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180 of 189 people found the following review helpful:
simply THE book to read on proper nutrition
I would like to write this review for 2 reasons: 1)I just want to say that I first started to lose weight when I switched to a low-carb diet, but continued to eat lots of dairy and soy, as I was a vegetarian. I have always been a size 12-14, and was quite pleased when I dropped to a size 10 by eliminating bread, pasta and sugar from my diet. I still experienced...
Published on February 17, 2002
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199 of 212 people found the following review helpful:
Not such a great book, but it is worth reading
Let me begin by saying that I am a 100% believer in the paleo diet/ caveman diet concept. I am a national-level olympic weightlifter and have tried every combination of high/low carb/fat diet to find something that allowed me to stay in the same weight class as I got older. The only thing that has ever worked is the paleo diet.
For a good, concise...
Published on April 11, 2007 by David R. Kent
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180 of 189 people found the following review helpful:
simply THE book to read on proper nutrition, February 17, 2002
By A Customer
I would like to write this review for 2 reasons:1)I just want to say that I first started to lose weight when I switched to a low-carb diet, but continued to eat lots of dairy and soy, as I was a vegetarian. I have always been a size 12-14, and was quite pleased when I dropped to a size 10 by eliminating bread, pasta and sugar from my diet. I still experienced occasional fatigue and lots of digestive upset, though, and it wasn't until I took an allergy test and found I was allergic to grains and dairy - and subsequently cut both completely out of my diet - that I started to feel the energy and vitality for which I have been searching for years. I'm also allergic to most beans, so my only alternative source of protein was meat. I started to eat lean, unprocessed meats and fresh fruits and veggies, and my energy was not only soaring, but my depression lifted, my skin became smoother and softer, and I dropped down to a size 4 without even trying to lose weight! (I've never been less than a size 10 in my life!) Anyways, I effortlessly maintained that level of vitality and a size 4 until I started to eat rice flour, oats, processed meats and candy. I quickly gained 15lbs and fell into depression once again, leading me to realize that once on a paleo diet, it must become a way of life. The foods that Dr.Cordain describes as detrimental to our health (grains, dairy, legumes) are indeed factors in all sorts of health problems. If you are a possible buyer of this book, please take note of this, you cannot expect to lose weight and then go back to your usual style of eating. Buy this book and undertake Dr.Cordain's suggestions only if you are ready to change your lifestyle - it will be well worth it, I promise! In any case, I have since started back on the paleo-lifestyle route (feeling better already and have lost 5lbs in one week), with the help of Lauren Cordain's book, and it has been an invaluable resource for me. I have beeen waiting for him to write a book for a while now, as I have been reading interviews and papers written by him on www.beyondveg.com since I first started on the paleo nutrition route 2 years ago. This brings me to my second point in writing this review: 2)In response to the reviews that mention disdain at the apparent contradiction with Dr.Cordain discouraging the use of saturated fat while promoting the idea that humans' natural diet contained lots of meat, known to be rich in saturated fats, I have read research that sheds some light on this, at least for me. It seems that the saturated fat found in lean game meat - buffalo or wild boar that has been running around the jungle or the plains all day - has a different composition entirely than the saturated fat found in your average piece of supermarket meat - cows, chickens, even free-range game. There is a more favorable ratio of omega 3:omega 6 fatty acids in the lean game meat, as well as other aspects that I can't remember offhand, but you can read more for yourself on this subject in interviews of Dr.Cordain on beyondveg's website. One more note for those of you trying to decide between Dr.Atkins or something similar, or a book such as this one or Neanderthin: speaking from the point of view of a person who has developed IBS and multiple food allergies as a result of the Standard American Diet, I wholeheartedly agree with the low-carb way of life, but must offer my 2cents that any diet that fails to caution the consumer on the downfalls of consuming fake foods such as artificial sweetners and salty, processed meats, cannot be healthy for the long-term. I would eat fresh cream or whole milk before I put MSG, nitrates, sulfites or Splenda into my body. I have tried Atkins, and I felt a big difference in my general health from that program to one of eating more natural foods as advocated by Dr.Cordain, Diana Schwarzbein and Ray Audette. If you are undecided, please take your long-term health as well as your short-trem weight into consideration. Any of the above-mentioned authors can help you lose weight and feel great, but unlike Atkins or Eades, they will help you do it for life. As far as deciding between the above-mentioned authors, "The Paleo Diet" is written by a well-respected professor and expert in the field of paleolithic nutrition, and if you were to go with one book on low-carbing, this would probably the healthiest, most sane and moderate approach I have seen out there.
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199 of 212 people found the following review helpful:
Not such a great book, but it is worth reading, April 11, 2007
This review is from: The Paleo Diet: Lose Weight and Get Healthy by Eating the Food You Were Designed to Eat (Paperback)
Let me begin by saying that I am a 100% believer in the paleo diet/ caveman diet concept. I am a national-level olympic weightlifter and have tried every combination of high/low carb/fat diet to find something that allowed me to stay in the same weight class as I got older. The only thing that has ever worked is the paleo diet.
For a good, concise description of the paleo diet, search for it on wikipedia.
Having said that, I will now be critical of this book. I found this book to be very verbose and never provided a convincing argument for the paleo diet. Very little evidence was provided that the diet described in this book was what was eaten 20,000 years ago. Most of the argument for this diet was modern research on how ingredient X (e.g. omega-3 fatty acids) is good for you. I have heard excellent evidence supporting the paleo diet during a few lectures by a scientist that studies coprolites (few thousand year old petrified excrement), unfortunately, similar evidence is not in this book.
Furthermore, there are a few technical issues I have with what is presented in this book. I have a PhD in theoretical chemistry. Having gone through graduate school, I know that just about anyone can get a PhD or become faculty if they are patient. Because of this, I'm immune to the Doctor/Professor name dropping used throughout this book.
Repeatedly, the author asserts that chloride from salt causes the body to become more acidic. Offhand, it is not at all clear to me how this could happen. Chloride ions in solution are basically inert. I have to believe that this conjecture is wrong.
The author also makes repeated comments about how bad salt is for you. A few years back, there was an article in the journal Science (one of the two highest tier scientific journals) about the politics of salt. The article describes a political agenda to show that salt caused medical problems. A few hundred million dollars and a half dozen project leaders later, the program was shut down because the researchers could not prove what the politicians wanted. I'm not suggesting that people should eat a lot of salt, since cavemen ate much less sodium and more potassium than we do today, but I am suggesting the health problems blamed on salt have sketchy research backing them up.
In spite of this book's problems, it is worth reading. The description of the paleo diet is good enough to be effective when followed.
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430 of 497 people found the following review helpful:
This Is How The Cavemen Ate? Uh, I Don't Think So!, September 30, 2002
When I first heard Loren Cordain was finally authoring a book on paleo nutrition I was quite excited, for Cordain has conducted a lot of very insightful research into the eating patterns of our hunter-gatherer ancestors. When I finally got to examine the book though, I was sorely disappointed. Cordain evidently seems to have ignored much of his own research. The most alarming error is his frequent recommendation to use flax oil when cooking meat dishes. Recipe after recipe calls for marinating cuts of meat in flax oil before cooking - a very bad idea! For those who don't already know, you should NEVER cook with any type of polyunsaturated oil. Their high degree of unsaturation makes them extremely prone to oxidative damage, and this process is greatly multiplied by exposure to high temperatures (e.g cooking temeratures). Omega-3 fats, like those found in flax oil, are the most vulnerable polyunsaturates of all. When eaten, these 'healthy' fats trigger a chain-reaction of nasty free-radical activity in the body, leaving one open to the development of all sorts of degenerative ailments. Cordain should be well aware that liquid vegetable oils simply did not exist back in paleotlithic times. Cordain also denigrates saturated fat in his book, which once again is rather pitiful considering his background. The anti-saturated fat doctrine is a product of agenda-driven 20th century researchers and beaureaucrats, eagerly supported by commercial interests and their cheerleading squad of ignorant nutritionists, health authorities, and authors. Cordain claims that a single experiment where saturated fat raised cholesterol levels in young men is proof that this fat is bad. Big deal! Such an assertion assumes that the cholesterol theory of heart disease is a valid one. Considering the numerous absurdities inherent in the cholesterol theory, that is a rather risky leap of faith. Hunter-gatherers ate lots of animal fat, which is around 50% saturated. And no, just because an animal is wild does not mean it is low in fat - I had the pleasure of sampling some camel steak last week, and you can be sure I enjoyed every bit of the backstrap fat covering the steak! Even the leanest animals have fatty portions of meat, and if observations of recent hunter-gatherer societies are anything to go by, these would have been the most valued and preferentially eaten cuts. Cordain also jumps on the anti-low carb bandwagon, even though his own research shows hunter-gatherers were far more likely to consume a low carb diet than a high carb diet. In fact paleo nutrition, with its emphasis on animal foods and starch poor plant foods, and low carb nutrition are a perfect match. The whole book reeks of an attempt to squeeze paleolithic nutrition into currently fashionable and politically correct guidelines. Only problem is, back in the stone-age there weren't any pompous cholesterol researchers who thought they knew better than mother nature, and there were no advertising campaigns to let people know of the `heinous' health effects of saturated fat - so people ate it, and lots of it! Paleo eating is still the ultimate nutrition in my opinion. It is the only eating plan that cannot even begin to be accused of being a 'fad'. Subsistence patterns that dominated for over two million years can hardly be considered a fad. Cordain's book does contain some useful info, but Neanderthin by Ray Audette is a far better, and cheaper, book on paleolithic nutrition. Buy that instead.
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46 of 50 people found the following review helpful:
Valuable information, deserves to be taken seriously, January 12, 2002
This is the best book on paleo nutrition since Ray Audette's Neanderthin. It brings Audette's information up to date with science from this burgeoning area and will serve as an introduction to the only diet that is totally attuned to our physiology. That's what's so neat about it.But it is also what is so difficult for people to get their minds around. As Robert Ingersoll said: "In nature there are neither rewards nor punishments, merely consequences" and we are inclined to regard our dietary preferences as matters of taste (in all senses), or even of ethics - as do vegetarians and those who point out that grain-based diets are far less demanding on the environment than meat-based diets such as those advocated by Dr Cordain. But this misses the point. Cordain is telling us what is natural, not what is ethical. If a meat-based diet takes more land for each consumer than a grain-based diet, that is a consequence of human population numbers, it is not a reason for dismissing a paleo diet. It also misses the point to say that, if we are to adopt a paleo diet, we should return to stone tools and a totally paleo life. Cordain's thinking is clearer than this and the book has many stimulating ideas and insights about our evolutionary inheritance. Cordain also tells us that the human species has barely altered since grains were first cultivated 10,000 years ago. We are hunter-gatherer bodies in a post-industrial world. Much of the book is devoted to explaining how diabetes, cardiovascular disease, food intolerances, osteoporosis, asthma, heartburn, Crohn's disease, irritable bowel syndrome, constipation and many other modern diseases derive from the extent to which we have departed from the evolutionarily-proven lifestyle. For this reason alone, this book deserves to be taken seriously. As Ingersoll implies, there are natural consequences to our behaviour; our cultural preferences are irrelevant to the truth. The author also contrasts modern activity levels with paleo activity levels and presents an exercise routine to complement his dietary advice. Dr Cordain devotes a part of the book to pointing out how meat, fish and fresh vegetables can be contaminated and he gives some guidance in avoiding such contaminated foods and whether the contamination levels are serious. I'm a paleo eater and exerciser myself and I've been looking for a book like this for ages that I can pass to my friends to explain why I eat and exercise the way I do. I bought two copies. Great stuff!
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114 of 132 people found the following review helpful:
The Stone Age Diet brought up to date, March 16, 2002
Before I found this book, I'd heard of the Stone Age diet and wished I could adopt it. The restrictions--no grains, legumes, dairy products, or processed foods--sounded formidable, as did the requirements--fresh meat, fish, vegetables, and fruit, the wilder/more organic the better. But my health problems have recently goaded me into adopting a rough form of this diet, and I've needed a diet manual to focus and refine my new food choices. Voila! I found The Paleo Diet just yesterday and am already convinced it's the right diet book for me. I do feel better since I started eating more animal protein and no starch a few weeks ago, but I've been having trouble with fatty meats, and Loren Cordain's book explains why.The reviewers here who argue that saturated fat has been getting a bum rap, that our Stone Age ancestors undoubtedly ate the whole bird and not just the breast, etc., appear to have read the book cursorily, if at all. Cordain clearly explains that the animal protein prehistoric people thrived on had nowhere near the amount of saturated fat found in today's domestic meats, poultry, and dairy products. Quoting from the book, "Paleolithic people couldn't eat fatty meats if they tried--they had nothing like the tubby grain-fed animals that produce our steaks today." Readers who want more science may consult the 20-page bibliography in the back of the book. The Paleo Diet is primarily a diet manual, a nutritional primer, and a cookbook, loaded with practical information (e.g. "How to Be a Savvy Shopper for Fish," "Dining Out, Travel, and Peer Pressure," etc.) for readers who want to adapt the Stone Age diet to the 21st century. What's more, the book is engagingly written and extremely readable. Above all, Cordain makes the Stone Age diet seem simple. If I could give his book an extra five stars, I would!
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30 of 32 people found the following review helpful:
Excellent Book, November 20, 2006
This review is from: The Paleo Diet: Lose Weight and Get Healthy by Eating the Food You Were Designed to Eat (Paperback)
I was recommeded this book by a fitness coach. I was about 50 lbs overweight and suffering health problems. Anyhow, I been following the program for about 2 months now and occasionally work out and have lost 25 lbs. I tried Atkins before and did lose about 40 lbs, but as soon as I went off and added carbs back I gained weight like no tomorow. I wore everything I ate. With this program I eat a lot of fruit and vegtables and the part that is great is it seems to kill your hunger after awhile. I used to think about food most of the time and with this program, I actually sometimes have to remind myself to eat. That is completely un-heard of for me prior. Additionally, I feel much better, my compexion, and skin is much healthier looking. I ve lost about 25 lbs already and I have energy to want to work out. With Atkins I had no energy and no endurance. Occasionaly when I cheat, and eat bread, it actually upsets my stomach now. I used to have indigestion frequently, now that is also gone. I highly recommend this program.
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17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
Paleo Diet makes sense..., August 14, 2007
This review is from: The Paleo Diet: Lose Weight and Get Healthy by Eating the Food You Were Designed to Eat (Paperback)
This is one of the few diet books that actually make sense to me--it focuses on how our bodies were meant to eat, and what we're genetically programmed to process. There are no magic tricks, no "fat burning miracles," no tricks, no drugs, no 30-days-to-a-new-you, just solid, and (to me) sensible and easy to follow guidelines.
The book emphasizes fresh foods, rather than processed--that makes sense and avoids who knows what chemical additives. Lean meat, healthful oils, fish or seafood, fresh vegetables and fruits--simple. No need to try to interpret complex labels, count calories, carbs, or whatever. Just lean meats, fresh vegetables and fruits.
This is not to say you have to eat all game meats and raw vegetables and fruits to benefit--you can adapt many of your favorite recipes and snacks and even eat out, if you pay attention to what you're ordering.
As the author of The Wild Foods Cookbook for Stephen Greene Press The Wild foods Cookbookin the early 90s, I'm delighted to find how often this book parallels my own research. Again, no need to forage as our ancestors did--with care, we can shop at our local supermarket or farmer's market.
Cordain's not the world's greatest writer, and he tends to repeat his points more than I really enjoy, but the basic tenets are easy to grasp, make sense, and make me, personally, feel very good.
The book has a section of great recipes and appendices, solid research, and personal success stories...this one, at least, doesn't feel like a fad diet.
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25 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
At least one of the 'editorial' reviewers didn't read it, January 9, 2004
... or maybe s/he simply didn't understand what s/he read. I'm talking about the one that made the stupid statement about the lifespan of paleo humans being only 30 years. Cordain's research shows that if the paleo human was able to avoid childhood mortality and accident, he or she was typically a healthy and productive member of the tribe well into the 60's or 70's, and that the agricultural 'revolution' substantially shortened the human lifespan. Skeletal remains of elderly paleo humans are common -- plus they don't usually show signs of degenerative diseases (or even crooked teeth). Both Cordain and Audette make this observation, so I'm assuming the reviewer simply relied on what somebody else said about the book when writing the 'review'.Cordain's diet recommendations have two big plusses: 1) they make sense, and 2) they are simple enough for anybody (except maybe the 'reviewer' in question) to understand and implement. In addition to this book, I recommend Ray Audette's NeanderThin.
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15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
Practical and Effective, May 21, 2009
[NOTE: This review relates to the paperback edition.]
At first glance, the Paleo diet seemed extreme to me. Give up grains AND beans AND dairy completely? What's left? Won't I be hungry? Won't I get bored? Won't I die of malnutrition? Obviously the answer is "no." My body adjusted quickly to lean meat, fish, eggs, nuts, seeds, raw and cooked vegetables, and fruit. I'm eating 10 times more fruits and vegetables than before, snacking more and cooking more. My food cravings are gone, and I feel sated after I eat. Oh yes, and did I mention that I lost 8 pounds over the past 4 months?
I've seen numerous health benefits from lowering my glycemic index and salt intake and eliminating the indigestible proteins found in grains and beans. Acid reflux, gas, joint pain, sinus congestion -- all completely gone! Amazing.
Since nobody's twisting my arm, I've "cheated" a few times and eaten something that used to be part of my diet, like oatmeal or corn chips. Next day the acid reflux, gas and congestion come back. My sense of taste has become more sensitive and I notice a rancid, unpleasant note even in foods like organic oatmeal. So the desire to stray has diminished and staying on the diet is easy. However, there are a couple of things I've chosen not to give up: organic butter as a condiment on vegetables, and organic half-and-half in my coffee. I've noticed no ill effects, and get a lot of taste enjoyment from these items, which is important even when eating healthy!
I've given the book 4 stars rather than 5, because there are a few things here and there that I don't agree with. I don't think one should heat flax seed oil. And the recipes, while passable, don't excite me very much. Also, the book is written in a popular self-help style, focusing on weight loss and bypassing a purely health-conscious viewpoint. One example: although Dr. Cordain says we really shouldn't drink it, he mentions diet soda as a possible beverage. He knows better.
On the other hand, the health benefits for "eating Paleo" are offered in an understandable way, explaining why it's good for high blood pressure, osteoporosis, diabetes and so on. If you read the book, you will know how to "do the diet" and why it's a good idea. The science is well-presented. There's a 20-page index of double-blinded study research results from around the world, to which Dr. Cordain refers throughout the book. This is not some weird dietary notion that somebody invented. It was arrived at by hard research, investigation and study. Whether you accept the theory that we should strive to approximate our caveperson ancestors' diet is beside the point: from my experience, this is a healthy diet that eliminates the pitfalls of eating foods our bodies were not genetically programmed to digest. My results speak for themselves.
Some people do have bodies that can handle just about anything they feel like eating. And ethnic, regional and personal variations ensure that the Paleo diet will never take over the world. All I can say is that eating Paleo has improved the quality of my health immeasurably. And as a weight loss diet, it's foolproof. Eliminate junk food and fast food and replace them with high quality animal protein and as much fresh veggies, fruits, nuts and seeds as you can pile in your mouth...and thank Mother Nature (and Dr. Cordain et al) for Her bounty with every bite.
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27 of 30 people found the following review helpful:
For the concept, not necessarily the execution..., April 15, 2005
This review is from: The Paleo Diet: Lose Weight and Get Healthy by Eating the Food You Were Designed to Eat (Paperback)
As with any "diet" book or advice, I think this one needs to be taken with a grain of salt, so to speak.
Removing grains and legumes, and processed foods from the diet has proven to be highly beneficial to me. Removing dairy is logical, since the human body is not intended to process any milk other than mother's. Since making these adjustments to my diet, I have felt so much better, and when I occassionally have a piece of cheese, my body has difficulty processing it. Sugar had already been removed from my diet years before I found this book.
However, there are a few points I do not follow. I do not calculate the acidity and alkalinity of my diet. That is too much bother. I do not avoid all salt, as avoiding it altogether can cause it's own problems, as sodium is necessary in some amount. I do not restrict myself to lean meats, as a certain amount of dietary fat is necessary for satiety. I do not avoid vinegars or oils.
I use sea salt, rather than iodized salt, as it is less processed. I have changed my oil selections, in part from his recommendations, and in part from others, but I now use olive, grapeseed, coconut, and nut oils (not peanut, which is a legume), rather than soybean or canola. I eat a healthy balance of lean and fattier meats. I use vinegar when I want to.
Overall, this is an interesting concept that is not necessarily well executed. But it is a good springboard to start adjusting your diet to what your body needs.
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