The Paleo Diet - Loren Cordain [40]
By the time I graduated from college, I became determined to do something. I enrolled in graduate school to learn more about scientific research so that one day I might help find a cure. While in graduate school, I discovered literature about diet-related treatments for a whole range of degenerative illnesses, including Crohn’s disease. All of the diets used to treat Crohn’s disease are very similar to a Paleolithic diet. It became my turn to become responsible for my own health, and I started eating a strict Paleolithic diet. The results were amazing. Within a month I was 90 percent symptom-free. I felt like I had been reborn.
I have been on the diet for almost two years now. I’ve lost 45 pounds and am near my optimal weight. I am 100 percent symptom-free of Crohn’s disease and haven’t seen a doctor in over a year. I’ve started running 4 miles a day, something that I could never have achieved before. This diet is anything but a quick fix. It takes time to heal the wounds of disease and medication. However, to anyone looking for control over their disease or their weight, I urge them to give it a try. It might just save your life as it saved mine.
Vegetarian Isn’t Better: Ann’s Story
After high school graduation, Ann Woods left her home for a summer waitressing job in Alaska. She had a great time living away from her parents and partying with her friends, but the continual stream of on-the-job glazed doughnuts, burgers, and fries, along with evening treats of M&Ms and Baskin-Robbins ice cream, eventually caused her waistline to balloon. When she came back home to start college in the fall, her weight had jumped from 110 to 135 pounds. She was still not fat but was much heavier than she had ever been. After a bit of friendly razzing from her boyfriend, she managed to lose all the weight by adopting a near-vegetarian diet that emphasized grains, potatoes, lots of starch, and very little fat or meat. At the time, this seemed a prudent thing to do. After all, this type of diet was supposed to be the healthiest.
Ann also began to jog, an activity that soon blossomed into a lifetime interest in running and fitness. Her weight stabilized, and she became lean and fit. Her blood pressure and cholesterol levels were low, but after almost seven years of running, she noticed that her energy began to wane. She was continually tired and wanted nothing more than to sleep after long runs. Ann recovered from one running-related injury only to find herself injured again within weeks. Dark circles formed underneath her eyes, and she caught colds more frequently than ever. She finally discovered that she had iron-deficiency anemia caused by her “healthful” staples of oatmeal, brown rice, beans, pasta, and low-fat yogurt.
Ann discovered the Paleo dietary principles in The Complete Book of Alternative Nutrition, which featured my research. It made a lot of sense to her, and she gave it a try. She replaced her former vegetarian staples with lean meat, chicken, and seafood at almost every meal. Fruits and veggies were no problem—she had eaten a lot of these before her switch. Within a week, Ann noticed that her energy level was stable throughout the day. She no longer had late-afternoon slumps. Her stamina increased, and she was less tired after her runs. After three months on the diet she dropped 5 additional pounds to her present weight of 106, her stomach was now totally flat, and her muscle tone and strength were better than ever. On top of this, her iron-deficiency anemia disappeared, and the dark circles underneath her eyes vanished.
A Nutritionist Loses 30 Pounds: Melissa’s Story
Melissa Diane Smith, a nutritionist and a health journalist based in Tucson, Arizona, is the coauthor of Syndrome X: The Complete Nutritional Program to Prevent and Reverse Insulin Resistance and is the author of Going