One study after another over the past few years has shown low-carb, high fat diets to be good for correcting weight and lipids. Other studies have found iron deficiency is very common in women. So why do so many young women in the paleo community advise limiting red meat (high in iron) and animal fat and eating lots of vegetables instead?
They remind me of the Intelligent Design crowd: people who recognize intellectually that the creation story in Genesis is a myth, but emotionally aren't ready to abandon it or make waves with friends and family who still believe. Some of the authors say (credibly) that they have or had an eating disorder; others seem to want to keep on being nice girls who don't eat too much or too richly and don't want to lead others astray. At least, that's how it comes off to me, someone from a blue collar family who grew up in the 80s when priss was an insult and a lot of girls went to McDonald's for lunch.
But given how many women are iron deficient and have bad skin--just look around--advice to limit red meat isn't helpful. I know what it's like to have both: seeing nothing but blemishes when you look in the mirror, and being in the prime of your life with the energy of an old woman. The answer is to eat some red meat (among other things). If you want to pull out all the stops, have some liver or pate (dairy-free if you have acne--there's a great recipe in Freakin' Fabulous by Clinton Kelly). Click to enlarge the picture--it shows 120% of the percent daily value of Vitamin A--which is great for your skin and the basis of some acne medications--and 25% of iron in just two ounces. It's also chock full of other vitamins and minerals that you won't get from a salad.
Animal fat is cheaper than "good" vegetable fat, too. I last paid $2.99 a pound for pastured lard--and $10 a pound for coconut oil and a buck apiece for avocados.
Lard is healthy: the town of Roseto, Pennsylvania saw practically no heart disease back when lard was their go-to fat. (Authorities chalked up the Roseto "paradox" to their close-knit community. Never mind that close-knit communities don't seem to help Indian reservations, or that one person's close-knit community is another person's town full of gossips and busybodies.) ETA: This doesn't mean that lard is protective--but given all the "paradoxes" of groups of people who eat high-fat diets and have low rates of heart disease, the diet-heart hypothesis isn't the slam-dunk it's made out to be. In any case, young women are unlikely to have a heart attack. And as recent studies have shown, high fat diets that aren't high in carbs won't make you fat--they'll help correct weight.
The evidence about the benefits of vegetables is mixed.
See this video by Dr. Georgia Ede.
They remind me of the Intelligent Design crowd: people who recognize intellectually that the creation story in Genesis is a myth, but emotionally aren't ready to abandon it or make waves with friends and family who still believe. Some of the authors say (credibly) that they have or had an eating disorder; others seem to want to keep on being nice girls who don't eat too much or too richly and don't want to lead others astray. At least, that's how it comes off to me, someone from a blue collar family who grew up in the 80s when priss was an insult and a lot of girls went to McDonald's for lunch.
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| What no nice paleo girl would eat--even if it didn't have corn oil or milk. |
Animal fat is cheaper than "good" vegetable fat, too. I last paid $2.99 a pound for pastured lard--and $10 a pound for coconut oil and a buck apiece for avocados.
Lard is healthy: the town of Roseto, Pennsylvania saw practically no heart disease back when lard was their go-to fat. (Authorities chalked up the Roseto "paradox" to their close-knit community. Never mind that close-knit communities don't seem to help Indian reservations, or that one person's close-knit community is another person's town full of gossips and busybodies.) ETA: This doesn't mean that lard is protective--but given all the "paradoxes" of groups of people who eat high-fat diets and have low rates of heart disease, the diet-heart hypothesis isn't the slam-dunk it's made out to be. In any case, young women are unlikely to have a heart attack. And as recent studies have shown, high fat diets that aren't high in carbs won't make you fat--they'll help correct weight.
The evidence about the benefits of vegetables is mixed.
Plant-based diets are often touted as healthy, and yet many plants contain clever protective chemicals, carefully crafted by evolutionary forces over millennia, to serve the needs of the plant, rather than to nourish the human body. Many of these compounds are potentially toxic to animal cells, and include naturally-occurring pesticides, mineral chelators, and antibiotics.
See this video by Dr. Georgia Ede.
Little Shop of Horrors? The Risks and Benefits of Eating Plants — Georgia Ede, M.D. from Ancestral Health Society on Vimeo.
Mixing low-fat and vegetarian myths with paleolithic science seems to have created the Reformed Church of Vegetarianism. It may be better than the old beliefs, but given the lack of nutrients and false foundation, it ain't science and it ain't optimal.
Comments
I'm also checking out the Living Stingy blog, it's got LOADS of great stuff!
Today I couldn't resist, Costco had a bottle of generic "Hair Skin & Nails" formula gelcaps for $13.99 - roughly 13 cents/d... I'll be monitoring my poor brittle nails & thinning hair closely.
Glad you like Living Stingy. And the vitamins sound like a great deal.
I've noticed this time around doing the almost all meat, fish and eggs diet, that cooking with lard instead of coconut oil is producing amazing results. Don't know what's up with that(probably genetics as my ancestors come from a place that has never seen a coconut but is teeming with wild boar) but who cares. It's working.
Wild boar country reminds me of a one-panel comic where two travelers are looking at a sign pointing one way to sunshine and beaches and the other way to snow and ice. One guy is looking towards the snowy direction and says, "Do I smell bacon?"
It IS interesting as you say, the women seem particularly devoted to the plant-sourced end of the paleo spectrum. Do you think that bunch might be influenced by the constant tv/movie images of thin women who have it all eating nothing but SALADS? :-) That imagine leaped to mind while I was reading your post.
I'll let RN and his ilk win the race to the hygienic bottom. Was it really a paleolithic practice to deliberately offend members of one's tribe?
Today post on Old foodie blog features cucumber. Long time ago it was used at the beginning of a dinner to sharpen appetites. Many people could consume more food accompanied with spicy and vinegary condiments and vegetables.It is the ultimate flavor enhancer. It is my case, but I use the excuse that vegetables are low in carbs in my defense and continue to indulge.
Glad you enjoyed the video.
Probably, it is better not to chop your broccoli in small pieces before cooking.
When I make a sauerkraut, it is ready to eat only in couple months , earlier it is too bitter.
However, flavors are not only tolerated by humans, but strongly desired. There is more in it than just resilience and ability to tolerate small dose of a potential poison. I guess, one of desirable qualities - exposure to flavors makes immune system more active. It could be bad or good depending on a personal situation.