The healthiest way to eat (and lose weight if you need to)
“When diet is wrong, medicine is of no use. When diet is correct, medicine is of no need”
Ayurvedic proverb
Everyone has an opinion on the optimal human diet – from your personal trainer, to your delivery driver, from your nutritionist to your doctor – and they are all convinced they are right. Even the so-called ‘experts’ disagree. And they can all point to at least some studies which support their view. This has led to massive confusion among both the general public and health professionals, and a proliferation of diet books and fad approaches, and a growing mistrust in public health recommendations and media reporting on nutrition.
The first thing to say is that there isn’t an optimal human diet, because there is no single optimal diet for every human. Why? Because we are all so different: genes, gene expression, health status, activity levels, life circumstances, and goals. These differences influence how we process macronutrients (protein, carbs, fat) and micro-nutrients (vitamins and minerals) which in turn determines our response to various foods and dietary approaches.
The origins of the Paleo template
Even if there is no one-size-fits-all approach to diet, that doesn’t mean there aren’t core nutrition principles that apply to everyone. We can all agree that a diet of cakes, crisps, sweets, carbonated drinks and other highly processed and refined foods is unhealthy. A better question than “what is the optimal human diet?” could be “what is a natural human diet?” or more specifically, “what is the range of foods that human beings are biochemically, physiologically and genetically adapted to eat?”
Whether we look through the lens of evolutionary history, or modern biochemistry, we arrive at the same conclusion: i) we should be firmly focussed on nutrient density, (and if you eat only plant foods or animal foods your diet will be significantly less nutrient dense than if you eat both); ii) we humans thrive on a variety of food combinations and macronutrient ratios but within a basic template of whole, unprocessed animal and plant foods. This is how our Paleolithic ancestors used to eat, hence the term Paleo diet or Paleo template.
So this is not a new way of eating – it’s the diet that humans have been thriving on for millions of years - nutrient dense, toxin free, whole foods. There is lots of research that demonstrates that hunter-gatherer populations eating their traditional diets were (and still are) free of obesity and other chronic diseases such as diabetes and heart disease and are typically leaner and fitter by some margin than their western world counterparts.
Studies of contemporary hunger gatherer populations like the Maasai, Inuit, Kitavans, Tukisent, Aché, Timané, and Hadza have shown that without exception they consume both animal and plant foods, and they go to great lengths to obtain plant or animal foods when they are in short supply. Only 14% of these societies got more than 50% of their calories from plant foods (3). Although macronutrient ratios vary from group to group, no ancestral population following a vegetarian or vegan diet has ever been discovered.
What is Paleo eating?
Paleo has received a lot of attention in the media over the past four years, some of it positive and some negative – and there are lots of misconceptions about what a Paleo approach to nutrition and lifestyle means.
For starters, I would rather not call it a ‘diet’, as that word has connotations of a clearly defined protocol with little room for individual variation or experimentation. Paleo really is more of an approach to eating, a template, a set of guidelines that can the customised based on the unique needs and preferences of each person.
Paleo is not per se a weight loss diet but a diet for health. Neither is it a low carb diet, or a diet that involves eating huge quantities of meat. In fact, Paleo is silent on the ratio between macronutrients (protein, carbs and fat). Some of the earliest advocates of the Paleo approach were coming from low-carb diets like Atkins, and, as a result, the low carb ideology got mixed up with Paleo.
While some people do thrive on a low-carb diet over the long-term, many don’t – and some can even experience harm. There is tremendous variation in what works for each person. Some people clearly do better with no dairy, yet others seem to thrive on it. Some seem to require a higher protein intake (up to 25% of calories) while others do well when they eat a smaller amount (10-15%). The key is to personalise your approach. Paleo is totally flexible in this regard.
Having said this, you’ll probably naturally end up eating fewer carbs than before, simply because the Paleo template eliminates all processed and refined carbs like flour and sugar that are such a big part of our standard diet. Because of this, many people will lose weight when they start to eat Paleo, even without paying attention to macronutrient balance - just eating what comes naturally.
If weight loss is your goal, once this initial weight loss tapers off take a look at your carb ratio and see if you can cut it back a bit – heading down towards 15% of calories. That should kick start the weight loss again, and if it doesn’t, then something else is going on (stress? hormones? toxic load?)
What can I eat exactly?
Here you go. It’s as simple as this: you can eat anything from the following list: meat (not exclusively lean meat), organ meats (liver is the most nutrient dense food on the planet) fish, seafood, eggs, non-starchy vegetables (as much variety as poss), starchy vegetables (like potatoes, sweet potatoes, pumpkin, squash, celeriac, beetroot, parsnips, suede etc), nuts and seeds, healthy fats (olive oil, coconut oil, avocado oil, duck fat, lard and beef tallow), low sugar fruit (berries, peaches, plums, and apples) and – wait for it – avocados!
In moderation you can have: alcohol (but no mixers), dark chocolate (75%+) and coffee/tea. Grains (excluding wheat, rye and barley and their flours, because they contain gluten) and legumes can also be eaten in moderation. There are issues with both due to their containing anti-nutrients like lectin and phytic acid (aka phytates) and neither are as nutrient dense as other Paleo foods. However (not wishing to overload you with too much info) these are fine if you limit them to 2-3 times per week. Buckwheat, rice and quinoa are the best grains.
Out completely are industrial seed oils (sunflower, safflower, canola, rapeseed), refined carbs, sugar, fizzy drinks, real or artificial sweeteners, any foods containing gluten, processed foods (foods containing more than 3 ingredients is a good rule of thumb), sauces and seasonings (homemade mayonnaise is fine).
For the first month you should remove dairy. Provided you only eat the full fat version, dairy is highly nutritious and protective against a number of chronic diseases, particularly heart disease and stroke (1) (2). However, many cannot tolerate it (having an issue either with the proteins – casein – or the sugars – lactose). The best way to tell is to take it out entirely and then reintroduce it gently, starting with butter, and then yoghurt, and then double cream, and lastly milk.
The foods emphasised in Paleo are loaded with the nutrients our bodies need. The most nutrient-dense foods you can eat are organ meats, herbs & spices, nuts & seeds, fish & seafood, beef, lamb, wild game, eggs, veggies and fruits (in that order!)
So you see its very simple. On a Paleo diet, you just eat delicious and nourishing whole foods, including loads of foods you have been told are unhealthy, like red meat, eggs, dairy and healthy fats, and you watch the pounds fall off. Best of all, you won’t be hungry and you don’t have to count calories.
Instant gratification?
Not necessarily. For most people yes. However some of you might not instantly feel better when you start to eat Paleo. The reason you might initially feel a dip in overall energy is not that the diet is unhealthy or that they need more simple carbs. It is that their body has been conditioned to rely on sugar for energy and needs time and support to adapt to burning fat for energy instead.
I’ve watched people transition to a Paleo diet and end up enjoying their food more than they ever have in the past. One of the primary reasons people love Paleo is that they don’t have to eat bland, tasteless food with little to no salt or fat. This is in stark contrast to so many other diets which restrict the amount of salt, fat, and cholesterol you’re allowed to eat. There’s no reason to suffer tasteless food to lose weight or to gain health benefits, especially since restricting both salt and fat is not the healthiest dietary strategy for most people. And when your food tastes good, you’re more likely to stick to the diet long term.
Here are 5 tips to help you make this transition a success:
Tip 1: Be sure to eat enough
Yes, you did hear me right! Even though people know that food restriction by quantity is not part of this diet, many newbies still hang on to their old belief that less food is always better if the goal is to lose weight. This belief will stop you from getting the nutrients and calories you need, and it will stress your body. We don’t want that. Plus, as I have already said, lowering your calories too much will lower your basic metabolic rate, which can cause weight loss to stall or even reverse.
No matter what program you are on, dieting should NEVER be about starving yourself. Calories do count, but when it comes to weight loss, undereating is just as problematic as overeating.
OK, it sounds amazing not to have to count calories or work out macronutrient ratios, but how does that fit with needing to be in calorie deficit to lose weight?
Well, what makes the Paleo diet special is that it is so much more nutrient dense and therefore satiating per calorie than other diets, which helps you eat less without fighting hunger or counting calories.
Compare a packet of low-fat biscuits to an avocado. The avocado will most certainly have more fat and calories but it’s also providing your body with real information, real nutrients like mono-unsaturated fats for heart health and vitamin K for strong bones and healthy blood cells. The biscuits are made out of refined flour, sugar, and preservatives, so while you may not be consuming as many calories, your blood sugar is bouncing around, your cholesterol will increase, and your waistline will too, despite the low-fat label.
Eating well is all about paying attention to quality and to diversity. Whole foods and not processed foods, high quality protein, and as much variety of plant food as possible. If you do this, quantity will look after itself, and your body will get healthier.
Tip 2: Eat enough carbs!
Ok, so in my previous article I explained the link between carbs and insulin and fat storage. But I do need to put out a flag here. Cutting out carbs completely is NOT a good thing, and I am aware that for some people who have been dependent on processed and refined starches for their carbs, the carbs that are available on Paleo may be present a challenge. You need to rise to that challenge!
Carbohydrate tolerance is highly individual, and I’ve seen patients who do very well on a very low carb diet, while others crash and burn. Usually the biggest factor is the amount and the intensity of exercise a person is doing. It’s important to match your carbohydrate intake to the amount of exercise you do. Not only can a mismatch stall your weight loss, but it can lead to fatigue and muscle breakdown if you’re overexercising and not eating enough carbohydrate to match your activity level.
So what does this mean in practice. Well, if you’re relatively sedentary, or are only able to do a small amount of exercise every day, you will find that eating a low carbohydrate diet (15% of calories) may help you shed weight faster.
If you’re highly active, have a physically demanding job, or have tried a low carb approach in the past without success, you might find a more moderate carbohydrate approach (20-30% of calories) is more helpful in stimulating fat loss.
The carbs that are included in the Paleo diet are healthy carbs, like sweet potatoes, tubors, root vegetables, squashes and fruit. Our ancestors consumed these foods for millions of years, and there are many examples of cultures around the world that consume a high starch diet (real food) and maintain excellent health.
These carbs are really important for gut health, and if you cut carbs down to below 10-15%, which is what is required for the Keto diet in order to achieve ketosis, it becomes difficult to eat enough of fermentable fibre to maintain a really robust and healthy gut microbiome. So cutting these out can often do more harm than good. If you have to go on a keto diet for any reason, it is really important to supplement with a good PRE-biotic.
Tip 3: Move throughout the day
Sitting too much can stall weight loss. Unfortunately, if you work in an office, commute by car and watch a few hours of TV each night, it’s not hard to see how you could spend the vast majority of your waking life (up to 15 hours!) sitting on your butt.
Unfortunately, exercise alone isn’t enough to reverse the harmful effects of too much sitting. When it comes to weight loss, getting active throughout the entire day, not just for the 60 minutes you spend at the gym, is a crucial component of a well-rounded regimen.
There are many different ways to increase your movement throughout the day, and I outline several of them in my recent article called Get Moving.
Getting into the habit of moving throughout the day will not only benefit your weight and help fat loss, but it can also improve your mood, your overall health and reduce your risk for chronic disease.
Tip 4: Deal with your whole life, not just diet and exercise
Paleo is not just about food. There is no question that a nutrient dense, real food diet is the cornerstone of health, and an adjusted Paleo can get you to your fighting weight. But did you know that there’s a lot more to losing weight and keeping it off than just diet and exercise? For example, sleep deprivation makes us hungrier, and high levels of stress hormones cause us to eat more and store more fat, making it much more difficult to lose weight and keep it off.
Many studies have shown that there is a clear correlation between chronic stress and weight gain. (Chronic stress -> cortisol produced in adrenals -> glycogen released from liver -> blood sugar rises -> insulin secreted -> fat stored).
Try and manage your daily stress by using mind-body techniques such as box breathing, 10 mins meditation a day using the Calm app, or yoga for 15m using Yoga with Kassandra on YouTube.
Plan ahead using shopping lists and meal plans to help you reduce the stress that comes with a big lifestyle change.
Tip 5: Don’t do it alone
One of the hardest parts about losing weight is trying to do it on your own. Making major lifestyle changes without any social support is not only difficult, but often unsustainable.
Having friends or family around you to encourage you, or even make changes along with you, can greatly increase your success in any major lifestyle change, particularly the switch to a Paleo diet. You can share recipes, plan joint walks and workouts, and encourage each other on your journey to better health. This is very much part of my role as a health coach.
Testimonial from a female client of a functional health practitioners
“Last year I was 35 years old (I felt like I was 50, though) and about 50 lbs overweight. I have hypothyroidism due to a goitre, so my thyroid levels are never quite right. I was extremely tired ALL OF THE TIME! I had just changed to a new endocrinologist because my old one wasn’t being very helpful. He performed various tests on me and found not only that my thyroid was still not behaving properly, but that I had pre-diabetes! That doctor’s visit was a wake-up call for me, to say the least. I decided then and there that I was going to get healthy at any cost.
“I had tried Weight Watchers in the past and had success with it, albeit very slowly, so I was intending to try that again. Then my husband mentioned to a colleague how unhappy I was with my health and my thyroid problems, and she gave him a book that she had read when she discovered she had a gluten allergy. That book was Robb Wolf’s The Paleo Solution. And the rest, as they say, is history. TOTAL LIFE CHANGER!
“When I did Weight Watchers in the past, it took me 1 year to lose 25 lbs. In doing the Paleo diet, plus exercising, I lost 50 lbs in 6 months! I have NEVER felt better in my entire life! I have energy that I never thought I could ever have. I feel better now than I did in my 20s. Paleo has been a huge blessing in my life. I look great, I feel great, but more importantly I have learned how to live healthily forever.
“P.S. My husband also started the diet with me and lost 30 lbs”.
Wrapping up
Paleo is remarkably effective for weight loss, but its benefits extend far beyond that. I’ve seen a Paleo-type diet and lifestyle lead to dramatic results in people with a wide range of conditions, from type 2 diabetes, to IBS and other digestive problems, to Hashimoto’s, MS and other autoimmune diseases, to infertility and hormone imbalance.
Vibrant health is your birth right.Chronic disease is not inevitable.Today obesity, diabetes, heart disease and autoimmune disease are so common we’ve come to accept them as ‘normal’.But humans live for thousands of generations virtually free from these modern, inflammatory diseases, most of which have only become common in the last fifty to a hundred years.
I live by Paleo, following it 90% of the time, and my health has improved exponentially since I started it. Initially I lost weight on it, and then once I had reached my optimum weight, I just kept going - my weight naturally ceased to fall. Most of my family also live by it. We all feel great on it. In my view it really is the best template for healthy eating, and I for one won’t be going back to anything else any time soon. How about giving it a try?