Comments on: Primal Body, Primal Mind, Primal Tools

By: Helen

Helen — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 14:14:36 +0000

hi, i have just read the book also, and have previously followed low carb diets. Though I’m not Anorexic or Bulimiac. but one of nameless’s comments hit the nail on the head. Cravings returned when eating fruit and nuts. I have recently taken sugar out of my diet completely, after reading David Gillespie’s book Sweet Poison. How much sugar we eat without knowing it. even when you think you are sugar free, you are not. Have you looked at the many fillers put into processed foods that are not actually counted as a sugar on the label. But our body converts to Fructose once in our system, which makes us crave sugar. such additives as Maple syrup, Mannitol, Sorbitol, Even pure honey, Inulin Agave syrup, Fructose, Fruit Juice Extract, to name a few. His book is worth looking at, and an easy read. There is a website. sweetpoison.com
there is also a follow on book from that book. will be interested in any comments from anyone who has read it.
thought might shed some light on Nameless’s comment about return of temptation once eating fruit and nuts, though nuts are ok. Just the sugar in the fruit.
won’t comment any further, it’s a must read.it was through his book that lead me to this site eventually, as I seeked more information.

By: Nameless

Nameless — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 21:02:22 +0000

I saw anorexia & bulimia mentioned in a comment from 5/5/09. I can speak from experience on bulimia … going to a low carb/high fat (“kinda paleo”) diet has made all the difference in the world for me. Before I was always chasing a good feeling of full … and it was impossible on a high carb, lowfat diet. I could eat and eat until I was uncomfortably full but I still wasn’t fulfilled, if that makes sense. Then I would purge as much as possible and for a little while, the “uncomfortably full” feeling stuck around and overwhelmed my hunger and I actually felt not hungry without feeling stuffed to sickness. It would never last long though.

However … as soon as I dropped the sugar, wheat and other starches from my diet and put no limit on meat, fat and non-starchy veggies (with limited nuts/fruits thrown in) it changed everything. I was completely fulfilled. I have not purged once since I started, and the only time I felt tempted was when I overate fruits & nuts. I don’t think there’s any research on this topic but it may make for an interesting discussion. Those of us who would never admit to being bulimic in “real life” may be more willing to share our stories over the anonymous internet.

Let’s hope more people are willing to tell others what made the difference.

By: Patrick H.

Patrick H. — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 19:26:22 +0000

Alcoholics are utterly dependent upon and regularly seek fast sources of sugar – alcohol being the fastest

This is probably one of the dumbest things I’ve read in a long, long time.

Hard alcohol doesn’t have a lot, if any carbs. Thus drinking to satisfy the brain’s supposed ‘craving’ for sugars does not make any sense.

Think before you speak.

That wasn’t me speaking, it was Nora Gedgaudas. But alcohol does supply the brain with quick fuel, like sugar. Alcohol cravings and sugar cravings are closely related. Ever attended an AA meeting? I did, back in the day. You’ve never seen bigger sugar addicts.

By: Shaun

Shaun — Thu, 13 Jan 2011 16:04:35 +0000

Another huge improvement switching to a “Paleo” diet has been my freedom from the booze. Half of our dog-walking time every evening was a chat about what we were going to drink afterwards. Alcohol-centred conversations are absolutely a thing of the past for me now; in fact, at the age of 38, I find myself keeping the cork out of wine bottles because I know I’ll be using it to plug the bottle back up without finishing it. The last few nights we’ve been pouring wine back into the bottle for another day lol. Never thought I’d have the sensation of not craving more booze! All good stuff, this life without hangovers.

By: Béji

Béji — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 16:03:20 +0000

I like this post (not the only one, but particularly this one, and I read Primal Body, Primal Mind too)
I’d like to make a french translation of this post. Can I ? I’ll naturally add a link to your blog (and I won’t translate every FatHead posts…be quiet ) and specify that it’s a translation, not my own post.
You can answer me by email.
Thank you.
Best regards,
Sylvain

By: Tech

Tech — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 18:34:37 +0000

I wonder if you and I are clones Tom…. what you describe regarding the beercravings is exactly my experience.

Regards
The clone

I always felt as if part of me was somewhere else …

By: Name

Name — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 15:38:34 +0000

Uh-huh, not following here. Ethanol is not a carbohydrate.
Certainly some drinks have lots of sugar in them, but
in general, metabolizing ethanol eats glucose (in the liver).
This is a a well-known effect
and it triggers food cravings, too (although drinkers prefer to
call this “aperitif”). I sometimes theorize that
this is the reason why moderate drinkers seem to have
slightly better health – poor man’s antidiabetic so to
speak.

Perhaps a slightly different explanation for the same thing. If your body has lost its ability to burn fat efficiently, you must burn quicker fuels, such as glucose or alcohol. So I drink, I burn alcohol, and meanwhile I’ve suppressed my liver’s ability to produce glucose. Alcohol burns off, can’t make enough glucose, now I’ve got real fuel emergency on my hands. So I’ll crave sugar or more alcohol.

By: Babs Dangelo

Babs Dangelo — Sun, 23 May 2010 16:13:51 +0000

I think when it comes to diet, “one size doesn’t fit all”. My daughter has been glutein-free for several years. She also doesn’t consume alcohol, sodas, pastries, doughnuts, “fast-food”, etc. However, when she went “paleo” last fall, within two weeks she began having stomach aches, and fatigue. She normally hikes many miles daily in the woods, but her energy waned on the paleo diet.
Subsequently, she added small amounts of rice, quinoa and millet. Her problems vanished.
She’s now doing “food combining”, which calls for fruit in the AM only. Each meal contains all the veggies possible, but carbs and meats aren’t mixed at any one meal. She likes how her stomach feels on this regimen.
Since she’s been doing this, her health has optimized…but then she also changed other things as well. She began taking Maca powder — (has stopped because it’s quite powerful) and began blues/tango dancing… Whatever the cause, she noticed that her body temperature is up a degree (which is good), and that she withstood catching colds, although those around her were falling like flies.
I think the vast majority of people are eating to horribly, that any improvement will make big differences. Plus, the paleo and Weston Price approach makes a lot of sense biologically.
It will never filter down the the mainstream, I’m afraid. I was just in the hospital, and I swear, they were trying to kill me with their “food”. My family had to go shopping for me because there wasn’t ONE ITEM on the trays that was healthful! Here it is: white roll with “promise”; Splenda, overcooked, mushy carrots and zucchini, mashed (?) potatoes, and very gravied chunks of “meat”, and jello. HELP!

By: Melissa

Melissa — Sat, 15 May 2010 05:30:25 +0000

found this as a link from latest entry!

I had a similar problem, except it wasn’t with alcohol, it was with soda pop.
Once I was “very clean” into eating paleo like when I do have something I never go crazy or have the need to have more pop, or cake or whatever it may be.

I hardly ever have it , I stick mostly to my protein, higher fat, so that when I see pop now I don’t even have the compulsion to drink.
Before I would have tried to cut the pop out, keep eating high carb and then i’d binge on the pop after a few days.
Not very productive.

You were fighting your body’s need for fuel, same as I was.

By: Rachel

Rachel — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 11:05:50 +0000

“Primal Body – Primal Mind” has become my favorite book on the topic of nutrition, replacing the wonderful, and still relevant, “Nourishing Traditions” by Sally Fallon in the number one spot. In fact, I cal PB-PM the book I was meaning to write (and then some!), now I don’t have to do all that work, phew!

For the woman that was asking about anorexia and bulimia I highly recommend Julia Ross’ books “The Mood Cure” and “The Diet Cure.”

Nora’s book is one of the best.