Six Degrees of the Many Shades of Paleo
I love how everything is “six degrees or X number shades” of something these days! It makes me giggle at how ridiculous we all are. Anyway, over the past couple of years, I have found the Paleo Diet to be really effective in helping people heal and lose weight. I have used it myself for my own healing and feel better than I ever have. On a basic level, a Paleo diet consists of eating whole, unprocessed foods including meats, eggs, vegetables, fruits, nuts and seeds. The diet is based on what is thought to have been eaten by ancestral cavemen prior to the advent of agriculture meaning there are no grains, legumes or processed foods found in this diet generally, or are there? When you begin dipping your toes in pristine primal waters, you’ll see that there’s a bit of muddiness at the bottom with several variations of Paleo/Primal eating.
So what is Paleo, really? Let’s see what these folks have to say about it.
1. Loren Cordain
Loren seems to be one of the initial leaders in this movement in a sense. Many other authors began their Paleo diets, lifestyle and research after reading Loren’s book, The Paleo Diet.
Loren’s take on eating in the style of our Paleolithic ancestors is that we should be primarily eating lean meats, fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seeds. Different than the Nourishing Traditions folk, Loren recommends trimming meat of excess fat, cooking without excess fat or oil, and limiting egg consumption. He also recommends to add these elements to each meal: fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, or healthy oils. Loren writes with a little more concern than other Paleo authors about limiting the consumption of fat and fruit as it pertains to people who are overweight or obese. On the maybe list for Loren are healthy fats and oils from olive, avocados, walnuts and flaxseeds. Also, he is ok with the moderate consumption of coffee/tea, alcohol and dried fruits.
On Loren’s “No-No List”
- All dairy products (including butter, cream, yogurt, milk and cheese)
- All legumes (beans, soy/soy products, peas and peanuts)
- All grains and grain-like seeds (buckwheat, quinoa)
- Starchy veggies such as potatoes, yams, sweet potatoes and cassava
- Processed meats, spices, dressings, condiments and canned goods containing salt
- Processed sweets such as sodas, soft drinks, fruit juices, candy, sugar and honey
- Fatty meats
2. Mark Sisson
Here’s my story with Mark. He’s the author of The Primal Blueprint and also the reason I even considered trying out this lifestyle. Over a year ago, I saw Mark speak to 5,000 people (4,900 of which were vegans and vegetarians) about Primal diets. I had been following his newsletter, Mark’s Daily Apple for a few months and felt like I was in the know as all of my veggie friends looked around the room confused and ready to disregard this carnivore’s talk. Well, Mark stood up there and presented his case, backed up by research and his pretty amazing pecs. He looked like the picture of health to me. I heard people whispering around me in disbelief at the research he was presenting. My ears perked up when he discussed the research on how Paleo diets work to reverse disease, especially autoimmune disease. I know Mark turned a lot of heads AND changed a lot of minds that day.
So, what is Mark’s version of Paleo?
Well, first of all, he calls it a Primal diet and lifestyle. Mark believes that plant foods should make up the bulk of our diet (holla!) He also recommends maximizing the nutritional value of your dish by eating a variety of brightly colored, organic and locally grown fruits and veggies.
Like Loren, Mark believes we should completely avoid grains, legumes, bad fats (trans and partially hydrogenated) as well as processed foods and sugars. He also thinks nuts, seeds, nut butters, high glycemic fruits, coffee and dairy products should be eaten in moderation.
What’s different though is that he’s cool with animal fat provided that you’re buying organic, grass-fed or wild-caught meats. He’s also ok with eggs and fats such as dairy fat (butter), tallow and lard. Mark lets you enjoy a few indulgences (dark chocolate, alcohol, high fat desserts) in very limited quantities. That’s probably why I’m a little sweet on him.
One thing I found fascinating during his talk was the concept of weight loss and fasting. He brought the point up that people rarely take a 5 hour break between eating. His example was that when taking a flight for a few hours, most people panic at the thought of not having food on the plane if the plane isn’t offering meals. He says that our bodies are set up to store energy and have periods of fasting so that our bodies can consume that energy. When we eat all the time (such as the 6 meals a day many diets recommend), we don’t give our bodies the chance to burn that stored energy so instead, we store it as fat. Just some food for thought there.
3. Robb Wolf
First of all, if you’re thinking of going Paleo, you must get Robb Wolf’s Paleo Budget Shopping Guide. This will cut through a lot of the stress of figuring out how to eat a healthy Paleo diet on a budget.
Now back to Robb’s view on the matter. Robb is the author of The Paleo Solution and also believes we should be eating meats, vegetables, fruits and nuts. However, Robb doesn’t mind a little fat on his meat. He’s more concerned with the quality of meat you purchase and advocates for grass-fed meat and wild-caught fish. He’d also like to see your fruits and veggies come from local, organic sources and to eat produce fresh, when they are in season. I’m with Robb on this one!
There are several other items that Robb and Loren agree on. For weight loss, Robb also recommends limiting the consumption of fruits and nuts. He is also ok with coffee and tea. In Robb’s version of Paleo though, squash, yams and sweet potatoes can be eaten unless you are trying to lose weight. Other than the starchy vegetables, Robb and Loren’s “no-no’s” pretty well match up.
4. Art De Vany
As you will see with our next Paleo theory, each of these diets varies by a shade or two. They are all very similar but often the proportions of each food group is a bit different. For example, Art, here, author of The New Evolution Diet, bases his food pyramid on vegetables much like Mark Sisson. However, Art recommends a diet comprised of a third of each – raw vegetables and fruit, cooked vegetables and meat or fish. Like some of the others, Art includes squash and yams in moderation. Different from Loren though is that he includes lamb, ham, and pork to his list of meats to eat.
As with Mark and Robb, Art also emphasizes eating game meats and organic, grass-fed meats. Going into a little more detail on fruits, Art believes we should avoid bananas, dried fruits, fruit juice and canned fruits due to high levels of sugar. He also has a thing against cashews, peanuts and most oils but recommends eating walnuts, almonds, and pecans. Art’s oil of preference seems to be olive oil for cooking and salad dressings and canola oil on a very limited basis for high temp cooking. If you want my opinion, I think you should skip the canola oil bit. If you’re cooking on a high temp, coconut oil is a great substitute.
Art’s “no-no’s” are pretty similar to the rest however, he’s down with the occasional cheese or unsweetened yogurt which seems a little out of step with his colleagues.
5. Paul and Shou-Ching Jaminet
The Perfect Health Diet , not to be confused with Deepak Chopra’s amazing book, Perfect Health, is written by a super smarty-pants husband and wife team, Paul (astrophysicist) and Shou-ching (molecular biologist and cancer researcher). In this book, they discuss their findings after 5 years of research and healing themselves through diet and lifestyle changes (sound like someone else you know?)
Although not exactly Paleo, Paul and Shou-ching’s diet and lifestyle closely resemble a Paleo/Primal way of living. However, they’ve put some added focus on avoiding toxins and feeding the body for optimum nourishment. Like the others, there is an emphasis on high quality meats and vegetables. They allow for a little sugar in the diet from “safe starches” and fruits and berries. They definitely believe in combining a good level of fat with each meal so if you’re eating a meat that is dry (like chicken or some fish), the recommend adding a high quality fat like butter from pastured cows, avocado or coconut oil to the dish.
The Jaminets’ BIG No-No’s
- Vegetable and Seed Oils
- Sugar-cured Meats
6. Jen Wittman – yeah, that’s me!
I believe in Veggie Heavy Paleo eating. Here’s what I’ve found to be the most vibrant version of these diets: Your meals should consist of loads of vegetables with a side of meat. Yes, a side of meat and not the other way around. I found that when the diet gets too meat heavy, my body and my system got a little sluggish and stinky (I won’t go into all of the dirty details). The point is that, although I felt better overall, I didn’t feel great when I was eating too much meat. Now, don’t get me wrong, I am a lover of meat, especially my dear friend, bacon. However, I notice a huge difference when I turned the Paleo diet upside down and made my plates consist of 75-80% organic veggies, 10-15% pastured, grass-fed or wild-caught meat and 10% fats from avocados, olives, coconut oil, butter from pastured cows and from properly processed nuts and seeds. You may need to tweak those percentages a bit for your own body but going veggie heavy is, in my opinion, the way to approach the Paleo beast. Believe in the intuition of YOUR body to let you know what feels best to it. Basically, all you need to do is eat real, whole food including organic fruits and veggies, healthy fats, pastured or wild-caught meats and nothing processed or packaged. It’s not hard and it’s so delicious and filling. You’ll be doing your body good. So go on now…give it a try!
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There are so many options out there, and finding what foods and methods work best for YOU will help you heal and feel your best!
Jen Wittman is a Certified Holistic Health Expert, Chef, Author & Vitality Coach, who teaches women how to reverse thyroid and autoimmune conditions naturally. She’s helped hundreds of women decrease (or even eliminate) their thyroid medications and has helped others stay off thyroid medication entirely.
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