As many people know, human physiology and psychology has evolved over several million years, resulting in the wondrous evolutionary achievement known as Homo Sapien. In the past ~10,000 years, agriculture and industry have created an environment that our bodies were not designed by evolution to live in. Behavioral flexibility has allowed us to adapt, but the rapidly changing world in which we live leaves us susceptible to unhealthy lifestyles. Prior to the agricultural boom of ~10,000 BCE, our ancestors were eating only meat and vegetables, nuts and seeds, and some fruit. They remained mobile throughout a majority the day, with short periods of intense physical activity. There was no wheat, oats, or dairy available. There was no television, internet, video games, etc. As a result, our bodies have not evolved to digest processed foods such as bread, oatmeal, cookies, etc., or cheese, butter, milk, etc. We have not evolved to be sedentary day in and day out. By excluding these foods from our diet and increasing manual labor, general mental and physical health should improve. The purpose of this Blog is to document my journey that is modern Ancestral Living.

Monday, July 19, 2010

The Basics

Recently, I have come to realize that the most important part of any healthy lifestyle is diet. What you put in your body will effect what you get out of it. That is, if you consistently eat refined, processed foods your performance will not be as optimal as when you eat whole, natural foods. Sure, many individuals can perform and compete at an amazingly high level by dieting according to the Food Guide Pyramid, but Homo sapiens did not evolve to consume grains, rice, pastas, breads or dairy products such as milk, cheese, and butter (see here). In fact, it has been suggested that the introduction of these foods has led to the emergence of the "diseases of civilization." No bueno.

I am relatively new to to this whole Paleolithic Diet thing (the Wikipedia article is actually quite nice, well cited, and even includes an opposing viewpoints section.) and in the month or so I have been on it I've noticed some pretty awesome physical and psychological improvements. Coupled with CrossFit's Workout Of the Day (WOD) 4-6 times per week, the results on my body have been incredible.

More recently (in the past 6-7 days) I have been getting into one of the more unfashionable aspects of Ancestral Dieting. Intermittent Fasting (IF) is a eating plan very likely to be consistent with what our hunter-gatherer ancestors were confronted with (scroll down to the sentence "Intermittent Fasting" and begin from there). Periods of abundance were probably followed by periods of scarcity, requiring these individuals to load up when food was available and do without when it wasn't. So, that's what IF is. Its abstaining from eating for different time intervals, then consuming enough calories to make up for the ones missed while fasting. Research shows that short-term IF has beneficial effects in humans. Well, this particular bit uses "Healthy Men" as a subject sample, but it works as an example right? As discussed with a friend who is knowledgeable on the subject of health and fitness, it only makes sense to base the caloric intake of your feeding days following the guidelines of the Paleo Diet. If it is beneficial when you are eating regularly scheduled meals, then IF + Paleo must equal Super Beneficial.

Anyway, that is what this blog is about. I'll try my best to keep track of my journey on the IF path, hoping that some may find the information useful and maybe one or two folks will actually be convinced to give it a go.

Adios.
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1 comment:

  1. Prof. Steven M. PlatekJuly 20, 2010 at 4:12 AM

    Ryan, very nice. I look forward to following your journey, continued in Paleo diet, and novel in IF into this new world of ancestral living.i know that you have already showed amazing gains in personal health, confidence and fitness as a coach. I wish that you'd post a before and dyer pic or tow so that others can observe or see your transformation before the or very eyes. CrossFit and Paleo/mindful ancestral eating styles has really changed your appearance. Well done mate!

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