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Here's the link to an article posted a couple days ago, saying that the CEO of Crossfit, who promoted the Paleo Diet, now has health problems and that Crossfit is being touted against by the US Navy. There are some stabs in there too about how cows weren't around 2 million years ago (they evolved about 8000-10000 years ago from aurochs, putting them--yup--after the advent of agriculture) so we shouldn't be eating beef. And that Loren Cordain only has a degree in.... Physical Education (I checked his curriculum vitae, and it is sadly true) and should be convicted for providing any medical advice if he has done so since he is not an MD. But I still support him because of the overwhelming amount of research he's done.
I know this is another one of those "why-the-Paleo-Diet-is-bad-for-you" type of bullsh*t article that we should just ignore but it's proposed some arguments that I have not yet heard thus far.

Thoughts?

*EDIT:
I don't do Crossfit and have no previous knowledge about Crossfit or this Greg Glassman person.
I will still eat cows for as long as I live.
I still believe the information that comes out of all the big Paleo gurus mouths even if they are not medical doctors.
I think this article is stupid. I'm just putting it out there for arguments against it.

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Do you really base what exercise your contemplating on what the Navy does??!! The same organization that has as a pass/fail PT test event to see if you can sit and touch your toes. You just earned a down vote from me. – Cory151 Apr 19 2012 at 3:02
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Oh Cory, Cory, Cory... I don't do Crossfit, much less any Navy workouts. When you assume, you make an ASS out of U and ME. In this case, especially U. – April S. Apr 19 2012 at 3:10
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Vague comments really thrill me. – April S. Apr 19 2012 at 3:37
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In many many many instances, "The cobbler's children wear no shoes." Is an unfit looking foot ball coach able to coach a team to a championship? You bet…How about an unfit Doctor able to give medical advice? It's clearly a biased article with very little basis in truth. There are hundreds of thousands if not more people doing CF on a regular basis and the writer can only find one instance of CF being sued. Pretty silly. – Rebecca Apr 19 2012 at 3:39
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These comments are funny. I've given you 3 upvotes now April. :-) – MeepsIsWellfed Apr 19 2012 at 3:48
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19 Answers

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I'm sure his health problems have nothing to do with alcoholism. Gotta be his diet. Also, the official Crossfit diet is Zone, not Paleo. Just ask Robb Wolf.

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Since when is Glassman an advocate of paleo? Crossfit HQ is Zone Diet all the way unless I missed a big change in their thinking. Many if not most of the Crossfit athletes are paleo but HQ is in bed with Barry Sears and has been for a long time.

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This is from the Crossfit.com section on Nutrition: "What Should I Eat? In plain language, base your diet on garden vegetables, especially greens, lean meats, nuts and seeds, little starch, and no sugar. That's about as simple as we can get. Many have observed that keeping your grocery cart to the perimeter of the grocery store while avoiding the aisles is a great way to protect your health. Food is perishable. The stuff with long shelf life is all suspect. If you follow these simple guidelines you will benefit from nearly all that can be achieved through nutrition." – Todd B Apr 19 2012 at 15:19
The Caveman or Paleolithic Model for Nutrition Modern diets are ill suited for our genetic composition. Evolution has not kept pace with advances in agriculture and food processing resulting in a plague of health problems for modern man. Coronary heart disease, diabetes, cancer, osteoporosis, obesity and psychological dysfunction have all been scientifically linked to a diet too high in refined or processed carbohydrate. Search "Google" for Paleolithic nutrition, or diet. The return is extensive, compelling, and fascinating. The Caveman model is perfectly consistent with the CrossFit prescript – Todd B Apr 19 2012 at 15:20
So, yes, they advocate Zone. But also Paleo. CF and Robb Wolf had a fallout, but they never rejected Paleo. – Todd B Apr 19 2012 at 15:21
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If Greg Glassman were Paleo it would be worth discussing. Since he isn't, and has publicly disavowed Paleo, defending Paleo over some non-Paleo's poor health is rather outrageous.

EDIT: And now after reading the article, I'm even more put off. First, it is on the Beach Body website. Heard of them? They compete with crossfit with P90x and other programs. Trying to slag on a competitor in this fashion is rather lame marketing. Wow did they get it wrong about coach Glassman's diet. There must be some strong hate. Between Beach Body and Crossfit HQ. Wonder what Rob Wolf would say about this?

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To be fair, that's not the beachbody website. If I had to guess I'd say it's some guy who is a beachbody coach, AKA beachbody pyramid scam victim. So In other words, some no-name guy who's trying to make a buck by re-selling beachbody products. – Casey Apr 19 2012 at 13:45
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You are probably right. – Warren D Apr 19 2012 at 14:13
Good catch. Can't imagine a professional company tolerating a website designed to look that disastrously. – Anondson Apr 19 2012 at 14:14
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Did you catch the immense amount of link-bait Tags? Seriously that duck-faced supplement-saturated bro tagged the column with Denise Mingers name. WTF? – Anondson Apr 19 2012 at 14:17
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Kevin Bacon (dressed in ROTC uniform, as it were): "All is well!!!!!!!"

Just because you do CrossFit doesn't make you Paleo, despite the fact that they have traditionally gone hand-in-hand. That being said, I may be a stickler for clear causation when approaching something like this, but I'm much more inclined to believe biochemistry than I am a picture of a dude who may or may not be even close to Paleo. Just because he makes his living as the head of cross-fit doesn't mean he is the pillar of its ideals.

As for the marine who sued the Marine Corps because he was "injured" by CrossFit workouts, I'm inclined to believe that (as unfortunate as this is) the Navy/Marines are making a public criticism of CrossFit for liability purposes. This is the JAG lawyers more than it is anything else.

N=1. I know an active duty Navy Seal. He is 100% Paleo per recommendations of a Navy nutritionist and the workouts he describes doing while training with his boat crew would put CrossFit workouts to shame. No offense to CrossFitters, of course.

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I suppose this answer would be more disciplined (and carry more weight) had I been able to force myself to do a critical reading of the entire article. But the first two links that I checked did not say what the author claimed.

Neither Glassman nor Crossfit was named as a defendant in the lawsuit filed by Makimba Mimms--only the gym and the trainers. Because Glassman and Crossfit were not in fact sued, there could not be judgments against them--so in a weird way saying there was a 0 thousand dollar judgment was accurate. Crossfit can't be "found guilty as charged" (which is a criminal concept, not a civil one anyway, although a corporation can in fact be convicted of a crime in certain situations, but I digress) if it is not a party to the lawsuit!

In light of such an initial glaring inaccuracy I didn't have the patience to evaluate the remainder of the article, which appeared to contain a number of ad hominem arguments.

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I'm mentally double-voting this up. – greymouser Apr 19 2012 at 13:58
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you could scare a lot of crows with all the strawmen in that article.

That was such an eloquently written article, all the question marks and multiple uses of the word 'debunked' in a sentence really drove the point home. I am starting to question my slavish devotion to eating food that only existed in its exact form pre-agriculture, and drinking from poop filled puddles. I don't do crossfit, but apparently I'm lucky to have escaped the ravages of bulimia and herpes endemic in the community.

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I think it's kind of a waste of bandwidth giving that site attention (yet here I am doing it). It's so replete with unsubstantiated accusations, and a perfectly despicable style and tone that I wonder "is this parody that I just don't get?" The sensational title was repeated three times before the text actually appeared, and that long list of "appropriate tags" at the end is like, I dunno, Web circa 1999?

I mean, it says "...the court found crossfit guilty as charged and crossfit was socked with a judgement against them in court for over 0 thousand dollars." Ohhh! 0 thousand dollars--in COURT!! Must have been pretty awful!

I never did crossfit, and honestly don't even know what it is. I do know any sort of prescribed, scheduled, structured gym-based fitness routine is100% optional when it comes to health and fitness, individuals are generally responsible for their own choices, and other things cause rhabdomyolysis besides faulty exercise programs. Jeez, I took a common pharmaceutical once that came with warnings of elevated risk of rhabdomyolysis.

Also, don't put too much faith in MDs. It was an MD who ruined a close family relative of mine with 2 years of an intense anti-rheumatoid drug cocktail when the whole time she just had a herniated disc. And MDs are telling people to take statins and eat low-fat, high-refined carb diets--even when they have no evidence of CVD. Medical credentials are dubious metrics of skill and effectiveness, at best. I'd take an intellectually curious, science-minded clinician over an establishment-whipped MD beholden to the pharmaceutical industrial complex any day.

This sounds like all smoke and no fire to me. I prefer to draw my conclusions from resources that cite their source material, and have some basic, reasonably adult communication skills. Piffle, this is. Sort of a fun read, but mostly meh.

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Well, at least you read the article. I could barely get through the first few paragraphs before I just felt like it a waste of time. I wish I had caught the "over 0 thousand dollars" line. Hilarious!! I agree, the way something is communicated makes a world of difference for me. – Sunny Beaches Apr 19 2012 at 4:14
I also had a poe's law moment with this article. Interwebs, you crack me up. – equanimity Apr 19 2012 at 4:14
*like it was a waste of time – Sunny Beaches Apr 19 2012 at 4:16
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Not sure I understood rant about Cordain not being a medical doctor. All my professors in college were doctors -- they had DOCTORATE degrees! So what if he isn't a medical doctor, he's a specialist in his field! – MiMintzer Apr 19 2012 at 4:41
@MiMintzer, that was my thought too. It's a lot easier to question someone's credentials than to do the work of challenging their arguments/positions. And the reverse seems true as well; that is, it's easier to assert one's own credentials as validating one's argument instead of actually substantiating it. – Christopher Gagnon Apr 20 2012 at 14:53
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This article reeks of malice and hate. I suspect the author has an ulterior motive. The CEO doesn't look obese. He's also not suffering any medical health problems - that was merely the opinion of the author. The dude is just getting old and probably not eating 100% paleo. Most of the managers of the gyms I've belonged to were fat as well - probably from the stress.

The only point that is worth thinking about is that modern cows are not paleo. This is true. They are wild, raging, beasts by nature and have been bred to be docile, lazy, grazzing creatures. I don't eat beef myself because my intuition tells me that they just aren't natural creatures. I prefer seafood - it's been around for billions of years and you can't beat that for "primal" food.

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But..in a question you asked, you said you ate grass-fed beef? Not trying to stir anything up, but I'm just wondering if you think grass-fed is more "wild" or something. – Sunny Beaches Apr 19 2012 at 3:42
I will eat grass-fed beef once a week as a treat, but it's not part of my staple diet. I keep things on the lean side with salmon, chicken, and turkey. All saturated fat makes my cholesterol jump sky-high. – D.K. Apr 19 2012 at 18:36
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The only benefit to crossfit is that it keeps physical therapists and chiropractors in business.

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Ok I don't like crossfit mainly because from what I've witnessed they don't seem to practice clean form and careful lifting. It looks kinda sloppy. The whole statement on diet is false. Most of us know from personal experience that gluten and grains don't work well. Other than personal experience there really is no reason to have grains in our diet. None of us are saying a bit of sweet potato fruit and veggies are bad? If you are active you should do well with a bit of extra carbs anyway. Point is meat is a superior source of Essential fatty acids and amino acids. We don't cook our meat to death. Many of us just sear it.

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Where'd you get this information?

"Crossfit is being touted against by the US Navy" This is absolutely untrue, in fact I have very recent information that is contrary to this. I personally don't care for CF but the Navy cannot tell you not to exercise a certain way.

FYI the runner up in the Crossfit games last year is a close personal friend and active duty service member. http://games.crossfit.com/article/josh-bridges-out-2012 Im sure he'd love to participate in the CFG but somebody got to fight these wars people.

Based on a known inaccuracy of the rumors I just commented on Im not gonna respond to the rest other than say when I saw Art Devany at Runyon Canyon no too long ago he looked amazing.

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She said the article said that, not that she personally is saying it. – Blossom1 Apr 19 2012 at 3:15
Theres nothing in that 2008 article that says anything regarding Navy PT policy. In fact the Navy and Marine Corps just officially approved Vibram Five finger shoes being worn for PT. – Cory151 Apr 19 2012 at 3:36
The article April summarized and linked to makes the claim that CrossFit has been rejected...she herself is not making the claim that it is actually policy. – Blossom1 Apr 19 2012 at 4:19
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LOL omg Blossom you're awesome. Hey that rhymed! – April S. Apr 19 2012 at 4:55
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That was a pretty dumb article. Obviously the guy had a bone to pick with Crossfit, so he marched over to his computer to type up an article that sounds like a ranting teen. Using Glassman as an example of how paleo doesn't work is idiotic. 30 days is all it takes to prove the author wrong.

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This article sounds like hate mongering and INACCURATE (?from conventional wisdom and/or vegetarian/vegan) ... look at this excerpt:

"In Crossfit, on a Paleo Zone diet, you would truthfully NOT be permitted to drink tap water. This means you can’t drink out of the water fountain in the gym to hydrate yourself. You can’t bring tap water from your house, or even drink any water from your faucet in your house if you’re following Paleo. Why? Cavemen didn’t have treated water. You can’t drink disinfected water. You have to go outside the gym, or out of your house, and drink out of a puddle. That’s what cavemen did. And according to the paleo diet, you are actually DESIGNED for that. Oh, and also you can’t drink bottled water either. That’s been purified and disinfected. You cannot drink gatorade, electrolytes, vitamin water, power ade, or any other sports drink. You have to go outside and find a river, or stream, hopefully NOT infected with cryptosporidium, and put your mouth down to the ground and sip up the water, algae, muck, twigs, leaves, bug parts, worms, parasites, or anything else. Afterall, according to paleo, drinking water potentially infested with worm eggs and larvae, pinworm eggs, fecal droppings, urine, ecoli bacteria, salmonella, is what you did for millions of years and so you should be not only "ok" but you are "designed" for it, and also you should have your child and baby do it. Paleo says drinking this not only won’t hurt you or your family, but in principle says this should be MORE healthy for you, drinking animal backwash, than today’s water. Enjoy ...."

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It's a very silly article, indeed. – Warren D Apr 19 2012 at 16:30
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The death rate of hoo-mans is still 100%

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Haven't read the article, but it looks like a typical fallacy (a typical post hoc ergo propter hoc in this case). It's not because one person on a specific diet is ill, that the diet is necessarily bad. There are other factors besides diet (such as the alleged alcoholism in this case) that also play a role. I'm so tired of all of these fallacies.

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Just because one guy doesn't look good you cannot blame the whole group. I bet he doesn't even follow a proper paleo diet. Anyone eating nutrient rich grassfed beef, offal, free-range eggs, and a substantial amount of organic produce is going to look good. Especially if they have a low-stress life and get proper rest everynight and between workouts.

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People who claim that the paleo diet is bad are funny.

Eat veggies, eat lean meat, dont drink milk or any dairy, no beans, grains. No legumes again...

Proof you can live off the diet are the hunter and gatherers of today. These people dont eat grains, they eat starches, tubers, roots berries, wild game.

People who are nay sayers to something that works and has worked are blind to the truth. It hurts to see people saying that bread is good. Its been poisoning all of us since we were kids.

In my opinion eating paleo or primitive is the difinitive balance.

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Uh oh...Glassman appears to be the next target in CarbSane's sights -

http://carbsanity.blogspot.com/2012/06/crossfit.html.

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The title is a dead giveaway, if he's the CEO, you can imagine the insane stress levels, lack of sleep, constant issue resolution he has to go through.

I work for a small company, and looking through the emails, I see our CEO is responding to emails all day long, all evening long, and yes, all night long, and then early in the morning. So for sure he's not getting much, if any sleep.

That sort of lifestyle has a huge price.

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