Why PALEO? ... Because I Want To Be Like Ruby...

Ruby is loving life

In a recent post "A Lesson From Ruby, the Dog--Part 1--Nutrition"
I described how changing Ruby's diet really changed her life. By eliminating processed dog food and making all of her food with whole food ingredients that we control, everything has improved. Frankly, I was surprised at how many people asked me for more information on what we feed Ruby.

(See the post below for more details)

http://healthyhappybychoice.blogspot.com/2016/04/a-lesson-from-ruby-dog.html

My point was how much we, including myself, could improve our own quality of life, if we ate more like Ruby. I'm concerned that many people care more about what they feed their dog than what goes into their own body or what they feed their children.

I want to be like Ruby. So in my never-ending quest for better health I found and researched PALEO. I intentionally do not use the word DIET because it has connotations of being something trendy or temporary, used only for the purpose of losing weight. PALEO may seem like a buzz word or trend but it is not. I first heard the term from a cohort in fitness about nine years ago. I didn't give it a thought then. Actually the Paleo way of eating has been around since, well you know---

The basic premise of the Paleo Diet (let's say "nutrition plan" please) is that our genetic makeup evolved from, therefore benefits best from, eating like our early ancestors during the Paleolithic times. These hunter-gatherer cavemen lived before agriculture/farming and ate whatever would have been captured in a hunt or gathered from the earth. To eat like them basically means lean protein, vegetables, fruit, and healthy fats, NO dairy, grains, processed foods, or refined sugars.

Of course our lifestyle differs greatly from these cavemen as well as the quality of foods we consume. Our "hunting" consists of getting in a four-wheel vehicle and driving to the nearest market. Our protein comes mostly in the form of animals raised for that purpose, not quite so lean since they are not wandering in search of their own food, often fed hormones that effect our health as well. The same goes for dairy, pasteurized, homogenized, often containing hormones and antibiotics. Even the vegetables generally are either treated with pesticides or exposed to environmental toxins. Needless to say the processed foods we eat are often composed of way too much sodium or sugar and ingredients we can't even pronounce. So typically our diets are nutrient poor. 

Throughout the years much research has been conducted to either scrutinize or prove the premise of the Paleo Diet. Dr. Loren Cordain, the Founder of the Paleo Diet in an article, A Brief History of the Contemporary Paleo Diet Movement,
mentions a couple studies done by other scientists that I find particularly worth noticing:

A remote group of 2,250 people living on islands near Papua New Guinea was observed as far back as close to twenty-five years ago. With very little contact with the modern world their diet was totally comprised of food from either the land or the sea. Without access to foods we consume, often daily in the western civilization such as; cereals, processed foods, dairy, vegetable oils, and refined sugars, their health was found to be pretty much ideal. None of them was overweight, (60% of adults in the U.S. today are overweight or obese), heart disease and stroke, which also seem to always be on the rise for us, were found extremely rare. Other conditions associated with our western civilization were non-existent. It would be virtually impossible to find a group of 2,250 anywhere in the U.S. even twenty-five years ago, let alone today with such beaming health statistics.

In a more recent study (late 1990s)10 middle-aged Aborgines born in the "Outback" of Australia had eventually over time moved from their origin as hunter-gatherers into a rural community with many of the comforts and conveniences of the western sedentary lifestyles. All 10 of the original hunter-gatherers became overweight and developed type 2 diabetes. For the purpose of the study they were asked to move back to their original isolated land for a seven week period. They agreed and went back to their former land and lifestyle, living only on native foods instead of white bread, corn, sugar, powdered milk and canned goods. The results were very clear. The average weight loss was 16.5 pounds, blood cholesterol and triglycerides dropped markedly, and as insulin and glucose metabolism became normal, their diabetes disappeared.

More research has gone on to compare Paleo with other types of diets. Paleo continued to come out on top.
To read more about this go to:

http://thepaleodiet.com/a-brief-history-of-the-contemporary-paleo-diet-movement/

It is no secret that what we put in our body is a key factor in determining our health. Autoimmune diseases such as Crohn's disease, Multiple Sclerosis, Type 1 Diabetes, (just to name a few) are all on the rise, as well as Asthma. Some autoimmune diseases have very vague symptoms and are therefore difficult to diagnose. (Not enough room to discuss it here but be sure to look up "Leaky Gut" syndrome)
Again, it is common for health issues to be treated with medication with no thought to diet and lifestyle changes. 

We quickly saw the results in Ruby's life when we switched her diet to  a homemade diet that was void of all corn, additives, and preservatives. It was essentially Paleo, although we didn't consider it at the time. We have to know that even the top quality "premium" dog food is made to have a lasting shelf life as it sits in the store or your pantry, so it contains special (unnatural) additives purely for the sake of preserving it. Hmmm...how much of our own food is made to live on the shelf for months?

With Ruby as an example we can see how diet can reverse some conditions. Paleo, with it's careful elimination of gluten, grains, dairy and processed food is a good solution to treat, possibly reverse or prevent some of these conditions.
With proper nutrition we can provide our body, in many cases, with the tools to help heal itself.

So by now, you may be wondering what IS allowed on a PALEO program. Here is a basic idea.

Any nutrition plan can go wrong if misinterpreted or taken to an extreme. A balance is best achieved by making sure your diet includes lean protein and fruits and vegetables. PALEO is NOT a license to eat all the meat you can put on your plate and nothing else. I watched someone I loved use this tactic back in the 80's when he tried the Atkins diet. He suffered with heart disease for years. Excessive protein can also cause kidney damage. Although it may allow more meat than some diets, it stresses quality over quantity. Remember, cavemen may not have had a successful hunt every day. I still use the palm of my hand to measure my protein (and I do have pretty small hands)
Seeing Ruby's improvement in her energy, weight (lost 30% of her body weight) and allergies, I am inspired to clean up my eating and see what results I find. This is not too different from how I try to eat already, just kicking it up a notch.

When I began writing this post I was gearing up to start eating Paleo. It has been three weeks now. My husband is amused. I am trying new recipes, being careful to stay as true as I can to the plan. He is not being denied his bread, that he seems to think he couldn't live without. He probably could, but he just might not be as happy.
Yes I'm doing it, and my husband and I have shared a few laughs about my knuckles dragging on the ground or growing hair on my back, sometimes I even give a Tim Allen ("Tim the Tool Man") "rrroh, rrroh". I'm happy to say I'm seeing some improvement. My digestion is better. My daily heartburn/indigestion, I was about to see the doctor about, has disappeared. I have not had to take TUMS since I started, I was taking at least 1, sometimes up to 3 TUMS a day. I have lost a little weight. My BMI was 25 and has now gone down to under 24. Losing any weight is a bonus since I have had to limit my exercise because of a recent back injury. I'm not hoping to lose 30% of my weight like Ruby did (I'd weigh less than I did in high school). There is always room for improvement. Who knows?--Maybe some of my joint issues will improve. I may find things improve that I didn't know were a problem. I always say people often don't know how good they can feel until they make a change.

My goal is to move toward optimum health!

(I would love to see you achieve your best health too!)

If you are curious or want to get started, there are many resources available. Some are listed here:

In print:
The Paleo Approach --Reverse Autoimmune Disease and Heal Your Body, by Sarah Ballantyne, PhD
A very comprehensive book. Everything here about how and why, with research behind it. I got my copy at Costco, then found it on Amazon for about $12

Online information, ideas, support and recipes: 
http://paleohacks.com
http://paleoista.com
http://paleomagazine.com
and of course:
www.thepaleodiet.com
(the founder, Dr. Loren Cordain's site)

I'd love to hear if you have already adopted a Paleo lifestyle 
--how it is working for you, 
if you are just curious, 

or if you give it a try!

#benefitsofPaleo#cleaneating#nutritionforhealth