The Paleo Diet for Athletes (4 page)

At first glance, you might think it counterproductive or even foolish to reduce or eliminate two entire food groups (cereal grains and dairy), along with most of the processed foods in your diet. One way of looking at our Paleo dietary recommendations is to compare them with the USDA Food Pyramid/MyPlate, the diet officially recommended by the US government and specifically designed to improve our health and reduce our risk of chronic disease. The USDA has published an extensive handbook,
Using the Food Guide Pyramid: A Resource for Nutrition Educators
(available on the Web at
www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/Fpyr/guide.pdf
), in which government dietitians have outlined sample 5-day menus that conform to Food Pyramid guidelines. The USDA has also been gracious enough to provide us with the vitamins, minerals, and nutrient values in its example menus. Consequently, it is a relatively simple exercise to compare modern-day Paleo diets with those officially sanctioned by the USDA.

TABLE 1.1

Sample 1-Day Menu from a Modern Diet Based on Paleolithic Food Groups for a Woman (25 years old; 2,200-calorie daily intake)

Remember the ground rules of modern-day Stone Age diets: The diets contain no grains, dairy products, salt, processed foods, or processed meats; they consist almost entirely of fresh fruits, veggies, meats, and seafood.
Table 1.1
outlines a typical menu for a 25-year-old woman whose daily caloric intake is 2,200 calories.

Now let’s see how this representative day’s worth of modern Paleo food stacks up against the USDA Food Pyramid/MyPlate. First, take a look at the major dietary components, which are listed in
Table 1.2
. You immediately see that the Paleo Diet is much higher in protein and lower in carbohydrate than the Food Pyramid/MyPlate diet. Notice that a little more than half of the calories in the Paleo Diet come from meat and seafood, and that almost 40 percent of the daily energy comes from fat. The fats you will be getting in this diet are just plain good for you! Observe that the good fats (monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats) that lower blood cholesterol levels are considerably higher than what you would get by following the Food Pyramid/MyPlate diet.

Many people have heard that omega-3 fatty acids found in fish like salmon are healthful, but fewer are aware that a family of fats called omega-6 fatty acids, found in vegetable oils, margarine, and processed foods, can be harmful when consumed at the expense of omega-3s. In the standard American diet, the ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acids is an unhealthy 10:1. Contrast this ratio to the wholesome 1:1 to 3:1 in the native human diet. Now take a look at the Food Pyramid/MyPlate: The recommendation is an appalling 14:1 and is actually worse than what the average American is currently eating! The Food Pyramid was originally conceived and thrust upon a trusting US public in 1992, prior to the widespread knowledge that an imbalance in omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids had much to do with health and well-being. Unfortunately, we are still saddled with this botched bit of advice even after the Pyramid was revised in June 2011 to the current MyPlate recommendations.

TABLE 1.2

Dietary Characteristics of a Contemporary Diet Based on Paleolithic Food Groups and in a Recommended USDA Food Pyramid Diet for a Woman (25 years old; 2,200-calorie daily intake)

But just wait—there are troubles with the Food Pyramid/MyPlate beyond its improper fat balance. In 1992, the concept of a glycemic load and its impact on health were unknown to the dietitians who designed the Pyramid. Should we be concerned about the glycemic load of a food? Absolutely! Does the Food Pyramid/MyPlate differentiate between high and low glycemic foods? Absolutely not! There is little doubt that even the recently revised MyPlate is badly in need of repair. It’s high time that nutritionists consider the evolutionary basis for the optimal human diet rather than relying upon human foibles and biases in developing healthful, performance-enhancing diets.

As an athlete, you want to maximize your performance by maximizing your diet. This includes the amount of vitamins and minerals that you get from your food. Let’s contrast the nutrient density of our sample Paleo Diet to the USDA Food Pyramid/MyPlate. Take a quick look at the values in
Table 1.3
, and you will see that there is really no comparison. Except for calcium, the Paleo Diet simply blows away the Food Pyramid/ MyPlate. In
Chapters 5
and
9
, we fully explain why a reduced calcium intake does not represent a problem, particularly if you eat ample fruits and vegetables.

TABLE 1.3

Trace Nutrients in a Modern Diet Based on Paleolithic Food Groups and in a Recommended USDA Food Pyramid Diet for Women (25 years old; 2,200-calorie daily intake)