Post: #1

Hey so I am not 100% paleo, but I am pretty close. Lots of meat and eggs and veggies, i juice, i drink ACV, lots of herbal teas, very little processed junk, carbs are mostly potatos, fruits, etc not bread and pasta.

Ive been living this way for about a year, and Ive been sick more than I ever had been. Previously I ate lots of pasta and bread and grains and didnt think anything of it.

I dont know if its a causal relationship but in rhe year ive made a concerted effort to be more paleo, i have felt my health be much worse than before. Anyone else had these effects?

As far as my genetics, my whole family eats lots of carbs and is all fit. My father is a pescatarian and eats tons of pasta and bread. Healthy overall he eata lots of natural whole foods, but he certainly doesnt treat grains like poison and he is hardly ever sick.

Post: #2

What is your BF%?

If your really lean that can compromise your immune system. It might also be a nutrient issue such as low vitamin D.

I surprisingly haven't gotten a major cold/flu this winter. Only once I was kind of sick but I shook it off in a day or two.

Post: #3

Ive always been skinny with low body fat, last time i checked it was like 11% but that seemed ridiculously low considering im not really "cut" by any stretch of the imagination. It was just one of those machines you hold and it analyzes you electrically, dont know how reliable that is.

As far as vitamin D, I eat a bunch of dairy, organic whole milk, various natural cheeses, whole greek yogurt, so that would be surprising. I had blood tests done recently because of an illness and all my vitamin levels were within the recommended ranges.

Post: #4

Are you taking a broad spectrum multi-vitamin along with trace minerals?

Post: #5

It might not be a causal relationship at all (it is a known, universal cognitive bias that humans tend to over-call trends in data that objectively don't have a discernible pattern). Diet is only one of many factors affecting your immune system and you may have just gotten unlucky this year. Before doing more with your diet which it seems like you've already optimized better than the vast majority of people, I would look to other things you can do to improve your odds, like frequent hand washing. At the end of the day, you may just have to accept that shit happens and there's a limited amount that you can do to impact your chances of getting sick.

Post: #6

I take vitamin pills sometimes, not all the time. I start nearly every day with a veggie juice and fried organic eggs. Something like carrots beets ginger celery lime usually.

I know it may not be causal at all, but I think I am gonna start reintegrating grains into my diet and see if I notice any changes. My ancestors definitely were farmers so...

Not that ill start eating twinkies, but pasta to go along with meat and veggies, and more rice/quinoa to see how i do.

Post: #7

Since this has been going on for over a year, you might want to have a full blood panel done to rule out a few major things like immune problems,etc.

Post: #8

How high is your carb intake? Some people do a lot better with more carbs for energy, 250g and greater.

I personally did paleo for a while a couple years ago and my quality of life went to shit because my carb levels were too low.

Post: #9

Stop doing Paleo then, its a silly fad diet anyways. Carbs play an important role in hormone levels. Not sure how this anti-carb craze starts but its not grounded in science.

Post: #10

Take vitamin C and D.

Post: #11

Most people suffer from those symptoms because they're low bf and go on a low calorie diet.

I remember experimenting with a keto diet once, 11 eggs + 1 lb of raw chicken thighs a day amounts to a little under 1400 calories. Seems like a lot to most people, but it's not a lot of calories. Throw in 3 medium bananas, 3 medium potatoes, a kilo of strawberries and you probably wouldn't even hit 2500 calories.

Cutting out processed carbs all of a sudden is a great way for fat people to lose fat since it cuts out the vast majority of their food. But you could end up seriously under eating for health maintenance if you were already at low bf, cut out processed carbs and then fail to ramp up the calories of whole foods.

Use calorieking to figure out exactly how many calories and how many grams of fat you ate in the past day and it should provide some more answers.

Post: #12

It's a small sample size, but my group of friends and I (4 of us) were just talking yesterday that we haven't been sick in a year after going paleo.

I would recommend two things:

1. Take a vitamin D supplement. I've read a few articles that hypothesize that lack of Vit D is why the U.S is chronically sick. It's one of the most important vitamins for our immune system.

2. Eat more (paleo) carbs. Seriously, you'll have more energy. Paleo does NOT mean "low carb". Eat fruit, sweet potatoes, more veggies, etc.

Post: #13

(03-05-2014 09:51 PM)SpecialEd Wrote:  Stop doing Paleo then, its a silly fad diet anyways. Carbs play an important role in hormone levels. Not sure how this anti-carb craze starts but its not grounded in science.

What?

I've never seen anything to do with carbohydrates playing an important role in hormone levels?

Fats are what control hormones.

People are quick to write paleo off as a "fad" just because more than 1% of the online world seem to be doing it.

Carbs are the least important of all 3 macros. People seem to think carbohydrates are the body's main source of energy... but they were never intended to be, they have just become that way due to availability.

I've switched back to a high fat/protein diet and haven't been ill since. Prior to the switch I had tonsillitis 3 times within 3 months - it was shit.

I've also begun taking vitamin D.

Post: #14

I've always been one to get sick at least a couple times during the winter. However, this entire winter I haven't gotten sick yet.

It definitely has to do with a high vitamin D intake, and juicing.

I take 5000 IU per day, and juice a few times a week.

Makes a big difference.

Post: #15

If you're finding your energy levels low you may just want to get back to eating carbs.

Carbs are not the poison they're made out to be. I consistently eat carbs (the right kind in moderation) and feel just fine. I find without carbs I feel tired and sluggish.

Are you working a physical job or an office job?

Post: #16

This is just my opinion after researching variety of sources in the past and it works for me.

High processed carbs lead to chronic low level inflammation which helps in viral and bacterial diseases, at least in the short term. The problem is long term effects. Maybe that's why your parents don't get sick so often?

Do you eat fermented foods from variety of sources? Lightly washed organic vegetables preferably from a farm you know, kefirs, kambuchas, quality daily probiotic like PrescriptAssist.

During the winter try taking monolaurin, lactoferrin, zinc, vit c, a good multi mineral supplement, colostrum.

Check your cortisol levels also. Cortisol is highly anti-inflammatory, you don't want the levels to be too high or too low.

Intermittent fasting may put your cortisol levels out of wack also.

Post: #17

PompeyChris, you are misinformed. Carbs play a crucial role in Leptin levels which in turn affects LH and testosterone.

If carbs are recognized as a source of energy by the body, the they're important. The world would starve if we all ate Paleo. But by all means, carry on...

Post: #18

(03-06-2014 01:28 PM)SpecialEd Wrote:  PompeyChris, you are misinformed. Carbs play a crucial role in Leptin levels which in turn affects LH and testosterone.

If carbs are recognized as a source of energy by the body, the they're important. The world would starve if we all ate Paleo. But by all means, carry on...

Leptin is secreted by adipose.

Adipose is basically fat tissue.

Carbs do play a crucial role when it comes to your leptin levels, but it isn't more crucial than actually secreting the thing.

Carbs CAN be a source of energy for the body. This article has a good quote:

Quote:But while Americans have dutifully reduced the percentage of daily calories from saturated fat since 1970, the obesity rate during that time has more than doubled, diabetes has tripled, and heart disease is still the country’s biggest killer.

According to dietheartpublishing.com (taken from bulletproofexec.com), butter consumption was 18 pounds/capita in 1910 and heart disease rates were below 10%. In 2000 butter consumption rate was less than 4 pounds/capita and heart disease KILLS 40-45% of people.

I do agree that the world would starve if we cut out carbs now. But that's only because we don't have enough meat and vegetables to sustain 7 billion people. But one guy changing is good.

Post: #19

I don't think you understand. When dieting down to low body fat levels, leptin levels dive and other hormones follow suite. The only way to mitigate this is via increasing your carb intake.

As for the whole carbs kill argument, its nonsense. Sure, heart disease and diabetes are more prevalent now than in the Paleolithic era. So what. The average lifespan back then was about 35 years. A lot of people simply starved to death.

Post: #20

(03-06-2014 03:10 PM)SpecialEd Wrote:  I don't think you understand. When dieting down to low body fat levels, leptin levels dive and other hormones follow suite. The only way to mitigate this is via increasing your carb intake.

As for the whole carbs kill argument, its nonsense. Sure, heart disease and diabetes are more prevalent now than in the Paleolithic era. So what. The average lifespan back then was about 35 years. A lot of people simply starved to death.

Hey I must say that you're definitely right on this one. On paper eating paleo looks ok, but it seems that most people eating paleo decide to adopt the keto version of the lifestyle which means that they get < 100g of cards everyday. Going keto as a lifestyle is simply suicide for your body no matter what your size!!

Once in a while to drop some weight for summer that's perfect, but is seems like the thread starter is going keto all the time. Getting a lot of protein is so damn expensive that very few people meet the requirement, and by being keto their immune system will eventually shut down since it's constantly on low fuel!

Post: #21

(03-06-2014 03:10 PM)SpecialEd Wrote:  I don't think you understand. When dieting down to low body fat levels, leptin levels dive and other hormones follow suite. The only way to mitigate this is via increasing your carb intake.

As for the whole carbs kill argument, its nonsense. Sure, heart disease and diabetes are more prevalent now than in the Paleolithic era. So what. The average lifespan back then was about 35 years. A lot of people simply starved to death.

The heart disease stat was taken from 1910... not whatever B.C.

(03-06-2014 03:32 PM)Captain Gh Wrote:  Hey I must say that you're definitely right on this one. On paper eating paleo looks ok, but it seems that most people eating paleo decide to adopt the keto version of the lifestyle which means that they get < 100g of cards everyday. Going keto as a lifestyle is simply suicide for your body no matter what your size!!

We're not talking about dieting or going full on keto.

We're basically saying - eat less carbs.

If you diet wrong, you're hormones are going to get messed up for sure.

If you eat no carbs... ever... you're body is going to get messed up for sure.

Personally, I'm in ketosis about 4-5 days a week... which is not long enough for my leptin to become affected.

Quote: being in keto their immune system will eventually shut down since it's constantly on low fuel

The point of ketosis is that your body goes back to using fat as it's fuel.

Post: #22

^The average American man kicked the bucket at 48 in 1910.

Paleo is different from Keto but you're still not getting enough carbs if youre an active/weightlifting man. Its an ok diet for sedentary people...

The human body is not designed to run in Keto. It is very inefficient, hard on the kidneys, basically an overall stupid idea unless you're obese.

Post: #23

(03-06-2014 05:04 PM)SpecialEd Wrote:  ^The average American man kicked the bucket at 48 in 1910.

Paleo is different from Keto but you're still not getting enough carbs if youre an active/weightlifting man. Its an ok diet for sedentary people...

The human body is not designed to run in Keto. It is very inefficient, hard on the kidneys, basically an overall stupid idea unless you're obese.

Please read this article on why Keto is very efficient, perhaps more-so than a traditional carb-heavy diet:

http://www.musclehack.com/do-you-really-...fectively/

And here's a study which mentions kidney damage (kidney stones):

http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/high-fat...-term.aspx

Quote:Only two of the 101 patients reported kidney stones after stopping the diet, the same rate found in the general population not treated with the ketogenic diet, the researchers say.

EDIT: I realise we have derailed this thread completely... this will be my last post but I welcome your response.

Post: #24

Its not derailed, Keto is just a more extreme strain of Paleo. The issue here is low carb eating which The OP though was making him sick frequently. I think that's a reasonable assumption given the role carbs play in hormone production, which you erroneously denied.

Post: #25

His being sick can be caused by many factors that he may not be aware of himself, the change in diet is but one.

I lift heavy weights daily and am on low carbs most of the time (with maybe once a week or fortnight high-ish carb). Have been doing that for almost 3 years, haven't been sick once. I used to be constantly sick before that. I've since then got many relatives and friends onto the same stuff, they all report better health. But that's anecdotal.

We simply don't have enough info here to go by. It could be other things: deficiencies in something (doctors don't always warn you if you're healthier than the average person, who is rubbish - see: testosterone level checkup), not being physically active enough, being in close contact with sick people (e.g dating teachers, used to happen to me!) frequently.

Quote:The human body is not designed to run in Keto.

Why do we think we store body fat? For fat acceptance movement? It is to be burned for fuel in times of scarce food sources. Our body is "designed" or evolved to burn both carbs and fats.