Les Croupiers Running Club Forum

They all died at 35.

Jerome Edwards (BA Hons Archaeology)

Carbos from where?

I would have to give up bread.

Tried it, MEAT for breakfast.

Do you have to kill it yourself, or can it be roadkill?

The paleo diet can be a problem for runners if not planned well due to the low carb intake (typically a proposed paleo diet might only provide 20% of calories which based on the typical 2500 cal intake for blokes would equate to ~125g carbs/day). Also be wary of inadequate calcium intake as a paleo diet would exclude dairy (a neolithic food). As well as low calcium intake being dodgy for bone health its also a potential problem for muscle function as calcium is essential for muscle contraction so endurance runners would be more prone to the effects.

Whether the paleo diet is better than a modern 'healthy' diet is debatable. The paleo diet is a pretty vague concept as it encompasses such a huge period of time. Also since agriculture/ farming has changed our lives in the last 10,000ish years (neolothic period) our gastrointestinal system has evolved to better deal with carbs including lactose (milk sugar).

The actual nutritional breakdown of the paleo diet is debatable also although is generally promoted as high protein, low carb. Looking at hunter gathers that still exist today there's a huge variation in where calories are sourced with some hunter gathere communities relying heavily on tubors and roots (therefore high carb) whilst others such as Inuit's relying almost exclusively on protein (seafood and polar bears).

Oh and relying on protein shakes would be cheating more than likely as protein shakes tend to contain whey protein which is derived from dairy food.

Best of luck....

Does exclude Belgium beer and if so ....why ?

For calcium use tinned salmon, the bones are nice & crunchy!

Edited by user 03 November 2013 10:11:38(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified

Not sure tea was the chosen beverage of the paleo hunter gatherer??

Paleo diet aside its the tanin in tea that binds iron and reduces absorption. But tanins are also present in many other common foods/fluids such as berries, wines, some beers, some fruit juices (eg berry based drinks) orange coloured soft drinks and some nuts therefore if an individual is concerned re iron levels then they need to consider these.

Vit C is only relevant for non haem iron (plant sources) and someone following a paleo diet (considered to be low in iron binding phytates) will probably get adequate haem iron (animal source) which is much more readily absorbed therefore there isn't usually an issue with bio-availability. And a middle aged bloke's (sorry Julian) iron needs are easy to obtain.

Yep, well planed you can meet calcium needs from non dairy foods.

Re carbs from roots and tubers you should get plenty by relying on potatoes and sweet potatoes as a staple. Sweet potatoes have the added bonus of being very rich in several nutrients and have a low glycaemic index therefore release their carbs slowly providing longer lasting energy.

Relying too much on fat for energy especially when running will increase the risk of bonking.

Don't rely on vit D from sunlight during the colder months as we sit too high up in the globe so the sunlight is too weak so dietary sources of vit D are important.