The Brazen Beauty

The last of the hunter-gatherers to live in the area we now know as the United States of America were likely these fellows you see in this painting. They are now confined to the crappiest bits of real estate in Canada and the US where they eat the standard American diet of refined carbohydrates, dairy, and processed meats. And like most Americans they are amazingly unhealthy. In fact, Native Americans report the worst health across the board in all the key Syndrome X categories–heart disease, high blood pressure, obesity, diabetes, etc.

When I think of Native Americans, it always makes me sad. My father worked as a physician for the Indian Health Service in the 1970s and 80s and has told me about the many health issues that plague this population of people. And their health troubles are caused by one simple fact: For one reason or another, they have been separated from the lifestyle that they originally led that kept them vibrant and fit.

This is precisely what has happened to all of us. I was reminded of this when a Facebook friend asked me what I meant when I said I was stocking my kitchen with “hunter-gatherer-friendly” food for my upcoming Fitness Challenge. I realized that I had never really explained the concept of eating like a hunter-gatherer. The last 10 pounds that I have lost (three of which I gained back due to my recent relapse) I dropped with the help of a book called The Paleo Diet by Loren Cordain, Ph.D. I will now explain in detail the principles of the paleolithic diet (sometimes referred to as the Stone Age diet).

So what really happened to our diet? The “Agricultural Revolution” happened. Up until about 500 generations ago, cereals, dairy products, salted food, legumes, domesticated meats, and refined sugars were not part of our diet. From about 2.5 million years ago until about 10,000 B.C. our ancestors lived the lives of hunter-gathers, feasting on a diet comprised primarily of lean meats, with some vegetables, nuts, seeds and fruits that grew wild. According to Dr. Cordain the idea that we were meant to be vegetarians “runs contrary to every shred of evolutionary evidence from the fossil and anthropological record.” Our nearest animal relative in the chimpanzee. They are mostly vegetarians with large active guts they need to process that type of food. But somewhere along the way our family tree forked and humans traded in our large veggie stomachs…for bigger brains. Our stomachs are currently 40% smaller than the stomach of a chimp, but our brains are three times bigger. Lean meat is brain food. We were able to make tools that allowed us to both hunt and cut up the carcasses of animals. Scientists have found cut marks on the bones of fossilized animals and pieces of the tools themselves. Apparently in the beginning we used to eat only what was left over after larger predators had made the initial kill–our tools allowed us to crack open the bones and eat the bone marrow or brains of the animals. Marrow was a great source of energy and the animal brains we ate contained a large amount of something called DHA–an omega 3 fatty acid. Remember those? That stuff all the nutritionists have been telling you in so good for you? DHA as it turns out, is responsible for the building our our brain tissue–it is what made us the men and women we are today. In fact, Paleolithic people living in England 12,000 years ago ate diets that were almost identical to carnivores like wolves and bears. (Check out this funny video from my pal, Primal Toad.)

But we couldn’t eat just meat. Doing so would be toxic to us. We needed to eat animal fat and some plants along with it. Large animals contain more fat and less protein than smaller animals. If you ate smaller animals exclusively, you would have too much protein, but if you ate larger animals, the balance of nutrients would be okay. The animal fat protects you from the protein toxicity. This is why it was important back in the day to risk your Paleolithic ass to kill a deer instead of settling for rabbit day in and day out. The calorie output from killing the larger animal had to be less than the calories you would get from eating it. This is also why we are genetically programmed to clean our plates…you never knew when you were going to have to opportunity for venison again. By following the principles of the Paleo Diet, you are protected from protein toxicity through unlimited access to fruits and vegetables. As long as you indulge abundantly in fruits and non-starchy veggies, as much as 55% of your daily calories can come from protein and you’ll be just fine.

The downside of our society’s “development” through agriculture is that this development introduced foods that are toxic to our still very Paleolithic systems–cereals, dairy products, fatty meats, salted foods, and refined sugars and oils. DNA evidence shows that the human genome has changed less than 0.02% in 40,000 years. We may look like 21st Century hipsters on the outside, but on the inside we are still very Paleolithic.

Since this style of eating proved to be so effective for me, I have decided to go back to it in earnest. I am not a gal who enjoys counting calories and I have noticed that when I eat this way, I can eat more liberally in volume and still see very fast, specific results: High energy, great skin, and a rapid loss of weight that makes it appear as though the fat is melting off of my body. The key to this way of eating is that you want to avoid anything that you do not find on the perimeter of the grocery store. Have you ever noticed that all the processed, unhealthy food in the grocery store is in the middle? It’s full of preservatives, so it can sit on shelves for weeks or months without spoiling. No refrigeration required. You want to stick to the produce and meat sections. Remember, all the fruits and non-starchy veggies you can eat (unlike other low carb plans), and pretty much any kind meat you want that isn’t processed or really fatty–no lunch meat, bacon, or sausage…no hot dogs, or ribs. That leaves lean pork chops, turkey bacon, any steak cut except for T-bone, organ meats, most fish and shellfish, and any lean game meat (deer or elk, that sort of thing). You hunters should love this! Avoid dairy. If you absolutely NEED something to make your fruit smoothies with besides water, use unsweetened almond milk, which is available at most grocery stores. Make sure your protein powder uses whey protein rather than soy and contains no sugar. Coffee and tea is alright, just no lattes. For a sugar substitute in my tea, I use Truvia, which is made from the stevia plant. Agave syrup is an appropriate sugar substitute for baking. Exchange almond flour for wheat flour.  For cooking and salads, use the following oils: flaxseed, canola, walnut, or olive. Avoid salt if you can. If you are trying to lose weight, eat nuts in only small amounts–less than 4 ounces per day. Walnuts are best. Remember to avoid peanuts–they are actually a legume and not a nut. Legumes are not allowed. That means no soy milk folks. But if you are not eating cereal, there is really no need for any kind of milk, is there? I usually only want milk, when I eat starchy carbs.

The plan does allow you a few “open meals” in the beginning, easing you into this way of eating. But, I am a “cold turkey” kind of gal. I am highly addicted to carbohydrates and if I have even a small amount one part of the day (especially in the morning), I am going to want them ALL DAY. I recommend you purchase the book for the details on how to do the open meals.

So that’s the gist of it! I plan to get serious over the next three months to see if I can be at optimum health by October 29th, which is my 33rd birthday. I have been drifting between 192 and 194 pounds lately depending on how much water I am retaining. My size 14 clothes fit but they are very loose thanks to Turbo Fire. I am hoping to get down to a size 8 by my birthday. We’ll see.

As a birthday present to myself, I may complete a round of P90X….