Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Paleo Diet Q & A - 15 December 2009


Dear Readers,

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



Q: I was reading around on a few different websites and I found some things that you can have in "moderation". What exactly does this mean? For example it says you can have one 8 oz. glass of wine or one 12 oz. beer, but use in moderation. Does this mean once a day?

A: Fermented foods are not part of The Paleo Diet. However, a little amount of red wine shouldn't be an issue, lets say a glass of wine at lunch. Red wine has a lot of antioxidants that could overcome the negative effects of alcohol. Red wine may also improve insulin sensitivity. On the other hand, beer is not so good as demonstrated in a study conducted in the Czech Republic where the author showed considerable amounts of gluten in beer.



Q: Losing weight the Paleo way while on the pill - is it still possible?

I've combed through The Paleo Diet book several times on how it could be possible I'm not losing weight or at least I'm losing and gaining the same several pounds over and over again for several months now. The only thing I can think of that is stopping me is the pill - have you heard of any other cases similar to this?

I know the diet works, because my boyfriend--who started this lifestyle change 5months ago due to his sleep apnea--has lost 25lbs! He not only looks better, and feels better, but most importantly he no longer has sleep apnea. He no longer uses his very expensive CPAP machine. And he did it all on Paleo--no exercise. I on the other hand, have been exercising like a mad women, and I have lost 0 lbs. I cannot figure out what I am doing wrong. If you have any ideas or suggestions, I would love to hear about it.

A: The pill induces insulin resistance, which makes your pancreas produce high amounts of insulin, namely hyperinsulinemia. Hyperinsulinemia stops fat beta-oxidation, which means you're not burning fats. Maybe if you stop the pill you'll start to loose weight.

On the other hand, you should pay attention to fruits with high amounts of fructose and totals sugars. We suggest reducing consumption of those kinds of fruits until you normalize your body weight. More info: http://www.thepaleodiet.com/nutritional_tools/fruits_table.html

Also, you have to be careful with the amount of calories you eat. Nuts, avocado, olive oil are calorie-dense foods that you should use in moderation.

Another way to optimize your exercise is to avoid eating one and a half hours after exercise. This will make your body crave storage energy. Your muscles and liver must replenish their "tanks" from storage fats.

4 comments:

  1. Dear Paleo Team,
    this year in March i became the diagnoses "Grave Disease". My Thyroid produce to much hormones (t3,t4)because my tsh receptor is stimulate by autoantibodies called TRAKS (in german). So "Grave Disease" is an autoimmune disease. Do you think that the paleo diet can help to stop the autoimmune process like by MS?
    Thank you and sorry for my bad english,
    Michael P.

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  2. Why would you recommend anybody to not eat after a workout? Would you not miss out on an opportunity to replenish your muscles with glycogen without risking insulin spikes in your blood whilst providing your body with amino acids for protein synthesis?

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  3. Hey Paleo followers. I have MS and in 1994 I was diagnosed with Rosacea as well. I find it interesting that since following the Paleo diet for MS, I no longer have any issues with my skin. Aside from extreme temperatures and stress, the triggers for both Rosacea and MS, are dairy, wine, tomatoes, eggplant, soy sauce, chocolate, wine, beer, and eggs. The recommended diet from Dr. Cordain really has helped me with both issues. So The Paleo diet really is the best way to go!

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  4. I completely relate to this girl's story. I started paleo six months ago and have gained body fat...up nearly 5% over the past couple of months plus 10lbs weight gain. I am 100% paleo, plus no fruit, no nuts. Over the past month I went back and counted calories, making sure I was between 1500 and 1800 per day with less than 50g carbs, 125g protein and about 80-90g fat. Is there anything else I can try?

    ReplyDelete

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The Paleo Diet Team