Paleo Skepticisms
Nothing goes without skepticisms, even great things such as the Paleo diet. But for the right reasons! We can’t just take everything at face value. Its good to have your way of thinking challenged every once in a while. It keeps you on your toes. So why are experts so skeptical of the Paleo diet? Because to the normal outsider the Paleo diet is just another “fad diet”. Despite all of its criticisms, the diet is very legitimate.
Wheres the fiber?!?
One of the main skepticisms is the supposed “lack of fiber” the diet has. It is said that men should get 38g of fiber a day, whereas women should get 25g a day. Although I don’t know why women would need fiber since they don’t poop or fart… but regardless we will follow these guidelines. So somewhere along the line fruits and vegetables, pretty much two staples of the Paleo diet, just got ignored. Matter of fact, if you follow this link you can see that this skepticism isn’t valid at all. Actually, you would have to mess up pretty bad to not consume enough fiber on the Paleo diet…
But… but the food pyramid says?
Ya I know we all took health class, and learned about the food pyramid in all its whole grain glory. Why is there such a push by the government for whole grains. Whole grains are a great source for nutrients, protein, and fiber!!! No where in the promoting of whole grains are any of the harmful components mentioned. Typically thats how these things work. Since its not a pill, side effects of whole grains are neglected. Not to mention, I think the biggest health benefit from avoiding whole grains is that they simply just have staggeringly lower amounts of nutrients when compared to vegetables and other paleo food sources. Also, we made it millions of years without them…
So I googled “grains bad for you” and nothing reliable came up. Whats up with that?! Well, that is true. But how about we look up, for example, lectins. Lectins are a protein found primarily in grains and legumes (beans). We find this incredibly legitimate article. If you don’t believe so, just check the sources it cites. I mean, I can nit pick this all day and I am sure you could too, but whats the point?
Another big reason whole grains are pushed by the government is bioavailability. Grains are way easier to grow and mass produce than vegetables and fruit. Theres so much of it, they’re feeding it to the animals we eat too! A good example of why grains might not be intended for digestion by humans is what they do to a cows digestive track. Yes, that is a picture of a cow with a hole in its side so that farmers can pull out the waste they produce from eating grains because they can’t get rid of it themselves. Actually, thats how harmful strains of E. coli are produced! Yummmm! Although, it is absolutely true that on a large scale it’s not feasible to feed everyone the paleo diet. But then again, our ancestors did not have that problem.
Calcium! Your bones are going to explode!
Again, bioavailability is a huge factor here. The American government heavily subsidizes dairy products. Why? Because its a convenient way to obtain calcium! Forget that you aren’t meant to digest it past the first couple months of your life, and that eastern cultures barely bother with it! Just drink it! Well, if you would kindly follow this link containing a list of high calcium foods you’ll see that dairy is not far ahead of other calcium sources. The daily recommended amount of calcium for most ages is around 1000mg per day. The government has you wiping that out with 2 cups of milk… Thats just silly! Your average salad with spinach gives you half your daily dose of calcium. How did our ancestors ever survive without dairy?! Well, they did a pretty good job considering 6 billion people now live on this earth, and most of them don’t snap their bones in half daily. The point is, if you’re actually worried about calcium on the diet then take a supplement. Calcium supplements have been proven fairly effective at preventing bone deterioration. Yay! More pills!
High fat diets will make you drop dead from a heart attack
This one is less specific to paleo and has been argued possibly more than the whole “eggs are good/eggs are bad, but wait no they are good if you don’t eat the yellow part, but okay now eat the yellow part because its tuesday so its okay”. Lets keep it simple. The French have one of the highest saturated fat diets in the world, yet one of the lowest rates of cardiovascular disease. Yes, its true and its called the French Paradox. The french also get most of their fat from natural sources. Just like our ancestors did, with the exception of the French’s dairy consumption.
If you have any more skepticisms or if this wasn’t good enough feel free to email me at willisc@me.com. Thank you!
