Paleo Diet and Paleolithic Diet Questions & Answers

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I just got back from the first annual Quantified Self Conference up in Mountain View, CA. I was happy to see how many of the attendees were of a Paleo bent.

At the conference I saw evidence of some rather impressive results when Quantified Self tools and methodologies were applied to hack a basic Paleo diet. I’ve been doing this for a while, but didn’t realize I wasn’t alone.

I’m interested to see how many of us Paleohacks are using methods/tools to make their health status quantifiable over time -using hard (and soft) data to really get into the nitty gritty of hacking our health. If so, are you finding you have better/accelerated results in comparison to standard paleo practice? Do you see any possible pitfalls/issues?

(Check out Dave Asprey’s Blogs( www.bulletproofexecutive.com , www.upgradedself.com) if you want more info on how QS biohacking has allowed people to identify, quantify and change their health challenges and overall lives. I met him at the conference- he’s an engaging and informative biohacker extraordinaire with a paleo-ish outlook on diet and life. )

My Experience with “Quantified Paleo’: Show & tell To get things started, here’s my experience with ‘Quantified Paleo’. I’ve experienced some great benefits from combining the two approaches and obviously think that they are a powerful combo. Here are just some of the measurements I’ve been taking in the last 6 months and their benefits:

-Recording diet and correlating with symptom graph helped me discover I’m Celiac. Followed this up with lab tests from Enterolab for confirmation.

-Recording diet correlated with symptom graph revealed soy allergy.

-Measuring Blood sugar with glucosemeter- brought down A1c from 6.1 to 5 reducing aging, sclerotic damage to my arteries and general inflammation.

-Recording activity levels & Heart Rate monitor- allowed me to hack for optimum levels of intensity training.

-Used Zeo (http://www.myzeo.com/) to hack my sleep quality- finally waking up feeling fully rested for the first time in years. Increased Deep Sleep and REM time while reducing time to sleep.

I’d love to hear your experience - -Helene

flag	asked Jun 1 2011 at 5:56 HeleneLohr 1,764●5●16

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I like what Dave does because i believe in total testing as well if you can afford it. If you can measure it you test it. But he needs to upgrade his brain gut checks and his neuro cognitive battery is done with a Spect only and EEG. Very old school. And he is getting ripped off for that price. Spect scans are pretty cheap these days. Functional MRI is in the 4K range. – The Quilt Jun 2 2011 at 5:12

:) cool- I'll pass that on if I get the chance- Thanks for the good info. – HeleneLohr Jun 2 2011 at 16:41

The Quilt · Accepted Answer · 2011-06-02 04:56:02Z UTC

quarterly labs to include a total of 42 different parameters, quarterly Vo2max, annual dexa to include total body comp, monthly BIA to assess body comp quickly to make adjustments to exercise and supplement plan and to constantly monitor autonomic nervous system function specifically for cortisol, biannual salivary tests for melatonin and progesterone, neurocognitive battery annually, heart rate variability quarterly, organic acid testing biannually, metametrix GI Fx's annually to assess brain gut axis. Every two years a function MRI to assess neuronal pool and metabolism.

Enki · Answer 2 · 2011-06-02 05:10:24Z UTC

I did the BiophysicalCore bloodwork from http://biophysicalcorp.com/ Costs ~$900 for a comprehensive bloodwork which is cheaper than individual tests. There's a bunch more tests and repeat tests I want to do. See http://labtestsonline.org/ for a reference of possible tests. For some health parameters I'd actually be interested in a subscription discount blood testing package (twice a year?) - anyone wanna create that? :)

Dave Asprey · Answer 3 · 2011-06-17 08:12:28Z UTC

Hey there The Quilt... Dave Asprey here from The Bulletproof Executive. What makes you think I'm only doing SPECT And EEG? (BTW, that was a deal for a SPECT scan when I had it done in 2002...) I also do 24 hour ANS function http://vimeo.com/24925268, along with biannual bloodwork for 72 values, including protein/liver panel, detailed lipids (my triglycerides are 48, my HDL is 81, LpPLA2 is 151, Homocysteine 143, etc.), Hormones, thyroid, gh, cortisol (109 out of ref range of 62-292), and D3 (high at 125). Neurocognitive battery you can get online or use your own tools (I started with Freecell as a baseline in 1995.) I track and train HRV several times a week, which fixes ANS function, as does proper EEG feedback.

Like your organic acid testing; I mentioned that kind of test on the radio a few hours ago. Did mine a while back but not a regular thing.

The Metametrix profile seems cool; I've probably spent $20k in the 5 years ago having my sh*t looked at. Finally figured out the problem was most likely SIBO, but what really fixed my gut was getting my ANS working so my sympathetic/parasympathetic balance was right. Did that, and 2 days later, the decade-long gut problem was gone and stayed gone. Prior to that, ozone gas was very effective in keeping my gut healthy. Curious why you test your gut that often - what do you do with the data you get?

Eric · Answer 4 · 2011-06-02 04:11:44Z UTC

I use a heart rate monitor for exercise and it is wonderful in showing the intensity of my workouts.

I also have it calobrated to my Vo2 Max to get valuable calorie burned info.

Paleo will help you loose weight if that is what you want. However when you plateau I think you need to step it up a bit and track a few things or exercise more intensly. Such as lifting weights or interval aerobics.

Quantified Paleo: does combining Quantified Self with Paleo yield greater /accelerated returns?

4 Answers