Why it works

I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about why this diet would work. The way I see it, ancient peoples most likely started eating what are essentially grass seeds out of desperation, and then added them to the regular diet as a security blanket.

When we look at it the foods eliminated from this diet they are mainly filling starchy bulk and lots of caloric energy but relatively low in the nutrient and mineral factors. Pre-mechanized agriculture was pretty labour intensive stuff from what I understand so during that period all that extra caloric energy was probably useful. Having a desk job I don’t need those empty calories.

For comparison, a five inch spear of broccoli has 11 yummy calories. Just to get my basal metabolic rate in calories I’d need to eat 186 five inch spears of broccoli a day. Not gonna happen. And that much broccoli would give me 85 times my daily vitamin C requirement. And seven times my vitamin A, and five times my potassium. So naturally you mix it up. Almonds for example are seven calories each so 293 almonds would meet my caloric needs. You can see why this diet allows you to eat all you want.

9.5 cups of long grain brown rice would give me my entire daily caloric need but I’d get next to nothing in terms of my vitamin and mineral needs. The best would be not quite half of my required iron. 5.5 cups of pasta would meet my daily caloric and carbohydrate needs but nothing else.

A pound of chicken is calorie wise pretty similar to that cup of pasta but provides a lot more essential nutrients. 5.5 pounds of chicken would be way too much of many of your nutrient needs. Caribou is better still. More importantly still, meat gives you your essential fats.

Essentially you should eat vegetables to get most of your minerals and nutrients and then you need to find a source of caloric energy. Bear in mind that the starchies cannot be digested raw because they are not a natural primate food and that you need to either eat meat or take supplements to get your essential fats and oils anyway. So unless you are training for the Ironman and you need the extra calories the diet makes sense.

If you are trying to lose weight you would eat an even higher proportion of vegetables. I think in the book the guy says 80% of your plate vegetables 20% meat. This is supposed to change your metabolism from relying on carbohydrates and sugars for energy to converting fat (from the meat you eat) into energy. Then if you eat not enough meat it naturally turns to your current fat reserves. In Paleo terms this would be the "between kills" period. Don't forget that everywhere early humans went macrofauna extinctions followed them. Which means they were likely feast and famine style big game hunters.

The Boss is reading a book now called the Paleodiet for Athletes. When summer comes and I can hopefully find some time to get out and really exercise (maybe biking to work) I will want to read that book. It should also be useful for the longer hiking trips I am planning to do if I decide to stay on diet.