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This is big slap on paleo movement. People have often complained having "sluggishness" in their thinking process and performing challenging brain activities whi

by sytelus 11y ago

This is big slap on paleo movement. People have often complained having "sluggishness" in their thinking process and performing challenging brain activities while on strict paleo diet. Our brain thrives on carbs and it is the fuel that powers it so the results are not entirely a surprise. As usual, the lesson is that neither extremes are usually not a good place to be: Too much carbs or too much proteins, both are bad choices.

mixmastamyk 11y ago
My days were a lot less productive when I ate a lot of carbs. I spent about half the day sleepy or starving, unable to really think at those times.
- Mithaldu 11y ago
  Because you were on the wrong end of the spectrum (and probably eating the wrong carbs too!). The message here is: Everything is needed, in moderation.
  - mixmastamyk 11y ago
    Sugar is not, and it did not exist for practical purposes for average people before the 20th century.
- dogma1138 11y ago
  Eat a balanced diet and exercise it's really not rocket science, people are spending way too much time and money on trying to hack their life style. Run/Walk 5-10KM a day, do some anaerobic 2-3 times a week and don't eat total crap... OFC when you eat 1000 cal meals you are going to have a huge sugar drop doesn't matter if it's a huge steak or whole cake. People also waste too much time on controlling caloric intake over way too short periods if you can't control you weekday intake to the required levels just lay down on it during the weekend and you'll still be fine. All these diet's are really a waste of time and money, eat on a regular schedule (never eat when you are starving, as in never get to the point of feeling real hunger), have a diverse diet, try to expand your meals to as many a day as possible, heck I've seen people losing pounds in a heart beat by doing things as simple as droping 1 item from their lunch or moving it to an afternoon snack...
  - loopdoend 11y ago
    Anecdotes aside, steak won't spike your insulin.
    - dogma1138 11y ago
      50-60% of the absorbed your protein intake is metabolized into glucose. Not to mention that people don't tend to eat the leanest cut available so all of those T-Bones and Rib-Eye's add a huge chunk of saturated fat into the mix and that's without all the addons like that nice sour cream and peppercorn sauce with those nice roasted potatos.... Consuming large portions of meat will increase your BG level's they won't spike as fast as if you would chuck down a bowl of ice cream but they'll rise quite well and crash just as quickly later...
      - JoeAltmaier 11y ago
        Well, because meat provides other calories than sugar the crash is 'buffered', right?
      - mixmastamyk 11y ago
        And it takes a long time to do so, so the spike will not come like it does with sugar.
    - ScottBurson 11y ago
      Actually it does. Insulin also stimulates muscle cells to absorb amino acids. A large protein meal causes quite a substantial insulin response. Ref.: http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/66/5/1264.abstract http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/66/5/1264.abstract
      - mixmastamyk 11y ago
        See glycemic/insulin indexes.
  - deleted 11y ago
    [deleted]
nkozyra 11y ago
I thought the paleo diet was a relatively balanced diet based on foods thought to be consumed at the time. That would include a good amount of meat and a good amount of harvested vegetables and fruits and no processed grains. There should be plenty of carbohydrates, fat and protein in a diet like that.
colordrops 11y ago
A "slap" is too strong of a word. People have been aware that we've continued to evolve since the paleo era and some of us have better ability to digest grains and dairy than others. A popular diet right now is the Whole 30, which is similar to paleo diets but allows tubers. This research isn't some M. Night Shyamalan twist that has thrown everyone off. It's really up to the individual to listen to their body and do some research and figure out what works best for them.
magic_beans 11y ago
What I don't understand is why the Paleo diet doesn't include a mandatory fasting period. Because lord knows our cave-dwelling ancestors were not getting three full meals a day. Intermittent fasting is also known to improve longevity.
- saryant 11y ago
  Intermittent fasting is popular in parts of the Paleo community: http://www.marksdailyapple.com/health-benefits-of-intermittent-fasting/ http://www.marksdailyapple.com/health-benefits-of-intermitte...
anonbanker 11y ago
Best I've ever felt (and clearest I've ever thought) was on a paleo diet. So how much is a personal anecdote worth against a third-party anecdote?
Darmani 11y ago
Most of paleo is just understanding the science of how our food affects us at a level beyond the nutrition label. It evolves as new evidence comes in, so this can't be a slap against paleo any more than measuring the gravitational constant can be a slap against physics. If you've got the idea that it's about trying to emulate cavemen -- well, there are a couple loudmouths who add the historical reenactment angle, but that's not how most paleo people think. We've known for a long time that potato consumption is ancient. The things that actually matter, and that the paleo-sphere actually talks about, are things like how harmful the glycoalkoids in the skin are. Here's an article discussing the actual Paleo opinion on potatoes: http://www.marksdailyapple.com/potatoes-healthy/#axzz3ikd0khZP http://www.marksdailyapple.com/potatoes-healthy/#axzz3ikd0kh... . In short: they're okay for some people, but avoid the skins.
enra 11y ago
I don't think paleo was never a strict low-carb high-protein diet like Atkins. Obviously people's definition and how they follow the diet varies, but I think first and foremost paleo is about avoiding processed foods, sugar, certain newer foods like grains and dairy, moderating high-starch foods (which have less nutrients), and mostly eating vegetables, meats and fat.
- saryant 11y ago
  Low-carb can definitely be a subset of Paleo but you're right, Paleo by itself is not strictly low-carb, the carbs you do consume will just be from fruits, vegetables and starches rather than grains and processed foods. I lost 40 pounds on Paleo/Primal sticking to 50-80g carbs/day.

by sytelus 11y ago

mixmastamyk 11y ago

My days were a lot less productive when I ate a lot of carbs. I spent about half the day sleepy or starving, unable to really think at those times.

Mithaldu 11y ago
Because you were on the wrong end of the spectrum (and probably eating the wrong carbs too!). The message here is: Everything is needed, in moderation.
- mixmastamyk 11y ago
  Sugar is not, and it did not exist for practical purposes for average people before the 20th century.
dogma1138 11y ago
Eat a balanced diet and exercise it's really not rocket science, people are spending way too much time and money on trying to hack their life style. Run/Walk 5-10KM a day, do some anaerobic 2-3 times a week and don't eat total crap... OFC when you eat 1000 cal meals you are going to have a huge sugar drop doesn't matter if it's a huge steak or whole cake. People also waste too much time on controlling caloric intake over way too short periods if you can't control you weekday intake to the required levels just lay down on it during the weekend and you'll still be fine. All these diet's are really a waste of time and money, eat on a regular schedule (never eat when you are starving, as in never get to the point of feeling real hunger), have a diverse diet, try to expand your meals to as many a day as possible, heck I've seen people losing pounds in a heart beat by doing things as simple as droping 1 item from their lunch or moving it to an afternoon snack...
- loopdoend 11y ago
  Anecdotes aside, steak won't spike your insulin.
  - dogma1138 11y ago
    50-60% of the absorbed your protein intake is metabolized into glucose. Not to mention that people don't tend to eat the leanest cut available so all of those T-Bones and Rib-Eye's add a huge chunk of saturated fat into the mix and that's without all the addons like that nice sour cream and peppercorn sauce with those nice roasted potatos.... Consuming large portions of meat will increase your BG level's they won't spike as fast as if you would chuck down a bowl of ice cream but they'll rise quite well and crash just as quickly later...
    - JoeAltmaier 11y ago
      Well, because meat provides other calories than sugar the crash is 'buffered', right?
    - mixmastamyk 11y ago
      And it takes a long time to do so, so the spike will not come like it does with sugar.
  - ScottBurson 11y ago
    Actually it does. Insulin also stimulates muscle cells to absorb amino acids. A large protein meal causes quite a substantial insulin response. Ref.: http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/66/5/1264.abstract http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/66/5/1264.abstract
    - mixmastamyk 11y ago
      See glycemic/insulin indexes.
- deleted 11y ago
  [deleted]

nkozyra 11y ago

I thought the paleo diet was a relatively balanced diet based on foods thought to be consumed at the time. That would include a good amount of meat and a good amount of harvested vegetables and fruits and no processed grains. There should be plenty of carbohydrates, fat and protein in a diet like that.

colordrops 11y ago

A "slap" is too strong of a word. People have been aware that we've continued to evolve since the paleo era and some of us have better ability to digest grains and dairy than others. A popular diet right now is the Whole 30, which is similar to paleo diets but allows tubers. This research isn't some M. Night Shyamalan twist that has thrown everyone off. It's really up to the individual to listen to their body and do some research and figure out what works best for them.

magic_beans 11y ago

What I don't understand is why the Paleo diet doesn't include a mandatory fasting period. Because lord knows our cave-dwelling ancestors were not getting three full meals a day. Intermittent fasting is also known to improve longevity.

saryant 11y ago
Intermittent fasting is popular in parts of the Paleo community: http://www.marksdailyapple.com/health-benefits-of-intermittent-fasting/ http://www.marksdailyapple.com/health-benefits-of-intermitte...

anonbanker 11y ago

Best I've ever felt (and clearest I've ever thought) was on a paleo diet. So how much is a personal anecdote worth against a third-party anecdote?

Darmani 11y ago

Most of paleo is just understanding the science of how our food affects us at a level beyond the nutrition label. It evolves as new evidence comes in, so this can't be a slap against paleo any more than measuring the gravitational constant can be a slap against physics. If you've got the idea that it's about trying to emulate cavemen -- well, there are a couple loudmouths who add the historical reenactment angle, but that's not how most paleo people think. We've known for a long time that potato consumption is ancient. The things that actually matter, and that the paleo-sphere actually talks about, are things like how harmful the glycoalkoids in the skin are. Here's an article discussing the actual Paleo opinion on potatoes: http://www.marksdailyapple.com/potatoes-healthy/#axzz3ikd0khZP http://www.marksdailyapple.com/potatoes-healthy/#axzz3ikd0kh... . In short: they're okay for some people, but avoid the skins.

enra 11y ago

I don't think paleo was never a strict low-carb high-protein diet like Atkins. Obviously people's definition and how they follow the diet varies, but I think first and foremost paleo is about avoiding processed foods, sugar, certain newer foods like grains and dairy, moderating high-starch foods (which have less nutrients), and mostly eating vegetables, meats and fat.

saryant 11y ago
Low-carb can definitely be a subset of Paleo but you're right, Paleo by itself is not strictly low-carb, the carbs you do consume will just be from fruits, vegetables and starches rather than grains and processed foods. I lost 40 pounds on Paleo/Primal sticking to 50-80g carbs/day.