After a few comments on the Junk Food thread, I started looking around on the internet at the paleo diet. It generally makes sense to me, but I’m wondering about the effects of such low carb intake on an endurance athlete.
Have any of you tried this diet or are currently on it? What have your experiences been?
I’m becoming increasingly disgusted with my own diet, as well as my general feeling of health. It seems counter-productive to me to spend all this time training, only to eat garbage and end up feeling like garbage. Something like putting 89 octane gas in an F1 car.
I started eating a modified Paleo diet after hanging out at Gordo’s site a while. The biggest diference I notice is the constant energy I have throughout the day. No 4 o’clock meltdowns. I still eat pasta after a long or intense workout to replace glycogen but that’s the only time. I snack on almonds and cashews and eat a lot of fruits and veggies. On Saturday night, I allow myself anything I want - pizza, donuts, etc.
Hey, Making radical changes to ones diet is not a good idea! - Just think about how long you have been eating your current diet, if you change the whole format in one week, your body’s gonna say “hey whats goin on here!” Try making a few subtle changes each week and see how your body reacts and how it affects your training. Check out KP’s (Kevin Purcells) website for some great info on Paleo. I mean look at his sick physique for a man of that age and his consistent IM performances. You will be amazed at what he eats and how strict it is, but the results speak volumes! Paleo is great stuff, and you’ll find all these guys that rave about it still take plenty of bars, gels & energy drinks on their huge efforts training - but just keep this in mind, if you want to get the best from your body, think about what you are putting into it! Would you put diesel in a Porsche?
I don’t necessarily think paleo means low carbs. On the contrary, fruits and vegetables are pretty much purely carbohydrates. Through cuts of lean meat (fatty fish and poultry), you’ll get your protein and good sources of fat.
I’ve been somewhat following this diet which is to say that I try and eat as many fruits and vegetables as I can and minimize my processed food intake. The biggest thing for me is eating tons of vegetables cures my hunger without being caloric. A plate of vegetables is filling and probably just a few hundred calories vs. eating a plate of pasta which is probably equally filling but possibly over 1000 calories.
obviously it’s a combination of the two. Look, i know where you’re coming from, and its certainly an interesting topic. I went to High School with a guy who ate junk everyday for five years, he bought his lunch everyday and had endless litres of soda. He went on to represent his country in football, and his province in cricket, he pissed us off no end, and we used to harp onto him that if he improved his nutrition, imagine how much better he would be? - his reply was always “obviously i don’t need to” and he was right! I’m envious and curious: do you mind if ask you how old you are and your training age?? Now that i’m a little older, i’ve come to realise that if i want that little bit extra from myself, then, i have to be careful in all aspects of my health. Unless you, or anyone else can produce some documentation from a reputable, reliable source that stipulates that nutrition has no bering on endurance multisport performance, i’m sticking with the solid nutrtional principles that have evolved over the past 50 yrs. Yes, the human body is a remarkable thing and will adapt to a particular stimulus or environment over time. It will adapt to the fuel it’s given. For example: if you sit at a desk all day, staring at a computer screen, under false light, in an airconditoned room, eating highly saturated, highly proccessed, refined sugared, highly salted foods and liquids, with little or no exercise - you will certainly adapt to an overweight, high blood pressured / cholesterol, heart disease victim waiting to happen. I’m sure i’m speaking for the vast majority when i say, “i wish i could eat what i want, when i want, and put in excellent performances”
if the paleo diet you’re talking about is the same one i’m thinking about, i might be able to help you. i’m a medical anthropologist, and believe it or not you may have folks like me to thank (and not really a nutritionist) for ‘inventing’ the paleo diet.
there’s been lots of great anthropological literature written about this; in short most of it suggests that many humans experience health problems because we’re “stone-agers in the fast lane.” that is, the bodies we currently use are a 40,000 year old model, and our rate of social/cultural evolution (inc. our diet and lifestyle) has wildly outstripped our rate of physical evolution. some people argue that we’re not even physically evolving anymore.
so the answer to this problem is to start eating like cavemen (cavepeople?) again. ostensibly your system was built to eat this way over millenia of fine-tuning, and is inherently suited to such a diet. this is a good idea, perhaps, but of course does nothing for all the other myriad pathological aspects of modern life that we’re exposed to - even on the paleo diet there are still additives in much of what you eat, and environmental pathogens that can’t be avoided without moving into a bubble. plus, cavemen (we think) had so much exercise they would’ve all been built like brick-sh*tters.
long story short: i say eat that diet, brother. of the “diets” out there, it’s certainly among the most reasonable and sustainable, and probably comes nearest to approximating what you “should” eat. (assuming you’re not diabetic/allergic/etc.) but it’s only the half the battle - you want neanderthal health, you’ve gotta walk the walk, too.
I want to say that I’ve heard that Joe Friel believes in the Paleo diet, frankly, I think it’s worth at least giving it a shot. The basic principles sound logical and reasonable to me, and I’ve just started it this week, yesterday to be precise. I’d be more than happy to post updates on my progress if anyone’s interested…(i’ve got a long way to go to get into any sort of decent shape, so i’m hoping for this to be a starting point).
should add, for what it’s worth, that research that’s been done with contemporary peoples whose diets seem similar to paleolithic ones (a contentious issue, perhaps) shows hugely high levels of mineral intake, esp. potassium. sodium fairly high, and actually fat intake fairly high too. i’m thinking in particular of the Ju/~hoansi (aka !kung san) in southern africa but many pacific examples too.
and cavemen were all dead in their 30’s… they didn’t live long enough to know whether what they ate gave them cancer or other diseases etc.etc. No quick fix here guys - the paleo diet is a fad, and has its flaws like other diets…
However, the ‘modified paleo’ that people speak about makes sense - it is essentially a balanced diet that makes people eat more fruit and veg (they just give it a name to make them feel good about eating veg!)! Truth is a balanced healthy diet is the key. Eat lots of fruit and veg (fruit is full of carbs), eliminate processed food, use high GI foods & starches at the right times (i.e. during & after training) and use Low GI foods between sessions to help keep energy levels up. Eat ‘good’ fat such as Omega 3’s, and lean protien sources with each meal. I prefer to skip the red meat but its up to you.
Healthy, balanced and appropriate for athletes… call it whatever name you will. All I’d say is beware of extremes, and the ‘pure’ paleo is extreme, just as is atkins etc…
paleolithic life expectancies were actually very good - the averages are skewed by high infant mortality and high death rates due to trauma and infection, none of which are really related to diet. too, morbidity within those populations is usually quite low; the pressures of evolution, nomadism, etc enforce a ‘scrubbing effect’ on the unwell, and by any standard MD’s measure the average cave man would score brilliantly on a physical, even well into old age. chronic diseases like cancer and diabetes are generally regarded by people in my field as “diseases of civilization” which are linked to a host of environmental/socio-cultural/political-economic factors, only one of which is diet, and tend only to show up in state societies like ours.
all that said, i completely agree that the last thing we need is another diet. what i like about the ‘paleo’ is that, as you’ve noticed, it basically enourages healthy eating. in short: cut out the processed crap, eat more whole foods, pare back the sugar and dairy, balance things better, etc. all sound advice.
what i don’t like about the ‘paleo diet’ is that it’s lining another person’s pockets. no “diet” can ever work, because they’re not sustainable: only lifestyle changes can permanently work. but, if you stick a fancy name on something and convince people it’s a quick fix, they’ll line up to give you their cash. case in point: the patently unhealthy atkins diet, which has become a license to print money for its creators.
sadly, sticky, i don’t think you and i will ever get rich telling people to eat sensibly and get some exercise.
Unless you, or anyone else can produce some documentation from a reputable, reliable source that stipulates that nutrition has no bering on endurance multisport performance, i’m sticking with the solid nutrtional principles that have evolved over the past 50 yrs.
Sorry Chili - I think you’re wrong. Show me some peer-reviewed literature that eating “Paleo” enhances endurance multisport performance and I will agree. I have seen literature related to high saturated fat consumption and endurance performance. If I have time, I will find the reference. If I don’t have time, I won’t.
Paleo is not a solid nutritional pricipal! Canada food guide (or its American equivalent which I have forgotten the name), is a solid principal!!!
Little story - Two years ago… Having lunch the day before a world cup triathlon. The winner of the race was sitting at the table next to me (this person is also an olympic gold medallist). He was eating a chicken sandwich and french fries! He won. He is kind of fast. I think.
iron_mike you are a medical anthropologist. Did Paleo man really eat in any way like Cordain hypothesis? My Swedish forbearers sat around in caves all winter eating a variety of fruits, vegetables and lean meat. I think not. They ate anything they could get their grubby hands on. They ate the same food for every meal for weeks on end. They fought over the fatty parts of dead animals.
I emphasis fruits, vegetables, nuts and lean meat in my diet. Moderating the amount of complex carbohydrates simply fills one up with the least amount of calories. But calling this “Paleo” is just another gimmic aimed at making somebody some $$$.
Granted if Cordain wrote a book called Common Sense Eating no one would buy it.
Hey ZipChip, I think we have our wires crossed? - i didn’t mean to be confrontational, and sorry for the spelling error. Good luck with the training and diet choice, mind you, luck has nothing to do with it! - if you rely on luck, you’re in a whole heap of trouble… Train smart and make wise, educated choices. Chilli.
Got to agree with you and “sticky”. Paleo, no matter how much I respect gordo, is just another gimmick.
Problem is people don’t want to hear “eat a wide variety of foods emphasizing lean proteins, complex carbs and healthy fats with caloric intake balanced to caloric output”…that’s soooo boring! And it requires discipline, planning and personal responsiblity.
Much better to be “on” a special diet…even if it’s mostly based on assumptions and generalizations about the health of prehistoric man and what he ate.
I believe nutrition is critical for success at IM distances. The Paleo type plan (modified to include starches, sugars around training) is very effective. I’ve nearly eliminated refined sugar from my diet (except for after long 2h+ workouts and the occassional treat), I eat a lot of fruit and veggies, lots of meat. Pastas and other starches around training. The key is to take it step by step. I thought it would be hard, but step-wise it’s amazing what you can achieve. You’ll definitely eliminate the energy roller coaster, feel better, and have overall better endurance in your training. I don’t eat any junk food and don’t feel stressed… I just enjoy all the good healthy foods that I eat. When I’m hungry, I don’t crave crap…but rather think about bananas, nuts, etc.
what the hell - might as well post on this sucker again.
dan - true that your swedish forefathers ate whatever they could - sadly, so do most people today. the difference is that our troglodyte ancestors couldn’t reach for pork rinds or mountain dew. getting food for them almost always entailed calorie expenditure greater than just walking to the fridge. water was basically the only beverage, so no drinks carried a caloric load. lack of preservatives meant everything was “fresh” - really there’s no rocket science behind the ‘paleo’ diet, it was just a really reasonable adaptation to conditions a long time ago.
interesting sidenote is to see what happens when cultures eating something like a paleo diet abandon it in favour of an ‘american’ one quickly - their teeth fall out of their heads, diabetes, hypertension, obesity and hypertension all skyrocket - not in a generation’s time, but right away. james v neel speculated that this is because many peoples (generally hunting/gathering aboriginals) have “thrifty genes” - they’re adapted to patterns of feast and famine, and aren’t prepared to metabolize three squares of bad food day in and day out. so, dan, it’s maybe equally important to note that our viking grandfathers didn’t just eat WHAT they could, but WHEN they could.
in that respect, the pro triathlete who wins a world cup with fries and a shake in his guy is actually something of a wonder of evolutionary adaptation: his genes somehow allow him to subsist and even excel on a diet that would kill many people in short order.
i stand by these arguments about the structure and contents of our human ancestors’ diets - they’re supported by fossil evidence and contemporary ethnographic research.
sadly, i’ve also studied political economy enough to agree that the ‘diet’ is driven by media hype, and that promising people another ‘magic’ weight loss scheme is a surefire way to get rich. that doesn’t mean that some facets of the diet aren’t valid. instead, i think everyone out there who’s hoping that this is the next best thing had better take it with a grain of salt.
Based on what I’ve read of paleo, I would find it pretty hard to follow when also preparing meals for family members who have no athletic need to restrict potatoes, beans and grains from their diets. Also, I really like what Gordo has said (somewhere) about differentiating between energy-dense CHO (the above mentioned potatoes, et al, plus breads and pastas), from nutrient-dense CHO such as fruits and veggies, and saving the former for higher volume training days. This I find both sensible and practical for a family as well as two parents who are trying to be better athletes. Also, I recently lost 16 pounds in 13 weeks (a healthy rate of loss I think) by eating a wide variety of all kinds of foods, but making more selections rather than less from whole food, non-processed choices, while still allowing for the occasional treat. Seems to work for me. All I’m saying is that true paleo is difficult when you’re feeding more people than yourself, although maybe others here have found a way.