Paleo Diet and Paleolithic Diet Questions & Answers

Question

4

What would you say are the easiest SAD-to-Paleo food switches that newbies could make?

I'm writing a magazine article about obesity for a very general audience and have the chance to put in a tiny bit about the Taubes hypothesis. My editor wants three easy diet switches that would be better for blood sugar control.

What's your favorite? Note that I'm not really looking for paleo substitutions, with coconut flour and seaweed noodles and whatnot. More like a reframing from processed and bad carbs to unprocessed and good fats.

For example:

handful of pretzels --> handful of almonds

gooey milk chocolate --> pure dark chocolate

pizza --> omelet or frittata with all the same toppings

french fries --> roasted sweet potatoes

blueberry muffin --> walnuts and blueberries (with a splash of heavy cream?)

burrito with rice in a tortilla --> burrito fillings on crispy greens

flag	asked Oct 22 2011 at 22:37 Queenie 61●2

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Roasted sweet potatoes aren't better than french fries if the oil you use is the same. – cliff Oct 22 2011 at 23:18

David Rourke · Answer 1 · 2011-10-22 23:26:44Z UTC

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It is much, much easier to eat no junk than it is to eat less junk.

answered Oct 22 2011 at 23:26

David Rourke
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this may be true for some, but certainly not everyone. – jim_bob Oct 22 2011 at 23:27

I agree with this. – affine Oct 22 2011 at 23:57

+1 Absolutely :) – Josh M Oct 23 2011 at 1:46

Travis Culp · Answer 2 · 2011-10-24 20:15:52Z UTC

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Eat this:

alt text

Instead of this:

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answered Oct 24 2011 at 20:15

Travis Culp♦
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Is that cheese or linoleum? – Edward J. Edmonds Oct 25 2011 at 16:38

sage_ · Answer 3 · 2011-10-23 00:11:50Z UTC

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i baked almond crackers every day for the first 3 weeks, but haven't made them since

answered Oct 23 2011 at 0:11

sage_
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Hey if it worked good 4 you! – Nance Oct 23 2011 at 1:42

JayJay · Answer 4 · 2011-10-23 00:12:56Z UTC

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It would be wiser in my view to provide three concepts/paradigm shifts. Its harder to point out three particulars, as each have there own merit. Some concept point ideas might be...

CAFO meat -> Pastured meat

Crap in a box -> Real Food

Diet foods (high sugar low fat) for weight loss -> Cut the sugar and eat good fats for weight loss

Just a quick thought...teach a man to fish...yadda yadda yadda thing.

answered Oct 23 2011 at 0:12

JayJay
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Grass fed meat is beyond the budget of most folks. Don't even mention it. Just good meat, unprocessed, and if it's feedlot meat, supplement with fish oil. – Huey Oct 23 2011 at 3:07

Paradigm shift! I'm with you on that. But I'm afraid it's too subtle for my audience (and perhaps my editors). Picture people sitting in a doctor's waiting room or on the toilet. We have about 30 seconds with them. They want something concrete and specific that they don't need to think about too much. I know, stupid. But I always say that what we lose in subtlety we make up for in sheer magnitude of audience -- millions of readers, in dozens of languages, for a few seconds each, could still do some good, if it sparks small concrete changes. – Queenie Oct 23 2011 at 16:01

gydle · Answer 5 · 2011-10-23 12:41:38Z UTC

I think Queenie's looking for very simple substitutions. how about Glass of juice/diet soda/soda/pretty much anything liquid --> glass of tap (or filtered) water

when you get up in the morning, drink two big glasses of cold water before you do ANYTHING else. (most of the time you're just thirsty when you think you're hungry, and when you wake up you are dehydrated.) Seems to me that's an easy enough change to make, and it will pay off big in health.

Nutritionator · Answer 6 · 2011-10-24 20:19:24Z UTC

I completely agree with the "just stop eating crap" crowd but I also realize we're all human and most of us can't just up and quit things as easy as others.

Pasta -> Spaghetti Squash

Vegetable Oils -> Coconut Oil, Grass fed Ghee, Bacon Fat, Lard

SAD Milk -> Coconut Milk (still need to try Grass-fed Raw Milk)

Sugar or any other sweetener -> Local Honey

Pizza -> Meatza

There are TONS of these lists on sites like Marksdailyapple and the like, just have to do some searching.

Nance · Answer 7 · 2011-10-22 23:23:43Z UTC

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I think it's easiest when what you change to tastes better. For example, butter vs. seed oils or meat vs. reconstituted meat product with many additives. It's hardest, of course, when what you really want is sugar.

answered Oct 22 2011 at 23:23

Nance
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LisaAPB · Answer 8 · 2011-10-24 20:09:26Z UTC

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fruit & cereal breakfast --> steak and eggs.
swill & fizzle --> grill & sizzle

answered Oct 24 2011 at 20:09

LisaAPB
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Schatze · Answer 9 · 2011-10-25 16:14:01Z UTC

You've already got some great ideas! I like the prezel -> almonds and blueberry muffin -> blueberries and walnuts.

"My editor wants three easy diet switches that would be better for blood sugar control."

I would add:

cereal and milk -> eggs and bacon or sausage

snack crackers or chips -> cheese and apple, mixed nuts

lunchtime sandwich -> same fillings as a salad with olive oil dressing

Matt · Answer 10 · 2011-10-23 03:01:36Z UTC

In terms of least effort, most results, do two things: 1) remove all seed oils and replace with coconut and olive oils. Less oxidized PUFA fats, better PUFA balance as well. 2) Minimize gluten exposure. Notice, minimize not necessarily eliminate. Cutting out bread and pasta is maybe 95+% of gluten exposure, the last 5%, like most things, suffers from diminished returns.

Beck · Answer 11 · 2011-10-24 19:09:14Z UTC

Since before going paleo I regularly ate pasta for dinner, I started using more vegetables and less noodles, increasing the ratio of vegetables to pasta over time until I was eating sauce over only veggies. My favorites to use with red sauce are broccoli and asparagus. Favorites with white sauce are chard and brussel sprouts. Another swap is spaghetti squash in place of spaghetti.

Easiest diet switches from SAD to paleo?

11 Answers