One Month Paleo

[BendtheBar]

Originally Posted by ElementalVirago

Everything I read is that dairy is not allowed. Where would Paleo man have gotten milk products?

I am not a strict paleo-ist, nor are many. I am almost Paleo eater. I don't put Paleo dogma above my own research. We are all free to choose. In the end I am comfortable with my decision and research. I follow the info from Weston Price and Gary Taubes more than I care about being a Paleo dogmatist.

I approach the lifestyle from a health stand point and my primary focus is to steer clear of grain-based carbs, legumes, sugar, taters, etc. There is evidence that these have been detrimental to human health and development.

As far as lactose-free dairy, that's my personal choice based on quite a bit of research. I know many Paleo eaters that use dairy. I don't wish to debate. The choice is yours. This isn't about debating or dogma for me, it's about health. I don't mean this as a poke in the eye, or like I am better or smarter. I simply am comfortable with my reasons and logic.

I know the fats in dairy are safe, and I know the dairy I eat is nearly 100% fat (lactose-free), so I am not worried. My primary concern is insulin regulation, hormonal regulation, and staving off diseases such as heart disease, high cholesterol and arthritis.

Here are some resources that explore the topics to a greater extent:

Mark's Daily Apple

Is Cheese Unhealthy? | Mark's Daily Apple

Grass Fed Butter - Choosing a Better Butter | Mark's Daily Apple

The Definitive Guide to Dairy | Mark's Daily Apple

Whey Protein: Isolate, Conentrate, Hydrolysate | Mark's Daily Apple

Amazon.com: Nutrition and Physical Degeneration (9780916764203): Weston A. Price, Price-Pottenger Nutrition Foundation: Books

Amazon.com: Nutrition and Physical Degeneration (9780916764203): Weston A. Price, Price-Pottenger Nutrition Foundation: Books

Amazon.com: Why We Get Fat: And What to Do About It (9780307272706): Gary Taubes: Books

Amazon.com: Why We Get Fat: And What to Do About It (9780307272706): Gary Taubes: Books

Netflix: Rent as many movies as you want for only $8.99 a month! Free Trial

The Weston A. Price Foundation

[jwood]

Mark's Daily Apple is a great website, he uses what he calls Primal Eating, which is almost the same as Paleo but it is a little more free with dairy and butter.

I have been doing Paleo for almost 4 weeks and I feel great. I have not eaten much butter or cheese but when I really want it I eat it. I feel great, it really just depends what you want to do. Strict paleo is tough, it is easy to get obsessed with also.

[ElementalVirago]

Thanks, guys. And sorry if I came across argumentative. I'm definitely not arguing about something I know very little about, I was just trying to understand. But your logic really makes sense, BtB. There really is nothing that says you have to follow X plan exactly. You gotta do what works for you. That really helps me to be comfortable with deciding to be Paleo-ish (like you) and not be black and white about it.

Sometimes I do think I need to be either on one side or the other, not in between, because inevitably someone will question why I do what I do. I hate being somewhere in the middle because then I appear wishy-washy. Like when vegetarians proudly declare that they don't eat meat products, but then they say "oh but I love cheese", and I remind them that cheese has rennet in it (an animal by-product), and they make some excuse why it's OK to eat cheese anyway (when really they just eat it because they like it and want to). It's like, you're going to be something, be it. Don't be it half-arsed. That's why I think I feel like I have to be "either/or", not riding the fence somewhere in between. I know, I shouldn't care what people think, and for the most part I don't but...you know what I mean.