9 Reasons Why Paleo isn’t Atkins

Tacosaurus – my story is similar. I did Atkins for weight loss and control my hypoglycemia, but stumbled into paleo more recently and found it to be better for my overall health. This winter I finally gave up all dairy for 30 days and noticed my constant sinus congestion cleared up. I ate some cheese and it came back. Now I avoid all cow dairy products: I miss it but breathing easily is so much more rewarding. Goat dairy does not affect me as much, so I allow the occasional goat feta or goat yogurt.

From what I’ve read around the webs, dairy intolerance is like that. Give it up, reintroduce and see what happens. It is more immediately noticeable than grain lectins tearing holes in your intestines.

For meat and eggs: I get the best my budget allows. Nutritionally the o3/o6 fat ratio is better in pastured livestock, and I would rather give my money to people who raise animals more traditionally. But I can’t afford it often, so I trim the fat from my conventional meats and cook in coconut oil or pastured beef tallow.

My observation is one reason why Atkins is so successful for people on the induction phase is because they give up grains. So many are gluten sensitive – but have no idea. The foggy brain, gut issues, headaches etc linked with gluten sensitivity disappear and they put it down to low carb, rather than no grains. I did exactly this when I originally switched to the Zone diet. I thought all my good results were linked with balanced meals and reduced carbs. Over time when people come off the strict versions and add back grain carbs, and some symptoms come back they (as I did) thought it was because I wasn’t low carb enough, when in fact it was the grain carbs triggering my health issues.
I now eat a decent amount of paleo carbs, without issue. Like you say – food quality is the most important factor defining paleo.

I have come to this discussion as a result of my daughter, a PHD Bio-Technologist, starting on a Paleo diet about 3 months ago. She has reported great results, (but has admittedly bemoaned the inconvenience and expense involved). She also has admitted that it is a difficult diet to be overly strict about because our western food culture is awash with toxic but great tasting and convenient foods, that even the most dedicated Paleo-ist (?) will succumb to from time to time just because we need to be sociable, and sometimes a little self-indulgent.

As a middle aged couple who are increasingly finding it a challenge to control our weight, my wife and I have decided that we are going to move our dietary habits to a healthier mode. One key factor in this decision is the result of reading “Why We Get Fat, and What To Do About It” by Gary Taubes. In this book the case is made for a low-carb, non refined food eating regime high in meats and fats, but does not go on to recommend a particular diet as such. He does mention both Atkins and Paleo in favourable terms, but his main point is to give a good scientifically based case for good dietary PRINCIPLES to follow regarding our diet.

One point he does make is that it is very difficult to advocate a ‘one size fits all’ diet for everyone, because of an almost infinite variety of variables which affect what constitutes ‘good’ regarding diet. He cites genetic, cultural and environmental reasons why some foods are ‘good’ for some people and ‘bad’ for others. Sometimes a given food can be good for one person with a particular genetic makeup, but can be not so for another.

My take from all this is that we all should follow good dietary principles, which seem to be very well explained in both the Atkins and Paleo dietary guidelines, but which allow for some personalization. For example, my wife can’t tolerate much dairy, but I don’t have any problem with it. My wife feels unwell on a high-fat diet, but I don’t have a problem. However we both agree that we need to eliminate high-carb foods from our diet.

We are both still learning, and are not willing to go ‘all in’ in favour of a particular diet regime without a good understanding of why we are doing what we are doing. This involves maintaining an open mind and being willing to hear all sides of the argument and trying to get an idea of the science behind it.

I’m not totally convinced of the evolutionary basis for the Paleo diet, but at the same time do agree with many of the principles it espouses. Humans have survived and even thrived on many foods that both Atkins and Paleo frown on, and equally so without many of the foods considered necessary. Try telling the pre-western indigenous Inuit that they absolutely must include leafy greens in their diet, when their ancestors ate almost exclusively meat and fat, and thrived. Humans are able to adapt amazingly well to the foods available, in a very short timeframe where necessary for survival. In fact there are many societies worldwide who thrive on a high-starch diet, and don’t suffer from many of the health ill-effects blamed on such foods (see Chris Kesser’s version of Paleo regarding this).

That all said, we do feel that the Paleo approach as a lot to offer. It seems just good sense that a diet based on primarily Paleo principles (unrefined, low GI foods, unprocessed oils and fats, pasture fed meats etc.) is the way to go, so this is what we are planning to try to follow as we enter 2015.