Paleo does not seem to always be the same thing - PaleoHacks.com [closed]

Paleo does not seem to always be the same thing

2012-05-28T15:10:09Z

When we observe the diets of primitive tribes currently still in or close to the stone age, we see that they vary quite a bit. For example, the Kitava Island folks eat a lot of carbs (by our "paleo" standards), and the Inuit-like folks in north eastern Siberia eat about 99% whale and seal products. I have come to deal with these differences.

I doubt if the Kitavan folks eat as many carbs as the standard American diet. But there is also the good carbs and bad carbs thingie: There is a thing called palm sugar or coconut palm sugar. What you may find in the natural food store or Asian market will vary. I have seen granulated and a very hard paste. The science on this is very sparse. They say that the glycemic load is absurdly low, like 7. My experience is the GL IS very low. It is the nector of the coconut or palm tree flower. This would be a good example of a very low GL carb that primitive people might eat.

And the thing about the Inuit people's diet is that it does not appeal, so I doubt if the Sierra Club needs to worry about us paleo folks insisting upon the right to hunt whales and seals.

But there is almost certainly a genetic component to the health of these different diets. I am color-blind. Among you readers, perhaps 1 in 12 are color-blind. Genetic diversity is a fact of life. There will most certainly be a genetic diversity in the optimal diets that we eat. Each person has to find their own optimal diet.

Comments will be greatly appreciated.

Answer by Veriria for Paleo does not seem to always be the same thing

2012-05-28T15:27:55Z

I tend to think of Paleo eating as back when us huminoids hadn't left Africa -- therefore the diet might have been mostly vegetable & tropical fruits, some animals, offal, etc.

The trick is to not eat this way simply to emulate primitive man; it is to eat whole, organic, nutrient dense foods, as unprocessed as possible. My opinion, of course

Answer by Flip for Paleo does not seem to always be the same thing

2012-05-28T15:50:09Z

I would add one very important thing: sazonality. I usually give the example of spinach, one of the most vilified vegetables for the high oxalate content. Wildly, spinach is not available year round, and when is it naturaly the oxalate content is lower. The same aplies for an instance to butter, in spring time, the grass grows taller, richer, and more abundantly, therefore the cows's milk is far richer in CLA and ALA.

Regarding directly to your question, there is more than simply eat whole foods, it might be ok to introduce someone coming from a SAD or Westernized diet, but optimaly is is fare more than it may appear. One have to get not only in the circadian rhytm to sleep, but get along with the circadian seasonality to eat.

Apart from proteins, and most fats which to some degree varie but not by much( assuming we are eatinh wild fish, some meat game, some grass-fed we're already cropping the benefits of the variatons in the flesh and fat tissues of these animals) i cant stress enough the improtance of trying to get the fruit and vegetables from that season, especially organic.

Answer by VB for Paleo does not seem to always be the same thing

2012-05-28T19:30:29Z

I disagree. Paleo IS THE SAME THING.

Why?

Simple.

If you look at all the indigenous people around the world and at our nutritional history, it is very very easy to figure out what those people eat /ate. No, Paleo is not a re-enactment. It is the way of living for many many people around the world. They eat what is available in their environment. Correct me if I am wrong, but I have a hard time imagining a hunter in Africa who could find a Reeses peanut butter cup growing on some bush. It just does not happen. Come to think of it, I have a hard time imagining a hunter in Siberia finding that cup too.

Paleo diet umbrella is about eating natural foods that are available in natural environment.

For my B.S. I have studied biology, botany and geography. It is very easy to learn what plants grow where, what animals live where.

Paleo diet covers the basics of all-natural foods: plants, berries, roots, shoots, bulbs, fruit, fish, fowl, meat (the whole animal), tubers, insects, nuts, seeds.

Grains? Probably. But not in the amounts they are consumed now.

As for the Inuit-like folks in north eastern Siberia - one of them lived at our house. And I still remember all his hunting stories about how important it is to shoot a squirrel in the eye so the fur is intact. Can you imagine shooting a squirrel high up in a tree and aiming in the eye? That is the question that will forever haunt me.

We discussed what they eat. 99% whale and seal products is a lie. They are great fisherman, they dry the fish so it is always available. As a matter of fact, he brought dried fish for us so we could try some. They eat vegetables too, but not as much. But definitely more than 1%.