The primal diet is freaking me out... page

[LockieKermit]

Im 16, I love my health and fitness...Ive been eating a bowl of oatmeal with milk, plain yoghurt and sultanas everyday for a few weeks now....Not to mention a turkey sandwhich for lunch...Even if the grains were bad, aparently fruit is also a no no? WTF - I have been eating atleast 2-3 pieces of fruit everday for years...

I eat an overall healthy diet with exercise but im totaly baffled...

It is, and ill say it again, Impossible for me to be constantly eating a Paleo diet, especially for lunch and at school.I could eat eggs and nuts in the morning, sure no problem.

Typically, A banana or some fruit would be the main mid day snack, then a whole grain turkey sandwhich with another piece of fruit for lunch. Snack after school - canned tuna or baked beans and whetever is for dinner (usually healthy)


I feel pretty good, infact, I feel fit, strong and healthy yet im slowly killing myself?


If grains are so bad, how come people in the mediterranian are on average living well into their 80s and WHOLE grains (not the processed crap) are a major factor in their diet...

Im not trying to disprove this whole Paleo life style but it just seems really unrealistic for most people to actually achieve, especially teens.
In my opinion, this whole Diabete, cancer early death epidemic is not so much the grains but the KFC, Mc Donalds, Pizza, Soft drink and the lack of exercise.

Thoughts?


My 2 cents

Lockie

[RezH]

You're overthinking. Grains are converted to sugar in the body. That is what you don't want. Grains do not have enough nutrition to be ingesting regularly. They are merely filler calories. I think the Med people would live even longer if they eliminated grains.

Have you read The Primal Blueprint?

[hutax]

First of all Primal is not Paleo, two similar but very different ways of eating. Second, The Primal Blueprint isn't a diet, it is a lifestyle. You need to read Mark's book "The Primal Blueprint" it has all the answers to your questions, backed by scientific studies. READ and you'll understand, it can't all be explained with a forum response.

[EGYnutrition]

You have a very misconstrued vision of what foods are allowed/not-advised on primal. On top of that, it's not impossible to do in high school or college. I did it in both.

Have you been to the Mediterranean? Because I have. I am from Egypt. All they eat is bread. And they SUFFER. The Mediterranean diet is a primal like diet that members of that society ate like YEARS AGO. It's nothing like that now.

You can have fruit. You can have ancient grains like quinoa, you can even have sprouted grains. But the old life-style of consuming a grain at every meal is going to have you end up like most Americans. You want a disease? You want to be fat? Go right ahead, but disease and obesity is a rarity here.

[batty]

http://www.marksdailyapple.com/definitive-guide-grains/

read that. come back when you have.

[Griff]

The only proof you'll get is observing what happens to you when you go Primal. I was at my wits' end when I started Primal and the weight just started falling off. My arthritis and my migraines disappeared (which my doctor says indicates either a wheat or gluten allergy and quite possibly both, so I avoid both on principle). My IBS disappeared. I am no longer in a wheelchair.

Grains are the root cause of these problems. But you'll have to do it for yourself to understand it.

[chickenbackside]

16?

Haha. Enjoy it while you can...

[Lovestoclimb]

Have you even seen what Pankration practicioners in Greece eat after training super hard? It's pretty much paleo, or in this case, mediterranean - no grains. And these guys are tanks.

My advice, read the book. No where does Mark state fruit is a no no. Also, eating primally is pretty easy at any time. It may just require some prep work and foresight on occasion.

[jo]

My advice would be to keep an open mind. It's great that you are challenging what you have heard, and you have raised your questions in a very polite way. Read around the subject, study the research and make your own decisions. We have all been raised to believe certain 'truths' about things, and if we can respectfully look at other people's points of view we will often learn something. There's nothing wrong with changing your mind in the light of better evidence, so you can review your choices at any time.

Welcome to the site. I suspect if you avoid processed foods generally you will be fine for a good few years.

[Grumpycakes]

It's hard for you to understand because you're too young for decades of excessive grains, fructose, PUFAs and preservatives to have caught up with you. The anti-nutrition of these foods takes a long time to build up in some people, but it is building up. I have a friend who was tall and skinny and athletic all through his childhood and teens, but once he hit his mid-twenties he started to develop a big, hard gut, inflamed joints, chronic illness of one kind or another, lethargy; the list goes on and on.