Is Paleo Still a Good Idea?

 Nowadays, we hear terms like ‘Carnivore’ and ‘Plant Based’, and ‘Keto’- rarely Paleo or ‘Ancestral’ about diets and nutrition.  I get it: we are constantly challenged in our thinking, and so it should be.  Health and fitness are journeys, we never really reach the end of that journey!  So let’s examine the current ‘Journey’ of health…

Carnivore diets, eschewing all but beef and salt, are the big choice now.  And carnivore is a good choice for many, especially those who have long term conditions and diseases.  A carnivore diet is kind of a “hard reset”; like restarting your computer to get rid of all the junk that has accumulated.  

You can give yourself a hard restart by going carnivore for a few months, and reverse things like diabetes, arthritis, and many other bad health conditions.  And it is so simple really- just eliminate every foodstuff other than meat!  Simple, but difficult, and for most folks- impossible!  But, for a period of time, say a number of months until you recover your health- it is a great idea!

But then again- we all live in the real world.  Eventually most of us would love to reemerge into the real, human, and social world where we all get together with family, have dinners together with a wide variety of foodstuffs, and pick and choose what we know we can tolerate without harm to ourselves. To drink wine and beer with dinner, enjoy fellowship with others, and to bond over cigars and cognac…

Yes, even health obsessed nutcases like myself enjoy such things- as I think we all ought to!  Life is a full gamet of pleasures and pitfalls, and we need to be careful what we discard and embrace!   We don’t want to be obsessed with health alone, and ignore the beauties and varieties of life choices.

Look at the grocery carts of your fellow shoppers.  (I do). Most of their food choices are so bad that it’s awe inspiring, really!  So, for you, a compromise is in order: for the most part, choose ancestral foods, like your forebears would consume.  Be very sparing of foods that are manufactured- seed oils, snack foods, and commercial breads and pastries- most are horrid, but occasionally they are fine.  Just get the best versions you can, from small from scratch bakeries, with sour dough offerings and such.  

Eat some vegetables, but only when in a good salad, or in a meal where they are a small side dish.  Oxalate laden kale and beet green dishes are best left- uneaten!  Eat carrots and such prepared in a manner your great grandmother would have done it.  Enjoy it all, but minimize desserts entirely, and perhaps eliminate them.  Have one piece of a fine chocolate like Dove, or Lindt, (I love their Orange Chocolate Bar!) and be done with it.  

Paleo or Ancestral is kind of Common Sense Diet.  Eat what you really know, after doing your research and testing on your own body, works for you.  Stick with it, and work out regularly for strength, and flexibility.  Spend time outdoors, in nature, and walk barefoot.  Don’t do endless cardio marathon running, and eat with common sense- NOT Doctor mandated nonsense from profit obsessed hospitals and clinics!  

In fact, just as you avoid seed oils like margarine and Cool Whip and corn oil; also avoid doctors as much as possible.  They are not working in your interest- they have the clinic’s agenda (the bottom line) and that is what they are required to follow.  

Your health is not part of their agenda at all.