Confused... low carb isn't primal, correct? page

[maelynn]

Apologize for the newbie question.
I'm going through the forums and noticing many recipes have cream and cream cheese and mozzarella and things like that. Don't those count as dairy and so are not included in the Primal approach?

Thanks a bunch!

[paleo-bunny]

Primal is indeed not low carb ... however cream has negligible carbs hence you are clearly very confused indeed.

[maelynn]

Thanks for the quick reply!

So I should avoid the recipes that include those things even though they're in the Primal recipes section of the forums, right?

[Finnegans Wake]

Thanks for the quick reply!

So I should avoid the recipes that include those things even though they're in the Primal recipes section of the forums, right?

If you can handle dairy and you wish to eat them, eat them. If not, not.

Dairy's one of the Primal "fuzzy zones."

[bloodorchid]

Paleo says no dairy, primal is okay with it

[primalrob]

the primal blueprint--as invented by mark sisson--is low carb compared to the standard american diet. it's not atkins/southbeach low carb, but mark's recommendations for carbohydrates land in the 50-150 grams per day range. that said, there are plenty of people on this forum who eat plenty of primal/paleo carbohydrates, like sweet potatoes, and do just fine.

dairy is also part of the primal plan. that is one of the differences between primal and paleo. we're a little less strict.

[jfreaksho]

Primal isn't necessarily low-carb, but it can be. It's usually lower carb than most people eat. You can have lots of sweet potatoes and squash and other starchy carbs and still be primal.

Dairy, like white rice, is in a gray area, where some people react differently, and you have to gauge how your body reacts in order to decide if you want to keep it or not.

[maelynn]

You've completely cleared up the confusion. I was confusing paleo (also new to me) and Primal and somehow missed the difference as I'm reading through the copious amount of material trying to learn more. THANK YOU!!!

[RichMahogany]

Primal isn't necessarily low-carb, but it can be. It's usually lower carb than most people eat. You can have lots of sweet potatoes and squash and other starchy carbs and still be primal.

Needed to be said twice. Emphasis added.

[TheFastCat]

The Primal way of eating (only part of the Primal blueprint) DOES advocate a low carb diet that avoids starches like sweet potatoes. Many people on the forum ignore this which is fine. The PB is just a blueprint, not a gospel.

Low carb != zero carb or very low carb

the way of eating is keteogenic (majority of energy derived from gluconeogensis of protein/fat) which primes the pump for intermittent fasting, lowered blood glucose levels which is a very large part of the Primal Blueprint -- the modelling of the ancesteral metabolism which we are designed for.

Yes Mark Sission advocates a low carb diet - I've heard him, in person, advocate a low carb diet -- the PB advocates a low carb diet. He even goes so far to insinuate that the average person should avoid tubers, rice except for athletes. He had a quote along the lines of "Sweet potatoes are okay -- good luck on that marathon you are eating them for".

Paleo is not, by nature, a lower carb diet, Primal is.