Paleo poop issues reported by a lot of people on Paleo forum

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mcnomore
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Paleo poop issues reported by a lot of people on Paleo forum

Post by mcnomore »

I run across a lot of people posting on forums that they have loose bowels after being on the Paleo diet for awhile. Anyone know why?

If we eat Paleo how can we tell if it's mc or the Paleo Diet? This is all so confusing.
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Post by tex »

Two possibilities come to mind:

1. Those individuals may be eating too much fiber. The archaeological records show that the real paleo diet was a low fiber diet, but most modern paleo diet fans put a convoluted health fad-biased twist on it, and they have mistakenly (IMO) decided that the paleo diet should include a lot of high fiber foods. Fiber in the diet leads to increased water retention in the stool.

2. A lot of people mistakenly believe the old propaganda preached by so many misguided "health experts" who try to make us believe that fat in the diet is unhealthy. A Paleo diet should not be simply a high-protein diet — it should also be a high-fat diet. If someone's fat intake is inadequate because of their choice of lean meat (instead of fatty meat) they can easily develop the condition known as "rabbit starvation". "Rabbit starvation" results in a major diarrhea problem that can actually become life-threatening if it's not corrected by diet changes. It can easily be remedied by including an adequate amount of animal fat in the diet, to balance with the protein intake. IOW, when the paleo diet includes a lot of meat, the meat used should be fatty meat, not lean meat.

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Post by Zizzle »

I agree with Tex, too much roughage. Not just in all the veggies, but they bake with tons of almond meal too. Then there's the fats. I actually think many paleo people are overdoing it! I've come across some Paleo blogs and posts of people eating an INSANE amount of animal fat and coconut oil. They post pictures of dinner -- a huge fatty steak enough to feed a family of 4. Tons of bacon and bacon fat, beef tallow, etc. I sense many curb their cravings with large helpings of meat and fat. I'm afraid the eat lots of veggies message is being lost, especially among the fitness-minded, hungry men.

I'm quite sure our ancestors didn't make almondmeal chocolate chip cookies and scones with butter and/or coconut oil!!:roll: :lol:
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Post by mcnomore »

Should I be eating fatty meat, rather than chicken?
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Post by JFR »

There are all kinds of ways to eat a paleo diet since it is more about what to avoid than it is about exactly what to eat. My diet is paleo, high fat, moderate protein, low carb/fiber. As long as I avoid the foods I know I am sensitive to and keep away from high histamine foods I no longer have D. I do take Allegra every day. I go against conventional "wisdom" eating not high fiber and low fat but instead eating high fat and low fiber. It works for me.

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Post by JeanIrene »

My diet is pretty similar to Jean's. I have meat or fish twice a day, quite a bit of animal fat, coconut oil, low-fiber vegetables for the most part, few fruits, few carbs. I do like munching on walnuts, pecans and brazil nuts, and use almond flour. No problems for me either. I really feel good on it.
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Post by dfpowell »

My diet is also similar to Jean's, I find having more fat with the meat helps me be more satisfied with my meals. However, my stools are variable sometimes loose and sometimes norman, which I think is related to the MC rather than diet. You could keep a food log and get a breakdown on the fat, protein and carb in your diet. I have done that on a website called Fitday.
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Post by tex »

mcnomore wrote:Should I be eating fatty meat, rather than chicken?
Chicken has more fat than the average steak — if you eat the whole chicken, not just the dry, skinless breast. The skin and dark meat contain most of the fat on chicken and other fowl.

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Post by mcnomore »

Tex, do you recommend eating meat with a lot of fat?
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Post by tex »

Remember that I'm not a dietitian, or nutritionist, or any other type of health professional. I've never avoided fat in my diet, and I don't buy meat that appears to be short on fat. Without fat, meat tastes pretty bland. I'm not sure that I could force myself to eat a lot of meat that didn't have any fat.

For decades, "health experts" have promoted a, "if it tastes good, it must be bad for you" food policy. And they've generally recommend that we should cut meat out of our diet and instead just eat whatever the livestock would normally eat (mostly grass, weeds, and grain) And the overall health of the general population has been steadily declining over that same time frame.

Common sense tells you that there is no way that Homo sapiens could have evolved utilizing that philosophy, because today's "health experts" weren't around to give our paleo ancestors bad advice back in those days, so they ate mostly meat (because meat is brain food) and whatever else was available, and when food was plentiful, they ate whatever appealed to them the most. For better or for worse, I have always ignored dietary recommendations made by mainstream "experts", especially those made by government "experts". I have never eschewed fat in my diet.

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It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
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Post by Zizzle »

I also eat plenty of fatty meat, but keep in mind, our ancestors ate comparatively lean free-roaming animals that grazed on grass, not couped up animals fattened up on corn, soy and animal by-products.

I'm also mindful that harmful toxins accumulate in the fat of animals (and people), so unless it's a high quality meat (organic or grass-fed) I sometimes try to minimize the fat I eat.
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Post by dfpowell »

My professional background includes working as a dietitian, however, I think you can learn a lot from following your instincts, and finding what works best for yourself. I think you need to see how your body responds to fat, and what is too much for one person may be okay for another. I may be a rare person, but I look for beef and pork with fat because I find it more tasty, I eat bacon daily and save the dripping to add to meat that needs more flavor. My daily intake is probably around 45 percent of my total calories. My digestive system does ok with fat, and my weight is stable. However, if I go into a flare my dietary fat goes down a level depending on symptoms.
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Post by coryhub »

I weigh in on the side of a fatty meat-eater too. I crave fats and am always hungry and yet no matter how ravenously I eat I seem to just maintain the same weight. Without the fats I'm afraid I'd vanish.
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Post by tex »

Zizzle wrote:our ancestors ate comparatively lean free-roaming animals that grazed on grass
I see that phrase repeated over and over, and no one every raises an objection. Apparently, there aren't many farmers/ranchers/hunters/game biologists remaining in the population who read such blog comments, or if they do, they just ignore them. Maybe it's time to correct that misconception.

In reality, herbivores (grazing animals) don't eat just grass (which typically has a relatively low protein level). The most important part of their diet is usually forbs (broadleaf weeds), and animals that live on the edge between forests and grassy plains also tend to eat a lot of higher protein leaves from brush. Forbs and fresh growth on brush have a much higher protein and fat level than droughty grass, and when the rains come, and forbs are loaded with protein and fat, grazing animals normally become quite fat by grazing on them.

Wild animal fat isn't marbled like beef. Instead, mule deer in the Rockies for example, typically go into winter with approximately a 2-inch layer of fat on their backside, and that fat helps them to survive the winter by providing both fuel and insulation from the cold. Bison do the same thing, and so do antelope. They all store fat when times are good. Virtually all grazing animals (except for maybe old and/or sick animals) become surprisingly fat when grazing conditions are good, and grazing conditions were apparently much better during most of the paleo era than they are these days, in most parts of the world that was inhabited at the time.

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It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
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Post by Leah »

I am not Paleo, but When I eat meat ( 2-3x a day), I don't worry about the fat. It helps to keep me full and satisfied.... and to say this i have to ignore everything I have studied for my nutrition certification :)

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