4 Hour Body page

[Matt Chandler]

I just got through reading the Primal Blueprint and it was excellent. I also noticed Mark mentions Tim Ferris's book the Four Hour Work Week. Tim has a new book titles the Four Hour Body. He has a few chapters in their where he mentions Rob Wolf and the Paleo diet and essentially has a lot in common with the Primal Blueprint method as well. The one major difference that I see is his addition of legumes to a weight loss specific diet. He mentions that they are low glycemic carbs, quite fulfilling to help curb hunger, and contain a good protein content. After reading the Primal Blueprint I now know that they also contain a high lectin load as well. He does mention that lentils and black beans if organic and washed thoroughly will not have the digestive problems that legumes are known for. Nutrition is a hobby for me and I have a small group of people I give advice to for health and weight loss goals. My question is do you think legumes are ok to eat if your goals are weight loss, you consume 100 or less grams of carbs a day on average so probably 1-2 servings max a day? Also Tim mentions not to eat fruit for a weight loss oriented diet because fructose is easily converted into glucose. That is why he says to stick with legumes. I personally believe that fruits are good and very nutritious for you and especially after reading your book. So for weight loss oriented goals would you recommend limiting fruit intake to 1-2 pieces of the better types of fruit such as berries with the rest of your carb content coming from vegetables and 1-2 servings of legumes?

[CowQ]

I believe the reason he advocated legumes over fat (as a means to keep the calories high enough) is because a lot of people may not know the origin of their meat - which means the fat could be storing some harmful toxins. Go grass fed and you'll be fine. I don't eat beans as they tend to make me awfully gassy... even pre-soaked from a tin like Tim suggests.
For fat loss, you are best to avoid fruit all together in my opinion... the spike in insulin will only increase your hunger.

[TigerLily]

Hello and welcome!

There have been (at least) two threads started recently about this book with some very interesting comments/insights, so run a search for those.

I don't know the answers to your questions, but just my own experience: Since I've been Primal, on the rare occasion when I do eat legumes, they make me dare-not-leave-this-house gassy...way more gassy than prior to Primal. (And it's painful gassy, too.)

Another thing that I've noted irt weight loss from being a reg on this board: Different things work for different people. Some can lose weight on fruit, some can't. Some can on dairy, some can't. It's definitely not one size fits all. n=1.