Lynnet Bannion wrote:

> Tom and Anne Donlon wrote:
>
>> --Did you gradually change your eating habits, or abruptly change
>> everything
>> at once?
>>
> I changed by groups: this week no grain, next week no potatoes, week
> after no dairy, which was
> pretty successful for me.  I also took digestive enzymes at first going
> from a near-vegetarian grain-based
> diet to one based on meat and vegetables.
>
>> --Do the cravings go away, and when?
>>
> craving for sweets in a few days, certainly by 2 weeks sweets don't even
> sound good, and chocolate
> just looks like brown waxy stuff, not ambrosia.  But you MUST be strict
> to get this effect.
>
>> --Anyone here have diabetes and care to share if you've experienced any
>> recovery? Were your docs on board? Mine are anti-low-carb.
>>
> A book to support you here is Dr. Bernstein's Diabetes Solution.  It
> only makes sense that if you
> eat fewer carbs, your sugar lowers, duh! If you're on insulin, you'll
> need less, and this is good.
> If you're insulin-resistant (type II), lowering carbs increases your
> insulin sensitivity, and this is good.
>
>> --Also, where do you get your food? I don't want to eat grain-fed
>> meat. But
>> I also wanna be able to keep putting money in my son's college fund! Did
>> your food bill go up when you started buying nuts and meats and lots
>> of nut
>> butters and flours and organic produce? I'm assuming that it'll even out
>> since I won't be buying all the other stuff - ?
>>
> Good food does cost more, but all the extra medical care and
> prescriptions you'll need due to bad
> food is even more expensive.  I don't eat lots of nuts or nut flours
> (even though I raved about the
> chestnut flour lately).  I do buy good quality meat.  If you ask around
> your area, you can probably
> find somebody raising a few steers or pigs or chickens in a sane,
> non-feedlot way.  For organic
> produce, look for a CSA farm (buy a membership, get organic veggies
> every week).
>
>> --Is flax paleo?
>>
> well, sort of, you can certainly collect it without modern technology,
> and sprinkle it on stuff.
>
>> --Do you take supplements?
>>
> I do, but I've cut down recently.
>
>> --Finally, anyone know of a paleo egg substitute? I'm allergic, and
>> all of
>> the replacers I know of are either soy or potato. I've tried bananas
>> with
>> somewhat mixed results.
>>
> Egg replacers for baking, right? (I don't know what else you'd do with
> them).  Baking will definitely
> decrease on a paleo diet.  Most modern paleo eaters just don't bother
> with trying to recreate
> cakes, breads, cookies, pancakes, etc.  Given that, and with the
> definite warning that tapioca
> is not exactly paleo by most people's opinion, a small proportion of
> tapioca flour does very
> well in holding together baked goods in the absence of gluten.  Add a
> little coconut oil, olive oil,
> almond flour, or pecan flour for richness. Xanthan gum is also used (in
> teaspoon quantities) by
> gluten-free bakers.  Overall, any baked goods should be a very
> infrequent treat if you are to
> see the true benefits of paleo eating.  Your staples should be
> meat/poultry/fish, and fruits and
> vegetables. Nuts or eggs for those that can tolerate them.
>
>> Sorry to inundate you with all of these questions, but I'm just
>> trying to
>> get my bearings straight. I was a vegetarian, and a vegan for a
>> while, and
>> have really tried a bunch of low fat high carb diets/ways of eating - so
>> this is a big change for me.
>>
> One of the biggest changes is just the change of mind.  You are flying
> in the face of all the
> vegetarian "received beliefs".  Low-fat to high-fat, high-grain to
> no-grain, no-meat to high-meat.
> I and others have found that our food cravings diminished very much, we
> lost weight, and our
> immune system improved remarkably (practically no more colds/flu, faster
> healing, etc.) And we
> have more strength and energy.  Lots of us on this list have had our
> health damaged by
> vegetarian and vegan diets.
>
> If the ethical question still bothers you, you may want to pay a premium
> for grass-fed beef, which
> basically lives in cow-paradise until the day the truck comes, instead
> of standing shoulder to shoulder
> on a pile of their own manure being fed unnatural foods like corn and
> soybeans.
> Even more so for free-range chickens and eggs, instead of caged.
>
> Good luck with your transition, and welcome to the cave!
>
>    Lynnet
>
I strongly recommend you read "The Rosedale Diet" by Ron Rosedale for
much fascinating information on what it means to change your metabolism
from sugar-burning to fat-burning.  While not strictly Paleo, the book
is indespensible for anyone who wishes to understand Paleo from a
medical/metabolic point of view.  Impress your friends:  Lots of useful
knowledge about fats, protein requirements, and the amazing healthful
benefits of fat burning!   Plus, good recipes too!