Paleo eating and does it all make sense?

The paleo diet, caveman diet, clean eating, I have heard it called lots of things. So is this really the best food lifestyle to keep you healthy? Notice I did not say diet. In our modern vernacular diet has generally come to mean temporary, so I'll skip that can call it a food lifestyle. In the strictest terms the paleo diet can be summed by saying, if cavemen didn't eat it you shouldn't eat it. Meaning no sugar, no legumes, no farmed grains, no dairy (these are the main ones). The idea is that millions of years of evolution have predisposed our bodies/genetics to efficiently process and use certain foods. Since farming and other modern practices of food production have only been around thousands of years, most of these things should not be consumed. Our bodies do not like these foods as much.

Certainly this thought process is logical, but there are some flaws in it. When farming of plants and domesticates animals began is somewhat questionable, but most estimates place it around 20,000 years ago. Modern humans (homo sapiens) evolved around 250,000 years ago (not millions like many paleo proponents mention). So farming has existed for around 10% of our species existence (since all of these historical numbers age just reasonable estimates). Personally I find it difficult to believe that 1,000 generations of humans (farming humans) failed to produce any adaptations to changing dietary availability. Yes, 230,00 years of evolution trumps 20,000 years but also remember the 20,000 are the most recent changes. There is a good amount of conjecture on both sides of the argument to weather or not this food lifestyle is preferable for health. The studies are out there, Google works, so I will be lazy and not post them (plus there are way too many).

The second flaw in this argument comes from modern transportation. Most experts agree modern humans first showed up in Africa. So if we take into account the time and speed at which these people migrated to various part of the earth, I am guessing most early humans weren't eating asparagus and buffalo (things included in paleo). So if we adapted to certain foods how did each regionalized group of humans (African, Native American, Australian) develop the genes to use foods from other places? There were no planes or trains to get fresh foods from one place to another. Even with the development of larger boats, most foods from other places were dried or salted to preserve them first (even this was only the past 5,000 years).

There are also several variations of what people call paleo, some of which are more restrictive and many which include other food groups based on their reported benefits. Again, these are out there for you to find, and too many to list.

Where does this leave us, is this paleo thing good or not? Since this is my blog, I do what I want and I will tell you what I believe. The paleo food lifestyle is a very good thing, but not for the reasons commonly stated (mainly a genetic predisposition to use certain foods). I try to keep my food consumption to what I call pre-technology. Mainly before, we as humans, figured out how to develop chemical pesticides, refined sugars, processed dairy, factory farming techniques, growth hormones, antibiotics, etc... These are the things, in my opinion that led to many of our modern health problems. So stick with local and seasonal fruits and veggies (when you can), grass fed/free range meats, raw milk and dairy and nuts and seeds. If these things are the base and majority of your food consumption then you should end up with a long healthy life (if you are not hit by a bus).

Intermittent Fasting - Does it (will it) help?

Doing some browsing around random CrossFit and fitness sites the other week I came across this concept call IF (Intermittent Fasting). A first glance it sounded like some "diet of the week" or just another bad idea that someone was pushing. But, I always like to check out some information first, because often times bed ideas have little bits of solid evidence behind them.

There are two basic ways to do IF. First is a food window each day. Badsically a 4-8 hour time period where you consume all of your calories each day. The second is to pick 2 or 3, 24 hour periods each week and eat nothing (coffee and water are ok when not eating). I am trying version two.

I managed to find a few more sites (links later) and proponents for this idea of food consumption and how exercise and fitness figures into it. The more I read the more it made some sense. The biggest concept that I came across which is completely logical and fits into what I have observed in myself in others is how exactly calories are counted. IF in most interpretations (not all) relies more on a weekly calorie count, instead of a daily one. As numerous studies have shown the overall affect of the calories in versus calories out depends little on how much you consume in a single day, but more so how you continually eat over a period of time. An over simplified example of this that we all have experience is when you sit down for your favorite meal (like Thanksgiving) and make a complete pig of yourself. Having consumed 5000 calories one day you do not instantly wake up the next day with an extra pound of fat on you. You body can withstand that day (as long as you don't repeat it on a regular basis). So why should we consider how many calories we consume in a day (mostly because its a simple concise time period that is easier to track).

IF takes this long term calorie input and does two main things with it. First is if you consume no calories for a 24 hour period, it is very likely that you will consume less overall calories in a week/month/year. Along with fitness this can lead to fat loss. The second thing it does is way more biological. You get a better explanation here if you care to read it. But a simplified way of stating it is, when your body gets no new calorie sources in 12-18 hours it will start pulling energy store from your body's most abundant store. This is typically belly fat in men and butt and leg fat in women. This will help many people lose some fat in tough to target areas. Combine these two things and you can see the potential of IF.

I started this about two weeks ago and it has been surprisingly easy to stick to. Anyone who knows me knows I love to eat so if I can manage it most people probably can. I'll update every few weeks on my progress to really see if this is fact or fiction.

Here are some links to a few studies...

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21410865?dopt=Abstract

http://www.ajcn.org/content/86/1/7.full

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19943985

It's The Economy Stupid

Remember that slogan from the Clinton campaigns? Well that was the focus then and it's the focus again now. Not just in the world of politics and the upcoming presidential race but, also in each of our daily lives from the US to Europe. Our economic woes have been largely self inflicted from a ballooning government spending more money they do not have, to businesses relying on constant growth (history has shown this does not happen) and the never ending need to please their shareholders. So what are we to do about all of this, how do we fix it?

Well the simple answer is, elect some new people to run the country! The reality is not so simple. What I cannot seem to figure out is that so many people around me complain about "politicians" and how we need to get them (career politicians) out of office. Yet, when it comes time to vote many of these people either don't vote or just pick the candidate who is the lesser of two evils. This of course means that who they just voted for is still "evil" and therefore not likely to change much from the last person who we put into office. There is a true need to break the system if our great country and many others around the world intend to survive into the distant future. Problem is I have no earthly idea how in the hell that is going to happen, at least gracefully. Sadly the future I see us falling toward is one where a massive global depression reshapes the economic and political world we live in.

I like to think there is an alternative but I have yet to see one that is attainable. It can happen, but I doubt it will. So the other opinion I always seem to hear is, we need to move to China because the own the US anyway. What these people do not realize is when China (or any other country for that matter) decides it is no longer a good idea to buy our debt, we will start to default on that debt. That means we are out of money, but it also means the trillions of dollars we owe will not get paid back, so China loses out too. Do you really think that won't hurt them? They might not be quite as bad off, but trust me no one is a winner in that scenario.

So all that leads back to the first question, what can we do? Elect some new people to run the country. Unfortunately what those who we might elect need and will do is cut back on what the government spends so that we can begin to repay our debt. That means cuts in military funding, healthcare, education, infrastructure, corporate tax breaks, ... So of course everyone needs or wants one or more of these things so anyone running for office that suggest cutting one or more will never be elected.

So what can we do? OK, this is starting to sound repetitive (intentionally). You get the idea, if you want to get elected don't cut spending/funding of anything. If you want to get us out of this economic/financial mess cut spending/funding. Bottom line, we're screwed. I just know that I don't know what will happen when it all comes crashing down, so I don't worry about it. In the mean time I will voice my opinion with my vote (and not waste it by voting for the lesser of two evils) and try to do what I believe is best. You should do the same.

Define Athlete

So what exactly makes someone an athlete? Who is the "best" athlete?

Let's be honest many things in our culture are based on who is better. Can I run faster, run longer, lift more, do math better, figure out how to fix a computer, make a better cake, whatever!!?? Does being an athlete include skill or just simple measurable functions (and how are these measured)? So being the competitive person I am, and a life long "athlete" this is something I have asked in my head many times. I want to be the best a whatever I do and have generally subscribed to the idea that if I work harder than everyone, I can become the best.

So, who is the best athlete and how do I (or you) compare?

This is where the task becomes impossible (and while I also subscribe to the idea that nothing is impossible, since this question is answered by opinion and not fact you'll see where I'm coming from).

Those of us old enough might remember the old Reebok commercials for Dan and Dave, which asked "Who is the worlds greatest athlete?". So today, is Ashton Eaton the best (top scoring decathlete in 2011) ? Well can he do the things that Rich Froning can (2011 Crossfit Games winner)? Can either of them compete with LeBron James (we all know him)? Maybe not but LeBron can lift what Brian Shaw can (2011 Worlds Strongest Man) . Fine, but none of them could keep up with Ryan Hall (Top US marathoner 2011).

So what is the answer? Who is the best? It's pretty simple really, all of them are. We need to pick each discipline and decide based on competition which is generally what happens. What each of us hyper competitive people need to do is pick you passion and get to work. Start building to be the best at whatever chosen thing floats your boat.

The pessimist inside each of us will say, forget it, there is no way to beat all of the people ahead of us right now. While it may have a hint of validity we must put that totally out of or thoughts and go after it with every intent of reaching the goal of being the best.

Yes as an athlete there are physical limitations on all of us in one form or another, but if you chose to use that as an excuse then you are already defeated. I want to win the Crossfit Games, sure no one 6 feet or taller or over 30 has won. And sure I can't do 5 straight muscle-ups (yet). And my 5k barely breaks 21:00. I don't care that is my goal. Will I reach that goal? Maybe not but I sure as hell will try. At the end of the day I will feel good about how hard I worked and how much dedication I put into it, while still living my life to the fullest.

Not a bad consolation prize.

Let's Try to Keep This Going

So I have not posted anything on a blog (this one) for nearly three years (at which point I managed a whole two posts)!! So this time around I'm going to make a real attempt to keep it going. I remembered I had started this, so I re-read my other posts and thought, "hey they're not bad". My biggest challenge will be trying to convey sarcasm through writing. I often use sarcastic remarks to make a point and since this is basically a continuation of my thoughts and ideas I need to be sure it gets across correctly (if not I'm going to sound like a total asshole, which may be true sometimes, but...)

Re-introducing what I want you might read on this blog, it's pretty much what I am interested in or passionate about. So mainly what you can expect to see here is lots of information and opinions and information on fitness, nutrition, fishing and a smattering of politics. Basically stuff that affects your everyday life, weather you realize it or not (well except fishing, I just like that a bit too much).

Stay tuned, I've got a couple thoughts working for the next week.