INTRODUCTION TO THE PALEOLITHIC DIET:
Grains, beans and potatoes are all seeds. Seeds have defense mechanisms against being eaten- toxins. These toxins play havoc with our intestinal track, and can mimic enzymes our bodies produce, and essentially "hijack" our own enzyme system. They can affect our mood, appetite, insulin level, and many other things. Some people over time have adapted to this, but most of us still feel nagative effects. This is a topic of interest for me lately. These foods are very new in terms of human evolution, and we haven't evolved full immunities to these toxins. Grinding and cooking destroy most, but not all of these toxins. Some people are especially susceptable, and have what's called as celiac disease. Their bodies are allergic to gluten, from grains. Others are lactose intolerant. These people can't digest wheat or milk. Sometimes they have stomach and bowel upset. Sometimes they lose lots of weight. But now they are finding out that more people have celiac than they thought. Some of these people are overweight, and have carbohydrate cravings. Evidently, if your stomach doesn't break down the gluten, the byproducts are these dangerous toxins, some of which actually mimic the effect of morphine, or endorphins on the body. So to a susceptable person, grain and/or dairy apparently can act like a mild opiate, causing lethargy, sleep disturbance, fuzzy headedness, depression. I'm reading a ton of amazing stuff about this, which I will post.
"Instead of being able to eat only a fraction of the animal and plant life in an area, farming allows us to fill a particular area with a large number of edible plants and animals. This in turn increases the number of calories that we can obtain from an area by some 10 to 100 fold or more. Then followed the harnessing of dairy products, which allow man to obtain far more calories from the animal over its lifetime than if it were simply slaughtered for meat. Dairy products are interesting as they combine a variety of components- some of which our genes were ready for and some not. Whist cows milk is ideal for calves, there are several very important differences between it and human milk. For example, the brain of a calf is only a tiny fraction of its body weight whereas humans have very big brains. Not surprisingly, cows milk is low in critical nutrients for brain development, particularly omeg 3 fats.
Paleolithic Diet buffs refer to the new foods as Neolithic foods and the old as Paleolithic Diet foods. In simple terms we see Neolithic as bad and Paleolithic as good. Since then, some other substances have entered the diet- particularly salt and sugar, and more recently a litany of chemicals including firstly caffeine then all other additives, colourings, preservatives, pesticides etc.
Grains, Beans and Potatoes (GBP) share the following important characteristics:
� They are all toxic when raw- there is no doubt about this- it is a fact that no competent source would dispute- they can be extremely dangerous and it is important never to eat them raw or undercooked. These toxins include enzyme blockers, lectins and other types. I will talk about them in detail later as they are very important.
� Cooking destroys most but not all of the toxins. Insufficient cooking can lead to sickness such as acute gastroenteritis.
� They are all rich sources of carbohydrate, and once cooked this is often rapidly digestible-giving a high glycemic index (sugar spike).
� They are extremely poor sources of vitamins (particularly vitamins A, B-group, folic acid and C), minerals, antioxidants and phytosterols.
Therefore diets high in grains beans and potatoes (GBP):
� Contain toxins in small amounts
� Have a high glycemic index (ie have a similar effect to raw sugar on blood glucose levels)
� Are low in many vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and phytosterols- ie they are the original 'empty calories'
� Have problems caused by the GBP displacing other foods
As grains, beans and potatoes form such a large proportion of the modern diet, you can now understand why it is so common for people to feel they need supplements or that they need to detoxify (ie that they have toxins in their system)- indeed both feelings are absolutely correct. Unfortunately, we don’t necessarily realize which supplements we need, and ironically when people go on detoxification diets they unfortunately often consume even more Neolithic foods (eg soy beans) and therefore more toxins than usual (perhaps they sometimes benefit from a change in toxins). More detail on these issues follows in subsequent pages.
The essentials of the Paleolithic Diet are:
Eat none of the following:
� Grains- including bread, pasta, noodles
� Beans- including string beans, kidney beans, lentils, peanuts, snow-peas and peas
� Potatoes
� Dairy products
� Sugar
� Salt"
Grains, beans and potatoes are all seeds. Seeds have defense mechanisms against being eaten- toxins. These toxins play havoc with our intestinal track, and can mimic enzymes our bodies produce, and essentially "hijack" our own enzyme system. They can affect our mood, appetite, insulin level, and many other things. Some people over time have adapted to this, but most of us still feel nagative effects. This is a topic of interest for me lately. These foods are very new in terms of human evolution, and we haven't evolved full immunities to these toxins. Grinding and cooking destroy most, but not all of these toxins. Some people are especially susceptable, and have what's called as celiac disease. Their bodies are allergic to gluten, from grains. Others are lactose intolerant. These people can't digest wheat or milk. Sometimes they have stomach and bowel upset. Sometimes they lose lots of weight. But now they are finding out that more people have celiac than they thought. Some of these people are overweight, and have carbohydrate cravings. Evidently, if your stomach doesn't break down the gluten, the byproducts are these dangerous toxins, some of which actually mimic the effect of morphine, or endorphins on the body. So to a susceptable person, grain and/or dairy apparently can act like a mild opiate, causing lethargy, sleep disturbance, fuzzy headedness, depression. I'm reading a ton of amazing stuff about this, which I will post.
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