Food for Thought

Grilled Chicken by markuso; freedigitalphotos.net

Along with most of America, my husband fell in love with Cross Fit. He found a gym he liked and soon enough he was trying a Paleo Challenge.

I didn't get it. Mind you, I do understand eating weird things and abstaining from eating weird things.

Dear Husband: "So I'm going on the Paleo Challenge. It's kind of a contest."

Me: "What's Paleo again?"

DH: "It's supposed to be based on what your ancestors were able to hunt and gather and eat...so you only eat what they did, mostly meat, veggies, some fruit."

Me: "Some fruit?"

DH: "Yeah, and no legumes--no peanuts, no beans at all..."

Me: "Wait a minute. Beans are good for you!"

DH: "Yeah..."

Me: "And also...wouldn't what your ancestors ate depend on their environment? I mean, if beans grew in a certain geographic area, then it would have been part of what was gathered and eaten, so....?"

DH: "Some of it I don't really see the sense in, but I'm going to try it for the month and just see."

So, turns out that Paleo was awesome for my husband, but mostly because a) he's a diabetic and b) Paleo eating forced him to cut out processed bread and sugar. I hope I don't have to spell out why that's good for a diabetic...

The basis behind it just doesn't make much sense to me and reminds me of the scarily stupid Atkins Diet (which, as my husband will tell you, forces your body into ketoacidosis, something a diabetic strives to avoid). 

Huff Post had a great article about this topic a million years ago:

"Although in theory this may seem like a sensible diet, particularly when removing sugar and salt, it has eliminated several food groups like dairy and grains, which provide essential nutrients, such as calcium, vitamin D, magnesium and phosphorus in dairy and B vitamins, fiber and antioxidants in grains," says Joy Dubost, a registered dietitian and a spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. "Legumes also provide a great protein source with little fat and lower in calories while providing essential nutrients and fiber."

And on NPR they've found that ancient hunters and gatherers actually had horrible dental health. And: "There's not one kind of paleo diet," Humphrey says. "I think wherever people lived, they had to make best of the wild food resources available to them."

Chris Kesser has a whole article devoted to how beans can fit into a paleo diet.

Sigh. Anyway. As with anything, there's some good and some bad. Further, I've talked to different Paleo folks and they all 'do' Paleo a little differently. For the DH and I, we think that only good can come from cutting out most processed, refined foods (easier said than done), but I'm not sure if that's Paleo or just common sense.

Cartoon Caveman and Wife by Grant Cochrane; freedigitalphotos.net