While the Paleolithic aka Primal diet is not the diet that I personally used to get clear (which shows you can get clear on a variety of diets), I am always on the hunt for more information.
I want to know what the absolute healthiest diet in the world is because that is the diet that is most likely to get people clear, happy, and healthy quickly and easily.
The more I read and investigate, the more I am becoming intrigued with the Paleo diet and its possibilities for those of us with acne.
The idea is that humans have existed for millions of years and we have been eating natural meat, vegetables, fruits, nuts, and seeds for that entire time. Only in the last 10,000 years has agriculture brought us things like grains and beans, let alone any kind of processed foods. Yet our genes have not evolved much since our paleolithic days so our bodies aren’t necessarily going to be stoked on these new inventions.
It makes sense to me because our bodies don’t always do that well on these foods. Wheat is often one of the most inflammatory things you can eat, and most people don’t have the easiest time digesting beans. Don’t get me started on processed foods.
Also, the more I learn about our earth and how to save our environment, it’s become very clear to me that an ideal like veganism isn’t always the way to go. Eating local and growing your own food is what is going to save the planet, and what are you most likely to get locally? Meats and veggies… not grains. It seems obvious to me now that simple local eating is the way to do good for the planet and our bodies at the same time.
Check out the video to hear more of my thoughts on the matter and why I’ve been thinking so much about this lately.
The websites mentioned in the video are:
Primal Toad – Website of ex acne sufferer, Todd Dosenberry, who loves the primal diet and lifestyle
Mark’s Daily Apple – Website of Mark Sisson, a pioneer of bringing primal living to the limelight and author of the Primal Blueprint
Clear for Life – Website of another former acne sufferer, Seppo Puusa, and his fantastic ebook, Clear for Life
37 Responses
I regret becoming a vegetarian.
Most vegetarians/vegans place animal welfare before their own personal health, and that’s a risky and silly thing to do.
As an ex-vegetarian of about 6 years, I can definitely vouch that going vegetarian won’t clear anyone up. The longer I stayed a vegetarian, the more I began to question my ethics, health and reasons for staying a vegetarian.
Looking back, it was one of the stupidest, but also smartest things I’ve done. I learned so much about health and how the body works by becoming a veggie, but I’ve also hurt my body in the process. My vegetarianism coincided with the start of “serious” puberty and I always thought it was simply the puberty that was giving me acne (and maybe it was, up to a point.) There wasn’t really a single period during those 6 years where I was clear. Sometimes my acne was very mild and other times it was moderate, but it was never just clear. I remember reading all the things about how a vegetarian diet is so good for me and my body will thank me for it, as will the poor little chickens and cows. I thought to myself, wow I’m becoming healthier AND saving animals+planet Earth? What could be better?
Before becoming a veggie, I would always get compliments on my hair and how nice and healthy it looked. For years (in my Veggie days) I had this little problem with losing hair constantly. It was really strange and my parents expressed concern. I read somewhere that you lose anywhere between 100-1000 hairs per day, but they grow so fast you wouldn’t ever know. I thought maybe this is just normal hair loss, or it’s due to puberty. After a while I was honestly getting scared I was going to be bald by age 18. Every morning I would wake up and see a bunch of hairs on my pillow. It wasn’t noticeable or anything by looking at me, but eventually I started noticing that my hair was also becoming more brittle and thin. I never connected it to my diet because I always thought it was probably another cause (blow drying, combing too hard, using too much product, washing too often, etc.)
I would also get these weird body temperature fluctuations. If it was sort of cold outside, I wouldn’t just be cold, I’d be freezing. I’m pretty thin so I thought that might be the cause, but it still annoyed me in the back of my mind that other people, even skinnier than me, didn’t have this issue. If it was hot, I’d be sweating torrents. It was just strange overall.
I cut soy out after a few years, because of some very personal matters and things it was affecting other than my skin (I’m a male, so it’s pretty self-explanatory.) When I learned more about soy and how it contains phytoestrogen, everything sort of clicked into place. Those health classes in middle school and all that hormone talk finally came in use! Everyone knows hormones DO cause acne and if I’m eating something that is causing hormonal fluctuations, it’s so obvious why I would have acne. I did know one girl who suffered from acne, who became a vegetarian and her acne magically went away. My theory is that when females get slightly more estrogen, it clears them up (Saw Palmetto/Agnus Cactus/certain birth control pills do the same thing and lo and behold many females clear up when taking those. Good for chicks, not so good for the dudes.) It might also explain why models also have great skin (higher estrogen in the female body causes things like the development of more prominent cheekbones, among many other prominent things.) Maybe, maybe not.
As soon as I cut soy out, my acne calmed down SUBSTANTIALLY and things went back to sort-of-normal, but I was still breaking out more than I would like.It’s a shame that most vegetarian/vegan products are either soy-based or contain soy to some degree. There aren’t all that many alternatives that don’t entail gluten-based/milk-based products or you grazing on celery for the rest of your life.
Once I added organic+free-range+grass-fed+no hormones+no antibiotics+mother nature nurtured meats back in, so many of these seemingly minor inconveniences fixed themselves. My hair has stopped falling out and just looks healthier overall, I don’t get the weird temperature fluctuations and my skin hasn’t just stopped breaking out less, but the texture of my skin (not just face) looks better. Another very minor, but slightly embarassing thing: I was always thin, but after becoming a vegetarian I lost a few more pounds. However, although most of my body was really thin, I had somewhat pudgy thighs and I never quite understood why. My legs were the biggest part of my small frame and frankly it was just bizarre. I figured it out now that I was definitely eating way too many carbs and not enough protein. After adding meat back in, I actually started losing that extra bit of flab, which was unexpected because you would generally expect to probably gain a bit of weight if you’re adding in meat.
My main problem is that I was writing off a lot of what was happening with my body due to puberty, and not my diet. Perhaps some of it was due to puberty, but after a certain point there was just one coincidence too many. I couldn’t possibly be that unlucky to suffer all these things due to simple puberty. If they hadn’t pursued after puberty, I would never have known that it was my diet that was causing these issues.
There’s so many benefits of eating meat, that are overlooked because people feel sorry for all the chickens and cows that are killed. Amino acids which aren’t found in plants, superior protein which is better absorbed by the body, antibody production, healthier skin, nail, hair and muscles, and a bunch of other stuff.
I’m all for saving the planet, letting the animals live a humane life and staying healthy, but a vegetarian/vegan diet is simply unsuitable for a healthy lifestyle and it’s impossible to get all the recommended nutrients. I refuse to believe that a vegetarian/vegan diet is ideal or even close to what will make someone healthy.
That being said, most people (with the Standard American Diet) do eat too much meat and crap, but completely cutting it out isn’t going to clear most people up. I’ve yet to see any credible research that correlates eating *organic* meat to getting acne. The only connection I could find is people who ate red meat and broke out (coincidentally red meat is generally the most hormone-laden and chemically altered kind of meat) and these people weren’t eating organic, grass-fed red meat or they were eating other foods which are potential acne-triggers like dairy and wheat.
However, I definitely do agree that a vegan diet can be used as a cleanse/detox. Before I fast, I generally go raw vegan for a few days.
Vegetarianism and veganism didn’t work for me, but that’s not to say it won’t work for someone else. Just make sure you know everything there is to know before you make any decision which affects your personal health (for better or for worse.)
I’m SO sorry about the long ass rant, but it’s a topic I feel very strongly about and if I can deter even one person, or at least make them consider eating wisely and healthily, instead of just converting to vegetarianism/veganism, I feel that I’m morally obligated to.
Hey Sampson, thanks for your story!
This seems to be the trend with vegetarians – vegans in particular – they feel fantastic at first, but a couple, three, four, or five years down the line, they start getting problems and deficiencies, like yours. It doesn’t surprise me that they feel so great (especially the ones doing it for health) in the beginning… or their acne clears up! If they were coming from a SAD diet, of course…. they’ve probably cut processed and refined foods and upped the fruits and vegetables. Vegetarians and vegans who are only doing it for the animals, who eat crap processed food plant diets, are often end up a lot sicker than those who eat a mixed SAD diet (haha, I love that the acronym for that is “sad”).
Anyway… I’m really glad you contributed that. Thank you. It sounds like you had quite a rollercoaster with it, and I’m really happy you figured out what worked for you and came out the other side!
I am totally interested in the Primal Diet too – so it was interesting to hear your thoughts. I look forward to hearing how you get on when you do start…
it does make so much logical sense. If you’ve read anything by John Robbins (which I imagine you have!) then it’s obvious that different cultures develop to eat certain foods, and be able to access all the available nutrition in them. So that’s why some cultures thrive on meat, some on fruits, some on nuts, some on fish.
I think what’s important is the quality of the food that we buy. If you are going to eat meat (and i think you should!), local, organic is best – vegetarianism and veganism are all well and good, but it won’t stop the poor welfare standards we have become used to buying in the supermarkets. fish needs to be sustainably bought too.
and although the price is so much higher, if you eat it less frequently, say three times a week instead of twice a day, then the price should balance out, and you’ll probably get a higher nutritional value from fewer better quality meats than you did from the lower ones combined.
i have always always noticed that my friends who are vegan and vegetarian are so much less healthy, get ill more frequently and have worse skin – though this is also true of those who eat a substandard ‘cheap’ diet.
well, sorry for the long chat, but i am so interested in this subject… thanks for sharing – perhaps i will do a video about this too 🙂
Hey Allisa!
I’ve been so interested in it that I haven’t been able to help myself, and I’ve been trying it out the last couple days…. except like i said in the video, I’m so, so poor, so I’ve just been eating conventional meat……. and I feel sucky about it! So I think I’m going to stop…. I’d rather eat more plant foods like grains and beans and less meat if I can’t afford to go for the high quality. Couple more months though, and I will source some good stuff and do a real solid experiment! With articles and coverage.
Anyway, your point about buying better is correct. It seems like a lot to spend money on high quality foods, but the more nutrition you get out of your food, the less food you have to eat, so it should theoretically balance out. I’m totally not practicing what I’m preaching on that one right now, but I do believe it’s true. 🙂
And yes, you should totally do a video on it as well!
[..YouTube..] being a vegetarian is hard i think and its easy to become deficient in certain nutrients. being paleo is pretty much eating the foods everyone already loves
Yes I think Paleo probably can be a very, very satisfying diet! But… I mean, it’s not everything everyone loves… western society is very attached to their grains, especially wheat, and sugar!
its not so much the grains that are bad for you, its the way they are processed. back in the day, grains were sprouted to release their nutrients when eaten and the sprouting process made it a lot easier to digest the grains. these days no grains are sprouted at all and they tend to have the opposite effect and can actually stop your body from absorbing nutrients.
luckily you can sprout grains at home with just water.
I find that soaking porridge oats in almond milk or water over night or a few hours before cooking, makes oats a lot easier on my tummy. otherwise it can upset my stomach and make me feel zapped rather than energetic.
but, I do agree, people tend to eat far to many carbs and its simply not needed! Im not sure if you are familiar with Dr Mecola? but he recommends cutting out grains completely while healing acne. I tried it myself and my skin was like silk. but I wasn’t paleo. I just ate lots of soups, salads and smoothies along with a small amount of fish. I wasn’t taking any fancy pills or anything, it was kinda like being vegan but with a bit of fish thrown in.
but, by far the best clear skin program I’ve ever tried was the juice masters clear skin in 30 days. its free to download on his website. just following that program for 2 months almost healed my leaky gut completely, cleared my acne by 80% (it was 80% clear in the first 30 days) and cleared my horrible eczema.
even though its been 6 years since I’ve been on that diet my eczema and acne have never broken out as badly since. I was treating both skin conditions with topical nasty chemical creams and gels the doctor prescribed me that were ruining my skin!
but, eating all those lovely vegetables juices etc made my skin glow like crazy! it was like I had someone elses skin instead of my own! and most of my stomach complaints resolved and haven’t come back.
I think if I had not eaten so many ‘whole grains’ while being on that diet I might have been 99% clear by the end of the 30 days.
give it a go guys! it changed my life.
[..YouTube..] The topic of diet is so complicated nowadays with all the different types (vegan, vegetarian, raw foodist, etc.) …the Great Health Debate helped but at the same time got me more confused…
[..YouTube..] Hey tangerine your skin looks great 😀 good vid.ps. Its lame that you need to pay for that meat debate thingie 🙁
Yeah I know, it’s too bad it costs money now. When I posted the article about it, the calls were being played for free which was great… the whole debate was so comprehensive, going to a thing like that in real life would have probably cost a few thousands dollars for a ticket… it’s not surprising he’s charging a bit for it now! Anyway…if you want to know my opinion on it, after listening to the whole thing from both sides, I definitely thought the paleo/meat crowd had a much better argument than the vegan crowd. It made a lot more common sense to me.
Hey, just wanted to say thanks for sharing all this info! Most of your articles seem to touch on stuff I’ve been reading up about in the last few months, so its nice to have some support (friends/family make me feel a bit neurotic/silly when I bring up some of these things, especially the Paleo stuff). So my thanks to you & your site for giving me some outside encouragement/motivation. Keep up the good work 🙂
You’re welcome 🙂 Yeah, friends and family, and society at large, can be like that, unfortunately. Conventional wisdom seems persuasive but it’s usually incorrect… keep going with what you believe in, and don’t let naysayers get you down! I’m glad you’re enjoying the site, Angie. Peace x
Hi Tracey,
I’ve been paleo for about a year, but only strict for the past 3 months. I started with my whole30 challenge and now am limiting myself to like 1 piece of chocolate every few days, coffee in the morning and a little bit of alcohol on the weekends. So I had regular teen acne, which has turned into cystic acne around my mouth on my chin for the past 4 years. Since starting paleo, it got better for a few weeks but is now flaring up. Nothing too severe, about 3 under the skin cysts that are big, red and painful. I decided today to eliminate chocolate and some acidic fruits for the next 30 days to see if it changes anything. A girl that follows me on twitter pointed me to your blog. It’s very interesting and I like all the videos. I’ll be in touch!
Jenna
Hi Jenna! I checked out your blog! Awesome stuff…. I really love hearing from paleo eaters. That’s interesting you’re having a flare up… but sometimes that happens…. it seems like everything’s going well and then your body releases a pocket of toxins. Wait it out and see if it passes. If not, the other option is that you may have a food sensitivity or allergy to something you’re eating!
Either way! Very nice to hear from you, stay in touch x
Hey Jenny! Nice blog!! I will be adding you to my ever so long primal/paleo blog list which will be organized soon.
My one year primal anniversary is April 5. I went primal to do an acne experiment. It worked as I was as close to 100% clear as possible during the whole summer. I then fell off the wagon as stress controlled my life due to 2 jobs that I did not particuarly like. Time passed and I then did a whole30 in February. My acne was a little present and I continued to get whiteheads and a few small pimples during the first few weeks on my challenge.
The last week was a lot better. Since my challenge ended my acne has been slowly clearing up. I have noticed that my stress levels have been directly impacting whether or not a little whitehead will show up. I have not been getting enough sleep. Just a few nights ago I went to bed at 12:30 and woke up at 5:00 am.
While diet plays a big role, stress may play even a BIGGER role. Every part of health effects every part of health in some way, shape, or form. I recommend you continue to eat paleo while avoiding foods you think you may be allergic too. Place a major importance on sleep and do necessary things to limit stress. Meditation or going for a short walk daily can be HUGE.
I am beginning to live a minimalist lifestyle and it is paying off big time so far. We all need to de clutter our lives.
I hope this helps!
My acne started at 17, when I became a vegetarian. Before that, I had some renegade spots that would show up here and there but it was nothing to cry about–just puberty. Months into my vegetarian diet (lacto-ovo) my acne had gotten so bad my mother, who never cares or tweaks my appearance, sent me to a dermatologist.
That acne had continued into my twenties, slightly improved with the prescriptions, but I periodically went off of them because I hated the side effects and my acne would creep back.
That is…until I stared eating Primal. I’m not sure if it’s the wheat, soy, or dairy–or a combination of the three–but one or all of these things being cut out has led to me not wearing mineral powder foundation for the first time in YEARS. Cover up has been part of my routine for so long I can’t remember the last time I was able to just not wear makeup.
Diet was all of it for me. Unlike the great guy farther up with the long comment, being a girl did NOT give me better skin as a vegetarian. It wrecked it.
Thanks for the post and the blog. Keep on, sister!
Ada
Very interesting story Ada!
It’s too bad that people are led to believe that vegetarian diets are the only way to be healthy… because people assume if they have to give up meat if they want to be healthy, that it would never stick – so what’s the point in even improving. It’s funny that it’s actually plant foods – wheat, soy, and and the processing of commercial dairy that are so bad… and when people give up meat and go vegetarian, suddenly they are eating way more of these things in replacement… and it sometimes lead to acne!
It’s too bad, because eating a healthy paleo diet is actually delicious!
I’m really glad that you figured it all out, Ada! 🙂
Hi! I am so glad I found you. I have been vegitarian for about a year now. I have actually gained weight and my acne has gotten worse. I am sure that it is not just my diet, I just started university and have been living in residence. The food is so bad all I eat is wheat products and cheese. I am going home for the summer and want to start living healthier. I am going to cut out cheese and am going to research the primal diet. The main reason I went veggi is because of the factory farming. It is so difficult to get quality food when you are a poor student. I am going to try and make it out to my local farmers market at least once a week and start talking to the local meat farmers to see how they feed and treat the animals. I am a little scared to go off of my veggi diet because it is really emotional for me. Anyways thanks so much for all the great info, I am so excited about becoming healthy!
Hi Crystal!
Yes, it’s unfortunate res food is pretty bad! Good luck with getting healthier this summer, that’s awesome to hear! 🙂 And I’m really happy to hear you’ll be visiting farmer’s markets to get some quality meat… I believe humans are meant to eat meat – as much as I love animals, I can’t deny that there is a food chain – and it’s okay if the animals are ethically raised. I don’t blame anyone for shunning factory farming, but often meat is replaced with processed vegetable foods, and processed dairy and things just don’t go well with people’s health.
Good luck with your journey Crystal!! 😀
Milk* not just cheese lol
I agree paleo is probably the best, but I know big amounts of meat aren’t good for my skin and overall health. I eat like 600g of meat/fish every week and an egg occasionally. I’d rather have some quinoa from time to time, and fill me up with nuts and grapes or sweet potatoes. That’s just a way I prefer to eat. I do eat meat, but eating it 3 times a day is out of the question. Grass-fed beef is not cheap at all.
I find it annoying that paleo followers always say it’s impossible to be paleo without a lot of animal protein. I think of paleo like this : eat meat, fish, eggs (limited), fruit, veggies, nuts and seeds. Period. Not : eat meat and veggies all the time, and eat very little nuts, seeds, fruit and eggs.
I consider quinoa to be a seed and sweet potatoes to be a vegetable. It’s already 100x better than potatoes anyways.
This is personal though, some people work better with lots of meat. I think I’ll gradually eat more and more animal protein in the future, but right now it freaks me out, I’d rather be happy with lots of grapes 😀 and almonds.
I agree with paleo-ish diet. I don’t think it needs to be as cut and dry as the paleo folks say, but who knows… I haven’t tried a strict paleo diet yet, but I think I may soon just to see if being strict about it really does make a difference.
And I completely agree with you that it shouldn’t be heaps and heaps of animal protein… I think it should be small amounts of meat or animal products at each meal with a heapful of vegetables…. like 3:1 vegetables:animal products at each meal and then nuts and fruits and things on top of that.
Hi Tracy,
I found your site on the forum of Seppo’s page, and I’m following your blog from the beginning. You’re my inspiration! My skin looks the same as yours (not THAT clear), but it has the same skin tone and I think the same texture too. Me too have been paleo for a few weeks (I did eat organic meats and wild fish), and it my skin didn’t clear up but it didn’t worsen either. Before I was eating a very healthy diet with brown rice, quinoa, beans and lentils on top of this ‘paleo’ diet. And I’m back on this diet now.. so it’s paleo like, I eat organic meats and fish but not 2 or 3 times a day anymore, just at one meal and the other meal consists of brown rice or quinoa, beans etc..
You also eat brown rice and quinoa and beans right? And how often and how much do you eat these foods? Do you eat brown rice every day once a day? And do you combine it with animal proteins or fats or do you just eat brown rice with veggies? I know that the foods I eat are very good for my skin, but I have problem with the ratios, I find it difficult to put into practice.. for example today I ate a green smoothie with flax seeds, a salmon salad with a few nuts and in the evening I ate quinoa with veggies (stir fry and beans). Do you also eat a type of carbs every day ? and do you eat potatoes ? Because you said that you did (Seppo’s forum), but isn’t that a high GI food ? =)
It’s kind of confusing, but I also think that people can get clear on a lot of diets, but why would you cut brown rice, quinoa and beans out of your diet if you can incorporate it and still have clear skin? Oh so you’re not eating a lot of meats? Where do you get your calories from ? =) because I’m still eating quite a lot of meat or fish or chicken,.. (once a day)
I really love your blog! The first thing I do when I start the computer is checking out Seppo’s blog and yours! You are my big inspiration, and don’t be stressed out about posting a video every other day now or even every 2 days, you are helping us more than enough! Thank you for that because I can imagine that it’s not that easy to put the whole truth out there on the internet, I think it’s very courageous!
So keep up the good work and I will continue on reading it! =)
Hi Suyani!
That’s a lot of questions and I’ll do my best to answer… I believe there’s many different diets people can have and get clear… the way I eat has evolved quite a lot from how I ate in the beginning to how I eat now and whatever I wrote on Seppo’s forum is probably very out of date! Basically, how I eat now is that I eat a smallish portion of some quality meat with every meal, and a portion of sweet potatoes or (pre soaked) non gluten grains like rice or quinoa which is an equal or less portion to the meat, and then I eat a big heapful of salad or non starchy vegetables which takes up half the plate or more. And I have a green smoothie for breakfast most days. I find this very tasty and satisfying and my skin seems to be doing really well.
Anyway, I hope that helped! 🙂
Tracy xxo
Oh Sorry for all the questions, but I was a bit confused about the whole ‘diet’ thing 😀
Thank you for your answers and your amazing blog!
suyuani it may help to check out the site fitday.com to get help with the %’s. don’t stress about it though
hey tracy, ive been around the block with every “diet” there, and i noticed something. i found that red meat seems to give me major skin problems. even the organic grass fed. but i noticed chicken doesnt, i was kinda wondering what meats u eat and how much red meat u eat. also something allot of ppl blow off, or dont realize is how much sex can effect hormones and ur skin, be it with a partner or “by urself” it seems to be linked to cystic acne more than anything. .. but anyhow ya maby u can try eating only red meat with ur meals for a 2 weeks, followed by only chicken/turkey for another 2 weeks and compare ur results. (non hormone injected chicken that is) oh and on a side note i wanted to say i think u r the most beautiful girl ive ever seen, 🙂 to bad ur prolly taken and live in a diff state than me or id ask if u wanted to get together n kick it 😉
Hi Jon! Very interesting. I’ve heard from some people too that red meat doesn’t agree with them and breaks them out…. but then again, it seems like for every single food out there, there are people that the food doesn’t agree with. I like the idea of the paleo diet, and it seems to be working better than any other diet for keeping my skin clear, but I don’t want want to be like a ….. paleo lover and really push it on people. People are just so different, and I think it depends on your body type and how you metabolize foods…. maybe it’s something with your digestive system… maybe you’d digest it better if it were raw…. it’s really hard to say. I usually eat red meat for a week, and then eat chicken for a week or so. So far, I’ve noticed no difference in my skin from one week to the next when I’m eating the red meat or not. Also, as for sex affecting acne, I’ve heard this, but I think it applies more to men than women. It might be something to do with the loss of zinc for men??
And thanks so much for the compliments!! But I am taken…. and I live in Canada! haha
Just wanted to throw out there that Ive been a vegetarian all my life (I’m 23), recently became a vegan, and never had any seriouis health problems unless you count acne but its not horrible acne. Both my parents became vegetarians in their 20s and still are and by brother has also been a vegetarian all his life as well, no problems. Granted, everybody’s different, and I understand that completely. However, I do not really like to see the diet being put down considering the fact that it is highly more possible than people believe. Just saying, they might not be doing it correctly. As far as acne is concerned, I obviously have it since I’m even on here and I really like this site and everything said on here. I definetely am interested in the paleo diet and have been currently been trying to watch the grains!!
I agree that it is possible to be healthy on a vegan diet (although I think it is very tricky to really get it right to avoid deficiencies), but I stick by the fact that I don’t think it’s the most natural, due to the fact that a natural diet for humans couldn’t possibly HAVE to include supplements in order to avoid serious deficiency issues. Supplements didn’t exist a couple hundred years ago :/ If you want to eat vegan than please go for it! Just make sure you aren’t binging out on soy or wheat in replacement of animal foods!
Yes I do agree with that. Whats throwing me is the mass production and inattentiveness to health and standards in the meat/dairy industry. You have said in one of your blogs, and I agree, that in Europe there are higher standards to the process of making cheese? At least I am under the impression that this is so. If I were to eat cheese I would definitely try to buy the cheese made in Europe. I understand what your saying though for sure. I have had my doubts about veganism, not vegetarianism, but veganism. I never even had to take supplements as a vegetarian. I may not be a vegan for the rest of my life, but in search of healthier made animal products.
Oh yes, I definitely agree with the fact that meat and diary industry is horrible, and makes it difficult to actually eat paleo properly. I’ve been buying meat from a local farm, but it makes me a bit squeamish to just buy meat from the grocery store.
I also agree that most of my doubts lie with the vegan diet instead of vegetarian diet. I don’t even think you need to eat A LOT of animal products, but I do think you need some – and it doesn’t have to be meat, it could be eggs or high quality dairy or whatever. Therefore, vegetarians avoid the deficiencies that vegans do with their complete lack of animal foods.
How much do you spend on food a week eatting this week?
Wow. So literally just last week I stumble upon a Ted Talk done by Dr. Terry Wahls who promotes the “hunter/gather” diet http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLjgBLwH3Wc. My skin and my body has never felt better. It’s a little pricey, but it’s worth it! Your idea on the evolution of humans as carnivores was a big ‘a ha!’ moment for me. I think this was yet another coincidence that I randomly found your video and has made the choice even more clear for me 🙂 thanks for putting your thoughts out there! very inspiring!
While I am not disciplined enough to eat a true, strict paleo diet yet, since I wrote this post, I’ve become more and more convinced how much SENSE this way of eating makes for our health and I find myself gravitating toward eating this way, following it’s principles, as well as those of WAPF. I’m glad to hear it’s going so well for you!
Hi, great website!
My big question recording to my acne is: Should I eat less fish and meat and more grains or should I eliminate grains and eat more meat and fish. My main problem is that I get clogged sebum pores (huge ones, but not inflammatory). Any other tips? Thank you=)
I personally would recommend less grains, but you have to find what works for your body 🙂