Paleo Diet Q & A - 2 December 2009

Dear Readers,

Here's today's edition of Paleo Diet Q & A.

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Q: I'm a beginner with the Paleo Diet. I want to try it out but I'm a vegetarian (I eat tofu, seitan, tempeh, fish, eggs, and cheese as replacements for meat). I understand I have to leave out the beans, but is it ok to use the rest of the replacements ? Thank you for an answer.

A: The Paleo Diet is based on foods similar to what our hunter-gatherer ancestors ate during the paleolithic era 2.6 million year to 10,000 years ago. That translates into 99.6 % of our evolution history. Our genome is perfectly adapted to eat foods similar to what we found during that period of time. This means eating lean meats, seafood, vegetables, fruits, and nuts. The agricultural revolution (10,000 years ago) lead to a dramatic change in human nutrition. Cereal grains, legumes, dairy, vegetable oils, salt, alcohol, and refined sugars comprise 72% of the nutrition in the modern western society. These foods contain harmful substances associated to many "diseases of civilization", such as diabetes, celiac disease and other autoimmune diseases, obesity, hypertension, certain cancers, acne, polycistic ovary syndrome, myopia, dyslipidemia, cardiovascular disease, etc.

Tofu and tempeh are sources of soy bean agglutinin (SBA). SBA has harmful properties because they break cell membranes. This can induce increased intestinal permeability, which is associated to certain autoimmune diseases and low-grade inflammation. SBA has also been shown to stimulate the immune system, something we don't want in an inflammatory disease.

Seitan contains the worst part of wheat namely gluten. Gluten is a prolamine peptide associated to many diseases typical of western civilization, such as celiac disease, type 1 diabetes, multiple sclerosis, ataxia, rheumatoid arthritis, etc.

So, if you want to eat a paleolithic diet without eating meat you should ensure a good protein intake using egg powder protein shakes along with some supplements:

• Vitamin B12 1 mg per day
• Taurine 1 gram per day
• Carnosine 800 mg per day
• Carnitine 400 mg per day

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Q: Hi I'm about to have a child, and I don't want to bring it up on a diet of sugar and wheat. Do you have any research for children and the Paleo Diet?

A: No, there aren't any clinical trials for children and The Paleo Diet. However, the current advice for infant nutrition comes from nutritional boards who base their views on:

1. Western human diet observations.
2. Randomized controlled trials with single nutrients in a western setting.
3. Extrapolation of observation in western adults to infants.

This means these recommendations are not based on the evolutionary template, which dictates our metabolic and physiological needs.

For example, recommendations for formula milk composition are the opposite of what research on hunter-gatherer mothers' milk has found. Current recommendations for formula milk state that Linoleic acid content should be high, and saturated fats such as Lauric and Myristic acid should be low. This is the contrary to what we find in mothers on the island of Chole in Tanzania who eat fish, vegetables, fruits and nuts, and turns out that these people are free of "diseases of civilization".

Paleo Diet Q & A - 11.16.09

Dear Readers,

Here is today's edition of Q & A from the Paleo Diet community.

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Q: Hello -- basically:

• I'm 18 years weighing in at 11 stone 1/8 something like that.
• I play 3 sports: cricket, hockey and rugby.
• I'm not overweight.
• I'm underweight by about a few pounds so not much.
• I've stopped playing sports for the summer and have realized that i may soon be going over that okay perfect weight boundary
• I eat anything fatty or not--it has never seemed to bother me until now, and I have stopped the chocolate and the booze for 2 weeks. Now I've tried to cut out the fat altogether.

I'm interested in using the Paleo Diet, and for my workout I'm trying "the 300 workout." I have realized a high amount of protein is required.

I just wanted to know if this diet will work for me. Will it help me gain muscle and become bigger built along with my workout? I have acne, so this diet is ideal already but I'm not overweight so is it ideal to take on this diet underweight or not to help with my workout?

A: In most people The Paleo Diet helps to maintain or achieve optimal body weight and fat/muscle mass distribution. If you are underweight you should increase your caloric intake with good fats such as olive oil, avocado, nuts, and protein from seafood, lean meats and eggs (if you don't suffer from an autoimmune disease). Branched chani amino acid supplementation will also help you to gain muscle mass.

Regarding acne, The Paleo Diet has been shown to dramatically improve this condition in most patients, demonstrated in a controlled clinical trial with 43 patients (Smith et al).

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Q: I am completely satisfied with the switch over to eating paleo. I've been eating for three days strictly paleo but find myself hungry after each meal. I must admit I am not serving myself much fruit or vegetables at each sitting. I eat three meals per day but am hungry in between. Before increasing fruit and vegetable servings at each meal, is it appropriate to snack in between or should I just increase meat serving at each meal. I've been eating around 3-4 ounces per meal. Is this enough? Any suggestions

A: Basically, if you are still hungry, you need to eat more. This is a common experience many people have, because when you remove the bread, rice, or pasta you remove a whole lot of calories, so your plate should be overflowing with meat, fruits, and veggies. If you need a snack between meals that is ok too, though the first step I would recommend is eating larger meals.

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Q: I am a registered dietitian and clinical nutritionist. I value the Paleo Diet and all the research you have done to support this way of eating. I am just trying to figure out your feelings and thoughts on protein powders. I am assuming because the sources of the protein are either whey, soy, or rice, that all are taboo. What do you think about Hemp since it is plant based? Or are there others to consider? Many of my clients and athletes prefer having a smoothie with fruits and vegetables, seeds, nuts, and protein powder. I would appreciate it if you could comment on this.

A: If the person does not have an autoimmune disease, we would generally recommend egg white protein as your best protein powder. Alternatively, you may want to consider a liquid amino acid supplement. You are correct, we do not generally recommend whey, rice, or soy, and I am not aware of studies looking at lectin content of hemp seeds, so cannot advise you there.