Why Primal Eating?

[phathui5]

I've been reading some of the threads here and the Mark's Daily Apple site. It clearly works for Mark, but I was wondering if eating like that has produced good results for people here.

I thought having as much meat as he recommends wasn't good for you?

Has anyone lost fat by eating primal?

Is it really healthy?

[amcal]

I think there's no perfect diet for everyone.

But, what paleo is about is eating whole, unrefined foods in their most natural state. This is healthy for everyone.

From there, everyone is different. Some people loose weight and feel better eating high fat, low carb. Others do better limiting fat and eating higher carbs. It alld depends upon your body.

For me, I love to eat paleo but, I eat leaner cuts of meat, lower fat (not low fat, just lower than most) and concentrate on lower carb veggies and no grains. When I eat like that, I feel great and I loose weight.

I do not loose weight eating a lot of meat and other fatty foods because they are very calorie dense. I need to watch calories. Some people don't.

[newcastlemama]

I have eaten this way for about 3.5 years to control Lyme symptoms and keep a stable weight. (I also do the TF stuff like bone broths,clo, ferments). Whenever I start eating grains and dairy I start getting achy joints and overall blah feeling.

I do good eating lots of meat and lc produce/berries and moderate fat (mostly coconut, nuts, avos, evoo/olives,eggs). I tried cutting protein and adding more fats but I just gained weight doing that so, like amcal, I don't eat really high fat like some people do. I also feel worse whenever I try and cut down meat--I really need the protein, zinc, and iron it seems.

I do feed my family sprouted bread, potatoes, soaked oatmeal, and goat dairy so I don't think those things are necessarily bad for everyone.

[FairyRae]

Just as w/ Weston Price's findings, looking at what human beings have eaten throughout our history is really what primal/paleo eating is all about. I really believe that eating a primal/paleo/grain free diet is what humans *evolved* to eat, and that is probably why it seems to work so well for many folks. OTOH, only you can figure out what is best for your own body.

I thought having as much meat as he recommends wasn't good for you?

As far as eating tons of meat, looking at various hunter gatherer cultures, there is a lot of variety in the amount of plants/meat/fat they all ate/are eating (Don at the Primal Wisdom blog discusses some of the variations often). Macronutrients--fat/protein/carbs seem to vary quite a bit. IMO, just do what works/feels best to you. Some folks need more carbs than others, some more fat, some more protein. Some folks (like the Inuit) go totally carnivore and eat little to no carbs, while others, like the Kitavans, eat lots more fruit and tubers and get a large amount of their calories from carbs. Figuring out the path that suits each of us best is up to us, I think.

What Mark recommends is really a produce dominated diet--moreso than meat (I've realized this more recently re-reading the Primal Blueprint book). BUT, you will still be getting the majority of your calories from fat/protein (meat), even if you eat a lot of produce, as meat/fat are far more calorically dense than veggies/fruit. Whatever the case, it does not have to be a meat heavy diet. Mark's wife actually follows the PB but does not eat meat--just fish and eggs and dairy I believe. And there is at least one vegetarian currently involved in the primal/paleo/grain free thread. There are endless possibilities when it comes to going grain free/primal/paleo/etc... It is not one-size-fits-all.

Is it really healthy?

IMO it is a very healthy way to eat (as I've never felt this amazing before). I also think the only way to know if it is healthy *for you* is to try it (while being sure to continue reading up on it to see if any changes you experience are in line w/ others...There is the 'low carb flu' which I personally think is related to gluten withdrawl for many folks--stuff like that in the beginning might make you feel like it isn't right for you, so being informed on what can happen as you make the change is helpful. The MDA forums are awesome for that, and our primal/paleo/grain free thread here rocks as well.) I've never felt better personally, and look at this way of eating as a lifestyle choice--not a diet.

Has anyone lost fat by eating primal?

Weight drops off of me when I focus on eating mostly meat, veggies, fruit and fat (like coconut everything, ghee, etc.). I've absolutely lost fat eating this way. I also lost fat when I first dropped gluten, dairy, corn and soy. But eating primal/paleo-esque has gotten me thinner (in a good way) than I'd ever been before. I'm also a lot more energetic and just feel great. I work out quite a bit now as well--which has been very much inspired by the info at Mark's Daily Apple along w/ my newfound energy--which has definitely impacted my overall body composition. I didn't go grain free to lose weight though--I was pretty satisfied w/ where I was pre-primal, but it totally smoothed me out and made me feel much better overall.

I'd say it absolutely works for me, in more ways than I had realized it could!

HTH!

ETA: I, like the previous poster mentioned, also do a TF primal/paleo way of eating--so I continue eating lots of ferments, bone broth, some liver (where I can get it in) etc. Still focussing on nutrient dense foods, but w/out the bother of needing to sprout/soak grains or legumes (unless I'm making them for dh or ds, which isn't all that often now). So it's kind of like simplified TF in many ways...

[janasmama]

Fairy Rae - Your answers and synopsis of the PB are very good.

The only thing that I have to add is that Mark and people who eat high fat diets but remain lean and healthy are that they are working out. they have trained their body to burn fat as fuel. they are also working out for shorter, intense durations which boosts the metabolism and keep the body burning more calories through out the day. The key to fats is that they need to be healthy. Although almonds have protein, they are primarily a healthy fat. I think that when we actually give our body healthy fat it then gives itself permission to drop the excess unhealthy fat that it stores for reserves because now it recognizes that it has a supply to count on.

Post baby I was overweight by about 40 pounds. I dropped just bread and cereal and lost a ton of belly fat while also working out but I had been working out for months without improvement. I also have tendonitis from my wrist to elbow and gluten is an inflammatory that really bothers it.

Try it for 6 weeks. You will most likely be really hungry for the first couple of weeks and the thing to do then is to eat more fats...avocados, almonds, bacon. Throw out the old food pyramid....it's only there to make industries money.

[425lisamarie]

Well I did hard. core. primal for a while to expiriment and really see if it's possible/beneficial for me. Whelp....yes and no. I made it 4 days shy of 30 days when i literally felt for a whole week like I had been wiped out completely of any energy I had ever had.

I am an avid fitness enthusiast. I have always been totally natural in the way I eat/work out. I do not use strange suppliments, and i eat completely sugar free natural or otherwise. I have always had lots of energy and never had a weight problem provided I eat sensible amounts and move every day.

I think to fully jump in to any sort of diet/lifestyle and give it 100% will work for a period of time. But then the reality of life sets in and compromises sometimes just work better. I do NOT feel so good eating lots of meat. In fact i can not eat red meats, or fatty chicken, I just gag and feel gross. When I roast a chicken, the rest of them like the legs/thighs, and I like the breast then I use the carcass for soup. I feel kinda weird about JUST buying a ton of chicken breasts. I eat canned salmon and tuna, almonds....I DO NOT tolerate seeds well at all, even flax and i just discovered this recently.

I love fruits and vegetables and i am not going to pick out the "higher carb" ones. I eat loads of carrots because they are portable, along with vat sized salads. I eat a lot of good olive oil.

I just think you have to find balance. It doesn't work for me/my family to try to be too "primal." I don't eat grains but maybe sometimes a little oats/quinoa.

[heidirk]

I do think some people's bodies tend to burn fat for fuel more efficiently, naturally. Working out would help, but isn't necessarily the cause.

I have noticed that people who naturally carry around a lot of muscle even when not strength training, also burn fat for fuel rather well. Lithe, slender people who have longer, slimmer muscle mass and thinner bones, do better with lower fat, and less protein.

That's just my observations. I do beleive our bodies are perfectly capable of telling us what they need and when.

[phathui5]

The only thing that I have to add is that Mark and people who eat high fat diets but remain lean and healthy are that they are working out.

I do work out 4-6 days a week, but I'm still hanging onto more fat than I would like.

[FairyRae]

Originally Posted by 425lisamarie

I love fruits and vegetables and i am not going to pick out the "higher carb" ones. I eat loads of carrots because they are portable, along with vat sized salads.

See, it really depends on how one defines primal or paleo. At least in the paleo realm, carbs are not discussed much (although avoidance of potatoes, including sweet, is the norm--but some self-proclaimed paleo eaters DO eat all sorts of potatoes...) For me, I feel like I am being quite primal/paleo eating grain free, and having as much veggies, fruits, nuts/seeds (which I limit b/c they can upset my tummy), *along w/* all the potatoes I want. I think it depends on your definitions of these things...MDA is *one* way of defining primal/paleo (although 'primal' may be highly linked to MDA/the Primal Blueprint). And I feel like his definition allows for TONS of variation (esp as it incorperates the 80/20 idea). From what I've read of your posts specifically, Lisa, I've always thought of you as being more on the 'primal' end of the grain free spectrum--so again, its all about perspective/definition...

I really like talking about all of this here in the TF forum b/c the real focus on our threads here is being grain free, or even just grain-lite. The MDA forums are a helpful place to get info from folks who go to many extremes in the primal/paleo realm. I just think there is so much room for variation that A LOT of diet plans/choices could fit under the umbrella of primal/paleo-esque eating.

For me personally (and I've read for many folks working on gut healing), I feel like I need more meat/animal products than some folks w/ tip top guts. I'm also healing from 12 years of a really really crappy, processed and often gmo soy/corn/wheat dominated vegetarian diet. There may be a time when I need less meat, but atm I typically eat at least one large serving of fish/poultry or meat a day (sometimes 2, but this is not typical), along w/ 3-4 eggs in the am, sometimes w/ a side of sausage (so meaty there too). And tons of veggies for the most part, and often at least one serving of potatoes of some sort--but again it all depends on the day. I don't see it as being a great deal different from my old TF diet--it's now just sans grains...

I just think you have to find balance.

No matter what path we each choose, I think it all always comes back to this.

[425lisamarie]

exactly fairyrae - I do what makes me feel good. I think for everyone the fewer grains the better, and vegetables should make up a big portion of the diet.

[lil_earthmomma]

I started primal because I felt like grains were killing me! Then about a week after I stumbled onto MDA, I was diagnosed celiac, so... they WERE killing me!

I've lost 60 lbs, and don't workout like crazy (I'm starting to workout more frequently and more intensely as I have way more energy and I'm smaller, and would like to change body composition).

I don't eat a lot more meat than I used to, I don't eat any grains and very few starches. My diet is pretty much veg, with protein and a lot of healthy fats.

I don't think this is the ONLY way to live, and always get kinda on the MDA forum when it gets a little holier than thou, but I find that with TF, veg*n, eat to live... it seems people can border on religious zealotry when it comes to diet!

I feel good, my dh is so much healthier... it's workin' for us!

[FairyRae]

Originally Posted by lil_earthmomma

I don't think this is the ONLY way to live, and always get kinda on the MDA forum when it gets a little holier than thou, but I find that with TF, veg*n, eat to live... it seems people can border on religious zealotry when it comes to diet!

Absolutely! Another reason I our grain free MDC thread--we each do what works for us, and kind of let the rest go. Visiting MDA, while often fun and totally info-packed for me, is also a constant reminder of how awesome MDC (and mamas) are...way less drama over here and a lot more of "you do what works for you, I'll do what works for me" etc.

I do what makes me feel good.

[JaneS]

Originally Posted by heidirk

I do think some people's bodies tend to burn fat for fuel more efficiently, naturally. Working out would help, but isn't necessarily the cause.

Mark says its because of insulin. If you eat high carb, then your body is used to burning sugar, not fat. Fat calories AND carb calories get stored as fat. People who are very insulin resistant, and the evidence is compelling that all modern people are insulin resistant to some extent b/c of our historically high sugar/carb diet, can eat low calorie and still not lose weight.

Working out certain ways and not eating grains and sugars is meant to make your body more insulin sensitive b/c it drastically reduces the need for insulin... and triggers it to learn to burn fat instead of sugar.

Insulin is my current research project and I think he is absolutely right. These articles by Dr. Ron Rosedale are the best I've found, very eye opening.
http://www.life-enthusiast.com/index...abolic_Effects

[Ms. B. Sprout]

No time to post at length, but wanted to chime in that I've been primal for 6 months. I feel great and have lost 24 pounds.

[dogmom327]

I've been eating primal for 10 months, have lost just shy of 40 lbs (wasn't trying to lose faster because I'm BF--but I have a history of not losing weight while nursing so this has been very different). I feel better (more energy, less spacey). I definitely do best at 70-80% of my calories coming from fat.

For what it's worth--I don't work out at all. Not even walking (besides around the house ). I have a baby who doesn't sleep so when I'm getting 2-4 hours of sleep a night, I can't justify expending energy on working out. Hopefully someday though! I'm currently a size 4 (was a 14 last summer). I certainly could use some toning but overall I look decent

[Millie Ivy]

dogmom! Hurrah for you, that's wonderful progress. Yay!

[crunchy_mama]

I thought having as much meat as he recommends wasn't good for you?
I think how much meat one needs varies from person to person(as it has in past cultures). Of course this also means that the meat must be raised properly- grassfed etc- which means the nutrient profile is entirely different than meat in the grocerey store.
Has anyone lost fat by eating primal?
Absolutely! I lost my pregnancy weight/size by doing lowcarb primal the easiest this time after my 3rd baby- took 3-4 months to get back to reg. size. It usually takes me 6 months to get back to size
Is it really healthy?
As pp have state, try it and see for yourself. I feel the absolute best lc primal. I thrive on a good amount of meat- TONs of veggies, small amt of fruit and nuts (OH and plenty of fat- I eat all cuts of meat). Mood, energy everything is better when I eat this way. I eat LC(or try to) as with a family history of diabetes and history of hypoglecmia myself I feel I am susceptible to problems w/ insulin more than others and it just feels the best. I try to do some nice veggie meals at times- org. whole foods etc and I cannot tolerate it very well at all. A meal here and there- is about all I can do before my body starts to feel sluggish and icky.

My last 2 pregnancies I kept to LC primal(not perfect but the best I could) and they were amazing. I still gained 35 lbs both times but I stay exceptionally healthy, low bp throughout, no swelling, good energy, great mood. Never, ever any anemia problems or even close to it.

[sapphire_chan]

Remember that the meat should be also including things besides muscle meats. "use everything but the 'moo'" and such.