To the Essay List
* To the Main Gluten Page * To the Symptoms List
The
Paleolithic Diet
The
basic idea of the Paleolithic Diet is to try to eat foods that humans evolved
or were created to eat. The theory is
that the human body is build to eat certain foods and to eat other foods is
risky at best. The “Eat
Me” Diet extends the Paleolithic Diet theory with the idea that certain
plants and animals are evolved/designed to be eaten. While at odds with the modern diets of all nations, the
Paleolithic Diet can do a good job of revealing the presence of food
intolerances in individuals.
Outline:
Foods to Eat:
Paleolithic
Foods/Eden Foods (before 10,000 years ago – pre-agriculture):
Foods
that are non-toxic when eaten without processing:
Meat,
fish, fowl, eggs.
The
leaves, roots, and fruits of many plants.
Tree
nuts that rely on animals for distribution
Foods to Avoid: (from not so good to really
bad, in no particular order)
Neolithic
Agricultural
Foods (after 10,000 years ago):
Dairy
foods and foods that require cooking or simple chemical treatment (soaking or
fermentation) to remove most toxic properties:
Potatoes,
cassava
The
seeds of plants that aren’t in symbiosis with animals, including beans, soybeans, peanuts,
cashews, and
grains (wheat, corn, barley, rice, sorghum, millet, and oats)
Industrial
Foods
(after 400 years ago):
Foods
that are the result of mechanical processing and handling:
Refined
flours, sugars, and oils, juices and extracts (most vital nutrition is removed)
Foods
bred specifically for mass handling, processing, transportation, and storage
Foods
eaten out of season
Modern
Foods
(after 50 years ago):
Foods
that are the result of modern chemical processes, which generally amplify or
introduce some toxic properties:
Hydrolyzed
proteins (including MSG)
Modified
starches
Hydrogenated
Fats (trans-fatty acids)
Synthetic
food additives
Foods
bred specifically for chemical content (low nutrient, high sweetness, long
shelf life, etc.)
To the Previous Essay * Back to the Essay List * To the Next Essay
Links:
“Introduction to the
Paleolithic Diet”, Dr. Ben Balzer, family physician
GREAT!: hosted on thepaleodiet.com: This is the technical paper that convinced
me to try the Paleolithic diet. And
when the diet made me feel better and my doctor couldn’t tell me why, this
paper helped me begin to understand gluten intolerance.
“Cereal Grains:
Humanity’s Double-Edged Sword”, Loren Cordain, Simopoulos AP (ed): Evolutionary
Aspects of Nutrition and Health, Series: World Review of Nutrition and
Dietetics, Basel, Karger, 1999, vol 84, pp 19–73.
Much Shorter: hosted on Celiac.com:
“Why So
Many Intolerant To Gluten?”, Luigi Greco, D.C.H., M.Sc.(MCH), M.D.,
Department of Pediatrics, University of Naples, 1995.
Google
Search on “paleolithic diet”.
To the Previous Essay * Back to the Essay List * To the Next Essay