The first and most confrontational nutrition debate is the plant vs. animal war. It seems that the 2 groups are trying to be polar opposites of one another but is one better then the other or are they just 2 paths to a similar destination? Well I have had the chance to dabble in both nutrition strategies and conclude that both have their merits. Lets expand...
Raw Vegan: Often the visual that one imagines when hearing that someone is a raw vegan is that of a thin, long haired, tree hugging, philosophy spewing hippie who lives off nothing but wheat grass juice and the energy of "mother nature". And no doubt there are many of that sort but if we look past the nutty appearance we can find that apart from all the spiritual jabber there is a fountain of well founded nutritional wisdom there. The Idea is simply simplicity. If it's hard for your body to process and digest then it shouldn't go in your mouth. Animal products are what they say to be the main cause of health problems along with grains and other starch based carbs. So the name of the game is stick with what the earth gives us without having to cook it. So things like potatoes and squash are also out... only fruits, vegetables and some nuts and seeds. Basically what you can grab just in the produce section of the grocery store.
Now Paleo is different but at the same time has similar ideas behind it. The basics are that you only buy what we had access to thousands of years ago before processed and pre-packaged foods came about. In the same way as the raw diet, Paleo shuns most starch based carbs (grains, potatoes, etc...) and focuses on a lot of veggies. The difference lies in the high amount of meat consumed and the fact that you can lightly cook your veggies. It also limits the amount of fruit you can eat due to the high sugar content and the effect that it has on you insulin production levels. You can shop for this diet by only buying what you can find outside of the aisles of the grocery store and avoiding dairy all together as it is designed to meet the needs of baby cow and not humans. The proposed benefits of this strategy are as follows, improved digestion, reduced risk of diet related disease, increase in lean muscle gain all round well being. There are those who take this to an extreme and go so far as to eat their meat raw! It's always best to be balanced with everything though and make sure that you are not depriving yourself (so have that piece of cake every once in a while).
Even though they are both strict diets that don't lend themselves to eating out with your friends, it isn't impossible. If you know exactly what you can and can't eat it is more than likely that you can ask your server to customize your meal a bit (eg. replace the rice with some steamed veggies).
So here is what I know from trying each diet strategy thus far.
Raw Vegan + very lean with little exercise required, feel strong and at the same time keep a low body weight.
- Need to eat a lot to sustain energy levels, does not bode well for endurance sports.
Primal Paleo + Easy to build and maintain lean muscle, consistent energy levels, improved workout performance, Long lasting energy
- requires lots of planning for meals/pre-cooking,
I have to say that I have found for my active lifestyle that Paleo has been more suited. Though I love the clean and healthy feeling I get from being raw, it leaves me with little extra energy to work out and requires to much eating to keep up with a high metabolism.
I am going to stick with this clean Paleo diet for a while and see what else happens. Stay tuned for updates on that!
