I’ve been intrigued by the Paleo diet for the better part of the last year and one blog in particular that I’ve been following has been the Whole9 by Dallas Hartwig and Melissa Urban. I’ve yet to hear of any negative reports from people adopting a paleo lifestyle — in fact, I’ve heard of some pretty miraculous health turnarounds because of it. I know how much better I felt after eliminating gluten from my diet 12 years ago and the more I read about the paleo diet, it seems like a natural evolution of the gluten-free diet and lifestyle.
One article from Whole9 that caught my attention recently is, “The Grain Manifest0″. It presents a compelling argument on why humans should not eat grains of any kind and how a gluten-free diet is beneficial to everyone (gluten-free as in naturally gluten-free — I’m not talking gluten-free cupcakes, donuts, and pizza here).
An excerpt from The Grain Manifesto:
We’re continuing our “manifesto” series (refer back to dairy and peanuts for earlier offerings) with the one topic most likely to spur controversy – grains. Our Whole30 program doesn’t include grains of any kind – no breads, cereals, pasta, rice, not even fake grains like quinoa or gluten-free substitutes. We’re about to tell you why. (Note, we are well aware that this information may run counter to everything you’ve ever been told by your parents, doctors, personal trainers, government agencies and TV advertisements. For that, however, we make no apologies… because all the people who have been selling you Whole Grains for Health all these years have been just. Plain. Wrong. We understand if this makes you kind of angry. It makes us angry too.. but that’s a topic for another post.)
Why We Don’t Eat Grains
A. Grains provoke an inflammatory response in the gut
Lectins are specialized proteins found in many plants and foods, but are found in high concentration in grains (particularly wheat), legumes (particularly soy), and dairy. The most commonly referenced grain lectin is called “gluten”, but there are many others which are found even in pseudo-grains like quinoa. Lectins serve many biological functions in animals, but foods with high concentrations of lectins are harmful even if consumed in moderate amounts.
Read the Grain Manifesto in its entirety »
– – –
I’d love to hear your thoughts on the paleo diet and even better some responses from folks that have actually tried it. What were the highs and lows of the diet? Did you stick with it?
