Like most things in life, the Paleo Diet, has its fans and it has its detractors. That, of course, is ok as long as a person knows why they are for or against something. A problem I have noticed, though, for people who don’t like the Paleo Diet is that for many of these folks, their disdain is based on a couple of common misconception: “it can’t be good to only eat meat” and “I’m not interested in a low carb diet”.
So here’s the truth: neither of those are accurate. Paleo eating is going to be closer to the following macronutrient breakdown: protein 22-40%, carbohydrate 19-35%, and fat 28-58%. Now let’s contrast that with a typical low carb/keto/Atkins type eating plan in the early phases: protein 25%, carbohydrate 5%, and fat 70%. Just looking at these numbers you see how the aforementioned concerns are negated. Paleo is, at a minimum, 4 times more carbohydrate intake than a typical Atkins and it could be up to 7 times higher carb intake. So, yeah, Paleo is lower carb than a standard American diet (the diet at the root of the fattest/most unhealthy nation in the history of the world), but this is not a bad thing. Now clearly, the “all meat only” misconception is out the window, too. If someone eats a diet of 30% calories from carbs than meat which has 0 carbs, is not the only thing you are consuming. Paleo adherents eat meat, sure, but not primarily. The primary focus should be on vegetables.
If you found yourself avoiding Paleo, because you weren’t interested in eating chicken wrapped pork chops, rolled in steak, take a second look and see that this is not what Paleo is all about. Realize, that you’ll be eating vegetables, fruits, meat, nuts, eggs, and healthy fats like avocado. Understand, that while it’s different then what most of us grew up with and are used to, it is easy to learn and easy to follow. Most of all, do some reading and decide for yourself and learn. So when you do try Paleo and a friend says, “don’t you get tired of only eating meat?”, you’ll know exactly what to say.
In health, Dr. Graham