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Paleolithic diet and exercise.

ganja god

ganja god

Bluelighter
Joined
Mar 1, 2009
Messages
266
I'm a little too lazy to describe it in full, so if your unfamiliar, just wiki it. I was just wondering if anyone had any experience with it. Does it build muscle faster? Anyone have any arguments against it as to why it isn't as healthy as it claims to be?
 
I knew a guy that was on it at one point. He had nothing but good things to say about it. He said it cured all his aches and pains and gave him more energy. However, he was a bit of a strange fellow. To me, it seems silly. It relys on fat as the main energy source instead of carbs. This would assume we are more carnivorous than omnivorous. I think we're more like pigs than lions. A simple examination of our digestive tract confirms this.
 
I probably eat something similar. No grains, etc. I do eat some sprouted legumes sometimes which I think isn't okay on the diet. Mine is sort of a high raw version but its my own thing, I don't follow paleo religiously, it is just similar.

I don't think it is silly that the diet relies on fat more than carbs, it just depends on the individual and what works for them. I eat far, far more fat than I do carbs. I am a fat burner. It just works for me. Carbs such as grains, potatoes, etc all bloat me up and I have a lot of stomach issues trying to digest them. I feel healthier on this mostly raw grain free diet than any diet before.
 
I found to build muscle at an optimal rate I should be consuming 500-600 grams of carbohydrates a day (100-200g simple and the rest complex). I weigh about 166 these days fairly lean. Then I consume 300g of protein and about 100-150g fat (depending on carb consumption...higher carbs equal lower fats, and vice versa).

I eat 5-7 times a day, depending on how long I am up that day and my activity level.

I tried the paleo diet for a couple months and I leaned out incredibly and dried out (striations more visible) but I had a difficult time putting in enough calories (it gets expensive!). The great thing about carbs is that they are very very inexspensive. A pound of potatoes for 75 cents. Compare to a pound of meat for 4 dollars!

If I ever wanted to cut for some reason (never!:D) then I would do something like the paleo diet...except every few days I would do a refeed day for carbs (where I ate as many carbs as I wanted up to 600-700g). This is called a simple carb cycle.
 
I don't at all believe you need pounds of potatoes to build muscle on these diets. I get your point Matsuo but also I think maybe if money wasn't an issue you could have done better on the diet. You were not eating 10 avocados a day or whatever for the calories. Plenty of people are on diets such as this and avoid all that sort of stuff and are healthy and strong(maybe not bodybuilder strong but not everyone has such goals). But I do believe there are different types of bodies and many are carb intolerant, and would become sick from eating the starchy grainy "cheap" carbs mentioned. I simply cannot eat them and they do not do the same thing for my muscles as Matsuo's... so this diet is better suited for some rather than others...
 
if gaining muscle is your goal then insulin manipulation is a primary concern. This is mainly done with consumption of carbohydrates (although some insulin is released to dispose of aminos in bloodstream and putting aside exogenous shots of insulin).

Protein needs to be 'spared' - ie saved from energy requirements in order to aid in protein synthesis in skeletal muscle. Protein is spared with fat and carbohydrate. Fats are essential (for many reasons). Carbs are non-essential nutrient (you can get by on zero a day forever). However, do not expect much protein synthesis without the aid of insulin (insulin is a downstream signaler in the protein synthesis bio-pathway). It increases protein synthesis by shuttling nutrients into the muscle out of the bloodstream. Think of it like a 'booster'. It is the most anabolic hormone known to man (natural or synthetic!).

This diet would be best suited to somebody who has built substantial muscle with a high carb/high protein/moderate fat diet....this diet would result in bodyfat consumption (as your body switches from carb-burning to fat-burning).
 
Different things work for different people... I put on muscle eating 90% raw (fruit based). Some people wouldn't last a day where I thrived for months. Most people will tell you that you need to eat meat and lots of it (to be a man! RAWR).

Try the paleo thing and if you like it, stick with it.
 
^ who is telling you that you need to eat meat to be a man? That is a ridiculous statement. Personal identity is irrelevant to the thread anyway. Meat is rich in all eight essential amino acids, which are the building blocks of muscle.

I'd love to see pictures of the mostly raw diet working for you. I get to watch day by day (up close and personal ;)<3) somebody doing a mostly raw diet. It is doing amazing things for this person's body. Her goals however are very different from your own.
 
He wasn't saying you were saying that. But there are people like that. Men who say vegetarian diets are for pussy little girls and things like that. When I was vegetarian before I encountered so many idiots. But anyway this thread isn't even about vegetarianism....

Different things work for different people... I put on muscle eating 90% raw (fruit based). Some people wouldn't last a day where I thrived for months. Most people will tell you that you need to eat meat and lots of it (to be a man! RAWR).
Click to expand...

I honestly think it comes down to belief. So many people have been brainwashed into thinking certain things about diet (the grain based food pyramid comes to mind) and reality is perception. If you believe something will work for you, you have a much better chance of succeeding with it than if you have doubts.
 
I tried the paleo diet for a while, seemed to keep my energy levels more stable. The problem with me was that whenever I would finally eat some starch or sugar I would go crazy and binge on it, because I wasn't getting in enough calories.

I've read a lot about it, a lot of people seem to feel much better on it. Like others have said I think it really comes down to the individual and works for them.
 
Starving the body of carbs converts the body from a sugar burning metabolism to a fat burning metabolism. When calories get low the body turns to it's body fat for energy instead of glycogen and muscle tissue. Once glycogen is depleted the body converts stored protein (muscle) in to carbs for energy. All low carb diets are fat burning/muscle sparing. The paleo diet is the perfect diet if followed correctly meaning balancing out you acid/alkaline foods and the right Omega 3/Omega 6 ratios. That means eating animals that eat their natural diets. Grass fed/finished cows, deer, wild caught cold water fish, etc. Supermarket bought, even organic beef wouldn't qualify as it is high in omega 6 fats from the grain fed diets.

The paleo diet is probably the most perfect diet but it is also expensive to do 100% correctly. It provides all the amino acids needed for building muscle, naturally burns fat, and keeps insulin levels low. Carbs do not build muscle. Carbs cause an insulin release but insulin also manufactures fat. There are plenty of other hormones that build muscle like HGH (which is low in the presence of insulin, HGH and insulin release seperately and high insulin levels lower HGH levels), testosterone and other androgens.

If you can afford it then the paleo diet is the best diet for anyone, second best options would be Protein Power or Atkins.
 
Pander Bear said:
turns out paleo man ate grains, anyway.

http://thespartandiet.blogspot.com/2010/10/its-official-grains-were-part-of.html
Click to expand...

That seems late in to the paleolithic era. Mortals and pestles are relatively new tools considering the stone age ended 600,000 years ago and they are going back 26,000 years.

The article is worded to meet the needs of the message the author wants to convey but doesn't actually offer the proof needed to say the paleo diet is wrong for excluding grains.
 
If you forgo carbs, you must make up for that by eating more fat, correct? Does that pose a greater risk to your cardiovascular system?
 
people who consume "healthy fats" in lieu of saturated fats, or carb heavy diets do pretty well in that regard.
 
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