RE: FITNESS: Diet and Exercise

From: gts (gts_2000@yahoo.com)
Date: Sat Apr 12 2003 - 12:49:50 MDT

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    > Greg's essay is deeply inspirational.

    Yes, absolutely.

    My own experience with Atkins:

    I once followed Atkins religiously. I stayed in or near ketosis for nearly
    two years. (For those who don't know, ketosis is a state in which the body
    begins to metabolize fat for energy due to a shortage of carbohydrates.) I
    lost so much weight that it eventually scared me. I am a stout 6'1", but I
    dropped down to less than 170 lbs, far below my ideal weight of about 195
    and less than I weighed in high school.

    Also I began to lose hair on my head. Convinced that I was balding, I began
    using finasteride (Propecia) in an attempt keep my hair. I then noticed
    something suspicious: my hair was not falling out in the normal pattern
    typical of male pattern baldness. Instead it was falling out from all over
    my head, from the sides and back as well as the top. I did some research and
    learned that ketosis tends to suppress the thyroid, and that hypo-thyroidism
    is associated with general hair loss.

    That was enough for me. I abandoned Atkins and shifted to a Paleolithic
    diet, which includes enough fruits and vegetables to stay well out of
    ketosis. Within six months my hair was back and I was looking and feeling
    better.

    The paleo diet is also a relatively low-carb diet by virtue of the fact that
    it does not include agricultural products of any kind. Also it does not
    contain dairy products. Agriculture and animal husbandry are very recent
    technologies on an evolutionary time-scale. The Paleolithic diet is the diet
    to which we are genetically adapted.

    The diet is very simple to follow. One need only keep one rule in mind:

    "Eat only that which you could eat if you were naked in the forest with a
    sharp stick."

    This limits one to meat, fish, fowl, eggs, fruits, vegetables and nuts.
    Healthy.

    -Fred Flintstone



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