Paleo Enough?

I'm catching up on the past month or so of Robb Wolf's Paleo Solution podcasts, and was struck by a couple points he made in Episode 52 in response to a single question: Is taking BCAA supplements a violation of the Paleo diet's rules?

The question was from a listener who -- like me -- is following the "early morning fasted training" version of Martin Berkhan's LeanGains intermittent fasting protocol. Generally, when on the LeanGains program, one starts fasting after dinner and abstains from eating until lunchtime the next day. According to Berkhan, the fast is ideally broken "at noon or shortly thereafter," immediately after a workout.

Unfortunately, "[t]his poses a dilemma for those who can only train in the early morning hours." As Berkhan points out:

If you're training first thing in the morning and finish at 7 AM it would call for a feeding phase of 7 AM to 3 PM. That's just a bit too early for my liking. Could you still do it and start the fast in the middle of the day? Sure. But generally speaking, this would compromise diet adherence for most people.

Berkhan's proposed solution:

Most clients maintain their 8-hour feeding-window between 12-2 pm and 8-10 pm on all days. For those doing early morning fasted training, I have maintained that feeding window and added small feedings of BCAA pre- and post-workout.

Similar to fasted training, 10g BCAA is ingested pre-workout. However, instead of initiating the feeding phase immediately post-workout, which is the standard protocol for regular fasted training, another 10 g BCAA is ingested two hours after the first. A third dose may then be ingested depending on when the client prefers his feeding-window.

That's exactly what I've been doing on the days I exercise. Take this morning, for example. I woke up in a fasted state (having not eaten since 7 p.m. last night), changed into workout clothes, and gulped down 10 grams of BCAAs mixed with water before heading out to my 5 a.m. CrossFit class. An hour post-workout, I guzzled another 10 grams of BCAAs. And then another 10 grams two hours after that.

For a while, I used Vitamin Shoppe's generic brand of plain-jane BCAA powder, but it tasted like hell. So on Berkhan's recommendation, I bought a couple containers of Scivation's XTEND brand of BCAAs -- but the ingredients, which include "Red #1," "artificial flavors" and sucralose, are decidedly un-Paleo.

So what's the verdict, Mr. Wolf? Should I drink the stuff?

Robb's point of view: Chill the fuck out, people. (I'm paraphrasing slightly.) No, BCAA powder wasn't available to cavemen, and the chemicals in the stuff are in no way consistent with Paleo eating. But so what? According to Robb, the drawbacks of the small amount of BCCA supplementation recommended on the LeanGains plan are overshadowed by the need to maintain appropriate protein intake for muscle recovery and growth while on an intermittent fasting program. In other words: Go for it.

To drive home his point, Robb quoted an online commenter, John Ryan, who sagely wrote that "Paleo is a logical framework applied to modern humans -- not a historical reenactment."

Makes sense to me!

Paleo eating is supposed to make you healthier and stronger. The point isn't to slavishly replicate a caveman's actual diet just for the sake of being super-Paleo. Ancestral diets point us in the direction of better nutrition. It explains why we're not evolutionarily equipped to thrive on grains, legumes and dairy. It gives us clues as to why the Standard American Diet's emphasis on carbohydrate consumption is a very bad thing. But it shouldn't dictate every last morsel we stick into our mouths. Many of the foods I eat today weren't available to my prehistoric ancestors (unless they were regularly chowing on avocados, bacon, mac nuts and coconut flakes), but as long as they're not detracting from my health -- and I continue to look, feel and perform great -- who cares?

Of course, this means I probably ought to revisit my criticism of Mark Sisson's Primal Fuel for not being sufficiently "Paleo"...

(Photo: Stefan Kloo)

Protein Shakes Aren't A Magic Bullet

Rick Rubin's lost a ton of weight -- 130 pounds! -- by adopting a "fish-and-protein-shake diet."

Despite my newfound Paleosity, I'm not totally anti-protein-shake. How can I be, when even Robb Wolf advocates downing an occasional post-workout coconut milk / whey protein shake?

But still: If you're counting on getting results like Rubin's by downing shake after shake in place of your regular meals (consisting of real, unprocessed food), you may want to rethink your diet.

Considering that [protein] shakes can contain up to 40 grams of protein a serving, consuming too many of them can be harmful and may even lead to weight gain.

“The fact of the matter is the body can only break down about five to nine grams of protein per hour. So any excess protein you are not using for athletic endeavors or energy can either be turned into fat of excreted. So if you are consuming more protein than you need and you are not athletic, you are either going to get diarrhea or you will probably store that protein as fuel, which is fat,” says Shannon Jones, a trainer at Crossfit Zone in Victoria.

Excreting that extra protein can put pressure on the kidneys and lead to bone loss, as calcium is taken from bones to assist the excretion process.

While she drinks one protein shake for breakfast, Ms. Jones says you should avoid drinking them unless you lead a very active life.

“It’s not going to benefit you in any way,” she says.

Rubin -- between guzzling protein shakes -- worked out six days a week. So if you're just sitting on your ass all day, don't count on a diet of nothin' but protein shakes to magically make you slim.

(Source: The Globe & Mail)

Heavy Metal

How much arsenic, cadmium and lead is in your protein shake?

[A]n independent lab commissioned by Consumer Reports found that three servings of one kind of chocolate drink contains more lead and more cadmium than the daily allowances recommended by the U.S. Pharmacopia, the authority on these things. (Click here for full chart of products cited in the report.)

Andrew Shao, senior vice president of scientific and regulatory affairs at the Council for Responsible Nutrition, a supplement industry group, told Consumer Reports that protein powders and drinks are a safe option, even for teens and pregnant women — the ones frequently targeted for nutrition boosting.

But the extra protein may not outweigh the risks, said Michael Harbut, director of the Environmental Cancer Initiative at the Karmanos Cancer Institute in Royal Oak, Michigan. Cadmium can cause serious kidney damage, too much lead cause neurological problems, and we all know why arsenic is a mystery novelist's favorite poision, don't we?

But hey, everything is going to kill everybody eventually, right?

(Source: NPR)