The Paleo Diet - Loren Cordain [19]
Perhaps the most important element of the Paleo Diet is its high protein intake—nearly four times higher than the RDA. As I’ve discussed, this high level of protein helps you lose weight by increasing your metabolism and reducing your appetite. A 1999 clinical report in the International Journal of Obesity by my friend Dr. Soren Toubro and colleagues from the Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University in Copenhagen, Denmark, has shown that when it comes to weight loss, high-protein, low-calorie diets are much more effective than low-calorie, high-carbohydrate diets. In the ensuing eleven years, hundreds of scientific papers have confirmed these seminal results. Also, high levels of low-fat protein lower your cholesterol, reduce triglycerides and increase good HDL cholesterol, and reduce your risk of high blood pressure, stroke, and certain forms of cancer. When accompanied by sufficient amounts of alkaline fruit and vegetables, high-protein diets do not promote osteoporosis. Instead, they protect you from it.
The Typical American Diet: A Nutritional Nightmare
Now let’s take a look at this same 2,200 calorie diet for our sample twenty-five-year-old woman—but let’s replace most of the real foods (lean meats and fruits and vegetables) with processed foods, cereal grains, and dairy products. Remember, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food Pyramid encourages you to eat six to eleven servings of grains every day. The nutrient breakdown depicted below closely resembles that of the average American diet. This is the same diet that has produced a nation in which 68 percent of all American men over age twenty-five and 64 percent of women over age twenty-five are either overweight or obese.
For breakfast, our twenty-five-year-old woman eats a Danish pastry and two cups of cornflakes with 8 ounces of whole milk, topped off with a teaspoon of sugar, and drinks a cup of coffee with a tablespoon of cream and a teaspoon of sugar. Because of the large amounts of refined carbohydrates consumed for breakfast, her blood sugar level soon plummets and she is hungry again by midmorning, so she eats a glazed doughnut and drinks another cup of coffee with cream and sugar. By noon, she’s hungry again. She goes to the McDonald’s near her office and orders a Quarter Pounder, a small portion of French fries, and a 12-ounce cola drink. For dinner, she eats two slices of cheese pizza and a small iceberg lettuce salad with half a tomato, covered with two tablespoons of Thousand Island dressing. She washes it all down with 12 ounces of lemon-lime soda. Let’s examine the nutrient breakdown of this dietary disaster:
Nutrient Daily Intake RDA
Calories 2,200.0 100%
Protein 62.0 (g) 57%
Carbohydrate 309.0 (g) —
Fat 83.0 (g) —
Saturated fat 29.0 (g) —
Monounsaturated fat 19.0 (g) —
Polyunsaturated fat 10.0 (g) —
Omega 3 fats 1.0 (g) —
Water-soluble vitamins
Thiamin (B1 ) 1.0 (mg) 95%
Riboflavin (B2 ) 1.1 (mg) 87%
Niacin (B3 ) 11.0 (mg) 73%
Pyridoxine (B6 ) 0.3 (mg) 20%
Cobalamin (B12 ) 1.8 (µg) 88%
Biotin 11.8 (µg) 18%
Folate 148.0 (µg) 82%
Pantothenic acid 1.8 (mg) 32%
Vitamin C 30.0 (mg) 51%
Fat-soluble vitamins
Vitamin A 425.0 (RE) 53%
Vitamin D 3.1 (µg) 63%
Vitamin E 2.7 (mg) 34%
Vitamin K 52.0 (µg) 80%
Macro minerals
Sodium 2,943.0 (mg) —
Potassium 2,121.0 (mg) —
Calcium 887.0 (mg) 111 %
Phosphorus 918.0 (mg) 115%
Magnesium 128.0 (mg) 46%
Trace minerals
Iron 10.2 (mg) 68%
Zinc 3.9 (mg) 33%
Copper 0.4 (mg) 19%
Manganese 0.9 (mg) 28%
Selenium 0.040 (mg) 73%
Dietary fiber 8.0 (g) —
Beta-carotene 87.0 (µg) —
This diet typifies everything that’s wrong with the way most of us eat today—the modern, processed food-based diet.