TL Health and Fitness Initiative 2011 - Page 599

Why Paleo?

The nutritional guidelines that many people from the previous TL Health and Fitness thread recommend is the Paleolithic diet.

Despite what you may have heard about the Paleo diet, it is neither low carbohydrate or high carbohydrate. It can be either depending on how many carbohydrates you eat from fruits and vegetables.

Instead, the Paleo diet focuses specifically on inclusion of high quality and nutrient rich foods upon which we evolved: fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, meat, birds, fish, eggs.

Dairy, grains, and legumes are excluded specifically because of potential detrimental aspects that these foods may on our gastroinstestinal system and subsequently the rest of our organ systems by proxy.

As an aside my personal opinion is that dairy is fine as long as you are not lactose intolerant.

Grains and legumes are touted by the government as healthy even though there is little evidence supporting these statements especially regarding fiber and nutrients as fruits and vegetables provide more of each and are healthier. Many people have heard of Celiac's disease which is characterized by chronic inflammation of the intestinal tract due to gluten, a protein in wheat and many other grains.

However, in the absence of Celiac's there seemed to be little evidence to the detrimental effect of grains. However, that is changing as recent research into suggests that gluten sensitivity may exist in upwards of 2/3rds of the population. Another. In particular, gliadin protein seems to specifically stimulate the immune system to produce antibodies against transglutaminase which is a protein in all cells within the body.

Thus, grains may contribute to the pathogenesis of many of the so-called disease of civilizations which include:

1. neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and the severity of Huntington's
2. Cardiovascular disease which includes heart disease, atherosclerosis, peripheral vascular disease, stroke
3. Pulmonary disease asthma, COPD, etc.
4. Metabolic disease which includes diabetes 1 and 2, metabolic syndrome, osteoporosis
5. Gastrointestinal disease such as Celiac's, Crohn's, IBS, Colitis, etc.
6. Organ issues such as kidney, liver, etc.
7. Autoimmune such as rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, ALS, SLE, dermatitis, etc.
8. And others such as cancer, depression, obesity, acne, etc.

There are several posts with more studies located in the following spoiler from the previous in support of the above statements.

Multi post on gluten, saturated fats, milk, vitamin D, and cholesterol:
http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewpost.php?post_id=9382380

Relationship of diabetes with alzheimer's (type 3 diabetes) plus lecture on neurodegenerative diseases, cancer, and a bit about auto-immunity:
http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewpost.php?post_id=9929243
http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewpost.php?post_id=9929851

Efficacy of low carbohydrate vs low fat diets... why low carbohydrate diets are superior for weight loss and correcting metabolic dysfunction (diabetes, heart disease, neurodegenerative disease, infertility, etc.):
http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewpost.php?post_id=11185776
http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewpost.php?post_id=11187342

There are several other factors involved in the pathogenesis of many of these diseases that can be obtained from diet besides (1) gluten/grains such as (2) excessive amounts of carbohydrates especially fructose, (3) excessive intake of omega 6 oils throwing off O6:O3 balance, and (4) trans fats.

These 4 dietary factors comprise most of the problems with the modern diet.

Additionally, there are other factors to consider beyond diet:

1. High stress all the time. Stress increases insulin resistance, and production of cortisol (which decreases inflammation in short term but chronically there's a lot of negatives).
2. Lack of sleep. Increases insulin resistance, and inflammation.
3. Lack of exercise (exercise increases insulin sensitivity among other things).
4. Lack of vitamin D (potent anti-inflammatory, immune system modulator, etc.)