I have been remiss in my blogging due to a couple of nutty weeks at school, but I am here to try to remedy that. I finished Paleo two days ago and have already moved on to my (mostly) Raw Vegan diet.
While there were several aspects of Paleo I enjoyed, there were also some major issues I had with the diet that made it problematic. As I did with Atkins, I provide you with my Pros and Cons list of Paleo:
Pros Cons
Emphasis on Fresh Foods Restrictive
No "Counting" Unclear Rules
Athlete Friendly Lack of Satiety
(Lots of cooking) (Weight Loss)
The absolute best and greatest redeeming quality to Paleo, in my opinion, is its emphasis on eating high quantities of fresh, clean foods, especially vegetables. Any diet which pushes foods that are natural, unprocessed, and healthy earns major points in my book. Likewise, one can eat as many of these clean foods as they want; there is very little counting or calorie tracking on Paleo.
Personally, I enjoyed how often I had to cook on Paleo, but then again, I like to cook. On my busiest days, when time is an issue, the amount of time I spent in the kitchen was a bit frustrating, but well worth it. Being fully in control of the foods going into my body, knowing the ingredients and in what quantities, gave me a full knowledge of just how many great vitamins and minerals I was getting to consume. For someone with not a lot of time to spend preparing food, Paleo could be tough, it requires dedication.
For the athlete in me, Paleo left me with plenty of energy for exercise and long workouts were no longer a problem, except that they made me all the more hungry. Unfortunately, in my case, I was hungry all the time on Paleo. As I may have mentioned before, this is something that may be entirely my fault, as I do not eat ninety percent of the proteins that are the very cornerstone of Paleo. My mom, full meat eater that she is, said she had no problems with hunger; Paleo left her feeling fully satisfied (in the hunger sense).
Now when it comes to satisfying cravings, Paleo fails rather miserably. Both my mom and I have a pretty big sweet tooth, and about the sweetest food you can eat on Paleo is a berry. This leads to binges and so-called "cheating." Now, Paleo allows for a 85-15 split on Paleo vs. non-Paleo eating. Basically, it tells you to cheat within reason. Unfortunately, this can, at times, lead to the individual consumption of and entire mini-bundt cake or a full Denny's pancake breakfast. (those may or may not have been me)
My mom also struggled a bit with the clarity of the Paleo rules, trying to decide whether or not a particular food is sufficiently processed, to be considered "processed," was a tough issue for her. Unlike Raw Vegan, there are no clear cut rules for determining the proper degree of naturalness necessary from a food. Now, in her case, my mom stated she did lose weight on Paleo, on the order of a couple pounds per week. I, on the other hand, gained weight on Paleo.
However, despite the fact that I gained weight on Paleo, I did not gain dimension, which indicates to me that I may have converted some of my fat to muscle mass, thereby increasing my weight without increasing my size. The emphasis of Paleo on quality sources of protein and on mineral and vitamin rich foods most likely allowed for this conversion. I am certainly not going to complain about some numbers on a scale if my pants still fit.
In the end, I'd say I like Paleo as a diet principle, with its clean eating and higher protein intake, but in practice, it comes with several strong issues. Paleo may yet earn a lasting place in the lifestyle diet field, but I do not think it has anything particularly unique or special to offer to the individual that another diet couldn't provide equally well. If Paleo appeals to you, and you think it might work with your lifestyle, by all means, give it a try. From a nutritional and personal standpoint I can say that Paleo certainly does more good than harm and is far healthier than many diets out there.
