differences between primal and cordain's paleo page

[cemdev]

So, I read the Paleo diet for the first time yesterday. I was a little surprised at how big some of the differences are between paleo and primal. They both cover cutting out grains and sugars, so the big stuff is covered, but after that i noticed:

1. cordain focusses on 'lean' meat rather than grass-fed. i think ultimately he's trying to say the same thing, just without really verbalising it very well.
2. saturated fats are BAD according to cordain. That puts coconut oils right on the bottom of his list, and canola oil (!) near the top.
3. he believes in unlimited fruit and veggie as far as i can tell, whereas primal does limit fruit intake if you follow the carb recommendations
4. he focusses on protein over fat, whereas primal seems to be a bit more focussed on fats.
5. he talks about the omega 6: omega 3 ratio, and vitamin levels (d etc) far more than primal does. i think that's good.

there were some others that i can't remember now. overall, i struggle with almost everywhere he diverges from primal (except on the fruit thing and the omegas and vitamins) and i wonder if that's only because it's different from primal or because it really just doesn't make as much sense as primal.

[New Renaissance]

Melissa Mcewan made a nice graphic to accompany this exact topic. I love that blog.
http://huntgatherlove.com/content/pa...imal-vs-atkins

[Mirrorball]

2. saturated fats are BAD according to cordain. That puts coconut oils right on the bottom of his list, and canola oil (!) near the top.

Since he wrote the book, he has changed his mind on this. Now he thinks coconut oil is okay and canola oil is not. Here is what he said in a recent newsletter:

A couple of key points are different from my first book, The Paleo Diet, which was published in 2002. First, I no longer advocate the use of canola oil, for reasons explained in the book, and I have also taken a softer stand on saturated fats based upon my own article on the topic, published in 2006, and available as a free PDF download from my website. Further, I now advocate coconut and coconut oil consumption.

But you forgot to mention what might be the biggest difference: NO DAIRY. No butter, no cheese, no cream.

[Stabby]

Melissa Mcewan made a nice graphic to accompany this exact topic. I love that blog.
http://huntgatherlove.com/content/pa...imal-vs-atkins

Nice link!

The real paleo diet should be that if fat is plentiful, favor the fat. And huntering (or ranching) is good, so eat the damn fat. Cordain will come around to massive amounts of saturated fat eventually, if he hasn't already.

[Mac]

With the amount of research Cordain has done on ancestral diets I would have thought that he would have simply looked at the saturated fat content of the animals humans were likely to eat and drawn conclusions from that. I can't fathom Cro-Magnons some 30,000 years ago trimming the fat from their reindeer steaks. Much of mankind living in the northern hemisphere ate predominately animal based diets since suitable vegetation was sparse what with a huge chunk of mankind's existence in Europe being an ice age climate.

[skink531]

In the beggining I found myself drawn to Cordain's version of paleo since I was still kind of clinging to conventional wisdom and so was he in some ways. As I started learning more I began to drift away from Cordain. It also didn't help that his book is pretty dull and I found it hard to keep reading. So when my copy of The Primal Blueprint arrived I set down Cordain's book and never looked back. It seems he is coming around though. But it was his website that got me started, so I have to give him credit for that.

[onawave]

read the robb wolf version of this. he is much more on the money....

[cheapo]

Mac,
Cordain doesn't think our ancestors trimmed the fat from their meat. Rather, he believes (or believed) that they would have less access to fat due to the relative paucity of fat in wild game.

[Primal Toad]

Cordain is coming out with a new version of his book within a few months. He is also coming out with a recipe book. The book is 8 years old and thus completely out of date.

As mirrorball stated... he now recommends coconut. And I am sure that when he says lean meats he simply means go for grass fed, pastured. I recently read his book and was frustrated many times since I know the stuff he was saying just didn't make evolutionary sense. But, he has come around and his updated version should be a spectacular read.

In the meantime... Buy The Paleo Solution by Robb Wolf!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Stabby]

+1^

Robb Wolf is paleo Jesus. Praise him!