Saturday 200 crossfiters and nutrition enthusiasts gathered from across the states to attend the launch of Paleo Brands http://paleobrands.com/ and listen to the brilliant minds of Loren Cordain, Robb Wolf and John Welbourn.
It had a very different feel to it than the Barry Sears Seminar http://www.kellyfrankson.com/2009/08/cr ... ar-review/ that crossfit.com held a few weeks back. It was held in a beautiful hotel conference room with nicely decorated tables scattered throughout the room with water, paleo brand bars and Paleo Snax http://paleobrands.mybigcommerce.com/ for everyone to enjoy.
Side note on the Paleo Snax: The bars were not my favourite, but the Snax pack was money! I’ve ate a lot of jerky in my lifetime and the Jerky in these packs were moist and flavourful with only minimal amounts of salt. To add variety and round out the macronutrient components, the snax also included macadamia nuts, goji berries, blue berries and walnuts.....it had everything you need for a snack on the go and without the sugar, salt and preservatives that you find in other varieties. However, when I went to order some this morning, they don’t ship to Canada and it said it would cost $132 to ship to my San Jose address???
Welbourn, started the conference off with the shortest introduction I have ever seen. One sentence. Short and sweet! (pretty much like the whole conference-efficiently run with just enough time allocated to get what you needed).
Loren Cordain lectured on how our diet has changed and the resulting health ramifications. He presented evidence proving we were meant to eat animal meat and the affects that processing has had on our health. “As Neolithic and Industrial Era foods displace minimally processed, wild plant and animal foods, they adversely affect the following nutritional factors:
- 1. The Glycemic Load-the ability of food to spike or elevate blood sugar-insulin/glucose
- 2. The Fatty Acid Balance-now getting fats from plan food rather than animal
- 3. The Macronutrieint Balance-protein/carbs/fat
- 4. The Trace Nutrient Density-vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals
- 5. The Acid/Vase Balance-every food reports to the kidneys as either acid or base
- 6. The Sodium/Potassium Balance-way too much sodium
- 7. The Fiber Content
Disruption of these 7 nutritional components fundamentally underlies much of the chronic diseases in the Western World.”
I found it particularly interesting his explanations for why things such as flour and potatoes affect our systems in that way that they do. He showed how the Steel Roller Milling of flour influences fiber content, particle size and glycemic index.
He talked about metabolic acidosis occurring over a lifetime-while meats acid yield is 15.7% of energy, cereal grains acid yield is 23.9%. Moreover, grains have replaced fruits and vegetables that are net alkaline yielding promoting osteoporosis, hypertension, kidney stones and stroke.
You also hear a lot about using whole grains for their fiber content, but when you look at fiber content by calories, non starchy vegetables have significantly more.
Lastly, he showed this slide of Fatty meats: Year Round Staples in Western Diets that showed the fats that are disguised as meats in western society:
• Salami-74% fat, 22% protein
• Bacon-77% fat, 21%protein
• Ground Beef-64% Fat, 33%protein
• Hot Dogs-82% fat, 14% protein
• Pork Ribs-72% fat, 26% protein
• T-bone steak-68% fat, 30% protein
To break up the afternoon, we then had a seated lunch that was completely paleo and showed how great paleo food can taste.
After lunch Robb Wolf acknowledged Cordains expertise comparing sharing the stage with him to a musician being on the same stage as the rolling stones. He shared his personal story of how he found the paleo diet and the meaningful impact it has had not only on his own life, but the life of others as well. His focus was on the practical applications of it and ways to incorporate it in real life settings with the basic message being let the results speak for themselves!
John Welbourn then discussed the impact the paleo diet can have on strength athletes, using himself and other professional football players as examples. While some people are genetic freaks and will perform regardless of their diet, most are not so lucky. The basic idea of Paleo diet for strength athletes being that if you can be bigger and LEANER at the same time you can be more efficient.
One of the key tools in accomplishing this is Insulin - the most powerful muscle building tool there is. Because post workout cells are empty, they can use insulin as a transport for anything. Therefore by combining nutrients or supplements with milk (which has high IGF1 levels) you can ensure that muscles actually receive it.
It was touching to hear him talk about visiting high schools and seeing the impact that the “see food diet” that has been traditionally used by high school kids is having on American youth and how he has used that as motivation to educate others on the difference that proper nutrition can make.
Welbourn talked a bit about Paleo Brands the company and how it started and where its going and then opened the door to questions.
One of the interesting things that Cordain mentioned in the questioning period was that the most important supplement to consider is Vitamin D. You can see an interesting article about how vitamin D affects athletic performance here: http://www.fit4younutrition.com/article ... eroid.html
Final thought: Why repeat mistakes that millions have already made before you, learn from those who have already done it right.
