While many CrossFitters turn to the Paleolithic or Zone styles of eating in order to increase performance in workouts, the importance of eating well extends into the much broader issue of disease prevention.
When I initially began to incorporate the Zone and the Paleo nutrition principles into my diet, it was in order to be able to recover faster, workout harder, and make greater gains that I would be able to see. With these intentions, my adherence to the nutrition plan was sporadic and I was always looking forward to the next “cheat day” when I could eat 3 Chipotle burritos or a whole apple pie with a half-gallon of ice cream (as you may have noticed, I really took advantage of my cheat days).
I viewed diet as a way of boosting my performance with good nutrients rather than as a way of saving it from bad food products. With this mindset, it was easy to eat cheat foods because I didn’t think that it would weaken my body; instead, I thought I was giving up something extra, a nutritional enhancement.
Once I had learned about the negative effects of grains, starches, syrups, legumes, dairy, and nightshades, I began to fully appreciate the paleo diet. The human body was finely tuned through evolution during pre-agricultural times; the introduction of domesticated livestock, dairy, grains, starches, legumes, and nightshades has led to the rise of the diseases which now control the average life expectancy. After learning more about the way that non-paleo foods trigger the illnesses that plague modern civilization (namely cardiovascular disease, multiple sclerosis, acne, arthritis, and many cancers), I find it much easier to eat paleo foods 100% of the time. In fact, after becoming aware of the actual processes by which agricultural foods make the human body susceptible to damage, it is much harder to eat cheat foods than it is to continue eating like a caveman.
The videos below explain how compounds within agricultural food items are critical components of the process by which multiple sclerosis attacks the central nervous system. Since I watched them, my diet has been completely paleolithic. Enjoy.
Links to parts 2 – 7 will come up after each segment has finished playing.
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