Anyone here Try the Paleo diet? lack of carbs seems tough

Recently I tried going gluten free, man i felt so good, especially at night, so much more energy that I am a believer. I was eating eggs, bacon, tons of nuts and fruits. But pretty much no milk and no wheat, ya no bread sucks. I was eating a lot of corn and sometimes potatoes for carbs. Honestly though you can feel the energy after dropping wheat, and this is coming from a sandwich lover. The other problem, I am already too thin and dont want to loose more weight. But the results in more energy and feeling better are real. Next I want to try Paleo - i am almost there already

But with biking, how do you guys do it - Wheat is the main source of carbs before and after rides. I was eating a bunch of corn tortillas and corn nuts almonds and then some fruits that worked but gets redundant. Curious to hear from ya all -- thanks

 

i have greatly cut my consumption of carbs in the form of wheat, corn, and rice. And absolutely no soda/refined sugar (one exception i refuse to completely give up ice cream). havent ditched potatoes though. I agree about energy level going up after cutting out grain carbohydrates (after an initial 10 days of hell). i get way more energy from nuts than wheat. Ill just dig into a jar of organic PB with a spoon! the best quick energy for me on a ride is an apple. Unlike you, Im pretty far from "already too thin" and did this mostly to lose weight, and its worked. What seeems to make me feel really good on a ride is lots of butternut or spaghetti squash the night before.
I will say, even if youre cutting carbs I think its ok to have some when you're vigorously exercising.

 

Wait a minute...isn't there wheat in beer???

 

Ha. Only in heff. .. I think.

 

Barley is the grain of choice for beer, whereas wheat is the grain of choice for bread. (Although there are cross-over applications, hefeweizen being one of them. But even so, barley is the base grain for just about all beer out there.) What makes one good for beverages and the other good for sammies comes down to protein content, but never mind...

Funny that "initial 10 days of hell" comment - Morgan Spurlock went through a similar adjustment when intentionally making his diet worse ("Super Size Me").

Do what works for you...we each find our own balance between health/longevity concerns, the effort required to "eat healthy", enjoyment of eating, and the greater-than-average calorie expenditure we go through.

 

Beer is full of carbs its like eating a loaf of bread especially If you drink an IPA other dark beer. I stopped beer drinking
after my nutritionist showed me a chart of carb/calories for each 12oz of beer ..I'd rather eat stuff

 

Looks faddish and unsuitable for endurance athletes. Avoid whole grains, white potatoes, refined sugar... seems carb starved. Any diet that triggers hunger, is generally not going to remain acceptable. They expect you to get your fiber from fruits and veggies too? No legumes, alcohol, processed foods, and dairy. Such inconvenience and if people following it get lazy...

Beer, gin, whiskey, vodka, etc. are from grains. These are actually not bad for endurance athletes, according to some experts, though I suspect that they just want to justify their beer drinking habit.

Looks like the concern of carb starvation is specifically addressed. Apparently you should chow down on yams and sweet potatoes.

At least there's something to be learned from all these fad diets. I learned from the low-fat and high-carb diet, that fatty and salty foods can be gorged before your appetite is satisfied, while high volume of low cal, low-fat, low sodium foods can curb a big appetite. I learned from the "water diet" that I should pay more attention to how the "empty" calories in various drinks affect my diet. I learned from Paleo, that I should expect "sugar high-crashes" from certain foods that have high glycemic index values. Learned about legumes and dairy too, reading up on Paleo...

 

It's not scientifically valid. Plenty of paleo peoples ate lots of carbs. They would wild harvest root vegetables which are similar to potatoes. Noone who knows the first thing about anthropology or archeology takes this diet seriously. The proponents of this are quacks similar to vegans or fruitarians. Yes throwing your body into ketosis will help you lose weight and paleo is just another name for atkins which is reminiscent of cavemen instead of fatties. Don't take my word for it. Here's an archeaological conference about the paleo diet. http://hells-ditch.com/2012/08/archaeologists-officially-declare-collective-sigh-over-paleo-diet/

And to answer your question, yes you will have less energy for endurance rides if you cut carbs too much.

From article above:
"
One of the strongest critiques of the Paleo Diet was presented by Karl Fenst, a bioarchaeologist with the Ardipithecus Institute, in a keynote address entitled “Papayas Ain’t Paleo, and Neither Are You.” Rather than focus on relative merits of one diet over another, Dr. Fenst instead attacked the premise that agricultural products are somehow “‘unnatural,” with wheat being specifically singled out. What people seem to ignore, he said, was that the fresh fruits and vegetables forming the basis of the Paleo Diet were created by the same agricultural process that produced cereal grains."

 

Plenty of names and non-names for High fat, low carb "diets"


Does it work?
It depends on your body.

Personally I cut sugar and refined carbs and most grains roughly 10 weeks and 10 pounds ago. I don't have a ton of weight to lose but off went body fat.

In general, way more energy throughout the day and night. On the bike, it took a bit to get accustomed to but it seems to be fine, although I do more of a "carb cycling" now, with good carbs on riding days (good carbs and refined carbs differ).

I've read a ton about becoming fat adapted and training the body to burn fat and then having an "endless" supply of energy. A lot of it depends on the person, in my opinion.

I can tell you confidently that sugar is very bad for you and the entire "low fat" craze is absolute bullshit. Your body needs natural fat in a huge way.

More appropriate is to look into the glycemic index of foods, figure out your body's insulin resistance, cut out as much of the processed garbage as possible and go from there.

I know plenty of ultra thin fast guys who chow on ice cream daily and plenty of fairly fast heavier gents who are also fairly fast on the bike. One thing that is common though are the diets with minimal processed foods and refined carbs tend to have more energy throughout the week.

http://www.amazon.com/Grain-Brain-Surprising-Sugar-Your-Killers/dp/031623480X

 

1. For any diet advice, look at who sponsors, underwrites, or is the author of the diet. You'll be surprised (or not) at how unhealthy, inactive, or dead the authors of said diets are/were.

2. Science trumps fashion.

3. Whatever you decide to change to/from, it must be done in moderation and over time. The body needs time to adjust and adapt. This goes for drinking beer, being able to hydrate sufficiently during rides, and training yourself to be able to absorb calories during long/hard efforts to keep from hitting "the wall" as long as possible.

4. You need to find what works for you. I like bison. I like beer (and beer is Vegan...Ha!). I can live with eating every 6th meal "off plan" because I know I'm not going to podium the Expert Over 40 Class at US Cup or grab said same hole-shot at Over-The-Hump...besides, I'm not going to shave my legs either.

5. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, dinner like a pauper...and snack continuously. Train your body to burn fuel as it comes in...the big meal is stored for later.

6. Even eating a low-fat diet, if you eat right, you'll get plenty of fat through natural sources. Same with sodium.

Personally, I go the science route, and look at people who have decades of experience. Is all processed food bad for you? I don't know. What I believe is that if the nutrition in food is in a form that the body can readily absorb and use without conversion or generating waste products, the better off the body is.

This is one of the resources I use to guide my choices, but I don't follow it to the letter:

http://www.brendanbrazier.com/#!thrive-nutritional-philosophy
and the supporting book.

Give it a read, some things might make sense. Then go read something else that has a slightly different view. Oh, and the body has to get the energy from somewhere, and if you don't eat efficiently, it'll grab it from somewhere else, and you'll spend energy reserves and generate waste products doing so.

 

Fad or no Fad - lots of good things can come from getting rid of Wheat

For the fad comments, could be true. For me the big improvement was getting rid of wheat (Gluten). Lots of science behind that one and not a fad. So maybe ill stick with that, at least there is rice and potatoes which i love. lots of interesting replies and feedback

 

I've heard Germans refer to beer as "flüssiges Brot", or "liquid bread". So... Stick to the liquid kind!

 

I used the below book when I tried out Paleo diets a few years back. I quit the Paleo diet for a vegetarian (with fish) diet, this seems to work better for me. I felt all the meats were weighing down my system. Like it has been stated above try it out and see how it goes for you.


http://www.amazon.com/Paleo-Diet-At...62030&sr=8-2&keywords=paleo+diet+for+athletes

 

Any diet that needs a special name is marketing looking for buyers

 

Diet and weight control should be viewed at as two separate things. Weight control is more about calories in and calories out rather than what you eat.

Perhaps you should stick with your gluten free diet if it's working great for you. There are gluten free breads, dairy free cheese, etc... so you can somewhat eat like the rest of America.

 

Funny, I made just the opposite choice

 

I've had good luck dropping weight by cutting back on the refined carbs - I'd do a whole lot better if I could bust my sugar addiction. But I typically avoid anything white - bread, rice, potatoes. I have harder time avoiding corn, though. And like Mo, I'd rather drink my carbs than eat them...

As for high-energy carbs without gluten, oats fit the bill. A lot of oatmeal is cross-contaminated with wheat, but but not enough that it's a problem except for those with celiac disease.

I looked at paleo, but it's the lack of legumes that keeps me from trying it. Beans have fiber, good carbs and protein - I can't find much wrong with that. But I have heard a lot of people feel better without gluten. I'm just not sure I could completely give it up, especially if it means giving up beer.

 

There is always Sorghum Beer, a gluten free grain.

 

High Protein diets have been in the news as of late...

Behind the News: Why a High-Protein Diet in Middle Age May Increase Risk of Death


Why High-Protein Diets May Be Linked To Cancer Risk


High-Protein Diet Linked with Cancer, Early Death


High-Protein Diets Linked to Cancer: Should You Be Concerned?


High-Protein Diet Raises Cancer Risk As Much As Smoking

 

That is patently false. Beer has fewer grams of carbohydrates than an average slice of wheat bread, let alone a loaf. Color has absolutely nothing to do with carbohydrate content of beer as well - it is a function of roasting of the grain used in the mash. And since when is IPA a dark beer?

I'm all for moderation, but there's no need to spread misinformation to try and make the point.