What is the Paleo Diet?

I've had a lot of positive responses to my last post, and a lot of questions about the Paleo Diet. Also called the Paleolithic, Caveman, Hunter-Gatherer or Primal Diet, it's a way of eating that returns to our pre-agricultural menu. It's a low-carb diet, with no grains and most beans. The rule of thumb to go by - if you can't eat it raw, it's not allowed. That includes grains like wheat and rice, potatoes, and legumes - all of which are toxic to the body when in raw form, and only less so when cooked. I really reccommend the book I'm reading right now - called Going Against the Grain. It's based on scientific research and shows how grain consumption is behind the health epidemics in Western society.

For an introduction to the ideas behind the Paleo Diet, please read this web page: http://www.earth360.com/diet_paleodiet_balzer.html

For more resources on the Paleo Diet, go to Paleodiet.com - it's an entire page of links and books etc. As far as I can surmise from this page, the best books on the subject are the one I'm reading, The Paleo Diet (Cordain) and the Primal Blueprint. They're all available from Amazon. I'll be ordering The Paleo Diet and some books on how to cook vegetables and how to use herbs. Eventually I may get the Primal Blueprint and Good Calories, Bad Calories.

I do think I have more energy the past few days that I've been entirely grain free. I've actually been sitting up at my kitchen table to eat and work/play on the web, which is something I haven't done in the past year at all. I didn't even do this consciously, it just looked like a good thing to do and eventually I realized what a big step it was!

I'm getting used to sleeping on the oxycocet - normally the codeine keeps me awake, but I went for so long without sleeping, I think my body got the idea that it better learn to fall asleep on it if it wanted to sleep at all. Last night, I woke up in the middle of the night in pain, took another oxycocet, and after about 45 minutes was able to get back to sleep. This is the first time in about 10 days I've been able to sleep when its dark outside. I'm not saying this improvement has anything to do with my diet, but it's important for me to keep a record of everything!

The more I read Going Against the Grain, the more I want to recommend it to everyone, especially anyone with chronic illness. The evidence really does point towards our grain consumption causing many of our health problems. I'm not sure how much pain reduction it will result in, but I am convinced I will lose weight and have more energy. Also, the author herself had chronic fatigue syndrome and discovered that going grain-free was her cure. So, in my opinion, it's worth reading, even if you don't decide to go grain-free.

Another book on my to-read list is The Vegetarian Myth: Food, Justice, and Sustainability

by Lierre Keith (link to Goodreads). I have gotten some grief in the past about not being vegetarian, and the Paleo Diet is definitely not vegetarian! I would like to read this book to support my decision and also to be able to defend myself against more challenges. Though I expect my health improvements to be the only justification I need.