Diet is a pretty controversial topic nowadays and the primal blueprint goes against current conventional wisdom. For any diabetic readers, you will notice a big difference between what I support here and what you will have been told by your doctor/diabetes nurse or other healthcare professional. I wont go so far as to say that the way we have all been told to eat is B#*#**#t, but at least some of it has been projected forcefully from a bovines rear end. If you agree or disagree, please comment and we can work on shared understanding. Can you tell that I really want more diabetics on the primal blueprint eating plan?
Our ancestors diets consisted mostly of plants and animals, we know that much. In addition, by studying modern hunter-gatherer societies a pretty consistent pattern emerges - geography depending. They ate what they could, when they could - meaning utilizing our amazing ability to store energy as fat for whenever food was more scarce. The lifestyle of our ancestors allowed them to be lean, strong, healthy, and prepared. It was not an easy life, but it was not as barbaric as we might imagine.
What does this mean for our diets today?
Basically, eat as much of all these goodies as you want.
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| from eatpreypaleo.com |
Eat good quality meat, eggs, fish from pretty much any animal source, even insects if you're feeling adventurous. Eat tons of colorful vegetables, and healthy fats (animal fats, nuts, coconut, avocado).
Sounds awesome right? Eggs and bacon; steak, avocado and assorted salad; roasted veggies and jerk chicken; with snacks of nuts, berries and some fruit. Does anybody disagree so far, have I named any unhealthy, or disgusting foods (maybe apart from insects - though Bear Grylls makes it look like a good laugh)? or have I given a picture of some awesomely tasty, healthy meals? I believe the latter.
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| from www.allpaleodiet.com |
Now the bit that gets on folks backs. What does eating this way avoid, and why?
Firstly, no grains or cereals. That's right, no cereal for breakfast, no morning bagel. No sandwich or pasta salad for lunch. No breaded or battered 'meat' for dinner.
Secondly, no refined/processed/artificial sugar. We all know its not good for us, so lets just all agree that cakes, muffins, cookies, milk chocolate and the wide range of foods most of us (me included) have over-indulged with.
Third, no legumes (beans). This is where primal and paleo differ somewhat. Legumes, including peanuts (I know, right) are inflammatory and in short, mess up our systems. Oh and for all us diabetics, they are also linked to auto-immune diseases. OMG right, so that whole - it was just luck of the draw or a roll of some cosmic dice that gave me type 1 diabetes may be wrong. Remember that the issue is that society, medicine, and science just don't understand type 1 diabetes fully yet - but, evidence for these links are forming. So, as people already disposed to autoimmune disease, it's worth avoiding it further, don't you think?
Fourth, eliminate trans- and hydrogenated- fats. These are not foods, full stop. There are good fats and bad fats. If anyone tells you otherwise, or you believe that all fats are bad yourself then you are wrong. No question, you are wrong and you especially should check out marks daily apple and develop your knowledge.
How does this look for our average daily/weekly consumption? Well, the SAD diet (Standard American Diet - or western in general really, I am in the UK) that conventional wisdom looks something like this. Around 50% carbs, 30% fat, and 20% protein. This is a great way to gain weight and develop health issues. The primal blueprint for me doesn't recommend specific ratios per se. I don't personally agree with ratios as it means that if you want to lose weight then you can only eat less and risk muscle loss. Also, if you exercise regularly, you might not be getting enough protein to rebuild yourself. The primal blueprint suggests eating something like 1g protein per pound lean muscle mass per day for an active person. For me this means around 130g protein daily depending on exercise needs. This is around 3 times what is recommended by conventional wisdom, no wonder the average person has pretty poor muscle tone. Your carb needs are determined by activity - within reason though, as primal seeks to be a fat burner diet rather than a carb burner diet. I would say around 100g daily for diabetics, but not much more. Any more and the weight goes on, any less you tend to lose weight. This is my sweet spot, but then we all differ. Note that these carbs come from berries, fruit and leafy veg. Finally your fat intake is essentially whatever remains to fill your daily calorie needs. For say 2000 calories; 130g protein, 100g carbs leaves 120g fat. Bear in mind that a gram of protein or carbs = 4calories, whereas 1g fat = 9calories. In essence, this means you need to eat less.
Sorry, the explanation got slightly out of hand there. Let's move on. For those that agree with the standard way of eating. I have only my own experiences to offer. My usual diet looks something like this. 3/4 egg omlette, maybe bacon for breakfast. Spicy chicken and massive salad for lunch. Veg heavy dinner, likely with fish/meat of some kind. Also nuts, berries and fruit as snacks. In the past few months, I have lost maybe 4 pounds. Not alot, huh. Well this comes with more muscle than I have ever had, as well as a decrease of maybe 4 inches around my waist. I like to say that the worst thing about eating primal is that I need to go shopping for smaller trousers, and I hate shopping. Specifically relevant to any type 1 readers, read this next bit carefully. I take hardly any insulin anymore; a daily dose and unless I cheat (sometimes cheesecake just calls too hard, but I'm working on it) I don't need any after meals. I haven't had a hypo in months. My last A1C was just above 5, though I forget the exact number. I haven't seen my blood glucose above 7 (or around 125, I forget the exact transformation between systems) in a while and like I say, never below 4 (80-ish?). I am full of energy and don't get those afternoon sleepy phases I did while on the SAD.
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| Primal pancakes anyone - seen here |
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| Awesome lunches anyone? - this one for a future post |
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| Mmmmmmmmmmmm |
The diet element is one of the most extensive ones within the primal blueprint; however, it is only one of 10 laws for healthy living. Next time, we'll take a look at moving a lot, but at a slow pace.
Please do comment and feedback. Do you agree or disagree, have I missed anything vital?. Please help me spread this way of living to others, especially my type 1 brethren who deserve more to life than the roller coaster ride offered by masses or carbs followed by masses of insulin (and the resultant crash). We deserve to be healthy.
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| If this is your life as a type 1 diabetic then the primal blueprint is for you |
Respectfully,
Sam
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