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Are there any universal truths when it comes to eating a Paleo diet ? Every time someone comes out with a new idea, 50 people shoot it down.

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11 Answers

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Meat good. Sleep good. Play outside good.

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Awesome answer! – Akman Oct 4 2011 at 22:56
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Eat whole foods. Avoid Vegetable oils and sugar.

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I think this seems to be the Paleo CW. I live by it. It's what i tell people when they ask how I lost so much weight! – akman Oct 5 2011 at 5:06
Congrats on the weight loss!!! – Eric Oct 5 2011 at 5:31
Aren't you forgetting wheat? – Anish Oct 5 2011 at 16:51
Yes wheat for sure. Anything with gluten. – Eric Oct 5 2011 at 17:23
Not 'vegetable' oils, but rather oils from seeds and grains. Coconut and olive/avocado oils are fine. – Bbd5 Oct 17 at 12:24
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Very few.

That is why I am of the mind:

Is this a BIG TENT or a small tent? This is a Big Tent. It has to be given the frailty of knowledge about modern hunter-gatherers, our Paleolithic ancestors, and recent evolutionary changes in the last 10,000 years. I view eating Paleo as a broad and flexible meta-rule: Eat in an evolutionary appropriate manner for our species. That's it. Full Stop.

So, you might be asking, what does evolutionary appropriate manner for our species mean? What it means is that I fully expect its meaning to change, or uh, "evolve", as better anthropological, genetic and medical evidence accumulates. I think the jury is still out on many of what we Paleo diet enthusiasts firmly believe in regards to intermintent fasting, saturated fats, macro-nutrient ratios, supplements, fitness etc etc And that's okay.

As John Maynard Keynes said, "When the facts change, I change my mind. What do you do, sir?"

> Probably, there are multiple ways of eating evolutionarily appropriately depending on who you are, your state of health, and personal history.

From PaleolithicDiet.com

http://us1.campaign-archive1.com/?u=48c5aee421576df1d6f5c8e45&id=9135210d47

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Yes, but surely some things will never change. ie, you need to drink water. – Akman Oct 4 2011 at 22:56
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"I view eating Paleo as a broad and flexible meta-rule: Eat in an evolutionary appropriate manner for our species. That's it. Full Stop." Amen! Kudos for the Keynes quote. – Dorado Galore Oct 4 2011 at 22:58
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If you consider that those with celiac disease are basically a kind of genetic throwback (as are people who are lactose intolerant, perhaps), I think paleo people can agree that grains - especially gluten - and certain forms of dairy are highly problematic for long-term health.

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Grain and dairy = bad. Those are the truths that keep getting shot down! Although the gluten theory is really gaining steam. Thanks. – akman Oct 5 2011 at 5:10
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Without a time machine we have no idea what exactly happened in the paleolithic era.

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And even if we did we still wouldn't be able to say what was producing which effects on health. – Stabby Oct 4 2011 at 22:41
I was hoping for Universal Truths such as: "MSG should not be consumed by humans", or, "Wheat is unhealthy" – Akman Oct 4 2011 at 22:53
Both true tonthis human – The Quilt Oct 5 2011 at 1:45
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Come off it, we have some idea. – Wozza Oct 5 2011 at 5:16
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Yes.....epigenetics is controled by our environment of development and is very hard to modify after age six.

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Some truths suck... – akman Oct 5 2011 at 5:07
How hard is very hard, doc? I noticed you didn't say impossible, so it must be possible to get to optimum from whatever your current state is, right? – Cody Oct 5 2011 at 18:46
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My list of rarely questioned 'truths' is

  • Processed sugars are bad
  • White flour is bad
  • Trans fats are bad

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  • Omega-3 is good
  • Meat is good
  • Fermented milk is good
  • Vitamin C is good
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Can't argue with those! – Akman Oct 5 2011 at 14:55
Actually, those all those except meat are accepted as true cross diet/nation/medicine/whatever.... – majkinetor Oct 5 2011 at 15:56
Some people say that generally all PUFAs are bad because they are chemically instable, but as an exception we need trace amounts of omega-3 in the diet. – Bbd5 Oct 17 at 12:28
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Cogito ergo sum.

And that if you get all of your calories from crisco you're going to die soon.

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I think that's crazy talk (therefore I must be). – Akman Oct 4 2011 at 22:58
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At a minimum, avoid the three neolithic agents of disease (http://archevore.com).

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Hit men that piss you off, sleep with women who'll let you, eat as much as you can and do as little as possible. I think there was a lot of that going on back in the day, there's no way I can do that sort of thing today without going to jail, where I hear they feed you a very high carb diet, so that's out. One of the few things that I can get away with is a paleo attitude, 'try as hard as you can untill you win or die, then stop trying and go to sleep.' I noticed that this is the way my dog goes about life, and he seems wonderfully happy and really fit, so I gave it a whirl, and it works out great. Eat organs and meat and try as hard as you possibly can, be a scary caveman or cavelady and see what happens.

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so basically, be not just a buff caveman, but a BAMF. I like the remark about your dog, by the way Grover -- so true! – Caleb the Hobbit Oct 5 2011 at 14:03
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Sugar=Public enemy #1

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