Paleo Diet and Paleolithic Diet Questions & Answers

Question

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There is such a bombardment of conflicting information out there, many speaking about the same symptoms but different solutions, there is such a vagueness to how I feel that it seem futile to achieve anything.

I often wish someone could print out a sheet of paper with exactly what I need to do to get well again, to feel happy and look good.

I've been searching for years now and I just feel like it's useless, what can you do when you feel you've exhausted every avenue? How am I supposed to figure out what's wrong with me when everyone preaches different experiences? High fat helped my dry skin, high fat dried out my skin, low carb was great for me, low carb made me feel absolutely terrible, magnesium is so important but vitamin D can affect it but D is important, you should take vitamin C, don't take vitamin C because it's pointless, possibly dangerous, saturated fat is great for skin and will give you energy, saturated fat is terrible for your skin

So much conflicting information and the worst part is none of it works! High fat made no differnce to my skin! Low carb made no differene to my anxiety, nor did magnesium suppliments! Vitmain D made no difference! Eggs and bacon made no difference! Cutting out grains has made no difference! What am I supposed to do? How do I ever find the answers???

I feel so desperate right now

flag	asked May 9 2012 at 15:19 HuntingBears 5,499●3●15●40

	What exactly is wrong? Anxiety or dry skin? Could you please describe your symptoms? Have you tried going to a doctor? I don't think that the diet is the answer to everything, sometimes you need something even more powerful. Paleo is not a miracle cure, I see it more as a preventative measure. – VB May 9 2012 at 15:26
	How long have you been eating Paleo? – Dragonfly May 9 2012 at 16:06
	You have to remember that every time someone mentions what worked for them, N=1. All of our chemical make-ups are different due to genetics and location. Please provide more information about your ailments, and people can give you suggestions. – MathGirl72 May 9 2012 at 16:07
	I know exactly how you feel. I almost posted a similar question. I was feeling great, but now I just feel so frustrated because I'm not seeing the results I want. I hope you get some good answers. – twochickadeez May 9 2012 at 17:28

amplify · Answer 1 · 2012-05-09 16:15:01Z UTC

5

Anxiety = Stress = Inflammation = Excess Cortisol = Metabolic Disregulation = Disease Symptoms = Anxiety...

Strike at the root, anxiety is your issue, nothing will resolve until you release it.

answered May 9 2012 at 16:15

amplify
447●1●5

Kelly · Answer 2 · 2012-05-09 16:03:45Z UTC

You don't say how long you have stayed with any of these changes. Things don't rectify themselves overnight. It's a process that can take months/years depending on how much healing you have to do.

I think the other thing to keep in mind is that there is almost never a "magic bullet" that you fix and it takes care of all your issues. Healing for me has been a gradual process where I keep making improvements and keep getting healthier. If giving up grains "didn't help" Did you give it enough time? Did you make sure you gave up gluten entirely? If if made you feel a little better, but not perfect, then you are on the right track. You might have other food intolerances that you have not identified yet. You might be dealing with nutritional deficiences relating to malabsorption. You might be dealing with hormonal disturbances related to excess stress hormones. These things will resolve themselves but I have to reiterate they do not happen overnight.

Stay the course. Keep a journal. Try not to get discouraged. You may have to make multiple changes to your diet before you truly begin healing. But every step brings you closer to health.

Sara S. · Answer 3 · 2012-05-09 15:26:21Z UTC

There are a few routes you could go. One, you could write out a post detailing your symptoms and what approaches you've tried so far, including what specifically you eat and how you exercise. I did that and I've gotten a lot of great ideas from people. There are a lot of knowledgeable people on this forum, so take advantage of them! Two (and this complements 1 nicely) is you could get a bunch of testing done, either through your health care providers, or through home testing (for example, zrt laboratories).

Also, It's expensive, but I actually recommend getting a snp analysis done, like through 23andme. I've found it very helpful in figuring out what specific problems my body might have. For example, I have the inefficient form of the MTHFR gene, such that I'm a poor methylator and thus would tend to be low in some of the b vitamins. It also tells you (if you plug the data into promethease) what drugs you might not respond well to.

PaleoVenus · Answer 4 · 2012-05-09 16:45:41Z UTC

just breath. you're right, it's overwhelming. If you are trying different things, you are on the right track. Many of us on this site are self-experimenters too. We try things, many based on research, to see if they work and then we share. But self-assessment is tough unless you are strict about controlling variables and sticking with the experiment for long enough to really evaluate the results. Keep trying things, but try to do it in a disciplined, systematic way. Ask specific questions so you can get the best help. Understand that you will often fail (both at the process of experimenting and the experiment itself), but that the process of trying is usually a success in itself because you'll learn something.

Fumbling in the dark for answers

4 Answers