Is Get-Fit Guy Paleo?
There’s been plenty of buzz about the Paleo Diet lately. Should you give up grasses, grains, legumes, and dairy to get more in touch with our hunter-gatherer roots? Find out here.
Ben Greenfield
If you caught the Dr. Oz show this week, you may have noticed coverage on the Paleo Diet Craze. And since I just recently returned from a Paleo conference I’ve received a few questions about whether or not I endorse or practice the Paleo diet.
For the record, I am not Paleo. And here’s why: While I’m certainly a fan of moving like a hunter-gatherer and including the type of lunging, twisting, lifting, and gait movements I showcase in the episode What Are Paleo Exercises?, I’m simply not convinced that we shouldn’t be eating grains, grasses, legumes, dairy, and other “forbidden” Paleo foods – simply because those foods cause gastric distress or are resistant to digestion.
Instead, I’m a firm believer that just about any natural food can be made digestible. Take legumes for example. Legumes certainly do have components such as phytic acids, which can prevent 
minerals from being absorbed in your digestive tract. But if you soak your beans, you speed up the cooking process, and begin a sprouting process which removes those phytic acids. Soaking also improves digestibility because certain gas-causing enzymes and complex sugars in legumes are released into the soaking water (and you can also add a few teaspoons of whey, yogurt, buttermilk, or kefir to the water with the beans to allow a little bit of fermentation, which helps break down complex proteins and nutrients into their simpler, more digestible forms).
If you do want to try Paleo, and you want some good Paleo choices to munch on before, during, or after a workout, then check out the episode: Fuel Your Workouts with the Paleo Diet.
If you have more questions about the Paleo diet, then ask them now at Facebook.com/GetFitGuy!
Healthy Food Assortment from Shutterstock
About the Author
Ben Greenfield received bachelor’s and master’s degrees from University of Idaho in sports science and exercise physiology; personal training and strength and conditioning certifications from the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA); a sports nutrition certification from the International Society of Sports Nutrition (ISSN), an advanced bicycle fitting certification from Serotta. He has over 11 years’ experience in coaching professional, collegiate, and recreational athletes from all sports, and as helped hundreds of clients achieve weight loss and fitness success.