no way I'd be able to stick to it religiously.

try some spaghetti squash in place of noodles. Delicious.

 

[KingNothing]

The hardest thing about getting over simple carbs is that they're actually addicting. Your body craves that garbage for some reason, and it takes a week or two to get it completely over the junk. Once you get through that phase, it becomes much easier.

 

[trey4sports]

Ever see Fork Over Knife? It's an interesting documentary that agrees with your premise, though I'm not entirely sold on it.

I would suggest that it's best to just keep it simple - eat as many vegetables as you can. Eat some fruit and nuts. Eat less chicken and eggs. Eat even less red meat. Avoid refined sugars, fried foods, white bread, etc

yup. Part of how i got interested in a raw diet. Granted, my diet is probably 70% raw at this time. I eat meat, but as a general rule the guidelines above are pretty much how I eat.

 

[heavenlyboy34]

yeah, and i would make a similar argument to the one you made..... correlation is not necessarily causation. There are a lot more variables at play.

Yep. Without exercise, you'll get fat on any kind of diet. Other cultures that have long been on a paleo lifestyle aren't sedentary like Americans usually are. I didn't mean to say that diet is the only factor. It is critical, though. High carb diets also make your body's ph acidic, making it difficult to absorb nutrients, btw. The person on a high-carb diet and alkaline ph is so rare that it's statistically insignificant.

 

[heavenlyboy34]

Ever see Fork Over Knife? It's an interesting documentary that agrees with your premise, though I'm not entirely sold on it.

I would suggest that it's best to just keep it simple - eat as many vegetables as you can. Eat some fruit and nuts. Eat less chicken and eggs. Eat even less red meat. Avoid refined sugars, fried foods, white bread, etc

What's wrong with chicken, eggs, and red meat? These are all great protein sources. All the weight lifters I know eat them. They also eat lots of vegetables.

 

[Acala]

And the carbs in fruits and vegetables give you energy.

The key is to eat the right types of carbs!

Burn fat for energy. It is healthier.

 

[evadmurd]

Yep. It's not a diet, though. It's a healthy way of eating. Diets don't work.

 

[ShaneEnochs]

I know we've established this diet is different from Atkins, but I do tell you guys my experience with the Atkins diet.

I've gone on it twice. The first time I weighed about 230 lbs. In the first two weeks I got down to about 215 lbs. Pretty awesome. But I do have an eating problem, and I began binging. I gained all that weight back.

The second time I tried it I was at 260 lbs. This time something went terribly wrong. My heart started palpitating every 40 seconds or so. It got to where my chest felt like I had been coughing for ten hours straight. I could feel my heart stop beating for a good second and a half, and then come back with one thunderous beat. I'm pretty sure THAT was a bad sign. So I went to the hospital, pretty convinced that I was about to have a heart attack. They gave me an IV, and all of a sudden the palpitations came about once an hour instead once or twice a minute. I figure whatever was in that IV gave me whatever my body needed to get back on track.

I figure it had to do with the low carbs. My body was NOT digging it at all. However, maybe since you eat more fruit on the primal diet, it wouldn't be much of a problem for me.

 

[ShaneEnochs]

I know we've established this diet is different from Atkins, but I do tell you guys my experience with the Atkins diet.

I've gone on it twice. The first time I weighed about 230 lbs. In the first two weeks I got down to about 215 lbs. Pretty awesome. But I do have an eating problem, and I began binging. I gained all that weight back.

The second time I tried it I was at 260 lbs. This time something went terribly wrong. My heart started palpitating every 40 seconds or so. It got to where my chest felt like I had been coughing for ten hours straight. I could feel my heart stop beating for a good second and a half, and then come back with one thunderous beat. I'm pretty sure THAT was a bad sign. So I went to the hospital, pretty convinced that I was about to have a heart attack. They gave me an IV, and all of a sudden the palpitations came about once an hour instead once or twice a minute. I figure whatever was in that IV gave me whatever my body needed to get back on track.

I figure it had to do with the low carbs. My body was NOT digging it at all. However, maybe since you eat more fruit on the primal diet, it wouldn't be much of a problem for me.

One thing I want to add is when I was in the hospital I was watching the little echo-cardiogram thing and when my heart fired back up, the little line went WAY down. I don't really know what that means, but I'm sure someone on here has some kind of medical training.

 

[KingNothing]

Burn fat for energy. It is healthier.

You've got to eat vegetables, and your body needs some fruit too. Really, one of the best ways to keep your metabolism up and weight down is to eat fruits like apples that have a low glycemic index and lots of vegetables. Burning fat is great, but you need to give your body the right food to make energy for it to work.

 

[KingNothing]

What's wrong with chicken, eggs, and red meat? These are all great protein sources. All the weight lifters I know eat them. They also eat lots of vegetables.

Are you a body builder? If not, you don't need nearly as much protein as they're getting.

I recommend that you look into paleo, raw, and mediterranean diets. All suggest that we're eating more meats, among other things, than we actually need. From personal experience, I can say the strategy those diets suggest works great for me.

 

[heavenlyboy34]

Yep. It's not a diet, though. It's a healthy way of eating. Diets don't work.

qft. I don't count calories or anything. I just make ~half of my plate protein and ~half vegetables at meals, and have things like fruits, vegetables, and nuts as snacks between meals. I usually have salad on the side, too.

 

[KingNothing]

I know we've established this diet is different from Atkins, but I do tell you guys my experience with the Atkins diet.

I've gone on it twice. The first time I weighed about 230 lbs. In the first two weeks I got down to about 215 lbs. Pretty awesome. But I do have an eating problem, and I began binging. I gained all that weight back.

The second time I tried it I was at 260 lbs. This time something went terribly wrong. My heart started palpitating every 40 seconds or so. It got to where my chest felt like I had been coughing for ten hours straight. I could feel my heart stop beating for a good second and a half, and then come back with one thunderous beat. I'm pretty sure THAT was a bad sign. So I went to the hospital, pretty convinced that I was about to have a heart attack. They gave me an IV, and all of a sudden the palpitations came about once an hour instead once or twice a minute. I figure whatever was in that IV gave me whatever my body needed to get back on track.

I figure it had to do with the low carbs. My body was NOT digging it at all. However, maybe since you eat more fruit on the primal diet, it wouldn't be much of a problem for me.

Interesting, and scary, story. You should run this all by your doctor before you try anything that we're suggesting.

 

[heavenlyboy34]

Are you a body builder? If not, you don't need nearly as much protein as they're getting.

I recommend that you look into paleo, raw, and mediterranean diets. All suggest that we're eating more meats, among other things, than we actually need. From personal experience, I can say the strategy those diets suggest works great for me.

Amateur body-builder, but yes. I am suggesting the paleo diet. (See my reccomendation of "Paleo Diet for Athletes" earlier in this thread). I agree that most eat more meat than necessary. I didn't mean to give the impression otherwise. Fruits and vegetables are the very alkalizing foods, and are critical. Meat protein is somewhat acidic but also very important for me (and any athlete).

ETA: My trainer suggested the diet I'm on, which is why I eat it. I have gained lean mass significantly on this diet. I've made major progress and can lift more and for longer periods before muscle exhaustion.

 

[heavenlyboy34]

btw-if you want a starchy food that is actually good for you, I suggest yams (unsweetened).