Do
you feel bombarded with change from every direction? Are you
fascinated by the world and you want to explore it and experiment?
Our imagination takes us to many wonderful places and our creativity
also finds its outlet in our attitude towards food. Modern trends in
diet change fast and they are no longer about weight loss, but the
new lifestyle. Paleo food lovers turn away from our traditional
western diet and toss out all processed food, to replace it with
natural and healthy lifestyle. They believe, it is a journey
into the roots and something much greater, but is it really? Is Paleo
diet really the diet we are predisposed to naturally and the only
solution to retain health, or simply our romantic fascination with
tradition?
Meat
consumption is part of our evolutionary heritage and some say, that
we are genetically predisposed to eating meat. Hence it does not
surprise me, that we have seen a huge success of Paleo diet in recent
years, because it relies heavily on meat, as the main source of
protein intake. Another reason is, that it appeals to our
sensibilities, and scientific reasoning claiming, that we cannot
escape our genetic makeup. It is the only healthy lifestyle for us,
but is it really?
Before
we jump to any conclusions, let's concentrate on the diet itself.
According to recommendations we should derive 50% of our daily
calories from meat, or meat products (lean meat, fish and eggs), 35%
from oil and 15% from fruit, vegetables, seeds and nuts.
There is no room in this diet for processed food, diary,
grains, legumes, starchy veggies like potatoes, sugar, but also for
coffee and alcohol. So if we assume, that our daily
allowances are 2000 calories, then we should derive 1000 calories
from meat products, 700 calories from fat and 300 calories from
fruit, vegetables, seeds and nuts. With those assumptions, is it
possible to create a healthy diet? Let's take a look.
I
have analyzed the diet and have to admit, that it is NOT
possible to include seeds and nuts into the same category with fruit
and vegetables. The simple reason is, that seeds and nuts are
dense in calories and 300 calorie limit is far too low to include all
types of food. The best solution is to include them into either meat
or fat category. So if we do that, then it is possible to create a
healthy plan, which is not only nutritious, but it also fulfills our
daily vitamin and mineral requirement regime. However, in order to
achieve it, we should consume liver daily together with some lean
meat and fish. If we toss out liver then consuming just meat does not
make it OK or healthy.
So
if we want to eat healthy we should consume every day the following:
250g meat (50g liver – chicken, 100g chicken breast, 100g fish –
the best would be small fish, that we eat with bone), 100g almonds,
and 2 eggs; 100g olive oil or any other healthy oil (I prefer olive
oil, due to high content of vitamin E), and eat every day 100g
broccoli, 200g dark-leaf vegetables, 1 beet, 1 carrot, 1 tomato, 1
small cucumber, 7 radishes, ½ red pepper, ½ onion and 20g sunflower
seeds. If we follow those recommendations, then the nutritious
breakdown will look like this:
VitA:
800%, VitC: 430, VitE:194%, VitK: 434%, VitB1:84%, VitB2:
198%, VitB3: 167%, VitB5: 88%, VitB6: 123%, VitB12: 308%,
Folate: 241%, Ca: 91%, Fe: 117%, Mg: 143%, K: 110%, Zn:
90%, Se: 259%.
We
will also have enough VitD providing we will stick with small fish
and of course we would not need to worry about omega-3.
COMMENTS:
Deficiencies
in VitB1, B5 and Zn can be overcome by eating more liver every day.
For my calculations I used 50g of chicken liver, but if we change
that amount to 75g, then we should be OK. As for calcium, it is
tricky to ensure adequate amounts in this diet. Everyone should be
aware of it and make sure to eat regularly small fish, almonds, and
the tiny seeds, which I omitted in my analysis – sesame seeds. They
are also a very good source of calcium, but in order to take
advantage of them, they need to be fermented first (see here) – the
same is true for almonds. Hence 28g of sesame seeds, or 3 tbsp, are
equivalent to 160 calories, and this amount contains 25% Ca, 25% Fe
plus other vitamins and minerals. So others are right in saying, that
Paleo diet is the source of calcium deficiencies.
Improperly eaten almonds and/or sesame seeds will not provide
adequate amounts of calcium, because most of it will be bound to
phytic acid and will be removed from our bodies. Something to think
about.
My
analysis has been done for 2000 calories, which means, that it is
more representative of a diet for men, then women. Women on this diet
should be very careful about their menu, due to calorie restrictions
(1800 calories). They should get rid of traditional meat and switch
to, for example, chicken liver and fish only. As for calcium they
should experiment with almonds and sesame seeds. Sesame seeds are
less dense in calories than almonds, but they are as nutritious as
almonds. For example, 100g almonds translates into 500 calories
and 28g sesame seeds (see above) equals to 160 calories. Both
products are dense in nutrients, so it is a good idea to eat them
every day.
I
hope you noticed, that my analysis lacks fruit. They are high in
calories, which makes them unattractive for this diet. A 2000 calorie
diet should contain 300 calories coming from fruit, vegetables and
seeds. So if we include fruit, then we do that at the expense of
either vegetables or seeds. This means, that men can afford to
eat fruit from time to time, but women should stay away from them and
completely forget that they exist.
REFLECTION
ON PALEO DIET
Killing
animals and eating meat have been significant components of human
evolution, that had a synergistic relationship with other key
attributes, that have made us humans, such as evolution of human
intelligence, development of language and of capacities for planning,
cooperation and socializing in particular.
Given,
that there are more of us now, we need more animals than our
ancestors, to keep up with the tradition of meat consumption and deal
with its “side effects”. Is it then possible to come up with a
comprehensive appraisal, in order to contrast the positive effects of
meat consumption with the negative consequences of meat production
and to answer a simple question: are the benefits (health and
otherwise) of eating meat greater than the undesirable cost,
multitude of environmental burdens in particular, of producing it?
I
hope, that I convinced you, that it is possible to stay healthy on
Paleo diet. But this also means, that we need to consume 1kg of meat
(700g traditional meat and 300g of meat liver) plus 700g fish every
week or 48kg of meat (or 48 chickens) and 30kg fish every year. This
amount is not particularly alarming, because in western countries
consumption of meat is much greater, approximately 80-90kg/year. But
comparing this amount to the average, which is 42kg/year, it is quite
a lot, and there are consequences both from the production standpoint
and the environment. However, the above calculations are based
on the assumption, that we group almonds to the protein category, and if
we move them to fats, then we will need to consume twice as much
meat, which means, that we will consume 156kg/year of meat. A
horrifying amount! Is this the price everyone needs to pay, so we can
stay healthy???
Industrialized
production of animals for human consumption is the source of multiple
environmental burdens. At risk are land, water and energy sources,
but it is also a source of greenhouse gas and reactive nitrogen
burden. For example, while production of 1 ton of meat (poultry)
requires 4,000L of water, cultivation of 1 ton of wheat depends on
1,500 L and 1 ton of potatoes has need for only 133 liters of water.
Production of beef is more exploitative and it uses 17,000L of water
to produce 1 ton of meat. On average production of 1kg meat requires
100 times more water than cultivation of cereal. By insisting on
increasing the production of meat at the expense of other types of
food we are wasting away natural resources unnecessary.
The
same problem is with energy and we know how important it is for us.
Meat production system relies on a ratio 25:1, which means, that to
produce 1 calorie of meat we need to spend 25 calories of energy.
Milk industry uses a ratio of 14:1, beef industry – 40:1, eggs –
39:1 and wheat – 2:1. To illustrate the situation, I have made my
own calculations and found out, that to produce 1kg of beef meat we
require 70 kW/h energy, which also means, that this energy will be
enough to provide light to 250 apartments for 1 hour (or to drive
250km by car). In comparison production of 1 egg will provide light
to 8 apartments for 1 hour (2kW/h) and 30 eggs are equal to 1kg of
beef meat. I find it interesting and horrifying at the same time,
don't you think?
Negative
consequences of meat production are seen in other areas of our life.
A rise in greenhouse gas emissions, landmass erosion and the fact,
that we need more animals every day for our consumption purposes.
Currently there is 5 times more cultivated animals in the world than
us and if we continue to follow the trend the consequences are quite
obvious.
I
am not against meat consumption, but what I am against is our belief,
that eating meat is the only choice to stay healthy. Relying on
chicken breast leads to overeating, because we overcompensate the
lack of vitamins and minerals in our bodies. Knowledge is power, so
let's select food consciously. Living consciously means, that we take
care of ourselves and the environment we live in at the same time. If
we want to stay on a meat diet, then we should remember to include
meat organs and fish into our menu. They are very nutritious and
filled with vitamins and minerals.
In
my mind, Paleo diet is not going back to the roots, nor it is a
natural or healthy lifestyle. Presently it will contribute to
degradation of the environment simply, because we need more animals
to feed us. Paleo diet is an extreme approach, because it does not
take advantage of other food, which has been shown to be nutritious,
such as legumes or some type of grain, which by the way are less of a
burden to our environment. Throughout history we experimented with
food and now we can capitalize on our heritage to make intelligent
choices. While meat was a prestige food throughout the millennia of
pre-industrial history and associated with affluent economies, it
does not have the same connotation anymore. Times are changing and
affluence now means intelligence, so why not base individual diets on
nutritional value of food and their vitamin and mineral content?
