Reasons why raw paleo can be difficult to stick to

[Josh]

I've read a couple of Lyle McDonald books 'the ketogenic diet' and 'a guide to flexible dieting' and he seems pretty spot on in his recommendations for standard low carb and normal eaters. I recommend a read.

Both of them particularly the latter have helped me to clarify a few thoughts about why raw paleo can be hard to stick to and harder to do 'flexible dieting' with.

For people just wanting to lose weight his idea of a couple of 'free meals' a week where you can eat a meal with some junk as long as you don't go mad is good psychologically and practically and for raising hormone levels.

For standard dieters or low-carbers he also introduces refeeds where you eat a certain amount of carbs over a controlled time period. Some people have managed to adapt to low carb in the long term by just sticking it out for ages, but for those who can't for whatever reason (and we don't know for sure that everyone can in the same way) it seems good as it's likely that you still get adaptions to ketosis if you do this.

It also increases hormone levels so metabolism, sex drive etc can return which is good if you're in a period of life where you can't really wait for the adaption to take place.

I think his approach is great for standard dieters rather than the 'strict..strict..strict...FAIL!' approach that most people invariably take.

[Josh]

There are several reasons why it seems to me that raw paleo is harder.

Gut shrinkage adaption - most of us end up eating less carbs and less fibre than standard eaters, so the gut shrinks to meet the lower volume and we don't need so much fibre.

So, a 'free meal' of standard size is problematic as it will expand the gut, and afterwards may cause constipation while it returns to normal. Perhaps our ancestors would only have to go through this a few times a year, in any case you don't want it every week.

Also, in my experience when you have adapted, foods with 'roughage' feel bad, like sandpapering my gut.

[Josh]

Lack of starchy carbs - most people gravitate to non-starchy carbs even with a few carb sources. This can mean they're harder to control due to non stable energy levels. In my experience refeeds or cheats tend to run out of hand and I eat more carbs. It may need strict measurement to work this out.

Taste - eating raw paleo for a while can make cooked food taste strange and we gravitate towards raw. However, once eating cooked the taste can be addictive. For this reason I have found it easy to get on a cooked food bender once having a cheat meal. This may also be due to bacterial issues.

Intestinal flora - I don't know exactly what's going on with this, but it seems that there is some adjustment of bacteria, 'die offs' etc that make it hard to simply go between standard and raw paleo eating.

[Josh]

Obviously as all of us eat lower carbs to one degree or another there is also the issues of adapting to this which all low carb dieters face.

For these reasons and possibly others, it can be hard to have a sensible moderate approach to raw paleo and it can tend to be an all or nothing thing.

These are just my personal notes, I'm not trying to lay down the law about what is happening internally or whether it should be hard for you or not but maybe some will find it useful.

I'm trying to work out a sensible approach I can stick to that will probably include refeeds at the moment.

Welcome it if you have any comments.

[p0wer]

Is there any evidence for this gut shrinking on a low fiber diet or it's just speculations?

[goodsamaritan]

Reason for not sticking to raw paleo diet?

- They seem to be doing fine, they perceive, in their current diet, what for?

- They crave social acceptance and herd acceptance.

[Josh]

Nah GS, I'm talking about my reasons and mainly others trying to do raw paleo. I'm sure there are a few out there apart from the main suspects here who reckon it's all easy

Is there any evidence for this gut shrinking on a low fiber diet or it's just speculations?

I don't have any, but Lex believes this and he's a methodical guy. I find the conclusion hard to escape from my experience.