Paleo without needing to loose weight.

maddiemay

From several sources that I trust I have read that Paleo way of eating offers health benefits to such as me with chronic auto-immune conditions.

Sounds great, but pretty much every article or book I see make a huge play of weight loss. Having spent the last 2 years going from being under weight to healthy weight where I do not look drawn and ill I really do not want to loose any weight.

Can anyone offer any advice on this please. I have quite a small appetite still and cannot eat large portions and want to eat as healthily as possible.

lessonlearned

I don't know that I can help much but I would say that I too switched to paleo for health reasons with great results, got my IBS and GERD under control. I didn't experience weight loss.

Can you eat dairy. I think I didn't lose weight because I was eating plenty of cheese and cream, full fat plain yoghurt. Full fat milk smoothies etc., lots of nuts, lots of olive oil.

I am only losing weight now (deliberately) because I have cut out a lot of dairy, especially cheese. I switched to minuscule portions of half fat cheddar for flavouring only. No more Brie or Camembert........I really miss it. Lol. And I am more sparing with olive oil.

Don't know if that helps.

BananaRepublic

The Paleo diet is yet another faddish diet that makes money for its proponents. I have no dietary expertise, as per most diet proponents, but I’d suggest eating a balanced diet, with plenty of fresh or frozen veg, and whole grains. Lots of fish does no harm, and much good, and modest amounts of cheese. Can you cook? I find tasty food helps me eat, which in my case means loads of veggies and taste from chillis, pepper, mustard seed etc. And if you can, get exercise and fresh air.

As for auto immune diseases, I can only suggest following advice of your GP and NHS guidelines. Whilst they do not know everything, their advice is likely to be sensible, and not motivated by sales of diet books.

jjhdee

I agree with BananaRepublic. Not that I'm invalidating other people's stories, but there is more weight in guidelines based on studies than anecdotes because with the latter you're not sure what other factors are in play.

maddiemay

Thank you for your input. In my determination not to waffle in my opening post I gave scant information, but briefly the sources that I trust are all medically trained to at least GP level and 2 have specialities in areas of my health that are a problem.

I am looking at a diet low in refined carbohydrates, as near as possible cutting out gluten (on medical advice) and eating as many colourful and varied foods as my digestion will currently let me:D

LL - Yes I can eat dairy (Lacto free) I was diagnosed lactose intolerant 30+ years ago and it is good to have more choice these days, in the old days all that was available to me was diluted Soya milk which caused it's own problems:(

jjhdee I agree that peer reviewed studies are the things to follow and not the latest celebrity book or one of the headlines in the daily press.

BananaRepublic yes I can cook and need to up my game in respect of more interesting ways to serve vegetables, I have acquired a couple of new to me books with this emphasis, Sadly GPs are given virtually no training on nutrition and many come out with some really weird information, like eat leafy green veg to help combat anaemia:eek:

greenbee

I think with a lot of these things its a case of trial and error to work out what things help and what trigger issues. So as with any exclusion diet, start with the things you know you're OK on, make sure you are stable (including weight) then add things in slowly (tracking any changes in health either way). It's important if you're trying to maintain/increase weight to keep calories up - the good news is that fats are very calorie dense as well as being essential in other ways. They're less filling than grains, so you can get more calories for your low appetite. I've had to feed both parents high-calorie diets at various points, and fat was the key to achieving this when confronted by poor appetite.

I was told 'steak and spinach' for anaemia by lots of well-meaning friends. Unfortunately with a serum ferritin level of around 4 at the time, it wasn't really going to help! Now my levels are stable what's clear is that I'm a poor absorber, and what really helps me is Vitamin C supplementation at high levels and minimal iron supplementation. When my diet is good I'm fine, but work travel means that I can't guarantee to stick with my recommended diet, so supplements are a fact of life.

BananaRepublic

Glad to hear you have a sensible approach. Yes I guess a GP is a generalist, and may forward you on to a specialist if need be. I read the Wikipedia page on the Paleo diet, it’s very interesting.

maddiemay

greenbee wrote: »

I think with a lot of these things its a case of trial and error to work out what things help and what trigger issues. So as with any exclusion diet, start with the things you know you're OK on, make sure you are stable (including weight) then add things in slowly (tracking any changes in health either way). It's important if you're trying to maintain/increase weight to keep calories up - the good news is that fats are very calorie dense as well as being essential in other ways. They're less filling than grains, so you can get more calories for your low appetite. I've had to feed both parents high-calorie diets at various points, and fat was the key to achieving this when confronted by poor appetite.

I was told 'steak and spinach' for anaemia by lots of well-meaning friends. Unfortunately with a serum ferritin level of around 4 at the time, it wasn't really going to help! Now my levels are stable what's clear is that I'm a poor absorber, and what really helps me is Vitamin C supplementation at high levels and minimal iron supplementation. When my diet is good I'm fine, but work travel means that I can't guarantee to stick with my recommended diet, so supplements are a fact of life.

Wow Greenbee, I felt life the proverbial warmed up with a serum Ferritin level of 7, I hate to think how you were at 4:eek: I too am a poor absorber and not completely got to grips with raising my levels enough yet, but I will take on board the Vit C advice.

A friend has a daughter who is an NHS dietician and she very kindly sent me some diet sheets and recommendations in line with the higher fat content you mentioned, but it still took 2 years to get my weight up to a level I felt and looked better with (illness not an ED caused the loss in the first place).

Today I will be having HM mushroom and veg soup (may add a little cream), HM crustless quiche with lots of veg and cheese in and later hope to make a yummy fish pie as per Mary Berry's recent TV programme, with crumble (GF) topping not potatoes, as for some reason I no longer like eating them:(

greenbee

I passed out having a line put in for an MRI at which point they realised something was wrong and had me tested I'd thought that the spaced out feeling was just me... I have to say probably shouldn't have been driving.

Definitely add cream to your soup - mushroom and veg soup is full of vitamins, but very low in calories. Soup is also quite filling (as is veg). Cream in your coffee Lots of avocados if you must eat salad, plenty of nuts and seeds as snacks. I still like porridge for breakfast (I don't do paleo, but have gut-related dietary restrictions so have done the trial and error thing) and make it varied by adding dried fruit, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, chia seeds, sesame seeds, almond butter, ground linseed (need the fibre to counteract the iron supplementation ), oatbran, wheatbran, oatmeal and porridge oats. I also add coconut oil to increase the fat content - I'm not good at eating fats, and my hairdresser is often the first to spot when I'm not eating enough.

I wouldn't worry about potatoes. I'm not a massive fan (except possibly baked potatoes) but a lovely creamy fish 'stew' with lots of veg is delicious.

lessonlearned

Maddie. I can't eat potatoes either. I have recently discovered butter bean mash. It's a good substitute for mashed white potatoes.

BananaRepublic

Potatoes aren’t really fattening anyway, it’s the way they are cooked that can make them calorific. I once knew someone with some gut missing who needed to eat lots of fat, and his doctor advised curries. I’m fond of coconut milk, which can be added to soups and sauces. It can be used like cream to make pasta sauces, unconventional but tasty IMO.