This “gear review” is a bit different…
Thinking of jumping on the Keto or Paleo bandwagons?
Mr. Trekker and I tried out a low-carb diet one year! I know these fad diets can be controversial, so let me just say upfront, I am not a doctor, a nutritionist, or even a scientist (does being married to one count?) I don’t play any of these on TV and I didn’t even stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night. 😉
As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, however, I am a big fan of natural and behavior-based methods to mitigate (or help prevent) health problems, when possible. So, I’m interested in a diet that doesn’t require any special pills, food, or shakes and isn’t difficult (though it does require some self-control).
Below is a listing of posts I wrote regarding how I felt throughout this experiment (was I hungry? Did my energy levels stay high? Did I feel good? Did I notice changes–good or bad–to things like my cholesterol levels? Did I lose weight?) This won’t interest everyone, and that’s fine. I’m a curious person and this is something I found intriguing, so I wanted to try it and see what results I noticed if any. It’s always fun to use your body as a bit of a guinea pig for science, right? 😉 To be clear though, I’m not trying to imply this diet is healthier than other options out there or that it is best for every person.
“Wired to Eat”
I went more in-depth on the Trekkers’ personal experiences–successes and failures–in the other posts listed below. For now, if you’re interested in the subject, a book I would suggest is Wired to Eat.† Mr. Trekker learned of it via a podcast, so we both read it and found it useful. It’s actually a sequel to another on the Paleo diet (which we haven’t read).
There are numerous books available regarding these lifestyle choices, but I found this one to be well-written and easy to understand. It outlines the ideas simply and keeps them interesting to the lay reader. I especially like that it describes ways to tweak the diet for each, individual person based on their own, body chemistry, and it encourages you to listen to your body regarding what foods are right for your individual makeup.
Modern diets contain too much glucose
The basic idea behind the Paleo and Keto diets revolves around glucose, namely, that we aren’t evolutionarily designed to process as much of the chemical as the typical Western diet provides. The resulting effect is inflammation throughout the body; glucose sensitivity leading to diabetes; and a whole host of auto-immune issues, including diseases ranging from rheumatoid arthritis and Crohn’s disease to cancer.
The goal of the Paleo and Keto diets is to get back to eating the way our Paleolithic ancestors did (a diet with little gluten as agriculture hadn’t been invented yet) so our food intake matches what evolution has prepared us for, bringing everything back into balance. We do this by retraining our body to burn fat and protein rather than carbohydrates (sugar/glucose) as fuel.
As I mentioned previously, I am aware the factuality of these claims is up for debate, but one thing I do like about these nutritional theories is that they encourage clean eating. I don’t think anyone can argue with the concept that a diet composed mostly of fruits and vegetables, with –preferably, lean–protein thrown in, that discourages unhealthy fats, sugars, and preservatives, is a bad idea for anyone.
I also like the idea of personalized nutrition instead of a one-size-fits-all approach. The book outlines a process for determining which carbs are beneficial for each, individual person. It also, briefly, discusses fasting–something I dabbled with minimally–and offers recipes that are friendly to the two, specialized diets.
So if you’re interested, click the link above and check out the book. Check out the posts listed below to see how the Trekkers’ attempt at a low-carb life went!
Related posts: Low-carb Lent; Yummy Keto-friendly recipes!; Final Thoughts on Low-Carb Lent; A Sustainable Low-carb Lifestyle; My Lenten Fast
Have you read this book? What did you think? Tell me about it in the comments!
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†As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases
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