Wellness Coaching – A Return to the Paleo Diet

The average American is more than ten times more likely to develop diabetes today compared to fifty years ago. Heart disease, cancer, and stroke continue to rise to epidemic proportions. In 2006, the United States ranked first in terms of per capita spending on health care, but ranked 39th in infant mortality, 43rd in adult female mortality, 42nd in adult male mortality, and 36th in life expectancy. . So why do we spend so much to get so little?

Chinese documents confirm that in at least two missions to India, beginning in 647 AD, the technology to refine sugar was obtained. Before that, sugar was not part of the diet of homo sapiens. When you consider that our human species is about 250,000 years old, that means that for approximately 245,997 years, homo sapiens man has had a sugar-free diet.

Today, the average American consumes around 140 lbs. (a dumpster full) of sugar annually. This, compared to an annual consumption of only 4 lbs. in 1750 means that our annual sugar intake has increased by 3500% in 260 years. When you consider that this period of time is only 1/10th of 1% of the age of our species, you begin to wonder if our human physiology has a defense against this exponential onslaught.

But refined sugar and high-fructose corn syrup (found in all processed foods) are just the tip of the iceberg. Nutritionists and the FDA teach us that starchy foods like bread, pasta, potatoes, rice, legumes, and corn are healthy enough to base our entire diet on. The truth of the matter is that all non-fibrous forms of carbohydrates (not just refined sugar) are always metabolized by the body as sugar. Sugar is sugar is sugar. Your body can’t tell the difference between a teaspoon of honey or a heaping teaspoon of refined sugar or a few bites of pasta. Obviously honey will suit you a little better because it is not refined. But that’s where the advantage ends.

Before the advent of agriculture, our grains were very scarce for our paleo ancestors and were rarely eaten. The paleo diet consisted primarily of grass-fed wild game and cold-water fish, wild plants and fibrous vegetables, and occasionally some seasonal (low-fructose) nuts, seeds, and fruits. And that was it.

So this is our genetic story, whether we like it or not. The homo sapiens body is not meant to rely on sugar or starchy carbohydrates. If it were, our body would require it to maintain perfect health, but it is not. In fact, the body doesn’t require a shred of sugar or starchy carbohydrate for optimal health. Not one. However, we need saturated and unsaturated fats, protein, and high amounts of fiber. You can’t argue with nature. In her best-selling book, “Primal Body Primal Mind,” author and nutritionist Nora Gedgaudas says, “It’s literally amazing that epidemics of obesity, diabetes, cancer, and heart disease (to name a few sugar-related diseases and conditions) are Not much worse than they are. Our ancestors wouldn’t even know how to begin to understand this kind of madness.