I'm sure that you're trying to cute but that statement really sums up my issues with strict Paleo or Paleo inspired diets. It ignores the fundamental fact that the poison is in the dose and that the body requires a balance of everything that makes it work but also that it will work with an incredible variety of diets. There are a lot of nutrients that the body needs that are toxic in excessive doses. The fact that the forbidden paleo foods have bad effects when eaten in excess does not immediately mean that small amounts are still toxic. The body often works more with thresholds and not in some linear sense where less of a bad thing is less bad. There must be a level where you can eat bread and cheese and still be fine. Why isn't there anyone who wants to define it. Elimination is dishonest and a cop out.Quote:
Originally Posted by Spats
The current Paleo mindset involves zeroing in on a set of issues and instead of looking for a balance they immediately jump to the conclusion that elimination is best instead of searching for the balance. As a consequence, on the other end of the spectrum there is the fascination with super foods. Having to find the ideal specimens of each type of nutrient source. Some take it to bizarre extremes like drinking a 1/4c of olive oil to supplement their calories. There's making wise choices and then there's succumbing to obsessive behaviour. Just allowing sweet potatoes is a major chink in the arguments behind eliminating white potatoes. How is eating 2 or 3 sweet potatoes per day OK but one white potato is poisonous?
The scientific studies I have seen all take a group of people with major diet issues either with weight or some special dietary need, feed them paleo foods, see improvement and then conclude that this will be true for the healthy population. And comparing to the average American diet is a strawman. It is quite obvious that that is not a healthy lifestyle.
The language of eliminating corn because it is bad for you is a lie. Entire cultures have survived on corn for generations. It's quite obvious that it isn't bad for you. They may be eating too much for the ideal diet but pointing to one issue and then concluding that it is best to eliminate it from one's diet entirely is just crazy. The same goes for sunflower seeds. Sprinkling them on a salad is not going to somehow throw off your omega-3 to -6 ratio and send you onto your death bed.
Can you really tell me that the 4 tablespoons of milk that I put in my frittata this morning is really going to throw my body into some kind of distress? Or that a quarter cup of bread crumbs in a meat loaf is going to send me on some terrifying glycogen roller coaster ride complete with cold sweats, sleepless nights and poison my blood through the leaky gut?
Maybe I've been reading too much marksdailyapple which has some outrageous fear mongering rhetoric. The hyperbole is really too much.
My final complaint is the meat emphasis. The emphasis should be on vegetables IMO. They go so far out of their way with the meat arguments that the advice to eat large amounts of and a wide variety of vegetables gets lost in the wash. Eat lots of veggies and satisfy your protein and energy requirements with meat.
While I'm at it, the whole 'leaning out' thing really pisses me off too especially with crossfit. Part of what attracted me to crossfit was the whole, we don't care what you look like we just care that your fit. But a lot of the crossfitters I see are falling into the same old fitness traps of defined abs and low body fat, especially the women. Women shouldn't have defined abs IMO, it's unhealthy and unattractive. Training athletes should not be at the bottom end of the body fat scale. That is your source of energy especially if your pushing into the low carb regime.
I can't tell you how happy I am to be back to my regular moderation diet. Strict Paleo is an illogical extreme IMO.
