Paleo Diet and Paleolithic Diet Questions & Answers

Question

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What: The Paleo Summit (see also this post)

Who: Mark Sisson – Author, The Primal Blueprint

Topic: Ancestral Living Defined. Mark Sisson kicks off The Paleo Summit by clearly defining paleo/primal living. Are grains safe to eat? Is dairy Paleo? Did your ancestors cut the saturated fat? Mark gives us the scoop.

What did you think of Mark's presentation?

edited Feb 26 2012 at 13:59

Beth-WeightMaven

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2 revisions

Shari Bambino · Answer 1 · 2012-02-26 14:20:48Z UTC

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How can you not love this guy? As usual he has shown himself to be the go-to guy for making paleo/primal/ancestral eating easy to understand and accessible to all. Not much in it for the seasoned professional but as far as an overview of ancestral eating and living I think he knocked it out of the park once again.

answered Feb 26 2012 at 14:20

Shari Bambino

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Yeah....great overview to kick it off. – JayJay Feb 26 2012 at 16:58

You love everyone that is FOR low carb – Sue Feb 27 2012 at 1:19

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Shari's been pretty open-minded, Sue. In fact, I know a lot of people for whom low carb works great, and yet they're not going around slamming people who eat higher-carb--do what works for you, and all that. But there sure do seem to be some pissed off higher-carbers who can't believe low-carb works for anyone else. Wonder what that's all about. – Rose Feb 27 2012 at 4:12

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Thanks Rose. Yes I think I am pretty open minded. While low carb is what worked for me I don't claim it's right for everyone. I do think it's right for the vast majority of obese and morbidly obese but so do many others. Sue I guess I'm just not sure what your point is? – Shari Bambino Feb 27 2012 at 4:21

+1 Shari!!!!!!!! – The Loon Feb 27 2012 at 22:34

Evelyn aka CarbSane · Answer 2 · 2012-02-26 19:55:33Z UTC

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My review for anyone interested: http://carbsanity.blogspot.com/2012/02/live-blogging-from-paleo-summit-i-mark.html

Overall I had a pretty positive reaction. I only cringed with his sneering chuckle at the mention of safe starches and a few things he seems to have made up out of thin air. Still a nice overview for a newbie.

As an educator I think describing any online certification program in PB as equivalent to a 300 level college course is a bit much.

Can't get over being left with the ad for Primal Fuel though. :(

answered Feb 26 2012 at 19:55

Evelyn aka CarbSane

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I know, I love Mark but I think of him as a paleo-politician/marketer. I also believe he's sincere and an overall plus for the community, but there's always a sales pitch. – Nance Feb 26 2012 at 19:59

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In all fairness, I think a lot of people found the concept because of his marketing. – Dylan Feb 26 2012 at 20:10

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@Dylan: Fair 'nuff, but where to draw the line. You know if Dr. Oz went paleo tomorrow his widespread commercial appeal would likely eclipse the entire existing paleosphere and folks would be dumping big bucks on PaleOZ bars and stuff. – Evelyn aka CarbSane Feb 26 2012 at 20:41

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I agree Nance, overall a plus -- moreso now that he is tacking away from the "low carb" camp. It is a very distinct shift. I'd have to relisten but I'm not sure he even mentioned the two words "low carb" together this time. – Evelyn aka CarbSane Feb 26 2012 at 20:43

There was an ad? I missed that altogether. – redberry Feb 26 2012 at 21:57

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Nance · Answer 3 · 2012-02-26 17:48:36Z UTC

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As always, Mark did an outstanding job of introducing the general concept of modern nutrition: using our knowledge of paleo people and current research to identify the whole foods most likely to provide quality nutrition.

Even though there was no new information for me he was easy/enjoyable to listen to.

I wish he had addressed fermented dairy since he gave the category as much air time as he did; I don't drink milk but I do make yogurt at home and would like to have heard his views on it.

answered Feb 26 2012 at 17:48

Nance

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	here is his view marksdailyapple.com/yogurt-mania – Resurgent Feb 26 2012 at 18:40
	@Resurgent, thanks, I've read that post before but it's really about "junk" supermarket yogurt. I make heirloom, extra-fat Bulgarian yogurt and the only sweetener, if any, I use is fruit. I was hoping he'd address that sort of traditional fermented foods which were certainly consumed 200+ years ago. Based on the last paragraph in the post you linked, I assume he's neutral to positive. – Nance Feb 26 2012 at 18:49
	Also didn't even mention cheese one way or the other. – Evelyn aka CarbSane Feb 26 2012 at 19:50

redberry · Answer 4 · 2012-02-26 19:22:05Z UTC

That was fun. I typed about 2000 words of notes as the video played, mostly because this is a good way for me to force myself to pay attention. So now I've got some stuff to review and some things to read up on.

Most of the information in Mark's talk was review for me, but still useful to hear: I'm working to improve the way I can explain these things to people who ask about my diet, so hearing Mark's answers is always good in that regard.

A few things I learned:

Macademia nuts are that much better than cashews? Huh. I'll include them in today's chocolate dessert, instead of the cashews I was planning to use.
I need to learn more about macronutrients.
Mark's going to offer an online course that will certify people? Ohmygoodness, sign me up for that. I think he said it'll be the equivalent of a 300-level college course, and will prepare people to explain the primal diet to others. I'm excited about that!

The Loon · Answer 5 · 2012-02-26 18:47:11Z UTC

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I really enjoyed listening to the podcast, but I was somewhat disappointed that it was just a slide-show and not the real Mark.

answered Feb 26 2012 at 18:47

The Loon

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raydawg · Answer 6 · 2012-02-26 18:48:11Z UTC

I love the guy and he did an awesome job as usual of explaining his views. I actually found MDA before I found out about Paleo, so I always have a favored spot for his words.

But, I just hope this series gets into deeper topics with loads more detail, as Mark's could only serve as an introduction to Paleo/Primal. His AHS "Play" speech was far more useful to me, for example.

I might be tempted to buy the series if there are deeper, geekier topics. :) But so far, it's nothing I don't already know from various other sources.

gismcieri · Answer 7 · 2012-02-26 06:28:11Z UTC

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It doesn't start for about 2 hrs. Nothing is open yet. If you already confirmed. You should be good to go.

answered Feb 26 2012 at 6:28

gismcieri

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Eric · Answer 8 · 2012-02-27 06:31:42Z UTC

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Mark did a great job. It is the basics. I liked the interview format. Well produced.

answered Feb 27 2012 at 6:31

Eric

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