The Paleolithic dietary philosophy that I follow and teach is certainly NOT the strictest form of Paleolithic eating. This liberal son of the pure Paleolithic diet pays immense respect to its father, yet remains less conservative for very good reasons. The main reason I advocate this philosophy can be summed up with the following statement:
The wondrous effects and benefits of our original evolutionary human diet will do you no good if you cannot or will not follow it!
Here are some questions and answers which I believe best explain the logic behind my modest expansions to our evolutionary diet:
Question: Is the Eco-diet as perfect and healthful as following the strict version of our original diet?
Answer: No, but extremely close
Question: Will the average person in today’s modern society successfully follow the strict version of our pure evolutionary diet?
Answer: Nope!
Question: Is the Eco-diet better for overall health and fat loss than the current modern diet of the average American?
Answer: Yes, like night vs. day, incredibly better
Question: Are the dramatic health and fat loss effects of the Eco-diet and our pure evolutionary diet extremely close if not indistinguishable?
Answer: Yes, absolutely
I will begin my discussion of the humble additions to our original diet with the greatest knock against it. As a student and follower of our evolutionary diet I must play the devil’s advocate for a second and use the most common criticism that I hear most often from its critics. Okay, here it is: “People are eating processed, modern foods and living longer than they ever have in recorded history”. While this is basically true, there are other reasons. Modern medicine related to trauma and disease, our understanding and handling of dangerous bacteria and pathogens and safer childbirth are but a few of the reasons this is happening. What I am saying is that given these same modern conditions, any of our ancestors following our original Paleolithic era diet would actually have lived longer and happier lives than us.
I have attempted to follow our original Paleolithic era diet in its strict form. To follow it as a purist I had to become a little obsessive. Personally, it just took too much of my time, effort, and thought. My big problem was really a lack of food choices. Given my busy work schedule, lifestyle, traveling and worrying about other daily challenges I just couldn’t commit that much time and effort to my food. I found myself spending far too much time and money on only the perfect Paleolithic foods. I don’t really cook, and that certainly didn’t help matters. Finally, I became a bit of a pain in the ass to my friends at dinner parties and restaurants. I started to think about the big criticism others had levied against the diet and could not help but feel the costs were starting to outweigh the benefits.
Still, I loved Paleolithic eating. I had lost over 40 pounds of fat and I never felt better. Also, I was healthier than I had ever been. Further, the logic behind it was impossible to ignore. I knew that this was beyond any doubt the best way to eat. I had the results to prove it and an indisputable body of scientific research is readily available to back up these assertions.
So I quickly went back to the loosened up version I had started with and began researching my general indiscretions. I found out why I still had so such success on my more liberal Paleo diet and how I could subtly change a few of the foods I had added back to get even better results. I endeavored to sort out which non-Paleolithic foods were relatively harmless, which were fattening and dangerous to eat and exactly why.
Summarizing this idea, where NON-Paleolithic foods are concerned:
Boiled cob of corn, steamed beans, brown rice, organic baked potato
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McDonald’s milkshake, Twinky, Sugared cereals, Mars bar, Pizza, processed cheese from a can, Pop tarts, Soda-pop, Carnival Funnel cakes, cool whip, chocolate milk, Taco Bell Taco, ice cream, Chicken McNuggets
There are definite degrees of “Bad” where non-evolutionary human foods are concerned. Even the great scientific minds who taught me so much about Paleolithic eating backed up this idea.
Non-Paleolithic foods are relative!
There is a scale from “really not so bad at all” to ”Freaking horribly fattening, dangerous and over time will likely kill you”. It isn’t black and white. It isn’t just “Here are your Paleo-foods, and everything else is unacceptable”.
I am suggesting that you add back: beans, potatoes, corn and some rice to your primarily Paleolithic diet, as SECONDARY food choices and in LIMITED QUANTITIES. As long as they are fresh, unprocessed, and cooked in a healthy way, the biggest knock against these foods is their low nutritional content and high calorie count compared to our primary evolutionary foods. They can easily have a healthy place in the diet of most people. This is especially true if you have already used Paleolithic eating to get lean and if you exercise regularly. I have outlined in detail exactly why in the Eco-diet book. Further, these additions open many new and tasty culinary doors. Finally, they allow Paleolithic eating to be a much more enjoyable, elegant and permanent philosophy to embrace.
To learn more about the Eco-Diet diet plan, click here and see if it’s right for you.