Going Paleo
- Thread starter Shacky
- Start date
Yeah, I'm sure wine was a
Yeah, I'm sure wine was a natural, it could'nt be prevented.
The story of beer is always that the Monks figured out a way to produce an alcoholic beverage that tasted so bad that it could be drunk during Lent.
For beer the Paleo's at least needed a wet grain and a yeast, and had to let it set a spell.
I wonder who first found the nasty accidental wort and decided they were so thirsty they would actually drink it!
Wait, don't tell me, after that they all drank the stuff and starting singing "Sweet Caroline, ba ba ba...."
Yeah, I'm sure wine was a natural, it could'nt be prevented.
The story of beer is always that the Monks figured out a way to produce an alcoholic beverage that tasted so bad that it could be drunk during Lent.
For beer the Paleo's at least needed a wet grain and a yeast, and had to let it set a spell.
I wonder who first found the nasty accidental wort and decided they were so thirsty they would actually drink it!
Wait, don't tell me, after that they all drank the stuff and starting singing "Sweet Caroline, ba ba ba...."
I feel better drinking wine
I feel better drinking wine then beer seeing as how its grapes vs grains.
BTW - I brainfarted during lunch and tossed some corn and peas into my salad without even thinking (ate at a salad bar). Was fighting drowsiness all afternoon.
I'm more upset at myself about the corn then I am with the peas. I actually had no idea that peas were legumes until I looked it up a short while ago.
I feel better drinking wine then beer seeing as how its grapes vs grains.
BTW - I brainfarted during lunch and tossed some corn and peas into my salad without even thinking (ate at a salad bar). Was fighting drowsiness all afternoon.
I'm more upset at myself about the corn then I am with the peas. I actually had no idea that peas were legumes until I looked it up a short while ago.
It's simple,the vegetables we
It's simple,the vegetables we call Peas are really legumes, as are peanuts, even though we think of them as nuts.
Tomatoes have never been vegetables, they're a fruit of course.
French fries are vegtables, roots of vegetables to be even more specific,
and somehow during the Reagen administration Ketchup (possibly still catsup back in those days) counted as a vegetable as far as the school lunch program was concerned despite it being a fruit mixed with vinagar, sugar, and salt.
VFF is barefoot, ......NOT!!!!!
It's simple,the vegetables we call Peas are really legumes, as are peanuts, even though we think of them as nuts.
Tomatoes have never been vegetables, they're a fruit of course.
French fries are vegtables, roots of vegetables to be even more specific,
and somehow during the Reagen administration Ketchup (possibly still catsup back in those days) counted as a vegetable as far as the school lunch program was concerned despite it being a fruit mixed with vinagar, sugar, and salt.
VFF is barefoot, ......NOT!!!!!
mokaman wrote: I'm thinking
After going paleo I lost about 20 pounds in 3 months - from 200 to 180. 180 is good for me and I've stabalized there.
Other changes -
I've thrown away the bottles of Tums and Excedrine I've kept in my desk for as long as I can remember. I haven't had a single headache or case of heartburn in more than 5 months. I used to have both frequently.
I used to NEED food every 4 hours or so or I'd get tired, cranky, light-headed, etc.. I can now go 18-24 hours relatively easily without anything but water. Skipping a meal is easy. I chuckle at my co-workers who get bent out of shape when they are a few minutes late for lunch or a snack.
mokaman said:
After going paleo I lost about 20 pounds in 3 months - from 200 to 180. 180 is good for me and I've stabalized there.
Other changes -
I've thrown away the bottles of Tums and Excedrine I've kept in my desk for as long as I can remember. I haven't had a single headache or case of heartburn in more than 5 months. I used to have both frequently.
I used to NEED food every 4 hours or so or I'd get tired, cranky, light-headed, etc.. I can now go 18-24 hours relatively easily without anything but water. Skipping a meal is easy. I chuckle at my co-workers who get bent out of shape when they are a few minutes late for lunch or a snack.
I think it would be entirely
I think it would be entirely possible to do a vegetarian version of the Paleo diet. The fat/oil sources would be easy to get using nuts, coconut water/milk/oil, and maybe some some swigs of UDO's oil. Protein sources would be a bit more difficult to come by I think unless you allow for some fish and/or eggs. I'd still say avoid the grains and beans though since those items as well as the diary has made the biggest impact on me.
I think this would make for an interesting experiment.
Edit - Paleo does revolve around meat so a veggie version should not be called Paleo. Go ahead and give it a name, write a book, start up a website, and bolster the next diet fad.
I think it would be entirely possible to do a vegetarian version of the Paleo diet. The fat/oil sources would be easy to get using nuts, coconut water/milk/oil, and maybe some some swigs of UDO's oil. Protein sources would be a bit more difficult to come by I think unless you allow for some fish and/or eggs. I'd still say avoid the grains and beans though since those items as well as the diary has made the biggest impact on me.
I think this would make for an interesting experiment.
Edit - Paleo does revolve around meat so a veggie version should not be called Paleo. Go ahead and give it a name, write a book, start up a website, and bolster the next diet fad.
Interesting thread from an
Interesting thread from an endurance athlete who happens to be a raw vegan
http://www.veganfitness.net/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=18213
Interesting thread from an endurance athlete who happens to be a raw vegan
http://www.veganfitness.net/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=18213
Hello All, I am new this
Hello All,
I am new this organization, board, and barefoot running. But I'm not new to Paleo eating. I've been doing it for about 6 months now. I'm a 47 year old man. I had gone from 5' 10" 186lbs to 170 lbs through counting calories, and got stuck for a while, but then switched to paleo (and no counting or restricting quantities at all) and am now at 159 lbs, and really like the way I feel (and look. Ok I'm vain.)
I look at paleo a lot like the way I look at barefoot running - don't fight evolution.
For food, at least to me and a lot of other paleo eaters, this comes down to only eating foods that don't REQUIRE a lot of processing, including cooking, in order to be edible or digestible. It doesn't mean actually eating raw foods. Except for salads, I basically don't eat raw foods. But almost all the stuff I eat, I could digest it if I ate it raw or unprocessed. The basic logic is that if our bodies haven't evolved so we can digest a food uncooked or unprocessed, we probably shouldn't be eating it.
That means,
1) Almost all animal products (meat, eggs) are fine. For me, dairy is fine as well. Most people of European descent have an actual identifiable gene mutation that allows them to easily digest dairy. I eat a ton of cheese.
2) I drink wine. Grape juice is perfectly digestible.
3) Vegetables are fine.
4) Grains are not ok. You basically couldn't digest wheat, rice, corn, oats or barley without cooking. (And in some of these, a lot more processing as well). Likewise with legumes like beans, peas, and peanuts.
5) Processed OILS are not ok. While you can basically simply squeeze a bunch of olives and get olive oil, you practically need a chemical lab to make soybean oil from soybeans. Or from the Wikipedia entry on corn oil "Almost all corn oil is expeller pressed, then solvent extracted using hexane or isohexane." Sounds wonderful.
6) Sugar is not ok. (Can you digest sugar cane without processing? Not sure.)
7) Fruit and nuts are fine.
Eight) I'm not sure whether this is paleo or not, but part of this, at least for me, is the avoidance of the artificial, like artificial sweeteners. It took about a week or two of getting used to, but I just don't miss Diet Coke anymore. Water tastes just fine with food.
Finally, I won't give up coffee, and don't see why I should. Again, Grok didn't drink coffee, but the processing for regular coffee is pretty minimal. Sure, the beans are roasted. But then again, I'm not eating them or getting any calories from them, and my version of paleo is not getting my caloric intake from foods which need to be processed in order to be digestible.
Again (and sorry for the long post) it really works for me. I eat as much as I want, my body fat percentage has gone way down, and my weight is staying right where I want it. I really recommend it.
Hello All,
I am new this organization, board, and barefoot running. But I'm not new to Paleo eating. I've been doing it for about 6 months now. I'm a 47 year old man. I had gone from 5' 10" 186lbs to 170 lbs through counting calories, and got stuck for a while, but then switched to paleo (and no counting or restricting quantities at all) and am now at 159 lbs, and really like the way I feel (and look. Ok I'm vain.)
I look at paleo a lot like the way I look at barefoot running - don't fight evolution.
For food, at least to me and a lot of other paleo eaters, this comes down to only eating foods that don't REQUIRE a lot of processing, including cooking, in order to be edible or digestible. It doesn't mean actually eating raw foods. Except for salads, I basically don't eat raw foods. But almost all the stuff I eat, I could digest it if I ate it raw or unprocessed. The basic logic is that if our bodies haven't evolved so we can digest a food uncooked or unprocessed, we probably shouldn't be eating it.
That means,
1) Almost all animal products (meat, eggs) are fine. For me, dairy is fine as well. Most people of European descent have an actual identifiable gene mutation that allows them to easily digest dairy. I eat a ton of cheese.
2) I drink wine. Grape juice is perfectly digestible.
3) Vegetables are fine.
4) Grains are not ok. You basically couldn't digest wheat, rice, corn, oats or barley without cooking. (And in some of these, a lot more processing as well). Likewise with legumes like beans, peas, and peanuts.
5) Processed OILS are not ok. While you can basically simply squeeze a bunch of olives and get olive oil, you practically need a chemical lab to make soybean oil from soybeans. Or from the Wikipedia entry on corn oil "Almost all corn oil is expeller pressed, then solvent extracted using hexane or isohexane." Sounds wonderful.
6) Sugar is not ok. (Can you digest sugar cane without processing? Not sure.)
7) Fruit and nuts are fine.
Eight) I'm not sure whether this is paleo or not, but part of this, at least for me, is the avoidance of the artificial, like artificial sweeteners. It took about a week or two of getting used to, but I just don't miss Diet Coke anymore. Water tastes just fine with food.
Finally, I won't give up coffee, and don't see why I should. Again, Grok didn't drink coffee, but the processing for regular coffee is pretty minimal. Sure, the beans are roasted. But then again, I'm not eating them or getting any calories from them, and my version of paleo is not getting my caloric intake from foods which need to be processed in order to be digestible.
Again (and sorry for the long post) it really works for me. I eat as much as I want, my body fat percentage has gone way down, and my weight is staying right where I want it. I really recommend it.
startingupagain - have you
startingupagain - have you tried to give up coffee? I have heart issues if I drink enough coffee (runaway heartrate if I push my cardio too high) and I've figured out that forgoing coffee prevents this. For this reason, and even though I love the taste of coffee, I know that my body does not agree with coffee. I've been sticking with green tea lately and I haven't dealt with any HR episodes as of late.
For what its worth, I did have my first large quad caramel latte in over a month today and the effects weren't quite unexpected. My heart rate was increased pretty much all morning long as well as coming down with the shakes. Likewise I became quite gassy and my urine turned a rich yellow. To me this proves that my body does not care for either caffeine, sugar, dairy, or the combination of any of these items. Too bad it tastes so damn good.
startingupagain - have you tried to give up coffee? I have heart issues if I drink enough coffee (runaway heartrate if I push my cardio too high) and I've figured out that forgoing coffee prevents this. For this reason, and even though I love the taste of coffee, I know that my body does not agree with coffee. I've been sticking with green tea lately and I haven't dealt with any HR episodes as of late.
For what its worth, I did have my first large quad caramel latte in over a month today and the effects weren't quite unexpected. My heart rate was increased pretty much all morning long as well as coming down with the shakes. Likewise I became quite gassy and my urine turned a rich yellow. To me this proves that my body does not care for either caffeine, sugar, dairy, or the combination of any of these items. Too bad it tastes so damn good.
Shacky
Give up coffee! That's crazy talk!
Seriously, no, I haven't tried. I don't have health issues with it if I keep it to two or three cups a day, which I do. But I understand your giving it up. In the same circumstances, I would as well.
(And nothing goes in my coffee but half and half)
Shacky said:
Give up coffee! That's crazy talk!
Seriously, no, I haven't tried. I don't have health issues with it if I keep it to two or three cups a day, which I do. But I understand your giving it up. In the same circumstances, I would as well.
(And nothing goes in my coffee but half and half)
I have a questions about
I have a questions about Paleo
Upfront warning! Prepare for a Scooter Rant!
Definition from Paleo Site
"Paleo is a simple dietary lifestyle that is based on foods being either in or out. In are the Paleolithic Era foods that we ate prior to agriculture and animal husbandry (meat, fish, shellfish, eggs, tree nuts, vegetables, roots, fruit, berries, mushrooms, etc.). Out are Neolithic Era foods that result from agriculture or animal husbandry (grains, dairy, beans/legumes, potatoes, sugar and fake foods). "
I can certainly see where most grains may be out but seriously, grains are seeds and my guess is that monkey man ate anything he could get in his mouth that didn't kill him/her. If the Paleo Man found a potato does anyone really think he would toss it because it wasn't on his list of approved foods? Sugars are out but there are literally hundreds of sugary foods this early man would have eaten. Sugar cane, Banana stocks, Coconuts etc. and would this pre modern human turn down a nice wild sweet pea? Seriously? They would have ate it for the energy value in a split second. I'd bet my life on it. I mean seriously, and in a joking manor, these people watched a white hard thing come out of a birds butt and they ate it. They would eat anything that didn't kill them. I am not sure what the difference is between meats pre animal husbandry and post animal husbandry but my guess is that if you’re eating beef of any kind the rules are violated. However, beef came from someplace so somewhere some place Paleolithic hunter-gatherers ate a cow.
Second, anyone have a clue what the life expectancy of the Paleo man was? It was short probably from injury and just plain hardship i suppose. Paleolithic hunter-gatherers would, in my estimation, do anything to make life easier. That is why we evolved. If they had the option of smashing open a walnut or getting into an almond vs. the simplicity of eating a pea pod or a potato, I can almost guess where they would go for food.
I can see excluding foods that are created that didn't exist in nature, they are unnatural. And I can see eliminating grains to some extent but tender green wheat might have beena valid food item. If I were a paleo era dude and I found a corn stock, which we know existed back then, I’d eat it raw right off the stock. I can’t imagine a world where they wouldn’t eat it and any scientist that says they wouldn’t is blinded by his own research. The oldest South American cultures ate roots and corn. There are several roots that are all over the world that are genetically traced back to South America. If they had it available, they would eat it.
These fad diets never cease to amaze me. Paleo is really the next generation of Atkins and South beach, just a slightly healthier version.
And now I see people talking on the Google Groups about how to take a bath Paleo style. How do I shave my legs, what do I use in place of soap. OK people, throw out the houses, clothes, toilet paper, toothbrushsed and grow some ....s. Go Paleo full out! I really hope they don't come over my house after a run if they go on a soap strike. Enough of my rant but everywhere I go I see some post on this diet.
I have a questions about Paleo
Upfront warning! Prepare for a Scooter Rant!
Definition from Paleo Site
"Paleo is a simple dietary lifestyle that is based on foods being either in or out. In are the Paleolithic Era foods that we ate prior to agriculture and animal husbandry (meat, fish, shellfish, eggs, tree nuts, vegetables, roots, fruit, berries, mushrooms, etc.). Out are Neolithic Era foods that result from agriculture or animal husbandry (grains, dairy, beans/legumes, potatoes, sugar and fake foods). "
I can certainly see where most grains may be out but seriously, grains are seeds and my guess is that monkey man ate anything he could get in his mouth that didn't kill him/her. If the Paleo Man found a potato does anyone really think he would toss it because it wasn't on his list of approved foods? Sugars are out but there are literally hundreds of sugary foods this early man would have eaten. Sugar cane, Banana stocks, Coconuts etc. and would this pre modern human turn down a nice wild sweet pea? Seriously? They would have ate it for the energy value in a split second. I'd bet my life on it. I mean seriously, and in a joking manor, these people watched a white hard thing come out of a birds butt and they ate it. They would eat anything that didn't kill them. I am not sure what the difference is between meats pre animal husbandry and post animal husbandry but my guess is that if you’re eating beef of any kind the rules are violated. However, beef came from someplace so somewhere some place Paleolithic hunter-gatherers ate a cow.
Second, anyone have a clue what the life expectancy of the Paleo man was? It was short probably from injury and just plain hardship i suppose. Paleolithic hunter-gatherers would, in my estimation, do anything to make life easier. That is why we evolved. If they had the option of smashing open a walnut or getting into an almond vs. the simplicity of eating a pea pod or a potato, I can almost guess where they would go for food.
I can see excluding foods that are created that didn't exist in nature, they are unnatural. And I can see eliminating grains to some extent but tender green wheat might have beena valid food item. If I were a paleo era dude and I found a corn stock, which we know existed back then, I’d eat it raw right off the stock. I can’t imagine a world where they wouldn’t eat it and any scientist that says they wouldn’t is blinded by his own research. The oldest South American cultures ate roots and corn. There are several roots that are all over the world that are genetically traced back to South America. If they had it available, they would eat it.
These fad diets never cease to amaze me. Paleo is really the next generation of Atkins and South beach, just a slightly healthier version.
And now I see people talking on the Google Groups about how to take a bath Paleo style. How do I shave my legs, what do I use in place of soap. OK people, throw out the houses, clothes, toilet paper, toothbrushsed and grow some ....s. Go Paleo full out! I really hope they don't come over my house after a run if they go on a soap strike. Enough of my rant but everywhere I go I see some post on this diet.
LavaRunner, "OK people,
LavaRunner,
"OK people, throw out the houses, clothes, toilet paper, toothbrushsed and grow some ....s. Go Paleo full out! I really hope they don't come over my house after a run if they go on a soap strike. "
This from a man who gave up shoes? :smile:
More seriously, again I find paleo eating has about the same reasoning behind it as barefoot running: Don't fight evolution. Or take into account what our bodies were meant to do.
I agree with you about roots. I eat potatoes, carrots and sweet potatoes under the reasoning that they are digestible (if not that tasty) raw. But I'm not sure that grains are digestible raw. I pretty sure you can't just eat raw rice or wheat and get anything out of it. It probably goes right through you (as we all know raw corn does). (Sorry about that imagery.)
So again, if you think of paleo as only eating foods which are digestible uncooked and unprocessed, then its not that complicated, not that crazy, and not that different from the ideas behind barefoot running.
LavaRunner,
"OK people, throw out the houses, clothes, toilet paper, toothbrushsed and grow some ....s. Go Paleo full out! I really hope they don't come over my house after a run if they go on a soap strike. "
This from a man who gave up shoes? :smile:
More seriously, again I find paleo eating has about the same reasoning behind it as barefoot running: Don't fight evolution. Or take into account what our bodies were meant to do.
I agree with you about roots. I eat potatoes, carrots and sweet potatoes under the reasoning that they are digestible (if not that tasty) raw. But I'm not sure that grains are digestible raw. I pretty sure you can't just eat raw rice or wheat and get anything out of it. It probably goes right through you (as we all know raw corn does). (Sorry about that imagery.)
So again, if you think of paleo as only eating foods which are digestible uncooked and unprocessed, then its not that complicated, not that crazy, and not that different from the ideas behind barefoot running.
I gave up shoes so my feet
I gave up shoes so my feet wouldn't stink
Not showering or using soap would ruin the fresh smell 8)
I agree with you on the premise of eating what would naturally be digestible. There are some grains that I imagine would fall into this category when young and not dried but they would hardly be a staple since they would be very seasonal and many sprouts of those grains certainly would be edible. A hunter Gatherer sort would probably dig into a nice Egyptian wheat-grass bed or maybe some other tender grass sprouts. They might even eat a few soy beans here and there. Corn if chewed is digestible. It is the un-chewed that you must be seeing ROFLMAO
I gave up shoes so my feet wouldn't stink
Not showering or using soap would ruin the fresh smell 8)I agree with you on the premise of eating what would naturally be digestible. There are some grains that I imagine would fall into this category when young and not dried but they would hardly be a staple since they would be very seasonal and many sprouts of those grains certainly would be edible. A hunter Gatherer sort would probably dig into a nice Egyptian wheat-grass bed or maybe some other tender grass sprouts. They might even eat a few soy beans here and there. Corn if chewed is digestible. It is the un-chewed that you must be seeing ROFLMAO
"A hunter Gatherer sort
"A hunter Gatherer sort would probably dig into a nice Egyptian wheat-grass bed or maybe some other tender grass sprouts. They might even eat a few soy beans here and there. Corn if chewed is digestible. It is the un-chewed that you must be seeing ROFLMAO"
But those things would have been available for only a very brief time during the year. Seeds sprout, get gathered and shit back into the ground (by humans or animals) in a very short cycle. Until grain storage methods evolved and multi-season harvesting came along, the availability would have been very limited. On the other hand, animals that could survive on what we couldn't eat were very plentiful. I understand the rant, but I buy the Paleo arguments as way more convincing. But I think it comes down to individual tolerance. I personally feel like my intestines will turn inside out if I eat grains, so that makes the diet way more appealing
"A hunter Gatherer sort would probably dig into a nice Egyptian wheat-grass bed or maybe some other tender grass sprouts. They might even eat a few soy beans here and there. Corn if chewed is digestible. It is the un-chewed that you must be seeing ROFLMAO"
But those things would have been available for only a very brief time during the year. Seeds sprout, get gathered and shit back into the ground (by humans or animals) in a very short cycle. Until grain storage methods evolved and multi-season harvesting came along, the availability would have been very limited. On the other hand, animals that could survive on what we couldn't eat were very plentiful. I understand the rant, but I buy the Paleo arguments as way more convincing. But I think it comes down to individual tolerance. I personally feel like my intestines will turn inside out if I eat grains, so that makes the diet way more appealing
I loved your rant Scooter.
I loved your rant Scooter. And I'm with you...I'm a "vegitarian" who eats fish and fowl...just to prove the exception of the "veggie" rule, and I find I do better with a little more protien....I pay attention to how food makes my body and mind feel....and sometimes, my mind/emotions demand a chocolate truffle sheet cake...I don't eat beef because I do not like they way it makes me feel AFTER I eat...I LOVE beans and any legume, and I LOVE the way I feel eating them, especially with some nice rich brown rice and a little bit of tumeric. I love greens of all kinds, raw and sauteed...
Life is too short to spend too much time following rules and systems other people made up...weather in morality, or in dietary....find what works for you, and enjoy what you eat/do...if eating Paleo works for you, keep doing it....if trying different diets in the wonderful attitude of experimentation works for you, do it...if diet of twinkies and stout work for you, then chug away :-D
I won't be following any "diet" anytime in my forseeable life, I will follow the cues of my own body however, to the best of my knowledge and ability.
I loved your rant Scooter. And I'm with you...I'm a "vegitarian" who eats fish and fowl...just to prove the exception of the "veggie" rule, and I find I do better with a little more protien....I pay attention to how food makes my body and mind feel....and sometimes, my mind/emotions demand a chocolate truffle sheet cake...I don't eat beef because I do not like they way it makes me feel AFTER I eat...I LOVE beans and any legume, and I LOVE the way I feel eating them, especially with some nice rich brown rice and a little bit of tumeric. I love greens of all kinds, raw and sauteed...
Life is too short to spend too much time following rules and systems other people made up...weather in morality, or in dietary....find what works for you, and enjoy what you eat/do...if eating Paleo works for you, keep doing it....if trying different diets in the wonderful attitude of experimentation works for you, do it...if diet of twinkies and stout work for you, then chug away :-D
I won't be following any "diet" anytime in my forseeable life, I will follow the cues of my own body however, to the best of my knowledge and ability.
$0.02 on grains: many are
$0.02 on grains: many are much more digestible if sprouted or fermented, which I don't consider to be heavy processing. Beer is made from sprouted (malted) barley, and malted barley water is IMHO very easily digestible...it was often used as a food for invalids or sick children.
I'm also fond of south indian dosas, which are made from fermented rice and lentils and I find much more digestible than most wheat breads (even good sourdoughs can give me issues, I find).
$0.02 on grains: many are much more digestible if sprouted or fermented, which I don't consider to be heavy processing. Beer is made from sprouted (malted) barley, and malted barley water is IMHO very easily digestible...it was often used as a food for invalids or sick children.
I'm also fond of south indian dosas, which are made from fermented rice and lentils and I find much more digestible than most wheat breads (even good sourdoughs can give me issues, I find).
Art wrote:$0.02 on grains:
We did the whole fermenting/soaking grains thing and finally decided grains just weren't an important part of our diet that we needed to be so complicated about it - and they still made us sick in that form, anyway - I totally support beer as part of any diet, though!
I think Nate nails it. I never decided to "go Paleo" - it was more I discovered what my body could and couldn't tolerate well and it fit the Paleo label pretty well. I used to think everyone should suck it up and eat what was available, but now I feel everyone needs to be their own food detective. There is so much food available, much of it horrendously bad, that it really makes sense for everyone to make an effort to figure out what it optimal for their individual health, be it veg or all meat or whatever. If I have to reject 99% of the food offered to me, either because it doesn't agree with my stomach or it has artificial ingredients and flavors and colors, or too much sugar, I am fine with that.
Art said:
We did the whole fermenting/soaking grains thing and finally decided grains just weren't an important part of our diet that we needed to be so complicated about it - and they still made us sick in that form, anyway - I totally support beer as part of any diet, though!
I think Nate nails it. I never decided to "go Paleo" - it was more I discovered what my body could and couldn't tolerate well and it fit the Paleo label pretty well. I used to think everyone should suck it up and eat what was available, but now I feel everyone needs to be their own food detective. There is so much food available, much of it horrendously bad, that it really makes sense for everyone to make an effort to figure out what it optimal for their individual health, be it veg or all meat or whatever. If I have to reject 99% of the food offered to me, either because it doesn't agree with my stomach or it has artificial ingredients and flavors and colors, or too much sugar, I am fine with that.
