There is a HUGE difference between them, but our nutrition education is very poor, and we’ve been taught bad information for the past 60 years. The worst part is that the government and even the World Health Organization (WHO) is acting very slowly to catch up to the realities of the dangers of a low-fat/high-sugar diet (which is what they’ve been pushing with the whole wheat/brown rice recommendations coupled with low-fat).
The Low-Fat diet comes from the 1950’s when doctors falsely believed that eating fats resulted in high cholesterol in the blood. Believing in this flawed hypothesis is to ignore the fundamental fact that our bodies are marvelous, complex machines that utilize intricate processes to turn food into energy. This is a chemical processes far more complicated than taking fat from food and putting that fat into our blood streams. It is the liver that processes sugars and turns them into fat, and this information has been known to the medical community for decades, yet they refuse to acknowledge it. The reasons for this are many, but mainly due to where the money for research comes from: the food industry. It is not in the best interest of the food industry to let word get out that all the stuff they’ve labeled as “Heart Healthy” and good for your bones turns out to be the very stuff that is causing us to be obese and eventually, to kill us.
Low-cal is another fallacy that persists. It comes from the misguided belief that all calories are created equal. From a very simple standpoint, calories in must be equal or less than the calories you expend. However, the food has to make you feel satisfied. I see meals people prepare, or buy prepared, and they contain all kinds of carbs but they are low-cal. The problem is that 190 calories of some pasta dish or a salad isn’t much food, and it won’t fill you up. Then, you’ll be hungry sooner and you will think, “I ate low-cal and I am hungry again. This sucks. I can’t eat low-cal and be comfortable or do this forever. Screw dieting!” That’s one reason so many people fail at eating healthy and losing weight; we’re hard wired with a strong desire that overrides all others to NOT feel hungry. We’re not made to live hungry.
Enter Paleo. The food you eat allows you to feel satisfied and full while eating foods that are delicious and, in most cases, very normal and even made the same way you’ve always enjoyed them. In other cases, you may need to substitute ingredients, but when the food tastes good and fills you up and is good for your body, then it’s a win-win-win! Some great cookbooks that Sherry has found and uses for us regularly include the following:
- Against All Grain: Delectable Paleo Recipes to Eat Well & Feel Great
- Practical Paleo: A Customized Approach to Health and a Whole-Foods Lifestyle
- The Slim Palate Paleo Cookbook
There are also a large amount of recipes available online at some of the following websites:
Take a look at some of those sites and you’ll find that the food looks amazing and appetizing. The best part: they are all good for you! Try some of them out; I think you will be very pleasantly surprised with how good they are and how full you feel after eating them. I just ate a bowl of chili that Sherry made for our lunches this past Sunday, and I can’t believe how filled up I am after eating about 2 cups worth of chili. Could I eat more? Sure, but only because it was so delicious! My stomach honestly feels full, and I can’t imagine eating any more right now. Well, at least not until dinner time.
Paleo is a way of living you can sustain for the rest of your life. It involves eating whole foods and avoiding grains and added-sugars. It allows you freedom in what you eat and in return, your body will reward you by losing weight, becoming healthier, and giving you more mobility and flexibility. Don’t continue down the path of low-fat or low-cal. Those paths are lined with the corpses of failed effort. The path to low-sugar is a paved road that leads to a healthier you!
Paleo Marine 