The Paleo Diet - Robb Wolf on Paleolithic nutrition, intermittent fasting, and fitness

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The Paleo Solution – Episode 55

Download a transcript of Episode 55

The return of the revamped intro!

Show Topics:

  1. Oatmeal vs. Pork Loin
  2. Environmental Contaminants
  3. Overtraining
  4. Only 4 Lifts For Life
  5. Paleo Withdrawal
  6. Paleo Dieting Mainstream
  7. Ultrathione
  8. Prader-Willi Syndrome
  9. Paleo Elevator Pitch
  10. Grain fed vs Grass fed beef
  11. Water Intake
  12. Physical Activity

Show Notes – The_Paleo_Solution_Episode_55

Download episode here.

Comments

  1. would be cool if you could add the starting time for each topic in the above list; this would make it easier to directly jump there if one is interested in only one topic for example, thanks.

    Reply

    • a family of 6 2nds this notion (must be more then 6 listens then:) Andy just hurt himself I’m sure (will the bad jokes ever end??!)
      Thanks guys!
      Dani

      Reply

  2. The Paleolithic style of eating will never become mainstream until we get corporate controlled government agencies and regulation out of our food supply.

    Why? Because it works too damn well.

    A fit and healthy populace means trillions (literally) of dollars of lost revenue for the health care, pharmaceutical, diet, and agribusiness sectors of our economy; which translates directly into less tax revenue collected by government.

    A fattened, sickly nation of human cattle suits them just fine.

    Reply

  5. Wow, my first question submission makes the podcast! Thank you for taking the time to answer!

    The bit about celiac and transglutaminase issues being prevalent in Prader-Willi cases is very interesting – I don’t think my friend’s son has ever been checked for that. I’ll definitely pass all this along, and post some updates if I can get her to buy in.

    Thanks again!

    Reply

      • ah, i see. didn’t notice there were timings in the comments 🙂
        unfortunately this doesn’t help all other 5 listeners who don’t listen to the podcast directly on the website, but on a mobile device. why not add the times right next to the topic titles, as then they will be visible in your podcast RSS feed (http://robbwolf.libsyn.com/rss ) and therefore can be displayed while listening to the podcast, for example on an iphone (see the engadget podcast for example how this looks: http://www.engadget.com/podcast ). HOWEVER: the HTML content of your podcast currently also is not correctly displayed in a podcast client. there must be something wrong with the format. so, your nice topics list is not even visible right now outside the website.. would be cool if someone could fix that and check it out on an iphone/ipod or in a podcast app like Podcaster (that’s the one i usually use). i’m sure you soon will have more than 6 listeners if you fix that 😀

        Reply

  7. Hey Robb,

    I know I saw a comment from a dude who was also a DC as well as a CCWP. I don’t remember his name but he may know a little more about this than me. James Chestnut calls his dietary recommendations “The Innate Diet”. More or less the same recommendations as yourself, Cordain, Lindeberg, Eaton, etc.

    Interestingly enough, he’s been changing lifestyles for a while now, and I would venture to say that HE has “got the science” a lot more soundly than some *other* folks are claiming to lately. He provides advice etc. and tracks his patients success using different metrics than “how much disease” they have.
    http://www.thewellnesspractice.com/email/emt/subject10/results.gif (WFS). Anyway, I don’t want to sound like I’m trying really hard to plug the guy, but he’s REALLY onto something and I think most people who are listening to your podcast etc. would dig his info.

    Reply

  9. Show Topics:

    0. Dehydrated Paleo People? 3.23
    1. Oatmeal vs. Pork Loin 10.50
    2. Environmental Contaminants 13.16
    3. Overtraining 17.00
    4. Only 4 Lifts For Life 20.41
    5. Paleo Withdrawal 25.52
    6. Paleo Dieting Mainstream 28.48
    7. Ultrathione 38.30
    8. Prader-Willi Syndrome 45.41
    9. Paleo Elevator Pitch 52.10
    10. Grain fed vs Grass fed beef 55.04
    11. Water Intake 1.02.10
    12. Physical Activity 1.04.00

    Reply

  10. on mainstream paleo and religion: Adam and Eve didnt go around eden eating snickers, too much fructose was still bad (the apple) and fig leaves were the preferred fashion.

    Jesus turned water into wine not grape soda.

    Everyone ate a ton of fish.

    Reply

  11. Hey robb,

    On the whole paleo/low carb and dehydration scene, could it be a much simpler answer that with low carbs (and glycogen depleting cf workouts) often comes low muscle glycogen, and as each gram of glycogen is stored with 3g of water, low carb diets often has a diuretic effect (shifts in water, improved blood pressure, altered mineral levels), and it’s just the water shifts that are messing with electrolyte balance, along with the low salt nature of the paleo diet that also minimises water retention. So could this whole process have nothing to do with insulin at all and just be a matter of upping carbs and/or salt intake? So, similar solution, but slightly different explanation.

    cheers,
    brad

    Reply

  13. I was going to ask about salt, but from the opposite side — how much is too much? Since I went paleo my salt intake is a lot higher, mainly due to the increased bacon, the additional of paleo kits (steve’s original grass fed) a few times a week and my go to snack: deli turkey. I also like salt on my grilled meats, veggies and eggs.

    Anyway, any thoughts on limiting salt and I would love to know how monitor or measure it.

    Thanks!

    Reply

  14. Hey guys – have you thought about organizing the questions according to theme, and having each show focus on a theme? I think this could really make the show even better – it would allow Rob to go into more depth on a given topic, and would let you develop “go-to” podcasts for each theme – if anyone asks about omega 3s or what not for the umpteenth time, you can just refer them to that podcast. If you ever want help sifting through the questions, let me know, I’d be happy to help.
    Thanks,
    Jeff

    Reply

  15. Hey Robb and Andy,

    Loving your work and the outstanding influence you are having on so many peaple and gyms.
    Looking for a bit of direction for a client who just can not manage to get to sleep. On average she may have 3-4 hours, sometimes more, sometimes none at all. This will go on for around a week or so then she will crash, sleep for 2 days, then start again. She is already doing the full paleo gig, no stimulants, little exercise, no light/tv/PC at night, pitch black room, goes to bed at around 8 but just can not sleep. She is only in her late 20’s and does not have a stressfull job or homelife. Seems her cortisol pattern is backwards with the main sign being she drags her ass around in the morning, becomes more productive in the arvo, then cant sleep at night. This sleeping pattern has been going on for years. Supplements are fish oil, vitamin D, magnesium, and at night 5gm Vit C, GABA and Adenosine. Still ‘no bueno’…
    What other pathways could you recomend or blood tests to find out whats going on, as theres obviously something a lot deeper at work here.
    Thanks for the help.

    Reply

    • I’m guessing they’ll hit this one on the podcast, but hooking her up with a good adrenal saliva test would be a great idea and a logical first step to me. Then your suspicion can be legitimized and she can get working with a practitioner on a protocol to get her cortisol regulated with some support. I am able to order these tests and also know a handful other holistic nutritionists who can help as well. Just throwing it out there. I’m interested to hear how this goes.

      Reply

  17. Your comments re: government control/subsidies etc made me think of this presentation from UCSF called “Sugar: the Bitter Truth” (find it on youtube) in which Professor Lustig discusses fructose (among other things) and he derives the beginnings of this government “sabotage” of the food indusrty to a 1970’s Nixon campaign. Basically that Nixon wanted to avoid that food be a political (elections) issue and therefore instructed his minister of agriculture to put together an intervention programme to keep prices from fluctuating. Also in order to secure export and commerce of foodstuffs, fibers were removed from processed food, which is problematic because fibers are a mitigating component when ingesting fructose (such as in fruit)

    /johan

    Reply

    • Woke up last night and couldn’t sleep, so I put on the King Corn documentary you mentioned. And then I _definitely_ couldn’t sleep. Funny coincidence that that film has an interviev with the gov’t official (secretary of agriculture) I originally mentioned.

      Interesting when you get information from several different sources and it all fits together in a larger picture. Makes it all the more powerful.

      Reply

  19. I can not seem to be able to listen to the podcast from the website, nor am I able to download directly to my computer, say information not loaded or something like that.

    Thanks

    Daron

    Reply

  21. Robb,

    I keep reading in your book about “lean” proteins yet we can all agree that a paleo nutritional program means more healthy (read: real healhty) fats. Chicken breasts, beef tenderloin, and pork tenderloin are some of the first things that I assimilate with “lean” protein. However I read in the paleo community where people are gnawing on tallow, suet and chicken thighs. Can you elaborate on this? Is eating a chicken thigh, or a grass fed beef pot roast not lean? Thanks!

    Reply

  22. Dan,

    Not Robb, but i’ve hung around this place for long enough, probably too long, and can likely give you what Robb would say. Although, things like “Holy cats” and other Wolf lingo may be left out 🙂

    If we consider that most folks eat regular store bought grain-fed meats, using the word “Lean” to categorize our protein choices does three main things in my eyes. By choosing leaning cuts of grain-fed meats your reducing your overall intake of Linoleic acid,(a short chain omega-6) which tends to be much higher in animals fed grain. Also, it makes folks realize that most pre-packaged meats aren’t the best choices. Kind of a sneaky way of staying away from food additives. Lastly, when you say “Lean” you kind of dodge the boogie man cholesterol questions. “Lean protein” is a good by in for folks who are completely clueless when it comes to the lipid hypothesis.Once you get some buy in with people and they start learning more about fat, especially the saturated kind, they get that “Lean” becomes a more lenient turn if you will.

    If you are consuming grass-fed meats, eat all the damn fatty meat you want. I think even Robb may have changed his stance on Palmitic acid, due in large park to that pesky Mat Lalonde.

    Robb has touched on this in the podcast before, it may require some searching, but your likely to hear what I just said anyway. Hope that helps!

    Reply

  23. Hi Robb, just had another 6 week trial paleo guinea pig write up her story. Interesting in that she was already gluten free, but being grain and legume and dairy free was the factor in getting results, especially a reduction in blood pressure and feeling so much better and losing weight.
    She notes how buckwheat made her feel bad.
    I’ve posted it here.
    http://paleozonenutrition.wordpress.com/2010/11/29/paleo-testimonial-i-feel-that-i%E2%80%99ve-found-the-secret-to-youth/

    Reply

  24. Great blog. I have been wearing glasses for since I was 5 years old and have just recently discovered the dr. Bates program for eyesight improvement. The results are great!

    Reply

  26. For the other Christians on here.. IMO paleo seems to be
    the diet as prescribed to us in the Bible in the book of Genesis.
    Genesis 9:3 says “Everything that lives and moves will be food for
    you. Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you
    everything.” sounds pretty much like meat and veggies to me…VLC
    paleo. I’m a Christian but don’t have a problem with the idea that
    God used evolution to create life on earth… But many people are
    turned off by the whole evolution, caveman thing Maybe a better way
    to “re-brand” the diet for the masses would be simply calling it an
    “ancestral diet” or perhaps “man’s original diet” or an “optimal
    foods diet” I have yet to be able to make a complete switch to
    Paleo as I find I am dealing with some wicked withdrawal symptoms
    after 32 years on super SAD but I feel for the first time I have a
    chance to lose weight and truly have optimal health. It’s called
    hope and I love it. And I would like to see others have this same
    hope regardless of their religious beliefs etc..

    Reply

  27. Hi Robb,
    You consistently talk about “smart training” using linear progressions. I’m following a 4-week Wendler-esque progression for a number of lifts and I would like to incorporate some sprint work. How would you set up a linear progression for sprint training?

    Reply

  28. As to a great celeb AND politician to get on board to be a rational and practical real-world example of the amazing things Paleo can do: Chris Christie! After a year on paleo the entire world will look at him and say, “Holy cats!”

    Reply

  29. Well, geez, I have another comment. This is a GREAT episode, guys!

    I’m an endurance dork. I totally get the “quest for the beat down achievement” deal. Why else would a lot of folks want to do just one marathon in the first place?

    So I really loved the subject – we keep ourselves well-rounded with sleep and anti-inflammatory diet and good healthy movements, but we want the EPIC THING. The thing that brings you to the limit, right up to that line of “crazy/survival/idiocy” and then you just persist and get it done. Like Robb’s 10 day I, Caveman thing. Or like ultramarathons (my last one was 34 hours and it was amazing and exhilarating AND it made me cry in utter frustration). THAT is what life is about. The cross-country road trip. The month of Himalayan trekking. The 40 hours of labor (?!). The 3-hours-of-sleep-for-4-weeks-to-get-the-damn-book-finished slog.

    With a Paleo foundation, these kinds of things can be a temporary beat-down rather than a persistent and chronic health withdrawal.

    Thanks again and yay for EPIC adventures.

    Reply

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robb

Robb Wolf is a former research biochemist and 2X New York Times/Wall Street Journal Best-selling author of The Paleo Solution and Wired To Eat. Along with Diana Rodgers, he co-authored the book, Sacred Cow, which explains why well-raised meat is good for us and good for the planet. Robb has transformed the lives of hundreds of thousands of people around the world via his top-ranked iTunes podcast, books, and seminars. He also co-founded the 1st and 4th CrossFit affiliate gyms in the world, The Healthy Rebellion community platform, and is the co-founder of DrinkLMNT Electrolytes.

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