John Durant on the Typical Hunter-Gatherer Diet

"The typical hunter-gatherer diet was very diverse. Over the course of a year a diet might have included hundreds of wild plant species and dozens of wild mammals, fish, reptiles, and insects. Almost the entire animal would be eaten or put to use, including bones, organs, and marrow. Roots and tubers were an important food source. The wild predecessors to grains - like wheat, corn, or rice - were negligible until late in the Paleolithic, though some wild grasses were consumed (we ended up domesticating them after all). Some foods were eaten raw, but a variety of cooking techniques were used. Because of the wide variety of food available and the tribe's migrations, famine was rare to nonexistent."

The Paleo Manifesto

Latest issue of Paleo Magazine

I picked up a copy of the Dec/Jan issue of Paleo Magazine at a local Barnes & Noble. The issue contains 7 new Paleo recipes, columns from various contributors, and the following articles:

• Movnatting Through Winter
• Carbohydrates For Female Hormonal Health
• 4 Common Paleo Foods That Could Be Making You Sicker
• Ghosts Of Our African Gut
• Paleolithic Human Migration and the Genome

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Is the Mayo Clinic warming up to Paleo?

Eating Lots of Carbs, Sugar May Raise Risk of Cognitive Impairment, Mayo Clinic Study Finds

Those 70-Plus Who Ate Food High In Fat And Protein Fared Better Cognitively, Research Showed 

That's it. That's the title of an article recently in posted on the Mayo Clinic website on October 16. It doesn't get much more Paleo than that. 

The study by Mayo Clinic epidemiologist Rosebud Roberts, M.B., Ch.B. and colleagues was published in January 12, 2012 in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease. While the type of carbs is not listed in the abstract, carbs in the typical U.S. diet are mostly grains and added sugars.

Those who reported the highest carbohydrate intake at the beginning of the study were 1.9 times likelier to develop mild cognitive impairment than those with the lowest intake of carbohydrates. Participants with the highest sugar intake were 1.5 times likelier to experience mild cognitive impairment than those with the lowest levels.

But those whose diets were highest in fat — compared to the lowest — were 42 percent less likely to face cognitive impairment, and those who had the highest intake of protein had a reduced risk of 21 percent.

When total fat and protein intake were taken into account, people with the highest carbohydrate intake were 3.6 times likelier to develop mild cognitive impairment.

The conclusion from the abstract:

A dietary pattern with relatively high caloric intake from carbohydrates and low caloric intake from fat and proteins may increase the risk of MCI or dementia in elderly persons.

Bottom line: More evidence Paleo nutrition sustains brain health. More evidence the low-fat advice is mistaken. 

Reference

J Alzheimers Dis. 2012 Jan 1;32(2):329-39. doi: 10.3233/JAD-2012-120862.
Relative intake of macronutrients impacts risk of mild cognitive impairment or dementia.

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The Paleolithic Diet: A New Look at Our Oldest Diet (Part I)

Some attribute the increase in obesity, an underlying factor in many of the modern diseases, to a lack of will power, a puzzling argument that fails to explain the increasing body mass over the past three decades. Others blame easy availability of food and lack of exercise: we take in too many calories and don’t burn enough. The simplistic solution proposed: eat less and exercise more. While our sedentary lifestyle contributes to obesity, the real culprit is low-quality fuel. We chose, and are surrounded by, low quality foods. Physical anthropologist Gary J. Sawyer puts it simply:

"We do not know how to eat properly. We feed ourselves, but we fail to give ourselves proper nutrition."

The magazine artist chose the above illustration. I would have added more protein. Still, a nice illustration.

Read the rest of my article at Living Well

Paleo Magazine Aug/Sept issue at newsstands

After 20 plus years in the computer software industry, I decided to pursue my passion for cooking with the launch of Cindy's Table, a personal chef and catering business based in the Greater Hartford, CT area.

Soon after my first introduction to Paleo, my doctor recommended I take medication to manage my high cholesterol. I refused and committed to the Paleo diet for 6 months to see if my cholesterol levels would respond. I was determined to try it, despite my doctor's objections and it was one of the best decisions I've ever made.

Cindy Anshutz
Paleo Magazine

Ethical case for veganism based on "dodgy arguments"

This will not be an easy column to write. I am about to put down 1,200 words in support of a book that starts by attacking me and often returns to this sport. But it has persuaded me that I was wrong. More to the point, it has opened my eyes to some fascinating complexities in what seemed to be a black and white case.

I was wrong about veganism. Let them eat meat – but farm it properly
George Monbiot 

Nutrition conference, August 21, 2012, Boulder, Colorado

ANNOUNCING THE NEXT STAHL HEALTH LECTURE EVENT!
AUGUST 21, 2012

“NUTRITION & HEALTH”

A JUICY and INNOVATIVE PERSPECTIVE

Yours trully will be presenting on the Paleo diet in Boulder later this month. And so will four other presenters on various diets and ways of eating. Not an actual debate - we each have 15 minutes to present our case. This will allow plenty of time for questions. Should be interesting.

Presentations include:

1. Ayurvedic Nutrition - vital to your health (Rohini Kanniganti, MD, Integrative Family Physician)

2. The China Study - its startling implications (Dr. David Johnson, Integrative Cardiologist)

3. The Mediterranean Diet - what you need to know (Chair, Department of Internal Medicine, BMC)

4. The Paleo Diet - a new look at our oldest diet (Dr. John Oró, Neurosurgeon)

5. Mindful Eating - it's more than what you eat (Diane Renz, LPC, Psychotherapist)

Learn more here. 

Ancestral nutrition to get its own journal

There has been a steady increase in awareness and adoption of ancestral nutrition (Paleo diet) during the past few years. We have an array of websites, books, cookbooks, a recent movie (In Search of the Perfect Human Diet), a new magazine Paleo Magazine, and coming up, the second annual Ancestral Health Symposium to be held in Cambridge, Massachusetts this August. The conference has been fully registered for several months. (See the Symposium Program here.)

The Ancestral Health Society is now announcing plans for a new scientific journal:

In addition, the society plans to host a peer-reviewed journal for publication of experimental and clinical research and theory on human health from the evolutionary/ancestral perspective. This journal is in the process of being founded.

Ancestral nutrition is on the move. 

Milk and exercise-induced asthma

iStockphotoIn his most recent book, The Paleo Answer, Dr. Loren Cordain, takes a deeper dive into the mechanisms through which the typical Western diet contributes to illness. On the relationship between milk and exercise-induced asthma, Dr. Cordain writes:

If the gut becomes leaky, which it invariably does on a typical Western diet, beta casomorphin-7 in milk can enter our blood stream and travel to our chests, where it stimulates production from MUC5AC glands located in our lungs and respiratory tracts. A final piece of this puzzle is that beta-casamorphin-7 is much more likely to trigger mucous production if the lungs and the respiratory tract are inflamed by asthma. Many people’s exercise-induced asthma symptoms disappear on the Paleo Diet.

He then presents a case reported by a personal trainer:

I am a trainer, and I work with very overweight woman, Jenny, who recently started my boot camp. She weighs 360 pounds at present. Until recently, she also suffered from exercise-induced asthma. For the first week of boot camp, she could ot get through a class without her inhaler. Although I admired her dedication, it was painful and a bit scary to watch.

Then I put her on the Paleo Diet. This week, after doing this for a little less than two weeks, she no longer needs her inhaler. Miraculous!

Jenny’s also doing great on the diet – she’s not hungry at all, so I know the weight will be coming off soon as well. 

Paleo diet "the way of the future"?

I recommend this excellent summary of the Paleo diet written by George Dvorsky of iO9. Referring to the rising rates of obesity, diabetes and other modern diseases, Dvorsky declares an increasingly apparent observation: "When it comes to our eating habits, it's clear that we're doing it wrong."

Part of the problem is that virtually everything we thought we knew about eating is wrong; the current health crisis is in no small part caused by widespread and pervasive food confusion - and much of driven and reinforced by the modern food industry. As counterintuitive as it might seem, we now know that saturated fats are good and that salt has been unfairly vilified. It's becoming apparent that whole grains are extremely unhealthy, and that sugar is far, far worse than we previously thought, a conclusion that has led some experts to essentially describe it as poison.

Consequently, a new approach to eating has emerged called the Paleolithic Diet, or simply "Paleo" for short. Advocates of this diet focus on eating unprocessed foods like lean meat, seafood, roots, tubers, fruits, and vegetables. Not only are these foods comprehensible to the human digestive system, they pack much more nutrition per calorie than typical Neolithic and processed foods.

The increasing interest in Paleo nutrition is evidenced by the growing number forums including the Ancestral Health Symposiums where: 

.... a niche group of scientists, medical practitioners, and health experts are paving the way for what is likely to become a health and wellness paradigm for the future.

Paleo Magazine in natural foods stores

On the way home after giving an evening lecture across town, I stopped by a Whole Foods Market along the way for some dinner. In the magazine rack next to the cashier, I was surprised to see a copy of Paleo Magazine. Launched in May 2011 by publisher and editor Cain Credicott, the magazine features contributions from the Paleo/Primal community.

In addition to Whole Foods Market, Paleo Magazine is available at Sunflower Market, Clark's Natural Foods, and Earth Origins Market, among others. To see if the magazine is available your area, try the Paleo Magazine Store Locator.

Wayne of GoPrimal on "Organic vs Grassfed"

GoPrimal