Let History Repeat Itself? Eating like the paleolithic

Gary Taubes addresses the conventional Food Pyramid/My Plate and suggests that there is an “Alternative Hypothesis.” This government supported hypothesis suggests that most of our diet should come from carbohydrates and as little fat as possible, but it has never been tested in a clinical trial.

If you look back in history, generally people were more fit and less focused on fas diets. Why is that? There are a few time periods to look back to.



1825: Animal Diets and Body Fat


There is a lot that can be learned from farming and animals. Taubes point out that in the 1825 book, The Physiology of Taste, the point is made that to fatten up an animal you give it grain. In addition to this, carnivorous animals, while often very lazy for most of the day, never get fat. Why do humans assume we are exempt to this rule?


1920s: The Diet of Inuits

The Inuits are unable to access fruits, vegetables, and grains, yet are some of the most fit people on earth. Some Inuits can run some 25 miles at a time in heavy clothes. While this could be an long term adaptive quality, the anthropologist studying the group picked up on the diet and reported experiences the health benefits after just the first year.

1940-1950s: Modern Scientific Research

During this time period the two leading causes of obesity were refinement of carbs and sugars, and a hormonal enzymatic disorder. Through further research it became known that this hormone was insulin. These two causes are in fact intertwined as we secrete insulin as the response to carbohydrates.

So why are sugars and refined carbohydrates bad for you?

Foods in their native state are hard to break down in the body. This leads to slow entry in to the bloodstream and a slower response. However the refined carbs are designed to be digested far more easily, and as a result you have an extreme hormonal reaction. This hormonal reaction is the secretion of insulin. Insulin is secreted as a means of storing the excess “feul” or carbohydrates that your body does not need and it stores it as fat.


What does this mean?
In terms of a new fad diet: THE PALEO DIET is the winner of the day. It can be summarized in this pyramid I found from this blog,

But as I said when I started this blog, I am not interested in fad diets. They work nicely for the short term, but often they are unsustainable. To me they feel like you are cutting out too many foods and are ultimately focusing on what you can’t eat. I think this diet is interesting and rooted in fact, and it also reinforces the diet I have been encouraging in several other posts:

• Eat lots of protein
• Eat lots of fiber to stay full on a low cal diet -- this means a diet consisting of mostly vegetables
• Avoid fake foods - eat only whole wheat/whole grain carbs and avoid excess sugars
• All fat is not bad - there are good fats and bad fats (which I will address in a future post) so stay away from saturated or trans fats, but mono-unsaturated fats (such as those found in avocados) are ok.

Interested in trying a recipe from this new diet? Here are two recipes from the leading book

Shrimp-Stuffed Avocados
Serves 4

Ingredients:
4 large avocados, peeled and halfved seeds removed
1 1/2 c small salad shrimp, cooked and washed
1 T lemon juice
1 T onion powder
1 tsp black pepper
1 T paprike

Set avocados on serving plte with cut side facing up. Combine shrimp, lemon juice, onion powder, and pepper in a medium-size mixing bowl. Spoon shrimp mixture onto each avocado, covering generously. Sprinkle top of each stuffed avocado with paprika before serving


Spicy Stuffed Squash (which I will be making tomorrow -- get excited CB!)

Ingredients:
2 medium acorn squash
1/2 water
2 medium carrots, cooked and chopped
2 small turnips, cooked and chopped
1 T olive ol
1/2 tsp gound cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 c peeled, coarsley chopped apple

Cut squash in half, and remove seeds nad string. Place squash, cut side down, in a 9 x 13-inch baking dish. Add water and cover with foil. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and turn squash so that cut side is facing up. Cover with foil, and bake for 20-30 minutes more until tender. Scoop the pulp out of each squash half, keeping shells intact. Place pulp in blender, and add carrots nad turnips. Blend until smooth. Stir in oil, cinnamon, and nutmeg, blending well. Fold in apple and spoon into squash shells. Return to baking dish, and bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until heated through. Serves four.

For more information on the Paleo Diet and more recipes like these check out the book : The Paleo Diet by Loren Cordain.

A big thank you to my brother in law for sending me the article on Gary Taubes