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Paleo and longevity

8ninety8

New member
Paleo diet was mentioned in another thread awhile back. So about a month ago started a modified approach to changing diet began,taking responsibility for my wellness. With a semi Paleo approach.

I thought about sitting in doc's office getting the bad news, the usual regimen of pills, or, a change of life style. Maybe others can chime in with how they've changed things up and improved their health thus far.

Any doctors in the house, or better, a nutritionist or two? I know diets can be a real food fight, possibly there are some generalities that can be shared? AFAIK we as a nation are probably the most overfed and over medicated people in history.

Personally I want to fit into my old leathers by spring, just for fun.
 
This should be interesting- I don't know anything about this- http://thepaleodiet.com At my ever advancing years, the best I've been able to do is "break-up" my diet and not eat anything that may be bad for me too many times in a row.
OM
 
I am taking pills, but no prescription meds. I have reduced/eliminated eating white flour and sugar/carbs from my diet. Cut down on red meat and alcohol.
Taking Niacin to improve HDL. Vitamin D and Calcium supplements. Also Cinnamon pills to help metabolize sugar. And the usual 81mg Aspirin.
Feeling pretty good so far and my Cholesterol and Blood Sugar is on acceptable levels.
 
This is related but maybe not exactly what you are trying to do.

Why we get fat and what to do about it by Gary Taubes. ISBN 978-0-307-27270-6

Another source of information is the Medical Motorcycling column in Motorcycle Consumer News. It is written by a medical doctor and talks about diet, hormones, stress, sleep and other things related to health and age.
 
I gave up on diets last March and went for the big gun, gastric bypass surgery. Down 124 pounds, about 30 to go. The surgery was the easy part, eating enough now is tough!

My Roadcrafter one piece is back at the mothership having the expansion panels removed, it may ultimately need to be replaced with a smaller size, but might last me for another season.
 
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Suggestions From a Doc . . .

Asking about a recommended diet is like asking the general motorcycling question, ?What bike should I ride?? Well, it depends! And even after you decide on the style and brand of bike, there?s the question, ?What size engine??, or in this case, ?How many calories?? There are tons of diets out there, some with scientific evidence to support their use and others with fanatical devotees who don?t know what their talking about. The choice of diet depends on goals and medical condition: general health, weight reduction, diabetes control, cholesterol and blood pressure reduction for better cardiovascular health, and renal protection for those with kidney disease to name a few considerations. A general rule, though, is ?everything in moderation?. The Paleo Diet, Lean Eating out of Canada, Mediterranean Diet, DASH diet and others are good general diets with evidence behind them. As a cardiologist, I?m now recommending the DASH diet to many of my patients as it is the recommended diet per guidelines released in November by the American College Cardiology and the American Heart Association. Per those guidelines:

The DASH dietary pattern is high in vegetables, fruits, low-fat dairy products, whole grains, poultry, fish, and nuts; and low in sweets, sugar-sweetened beverages, and red meats. The DASH dietary pattern is low in saturated fat, total fat, and cholesterol. It is rich in potassium, magnesium, and calcium, as well as protein and fiber.

If this is all overwhelming, there are three things that anyone can do to improve their health right away through sensible eating: 1) avoid processed foods (anything that you open a bag to eat is generally processed - not counting bagged lettuce!); 2) try eating to feeling only 80% full; and 3) have vegetables at every meal, breakfast, lunch and dinner. With the new year approaching, and for us in New England the riding season not that far away, now?s the time to start new, healthy habits!
 
This is related but maybe not exactly what you are trying to do.

Why we get fat and what to do about it by Gary Taubes. ISBN 978-0-307-27270-6

Another source of information is the Medical Motorcycling column in Motorcycle Consumer News. It is written by a medical doctor and talks about diet, hormones, stress, sleep and other things related to health and age.

+1 on Gary Taubes book.

About a year or so ago I read this one, and a couple of others about low carb eating. Gave up sugar, flour, potatoes, bread, etc, etc, and increased protein intake moderately. Struggled most of my adult life with controlling my appetite and weight. Literally overnight my appetite was normal, no food cravings at all. Down 52 pounds in one year and maintaining very easily.

I've had high cholesterol problems for 25 years, coronary artery disease (9 heart surgeries), Hashimoto's thyroid disorder, and was pre-diabetic before changing my dietary habits. Blood sugar now the lowest in about 30 years, cholesterol much improved, sleep better and feel much better with more energy.

Can't say it would work for everyone, but getting over a carbohydrate "addiction" has been a wonder!

Cheers!
 
I personally don't see the value of a medically regulated "diet". IMO it comes down more to WHAT we eat, and WHEN & HOW we eat it. Along with daily activities and habits, IE exercise. (the dreaded "E" word)

Look at food as fuel. Think of the body as a "machine".

Think of it this way: if you put crappy or sub-standard fuel into your MOTORCYCLE, what happens? If you over-fill the motor with oil, what happens? How does the machine react?
If food is "fuel" and the body is the "machine": eat crappy, non-nutritional food, or too much food and how does your body react?

Much of what we eat actually makes us hungrier- because the "food" is so seriously lacking in nutritional content! So, we tend to over eat and somewhat quickly, we are "hungry" again, when the crap "food products" burn away and leave our bodies needing nutrients. Eating more nutritional foods, in smaller doses, over the course of the day, can make a big difference in the way your body reacts to food, and to the way you feel.

I was working out with a weight trainer last year, who had her own nutrition plan worked out.
Her theory (I feel this is completely valid) was that fat is burned off in sustained high-cardio sessions, and that ups and downs, IE increases/decreases of blood sugar levels are not helpful in maintaining lowered body fat levels.
Her plan was to cut down dramatically on spikes and dips of blood sugar levels, by eating strictly regulated amounts of carbs, proteins, & fats.
I'm talking about 5-6 SMALL meals a day, two of those meals being larger- breakfast, and late mid day meal time being the two larger sessions. One other primary point of the "diet" was DO NOT EAT within 3 hours of bedtime.
I followed this regimen for some time, and found, for one thing, that I just wasn't hungry enough to eat all 6 meals. The sheer volume of food intake, and the speed at which I eat were other things I became aware of. Why eat that second plate full? Slow down, and let your body take it in. If you rapidly consume a plate of food, it'll take a few minutes for your body to fully react to it.

Micheal Pollen is a really interesting guy who has a LOT to say about food and the way we eat.
One of his theories:
"Don't eat anything your great-great-great grandmother wouldn't recognize as food." He's a really entertaining guy who is easy to read. He puts things in terms we can all understand.

Articles on nutrition:
http://michaelpollan.com/tag/nutrition/

On eating/food/health:
http://michaelpollan.com/articles-archive/unhappy-meals/

Opening paragraph on the above article:

"Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.

That, more or less, is the short answer to the supposedly incredibly complicated and confusing question of what we humans should eat in order to be maximally healthy. I hate to give away the game right here at the beginning of a long essay, and I confess that I?m tempted to complicate matters in the interest of keeping things going for a few thousand more words. I?ll try to resist but will go ahead and add a couple more details to flesh out the advice. Like: A little meat won?t kill you, though it?s better approached as a side dish than as a main. And you?re much better off eating whole fresh foods than processed food products. That?s what I mean by the recommendation to eat ?food.? Once, food was all you could eat, but today there are lots of other edible foodlike substances in the supermarket. These novel products of food science often come in packages festooned with health claims, which brings me to a related rule of thumb: if you?re concerned about your health, you should probably avoid food products that make health claims. Why? Because a health claim on a food product is a good indication that it?s not really food, and food is what you want to eat."



A lot of people right now are turning away from dairy, and from wheat products. FWIW. If weight and/or the way foods make you feel is a problem, you might consider this aspect of dietary regimen.
Corn is another food that has become more a "food product" than it is food. Corn is in the most surprising places. We've made an effort to reduce corn products in our diet.

RE: exercise: it doesn't take much to increase exercise levels in a person's daily routine, but it does take a bit of a time commitment. Walking is probably the single most effective and accessible way to get a little exercise into your life. Exercise, even a little, is going to increase your metabolic functions, speed things up a bit. You'll process and digest food a bit better, and begin to feel better for it.

WATER is THE life-source, perhaps the single most important thing that most of us ignore, overlook, or aren't aware of. Simply drinking more water is one of the simplest things we can do to help our bodies function better. Water bolstsers (lubes) every system within your "machine". Probably, few of us regularly drink enough of this magical elixir.

The bottom line is eating well and maintaining a certain quality of life require commitment- a commitment of time & energy- but awareness is another aspect of it. Knowing what foods have which nutritional values, where vitamins, carbohydrates, fats, and proteins come from is very helpful. Looking more closely at foods like fruits and vegetables, you'll be surprised at what constitutes carb or fat content.

Educate yourself in food, nutrition, and the ways of eating and cooking, as you would for any other reason.

Consider it an investment in the health & well being of your very own "machine".
 
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