Going Paleo

Next month we are going to Salvador da Bahia, Brazil, for Carnival.  It will be my second time in Brazil and first in Salvador, and I am looking forward to this trip.  I am a little nervous, however--the word on the street is that Brazilian immigration will not allow you in the country if you have an excess of 9% body fat, and it's too late for plastic surgery.  So being in a country where the term "dress code" is probably presumptuous is a little nerve wracking.  Let's just face it, Brazil is noted for its gorgeous people and sense of style and design, so how is an American guy going to fit (pardon the pun) in?  Well, we're trying a diet that actually works and at many levels is sustainable:  the Paleolithic Diet.

 

I am a big fan of the authors of Mean Genes(Terry Burnham and Jay Phelan) and American Mania:  When More is Not Enough(Peter Whybrow).  Both are great reads, so order or borrow the books.  The gist of the authors' theories is that our bodies are not genetically wired to withstand the demands that modern technology is pounding on us.  In other words, evolution has not been able to keep pace with the technical revolution.  It was not that long ago that most of us worked on the farm or in the shop, ate simply, and repeated this cycle.  But as farming receded, and as manufacturing, and later services, became the dominant sectors of employment, our habits and lifestyle changed.  When we were Paleo men and Paleo women (not to be confused with the Palin woman), we hunted, but mostly gathered, and ate when we were hungry.  This lifestyle really had not changed that much by the early 20th century.  After all, when Henry Ford first employed European immigrants in his Michigan factories, one of the first culture clashes his management endured was workers would go up to the assembly lines . . . and wreak havoc when they would just walk away.  "Why did you leave the line?" exasperated foremen would ask their hapless minions?  Well, they replied, they were hungry, so they just left.  Or they had to just use the restroom.  It did not take long for Henry Ford to change those habits.

 

So here is the how the Paleolithic, or Paleo, Caveman, Stone Age, or Hunter-Gatherer diet works.  You eat what only the caveman eats.  That means:  lean meats, nuts, fruits, roots, and vegetables.  Now here is the painful part for many of us:  no dairy, legumes, and grains (that means bread).  The flip side is that processed foods, salt, and refined sugars are out, which is a good thing.  Several books discussing the virtues of this diet exist.  The one we have works for me, because you can "cheat" on 15% of your diets, which means I can have that occasional slice of whole wheat bread.  We are also continuing to drink coffee and indulge in the nibble of dark chocolate here and there (because after all, they are from a plant!).  Tea is okay, but alcohol is out.  So are carbonated drinks.

 

The results? So far, so good.  We have both lost several pounds.  I amended the rules a bit:  while we ditched milk and cheese, our beverage of choice is almond milk, a brand from Trader Joe's that is minimally processed (it's a nut, right?).  Plus, I refused to give up on my non-fat Greek yogurt, which I hunted and gathered at Costco, and the evidence suggests yogurt is one of the "superfoods" that one should not go without.  But this diet is not carb-heavy like vegetarian menus; it is not as harsh and starvation-driven as a raw vegan regimen; and it is not a coronary fiasco like the Atkins diet.  I do not find myself as hungry or frazzled, as we are having abundant salads, the meats we are consuming are lean, and we are probably eating more fruit, which is a positive.  Overall we are eating foods that are not out of a box and are fresh, so the environmental benefits are there too.

 

As for the gathering part of the diet, the closest we are probably getting is conquering the 20-pound bag of walnuts that I bought last weekend at Fresno's Simonian Farms.  When you have to actually shell a walnut, it is amazing how far less you consume instead of inhaling one of those bags from Trader Joe's.

 

I never thought I would I would advocate a diet, and I probably won't get the commercial time that Marie Osmond enjoys, but I have to say, this is a lifestyle that may last a while.