healthiest food that is not a fruit or vegetable?

Salmon.

Beef punkles.

Lance,

FYI, the "Paleo diet FOR ATHLETES" by Friel and Cordain has some differences from the strict Paleo diet. Most of these differences are immediately before/during/after workouts & races. The rest of the day is pretty much paleo.

Friel identified the need to tweak the paleo diet in order to support the recovery needs for high-level endurance training. That's the whole premise of the book. So, while Dead On's recoverite and whey protein isn't "true paleo", it is EXACTLY what Friel recommends in the "palo diet for athletes".

Oh, and you can add me, so n=2.

Fair enough.

Sure, other factors could be involved in myself feeling better. But I have eliminated junk food in the past, and certainly didn't feel like I do now. Sure I felt better, but I cannot think of a single time in my running career when I have had this much energy/never get stomach aches. I think it is reasonable to conclude that eliminating grains and dairy (except Recoverite) has had an influence on that.

So, I have not "gone Paleo", but I have taken the major aspects of the concept and applied them to the needs of a distance runner. Perhaps I will report back in a few months about how I am doing so I can get a better idea of how well it is working (in terms of race performance at least).

Also, I think it is worth mentioning that several "Paleo founders" admit that endurance athletes must modify the diet to meet training needs. "The Paleo Diet for Athletes" pretty much sums it up perfectly, so if anyone is interested, read up!

I'm the original poster and I'm surprised this thread made it to 6 pages.

At this point, I guess I'm surprised no one mentioned human placenta.

the gecko wrote:

Your video guy even goes on to suggest the Paleo diet would cure type 2 diabetes within a week. The Paleo diet for Athletes is exactly where I got my original information, that you seemed to disagree with.

The Paleo Diet in and of itself would not cure type 2 diabetes within a week (there is nothing magical about it, and simply cutting carbs or grains or milk wouldn't make a big difference to a type 2 diabetic). But do you know what could do the trick? An extremely low-calorie diet. The macronutrient composition of that diet would not likely matter too much (nor would the marketing angles: Paleo, south beach, atkins, etc), because a very low calorie diet would result in, in absolute amounts, low fat, low protein, low carbs, low everything.

However, %-wise, it would have more carbs than fat or protein, much to the chagrin of the anti-carb folks, and even contain a little sugar. No meat at all would be eaten. (omg, omg, omg!)

How do I know all this? Because the above diet did indeed "cure" type 2 diabetics in a week:

Their key conclusions were that fatty liver and pancreas led to the type 2 diabetes (insulin resistance, over production of glucose from liver, beta cell malfunction), and that very low calorie consumption (not low carb in particular, in fact the diet was ~ 50% carbs) led to reduction of fat in these organs, which led to their recovered functionality. Now yes, as discussed on this thread, too much sugar (especially fructose) can led to development of fatty liver and TG production. However, so too can overconsumption of fats, especially sat fats. I repeat: too much fat consumption, especially sat fat consumption, is just as much, if not more, a culprit in the development of type 2 diabetes as is too much fructose or refined carb consumption. In moderate amounts, in people that are not obese and who are active, neither will be a problem. And Whole grain consumption, even in high amounts, would not pose a problem to a non-obese, active, healthy person. 100% true.

So let's stop the silly demonization of carbs in general, and grains in particular that some people (including many paleo advocates) are fond of ranting about.

vox cursor wrote:

Salmon.

More specifically, wild Alaskan salmon, preferably sockeye.

Lance, It wasn't my claim, it was the statement of Dr Lustig in the Sugar Bitter Truth video. Just pointing out that while Brian seemed to be against a Paleo-type diet (and fruits?), the video he posted not only said fruits were fine (because they contained fiber in addition to fructose) but also seemed to find enough merit in the Paleo diet to make such a claim.

I didn't sense any kind of demonization of carbs vibe from the Paleo diet for Athletes book. The book actually stresses the importance of carbs primarily in the form of fruits and veggies, but also certain carbs before/during/after workouts. It also stresses the importance of protein (sources that are low in sat fat), which they've found many athletes to be short on (due to overemphasis on carbs), and bumping the omega 3 fats to get a better omega 3:6 ratio than most Americans get.

Maybe you should read the book by Friel, which is geared towards endurance athletes. You seem to be making a lot of assumptions about it that make it clear that you don't even know exactly what you're arguing against. I don't know if that's based on the original Paleo diet, or these "many paleo advocates" you refer to, but it is a bit off base in this case.

Big Black Bear wrote:

Honey

This...and yogurt.

Yussef wrote:

Hells Angel wrote:

Well I like eating Putty YEAHHHH

Good for you.

Maybe if I was BUGS BUNNY YEAHHHHHHH!!!

You sound like a reasonable person, and I respect that.

For the record, I was not making my comments directly to you, though I used your quote as something to respond to in general. So I wasn't, in my last post, bashing you or the paleo for athletes. I was demonstrating that type 2 diabetes is primarily a disease of too many calories, too much inactivity, with the result being too many fatty acids clogging the liver and pancreas. The fat that develops in these organs are likely primarily derived from too much sugar (fructose in particular) and too much fat in the diet. I was just pointing that out for those that are interested in the topic. Many atkins, or high protein, or low carb, or paleo-type diets are high in fat/sat fat, so for non-athletes, this can definitely be a move towards type 2 diabetes, not away from it. Many are under the false impression that simply cutting carbs is the answer to avoiding type 2 diabetes, and it isn't.

As far as the paleo for athletes, I may read it, but will remain skeptical. I am skeptical of all popular health books meant primarily to sell, i.e., make $. Text books, peer-reviewed research studies, and the like, I am all for reading.

If one is lactose or gluten intolerant, then by all means avoid foods that contain them. If not, there is no good reason to do so. Whole grains and low-fat milk are both outstanding recovery foods, full of low-fat complex carbs, dietary fiber, natural sugars, high quality protein, and many micronutrients. I've done enough research on my own to know this, and that book, with all due respect, won't change my opinion on that subject. If another angle of the book is: eat lean red meat in moderation because of the protein, iron, zinc, etc, I already know this and do that. I don't care if my ancestors ate it or not, I know the pros and cons of red meat consumption. So I am not sure what I would learn.

I just think that the author is jumping on the paleo bandwagon to sell a book (not a bad business decision at all), that doesn't actually need the "paleo concept" to explain it's advice. Look, you and others saw "paleo" and jumped up and bought it, so he's a successful marketer, I will give him that.

Does Moose C0ck fit the Paleo Diet?

Sir Lance-alot wrote:

Look, you and others saw "paleo" and jumped up and bought it, so he's a successful marketer, I will give him that.

Don't want to belabor the point, but you made an incorrect assumption here. The only reason I picked up this book is because I was looking for other books written by Joe Friel. I didn't buy it for several months BECAUSE it had Paleo in the title. I couldn't care less about the paleo fad, never had any interest in the original paleo book... nor any other of the fad diets for that matter. Anything fad tends to irritate me whether it has merit or not.

You may be right about it not needing the paleo concept to explain its advice... I actually wish it didn't have it because it is the word "paleo" that seems to be getting the negative feedback from folks here that haven't even read the book. Heck, I almost didn't read the book because of that.

You seem to have some good nutrition knowledge. I would be interested in hearing your take (pros & cons) about the book if you do get a chance to read it. If you can find the time to post your feedback on LRC it may help those of us that don't have the background that you do. I like that it's geared specifically for endurance athletes, and so far it has helped me identify several (perhaps obvious) nutritional mistakes I was making.

Our daily bread.

I like Cheez-Its wrote:

Does Moose C0ck fit the Paleo Diet?

You can fit anything into it if it gets a GOOD ENOUGH LICKIN YEAHHHHH!!!!

Sir Lance-alot wrote:

Text books, peer-reviewed research studies, and the like, I am all for reading.

What's with the stupid name - are you some kind of royalty twit.

So you believe what is in peer-reviewed studies, well good for you. No wonder you're familiar with so many diseases.

Anyway I am happy being healthy, not misguidedly doped up with that medical crap and having a way too high opinion of myself.

Hells Angel wrote:

Yussef wrote:

Good for you.

Maybe if I was BUGS BUNNY YEAHHHHHHH!!!

I meant TWEETY BIRD YEAHHHHHH!!!

Kentucky Fried Chicken