Paleo, Paleo, Schmaleo…

It seems like every health, nutrition, vitamin, food, doctor and diet website has something to say about the pop culture diet, the Paleo diet, short for Paleolithic, so I thought I would add my two cents worth as well.  From what I have read and been told first hand by Paleo diet followers, the diet limits foods to those that would have been eaten by Paleolithic (cave) men, and that eating like a caveman promotes wellness, provides the body with high energy and prevents the common age related diseases currently on the rise.  These are noble goals and shared by proponents of other diets as well, including the one that I strongly support and advocate and refer to as the name of my blog suggests, anti-aging gastronomy. 

Eating like a caveman does not refer to using your hands and tearing meat from the raw and bloody bone.  But rather, it refers to the type of food, whole, natural, the way God intended, before man decided that it could use improvement.  As if God didn’t get it quite right!  That means, eating foods in natural form before the agricultural revolution when man went from being a hunter gatherer exclusively to sowing and harvesting such foods as grains and legumes like wheat, barley, chick peas and flax, followed by animal husbandry and raising animals for human consumption, animals that were fed by  man instead of nature. 

When proponents make their claims regarding the benefits of the Paleo diet to our modern day human bodies, they are making claims based on unspoken assumptions that may or may not be true.  First, that cavemen were in better health than more modern man, those who followed after the agricultural revolution, and second, that the human body of today is the same as those of our ancestors, the caveman, in order to benefit from the same foods.  Skeptics, on the other hand, claim that our bodies have evolved through the process of natural selection and therefore, do not process nor benefit from these foods like a caveman did.  Then there is the life span issue.  Paleolithic skeletal remains suggest 33 years was the average age for a caveman and skeptics compare that to our average age now which of course, far exceeds that, but who knows for how long at our current dependency on added sugar and refined grains.  But to reach this conclusion, skeptics assume that diet is the only factor that determines life span.  And, of course, it is not.

There is something to be said for consuming raw vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, roots and tubers.  They are almost, with just a few exceptions, alkaline producing and therefore highly beneficial to modern man as we know and study him today.  Excluding grains which are highly acid forming may not be such a bad thing.  But, in small enough portions, and in whole grain form, grains offer some essential nutrients and longer sustaining energy, more even levels of glucose.  But meat and fish, both with extremely high acid producing qualities, are foods which should be avoided or moderately consumed along with whole grains, because as we now know, acid producing means inflammatory. 

Here’s my two cents worth.  I have witnessed and experienced profound measurable improvement in my body, my husband’s and in those around me who stick to the 60/40 alkaline to acid producing diet, eliminating added sugar and refined grains, a diet to which I refer to as anti-aging.  Some would call it anti-inflammatory, a diet which includes moderate amounts of protein and whole grains, and dairy only occasionally and only of the goat variety.  I believe any diet which completely eliminates an entire food group, to me is eliminating some important nutritional elements as well.       I believe in moderation and in the notion that inflammatory foods have proven to be the downfall of American health, apparent in the chronic diseases of modern man.  If the Paleo diet consists of meat, fish and plant based food only, it is in fact eliminating an entire food group, the one that is responsible for endurance.  And, unless the diet puts a limit on the portion size of meat and fish, it leans far to the acid producing side which is highly inflammatory.  I say use common sense.  Leave the Paleo way of eating to the cavemen.  I am sure there are a lot of people out there who think there are still some around. 

This week I launched a funding campaign for a cafe and kitchen co-op.  The kitchen co-op will be a hub for the SC upstate community, a fully equipped commercially licensed kitchen for rent for the sole purpose of promoting food makers of anti aging gastronomy---artisans, caterers, entrepreneurs with ideas of starting a business and home cooks who just want to can their garden vegetables.  The café will be a full service restaurant for the purpose of providing the community with fresh local menu items and a showcase for the co-op members.  No refined grains, no added sugar, and 60% alkaline producing will be the standard for both.  Please go to www.getfunded.com and search CHOP CHOP KITCHEN CO-OP.  Pledge as little as $ 1.  Every dollar counts. 

EAT SMART, America!

Buon Appetito e Buona Salute, Chef AngelaB

EAT SMART, AMERICA, AN ANTI-AGING DIET PRIMER  $ 2.99 is available now for Kindle on Amazon  and for Nook at Barnes & Noble