Drastic diets and their devotees.
Not quite the heading I expected – but I guess you have to have a hook!
Funny – because I don’t see my diet as drastic! It has become a habit, and easy to do. What is a challenging is to eat this diet in today’s grain and dairy sodden world. It is tricky for me eating the original human diet when eating out.
Back to the article – 3 different diets were included. Raw vegan, Paleo and Blood Type Diet. Each person once they changed their diet experienced profound health changes. Renata Holicova’s muscle pain, back pain, joint pain disappeared on the raw vegan diet. My knee swelling, ganglion cyst and menstrual issues disappeared on the Paleo diet. (See – My Nutrition Journey) Vannessa Joyce’s asthma disappeared and she lost 15 kilos on the Blood Type O diet. The O part is significant, in the blood type diet “O’s”cut out grains, legumes and dairy. http://www.drlam.com/blood_type_diet/blood_o_chart.asp
A raw vegan diet does not contain animal products – including dairy. It does not contain grains or legumes in their dry state and probably minimal sprouted. This is also significant. Soaking and fermenting sprouted grains and legumes may reduce some of the anti-nutrients. Potatoes can not be eaten raw. This raw vegan diet most importantly does not contain gluten grains.
http://www.fromgreytogreen.co.nz
So there is a remarkable similarity in all three diets – no gluten grains, no or only soaked and sprouted legumes, no potatoes (another food with gut irritating properties) and no dairy!
Wow – sounds like once you cut out neolithic gut-irritating and auto-immune triggering foods (especially gluten) health improves – what-ever dietary route people take to find this out.
Interestingly – I am an A blood type. Supposedly able to well tolerate grains. The blood type diet simple does not work for me – yes this is another diet I have tried! The only thing I would agree with for me is that the protein choices of chicken and fish I find more enjoyable than red meat. I don’t much like eating a lot of red meat. Loren Cordain makes an interesting observation of blood type diet – that it works best for O blood types. A Critical Examination of Blood Type Diets
Grains and diary have become two of the foods that we consume as a major part of our diets.No hunter or gatherer would eat these foods. To me it seems crazy that our diets have veered so far from those that we as human’s thrive on. We as a race are disease ridden and overweight. Most of the diseases we have are called “diseases of civilisation”. Type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, obesity, arthritis, osteoporosis, I believe are not diseases of hunter gatherers.
Loren Cordain has written a number of scientific papers on the problems of grains, legumes, dairy and potatoes – some of which can be found on his blog:
http://thepaleodiet.blogspot.com/
Article: Cereal Grains, Humanties Double Edged Sword
Hi Julianne
Just been having a read of some of your excellent articles! I downloaded the Sunday Star Times feature for a read and was just about to launch into a rant on my blog regarding it. No need however as I have found your comments and they are identical to what I was thinking.
Quite correctly, you have shown that there is more similarities between the three individuals featured than there are differences. Two (yourself and the blood type diet follower), are Paleo. The other (and the least appealing in my opinion), the raw food vegan, eliminates pretty much the same things as the others do. You are all on the same continuum (interestingly, the raw foodist was on TV3 recently as she oversees the transition of a body sculptor to raw food diet – that will be an interesting case study… I already have my thoughts as to what will happen).
And I have to say, you look absolutely stunning in the photos. You are in better shape and health than most of the women I see around the place that are half your age!
Thanks!
Having makeup, lights and 5 thousand professional photos to choose from probably helped. (If you look closer you can see the wrinkles) But yes, paleo and CrossFit (and watching my weight) are an amazing combination to keep one young, healthy and in shape.
You are still welcome to download it do your own rant of course! The more profile for grain free eating in NZ the better as far as I’m concerned!
I missed the raw vegan food piece on TV – I’m very interested to see the eventual outcome.
Hi Julianne,
I came across your blog last night and I haven’t stopped reading all your posts, great blog, and I was really pleased to see that article with you in it looking so good!
I must have a million questions but for now, just a quick one: I see that you’ve mentioned the benefits of the type O diet in a couple of posts, obviously because of its’ similarities to the paleo diet. However I don’t assume you find any credibility in the blood type diet.. am I correct? (since you are such a strong advocate of the paleo diet).
The reason I’m asking is cause I am a type A (I was wondering what you are), which means the vegetarian diet.. And that was one of the reasons why all my life I was afraid of eating too much meat.. I’ve been vegetarian, vegan, I’ve done Atkins, gluten-free, the blood type diet, even durianrider’s diet, (in case you’re wondering, I am able to both gain and lose weight in any type of diet! I try them out mostly to see what it feels like), and now paleo, but I still can’t forget everything I’ve read related to meat. Any feedback would be much appreciated, thanks!