YES. YES. I know, another one of those million post about health and fitness in the new year, but here's one of many to come. I'm sure not the most healthy person out there. But what does healthy mean? I'm a science geek when it comes to life, so I definitely like to find answers or at least information to support what I'm thinking. One thing I've come to find out in my science career is that almost anything can be made to seem true. I, on the other hand, need to use my geek-ness to my advantage. I will do my best to site credible sources as I go along posting things here and there. (Warning: they will be bland and boring and very very science oriented) If you're able to digest these articles for the information, kudos to you, but I'll do my very best to expose the gist of it all.
Slowly I'm getting influenced by this "Paleo" lifestyle that's been marketed all over CrossFit. I see other people getting good results. First things first, paleo means prehistoric or primitive, so in this day in age how likely can you find things that mimic this definition? Not many. Second, it's quite expensive, grass-fed anything is costly, even when on sale. Lastly, incorporation to your daily life, this requires a lot of discipline, but it can be done.
I'm not 100% convinced on the entire paleo thing, but what I do believe to be true in this diet is the market of "NO SUGAR"! Even if I decide not to follow paleo strictly, I should follow this, as we all should. Understand that the sugar they are speaking of is refined or processed sugar. So if it doesn't come from a fruit, plant, or animal then it's processed. Fruits and natural honey are ok but high-fructose corn syrup and sugar substitutes are a no-no. Did you know carbohydrates, or grains, are a sugar? Yes, rice, wheat, pasta, are all refined sugars so this is lumped into the "no sugar" aspect. But gosh darnit, I grew up eating rice everday. Don't believe the marketing world when they say brown rice is way better than white rice. It's still rice with a little added nutrients but it still reacts and breaks down the same way as white rice im your body.
All this time I've just been thinking and trying to do my own research. I haven't tried to start this lifestyle yet. I'll start by making smarter choices throughout my day. Here are a few journal abstracts that about our western lifestyle and it's effects. Again, this is very dense wording.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21167850
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19528982