The Paleo Diet, Wahls Protocol, Vegetarian, Vegan, and more

Unless you are blind, deaf and/or a hermit, you cannot help but notice all the hype recently about "the Paleo Diet" or "the Caveman Diet" or other similar terms. The basic philosophy is to eat as our 'caveman ancestors did' ... which they say did not include grains, legumes or dairy. Does it work? What do you think? Well I'll tell you what I think (of course!).

Those advocating the paleo diet are strong against processed foods and sugar. It does not take a genius to put two and two together. ANYONE will do better when they eliminate processed foods and sugar. No more chips, fries, sodas, donuts, candies, chocolate, and the list goes on. And since grains are eliminated too, that cuts out a whole food product that is being grossly abused: breads and pastas ... which are usually consumed in a very refined form.

No more dairy either. Cheese ... very tasty and ok in SMALL AMOUNTS once in a while, however so easy to overeat. A 'serving' of cheese is only one ounce. In case you did not know, that tiny little OUNCE of cheddar cheese packs in 114 calories and 9.4 grams of fat (a whopping SIX GRAMS of saturated fat). You may cut those numbers nearly in half by consuming the same amount of part-skim mozzarella cheese ... but who only has one ounce of mozzarella cheese on their 2-3 slices of pizza? Or baked spaghetti? And if you're eating out, who knows if 'part skim' was used instead of 'whole'? Let's be real here.

On this kind of diet [IF followed properly] you will get high quality meats, some nuts and seeds, fresh vegetables and fruits, and many also stress LOTS of greens. Oh yes, and some strongly promote the consumption of lacto-fermented foods.

Take Terry Wahls for example. I am familiar with her and her work because we have MS in common, which she claims she halted AND reversed with what is called the "Wahls Diet", which is kind of 'paleo' but not really. In her recent book, The Wahls Protocol, she stresses the absolute importance of eating A LOT of vegetables every day as well as berries and some fruits (but only the ones with deep colors). At least 3 cups (packed) of leafy green vegetables, 3 cups of sulphur rich vegetables and 3 cups of colorful vegetables and fruits. And that's only the beginning. NO JUNK. NOTHING PROCESSED. NO SUGAR. NO DAIRY. etc. On her basic diet she does allow for some grains and legumes, but not much and certainly not gluten-containing. In her new book however she offers 3 different diet plans, or stages if you will. You may stay at the first stage or plan, which is the basic Wahls diet, or you may move on to the "Wahls Paleo" and/or the "Wahls Paleo Plus." Something for everyone I guess.

I was not too excited about seeing the term "paleo" or "paleolithic" all over her book and other similar books [there are plenty of them being published right now]. It's akin to the fairy tale beginning, "Millions of years ago ...." and it certainly does NOT convince me that this is the way to go.

So yes, you WILL feel better on a 'paleo-type' diet because you will be eliminating all of the junk. But this is true for so many other diets out there.

What 'paleo' and 'caveman' diets really come down to (in my opinion anyway) is that someone is making money ... and it's NOT the dieters. So many are jumping on the money-making bandwagon; a quick search on the internet will turn up all sorts of 'paleo sites'. Some are just explaining the diet, but others are actually selling 'paleo food'. Really? Yes.

I've been in to health and diet for over 10 years, which I believe is long enough to see many of the trends and fads. I will never forget the Atkins craze. Like all diets, there were those who actually followed the good, healthy parts of it and then those who pushed the limits in any way possible but yet felt better about themselves because they were 'dieting'. What do I mean? Well, case in point ... two real life examples of Atkins eaters. Back in my corporate world days I worked with a man that was on the Atkins diet. A group of us went out for lunch. He ordered a steak, broccoli, some other vegetable and did not eat the bread. Another man I knew, on the same diet, was hungry one time while a group of us were out. His wife went to the store to get him a snack: a package of processed salami lunch meat. Which one do you think did better on the diet? Which one do you think saw lasting improvements to his weight and health?

And then there are the vegetarians / vegans and all the variations in between [we'll call them veg'n]. Some think they are doing something great by going veg'n. They swap their meat for processed soy patties, nuggets, slices and crumbles and their milk for processed, sugary soy milk. Instead of cheese they use a processed soy-based look-alike. To their credit, this is not all their fault; many are promoting these processed veg'n foods as healthy. Not much thought is given to fruits or vegetables. Junk food is still consumed as long as it's veg'n ... cookies, chips, candy, soda. But then there are the vegetarians and vegans who eat whole foods instead of the processed junk. Instead of meat and dairy they get their protein and calcium from a variety of whole foods like green vegetables, seeds, legumes and grains. Instead of processed foods they snack on something whole ... like carrots, an apple, a handful of nuts. This diet includes a lot of fiber, is low in fat, very nutrient-dense and yet it's veg'n just like the junk-food diet. So which one do you think is healthier?

I say just use some common sense. You don't need to purchase a book or do a whole bunch of research. Just eat as close to how God created it as possible. God did not make twinkies, soda, candy, and the like. He made vegetables and fruits. He did not make soy burgers or soy milk. He made some animals to eat. He gave us honey for a little sweetener. The bible has a lot to say about food; why not start there? Surely the Creator of the universe knows what is best for us. But sadly, man is always trying to 'one up' God. In the case of food, it's processing, preservatives, GMO's, pesticides. Why do we think we can thrive on these things? Yes, you may eat them when you have to, but if you don't have to then why not just choose the best option available to you?

And I believe that is the key: don't be afraid to eat them if you have to ... but when there is a choice, choose the better option.

Don't succumb to all the hype. Save your time and money. Just use common sense.