Are veggies really primal? page

[krusomkit]

I have been getting more primal over the years, this website has really been helpful. But primal for me means all the foods I love but thought were bad for me!!!

One thing bothers me though. I don't think my primal ancestors ate many bell peppers, iceberg lettuce, cucumbers, broccoli or anything resembling modern vegetables. And certainly without the insecticides, herbicides and chemical fertilizers.

I also suspect that they ate more tubers than veggies, and stuffed themselves with fruit, in season.

I notice that I do not tolerate lots of veggies. I don't really like them, I eat them because everyone says I should. But dogs, cats, and other carnivores don't eat them and get along just fine.

So really, do I have to eat my veggies mom?

[tom05]

To my understanding, vegetables aren't exactly necessaries, provided you are using other paleo-friendly foods to get your vitamins and minerals etc.

It all depends on your current state and goals, but Id be wary about "stuffing" yourself with fruit. Your argument about modern vegetables not resembling those found in pre agriculture days holds true to fruits as well. While fruits have lots of nutrients, they are also high in sugar, and quite often referred to as natures candy.

If you don't agree with vegetables, then make sure you are getting a good amount of offal from decent sources. Beef heart is amazingly good, and cheap, liver is fantastic for vitamins, throw in some good quality fish and eggs and you are off to a good start.

Finally, check out a lot of previous posts on this website regarding a low FODMAP diet. I love any type of vegetable, especially broccoli and brussels sprouts, but unfortunately if I eat too much of them in one sitting I get uncomfortable bloating. maybe you just need to mix up the vegetables you have been eating.

plus, you are in Thailand, Im sure you have endless access to amazing coconut products. Amazing stuff

[krusomkit]

That is a good tip, animals of course eat all of the animal they kill. I should eat more "innards". Another thing about Thailand is the easy availability of all parts of animals, most of the local soups are made from "innards"
Yep, coconut is everywhere and I love it. Also an amazing variety of fruit I had never seen or heard of before. The other day I made the mistake of eating 2 apples for dinner and got a horrible sugar buzz.

But if listening to my body is accurate, I am eating lots of meat, a little dairy, some fruit, seeds, nuts and tubers. I went off potatoes but have added them back in.

I found this link: interesting...

Raw Yam?

[Rochxyde]

My chiropractor who first introduced me to a primal-like diet states that 60%-70% of your diet should be leafy greens, like kale, spinach and other field greens.
Would leafy greens most likely resemble the veggies that were available for consumption, vs things like peppers and broccoli?

[Damiana]

Whike we're discussing authenticity, is a modern protein-based diet really Paleo? No, unless you are eating wild game and not chicken, salmon, beef, and pork, however grass-fed, free-range and organic. Your primal andestors probably never tasted a chicken their whole lives. Just try to live a healthy lifestyle roughly based on foundations of an ancient healthy lifestyle and try not to overanalyze things. Sure, it's possible to live without vegetables, but I find my diet is much richer with them included.

[Sabine]

Whoa. I do not even want to THINK about a diet where 60% of your calories comes from leafy greens. You'd be chewing all day! That works out to about 6 large bunches of greens to every generous portion of meat. Are you sure you understood that correctly?

[Nigel]

I believe our Paleo ancestors ate what they could get hold of. Animals, birds, fish, eggs, crabs, lobsters, clams, oysters, whelks, mussels, cockles, insects, plants, and fruit & nuts in season. Our bodies adapted to having a wide variety of different foods and now we need a lot of different nutrients, vitamins and minerals to be healthy. I believe one of the keys is variety of foods. No, most of our ancestors did not eat bell peppers or chickens. But, those living in the areas where bell peppers and chickens were available did. There is evidence to show that Grok preferred meat if he could get it because it gave more goodness bang for his effort buck.

The way I see it, I want to eat foods as close as is possible (and convenient for me) to what our pre farming ancestors ate. Did they have black pudding? Nah. Did they consume blood from the animals they killed? I'll bet they did.

[Scott F]

Canines are not obligate carnivores. Foxs, coyotes, and wolves eat berries and fruit. Survival is all about sustaining a neutral to positive energy balance. If it takes more energy to hunt/gather then you get in calories your working against yourself and will starve. Veggies are easy to gather and come with the vitamins micro nutrients your body wants. Tubers are how a plant stores its energy during the none growing season. When they are actively growing the plant is drawing on that root for energy which means there's less for you. Veggies are primal. That said.....

....ditch the iceberg letuse. It ain't primal. It's a genetic freak. The reason it's called iceberg is because in the 1800s railroads found that it would ship well packed in boxcars of ice. Iceberg keeps longer then leaf letuse. The reason it keeps longer is because there's hardly any nutritional value. Compared to dark green leafy You are basically buying water with a little fiber.

[Kharnath]

ditch the iceberg letuse. [...] Compared to dark green leafy You are basically buying water with a little fiber.

Water and fiber you say? Yeah, I definitely don't need that in my food. Thanks for warning me.

[Neckhammer]

Yeah. Vegetable work by volume. They make you feel full and crowd out possibly more detrimental calories. But, in terms of primal that is not necessary. They make good flavoring agents ala spices and herbs.

Nutritional indexes are reverse engineered to make vegetables top the list. Heck look at the "Kraken Index" and you will see that bacon is unquestionably the most nutritious food item in the world.

Point is you are quite correct HG societies prize ....MEAT....then they go looking for nuts, seeds, berries, fruits, or tubers. Vegetables are noticeably underrepresented on their plate.