Top 8 Most Common Reactions to Your Grain-Free Diet (and How to Respond)
As I’m sure you’ve seen, eyes raise and questions arise when you order a burger wrapped in lettuce or discard a “wrap” and eat the contents. And then, when you answer with ”Oh, I don’t eat grains,” minds boggle and mouths gape as they stumble to grasp the notion of someone who doesn’t eat bread or pasta. Eventually, though, they fire off responses, challenges, questions, and proclamations. This isn’t right, this isn’t possible, this doesn’t agree with their idea of how people should eat. It just isn’t normal. You’re not normal, and you should be ashamed of yourself for introducing a new paradigm. But not all are personally offended by your decision. Some are honestly curious and flabbergasted. Some just want to know why someone would give up grains and how they get along without them.
So, what kind of stuff do we hear out there in the wild?
Rather than just linking to yet another MDA post, maybe on why grains are unhealthy or how to give them up, let’s take a look at the eight most popular and prevalent questions and then try to come up with some good responses to them. I’ll give both longer ones and succincter ones (that you can fire off in an elevator).
“Oh, is that a low-carb thing?”
While grains represent an easy, cheap source of carbohydrates (that most sedentary people simply don’t need), they also contain “anti-nutrients,” proteins and lectins and other nutritional factors that impair digestion, perforate the intestinal lining, increase inflammation, and can even exacerbate or (possibly) induce auto-immune diseases. Since the purpose of life is to reproduce and that grain has to make it into the ground to germinate and turn into a plant, grains don’t want to be eaten, and they use the anti-nutrients to dissuade consumption in lieu of the running, climbing, flying, crawling, biting, and stinging that animals use to survive.
Response: “Kinda, but it’s more than that. In order to survive and spread their genes, a grain uses anti-nutrients to dissuade animals from eating them. Some animals have adapted quite well, but humans haven’t, so I choose not to eat them.”
“I could never give up bread. And aren’t grains the staff of life?”
For the past several thousand years of human history, bread has been a staple food. The ancient Egyptians baked it. The Greeks and Romans made it. You probably grew up with it. It was – and is – cheap and filling. Today, because billions simply need calories from wherever they can get them, grains are the ticket, the “staff of life.” But it’s not like we’ll wither away into nothingness, all because we failed to heed the biological dietary necessity to eat grains ordained by some higher power. Grains aren’t the staff of life in an inherent sense, but rather because they’re cheap, reliable, and easy to work with. They provide calories and a modicum of nutrients to people who absolutely require those calories, regardless of any nutritional downsides. Having joint pain and bloating because you ate some whole wheat, while unpleasant, is better than dying of starvation because you refused it.
Response: “An unfortunately large number of people are forced to subsist on grains as a staple, because they’re cheap and plentiful and calories are scarce, but that doesn’t mean it’s the best way to eat. Grains aren’t necessary if you have access to plenty of fresh animals and plants.”
“Where do you get your fiber?”
As if only cereal grains contain non-starch polysaccharides. As if all the world’s inulin, pectin, chitin, beta-glucans, and oligosaccharides are found solely in wheat, barley, rye, rice, oat, and corn. As if some of the richest sources of soluble fiber – you know, prebiotics, or the kind that our gut bacteria can ferment and convert into metabolically-active short chain fatty acids – aren’t fruits, roots, nuts, and green vegetables. And, as if the richest sources of insoluble fiber – the metabolically-inert stuff that pretty much nothing can digest and which serves only as a bulking agent for improving the robustness of our bowel movements – aren’t whole grains.
Response: “I get my fiber from fruits and vegetables. Best of all, our gut bacteria can actually digest the fiber from fruits and vegetables, thereby producing short chain fatty acids that improve our metabolic health. Grain fiber is just a bulking agent that fills your toilet bowl.”
“What about the USDA food pyramid?”
What about it? Take a look around you. The obesity rate is the highest it’s ever been, and almost everyone who’s not obese is “just” overweight. Diabetes is on the rise. People live out the end of their lives relying on a complicated cocktail of pharmaceuticals and medical apparati just to eke out a few more years. All this, despite the majestic, all-powerful USDA dietary recommendations informing everything we put into our collective mouths. How’s that USDA food pyramid working out for us so far, I’d like to ask. I’m not necessarily assigning a causative role to the pyramid (though it certainly plays a role, in my view) in the obesity epidemic. I’m just saying that it has done absolutely nothing to stanch the rise of diet-related illness. I’m saying it doesn’t have a real impressive track record.
Response: “Since the USDA food pyramid was released in 1992, the obesity rate has increased unabated. What about it?”
“That must be terribly inconvenient. What do you eat for breakfast? What about sandwiches? What about dining out?”
Well, you see, all you gotta do for a bread-free sandwich is spread a little mayo on your right hand, some mustard on the left, and pile on the avocado, the deli slices, and the tomato slices in between. Easy as pie. Seriously, though, I don’t get this question. Have these people never heard of bacon and eggs? Omelets? A steak and salad? Do they think a sandwich is indivisible? That once you place the final slice of bread atop the meat, lettuce, and cheese the sandwich can never be altered, that you physically cannot pry the bread off the innards? Have they ever even witnessed the creation of a sandwich? Are they going to weird fascistic restaurants that force you to consume the bread and pasta? I just don’t get this one. I really don’t.
Response: “Just take off the bread and eat the other stuff. Bam.”
“Everything in moderation, I say. I don’t like to deprive myself of anything.”
Ah, yes, the eminent voice of reason. “Everything in moderation”, they say. Trans-fat? Bring it on, or else it’s deprivation! Margarine? Slather it on my veggies! Must not deprive! Arsenic? Sure, I’ll have a bite! Why not? That said, I’m just not seeing where the deprivation comes in. I fail to see how not eating a food that leads to poor health, digestive upset, and bloating is somehow deprivation. You could say that I’m technically depriving myself of feeling like crap by not eating grains, but that’s a good kind of deprivation. If you want to be quite literal, eating grains deprives you of a full, healthy existence.
Response: “When I eat grains, I feel terrible, bloated, and not like myself. The way I see it, I’d be depriving myself of a full, rich, healthy, happy life if I were to eat grains in moderation. Besides, do a rib-eye, some buttered broccoli, and a glass of red wine sound like deprivation to you?”
“I’ve been eating grains all my life and don’t seem to have a problem.”
You may not have an obvious problem now, but that’s only because you’ve grown accustomed to your body and it to your diet. The signals of discomfort are dulled, and the intensity of the pain has reduced. You’ve gotten used to the stomach upset, the intermittent bouts of diarrhea. You know how all those “things just happen” as you get older, a view that is reinforced when you see the same thing happening to everyone else around you (all of whom also happen to eat grains)? How you start going downhill at 40, it becomes hard to lose weight, all that stuff. Spend some time looking at what everyone is eating – grains, grains, and more grains – and you might notice a connection.
Response: “I felt the same way until I tried ditching them for 30 days. All those little niggling aches and pains and complaints that I figured were just an inevitable aspect of life have disappeared. I feel better than ever.”
“Where do you get your minerals?”
Although whole grains may look nutrient-dense, simply looking at the mineral content of a whole grain on a nutrition website tell you very little about how your body absorbs (or doesn’t absorb) those minerals. Remember those anti-nutritional factors present in most whole grains? Another one is called phytic acid, which binds to minerals in the grain and prevents their absorption in the gut. Calcium, zinc, magnesium, iron, and several others are susceptible to the lure of phytic acid, and research shows that cultures who rely on grains for the bulk of their macronutrients and micronutrients display deficiencies in these and other minerals.
Response: “Since they’re bound up to phytic acid, the minerals in grains aren’t really even all that bioavailable to your body. What you see listed on the nutritional facts isn’t what you’re actually absorbing and assimilating. I get my minerals from plants, fruits, and animals, which our bodies can actually absorb.”
Whenever you deviate from the norm, people are going to ask questions and try to challenge you. That’s fine and totally understandable. Remember – there was a time when all this Primal stuff sounded crazy to you, too. We are different. And people are going to react. They’re going to be defensive, inquisitive, accusatory, or all of the above. Try not to be defensive yourself. Try to maintain composure and think back to when the idea of giving up grains was utter madness, take a nice diaphragmatic breath, and respond. This is a time to educate, and perhaps even inspire. Utilize it.
I know I didn’t cover everything. I must have missed more than a few. So, readers, tell me: what else do people say when you tell them you don’t eat grains, and how do you respond?
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Posted By: Mark Sisson
This is great thanks!
Fabulous article. I really enjoy your writing!
All my little aches and pains, especially in my joints went away when I ditched grains (including beer). I used to really feel changes in barometric pressure in my right knee (old lingering injury). No longer. My joints are happy and fluid.
I read your comment in Ron Burgundy’s voice.
That makes two of us
Me too! Please post more, it tickles.
lol
I love Paleo Ron Burgundy….he makes me smile
I agree with you, Ron. I have arthritis and my right LCL would be sore after playing basketball, and my right knee would always stiffen up. Since ditching grains, those pains go away soon after playing, instead of 2 days after. One night after playing ball, my girlfriend made me a bowl of pasta, my 1st in 3 months after going Primal. The next day, my right knee was swollen, and people who barely knew me at work asked me why I was limping. No need to convince me!
Stay classy.
I went primal (mostly…baby steps) around the same time I started running barefoot; I actually found this site looking for info on vibes. When my years-old nagging knee injury went away, I attributed it to the change in my stride taking pressure off my knee, but now I’m thinking there could be more to it.
took me a good three breaths in and out to work out what the heck vibes were? I had visions of you on an adult web site looking at… well… you know… my brain did a stop rewind change gears sound, and then I finally realised you meant vibrams… I thought I was in an alternate universe for a sec. EEK.
You stay Primal, San Diego
http://notsofastfoodtruck.com/
Omg, that looks AWESOME! With all the food trucks here in LA, there must be one or two like that!
There’s one here in Denver, too, called Caveman Cafeteria.
Once upon a time I was able to accurately predict the coming of any precipitation two days in advance through pain in my leg from an old injury. After cutting grains out my diet I have unfortunately lost that ability. Although I now walk without a constant limp and the rest of my body is happy. Pros and cons.
i love your pic… you are hilarious… and you didn’t post anything that is funny… but reading it like ron burgandy would say it is super hilarious
These are perfect answers – concise and educational, but not snarky. I passed your post on to my fans. Those who don’t eat grains will have these handy when the inevitable questions come up and those who still do can ponder why.
Thanks!
I now use something I heard Matt Lalonde say. To paraphrase: “I do my best to eat foods that are low in toxins, low in inflammatories, and dense in nutrients”.
Tough to dispute that statement.
Good post. I find the answers just a bit *too* didactic, though. I don’t quite go for the mind your own business of EG and others, below, but tend to say (which is true): I’m intolerant to gluten and lactose, and allergic to shellfish, eggs and casein.
I figure I’m in Mark’s choir, but other people might not want the lesson.
On another note: Mark said, ‘Do they think … that once you place the final slice of bread atop the meat, lettuce, and cheese the sandwich can never be altered, that you physically cannot pry the bread off the innards?’ To be honest, I’ve been served sandwiches just like this! The ‘emergency solution’ to bad catering (pulling the inside of the sandwich out) sometimes doesn’t work with soggy, stale white bread sandwiches.
P.S. I’ve been having trouble leaving comments because I’ve taken up Mark’s challenge not to be on the computer after 7:00 pm!
I normally say something like “Mind your own goddamned business,” but that’s just me.
Haha!
Yes, I have a similar response, although I am a little more polite.
Yep. IMO it’s pretty f#@%ing rude to harangue people about what they’re eating or not eating, and I don’t consider it my job to try to convince people to eat primal.
When I first went Primal, I felt SO GOOD, that I wanted to spread the word and told anyone who I thought would listen about my discovery of the PB. That resulted in frustration (on more than my part). I have learned that some people do not want to be healthy and even feel amazing if it means drastic change.
So, even though I want to tell my (terribly) allergy-suffering co-workers that their symptoms will abate if they stop allowing inflamatory food into their systems, they will think I am a nag, not helpful. So, I just feel sympathetic and keep my mouth shut.
I hear you. Whats hard for me is hearing coworkers talk about their children’s allergies and hearing them talk about upchucky cheese and/or McDiabetes in the same sentence. I had horrible allergies as a child, even as a baby I threw up constantly. I can only imagine what might have happened if I’d been fed a low sugar, grain free, seed oil free diet like I feed my kids today (with occasional exceptions). But the sad truth is that cooking from scratch means hamburger helper and cake from a box for lots of folks, certainly where I am. And my shaming them isn’t going to make them change, only make them thing I’m a jerk. So I just keep on living well and those who ask get a taste. Those who ask for more, get more. Though I have a hard time not being snarky, for a while my favorite response to ‘how did you lose all that weight?’ was: ‘I have a fifteen foot tapeworm. Her name is Martha.’
-Tim
I know what you mean.Change is hard.Some people are not willing to do something hard.Some people just want to carry on the way they are and pop the pills.What annoys me,is when they want sympathy for their ailments.I find it hard to be sympathetic to someone who sin’t willing to even try something new.
Thanks for the helpful suggestions. When I first converted I was very defensive especially around my low fat, more grain friends.
Some of those friends try to sabotage my eating style with temptations or simply make a back-handed comment about just what I’ll eat when going through a buffet line behind me.
I have learned to ignore them and eat what is available as a way to show them, I’m not going hungry – that’s for sure!
Thanks, Mark! My parents think I’m crazy and lecture me about fiber all the time. I wish I could get them off the grains. They tease me and think this is just “a phase”. *sigh* I worry about their health.
Sad thing is, they are worrying about yours too. It’s all about what research you hear/believe/trust.
+ 1
My parents also lecture me with their superficial knowledge because they are “worried”. (Honestly, I don’t get how you can be worried about somebody who is medication- and pain-free for the first time in years and feeling better than ever…)
Plus, they are completely stubborn. After all explaining failed, I started to mention studies which are as fake as the whole page here according to them. Full stop. Sometimes the wording “Growing up is when parents start to become stressful” just IS a perfect match…
Yes, parents. I am in the process of converting them and this was exactly the post I needed. Even bought them the blueprint for their anniversary. Thanks Mark.
Yeah, my parent’s were worried about my saturated fat and cholesterol intake for a while… But after I got my dad to take a look at MDA, he’s become a believer. He is actually thinking about trying the primal thing, but is a bit worried about how the increased fat intake will affect his pancreatitis.
I feel ya on this… similar situation here
Don’t you just love being lectured about your health by your very unhealthy in-laws or parents because you look too thin (more like your not fat enough – like them)and do weird stuff like not eat grains or partake in sugar overdoses. Even as their kidneys fail and they pop another round of medication they still manage to tell how we should eat & live.
+1 for this! I hate it when people say I look too thin – actually due to my muscle mass, I’m nearer the higher end of the okay BMI range. And every time I see family I haven’t seen in a few months, they ask me if I’ve lost weight. Um, no. If I had lost weight every time you asked me that, I’d be dead by now. Sorry you have the image of me, 35lbs. fatter, inexorably etched in your mind.
We have, as a society, completely lost sight of what a ‘normal’ weight is. We think it is 15lbs heavier than it really is. I ignore people who say I look ‘too thin’ – and they are always at least 20lbs overweight.
I just remind them that everyone else is simply getting fatter – and I am staying the same weight year after year. That’s why I look thin.
I just wanted to let you know that I laughed out loud when I read “if I’d lost weight every time you asked me that, I’d be dead by now.”
I’m in my 40s, and over my adult lifetime have gone from a size M to an S. My jeans size has decreased to ’0′ over the years. And I have weighed exactly the same the entire time! Anyone else notice the shifting clothing sizes?
oh anthony! i feel you! i get the “you’re too skinny” debate every time i go to a family dinner. i just take a deep breath, smile, and remember i am leading by example.
I hear you Alison! I am absolutely amazed at how our society’s perception of a “healthy” weight has shifted upward and what was “overweight” a couple of decades ago is now considered “normal”.
What is the saying about you can’t fly with the eagles when you are scratching around with the turkeys? I hope you know what I mean, but you can’t let others – even our dear old families who always know what’s best for us, right? try and bring us down to their level. These types of people are happiest when others are as miserable and unhealthy as they are. Misery loves company & I don’t mind being on my own.
Oh man, try having Italian in-laws. If you don’t have a protruding gut, dark circles under your eyes and groan with every move you’re malnourished.
Hahaha, very well said!
Yep. Just happened last weekend.
When someone exclaims, “Oh, you’re too thin!”
I always want to say (but don’t), “No. You’re too fat. Rude, right?”
Because, if you think about it, someone saying “You’re too thin!” is JUST as impolite; it’s a criticism on someone’s body. And even if it’s said out of concern, being overweight is cause for concern, too.
Or am I just mean?
Nicole, I have lived with the derogatory “you’re so thin” my entire life! (almost 50) I too have always wanted to reply “you’re so fat” in a pleasant voice and see the response. But you’re right, rude. I have just come to the conclusion that overweight people don’t think they are the ones overweight. Really listen to them some time. They will talk about other unhealthy people but not include them selves, it’s just denial. So consider the source and say “thank you” and if you can walk away. They will get the message, and if not it’s their problem.
A diet high in insoluble fiber can actually cause colon cancer, the fiber is like eating sticks & twigs that beat up the delicate 1 cell thick layer of epithelial cells lining the colon.
Fiber has much the same damaging effect on colon epithelium as sugar does in arterial endothelial cells which is why high blood sugar & high carb diets & intakes are bad. Cardiologist Dr. Dwight Lundell in his podcast interview with Jimmy Moore says high blood sugar is like taking a wire brush or sandpaper to the 1 layer thick endothelial cell lining of your arteries every time you eat carbohydrates which causes massive E cell & arterial damage.
Dr Lundell says the arteries of every patient he operated on had all the classic signs of inflammation; redness, swelling & heat. Now imagine that same process happening in your colon every time you eat insoluble fiber foods, not good.
Chronic fiber intake causes chronic cell damage which causes chronic inflammation which causes chronic cellular hypoxia which in turn can cause cell death & tissue necrosis & bowel death requiring a surgical resection if you’re lucky, and cancer if you’re not.
There is plenty of research showing that the people that eat the most fiber get the most colon cancer. Refer your parents to Konstantin Monastyrsky’s website gutsense.org & his book FIBER MENACE and the review by the Weston Price Foundation, just google FIBER MENACE you’ll see the Weston Price review in the search results.
I’m with you 100% on that.
Excellent points. I read a Yahoo(ey) article on Gibb’s death from colon cancer which suggested that it was odd for him to have contracted that disease as he was vegan. (I may be wrong but I assume grains & possibly soy were heavy in his diet.) They also threw in the “link” to read meat and colon cancer. How frustrating. I can only hope more people come to realize the detriments of a grain-heavy diet, both for themselves and in regard to larger ecological issues (GMO’s, monoculture, etc.)
Suggest they eat more fat. If you eat more fat, you don’t need all that fiber to “stay regular.”
hope you don’t mind I showed this to all my friends… great comment!
Im glad to see other people posting about the whole fiber thing. I eat what is mostly a carnivorous diet. Just have never been a veggie fan and I am more regular now than ever. At the risk of being TMI I am perfect on the Bristol Stool Scale http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bristol_Stool_Scale lol the thigns you learn about yourself when you go paleo
True… but I’m pretty sure our intestinal walls are a bit more than one cell thick or else there’d be no room for immature gut cells & stem cells.
The only good news is most paleolithic veggies had way more fiber than selectively-bred neolithic veggies, so we’ve evolved to deal with a little fiber………. so long as the gut is 100% healthy.
I have the same problem. Specifically with my mother. She went on the offensive (both senses of this word) recently by sending me multiple emails with links to Harvard studies about saturated fat and cholesterol. Many of them appeared to be funded by Moonsanto (misspelled purposely) too, oddly enough. I heard all about how terrible my ‘low carb diet’ is, how my kidneys must be groaning and my heart must be crying itself to sleep every night at my Tim foolery. All despite my stellar cholesterol numbers (60 HDL, 112 LDL, 176 total), nonexistent triglycerides, evaporated allergies, and the fact that I am on the verge of having a six pack for the first time in my life. (I’ve also had a creative awakening that has me making more and better things than ever before, I don’t know if it’s the omega 3s or what but I LOVE it)
That said, I realize there’s nothing I can do to sway her opinion. I can only continue to live well and look and feel amazing. Those who follow the opinion of credentialed authorities may very well take their brown rice and flax to the grave. We can’t save everyone and we won’t convince anyone by arguing with them and throwing our facts in their faces.
Even my diabetes educator thinks this is just (for me) a passing phase and I will not be able to live it as a life style…… although she did not have a hissy fit when I told her this was how I was living these days… she simply said IT WON’T LAST!
Excellent post! Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Once again, an article which answered all my questions!
My usual response to the inevitable “no grains? Oh, you poor thing! I could never give them up!” is something like “All that money I was spending on bread and pasta? Now I spend it on steak.” People seem willing to admit that this is a reasonable trade-off.
Yes!! I used to waste so much money on bread and cereal that would just get stale or moldy. Now I can afford grass-fed ribeyes! Mmmmmm…
I have to remember that steak comment for next time I hear, “that must be so expensive buying all those gluten free specialty foods.”
Usually I just look at them, add a dramatic pause, and say, “I don’t”
Totally. It boggles my mind all the gluten free garbage out there. My Aunt is a Celiac, my cousin is wheat intolerant and her daughter is a Celiac. However, rather than get calories from fat, they all eat rice flour gushing with seed oils and preservatives by the butt-ton. My kids eat bacon, eggs, sausage, grass fed beef, lamb and pork, ghee, butter, lard… I’d use tallow if I could but the organic farmer I get my beef from literally doesn’t believe that I want it. It’s hard just to get the lard and leaf lard (OMG, that stuff is amazing when rendered, the whole house smells like french pastry). I wish I could get some duck or goose fat but our local jewish community is small and keeps very much to themselves (understandably).
I have a lot of fat in the freezer from roasting the meat. I have chicken, duck, turkey, ham… When you roast a duck or goose, it sounds like bacon is frying from all the fat that comes off. My mother taught me a trick when I had fat left over from a Christmas goose. Take the roasted fat and extra fat or skin you might have reserved, put them in a saucepan with water. Let it simmer for 20 minutes. Let the pan cool (in a cold place is great). The fat will solidify at the top and the impurities will remain in the water.
The last time I made bone broth with a beef knuckle, I got a bit of tallow that I skimmed off. I save it in ice cube trays. I need it because my farmers’ grass fed hamburger is too lean. You can probably find another farmer that will sell tallow or suet. Certainly it is avail from US Wellness Meat.
Tim, I agree with the g-free garbage. I was told I’m a Celiac last August(or was it 2 Augusts ago?). I also have IBS. People usually comment, “You’re gonna get so skinny.” and I laugh at that, since there are still sugars, rice/potato/corn flours. I’m annoyed because I haven’t mastered what hurts and what helps my stomach. I’ve picked up some things from these posts, so thank you…but I’m still wondering how to find the best balance. I find I am hungry easy and a little bit light-headed when I try to ‘eat healthy/organic’. Any tips?
Hi Lauren,
I don’t know if you’ll ever see this but my wife had severe IBS symptoms, which we had assumed were due to her gall bladder removal surgery, but then they resolved about 90% after going to a paleo/primal diet philosophy, as did my asthma and my allergies. For the final bit of her IBS, we’ve been experimenting with removing dairy here, nuts there, etc. I think we’ve narrowed it down to nuts at this point but it’s an ongoing process. Take heart, work hard, be diligent, and I believe you can see an end to your symptoms or at minimum a significant reduction in their frequency.
-Tim
Good article. I workout four days a week and have been eating primal for a few months now. I’ve never been good at speaking so I’m just going to take my shirt off and show them them my six-pack and ask, “Are you really going to argue with this?” Then flex until they bow their heads in shame.
Exactly! Let the proof speak for itself! We all need to show people that this works…rhetoric will never work…unless they are asking about it…
hehehe. Love this. I usually wait until my friends/family tell me how great I look, then I tell them how I am doing it and how they could do it too if they wanted.
When they see results others are getting… That’s usually when the willful self-delusion becomes evident. Showing people a way out doesn’t do anything for the internal barriers that keep us from doing stuff that takes effort but would be good for us. I speak from experience…
tee hee hee, awesomeness
“show them them my six-pack and ask, “Are you really going to argue with this?”
Ha-ha! That is EXACTLY why I took the final Primal plunge. I looked at the images of Mark on MDA and said: “I’m not going to argue with a fifty-seven year old with a six-pack.”
If we really want to new bring people into the primal fold, the LGN angle might be a more effective “in” to their CW-chained brains than any nutrition lectures.
Reminds me of a muscleheads cartoon I saw years ago of of an ab-roller salesman trying to sell it to a group of bodybuilders. The bodybuilder has pulled up his singlet to reveal a 6 pack and asks: Tell me again why I should buy your product?
When your good health and shape is all evident, it should be explanation enough.
Love this!
*applause* LOVE IT.
“Just take off the bread and eat the other stuff. Bam.”
Just eat meat and veggies, bam.
Just go outside and do stuff, bam.
im going to end every sentence today with bam.
Hahahahabamhahahaa
Bam is the buzzword of my sentence ending relative to short primal explanations. Nevertheless, I do start with the six-pack flash and flex. So it goes like this (e.g.): Flash & Flex Six-Pack, Do this and that for 30 days…wait for it…BAM! (No, really now, the BAM gets now “wait for it, in most cases at least.)
Irrespective of the jolly comment I above, what is really hard is trying to argue your case to those who, as Mark posited, have accustomed themselves with the small discomforts produced by eating non-ancestrally (or even non-primally – which is more permissive)since such individuals always counteract with saying that they eat everything I do and also those other non-paleo/primal foods (in moderation some add) and they feel in order. They say that the post-40 gradual health decrease that is to come is just a natural evolution (or rather devolution, as I see it) of the human cycle of life. Plus, they also throw in the bad genes inheritance argument and will by no means accept that one can reprogram his genes solely with individual efforts.
Bam. I love it Mark. Eating like a king, feeling fantastic. Stick to your grains and your ailments if you like and I’ll stick to what’s working for me. Pow!!
When my Gran had a nervous breakdown in the 1930s the doctor prescribed Arsenic, a pint of Guinness a day and sitting in the garden. She was going strong into her nineties, so it can’t be all bad!
Hahahaha
Brilliant, now thats a doctor
Dear Mark,
You’ve unaccountably missed out the classic,
‘Shouldn’t you eat a balanced diet that includes all the major food groups?’
isn’t that the food pyramid question?
There’s a variation that goes, “I just don’t think it’s healthy to cut out an entire food group…”
It’s kind of the “all things in moderation” argument plus the “food pyramid argument” plus a big dose of self-righteousness.
You may have guessed, I hear this one a lot from my friends.
I respond, wheat is not a food group, it’s a carbohydrate/anti-nutrient. Try 30 days without it and see how much better your digestive tract feels. That was all it took for me, no digestive problems since ditching grains almost two years ago. If I’m traveling through Europe and succumb to the temptation for fresh bread and croissants it only serves to remind me how poorly I feel afterwords and I’m back on the wagon.
I’ve heard it as a reason not to try dropping grains from someone who’s chronically ill with auto-immune problems. I do understand her not having the energy to change (I mean, how many new recipes did I try when I last had ‘flu?), but still… sigh…
My response to that is, “But grains aren’t really food. Not for humans, at any rate.”
And, when pressed, after “moderation” has been invoked, I say, “Given what they do to the human body–and to my body in particular–grains are a slow-acting poison. How do you eat poisons in moderation?”
That’s the exact comment I got from my vegetarian friend who came to my home for dinner.She brought wheat thins and hummus for appetizers.I told her I was avoiding wheat for now. “It’s bad to eliminate a food group. You need grains, etc..” She eats wheat and was tested for Celiac disease and was told she did not have the condition. She was thrilled, b/c she eats mostly pasta, cereals, etc. However, she has suffered for years with pre-osteoporosis condition. She is very thin and does chronic cardio too.
(I wanted to say: “Isn’t cutting out meat eliminating a food group?” but I left it alone…best not to argue with a cellular biologist PHD)
Alcohol is a type of fuel, therefore, a food group. It was very popular in the 19th century.
I have no idea how long it’s been offerred, but Jimmy John’s here in Minnesota (basically a sob shop) offers an “unwich” version of all their sandwiches. Progress!
My local cheese steak cart will give me a ‘south beach special.’ It was Atkins, South Beach & c. that gave us widely available bunless burgers. Mad respect.
I ordered a roast beef sandwich last night with out bread. The server cameback and asked me how the kitchen should make the sandwich since there was not a “no bread button” on the computer register.
I smiled and said exactly the same way but instead of bread use two big pieces of whole lettuce. I could see her mind was blown.
I did a similar thing… Ordered the Cali-Chicken Sandwhich no bread… They came back with sliced chicken on a wrap… When I took the biscuit off my plate the server looked at me and said, “You said no bread, not no wrap.”
Sigh, it takes times.
I once ordered a burger with no bun at a pub near my office and the waitress started to walk away then turned back and said “Are you sure? No bread?” Then she came back from the kitchen a few minutes later and said, “The cook doesn’t know how to DO that!! He’s just a KID!” I kind of had no idea what to say for a minute then said, “The plate is the bottom bun… then just don’t put a top bun on..”
Hahahaha! So good!
“He’s just a kid” — hahah, like you’re doing something terrible to torture him! How could you, you monster!
This is interesting because where I live, I rarely have a problem with ordering food without bread, rice, etc. They say “OK” with a smile and keep it moving. I guess in Portland servers are used to people who are Primal, gluten-free, vegan, sugar-free, soy-free, or any combo.
In-N-Out Burger, a local favorite, serves “Protein Style” burger wrapped in lettuce, no bun. It’s on their not-so-secret menu.
Yes!!! The Jimmy John’s unwich is my favorite go to meal if I didn’t have time to prepare a lunch or I’ve been out running errands and need to fill my belly. They have a little piece of my heart for this.
This is good. Unfortunately when there’s such dogma involved in the old grain paradigm, no amount of facts, reason or logic will convince them. Even the amazing physical, tangible results that are manifested in front of their eyes won’t convince them. A lady I know says that people at her work think she purges because she lost so much weight eating “unhealthy, fatty foods”.
I agree completely here though. The trick is not to preach. The last thing you want to do is act like a snarky vegan. IF they ask, then tell them why you are doing it. But never go on a tangent telling them they are wrong for not eating Paleo. That’ll only turn people off.
My avatar is better!!!
Ha. It is. I agree.
When I told my GP I had gone GRAIN FREE she simply asked me if I was ensuring to take B vitamins
No worries there
I don’t usually get those. Of course most people I am with know that I lost (by choice lol) over 65 pounds, 7 years ago, had kept it off, and for the past 1-1/2 years started exercising. (Yes, it’s true, 80% of weight loss and health is diet, not human replica’s of mindless hamsters/gerbils on a tread-mill for hours! Nothing against hamsters/gerbils mind you…)
What I usually get is Why? and not a sarcastic, but truly inquisitive why. And since most people are familiar these days with Celiac “disease”, I start with the extreme and what they know and lead them along the path of knowledge.
You know the wheel running and grooming captive vermin exhibit is actually anxiety induced obsessive behavior…
When I tell people that I avoid grains for health reasons, they understandably assume I have Celiac. I tell them I don’t but that I do have a sensitivity to proteins found in grains such that grains make my arthritis hurt/flare up.
People then wonder if a doctor prescribed a grain-free diet for arthritis. I say no (they prescribed meds). That I found this on the internet and did a 30 day experiment. I also say that lost of people have a grain sensitivity and don’t even know it.
The people who have a chronic physical issue often say, “maybe I should try that” and sometimes they do- because chronic pain is something that makes people more willing to look outside the usual paradigm.
You know better people than I do! Instead of “maybe I should try that” I always end up with “Oh, I could never give up pasta and bread!”
So, most of the time I just lead with “gluten sensitive” and leave it at that. After all this time without any, it’s probably true. =D
The people with mild problems do say “oh I could never give up pasta and bread”. It’s the people with more severe problems who say “maybe I should try that”. Pain and loss of function makes them desperate and more willing to try something radically different.
Even people in pain do get nervous about life without lots of carbohydrate. Instead of trying to talk them into making two paradigm shifts at once, I bring up the non-grain sources of carbohydrate such as potatoes (white and sweet) and squash.
I wasn’t willing to try this experiment until I got desperate either. Joint pain drove me to it. So I am unsurprised when I find a correlation between degree of desperation and willingless to experiment.
When they say, “I could never give it up!” I say, could you try doing it for 30 days? Or even just two weeks? If you don’t feel better and start losing weight, you can go right back to eating it. Just try it as an experiment, and see what happens.”
Most people can’t bear the thought of giving up grains permanently, but if you turn it into a short-term challenge they might actually give it a go. And if they’re anything like me, they’ll feel so lousy when they go back to grains it will at least make them consider giving them up–if they don’t immediately decide “no more!”
When people tell me “Oh, I could never give up pasta and bread”, I just smile politely and say “I didn’t think I could, either. But, I feel so amazing and youthful again, I will never go back to eating grains.”
The word “youthful” seems to spark an interest in those who are skeptical. I know I sure did NOT feel youthful pre-Primal.
Thank you, Mark, for another terrific article!!
When my doctor recommended the paleo diet and I did my research, that was my original thinking… how unthinkable to give them up!
On the other hand, I was tired of the inflammation and post-meal crashes. I took it one meal/restaurant at a time.
2 months later, and I don’t miss it so much. In fact, I just had something from the patisserie recently, and regretted it for the next couple of days. I love my non-toxic and delicious food so much more.
I got sick and tired of well intentioned friends showing me and buying for me gluten free goodies at the supermarket. Those things are full of unhealthy ingredients. I would not buy food stuffs like that normally – why would I do it just because the label said GF? Tiz so much easier now I am totally grain free…..
Got a conference to go to shortly and I will take my own food parcel for lunch and dinner…… have no intentions of eating the GF stuff they will provide….. and I doubt the double camembert will be on the menu
My mother, who is 84, has been grain-free since last October. She has rheumatoid arthritis for 20+ years. Two months after we restricted her grains, her rheumatologist was amazed at her progress. No edema in her legs. Instead of 9-12 swollen finger joints, only 1!! And she lost 10 pounds. Her success caused him to recommend a grain-free diet to his other patients. There are a few open-minded MDs out there.
I love hearing that! I’m so happy for your mom. Life can get better, even as we age.
Wonderful!!!
Oops, “sUb shop”.
I actually liked it better the first way.
If I get “the look” then I explain that I too thought this was a silly gimmick at first (like some Dr Oz-esque “super food” diet deserving of an eye roll). Then I tried it for a week and looked better. I tried it for a month and felt better. Now, after more than a year of mostly Primal eating, I’ve lost over 30 lbs. I’m happy to explain what I do to anyone who asks, but I know what works for ME and if folks don’t like it, I don’t care. Haters gonna hate. Period.
Mark, I have to tell you that a friend of mine is an endocrinologist and after seeing my success, I sent her to your site in late January. I saw her the other day and she told me she has been telling patients to follow the diet/lifestyle on your site and has seen great results. Keep up the great work!
I’m signing up for school to get a Dietetic degree. I totally want to be the bastard child of dietitians. I’m going to be the dietitian whose patients actually lose weight, feel better, beat Type II without medication, etc.
I have been thinking of doing this too, I’m just not sure I could swallow all the CW, and then regurgitate it for the exams. Plus I’d probably get fired for all the counter-culture dietary advice I’d be giving. I’m still thinking about it though.
Same here.
My twins are finishing their one semester health class in high school, and since Dad has lost 55 lbs. doing the no-carb plan, they questioned a lot of the “healthywholegrains” dogma they were being taught. Teacher was not too supportive, saying that it’s risky and goes against when the experts say. Then I met her at an open house, and she looks like how I used to look…obese. They had little choice but to answer the tests the way the teacher wanted, and we eat low-carb at home. They get it.
I, too, was thinking of doing this. Even though I live in Chile they recognize certifications/degrees/training from other countries and then I would be allowed to open my health and wellness center which is something I’ve been dreaming of doing. The only thing: I need to find an accredited training program online.
I believe Robb Wolf and Sisson are working on thei own unique certifications.
There’s actually a place near where I live that has paleo dietitians and physicians. There’s my in.
I figure it might be hard to get a job as a contrarian nutritionist. Still, I want to do this. If I can’t get hired, I’ll start my own program from my basement. Just don’t tell the Feds.
That’s exciting to hear. I would totally be interested in an online MDA certification, especially if it somehow then allowed me to meet the CA cert requirements.
Sweet.
I plan to study similar subjects in college.
I also feel I will be forced to learn and be tested on much CW I don’t agree with, but I definitely hope when I am not under the thumb of CW education, I can attribute to the revolution
I was enrolled in a Bach of Dietetics and Nutrition, eating CW and fat. I thought I’d take advantage of everyone’s fat and disease and be assured of a job.
One year into my degree I had a lecturer suggest I “do some research” into the metabolism of carbs (wink wink nudge nudge…). I did and then I quit CW/Dietetics and Nutrition and re-enrolled in Bach of Science/Bach of Education. I will teach high school math science. Meanwhile for FUN I hang out on my own F-book Primal page, where I currently have 60 friends (yay) most of whom are losing weight at an astounding rate….
I find helping people find health as a “hobby” so rewarding…
I just couldnt do one more minute of CW study… it was KILLING ME!
Holy COW! That’s awesome… Endo’s have the reputation of being some of the hardest in the medical field to convince.
Hey, Mark! Love your stuff (and your bod, too). I just had a RD tell me that pizza is healthy! Had to laugh at that one. No more joint pain for me, and no more pizza either!
I agree, no more pizza for me………….buuuuuuuuut…I will have plenty of “meatza.” I learned this during my time on Atkins and is something I’ve kept in the arsenal.
Yeah, cauliflower crust pizza is good too.
please explain a cauliflower crust pizza!!!
Sounds…tempting to try and see if it actually tastes good 
not eating grains sure hasn’t stopped me from eating pizza! Just get creative with it.
http://www.recipegirl.com/2012/01/16/cauliflower-crust-hawaiian-pizza/
I was the one asking annoying questions and getting sidelong glances a few years ago. I get more questions abouf my five fingers than my diet, though. I just bought “Eat Like A Dinosaur” for my kid who starts kindergarten in the fall so he can have some understanding about why we eat the way we do. I “lol” inside when I start reading “we’re different because we don’t eat grains”, but I know he’ll be challenged. I almost went for homeschooling just so he wouldn’t be handed cookies and cupcakes every day like he was in preschool. Time will tell, but having these pearls of wisdom to spout off will certainly help plant some seeds in the big brain of CW.
That book was just recommended to me the other day for my daughter. Can’t wait to go get a copy of it. I’ve been fortunate that her preschool does not provide food unless you want them to, so I pack all her food for the day, and have been able to keep her mostly primal.
My daughter is 2.5 and obsessed with the PBS show, Dinosaur Train. I love how her favorite characters are the herbivores, and she’s nicknamed baby spinach leaves after the triceratops, Tank. At mealtime, she says, “Mommy, I want some Tank leaves, please!”
That and dinosaur kale. What a perfect name to get a kid to eat it.
Doesn’t hurt that she’s occasionally a carnivore, too!
We’ve kept her about 95% primal. We let her have Cheerios and a breakfast bar periodically. Its unfortunate that we can’t pack nuts for her to snack on at school–there are too many other kids with allergies.
The book is a bit carb heavy, and plays to kids’ love of sweet treats, so I have to remember that they are still for the kids, not me. There are plenty of great egg and meat recipes too, though, and a whole chapter on packing lunches.
His preschool wouldn’t allow packed lunches without a doctor’s note. We finally pulled him after it got so bad that he was having violent tantrums every two hours- tantrums that would only be calmed by having him eat a slice of bread. Thank goodness I found the resources to get him off grains, he’s so much healthier and happier now.
Yesterday, I ate out at a burger joint and noticed they had gluten-free bread. I hadn’t eaten a piece of actual bread in over a year and wondered how I would fare.Well…today I feel like crap. My muscles ache, and I feel groggy. Soooo I’m glad to be finished with that experiment!
More often than not, gluten free is an oxymoron. Per FDA there is a threshold for gluten that can be deemed as gluten free. Further more, even if the bread or dough, etc, were gluten free, most likely the kitchen is not.
Ironically certain states have tighter standards than the FDA. I read that JWU Culinary dept. plans to build a gluten free lab/kitchen.
Even if it is totally 100% gluten-free, it may still be a hot mess. I’ve found some gluten-free items that are loaded with starches, sugars, and chemicals. Kind of like the ‘fat-free’ cookies that have more sugar and junk than regular ones!
The bulk of the questions I get are about whether this lifestyle is healthy for my daughter (5 years old). I usually remind people that she is the child who is NEVER out of school sick (has missed one day due to illness since she started preschool three years ago). I get comments all the time about how healthy and calm she is, compared to her sugared-up classmates. The results speak for themselves, I guess.
I’m working on shifting my 2.5 year old now. Not an easy task (he is giving me fits) I’m only a week in though, hopefully he’ll come around.
I’ve got a 2 1/6 year old. Mac n Cheese! Pretzels! Gold fish! Cheerios!
Bacon! Baconbaconbaconbacon!!!
When I was vegetarian and had a toddler, even then made no sense that were were feeding our little kids cereal, crackers, a sandwich. Even then I realized it’s all the same, just packaged differently. Different shapes does not make it nutritionally diverse.
It will come, can you plant a garden for him? My grandson loves to help and eat the garden items. He loves grilled onions and red peppers, broccoli and steak. Yes he likes mac and cheese too so I make a cheese sauce all organic and as healthy of mac and cheese I can. Over all he never liked sweets and breads. maybe born primal?
At least you can use the Quinoa pasta for the mac part.
hey zack,
we made the switch when my son was 3, and my daughter was 1. There were a few challenges, since the boy loved his waffles and oatmeal, and raw veggies can be hard for an infant to get down. But there weren’t any other options in the house, and we tried not to make it a fight as much as possible. If he gets hungry enough, he’ll eat, and there are alternatives. We made some of the snacks from Elana’s Pantry, with alternative flours, to help ease the transition, but we don’t even do that much any more. Anyway, the main point of it all is kids will come around, and we’ve even been able to cut down on overall snacking for both kids now (they’re 2 and 4 now), because they seem to be fuller longer. Keep at it!
There’s no need to eat raw veggies.
Ugh! Mac’n'Cheese – the bane of my existence! Our daughter has been primal for a year now, she’s almost three. She has nearly forgotten about all the junkie food out there EXCEPT the blue box! You would think that stuff is made of toddler crack!
Amy’s pasta has a gluten free version of mac and cheese that tastes JUST like the blue box, but a bit less like chemicals. I keep it around for moments of my own weakness. Its great stuff. Maybe that would work for your kiddo?
Maybe. I am thinking about just giving in and buying some of the ludicrously priced “Paleo Pasta” – or possibly a pasta sold in the organic section of our grocer that’s made from brown rice – and trying out a homemade version. Real cheese, organic milk and cream, real butter. Knowing my kid though, she’ll probably hate it. Toddlers are incredibly irritating, lol.
Even as toddlers, my kids NEVER
turned down a steak. They tend to not want crap when they are full from tasty animals and plants
See, if she hates it, just tell her that means she doesn’t like mac and cheese anymore. “It’s baby food!”
… I’m kidding, but sometimes it’s tempting to put a certain spin on things with our toddlers, isn’t it??
This is exactly what I was looking for when you asked what we wanted in future posts. It’s my ‘elevator pitch’. This will be very helpful and may help me convert a few more friends!
Thanks Mark!
Jim
I tend to get the ‘oh, what diet are you on?’ question a lot. I hate that diet has become a word used to describe some weight loss regime opposed to ‘lifestyle’. CW thinks that a diet is a weight loss regime I guess.(?)
People seem to be even more confussed by that notion more so than why I don’t eat grains and other select foods.
I enjoy the opportunity to discuss with people the difference between a CW diet and a lifestyle [obviously centered around the paleo lifestyle]. People seem to become highly interested when we compare meals; everything from calories, fat, carbs, etc. to how the food was, or was NOT processed, to taste. My lunch of grass fed beef w/ some veggies and some fruit [or whatever I pack that day] is the trump card–it never looses.
Thanks for the post, Mark! and great comments!
RIght. A “diet” is a temporary nutritional change for temporary weight loss.
For people still baffled by this, I use an analogy: “A vegetarian isn’t somebody on a diet. That’s just how they eat. I’m the same way, only STEAK.”
I get asked that all the time too. “Are you still on your diet?” And then there are the people who just glare at me because I’m on a “diet” yet I’m thin and don’t need to lose any weight. I stopped answering.
I tell the diet people that I’m doing a lifestyle optimalization:)
I tell people I’m running an “experiment” to find out if something or other works (i.e., no dairy).
One question I had a couple times, which is not in the list, is: “Aren’t you gonna feel hungry very fast ?”
Considering I no longer felt snack cravings every two hours, that really took me by surprise. The proper way to answer should be along the lines of “As I do not eat grains anymore, I no longer subject my body to the insulin roller-coaster that makes you feel hyper after an hour, then tired and hungry after two hours. Besides, I found a duck filet roasted in its fat and a big bowl of steaming spinach drizzling in butter is plentiful enough for a full day’s worth of work.”
funnily, I don’t really ever get questions. I thought for sure I would this weekend at a festival when the only edible option was a lamb sandwich without the bun. “so just the meat, then?”, said the girl and she didn’t even raise a brow.
I have to question how fair it is to cast so much blame at the food pyramid (now MyPlate) when only about 3% of people actually follow it. Sure, people think they’re trying, but they fall sort. What’s one of the main areas of imbalance? Most people eat way more grains than recommended and way less vegetables and fruit. Most of those grains come along with extra sugar and vegetable oils and trans fats too.
Yes. Blame the food pyramid. Because doctors and dieticians are forced to learn it, and it affects what types of nutritional research gets funded, and what gets blacklisted.
Read Gary Taubes’ Good Calories, Bad Calories for an interesting history lesson on modern nutrition “science” & policy.
“and can even exacerbate or (possibly) induce auto-immune diseases”
My son has chronic urticaria, an auto-immune disorder which had him taking adult level dosages of steroids and other medicine (he’s 10). Going grain-free has cleared up his hives. When he’s eaten grains (pizza at a friends, bread when eating at a family member’s house) his hives come back.