There is internal squabbling regarding certain aspects of paleo diet interpretation.  There are various people commidifying their own interpretation of a hunter-gatherer diet.  And there are certain lines drawn in the sand regarding duplicating a paleolithic diet vs. using it as a guide within the context of a modern food supply chain.  For the most part, all of these discussions are very courteous.

There may be an unpleasant person from time to time that hurls insults rather than sticking to science… but that for the most part is rare and far between.

Like the story Gary Taubes tells about physicists giving presentations only to EXPECT them to be criticized by their fellow physicist peers, I find that paleo adherents enjoy debating the finer points to following the paleo diet and evolutionary fitness approaches because in the end it’s about finding what’s best for you.  Closing your eyes to other opinion, and considering learning as something akin to admitting your wrong… well that’s just… stupid.

Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you realize you’re wrong.  But aint it cool to change your opinion and then be right!

I will admit here and now, that at first I didn’t really understand the reason at first Kurt Harris came on to the scene and seemed to rock the paleo established boat.  Well, referring to the mention of Taubes that debate should be welcomed and expected…  Harris was questioning the paleo status quo!  Regardless of whether I agreed with some of his points, I should have been cheering him on for doing so (as I do now).   If you are a William Davis guy, or a Kurt Harris guy, or a De Vany guy, or Sisson, or Peter from hyperlipid, etc., if these guys agree to disagree on issues from saturated fat to the need for supplementation in the attempt to advance scientific discovery in interpreting the research, clinical trials and n=1 samples, then all the better.

Let the discussions in this ever growing community never become static.  Lay a Venn diagram over any of the aforementioned people and their respective interpretations match up 85-95%.  Ah, and that 5-15% reckoning is what paleo blogs are all about sometimes, aint it?

We’re all against sugar, HFCS, high levels of carbohydrates (from grains in particular)  in our diet.  We’re all for amounts of fat and protein in our diet commensurate with human paleolithic history, but mainly because it’s healthy for maintaining lean muscle mass, bone health, and good HDL/tri profile, among many other things.  We’re (mostly) for a good amount of vegetables, fruits in moderation.  There’s a bit of disagreement about dairy and levels of saturated fats amongst the godfathers in our midst.

A bit of bickering and vanity aside, we’re all on the same side of the barricades wanting to propagate solid info to help people, hoping to assist our loved ones to prevent obesity, diabetes, heart disease, etc.  Agreed?

OK, I’ll take that as a “Yes.”

Let me introduce you to the other side of the coin, the High Carbohydrate Diabetes Inducing (HCDI) diet supporters.

Corn syrup, a party drink at a recent HCDI conference

They’re not a friendly bunch toward the scientific method.  They are more like the physicists who abhor any intellectual discussion regarding the flip side of their views.  They believe their science is decided from the reality such as it was back in 1975.  Any subsequent endocrinological/biochemistry research over the last 30 years that goes against their sandy hypothesis is simply heretical.

the HCDI high priest, Ancel Keys

However, infighting is common amongst them within their highcarb/lowfat belief system.  A belief system, without any research documenting it to be true, that mandates that animal fats cause people to become obese and have high cholesterol EVEN though the science shows it’s from an excessively high carbohydrate diet unseen in human history.

They all believe that high levels of carbohydrate from wheat, corn, rice, potatoes and beans are fine.  Even though high carbohydrates cause high blood sugar and sustained high blood sugar causes Type II diabetes, and makes life miserable for a Type I diabetic, well, this is besides the point because it doesn’t fit with their belief system.

They all chant, “Eat plenty of fruits and vegetables as well to round out your high carbohydrate intake!”  As if a variety of carbohydrate sources in their High Carbohydrate Diabetes Inducing diet will somehow lessen your chances of developing Metabolic Syndrome.

High Carbohydrate Diabetes Inducing (HCDI) Diet Junkfooders

You are in for a sweet surprise.  Check out this video.  (for those of you checking out this in google reader, yes there’s youtube video here, I’ll get the hang of this at some point).

High Carbohydrate Diabetes Inducing (HCDI) Diet Vegetarians

I like shopping at farmers’ markets, though I rarely rarely have a chance to do so.  I have had a comment or two encouraging me to do so, I appreciated it, took note, but with my schedule I try to make the most healthy and humane (for the animals that I eat) choices.  Whole Foods is a great place for convenience.  I like shopping at Whole Foods.  I will continue to shop at Whole Foods even though they may endorse the vegetarian version of the High Carbohydrate Diabetes Inducing (HCDI) diet.  See here for a great rundown of the situation by Jimmy Moore.

The way I see it, even though they’re becoming anti-meat and pro-High Carb Diabetes Inducing diet, every grocery store sells grains and sugary products.  As long as Whole Foods continues to sell grassfed and/or organic meat and seafood, I’ll avert my eyes from their silly HCDI diet logos.  After all, I already have to avert my eyes from the bread, cereal and pasta aisles at every grocery store I go to.

High Carbohydrate Diabetes Inducing (HCDI) Diet Lowfatters

This quote from Dean Ornish’s website regarding the Spectrum diet.  I think it pretty much says it all:

“For example, most people in this country have elevated cholesterol levels. They are initially advised to follow a diet based on the National Cholesterol Education Program or American Heart Association guidelines—i.e., less red meat, more skinless chicken, etc. For some, that’s sufficient to lower their cholesterol levels enough, but not for most people. Many are then told, “Sorry, it looks like diet didn’t work for you” or, “You failed diet.” Then, they are usually prescribed cholesterol-lowering drugs, which they are told they will need to take for the rest of their lives.”

When Dean wasn’t hocking the Spectrum showing a bit more tolerance for meat, he was hocking The Life Choice diet.  Here’s a summary excerpt from this site:

“You can eat the following foods whenever you feel hungry until you are full (but not until you are stuffed):

Beans and legumes (lentils, kidney beans, peas, black beans, red Mexican beans, split peas, soybeans, black-eyed peas, garbanzos, navy beans, and so on)

Fruits (apples, apricots, bananas, strawberries, cherries, blueberries, oranges, peaches, raspberries, cantaloupes, watermelons, pears, honeydew melons, pineapples, tomatoes, and so on)

Grains (corn, rice, oats, wheat, millet, barley, buckwheat, and so on)

Vegetables (potatoes, zucchini, broccoli, carrots, lettuce, mushrooms, eggplant, celery, asparagus, onions, sweet potatoes, spinach, and so on)

You can eat the following foods in moderation:

Nonfat dairy products, including skim milk, nonfat yogurt, nonfat cheeses, nonfat sour cream, and egg whites
Nonfat or very low-fat commercially available products, including whole grain breakfast cereals, Health Valley chili (and many other Health Valley products), Kraft Free nonfat mayonnaise and salad dressings, Guiltless Gourmet tortilla chips, Quaker Oats oatmeal, Nabisco fat-free crackers, Fleishmann’s Egg Beaters, Pritikin soups.

Here are the foods to avoid as much as possible:

Meats (all kinds, including chicken and fish)
Oils (all kinds) and oil-containing products, including margarines and most salad dressings
Avocados
Olives
Nuts and seeds
High-fat or “low-fat” dairy, including whole milk, yogurt, butter, cheese, egg yolks, cream, and so on
Sugar and simple sugar derivatives (honey, molasses, corn syrup, high fructose syrup, and the like)
Alcohol
Any commercially available product with more than two grams of fat per serving”

How many grams of carbohydrates would you eat following the above diet?  100 grams?  200 grams?  400 grams?  If you eat no fat, you probably aren’t going to eat that much protein either.  And the protein that you will eat will be from plant based sources which will add to your carbohydrate intake already excessively high from all of the beans, legumes, fruits and grains at the top of your list.

From the My Pyramid website regarding daily grain intake:

“How many grain foods are needed daily?

The amount of grains you need to eat depends on your age, sex, and level of physical activity. Recommended daily amounts are listed in the chart.  Most Americans consume enough grains, but few are whole grains. At least ½ of all the grains eaten should be whole grains.

				Daily recommendation*		Daily minimum amount of whole grains
Children		2-3 years old		3 ounce equivalents**		1 ½ ounce equivalents**
		4-8 years old		4 – 5 ounce equivalents**		2 – 2 ½ ounce equivalents**
Girls		9-13 years old		5 ounce equivalents**		3 ounce equivalents**
		14-18 years old		6 ounce equivalents**		3 ounce equivalents**
Boys		9-13 years old		6 ounce equivalents**		3 ounce equivalents**
		14-18 years old		7 ounce equivalents**		3 ½ ounce equivalents**
Women		19-30 years old		6 ounce equivalents**		3 ounce equivalents**
		31-50 years old		6 ounce equivalents**		3 ounce equivalents**
		51+ years old		5 ounce equivalents**		3 ounce equivalents**
Men		19-30 years old		8 ounce equivalents**		4 ounce equivalents**
		31-50 years old		7 ounce equivalents**		3 ½ ounce equivalents**
		51+ years old		6 ounce equivalents**		3 ounce equivalents**

*These amounts are appropriate for individuals who get less than 30 minutes per day of moderate physical activity, beyond normal daily activities. Those who are more physically active may be able to consume more while staying within calorie needs.”

So, a healthy 18-30 year old man should eat 1/2 pound of grains per day, and if he’s getting more exercise, he should eat more grains!!!

So, here’s the nutritional breakout of 8 ounces of Macaroni, whole wheat, cooked:

Grams Calories %-Cals Calories 280 Fat 1.2 10 4 % Saturated 0.2 2 1 % Polyunsaturated 0.5 4 1 % Monounsaturated 0.2 1 1 % Carbohydrate 59.8 226 81 % Dietary Fiber 6.3 Protein 12.0 43 15 % Alcohol 0.0 0 0 %

Here’s the nutritional breakout of 2 ounces of sugar:

Grams Calories %-Cals Calories 219 Fat 0.0 0 0 % Saturated 0.0 0 0 % Polyunsaturated 0.0 0 0 % Monounsaturated 0.0 0 0 % Carbohydrate 56.7 219 100 % Dietary Fiber 0.0 Protein 0.0 0 0 % Alcohol 0.0 0 0 %

As an active 18-30 year old male, I am recommended a minimum of 4 ounces of grains per day, if I’m active 8 ounces or more of grains.  Using my example of macaroni, it’s the carbohydrate caloric equivalent to 2 ounces of sugar.

With my 8 grams of macaroni I only get 280 total calories (226 calories coming from the carbs that will turn to sugar when I ingest it), leaving me about 1750 more calories to make up for the rest of my daily intake of calories.  I have many more carbohydrates to eat before I get to about 2,000 calories.  And there’s not a lot of nutritional bang for my high carb macaroni buck here to boot.

The renowned Dr. Richard Bernstein successfully recommends only 12 grams or less to many of his patients with diabetes… for an entire day.  These 8 ounces of grains would give me 56 grams of carbohydrates, more than 4 times the amount Dr. Bernstein would recommend to one of his patients.  AND I’m only getting 12% of my daily caloric intake from it!  How many more grams of carbohydrates am I going to eat on this food pyramid before I get to 2,000 calories?  200 grams of carbohydrates?  400 grams of carbohydrates?

Here’s the nutritional breakout of 8 ounces of beefsteak:

Grams Calories %-Cals Calories 571 Fat 34.0 307 54 % Saturated 13.3 120 21 % Polyunsaturated 1.3 11 2 % Monounsaturated 14.2 128 22 % Carbohydrate 0.0 0 0 % Dietary Fiber 0.0 Protein 61.9 264 46 % Alcohol 0.0 0 0 %

571 total calories.  46% of which are from protein, unlike only 15% from the 8 ounces of macaroni.  No carbohydrates.  However, with my broccoli or spinach, along with a side salad I may get about 10 grams or so of carbohydrates or less.  Wow, a couple more meals like this in the day and I’d be lucky to reach 30 grams of carbohydrate, and I’ll be full and satisfied with good meat, good vegetables, and maybe even a slice of melon.

My paleo sisters and brothers, we may agree to disagree about milk, about nuts, about which oil to cook with, about the caloric % of saturated fat that’s the best.  But I’m so happy that we all agree that there just isn’t a place in our diets for these grains, corns, rices, beans and potatoes.  We’re not discussing the best way to send ourselves and the ones that we love into the wonderful world of diabetes and all of its related metabolic syndrome companions like our friends promoting the HCDI diet.

The HCDI’ers may bicker about how much fat is acceptable, but they all agree on the main aspect of the High Carbohydrate Diabetes Inducing (HCDI) Diet.  Just look around you!

This 86% increase is from meat?  Hmmm.  No.  Could it be because many people are following the HCDI advice from the HCDI junkfooders, HCDI vegetarians, HCDI lowfatters, and HCDI food pyramiders?  You can’t see me, but I’m nodding my head up and down.

We may not agree with the High Carbohydrate Diabetes Inducing Diet goal, but I got to hand it to them, the HCDI’ers are really succeeding in living out their diet’s namesake.