Paleo Vs. Primal – Repost

This is a re-post from March. I felt all of our new CFSB family members might have some confusion on the primal vs paleo subject. A re-read for some of you old timers may spark some new questions or thoughts. Would love to hear them!

Lift heavy things

From the first week of on-ramp you hear about the importance
of nutrition. Nutrition (and sleep) is the basis of wellness. The WOD
(exercise) follows a close second. Interestingly enough we get on board with
CrossFit first through exercise and usually then start to follow the nutrition
aspect. Once we bite into the world of healthy eating, we truly start to see
the results we are after. Our “way of eating” offers a bit of confusion at
first. We nix the dairy, grains and legumes, except that we are able to indulge
the occasional use of butter or heavy cream and green beans or peas. Why eat
fatty meats if grass-fed, but lean cuts if we have to eat grain-fed? There is a
whole other discussion on good versus bad oils. Many of these questions can be
answered first with awareness that there are two different nutrition lifestyles
that we continue to blur. This occurs as we study both (along with two
alternates), try to take the best aspects of each and apply them to ourselves as
an individual.

Let’s take a look at Primal (Mark Sisson with Mark’s Daily
Apple) versus Paleo (Loren Cordain). They sound similar enough. At first glance
you could sum them both to equal a caveman diet. At a closer examination of the
two philosophies, however, there are a few differences. Actually, we’ve seen a
blur of the two with Robb Wolf’s philosophy (alternate one) as explained in the
Paleo Solution. Then there is Remy’s paleo-plus (alternate two) which takes out
almost all inflammatory foods in addition to paleo’s original no-no’s. She
sticks to paleo-plus as much as possible, but recommends that it be followed
religiously for battling certain obstacles including auto-immune, sickness and
injury.

Jump

Dairy = gray area in nutrition. The primal world includes
dairy in the forms of cheese, heavy cream and butter for occasional use. True
paleo says no dairy- EVER. You can’t milk a wild animal. Robb Wolf enjoys heavy
cream in his daily cup of coffee. Remy sticks to true paleo. Keep in mind none
of the diet variations discussed here include drinking or cooking with milk.
The only milk drinkers I have seen are those trying to put on mass. These
athletes are recommended to drink whole raw milk as a post-WOD recovery drink,
and do so only for 1-2 months at a time.
Dairy has mucous producing responses in the body, and it also triggers a
relatively high insulin response. Many people are lactose intolerant, so dairy
(cheese and milk) is out anyway. It is also highly inflammatory, and for many can
cause bloating.

Fat is another point of contention. While primal advocates eating
all kinds of healthy fats, paleo has a different take. Primal nutrition
includes saturated fats such as lard, tallow, butter and coconut oil (pastured
animal fats). Primal also loves the fatty meats, while paleo sticks to the lean
cuts. Robb Wolf drinks heavy cream and uses ghee occasionally, but stays away
from butter. He is a fan of coconut oil. Both primal and Robb love bacon. Robb
warns that your fat intake should be kept in check if you are trying to lose
weight. You still need to eat fat, but keep an eye on the quantity. Once you
get lean mass on and most of the fat off your body, go hog wild. We want fat
burning (not carb burning) bodies, but you need to burn most of what is already
on you before you start indulging in the rich yumminess of the fat world.

If you are eating grass-fed or pastured meat, you will want
to eat all the fatty goodness. The fat is where the omega 3s are stored. If
regular grocery store grain-fed meat makes up your protein intake, it’s better
to eat lean cuts only. The fat contains a high concentration of omega 6 fats as
well as the toxins from the grains, hormones, pesticides, antibiotics and
generally poor living conditions. Both primal and paleo recommend only pastured
or wild protein sources.

Be upside-down occasionally

Grains are bad news all the way around. Neither primal or
paleo philosophies agree with grain consumption due to the high lectin
content.  Lectins are toxins that can
lead to a whole host of gut issues; aggravate autoimmune disease and pave the
way to heart disease, depression, etc. Both Robb and Remy are on board.

Legumes are pretty much a no no across the board, except for
green beans and peas. Paleo says no legumes ever due to the toxins. Legumes
contain lectins just like grains. Primal eaters, however, enjoy green beans and
peas on occasion. They both still contain lectins, but less than others such as
kidney beans. Robb eats green beans, but I have never heard of him using peas
in his cooking. Remy’s paleo-plus plan says neither (Thanks for your input,
Remy! Please feel free to weigh in on any of the info in this post.).

Alcohol is considered a “cheat day” on the primal side.
Alcohol and chocolate fall under the 20% of the 80-20 rule. Even Robb has the
occasional glass of red with an 85% or higher dark.

More on Remy’s paleo-plus: Remy’s paleo-plus sticks to
paleo, but also removes eggs, nuts and nightshades. Night-shades include
tomatoes, eggplant and peppers (both sweet and spicy).  White potatoes are also part of the nightshade
family, but we don’t eat those in primal or paleo anyway. Sweet potatoes and
yams are not included in the nightshade family. She does, however, stick to
primal fat philosophies minus the butter, ghee and heavy cream in her
paleo-plus philosophy. She will on occasion (part of the 20%) use ghee in her
cooking.

Push

Your body will tell you what it can and cannot handle. For
some dairy is an absolute gut killer, while others can indulge occasioSnally.
Even more confusing is that some can handle butter and heavy cream, but cheese
is a no go. If you are trying to lose weight and/or suffer from an autoimmune
disease, it would be wise to cut dairy.

The same occurs with eggs and nuts. For some eggs and nuts
are much too inflammatory (autoimmune disease, for example), and must restrict
intake or avoid them all together. Those that don’t have a severe inflammatory
response, but are trying to lose weight should then avoid nuts. Eggs, however,
are just fine for weight loss.

All of this “If, then” stuff is called fine tuning. You have
to listen to your body and learn what works and what doesn’t. Fine tuning your
nutrition can take months or years to master. Consider it as something you are
constantly working towards, and continue to take baby steps to get there. While
your buddy in the 4pm class can eat heavy cream and butter with no problem, he
may have issues with tree nuts. You may be fine with tree nuts, but can’t
handle dairy in any form. Everyone is different, so focus on how you feel with
the different nutrition philosophies.

Another interesting side note: Mark Sisson’s Primal
Blueprint and Robb Wolf’s Paleo Solution are very holistic. They both discuss
the importance of sleep, exercise, minimizing stress, reducing material
possessions (minimalistic approach to life), etc. The Primal Blueprint also
discusses the importance of play. Both are not just focused on the food, but
the whole person. It is all good stuff, and I suggest you take some time to
read the following books and peruse the following websites:
Primal: marksdailyapple.com; The Primal Blueprint

Paleo: thepaleodiet.com; The Paleo Diet

Combo: robbwolf.com; The Paleo Solution

Specialized: huntgathersaute.com (Remy’s website)

Remember this is just the beginning of a wealth of
information out there. Hopefully you will now understand a few of the
differences between the primal and paleo philosophies and ways to apply them to
your life.

Workout of the Day 8/16/2011

A. Squat Cleans 3-3-3

B. 5 Rounds:
5 Squat Cleans (185/105)
30 Double Unders