Guilt-Free Paleo Diet Thanksgiving
The message of the effectiveness of the Paleo diet is spreading, at least through local media news. A second CBS affiliate, this time CBS Philly, has reported on the Paleo diet, with a Thanksgiving spin. Dr. Kim Mulvhill of CBS News, San Francisco, first reported on the Paleo diet last month when she tried it out for several weeks with tremendous results. Dr. Mulvhill has decided to follow it for life. In Philly, health reporter Stephanie Stahl offers up the Paleo diet as a way to enjoy Thanksgiving without putting on the pounds. A guilt-free Paleo diet Thanksgiving sounds great, but you’d have to follow the Paleo AFTER Thanksgiving too, to reap the benefits of weight loss, lower cholesterol, insulin sensitivity and more.
Turkey and all the fixings, usually a scale buster. But if you think of Thanksgiving like a caveman experts say your diet doesn’t have to suffer……
….. The premise is that our bodies are genetically programmed to eat like our Paleolithic ancestors. They hunted, fished, and gathered plants for food.
“You can eat all you want, whenever you want, from this big list of very tasty foods – meat, fish, fowl, eggs, nuts, seeds, vegetables, a little bit of fruit, some chocolate, maybe a little red wine — you can eat all you want, whenever you want,” said Mark Sisson, Author of “Primal Blueprint.”
But you have to eliminate dairy, sugar, grains, beans and processed foods. With the focus on protein and fiber, insulin levels stay stable. You stay fuller longer……
…… And a reporter, on the Caveman Diet, watched her cholesterol drop from 221 to 170. She lost 30 pounds, ate all the time, and never felt hungry or counted calories.“How many things do you know work this well in this short a period of time?” said Dr. Lynda Frassetto, a Researcher.
Their version of a caveman Thanksgiving is basically correct, except I would not include the potatoes. Not if you are sure you haven’t beaten insulin resistance or the carbohydrate addiction.
The caveman recipe for Thanksgiving includes salad, load up on turkey, green veggies and carrots. And have just a little mashed potatoes or yams. Stay away from gravy, stuffing and desserts,
And of course there is the required “disclaimer” about how most diet “experts” disagree about removing whole grains and dairy from the diet.
Most diet experts agree that staying away from processed food and sugar is critical, but critics of the Caveman Diet say eliminating dairy and whole grains isn’t healthy.
And in terms of eating like a caveman for Thanksgiving, in addition to helping your diet, experts say it can also improve heart and brain function.
For some ideas on what to serve at your guilt-free Paleo diet Thanksgiving meal, check out these websites:
- Paleo Diet Lifestyle - Thanksgiving Menu
- Robb Wolf Thanksgiving menu - with stuffing!
- Every Day Paleo Thanksgiving meal with pumpkin pie
One note. I wish these stations would stop using the image of what looks like australopithecus afarensis, a distant ancestor of ours. Our paleolithic ancestors looked a whole lot more like us. In fact we’ve looked like ourselves for the last 200,000 years, at least. C’mon CBS. you are supposed to be reporters. Please report accurately. You are giving out misinformation when you imply that our recent ancestors looked like apes.
It looks like you can have your turkey and eat it too on the Paleo diet. But a guilt-free Paleo diet Thanksgiving would require that you stick to it long after Thanksgiving. Happy Turkey Day!
Considering that so many people are lactose intolerant or become intolerant to dairy as they get older, along with the rise of people being diagnosed with Celiac disease - it is nothing short of IGNORANT to say that it’s not healthy to eliminate dairy or whole grains. Sure, if you can tolerate dairy, then eat Primal and enjoy it. But grains are so much less nutritionally dense than meat or veggies, AND gluten is a direct source of inflammation. Thank you very much, I will continue to listen to my Paleo sources for nutrition advice and continue to shake my head at the medical community and the USDA and their nutrition advice.