Confused about different types of diets... page

[lardomuncher]

I'm a confused about different types of diets at this point. I've been following the primal diet for some time now but today I somehow found myself reading blogs and watching youtube videos of different types of diets (for example, fruitarian and high starch vegan). What I noticed is that the "other side" has similar people like Mark Sisson and Rob Wolf running pretty websites with articles, forums, studies, videos, amazing success stories based on diets that are the polar opposite of what the paleo diet dictates. There are well education Drs. (same way there are Drs. who advocate the paleo diet) that advocate that meat, animal fat and dairy is the devil with their own studies and observations supporting their views. Both, paleo and the other side claim improved health, weight loss, increased energy, reversal of diseases, etc. There are some similarities obviously. For example, the paleo diet and someone from some version of a high starch vegan diet might agree that wheat and soy is no good. One thing I noticed is that two different types of diets work (high carb/low fat and high fat/low carb). But, when you start eating high fat and high carb, thats bad news for health and fat loss. And even if you set other diets aside and just examine paleo, there are two different schools of thought (high fat vs. moderate to high starch). Half the people claim that they can run a marathon and lift weight for 3 hours just on coconut oil alone and they advertise how their body is fat adapted and they don't need anything but fat. Other half claim that safe starches are absolutely essential to their well being, daily life and long term health.

I don't even know the point behind this post. I guess just confused about how I should be eating for long term health/disease prevention/staying lean.

[Nady]

You eat how you feel best. Everyone is different. I once tried a vegetarian diet ~ lasted about 8 weeks. Gained weight, serious mess with eczema and I kept dreaming about pot roast. Wasn't right for me.

The only way know is to try. There is no *one size fits all*. If you already feel great with what you're eating, then you're set. But if not, try something else.

[sbhikes]

Really all you have to do for maximum health is avoid sugar and flour and eat a balance of fats. Eat real food, get enough protein and Omega 3 and you're pretty much good to go.

[Forgotmylastusername]

There's thousands of thousands of diets out there and most of them have a lot of research, health benefits and lots of success stories. If you're really curious you could give them a go for a few weeks to see how you feel.

[Paleobird]

Any "diet plan" that makes you think about what you are putting in your face is going to have some benefits over the SAD way of munching mindlessly. This is why all the various plans claim success. Raw vegan is probably healthier than SAD. Mindful not mindless eating is the key. Find the mindful way that works for you.

[Lewis]

I'm a confused about different types of diets at this point. I've been following the primal diet for some time now but today I somehow found myself reading blogs and watching youtube videos of different types of diets (for example, fruitarian and high starch vegan). What I noticed is that the "other side" has similar people like Mark Sisson and Rob Wolf running pretty websites with articles, forums, studies, videos, amazing success stories based on diets that are the polar opposite of what the paleo diet dictates.

Why would you believe them?

These "polar people" recommend what they do because these diets appeal to them for extraneous emotional reasons. They also (falsely) claim they're good for you, as well, as an ex post facto, but that's not what's driving it.

There are well-documented and researched downsides to these diets. Serious ones:

Vegetarian diet and mental disorde... [Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act. 2012] - PubMed - NCBI

Robb and Mark simply recommend what they believe to be healthy for you in and of itself with no extraneous reasons actually driving their food choices. I think anybody who follows Mark's daily posts for long enough, reads them carefully, thinks about what he's saying, and applies his or her own judgment to what he's saying, would be able to see that. It's not the design of his website that matters.

If you want to get deeper into the scientific reasons for the Paleo Diet, I'd recommend this book:

Amazon.com: The Paleo Answer: 7 Days to Lose Weight, Feel Great, Stay Young (9781118016084): Loren Cordain: Books

[Knifegill]

Mostly, avoid poisonous things. Your body can, indeed, run well on starch. Should it? Nobody knows. I know if I were dropped in the woods today, I'd be eating tons of greens and medium-sized animals, some fruits and roots, and not much else. Extrapolate for different habitats and evolutionary history, and build your ideal diet on your ancestry and what you think they were best adapted to eat. And even then, with mutations abounding, it's still a roll of the dice.

[Daydreamer]

Just wanted to add that you absolutely CAN'T be healthy on a high carb/low fat diet. Been there, done that, never gain. Messes with your sexual hormones.

[Damiana]

I think one should avoid all the dieting hype and eat real food, not crap that comes packaged in plastic and which is unrecognizable from its original form. If you can't understand or can't pronounce the ingredients, don't eat it. The exception being foreign foods :P

[BestBetter]

I think that the confusion partly comes from the fact that there is no one right way to eat; people thrive eating in a variety of ways.

Ultimately, it's up to you to use some common sense and to experiment to find what's right for you. It might be primal, it might not.

The common sense part comes in when considering something extreme like fruitarism. Is there any evidence of societies who have ever eaten this way? Are there even people who have eaten this way most of their lives? Are these people emotionally and mentally stable? Are they able to meet basic dietary needs? What are the possible dangers of eating in this way?

If you read sites like the 30bananasaday, it's pretty easy to see that the folks runing it are off their rocker - the so-called 'scientific facts' they publish are actually factually incorrect and prove that they have no understanding of basic human nutrition needs or even how digestion occurs. They routinely delete and ban users who aren't 100% pro fruit all the way

...contrast that with a site like this one. Here you have everything from people thriving on high fat, very low carb to vegetarians who want to eat a more primal diet by excluding all the fake soy and gluten based imitation garbage. And everyone in between. The common denominator is finding the way to eat that works for you, using high quality, tradiationally prepared foods that are grown sustainably. For some people this means lots of meat, for others it's less meat more fruit and starches...There is a lot of flexibility here, which in my opinion is important.