363 - 369 Perspectives

Eat like a caveman (or cavewoman) and be healthier for it

By Robert Massey - COMS 369 L03

The foods we are eating are killing us!

OK, so not an earth shattering statement to most people but hang with me for a second. It’s not the animal proteins that are getting us or the fats that all of North America seems to avoid, but some of the most popular food sources in North America which are killing us. It’s grains, dairy, processed foods and sugar that are leading the way in making North Americans sick, sad and overweight. OK, I can understand how skeptical some of you may be right now, but again I ask you to just bear with me. I was skeptical at first too, trust me. I can even imagine a few of the things you are thinking right now,’ but the government says grains are good for you’ and ‘sugar can’t be all that bad because it is in everything.’ But trust me when I tell you, it is these foods that are killing you.

Hundreds of research studies have been conducted in North America in recent years, many of which are coming to the same conclusion but governments have just been slow to act upon them. This evidence contradicts everything the government is telling us and has been telling us for decades. The standard North American diet is killing its own people.

According to a study released by Statistics Canada in March 2011, 24.1% of Canadian adults are obese, that’s nearly one in four Canadians over the age of 18. Despite media campaigns, doctor’s reports and good sense telling people they need to lose weight that number keeps growing and it doesn’t appear to be stopping. This, even though people around the nation seem to be doing what they can to get healthier. They follow the recommended nutrition guidelines as set forth by the government, they run continuously and they aren’t getting any smaller, in fact people are getting larger.

But there is a way out, even if it flies in the face of conventional wisdom. That way out is the Palaeolithic Lifestyle or the Paleo diet for short. This lifestyle focuses on getting people to eat real foods, getting out into the sunlight and sleeping better. When it’s put like that, it makes sense doesn’t it?

Now before I go any further, let me interrupt myself. I feel as though I should tell you that I am NOT a doctor, a nutritionist, a scientist or any form of medical professional. All I am is a 20-something journalist going to university who has too much time on his hands to do research and has experienced the typical North American diet, the weight fluctuations and the inability to drop pounds and was sick of it. I am also someone who has had his life revolutionized by the Paleo diet. I lost nearly 30 pounds in three months and am stronger and faster than I have ever been in my life before. Now, I will continue.

The Paleo diet wants its users to eliminate all the processed and refined foods from their diets as well as grains, dairy, non-naturally occurring sugars and, in a sense, go back to the way our ancestors ate in the Palaeolithic era. This isn’t to say go out and start swinging a club around wearing a loin cloth, but more so it is an idea of going back to when everything was simpler. Going back to before big corporations got their hands on the world’s seeds and started modifying them. Going back to before big corporations shoved animals into cages and force fed them horrible concoctions to fatten them up before slaughter just so they could feed our ever growing bellies. Paleo wants its user to become closer and more connected to nature, it wants us to remember that we are a part of this planet and not just a virus feeding off of it.

The Paleo diet consists of eating plenty of vegetables, fruit, lean meats (preferably grass-fed when possible), eggs and nuts/seeds. That’s it, that’s all. No more Oreos, Lays Chips or Coca Cola. But while you may be giving up the convenience and seeming good taste of these junk foods you will be regaining your health, mind and spirit. There are a number of reasons researchers say to give up the standard North American diet, many of which most people know but haven’t been able to come to terms with.

The largest of these known vices is sugar. The effects of sugar on the human body have been well documented for the last few decades but it seems as though people have a hard time giving it up, that’s because sugar is highly addictive. Pediatric specialist Robert Lustig described sugar as a ‘poison’ and ‘toxic’ during his 90-minute YouTube video called ‘Sugar: The Bitter Truth.’ This is one of the reasons the Paleo community calls to get rid of it. Rob Wolf, a former biochemist researcher, talks about this in his book the Paleo Solution. He says sugar increases your insulin production which in turn allows the body to absorb glucose as a form of energy as well as acting as a fat and protein storage indicator. However, excessive intake of sugar can cause your body to become insulin resistant, thus making it more difficult for your body to get access to the energies it needs. This can lead to weight gain and improper nutrition absorption as well as aging. This is why it is important to keep sugar levels as low as possible, and one of the ways to do that is to eat like a caveman (or cavewoman). As Wolf puts it, “To live long, look good and keep our marbles we would do well to keep our insulin levels on the low side” (p. 51).

One of the somewhat out of left field things Paleo says is eliminating grains. This may seem a bit counterintuitive considering humans have been farming grains for the last 10,000 years. However there is certifiable evidence that says our grain consumption, especially wheat, is causing many of our health problems today. Dr. William Davis described wheat as a ‘perfect, chronic poison” to CBS This Morning. This is because wheat contains a protein called gliadin (note this is not the same as gluten), which binds to the opiate receptors in the brain and stimulates a hunger response which causes people to eat more. Davis said the only way to truly avoid this protein, which has been bread into wheat since the 1970s, is to eat ‘real food.’ Unfortunately he didn’t go so far as to say eat Paleo, but he did describe it fairly well including talking about eating Paleo staples like olive oil, avocadoes, meats and vegetables.

He also talked about a movement away from eating wheat and people having great success with it. “If three people lost eight pounds, big deal. But we're seeing hundreds of thousands of people losing 30, 80, 150 pounds. Diabetics become no longer diabetic; people with arthritis having dramatic relief. People losing leg swelling, acid reflux, irritable bowel syndrome, depression, and on and on every day." Does that sound good to you? It sounds good to me. I couldn’t have said it any better myself doctor, thank you.

That being said, one of the main reasons people fight back against giving up bread is because it supposedly has so many nutrients associated to it which you can’t get anywhere else. To talk about this I will turn to the father of the modern Paleo diet himself, Dr. Loren Cordain, “On a calorie-by-calorie basis, whole grains are lousy sources of fiber, minerals, and B vitamins when compared to the lean meats, seafood, and fresh fruit and veggies that dominate the Paleo Diet.” On a calorie-by-calorie basis wheat doesn’t outperform any Paleo-staple in terms of getting our body’s required nutrients.

I could go on and on all day about the food not in the Paleo diet. But right now I want to very briefly discuss the food that is in the Paleo diet and why you should eat it. Simply put, it will make you healthier and who doesn’t want to be healthy? The foods in the Paleo diet were designed by Mother Nature for us humans to eat. This is what we were literally made to eat. Again I will turn to Dr. Cordain because he can describe this far better than I can. “These foods...are high in the beneficial nutrients...that promote good health and are low in the foods and nutrients...that frequently may cause weight gain, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and numerous other health problems.” Put simply, these foods contain things that are better for you and will not hurt your insides.

Paleo eaters throughout the world have described miraculous things occurring when they eat the diet – from reversing the effects of type 2 diabetes to overcoming irritable bowl syndrome and multiple sclerosis. This includes both Wolf and Dr. Cordain as they have both recovered from fairly serious health problems thanks to eating the Paleo way.

Everyday humans are reversing years of damage to their bodies by putting down the Big Gulp and picking up a water bottle. They are overcoming serious chronic problems by simply not having a bun with that burger. It’s all very simple, and very straightforward, but for some reason we as a race are having problems wrapping our heads around why we shouldn’t eat things that were crafted in a laboratory and made with ingredients that do not exist in nature.

The Paleo lifestyle has a number of health benefits related along with it including better energy and sleeping patterns as well as massive weight loss. Yes, weight loss. That may seem contradictory considering Paleo asks its users to eat plenty of foods that have fairly high fat contents, but it does work. This is because the proteins in a Paleo diet have a higher thermic effect, which helps to rev up your metabolism and make it operate at a higher level. Despite being counterintuitive to the conventional wisdom, the science is valid. Those leading the charge in this research have seen the effects it can have and are also highly qualified. Wolf is a former biochemist and Cordain is a professor at Colorado State University and has had multiple books as well as peer-reviewed papers published on the diet. These are not people conducting pseudo science, they are highly respected and regarded scientists trying to change the conventional folly we have adopted around food. They are even joined by legions of other scientists as well, all who are seeing the benefits of eating Paleo.

All they ask is that you try Paleo for 30 days, that’s it. Try eliminating all the processed, useless foods that are harming your body and go clean for 30 days and see how you feel. As Wolf says in his book, ‘transform your life in 30 days!’ That really is all it takes to feel a remarkable difference. At the end of 30 days of eating pure Paleo you will feel phenomenal. I know when I finished it I felt better than I ever have in my life and that good feeling has just continued on since then. I’m happier, healthier and more alive than I have ever been before. So go on, put down the addictive sugars and chemical warfare inducing grains and pick up a scrumptious squash, absorbing apple and some hearty, whole, natural foods. All it is is 30 days of your life and it could change your life forever.

For more information see:

Cordain, L. (n.d.). Paleo diet FAQ. Retrieved from http://thepaleodiet.com/paleo-diet-faq/

Licht, C. (Executive Producer). (2012, September 3). CBS This Morning [Television Broadcast]. Washington, DC: CBS News.

Statistics Canada. (2011). Adult obesity prevalence in Canada and the United States (SC Publish Number 82-625-X). Ottawa, ON: Government of Canada. Retrieved from http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/82-625-x/2011001/article/11411-eng.htm

Wolf, R. (2010). The paleo solution: The original human diet. Las Vegas, NV: Victory Belt Publishing.