Neander Chic

Lately I have been finding myself more surrounded by dieters then usual.  It started as a strong fitness kick among friends finding crossfit.  Not only has it become the workout of choice, it has changed a lot of their grocery lists.  Crossfits recommend the Paleo diet to reap full rewards of the program. 

What is Paleo? Think caveman. Get out your crayon, draw on your walls and then head to the nearest "hunting and gathering" place. Kill a lean cow, gather some fruits and vegetables...skip the refined sugars, processed food, legumes, grains, dairy (sigh), and starchy veggies.  Bingo! you're on a paleo diet.

Generally speaking, I am of the mindset that everything is good in moderation but I like the diets that reinforce good eating habits, such as fresh, unprocessed food, so this one is a winner. However, I also believe in evolution. That little thing that happened over time that took us from cavemen, living an average of 20 years, to modern day people, surviving potentially to a 100 plus. Other then the obvious developments in modern plumbing and medicine, I am pretty sure quality of life within itself has something to do with it.  

It's not my place to judge anyone choosing this diet, however I will judge the diet itself.  The premise of removing dairy has to do with lectin consumption, of say...a cow, to produce milk, however why eat the cow than? This is where I get lost.  Reading through a "paleo manual" DH brought home, I am no nutritionist, but I see a lot of contradictions.

That said, if chosen, this diet is not easy. It takes hard work to know what you're doing to replace those other things that you need, like fiber if you're gorging on proteins.  And it certainly yields results when combined with the crossfit program...but I'll be sticking to my see-food-diet plan for the foreseeable future.

- Your Modern Day Food Blogger