Mary Llewelyn wrote:
> 1.  Is there any paleo precedent for the type of detoxification diet in
> which the dieter eats typically one food (usually a fruit or vegetable) or
a
> limited range of foods for a short time?


I don't think so.

> 2.  Do you believe such diets do what they're supposed to do, namely
> facilitate the flushing of accumulated toxins from the body?  Do they have
> any dangers or lastingly harmful side-effects?

I don't, no.


> 3.  There was a recent thread in which someone mentioned (I'm sorry, I
don't
> have the reference) that a sudden and drastic switch completely away from
> carbs might be harmful.  Do you believe that a detox diet would be harmful
> in the same way over the typically short term (7 to 21 days) of such diets
> (the ones I've seen, anyway)?

I think the Atkins idea of 2 week induction, with very low carbs, is a good
idea. I would do it low carb paleo, basically Atkins without the dairy or
artificial sweeteners.

> OBTW, if you want to know why I'm asking:  I'm a typical pudgy engineer,
> going on 40 years old, with a family history of arthritis, stomach
trouble,
> and gallstones.  I figured a detox diet would be a good way to get
> jump-started on dealing with the excess weight and perhaps a first step in
> changing my diet to head off the other degenerative problems. (Cream teas,
> farewell!)

> +paleo: avidly eat meat, fish, and poultry; willingly eat insects; grow my
> own herbs, blackberries, lemons, plums, peaches, apricots, feijoas, all
> without petrochemicals; frequently eat seaweed; will eat anything, or at
> least try it once
> -paleo: I love (and am good at) traditional English cooking: scones and
> clotted cream with home-made blackberry jam, Welsh rarebit/rabbit (let's
> *not* start on that controversy!), steak and kidney pie, Stilton cheese,
> Cheddar cheese, any cheese, tea, coffee, treacle tarts, hard cider
(brewing
> my own), etc.
> paleo credentials: none
> paleo status: newbie

Well, most people feel better on paleo. The Atkins idea of a two week
induction is enough time to overcome a lot of the cravings and prove to
yourself that you can indeed do it. You will probably start to feel a lot
better (watch the electrolytes though, low carbing is very diuretic and you
can lose a lot of sodium and potassium quite quickly.)

I wouldn't worry about the hard cider (occasionally), or the coffee, but I
would avoid the cheese, the scones, the rarebit, the jam, the clotted cream,
the steak and kidney pie (because of the crust), etc.

English cooking as you describe it is as far from paleo as you can get.
Consequently you need to learn a new dietary lifestyle. This will involve
substitution. I also love to cook and I constantly find recipe ideas I can
adopt to paleo or use as is. I have picked up some excellent cookbooks over
a period of years. The meat and barbecue cookbooks especially are useful. I
have explored other cuisines such as Pacific, Indian, and Chinese (I will
use a little soy sauce on occasion.)

.

Welcome to the list.

--Richard