There is a very simple rule I use for this; not sure how accurate it is, but it works well for me.
- Protein - meat - is for repairing/building
- Carbs are for fueling
- Fats are somewhere in between. Cells membranes are basically fat and fat is also a very clean,dense and "slow" form of energy.
Based on your activity level:
- Couch potato: Eat very low carb (basically no starches, under 50g per day).
- Light activity: Eat low carb (under 100g per day).
- Moderate activity: Eat moderate carbs (under 200g per day). I am here, weight training 3 times per week, with 2-3 long walks (about an hour)
- High activity: Eat high carb (>200g per day)
- Eat between 1 and 1,5 g/protein per kilo.
- Adjust fat to achieve your desired calorie intake. For most of us, between 2.000 and 2.5000 kcals/day is a good target.
The key here is to stop demonizing carbs/fats and recognize that they have its place in our diet.
I have also observed that, regardless of your activity level, starting low-carb when you are obese is a good thing to do, but after 1-2 years, low-carbs diets go against you.
One thing is clear: our brains required tremendous amounts of energy. Cooking starches allows us to extract more energy from them. Meat eating is calorically dense too and so that could of played a role (see Expesive Tissue Hypothesis). I have read meat-eating was hugley beneficial during resource scarcity.
The critical question is what diet do we thrive on? A carb rich plant-based diet is my guess based mostly on Dr. Michael Greger's work on summarizing nutrition science literature [0]. But I shall be convinced otherwise if the science is there.
This article is completely off the mark about the paleo diet.
Paleo is not necessarily low carb - usually about 20%~40% of calories are from carbs. Tubers like sweet potatoes are specifically recommended in paleo regimens.
The author is confusing Paleo with Atkins/ketogenic diets.
I read a bunch of articles from John Douillard, and he likes to say hunter gatherers were really hunter diggers. They mostly dug up tubers and ate those. You had to be the luckiest caveperson alive to be able to eat ham every morning.
Maybe I'm weird, but I like my authoritative positions on human evolution to come from evolutionary biologists, not woo-peddlers.
At any rate, humans can eat a very diverse range of foods. Inuits eat a primarily animal-derived diet, supplemented with a meager amount of gathered plants during a small portion of the year. Then the spectrum moves all the way over to peoples that eat mostly plant-matter with few animal products. Humans adapt wonderfully, that's why we're so prolific. There is no magic diet that happens to be "right."
We've made resistant starch a big art of what we optimize for in MealSquares because there are 30 years of studies showing health benefits and the mainstream just never seems to have gotten the memo. Resistant starch is starch you can't digest but your gut bacteria can. When RS2 is heated and then cooled it forms into RS3, which seems to be the most beneficial version. Mostly from oats, though we have experimented with cassava (the starchy root used to make tapioca).
This is big slap on paleo movement. People have often complained having "sluggishness" in their thinking process and performing challenging brain activities while on strict paleo diet. Our brain thrives on carbs and it is the fuel that powers it so the results are not entirely a surprise. As usual, the lesson is that neither extremes are usually not a good place to be: Too much carbs or too much proteins, both are bad choices.
Most of paleo is just understanding the science of how our food affects us at a level beyond the nutrition label. It evolves as new evidence comes in, so this can't be a slap against paleo any more than measuring the gravitational constant can be a slap against physics. If you've got the idea that it's about trying to emulate cavemen -- well, there are a couple loudmouths who add the historical reenactment angle, but that's not how most paleo people think.
We've known for a long time that potato consumption is ancient. The things that actually matter, and that the paleo-sphere actually talks about, are things like how harmful the glycoalkoids in the skin are.
I don't think paleo was never a strict low-carb high-protein diet like Atkins.
Obviously people's definition and how they follow the diet varies, but I think first and foremost paleo is about avoiding processed foods, sugar, certain newer foods like grains and dairy, moderating high-starch foods (which have less nutrients), and mostly eating vegetables, meats and fat.
I thought the paleo diet was a relatively balanced diet based on foods thought to be consumed at the time.
That would include a good amount of meat and a good amount of harvested vegetables and fruits and no processed grains. There should be plenty of carbohydrates, fat and protein in a diet like that.
A "slap" is too strong of a word. People have been aware that we've continued to evolve since the paleo era and some of us have better ability to digest grains and dairy than others. A popular diet right now is the Whole 30, which is similar to paleo diets but allows tubers. This research isn't some M. Night Shyamalan twist that has thrown everyone off. It's really up to the individual to listen to their body and do some research and figure out what works best for them.
What I don't understand is why the Paleo diet doesn't include a mandatory fasting period. Because lord knows our cave-dwelling ancestors were not getting three full meals a day. Intermittent fasting is also known to improve longevity.
[+] [-] fasteo|10 years ago|reply
- Protein - meat - is for repairing/building
- Carbs are for fueling
- Fats are somewhere in between. Cells membranes are basically fat and fat is also a very clean,dense and "slow" form of energy.
Based on your activity level:
- Couch potato: Eat very low carb (basically no starches, under 50g per day).
- Light activity: Eat low carb (under 100g per day).
- Moderate activity: Eat moderate carbs (under 200g per day). I am here, weight training 3 times per week, with 2-3 long walks (about an hour)
- High activity: Eat high carb (>200g per day)
- Eat between 1 and 1,5 g/protein per kilo.
- Adjust fat to achieve your desired calorie intake. For most of us, between 2.000 and 2.5000 kcals/day is a good target.
The key here is to stop demonizing carbs/fats and recognize that they have its place in our diet.
I have also observed that, regardless of your activity level, starting low-carb when you are obese is a good thing to do, but after 1-2 years, low-carbs diets go against you.
[+] [-] cconroy|10 years ago|reply
The critical question is what diet do we thrive on? A carb rich plant-based diet is my guess based mostly on Dr. Michael Greger's work on summarizing nutrition science literature [0]. But I shall be convinced otherwise if the science is there.
[0] http://nutritionfacts.org/
[+] [-] monting|10 years ago|reply
Paleo is not necessarily low carb - usually about 20%~40% of calories are from carbs. Tubers like sweet potatoes are specifically recommended in paleo regimens.
The author is confusing Paleo with Atkins/ketogenic diets.
[+] [-] abledon|10 years ago|reply
[+] [-] joshuapants|10 years ago|reply
> John Douillard DC is an Ayurvedic Practitioner
Maybe I'm weird, but I like my authoritative positions on human evolution to come from evolutionary biologists, not woo-peddlers.
At any rate, humans can eat a very diverse range of foods. Inuits eat a primarily animal-derived diet, supplemented with a meager amount of gathered plants during a small portion of the year. Then the spectrum moves all the way over to peoples that eat mostly plant-matter with few animal products. Humans adapt wonderfully, that's why we're so prolific. There is no magic diet that happens to be "right."
[+] [-] nazgulnarsil|10 years ago|reply
[+] [-] sytelus|10 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Darmani|10 years ago|reply
We've known for a long time that potato consumption is ancient. The things that actually matter, and that the paleo-sphere actually talks about, are things like how harmful the glycoalkoids in the skin are.
Here's an article discussing the actual Paleo opinion on potatoes: http://www.marksdailyapple.com/potatoes-healthy/#axzz3ikd0kh... . In short: they're okay for some people, but avoid the skins.
[+] [-] enra|10 years ago|reply
Obviously people's definition and how they follow the diet varies, but I think first and foremost paleo is about avoiding processed foods, sugar, certain newer foods like grains and dairy, moderating high-starch foods (which have less nutrients), and mostly eating vegetables, meats and fat.
[+] [-] nkozyra|10 years ago|reply
That would include a good amount of meat and a good amount of harvested vegetables and fruits and no processed grains. There should be plenty of carbohydrates, fat and protein in a diet like that.
[+] [-] colordrops|10 years ago|reply
[+] [-] magic_beans|10 years ago|reply
[+] [-] mixmastamyk|10 years ago|reply
[+] [-] anonbanker|10 years ago|reply
[+] [-] XzetaU8|10 years ago|reply
http://wholehealthsource.blogspot.gr/2015/08/a-new-human-tri...
[+] [-] OnleMeMeMe|10 years ago|reply
Everything else is opinion.
[+] [-] itistoday2|10 years ago|reply
Whether or not the latest diet fad says X is good for me, I now think about how consuming X affects not just me, but the environment, and the X.