Interesting conversation I had at work today. A colleague walked by and stated that she had read some article that ranked the Paleo Diet as the second worst. I said “they don’t know what they are talking about”. My vegetarian cube neighbor piped up that I had “drank the Kool-Aid”. That set me off. Well of course I had to defend it. I’m not on a ‘diet’, I have a diet. I eat the human diet. Just like cows are supposed to eat grass, homo sapiens are supposed to eat meat, vegetables, fruit, nuts, and seeds. I explained that many people have blood work prior to eating Paleo and then have the same blood work after eating Paleo and the blood work after is perfect. And, that now I feel so much better! They decided they needed to get their blood work done.
How come when I ate a vegetarian diet nobody came up to me and said “you know what Mary? You are eating a diet that is causing depression, digestive issues, low energy, insomnia, insulin spikes, etc.” We don’t look at “diets” as what they do to our bodies from a biochemistry view point. It’s not just about the macro nutrients, it’s about the type of macro nutrients. We need protein from animals, carbs from vegetables, and fat from nuts and animals. Yes, we need fat! And yes, we need carbs. But they need to be from the sources that our digestive systems can process for the other systems in our bodies to utilize. Grains and wheats may contain protein but; it is so wrapped in fibrous material that our digestive system can’t even break all that fiber down to get to the protein. And, the protein known as gluten that it may get to will wreck your intestinal lining in addition to the carbohydrate factor breaking down into glucose that spikes your insulin levels.
Every now and then, I get a little delusional and believe I can eat a sandwich. About one to two hours later, I have abdominal pain. Ironically, the whole time I was a vegetarian, I was so afraid of accidentally eating animal fat in something because I thought it would give me abdominal pain and digestive issues. I thought that my system was no longer able to digest animals. Well, remember what happened when I first ate meat? The exact opposite happened. This is because our digestive system is designed for it. It’s not designed to eat wheat, grains, soy, beans, legumes, dairy, etc.
Now don’t get me wrong. I like bread and I love cheese. Also, must admit I still put cream in my coffee. The majority of Paleo eaters don’t eat 100% Paleo. But we know that those dietary components will make us sick. If not today or tomorrow or even in a year from now, they will continually wreak havoc on our bodies.
I ventured on this dietary lifestyle after researching it. I changed my diet after 20 years of vegetarianism. I didn’t decide to go on a diet based upon some article I read. I continue to educate myself and I haven’t doubted my decision. In other words, I didn’t drink the Kool-Aid because Kool-Aid is not how you have a Paleo Diet. For those of you who eat Paleo, I am sure you get the humor. For those of you who do not, sorry but, you are drinking the "Kool-Aid"
