I’m an Omnivore

A few weeks ago, I came down with a cold. Colds suck. Now, that shouldn’t be such a big deal normally, but I am keeping a close eye on the way my diet is affecting my health. Oh, and there’s also the fact that I wrote this article:
4 Ways to Never Get Sick Again

I speculated there that getting sick frequently is probably not necessary, a bold claim indeed. So it sure is a peculiarity that I became sick myself. There could be a lot of reasons that I got sick and I can only guess as to why. I was just returning from a bit of traveling (commercial flights are pretty good environments for the spread of illness) and I was returning from Wisconsin. And believe me, it was cold! There was even snow on the ground at one point and it was in November. I usually can’t even expect to get a good snow during the whole winter in North Carolina. Anyway, my cold could be attributed to the flight or stress or the temperature.

However, there are a few interesting notes here. The last few times I’ve gotten sick have been preceded by the same thing: lack of the sleep. I distinctly remember (and it helps that I write it down too) that the first signs of illness (usually a sore throat and mild congestion) start the day after getting 4 or 5 hours of sleep the night before. That’s not what happened this time! In fact, for the days preceding this cold, I was getting 8-9 hours every night.

Of course, there’s one other thing: my diet. I recently reintroduced dairy into my diet as part of a self experiment on acne. I got sick just weeks after I started eating dairy again. I have to say: I’m not really surprised. Surely, this could be a coincidence, but it is thought provoking to me. I’ll feel more confident about this connection, one way or the other, when I start experimenting again with Paleo next month.

I’ll leave you with an intriguing video about preventing and treating colds and flus. I don’t agree with everything presented here (especially skeptical of the hydrogen peroxide tip), but this guy does confirm some of my previous outlandish thoughts about getting sick . Enjoy:

Many people that get introduced to the Paleo diet dismiss it immediately as nonsense. They attempt to find quick ways to disregard the entire idea, so they can go on believing that their diet is just fine.

Understanding Evolution
One of the primary reasons that the Paleo diet hasn’t become more popular is because of people underestimating, misunderstanding, or completely rejecting the theory of evolution. Unfortunately, the latter case appears to be very prevalent here in America (where we also enjoy the highest obesity rate in the world):

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My article, Trash the Scale: How to Calculate Body Fat Percentage, was accepted on the 1st edition of the Weight Management and Fitness Forum carnival. It was hosted on the Weight Master blog. Take a look. There are some interesting articles over there explaining the difference between “0g trans fat” and “no trans fat”, running a marathon, and pilates for weight loss for example.

Imagine, for a moment, our ancient ancestors. Imagine them hunting, gathering, and traveling great distances. Imagine the constant threat of danger.

Now what happens if one of them gets sick?

It seems to me that our Paleolithic ancestors couldn’t have gotten sick as often or with the same severity that we do. It would have been a death sentence.

Yes, we live in heavily populated areas and germs are spread easily, but I don’t think that’s the only answer. Germs constantly invade our body. Your body has mechanisms to fight these invaders, that is if your immune system is functioning properly.

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I strongly believe that diets and exercise programs can be accelerated when people start monitoring their own progress. But most people don’t know how or even why they should measure their progress. And the biggest problem is that weight is often held up as the yardstick of health.

It’s time to make a big decision. Do you want to lose fat or lose weight? If you just want to lose weight, then stop reading this article, go to your local hardware store, and purchase a handsaw.

Still reading I see. Let’s start with the why.

Why monitor progress at all?
When you go on a diet, you expect something to happen.

Something amazing. You watch the testimonials labeled “not typical” and see people losing hundreds of pounds. Seeing progress motivates you. It’s very difficult to stay on a diet or exercise program when you are expecting results and you don’t see them.

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It’s only through a healthy body that you can have a functional, rational mind. Aristotle made his philosophy students workout with the Olympic wresting team. One of the main reasons I train my body is so that my mind works effectively.
-Paul Chek

I found this interview on Testosterone Nation and it’s pretty damn interesting. I love people that go outside the conventional wisdom because in my experience, the conventional wisdom is always flawed. It has to be or everybody would be in shape! I have to say Paul Chek is definitely someone who thinks unconventionally. I found several things that he said were highly intriguing and they seem to fit with what I am trying:

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I can’t believe I didn’t catch this earlier, but it appears the first controlled study of a Paleolithic diet was conducted recently in Lund, Sweden. Several researchers have compared traditional diets that are similar to the Paleolithic diet in nature in the past, but never has a controlled study been performed.

The main conclusion of the study was that a paleolithic diet controls symptoms of Type 2 Diabetes better than a traditional Mediterranean diet. :

The main result was that the blood sugar rise in response to carbohydrate intake was markedly lower after 12 weeks in the Paleolithic group (–26%), while it barely changed in the Mediterranean group (–7%). At the end of the study, all patients in the Paleolithic group had normal blood glucose.

The improved glucose tolerance in the Paleolithic group was unrelated to changes in weight or waist circumference, although waist decreased slightly more in that group. Hence, the research group concludes that something more than caloric intake and weight loss was responsible for the improved handling of dietary carbohydrate. The main difference between the groups was a much lower intake of grains and dairy products and a higher fruit intake in the Paleolithic group. Substances in grains and dairy products have been shown to interfere with the metabolism of carbohydrates and fat in various studies.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/06/070627225459.htm

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