Dr. Mcdougall rips apart the paleo diet - your thoughts? page 6

[CSilivestru]

It's pointless for us to say we know what paleo man definitely ate in the past, but I know what I ate in my past. Primal lifestyle works for me coz I believe in it (the science) & I feel good (the evidence).

This is a very good point. I don't care what Grok ate or what we think the paleolithic man ate. There is more than enough studies out there showing the benefits and most people do best with an n=1 ideology of self-experimentation to further tweak it. I think it's a very difficult to use the argument of what our ancestors ate as the only (or even the main) proof of why we eat primal. A lot of people poke holes in that so I try to stick to science and personal experience, much like what Betorq says!

[cori93437]

Some paleo peoples might have eaten more starches, if they were available & easy to collect. I personally feel better eating lots of veggies, high fat, moderate protein & some fruit. At certain times, I crave lots & lots of meat & fat, & other times, I crave huge salads & steamed veggies & less protein. Sometimes I want fruit, sometimes I want nothing to eat at all. It's pointless for us to say we know what paleo man definitely ate in the past, but I know what I ate in my past. Primal lifestyle works for me coz I believe in it (the science) & I feel good (the evidence).

Exactly. His viewpoint is too narrowed. "paleolithic man" did not have ONE diet. Paleo-man had a wide range of diets based on what was available locally and seasonally. For some this may have been very much like Kitavan... for others very much like Inuit... and others somewhere in between.
No single answer is 100% correct.
Could some paleo-men have been gathering some wild grains, such as the wild rice gathered by Native Americans... sure. And did they eat tubers... sure! In the season that tubers were available of course (tubers are very seasonal in most climates). But before the capabilities of secure, cool, dry storage the percentage of the diet that these foods made up was probably pretty small in the grand scheme of things rather than the basis of it.

[Timthetaco]

I'm really hoping I just mis-read this or something so please let me know if I did. I would consider it disgraceful to have such a well-known vegan activist resort to deception like this.

The paper he linked to seemed to be a response to a different paper about the role of carbohydrates in heart disease. I couldn't find an abstract or full access to the one that was linked, so I believe what you read was the abstract from the other paper.

[CSilivestru]

Ah yes I see that now -- thanks for the clarification. It appears that we don't have access to the actual study he intended to reference without a pubmed account (which I don't have).

[Alex Good]

A) He implies that to eat a paleo diet you must eat rattlesnakes. They are edible and I would try them but they are not required. Also he implies that cannibalism was a paleo practice, which scares most people. It was but it isn't required to eat this way.
B) He lies outright by stating that a study done on modern, westernized inuits proved that saturated fat is bad. As "proof", he linked to a study stating that starches had atherogenic potential. FAIL.
C) He's selling something.

So, fear mongering and lying to sell a product. That sounds about right for a veg head.

[Chaohinon]

So, paleo = atkins = bad. Let me try!

McDougal loves starch -> wheat contains starch -> McDougal gives me the shits

[jammies]

Appearance is a terrible way to argue things like this, especially with small sample sizes.

For instance, the guy below is a long time vegan who has to be very careful not to gain too much muscle so he can make weight. Genetics plays a huge role.

This guy has a great body and I'm sure he's an awesome athlete, but to be honest he does not look very healthy to me. He reminds me of the very serious high school wrestlers who have to starve themselves to make weight and then binge on junk food after making weight. They get a sallow skin tone and those dark shadows under their eyes.

[Apex Predator]

This guy has a great body and I'm sure he's an awesome athlete, but to be honest he does not look very healthy to me. He reminds me of the very serious high school wrestlers who have to starve themselves to make weight and then binge on junk food after making weight. They get a sallow skin tone and those dark shadows under their eyes.

That's because he's a pro fighter and cuts weight like a HS wrestler.

[ChocoTaco369]

This approach forbids starches, including all grains, legumes, and potatoes.

This immediately discredits the entire article. Total hogwash. We've been eating starchy roots and tubers forever and it was more crucial in our historical diet than meat. Amylase is produced for a reason in the saliva - NOTHING in the human body is instantized and converted into energy as readily as starch, and its digestion is so crucial that it begins immediately as it enters the mouth. This can't be said for ANYTHING, even meat. That goes to show you how CRUCIAL starch was in terms of our survival. To call a potato "not paleo" is like calling vegetables "not vegetarian." Lunacy. A diet of squirrel and potatoes is more paleo than a diet of beef and lettuce, absolutely 100% for sure. If you think early man was killing buffalo and eating salad you're off your rocker. We didn't have the technology to kill large game until fairly recently and if you think Grok wasted time gathering salad greens that provide 19 calories per pound, you have another thing coming.

[cori93437]

Chaco- Seasonal foods.
Seriously. Over most of the world starchy roots and tubers are not naturally available for consumption year round. So, at some times of the year the diet would have necessarily been lower in starchy matter and higher in fresh vegetation, berries, fruits, etc., and in meat. They ate what was available. Starch was not on the menu year round except in a very narrow range of climates.