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QUESTION:
Hi Tom: Your Burn The Fat, Feed The
Muscle ebook was an eye-opener for me. I am following your advice
closely with very good results. I'm a semi professional windsurfer
and a mountain biker, and especially for the latter I need to be as
lean as possible. Thanks in large part to your program, I'm well
into single digit body fat and dropping. Just recently I came across
a book called the paleolithic diet and I was wondering if you ever
heard about it? What's your opinion on this book? Is it worth
reading if I already have your book? Is the program any good?
Mariusz,
Poland
ANSWER:
The "paleolithic,"
"stone age," "cave man," or "neanderthal"
eating plans have been around for a while and there are quite a few
books that have been written on the subject.
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In general, with a only few minor
constructive criticisms, I think they are right on point, and will
benefit your health and definitely your fat loss efforts.
A "Paleo Diet" is actually
quite similar to my Burn The Fat only with the starches and grains
(and dairy products) removed completely.
In fact, a "paleo" or
"cave man" diet is very, very similar to the
"contest" (bodybuilding or physique) diets I recommend in
Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle and this is most definitely a great
way get very lean, very fast.
On physique competition diets
(bodybuilding, fitness, figure, etc), you leave the lean proteins,
lean meats, nuts and seeds, the green veggies (fibrous carbs), and
some fruit in the diet, while reducing or removing ALL processed
foods and SOME of the grains and starches. (usually the dairy
products go too).
When it comes to MAXIMUM FAT LOSS,
the removal or reduction of grains and calorie dense starchy carbs
in favor of lean protein and veggies will definitely help speed the
process - even if that's only because it reduces caloric density of
the food intake, although there are other reasons.
Lean protein (fish and meat) + good
fats & nuts + lots of green veggies + some fruit = LEAN!
And that's basically what the "paleolithic"
diets recommend, because the principle there is to eat like our
"stone age" ancestors did - before there was McDonalds,
Coca Cola and other junk food.
The premise is that since our genetic
code (the human genome) has changed less than 0.02 percent in 40,000
years, this means that our bodies are still expecting to get the
same foods and nutrition they were getting 40,000 years ago.
By eating what our "stone
age" hunter and gatherer ancestors ate, say the paleo diets, we
will rid ourselves of the health problems and the obesity problem
that has only recently begun to plague us as a result of modern
lifestyle and processed manmade foods.
Forty thousand years ago, you had to
eat nature-made food. There was no food in cans, boxes or packages
was there? The packaging was peel, a skin or a shell!
There were no TV dinners. There was
no drive in fast food. There were no convenience stores.
There was no corn syrup. There was no
white sugar. There were no hydrogenated oils. No chemicals. No
preservatives. No artificial anything.
There was only what could be hunted
and gathered: Meat, fish, nuts, seeds, plants, vegetables, fruits.
My only real constructive criticism
is that some of these programs not only recommend removal of all
grains and starches (and even dairy), they outright condemn them -
sometimes unfairly, I believe.
They say that agriculture arrived on
the scene only 10,000 years ago so foods produced as a result of
agriculture should also be on the "banned" list and that
includes 100% whole grain products and even rice, potatoes and other
starches which are not manmade.
The truth is there are some starchy
carbohydrates and grains which are very minimally processed or
completely unprocessed (the only processing being cooking).
Also, some people can metabolically
handle starches and grains just fine, while others cannot. The same
can be said for dairy products.
This is known as metabolic
individuality. Because this individuality exists from person to
person, I don't believe it's necessary to recommend that
"EVERYONE" cut out "ALL" the starches and grains
"ALL" the time.
I do believe that many people are
getting an overdose of refined carbs and sugar and that moderating
intake of concentrated carbs almost always accelerates fat loss.
However, the nutrition program you
choose should depend on your metabolic/body type, your current body
composition and state of health as well as your goals (maximum fat
loss vs. muscle growth vs. maintenance, vs. endurance athletic
performance).
I don't believe that
"agriculture" and everything that came with it is
"evil."
I believe that highly processed and
refined and packaged foods are the "nutritional evils" we
should be aware of.
To remove brown rice, 100% whole
grains, sweet potatoes, oatmeal, legumes and so on for healthy carb
tolerant people, especially those who are highly active and or
already at a normal body fat level doesn't make a lot of sense to
me.
In particular, for athletes with a
high energy expenditure, eating the concentrated complex, starchy
carbs and grains - from natural sources - can be quite important.
Sure, there are some "renegade'
nutritionists who prescribe high fat diets for endurance athletes
and claim that will provide high energy and high performance, but
that is controversial.
Also, an explanation for athletes
successful on such plans may be that they are metabolically suited
for more fat and protein to begin with, so that conclusion shouldn't
be generalized to everyone.
That's the trouble with so many
programs -- the creators might say, "It worked for me and for
some of my clients, so this is the way EVERYONE should do it."
Everyone is different, so the true
inquiring minds will inquire about what is best for THEM, not the
other guy... In the case of highly active healthy people and
athletes, I would lean towards a decent amount of natural carbs for
performance goals (and pull back on starches and grains when goals
change to maximum fat loss).
The key word here is NATURAL!
There is a HUGE difference between
natural starches and grains and refined starches and grains.
For example, look at old fashioned
unsweetened oatmeal versus sugary, white flour cereal grains. How
can you throw those together into the same category??? They are no
where near the same, but often they get lumped together by those who
are adamantly "no-grain" or "no-cereal" allowed.
What about sweet potatoes? why cut
something like that out of your diet? They are not processed or man
made at all are they?
Aside from that minor quibble I have
with some of these programs being too strict with their
"Absolutely no grains or starch allowed," there is a lot
anyone can learn from the "paleolithic" eating concept.
The questions raised from these
programs and books are good ones:
"What were we eating tens of
thousands of years ago?"
"What are we genetically and
environmentally predisposed to eat?"
"what has gone wrong with the
modern day diet that has led to so much disease and obesity which
didn't exist thousands of years ago?"
I believe that too many people get
caught up in low fats or low carbs or whatever the trend of the
month is, but the real source of our problem is neither fat nor
carbs, it is an excess of processed, refined man-made food!
(combined with a serious shortage of exercise)
If you study and understand the
concept of eating according to your personal goals and your unique
body/metabolic type first, which I discuss in chapter 5 of my book, Burn
The Fat, Feed The Muscle, then I believe you will get
even more benefit from the further study of the "paleo"
eating concept, as you will be informed and flexible enough to adapt
it to your personal situation.
Loren Cordain and Ray Audette have
written two of the more notable works on the subject (the Paleo diet
and Neanderthin). You can get either of these at almost any
bookstore or Amazon.com. You can get my Burn The Fat program at www.burnthefat.com
ANY good nutrition program - for
health or for fat loss - is going to be focused on natural foods and
it will teach you how to get the processed food OUT and the natural
food IN
When you analyze ANY diet or
nutrition program, keep in mind what ageless Fitness Icon Jack
Lalanne has always said,
"If man made it, don't eat
it!"
THAT is the essence of eating how
we're supposed to eat!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tom
Venuto is a natural bodybuilder, certified strength and conditioning
specialist (CSCS) and a certified personal trainer (CPT). Tom is the
author of "Burn the Fat, Feed The Muscle,” which teaches you
how to get lean without drugs or supplements using methods of the
world's best bodybuilders and fitness models. Learn how to get rid
of stubborn fat and increase your metabolism by visiting: www.BurnTheFat.com
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