While writing posts for A Sizable Apple, I have always tried to bring readers an unbiased look at health and nutrition. While I'm not a doctor or nutritionist of any kind, my opinions based on practicing healthy living do sometimes sway the research and information I share. Ten thousand years ago the Agricultural Revolution was the beginning of a drastic change in the human diet that continues to this day. Today more than 70% of our dietary calories come from foods that our Paleolithic (Stone Age) ancestors rarely, if ever, ate. The result is epidemic levels of cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes, osteoporosis, arthritis, gastrointestinal disease, acne, and more.
In attempts to bring my readers variety and quality information, I've started a plan to update occasionally with guest interviews from doctors, nutritionists and professionals with varying view points.
The new "Ask A Pro" features will be the opinions, beliefs and studies of each professional interviewed.
As always if you would like to submit a question, concern, idea or contact regarding "Ask A Pro" or A Sizable Apple in general, please email me at asizableapple@gmail.com
The following "Ask A Pro" interview features Dr. Loren Cordain of The Paleo Diet:
- ThePaleoDiet.com
A Sizable Apple: When did you begin your studies for the Paleo Diet?
Dr. Cordain: A few years after reading Boyd Eaton’s seminal paper: Paleolithic Nutrition which was published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 1985.
ASA: What demographic has the best results with the Paleo Diet?
Dr. C: People with chronic illness or disease generally show improvement in symptoms rapidly.
ASA: Can you give an example of the types of foods included in the Paleo Diet?
Dr. C: Fresh fruits, vegetables, lean meats, seafood. Avoid grains, dairy, legumes, refined sugars, vegetable oils, salt and processed foods.
ASA: What are some of the health benefits that come from the diet?
Dr. C: Normalization of body weight, improvement in blood glucose, insulin and blood lipids. Reductions in blood pressure, better sleep, more even energy throughout the day. Reduction in risk for cardiovascular disease, cancer, many autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. For a complete list: see success stories at my website.
ASA: What are some typical concerns or issues that have come forth from the diet?
Dr. C: How do I get sufficient calcium if I stop eating dairy foods? How do I get sufficient fiber if I reduce or eliminate grains? How do I get sufficient vitamin D without fortified dairy or margarine? Wont a high meat diet cause my blood cholesterol levels to rise? See website for answers under FAQ.
ASA: Why do you think our diets have changed so dramatically from the Stone Age?
Dr. C: In order to support 6 billion people on the planet we have become absolutely dependent upon cereal grains, a food that was rarely or never consumed by ancestral humans. The industrial revolution and mechanization of the food supply has allowed a few people to feed the masses. With increasing industrialization the average citizen could eat any food they desired including sweet foods and high fat foods and combinations thereof which we call processed foods. These foods have only become widely available in the past 200 years.
ASA: Eating according to the Paleo Diet would obviously be much easier if we were in older times and able to harvest our own food. What advice do you have for attempting this diet in a world where processed foods have become the norm, and controversy over produce not being so fresh or altered with chemicals or pesticides?
Dr. C:
1. First, start by shopping for your foods on the outside aisles in the supermarket and avoid the center aisles. This tactic ensures that the bulk of your foods will be fresh fruits, veggies, lean meats and seafood.
2. Prepare some meals in advance, so that the preparation time is minimized, and brown bag meals when you will not have access to “real living” foods.
3. Try to include a high protein animal dish at every meal, as protein has twice the satiating ability of either fat or carbohydrate.
4. When you stray from humanity’s real foods (fresh fruits, veggies, lean meats, seafood) remember how bad you felt & remember how good you felt when you woke up in the morning after 24 hrs of eating nature’s bounty.
For more information on the Paleo Diet and Dr. Cordain's other projects, visit www.thepaleodiet.com and www.dietaryacnecure.com.
