The Paleo Solution: The Original Human Diet
I’m only a few chapters into this book but I figured, why wait? And, I’ve skipped ahead here and there and read bit & pieces just to see how Robb would handle them.
As I’ve mentioned both here on the blog and in all the interviews I’ve done, Art De Vany was the first guy in the paleo realm I had contact with. Well, Robb Wolf was the second and I’ve been following his stuff ever since. I don’t know where he took notice of me along the line, but we’ve exchanged emails from time to time going back a while. Then a couple of weeks ago I was pleased to have a copy of Robb’s book show up. Unfortunately I couldn’t dig into until yesterday but I’m breezing through it and it’s hard to put down, which is saying a lot coming from me.
So who’s Robb Wolf? I’m glad you asked. From his bio:
ROBB WOLF, a former research biochemist is one of the world’s leading experts in Paleolithic nutrition. A student of Prof. Loren Cordain, author of The paleo Diet, Wolf has transformed the lives of tens of thousands of people around the world via his top ranked iTunes podcast and wildly popular seminar series. Wolf has functioned as a review editor for the Journal of Nutrition and Metabolism, is cofounder of the nutrition and athletic training journal, The Performance Menu, co-owner of NorCal Strength & Conditioning, one of the Men’s Health "top 30 gyms in America" and co-owner of paleo Brands Inc. a paleo food company selling meals and snacks featuring grass fed meat, wild caught fish and all organic ingredients.
Wolf is a former California State Powerlifting Champion (565Lb Squat, 345lb Bench, 565lb Dead Lift) and a 6-0 amateur kickboxer. He coaches athletes at the highest levels of competition and consults with Olympians and world champions in MMA, motocross, rowing and triathlon. Wolf has provided seminars in nutrition and strength & conditioning to various military entities including the Canadian Light Infantry and the United States Marine Corps.
If you’ve ever listened to Robb’s Paleo podcasts which are simply amazing, then you’ll be right at home with the style of the book. It’s written in a very personal style, is super well organized, and quite light and humorous when it needs to be. It’s a fun read with absolutely no compromise on the completeness of the information. However, for those who don’t want the "Geek-Speak," sections in the book so-labelled, they can just skip to the part where you can do exactly what Robb tells you.
Needless to say I heartily recommend this latest addition to the growing library of current books on the paleo lifestyle.
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Too bad it isn’t available on Kindle. Due to eye problems, that’s the only way I can read anymore. The ability to make the font larger is a great deal for old guys….LOL
No worries Kindle version should be available in about a month or so… 🙂
Richard,
Can you leak a bit about how he frames his stance on saturated fat?
That’s one thing I didn’t get to yet. But Ill try and look into that tonight between unpacking a box or two.
Robb talked about it briefly at his Paleo Solution seminar, and paraphrasing what he said – he mentioned a bit about current farm raised animals having much more fat than traditional wild game.
Bryan,
I included some excerpts and quotes… I’ve talked to Robb… the book allays saturated fat fear. But he does not go all out in the book.
Hope that helps!
G
check me out on cnn today:
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2010/09/21/intv.clinton.blitzer.weight.loss.cnn?hpt=C2
So what you’re saying, Bubba, is that you’re just as clueless about diet as you are about politics?
Would love to read it but there is no kindle version. No one reads paper books anymore.
“No one reads paper books anymore.”
Is that just an excuse to not read the book. I mean, really, no one!?! At least with a paper book if you buy it you own. With the Kindle version, who’s to say when Amazon will take it back.
You think Amazon is taking books back? Ha. That is ridiculous. You get the file and can store it on any computer. Paper books are bad for the environment. I am not making excuses for not reading Robb’s book. I want to read it but will not read it unless it is Kindelized.
Yea, how much better off we’d had books never been invented to be “bad for the environment.”
Perhaps it’s not the time, but eventually I’m going to come down very hard on enviro-paleos. Vegans in different clothes.
Spent a solid week with him and I couldn’t tell you.
Get it?
Ridiculous indeed, because they’ve already done it, last year they removed 1984 form George Orwell from clients Kindle, made a big stir. It made it even in the New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/18/technology/companies/18amazon.html
http://www.slate.com/id/2223214/
http://gizmodo.com/5317180/big-brother-amazon-remotely-deletes-purchased-copies-of-1984-and-animal-farm-from-thousands-of-kindles
Are the industrial toxic chemicals and minerals used to make the Kindle any less bad for the environment than the paper, ink, glue, etc. used to make books?
“No one reads paper books anymore.”
How big was your sample size to draw your conclusion? 3, 10, 20?
Robb:
Well, I’m what you’d call an early adopter. My first e-reader was the Sony 500, then I sold that to my brother for the 505. Then I got the first Kindle, then gave it to my wife when the Kindle 2 came out. And now I have the ipad as well.
You could say I’m well experienced with them. And you know what? I’ve missed paper books. Sure, if I read a lot of fiction e-readers would be ideal (my mom loves them for that cause she’s a voracious fiction reader). But for most of non-fiction stuff like I read now (I read almost zero fiction), the diet and health books? Not so much. Several reasons: even with the bookmarking and clipping abilities, still very difficult to use them for reference later on. You can’t easily mark them up in the margins and notes just don’t suffice. Tables, charts and other illustrations are often impossible to read. Finding stuff later for reference can be difficult and anyway, how long does one intend to keep a book on the device?
So, for the most part I’m back to books for anything I think I’ll need to reference in the future. But for fiction or light non-fiction like the political commentary books if you’re into such pulp fiction, I do agree that the e-readers are ideal.
I read paper books. I’ve just disproved your theory.
I don’t have an e-reader. The one thing I could see it being useful for is the ability to take a whole lot of “books” on a long plane flight in a compact amount of space. Maybe as the prices go down, if I find myself travelling a lot.
I love old-style books. The codex is one of the most amazing things invented by man–durable, portable, very adaptable to different human environments (and needs: whatever anyone says, it just is not as easy to read, mark, and “remember” a screen).
My thoughts on saturated fats and veggie diets:
I really wonder if we should look at the natural instincts of children and how they eat to gain a little more knowledge of how we should be eating.
You would think that for survival of the species childrens eating instincts would be in high gear. I really have never seen a child that naturally does not want to chow down on meat. I have never seen or really heard of a child that would gravitate to a vegetable based diet unless coerced by parents.
When I was a child I had a huge craving at all times for fat. My mom used to make a meat dish at every meal. If it was steak or pork chops my parents would cut off the fat trimmings and I always used to ask to eat their fat. It would amuse them but they let me eat it. When I was old enough to make afternoon snacks for myself, I would always fry an egg and butter up a piece of toast. My dad would be angry because I would use up all the butter. I drowned the egg and toast with it. I don’t know if I really craved the toast, but I think it was more of a vehicle to eat the butter somehow.
I have always wondered why it is so common for kids to HATE veggies. Again, if this was the natural diet or the best choice wouldn’t they crave it? Kids want meat and sweets.
There is a article floating around there about Woody Harrelson and his quest to raise vegan kids. He told them they could have whatever they wanted when they turned 4. His daughter asked for chicken.
Not to troll, but the original human diet is high in starch, and very low in polyunsaturated fatty acids. Here’s the source.
Your diet is an example of why I don’t buy into paleo cults of food reenactment. I eat the Alex Diet, which consists of foods which make *me* feel best, and that is a diet that is specifically very low in starch, but not so low-carb that I get splitting headaches. When I eat a significant amount of starch, I become voraciously hungry several hours later and then binge uncontrollably. My life on starch is one of hunger, overeating, flabbiness, lethargy, and afternoon naps. That early humans ate a lot of starch is completely irrelevant to me.
Luming:
Actually, I’d dispute most, if not all of your six points. I’ll outline it later. Right now, dogs need walking.