989 on Health #15 - The Paleo Diet

eight nine welcome to ninety nine on health you don't need years university to understand the latest news about health and related subjects as always we've created a list of helpful links on today's topic at our website level nine eight nine calm and those theme links should also be available in your podcast playing app of choice this is an informal discussion sharing our personal viewpoints on health and wellness don't rely on the information in this podcast as an alternative to medical advice from a professional health care provider for the full disclaimer please see our website I'm Mike Davalos just a guy your average Joe and I'm joined by the opposite of average Brendan Weintraub a primary care physician good morning Brandon good morning Mike our topic for today is the Paleolithic diet which sounds like it might be a dry dusty topic from the Stone Age which it is and isn't that is it is from the Stone Age but it's not boring you know I've tried a lot of diets the pineapple diet the popcorn diet the banana diet I could go on and on in great detail about each one just you tried and stop me actually all those diets are pretty self-explanatory really the only thing that makes the Paleo diet sound boring is the name but when you think about what you're going to be eating on a diet from the Stone Age I mean picture these choice cuts woolly mammoth rump roast saber-toothed tiger t-bone braised dire wolf tale in a light honey sauce giant camel hump marinated in the most subtle vinaigrette right excuse me there are even crazy stories of extinct varieties of vegetables from these past eras like broccoli that actually tasted good right off the vine and kale actual kale that tasted exactly like a bacon cheeseburger well that's what the cave paintings say and why would they lie I mean I can totally see why our ancestors ate them all into extinction Mike have you been Wikipedia again is that a verb I'm making it a verb I know you're half joking but let me make a few Corrections before our more gullible listeners start getting excited about buying t-rex burgers on Amazon the Paleo diet at least until Jurassic Park opens up isn't about eating wooly mammoth or saber-toothed Tigers broccoli doesn't grow on a vine although that would make for a unique wine I am however okay with the idea of a kale that tastes like bacon cheeseburger after all there was a discovery in 2015 of a red algae that tasted just like bacon when it was fried up so the bacon cheeseburger kale was real right right genetic botanists are even now working around the clock to recreate the species no I was kidding sorry not nice sir regardless how does all this relate to the Paleolithic diet well so far as I can tell paleo is about eating as our ancestors did many thousands of years ago before agriculture see brandon that's when we lost our way with agriculture this is about ten thousand years ago and that's oh so coincidentally just about the time all of the megafauna that's the name for all these really cool scary animals like the giant cave hyena which get this hunted horses and woolly rhinoceros for food but the giant hyena went extinct that hyena will haunt my dreams Brandon that laugh but they're all gone all the giant interesting beasts because we ate them all we ate everything until it was gone until all we were left with were the animals that could be forced to pull a plow and or could breed fast enough to keep up with our insatiable desire to smother them in gravy now once we ate them all we gave up on our true calling of hunting and gathering we settled down and we started eating wheat the beginning of the end wow you seem to have taken a sassy pill today you're gonna frighten our listeners I think you may have taken the concept of paleo eating a little too literally not at all I've just taken the Paleo message to heart you know a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and a glass of milk isn't the wholesome food for kids and adults alike but those Washington fat cats want you to think it is it's all just a dirty trick played on you by those lobbyists for agriculture bread our digestive systems are capable of digesting grains unless our highly processed into horrible ways and the same thing goes for legumes that is peanuts and dairy evil no other adult animal drinks milk what's that about and they'll get me started on refined sugar that's pure poison Brandon and I think you know that ha ha ok ok I see what you're doing it was only a matter of time though I never thought researching the Paleolithic diet would be what pushed you over the edge diet and nutrition is a bit of a pain I get it it can be easy to get frustrated by all the constant conflicting opinions and non-stop streams of advice you want to talk about it champ no but I do want to eat healthier and help our listeners learn the latest news about health and related subjects I'm actually being serious you know I'm starting to really believe in some of the stuff we've talked about well let's see if I can help sort things out I think we've jumped ahead of ourselves a bit and we ought to start from scratch and give our listeners a basic introduction to exactly what the Paleolithic diet really is and why anyone would want to try it good idea so the basic concept of the Paleo diet is that the human body isn't equipped to properly deal with many of the more recent additions to our eating habits and by recent I mean since the invention of Agriculture ten to fifteen thousand years ago it might sound odd to characterize ten thousand years as recent but we spent probably 90% of our history on earth hunting and gathering and that's about 2 million years we're talking about avoiding many of the problematic new additions to our diet such as grains like wheat rice and corn or legumes like soy beans and peanuts also dairy products refined sugars processed oils like corn oil or peanut oil and instead according to the Paleo diet we should be eating meat seafood fresh fruits vegetables eggs nuts and if we need oils it should be something like olive or flaxseed oil have I missed anything from the basic idea now we're getting somewhere you've done a great job summing up the basics behind the Paleolithic diet a proponents for this style of eating are concerned that 10,000 years has just not been enough time for the human body to adapt metabolically and physiologically in response to the major dietary changes introduced by the invention of both agriculture and animal domestication like you said humans in one form or another have been surviving as hunter-gatherers for almost two million years and it does seem reasonable to expect that our bodies would evolve and adapt as specifically as possible when exposed to a living environment for so long so what can you tell us about the scientific research let's go step by step and start with eating grains are their digestive or other health concerns to be had now we've already devoted an entire episode to gluten so that's definitely a start I'd say unfortunately for us research specific to the effects either short-term or long-term of adopting a Paleo diet is pretty sparse there have been a few preliminary studies a properly maintained carefully observed Paleolithic diet has shown some potential to decrease liver fat help type 2 diabetics regulate blood sugar improve cholesterol levels and even lower blood pressure all of which sounds pretty good most of the studies unfortunately had sample sizes of less than 20 people and lacked diversity even considering these small groups of participants your approach to breaking things down into their component changes may very well be our best bet if we want to get a general idea of the possible benefits and risks of adopting a Paleolithic diet grains I won't rehash the information from our glutton episode I'm sure you've all listened to it already right but gluten isn't the only reason decreasing grains can be both harmful and beneficial processed grains for example bleached flour hav
e been associated with an increased risk of obesity diabetes and other health concerns unprocessed grains or whole grains on the other hand have been shown to do the exact opposite the Paleolithic diet when followed strictly suggest reducing all grain intake which may or may not be beneficial dependent on the types and amounts of whole grain a person may have been eating alright next up are the such an odd word we so rarely used and he just covers many different plants with legumes we're talking about alfalfa peas beans lentils soy beans peanuts and more I think most folks who would say I don't eat soy have not been looking closely at the nutritional information labels of everything from cheese to pasta to breakfast cereal to hamburger meat soy is in virtually everything I'm sure we could spend an entire episode on legumes but are there any health concerns beyond the obvious peanut allergies also how is a peanut not a nut I mean it's right there in the name you are certainly right about soy so many foods these days contain at least a measure of soybean it's becoming worrisome there are a number of health concerns regarding members of the legume family it's been suggested that peanuts beyond the well known allergies some people have may also cause systemic inflammation which can lead to a host of symptoms in other conditions soy which we just mentioned is in almost everything these days actually has a chemical component that acts as an estrogen mimic in other words the receptors on your cell which respond to estrogen also react and can be blocked by a chemical component found in soy in the past soy has been found to have beneficial effects on the body as well as harmful effects it's believed that the phyto estrogens may play a vital role in both as for the peanut being neither a pee nor a nut I'll pass on commenting for now the discussion always makes me feel for clumped that's right it's time for dairy products we're not just talking about milk but cream butter cheese yogurt custard and ice cream like soy milk shows up at a lot of products you would not imagine read your labels people are they're solid reasons to consider taking dairy out of our diets or is this just an issue for that very small handful of people with lactose intolerance I mean I think dairy is a great example of how agriculture has tried to change the human body milk is another one of those foods that still hasn't managed to be completely proven as healthy or unhealthy for regular human consumption the nutritional content of milk especially is concentration of calcium has been shown to have beneficial results for weight management and maintaining bone structure many of the studies which have shown milk and milk derivatives to cause potential harm to the body have suffered from small sample size just like those I described from the Paleolithic diet those studies have shown milk products as potentially inflammatory with particularly negative results when testing low-fat or nonfat milk whether you accept that milk may not be extremely healthy for the human body in general or if you don't accept it lactose intolerance alone may be significant enough in its own right to steer people clear of excess dairy between 30 and 50 million Americans are lactose intolerant as with gluten sugar has already had its own nine-eight-nine on health episode are we going to run out of topics soon are our listeners know to well-informed I guess that's just the price we'll have to pay maybe you can give us a quick refresher on the dangers of refined sugars refined sugars have recently been in the spotlight studies have concluded that eating too much added sugar in your diet is one of the most significant risk factors in the development of certain cardiac disorders even more so than either fats or cholesterol x' add the increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes higher blood pressure worsening weight management and the risk of obesity and I would say that there is a very good reason to consider removing excess sugars from your diet now in the last paleo nono dimension are processed oils like canola oil cottonseed oil palm oil and a bunch of other oils so what's the problem here I tried to read into it but something complicated about free radicals and inflammation I mean why would Allah Voyles even for you oils oil right black gold Texas tea I'm afraid oil good sir is not just oil the theory about the types of fats follows the same pattern as the theory regarding the Paleolithic diet the body developed as a hunter-gatherer system has adapted and evolved over the years to make the most efficient use of the materials provided which in this case means fats primarily sourced from meat products and that means saturated fats monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats have been shown to cause systemic inflammation which we know by now can cause a host of problems the idea is that until the human body has been given adequate time to adjust and evolve consumption of fats enlarged or excessive amounts should be avoided whether saturated monounsaturated or polyunsaturated so we've covered the paleo don't eat this list now let's take a look at the yes please foods on the Paleo list and perhaps more importantly the proportions of the portions Oh Mike first up is lean grass-fed meat and seafood which according to the Paleo diet should make up 55% of your daily calories so if you're taking in 1,800 calories a day that would be 990 calories from meat and seafood now when you do the math one ounce of lean beef has about 71 calories so you'd need about 14 ounces of beef every day a little less than a pound then I might sound like a lot but it is spread out over a full day as an alternate one ounce of tuna has around 52 calories so you need about 20 ounces of tuna per day if that was the protein you were choosing for that day now Brandon can you first check my math but my biggest question is where can i buy this grass-fed seafood the guy in Whole Foods just laughed in my face when I asked him your mouth looks pretty good to me and I like your term grass-fed seafood more than I probably ought to when trying to find quality fish there are a few new terms you'll want to learn before you head off to the store the first is wild cop fish that is wild Scott is just what it sounds like caught in the wild rather than being farm raised why is that important farm raised fish are often bred and raised in an environment far too small to support the numbers of fish being raised and are also fed artificial foods and supplements to try to ensure that size color and supply meets industry demand it might sound ideal but more often than not lately farm raised fish are being found with higher and higher concentrations of toxic substances that's not to say that even wild caught fish is without its own risks wild caught tuna in some areas are testing with high concentrations of mercury an element you definitely don't want to eat too much of with that in mind I definitely want to caution our listeners against trying to eat 20 ounces of canned tuna per day at least until test results start to show significant improvement let's say I'm all aboard this meat train and I'm looking for actual factual lean beef that was grass-fed how much can I trust the labels on this sort of thing I mean are there laws regulating this if I'm in the market for grass-fed beef I don't wanna buy a piece of cow that ate grass only one time at its eight month weaning from its mother at a ceremony called see mister federal meat inspector I really am eating grass and never again I seem to recall in the documentary King corn cows were forced to gorge on corn for months on end and then spend a few weeks eating grass at the end just before going off to become food the bakery where I work sends any bun that hits the floor to be used for cattle feed and I know exactly what sort of random chemicals are in our buns I don't want my food eating those chemicals I know cattle feed is a huge complex topic but how much grass really is in grass-fed b
eef that's a great question and the best I can do is answer with not enough there used to be a little bit more regulation in the meat industry where the term grass-fed could be applied for through the USDA by small farming companies and the term could only be used if the livestock had been raised entirely on grass except for the milk provided just after their birth in 2016 this standard was removed and while there's still some inter industry regulation for the most part companies can now use the terms grass-fed and grasp finished with a fair amount of leeway for example a cow can be considered grass-fed if they have eaten grass from a pasture at any point in their lifecycle grass finish just means that rather than using other more expensive grains to complete the final stage before Bessy becomes a hamburger they use grass in both cases the terms used seem to have a certain lack of trustworthiness to them I have another silly question while we're still on me I do see that eggs are on the yes list but I don't think there's such a thing as a grass-fed chicken so is chicken not allowed on the Paleo diet and if they are one of these chickens supposed to be eating this is another big misunder standing ultimately people seem to have about chickens nowadays when I look at the egg cartons I'm seeing more and more labels that say things like grain fed only or vegetarian eggs chickens are actually omnivorous they are supposed to eat things like bugs worms and in nature they'll rarely hesitate to eat meat if it's available you'll also want to look for the term pasture-raised now generally chickens that are pasture raised spend the majority of their lives out in open fields being allowed to eat the appropriate foods regularly pasture raised chickens lay eggs that have a much healthier ratio of omega-3 fatty acids to omega-6 fatty acids legitimately healthier eggs come from happier chickens now one thing I did not see in my research into paleo was the idea of eating insects I think a person would have to grow up their whole life eating bugs to see it as a normal or even palatable thing to do but insects are high in protein as well as vitamins and minerals and it could easily slot into the nutritional approach for paleo especially those paleo enthusiasts who lean heavily on the we should eat prehistoric foods approach our prehistoric ancestors definitely ate a lot more bugs than we did what do you think you and I have definitely had this conversation before in a world where cheap easy to raise easy to sustain protein sources can be hard for the average person to find and sustain the idea of including bugs as a viable source is a good one things like crickets and mealworms take up very little habitat space are reasonably easy to feed and nurture and proliferate relatively quickly which all sound like good things to me I don't want to go into the details and specifics of the potential nutritional value of adding bugs to our daily meals but I do want to go on record as saying bugs as part of paleo sounds like a great plan to me cool now one last mention of animal protein before we move on my reading into paleo kept mentioning organ meats these are things like liver kidneys and heart I think most people under 60 in the US haven't even tried organ meats much less making them a regular part of their diet what's the rationale for eating organ meats and are there any reasons to avoid organ meats organ meats when compared to the muscle meats you're probably used to eating have a much greater concentration of well almost every nutrient you can think of b12 iron folic acid liver for example has one of the highest concentrations of vitamin A of any food for quite some time there has been the misapprehension that organ meats store toxins for example because the liver filters toxic chemicals from the blood it was believed that eating liver could potentially dump some of those toxins into the bloodstream of the person eating the liver possibly the most legitimate reason to avoid eating organ meats is that they often contain high concentrations of purine a substance that can cause symptoms to flare in patients who experience gout and to forestall your next question gout is a form of inflammatory arthritis okay next up is 15% each of fruits vegetables and nuts and with the meat and/or seafood that would bring you up to your 100 percent of your daily food let's take a look at fruits and vegetables as their own thing for just a moment at 30 percent of the daily intake depending on which veggies you choose one problem I can foresee is too many carbs according to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans we should all be eating an average of 275 grams of carbs per day and you can easily surpass this with fruits and veggies especially and I think if I got to mention this sooner potatoes are not allowed on a paleo diet now are there any scientific concerns when it comes to fruits and vegetables beyond excess carbs I mean can you get too much fiber excess sugar and carb intake is certainly the most prominent concern when discussing how many fruits and vegetables to eat concerns about starch intake in general is likely why potatoes or any sort of tuber are not allowed on the Paleo diet and it is possible to intake too much fiber often someone's suffering from excess fiber ingestion would suffer from symptoms like gas and bloating abdominal discomfort and constipation too much fiber in your diet can even lead eventually to an intestinal blockage or mal absorption of nutrients the good news is that it's difficult for most people to eat enough fruits and vegetables to reach a point where they created an excess fiber plays an active role in creating that sensation of fullness after you've eaten something so by the time there's a risk of danger you'd feel quite unexcited to keep eating more vegetables I think we've reached the least exciting food group and the Paleo plan nuts should make up 15% of your diet and these are nuts like almonds macadamia nuts pistachios walnuts and more this one is surprisingly tricky I guess it's true of all food types in you look closely enough but a lot of whether you should or shouldn't make nuts 15% of your diet have a lot to do with how they're processed can you break that down for us I can certainly try you a potential consumer walk into your local supermarket having decided to buy a bag of mixed nuts to have at work as a healthier snack alternative you walk down the snack aisle then pick up a bag of roasted salted mixed nuts satisfied with a job well done there's a few problems though and almost no one knows about them number one in order to make those roasted nuts especially crispy and delicious the manufacturer has coated those nuts in oil and it's usually a mono or polyunsaturated oil which we've already mentioned isn't great for you and he's done that just before roasting during the roasting process an incredibly high heat is often used which can cause the oils both on and in the nut to go slightly Ranson I can hear you crying out already Brandon I changed my mind in the store I didn't get roasted nuts I got raw unsalted that makes it okay right unfortunately many raw nuts have the phytoestrogens the estrogen mimics I mentioned when we talked a little bit about soy and all the attending issues that come along with them having said all that I still advocate nuts as a useful and viable addition to a person's eating routine I suggest purchasing raw nuts soaking them in water overnight then draining them and baking them in the oven at a very low temperature over a long period of time the soaking process reduces the phytoestrogen content of the nut while the slow and low roasting process keeps the oils in the nut from go rancid you end up with a crunchy tasty snack that you can flavor yourself with just a handful of spices no one's gonna do that you know that right maybe you don't know by a nut plant it wait 42 years then okay let's say we have a hypothetical person who is hypothetically ready to build a huge shrine to p
aleo in his house let's say this hypothetical person is seriously considering changing to a paleo diet what concerns with you as their hypothetical friend godparent and medical adviser would have for me then my first thought is that most of the people who have found success in better health via the Paleo diet have been reasonably healthy individuals and younger than age 60 you for example seem to fit those descriptions pretty well my next word of warning is about your kidneys you'll be eating a fair amount of protein which your kidneys are responsible for processing eat too much and you might start seeing some dysfunction so I would suggest you make sure to check with your physicians and get a lab workup to ensure that you can keep an eye on things that's all my suggestions as a physician as a friend I can't help but notice you haven't mentioned one food item that I know is near and dear to your heart and mine coffee coffee is firmly in the know list if you were to go paleo how does that impact your plans hmm I didn't notice that well I do drink a lot of coffee I've never actually liked the taste so as long as I can get my caffeine from some source such as tea which is allowed on the Paleo diet but or caffeine pills I'll be just fine I have to warn you again about your excessive intake of caffeine especially if you're taking it in the form of those capsules excessive caffeine intake has a number of harmful side effects especially if used in excess over a period of years all right it's time to come clean while I find the Paleo diet interesting there are a lot of things to consider before jumping on board my examples from earlier woolly mammoths saber-toothed Tigers mention them to illustrate just how much our food options have changed it truly is a different world now our bodies are different now there was a time very recently in our biological history when adult humans could not benefit from dairy products but if your body has the necessary dairy enzymes the addition of this great source of calcium and vitamin D to our diets is a big leap in human nutritional options and there's a lot of food intolerances to consider but if you're not sensitive to peanuts they could be a good source of protein in vitamins it seems to me that every type of food should be eaten in moderation with an awareness of its impacts on your body Brendan is there anything else you wanna mention before we wrap it up I find myself in agreement with your closing statement for today humans have changed even over the relatively small ten thousand year span since the invention of Agriculture evolution has begun to take effect enough that sticking rigidly to a diet because it matches the way our ancestors used to eat doesn't make a whole lot of sense I've mentioned this in previous episodes and I'm sure I'll mention it again in the future I don't like the idea of dieting there is no question that changing what they eat can make a huge difference in someone's health and well-being the idea of dieting however implies a series of sudden and intense modifications driven not by a desire to make lasting thoughtful change in a lifestyle but by a need for immediate results seeing a friend lose 20 pounds seemingly without effort by eating steak three times a day could seem appealing to some people but it isn't a spectacular reason to make such a severe change all at once the Paleolithic diet does have potential to be good for the right people even though the studies are small making changes even short-term to a few eating habits stands to help people find new ways to do things like moderate cholesterol levels and improve their liver health the secret though is to take the elements of a paleo diet that you can implement them slowly over time in a way that's sustainable and to avoid the blind following that a diet often follows maybe eating more fruits and vegetables than it's generally suggested works best for you or maybe your body just doesn't process all that extra protein very well by making slight allowances and adjustments to match your own personal needs I suspect you'll find better health without the fear of cheating on your diet that's all the time we have for today these short episodes are a brief overview of very complex topics everything we say is for entertainment and educational purposes only licensed healthcare professionals should advise you and be aware of changes you're planning to make to any aspect of your healthcare every person's needs are different links references we've made about news articles medical studies road materials can be found at level nine eight nine comm along with our contact information and the complete don't take medical advice from podcasts disclaimer thanks for listening and now go health or self you .

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A properly maintained, carefully observed paleolithic diet has shown some potential to decrease liver fat, help type 2 diabetics regulate blood sugar, improve cholesterol levels, even lower blood pressure.

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August 10, 2020 Tags : alternative , chinese , diet , Eastern , health , meat , medicine , Megafauna , organ , Paleo , Paleo Diet , Peanuts , Video , Western

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