How to Paleo

So in our second part is an overview of how we roll with Paleo

Foods to avoid.

The Paleo Diet advocates the avoidance of three main groups of foods:

·         Grains: any wheat products, such as bread, pasta, couscous etc. These all contain gluten, which can damage the gut. It is thought that far more people than just those diagnosed with Coeliac suffer from gut damage and related issues due to gluten intake. These foods are also very high in carbohydrate, resulting in release of large quantities of insulin.

·         Legumes: these are mainly in the form of beans, but also include peanuts. They contain chemicals in the skin called lectins. These lectins, while deactivated by cooking (which is why you have to cook beans for so long), can cause damage to the gut, similar to that caused by gluten. These foods are also often a concentrated source of carbohydrate.

·         Dairy products: as well as many people being naturally intolerant to lactose, the main sugar in milk, these foods also produce a rapid insulin response, leading to rollercoaster blood sugar levels.

·         Processed foods: pretty much anything that comes in a packet. These foods almost always have high carbohydrate and calorie loads, as well as little nutritional benefit, and very often contain gluten or other gut irritants.

Avoidance of these foods will not only reduce your exposure to potentially harmful substances, it will also remove from your diet a lot of empty, nutrient-poor calories and insulin-spiking carbohydrates. While not a low carbohydrate diet as such, eating in this fashion will generally limit the amount of carbohydrates taken in, as well as ensuring that the food that you do take in is loaded with beneficial nutrients.

What to eat

The best description of what to eat comes from CrossFit founder Greg Glassman’s World Class Fitness in 100 words:

 “Eat meat and vegetables, nuts and seeds, some fruit, little starch and no sugar.”

To put it another way, eat it if you can kill it or dig it up. The basis of this diet is protein from meat and fish, carbohydrates from fruits and vegetables, and beneficial fats such as those found in avocadoes olive oil, nuts and seeds. Eating this way will ensure maximum concentration of nutrients, since these foods are in their natural state and have lost little of their nutrients through processing.

A typical day’s eating would look something like this:

·         Breakfast: bacon, eggs, apple;

·         Lunch: large salmon salad, olive oil and lemon juice dressing;

·         Afternoon snack: cup of blueberries, handful of almonds;

·         Dinner: steak, baked sweet potato, broccoli, carrots;

·         All washed down with gallons of the water you are probably already drinking.

From this illustration it is easy to see that rather than your meagre 5-a-day, you are taking in far more vitamins and minerals, vital in recovery, repair and disease prevention. Everything eaten is very dense in nutrients, and while it may appear high in protein, this has the twin benefits of giving you extra building blocks to recover from training and keeping you feeling fuller for longer. The carbohydrates all come from the fruit and vegetables, which are a much less dense source than grains or legumes, leading to a smaller increase in insulin secretion, and consequently steadier energy levels and fewer craving for sweet foods. Eating this way will also act as a type of natural appetite suppressant; since processed foods are often devoid of nutrients they often leave the body wanting more food, while eating whole foods with all their nutrients intact will lead to greater satiety as the body gets what it need from these foods.

That, in a nutshell, is the Paleo Diet. Hopefully this has outlined the many advantages of eating this way. What is also important to bear in mind is that it is not a religion, just a sensible method of eating, based on the way our bodies were designed to eat. Eating this way, in line with the way we have evolved, will enable you to function, train and recover better than ever, with stable, elevated energy levels and reduced risk of disease.

Next Part 3…More details of taking ‘die’ out of diet and what to eat.

Chris Chapman aka M&Ms aka MisterC 

Welcome to CrossFit Reading’s first Nutrition post with our resident nutritionist Chris Chapman, aka M&Ms aka MisterC. Chris holds a First Class Honours degree in Nutrition, and is currently completing his PHD as well as working as a freelance nutritionist.  

Relevently, Chris is also a CrossFitter, so we are very happy to listen and share in his knowledge as well as go to him in our endevours for some more personalised nutritional guidance.

So, to kick things off, and as an intro to what will be regular nutrition postings on our website and, as a lead up to Team CFR joining in the Paleo Party next month, here is the first of two parts on an introduction to the Paleo Diet.

The Paleo Diet

Part 1: The basics – What is Paleo?

The Palaeolithic Diet (Paleo diet) stems from pioneering work in the USA by, amongst others, Professor Loren Cordain. The basic premise, is that the human body, and more particularly its ability to metabolise food, has not kept pace with changes in our diet.

What this means in practice, is that we have developed, and are eating food our bodies cannot deal with, and in many cases these foods are actually doing us harm. The most commonly-cited example of this is gluten, a protein found in wheat products such as bread and pasta. In conditions such as coeliac, this protein can damage the lining of the gut, causing not only gastrointestinal symptoms such as bloating and diarrhoea, but also reduced absorption of nutrients and increased chances of bacterial infections.

One of the main principles of the Paleo way of eating is that of insulin control. Insulin is the hormone which the body releases to help metabolise glucose, the main carbohydrate fuel. While certainly useful for moving carbohydrate and protein into muscles to help them repair and refuel, insulin also promotes fat storage, while consistently elevated levels of insulin are linked to such conditions as Type 2 Diabetes and heart disease. When you eat a meal high in carbohydrate, the body releases high levels of insulin, causing a sharp drop in blood sugar, resulting in feelings of fatigue. With these in mind, it is easy to see why controlling insulin levels can be beneficial.

The Paleo Diet advocates avoiding modern foods and returning to an ancestral diet, such as the foods which archaeological evidence tells us our ancestors ate. This is the diet we are designed to eat, and one from which our bodies can derive the maximum benefit.

The main benefits of this diet include:

·         Increased intake of vitamins and minerals, vital in repairing the damage caused by intense training;

·         Greater muscle gain, coupled with fat loss;

·         Reduced likelihood of heart disease, metabolic syndrome and related conditions;

·         Higher, more consistent energy levels due to more stabilised blood sugar;

·         Faster recovers from training;

·         Reduced cravings for sweet/sugary foods.

Come back soon for part 2...