Paleo Diet

[Noumena]

I've found recently this website. It's host Alan Aragon is known expert in nutrition and fitness and he is known for criticizing the Paleo diet. I woder what the Sott team have to say about that. Below i've put a link to interview with this guy.

_http://paleomovement.com/alan-aragon-paleo-critic/

 

[Noumena]

Oh! An the link to his website.

_http://www.alanaragon.com/home

 

[Horseofadifferentcolor]

I am far from being an expert but here are the things I saw....

1." I’m also working on a book for the lay audience, and at this point I’m not too sure how much I can divulge about that. "

That means money


2." One thing that really bugged me was seeing potatoes (a whole, nutrient-dense food) on the list of banned foods set forth by pioneering Paleo diet researcher Loren Cordain. Talk about going full-potato!"

I can speak from a very personal experience in knowing that potatoes ,tomatoes and the like are highly inflammatory. I was ready to have my knees replaced and when I reduced/quit these legumes and it changed my life in a drastic way.

I can break it down farther but this is just a few examples of how good meaning folks can have things very wrong.

I have a vegetarian neighbor and she in own her words "I am soooo scared for your health eating this way(paleo). Meanwhile I have strong long hair, white teeth, and no broken bones. I also have seen pain and other conditions I have had my whole life pretty much vanish. Meanwhile she is always broken, loosing hair, and never thinks beyond emotional thought.

Their is a huge ton of research done on this site. It is available for all who come here free of charge. There is also many members who have gone amazing health transitions by following the paleo/keto diet.

 

[Arwenn]

Given that the research here has established that a keto diet rather than a Paleo diet is what is optimal, I guess the mods and crew would suggest throughly reading the Health and Diet threads. This guy seems to want to sell his information, which as pointed out above does not coincide with our research, all of which is freely available to the public.

 

[Mrs.Tigersoap]

Hi Noumena,

I see you have not posted on the forum for 4 years. Have you read the Diet and Health section recently?
I'm asking, because reading just a few articles on SOTT about diet or pages of the Diet and Health section would make it very clear why Aragon's views are biased.
Big Agra has been pulling all the stops against the paleo. They're restless because if a few people know that living grain-free (and dairy free, and sugar-free, etc.) is not only possible but beneficial, basically, it's the end of their business.

First of all, Aragon is criticizing the paleo while research on this forum proved that the keto diet is more beneficial. The paleo which is widely known on the net at the moment has nothing to do with the paleo that most people research here a few years back. People following this diet usually do not take into account lectins, inflammatory foods, etc. Some even eat dairy.

Then, notice the terms he uses, which are loaded: 'knee-jerk recommendation to avoid all grains', 'rigid' (it's not a knee-jerk, it's backed by studies and by extensive research and first-hand experiment by a very large number of people). He was also bugged that potatoes are out (if he's bugged, then potatoes are probably good for our health ). He's also a big believer 'in respecting your own personal taste preference' (well, if he's a big believer in that, we're convinced!!), so he knows nothing about cognitive sciences (nor candida), apparently.

Nothing impressive about his hit piece imo. Just totally in keeping with Big Agra's big manoeuvres to keep their business afloat.

 

[Carl]

This guy is talking nonsense, and the whole article just reads like one big hit piece against a straw man argument. The way I read it was:
"Don't worry, go back to sleep. There's no point in making drastic changes because that would just be so much effort, right? Ya'll get back in line, or else you'll be labelled an extremist!".

He also mainly goes after the most weak and fad-like aspects of this abomination that has become "Paleo" on the internet, where it is more about eating mountains of vegetables, cheese, and the occasional lean grass fed steak, than it is about seriously eating to heal on a cellular level.

Then, notice the terms he uses, which are loaded: 'knee-jerk recommendation to avoid all grains', 'rigid' (it's not a knee-jerk, it's backed by studies and by extensive research and first-hand experiment by a very large number of people). He was also bugged that potatoes are out (if he's bugged, then potatoes are probably good for our health ). He's also a big believer 'in respecting your own personal taste preference' (well, if he's a big believer in that, we're convinced!!), so he knows nothing about cognitive sciences (nor candida), apparently.

I know, right? Whenever somebody talks about following your personal tastes, not being too radical, and "eating in moderation", it's a sure sign they're stuck in their own little fairy tale.

 

[Oxajil]

I agree. This guy is so wrong, it's hard to know where to begin.

It’s logically faulty to just assume that pre-agricultural times were optimal in terms of nutritional circumstances, and general health circumstances, for that matter.

He assumes that people assume. Nora Gegdaudas and Sayer Ji, just to name a few, have backed it up with some pretty good research.

Some of the most significant technological breakthroughs for improving human health and preventing/treating disease occurred within roughly the last century.

Which probably explains the increasing number of all kinds of diseases, like cancer.

Check this out too: Curing Diabetes and Other Modern Illnesses: Interview With Dr. Antti Heikkilä

I don’t think it’s practical or even accurate to assume population-wide extreme intolerance to grains and legumes. The issue with grains inevitably boils down to some level of gluten intolerance. The most current estimates of celiac disease prevalence fall below 1% of the population.

Apparently he hasn't read much about the universal toxicity of wheat, see these articles by Sayer Ji (author of 'Dark Side of Wheat'):
- Beyond Celiac disease: The universal toxicity of wheat, Part I
- Why eating wheat and GMOs will destroy your health
- Gluten - Biohazard and pathogen

Note:

This discovery is all the more interesting when you consider that, according to Alessio Fasano, the Medical Director for The University of Maryland's Center for Celiac Research, the human genome does not possess the ability to produce enzymes capable of breaking down gluten.

As far as non-celiac gluten sensitivity (NCGS) goes, a very recent study led by Daniel DiGiacomo of the Celiac Disease Center at Columbia University estimated that the national prevalence of NCGS is a smidge over 0.5%, which is about half the prevalence of celiac disease. I’ve seen higher gluten sensitivity prevalence estimates in less reliable literature, but the bottom line is that the gluten-tolerant fraction of the population is likely to be well over 90% of us.

Research Proves Wheat Can Cause Harm To Everyone's Intestines There might be a few exceptions, I don't know, I've yet to see evidence on that, but to say that 90% is gluten-tolerant is as ignorant as you can get!

So, it simply makes no sense to view gluten-containing foods as universally “bad.” Adding to the illogic of banning foods that are tolerable by the vast majority of the population, the traditional Paleo diet doctrine selectively ignores the fact that ‘Paleo-approved’ foods (i.e., nuts, fish, and shellfish), have a combined prevalence of allergenicity comparable to – and by some estimates even greater than that of gluten-containing grains. Another amusing fact is that 4 of the 8 “major food allergens” designated by the Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act are Paleo-approved.

Shocker! Obviously most Paleo followers I know and have read about take an 'Elimination' approach, which means testing for certain foods. Not eating them for some weeks, and then introducing it in small amounts.

The rest of his opinions can be easily refuted doing a search on sott.net or on the forum. Apparently there is a whole lot of research that he hasn't read, or doesn't want to read.

Hope this helped a bit.

 

[Psalehesost]

Given that the research here has established that a keto diet rather than a Paleo diet is what is optimal, I guess the mods and crew would suggest throughly reading the Health and Diet threads. This guy seems to want to sell his information, which as pointed out above does not coincide with our research, all of which is freely available to the public.

And in part, our research is now available in a concise summarization here. It may help people in looking into questions such as that posed in this thread.

 

[Noumena]

Thx for all answers and for your time. I've recently started researching the topics which involve health and how to improve body and mind dynamics. I'll read for sure all materials included in this forum. Somehow i feel that i need body improvements for not near future events:P

Cheers and have a good day.