Paleo Diet and Paleolithic Diet Questions & Answers

Question

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I have been reading everything I can get my hands on by Gary Taubes.

I am getting through "why we gat fat..." And I reached the chapter about localized weight gain..i believe in extreme cases it is called ..lipodystrophy.

This fascinated me because, certainly not in the extreme cases he shows in pictures, but I am experiencing this issue myself.

I have localized fat accumulation in my lower body, legs, hips, thighs etc, but am very lean on top. I have gone off birth control thinking that perhaps it was a hormonal problem, and it is too soon to see a difference.

It is very puzzling to me, when I do a lower body workout, a hard one, either weights or lower body resistance training, my lower body will get sore, muscles will retain fluid, and then upon recovery in a few days, they return to a fatty undefined state, and do not "tone up" so to speak, or slim down.

However, my upper body will become emaciated and it will become so lean that people comment on ribs and hips sticking out...yet simultaneously there can be a good 2 inches of body fat visibly on my legs.

My question/inquiry is: I know many people will say "thats because you are a woman etc" but I am more interested in the science behind it.

First, is it possible to be in fat loss and storage mode in different parts of your body at the same time?

Have any other women "despite their hormonal predisposition" overcome the lower body body fat, and truly achieved a very lean lower body with Paleo? Does Paleo put women in a healthy primal state in which it encourages this natural state of "child bearing fat accumulation".

Any experiences...?

flag	asked Feb 6 at 14:34 Paleo4ever 1,133●1●9

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If you do you have a sex steroid hormone imbalance......and I bet your DHEA levels are also bad. Get tested......you do not have to live this way. – The Quilt Feb 6 at 14:42

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see the book "Why Women Need Fat." I will be publishing a review of it on my blog. It is very unhealthy to try to reduce gluteofemoral fat. psych.ucsb.edu/research/cep/papers/… – Melissa- huntgatherlove.com♦ Feb 6 at 15:05

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Unless a doctor tells you that you actually have lipodystrophy, it is probably normal important fat and it's your body's way of holding onto fat that is very important reproductively. If you are so thin that your ribs stick out, you might have pushed yourself into underweight and that is not good for you. Believe me, you can be strong and still be curvy there- the muscle is under the fat. – Melissa- huntgatherlove.com♦ Feb 6 at 15:15

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Melissa. You have made many women happy today. From now on I will always embrace my "gluteofemoral fat." – BaconHealsChic Feb 6 at 17:15

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Have ou considered getting in addition the hormone salivary tests but perhaps also a omega3:6 ratio assessed? I ahve read a lot about the WHR and hoe omega 3 is stored in the gluteofemoral adipose. Because omega 3 and other hormones play a role in survival, i believe strongly there are hardwired protection mechanisms to reserve these stores for survival, sex, reproduction, and fertility, in that priority listing... – grace Feb 6 at 19:32

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Joshua · Answer 1 · 2012-02-06 15:49:45Z UTC

I have read on several primal/paleo "experience" blogs, that quite a few women (who aren't crossfitters and start Paleo while overweight) quote "keep their curves" (and are happy to do so) once they've reached their goals physically.

I find the women who were either celiacs, or had other severe GI-damaging illnesses (Chrons, IBS) tend to be the ones that end up very thin on Paleo, possibly due to semi-permanent gut damage (and the longer healing process). There are quite a few exceptions, but this seems to be more genetic predisposition towards being thin in the first place.

The Loon · Answer 2 · 2012-02-06 15:57:07Z UTC

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The idea that people can store fat differently at different locations is not new, although Taubes surely has publicized it. We see it all the time. Man-boobs, mid-life weight gain in the belly, changes in fat deposition during pregnancy, etc.

answered Feb 6 at 15:57

The Loon
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The thing is that large stores of gluteofermoral fat are not pathological in women and hunter-gatherer women tend to have large stores. – Melissa- huntgatherlove.com♦ Feb 6 at 16:12

suzanne · Answer 3 · 2012-02-06 23:23:27Z UTC

something that you might want to look into is lipodema (also spelled lipedema and lipoedema). it is similar to lymphedema but not related at all. (does that even make sense?)

it is characterized by a very lean torso and being thicker from the waist down. one article i read had the analogy of a body with a mismatched torso of a size 8 woman and the legs and bottom of a size 16 woman.

there hasn't been alot of research on it and most doctors don't know about it, but you can find some info if you google it and probably find a doctor near you who treats it.

i am pretty sure i have it. i went to a doctor who wasn't positive but since i have "painful fat", she said it was possible.

i hope this helps.

Karen P. · Answer 4 · 2012-02-06 22:24:57Z UTC

Not knowing your specific concerns (for example, how long have you been Paleo?), I can only offer my own experience.

I have always been athletically built, and I have large legs, complete with cankles, even at my thinnest. Which was fine because I had nice leg muscles at least to show for it. But over time (pre-Paleo), the muscles disappeared despite constant exercise and eating SAHD (Standard American Healthy Diet). Very frustrating. My legs just seemed to get bigger and bigger, until one day I noticed I had cellulite. On my ankles. This happened shortly before I went Paleo, and I knew something just wasn't right. I know just what you mean about that photo of the young woman with lipodystrophy. I wasn't an extreme case either, but I identified.

The fat did disappear from my legs for the most part. Still have plenty in my caboose and upper thighs, but I'm not aiming for crazy-low body fat. It feels like everything has settled into appropriate places.

I think the BC removal will be interesting. It might take a few months to know for sure from that.

Gary Taubes - Why Me? Why There?

4 Answers