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The Paleo Diet for Athletes: A Nutritional Formula for Peak Athletic Performance by Joe Friel, Loren Cordain
Book Summary InformationAuthor: Joe Friel, Loren Cordain Edition: Paperback Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published) Published: 2005-09-23 ISBN: 1594860890 Number of pages: 288 Publisher: Rodale Books Product features: Accessories:
Book Reviews of The Paleo Diet for Athletes: A Nutritional Formula for Peak Athletic PerformanceBook Review: Regurgitation of bad conventional wisdom under the guise of paleo Summary: 1 StarsThis book makes a lot of claims that aren't true. First and foremost, it is not paleo. It recommends a diet that is extremely out of whack in the macro-nutrient sense with that of paleo. Second, it purports that it is based on science and experience. The science piece of that claim is non-existent, and the experience portion is circumstantial (or anecdotal) evidence in support of their arguement. Third, it sets up contradictory advice for recovery. Fourth, it is extremely painful to read not just because it constantly passes opinion off as science, but because it talks down to the reader the whole time. Lastly, it defines "athlete" as endurance sportspersons.
1. Not paleo. Sure it tells you to eat a version paleo during the times when you aren't "training" (aka work out or exercise), but most people reading this book work out on a very regular basis. It also recommends that you prepare for exercise and immediately following an exercise by carb-loading. The carbs it chooses are very often not paleo - bars, sports drinks, grains, and legumes. In essence, if you work out every day, 2 out of 3 meals in a day would not be paleo. Even if you only work out 3 days a week, which is pretty much the bottom line if you are an "athlete," that is still 6 meals minimum a week that are heavily un-paleo. Why even bother calling yourself paleo at that point?
2. Science and experience. It makes claims, like "stay away from all that bad artery clogging saturated fat." I know a lot of people believe that claim, but that claim is not based on science, it is based on two epidemiological studies from the early to mid 1900's that cherry picked their data. There has never been any proven connection between cholesterol and heart disease. They never find a reasonable link between the two when they do clinical trials. By the way, Paleolithic people ate saturated fat. This is just one of the examples of this book pawning off opinion as science. As far as experience - Friel does have a lot of endurance experience. However, there are plenty of athletes who are in better total shape who eat paleo the whole time or who even fast for intense workouts. I know several first hand who switched away from the books suggestions to strict paleo and seen enormous results. In both Friel's and my case this is anecdotal evidence to support the claim, and shouldn't be used as proof that either works.
3. Recovery advice. Make sure you eat lots of protein, but all the protein has a high amount of acidity and you shouldn't eat any food that is acidic to recover. Make sure you get the base alkalines in there too, but to counteract the acidity of the majority of foods you need to eat, you need to consume unrealistic amounts of the alkalines. I could keep going in circles based on the advice, but I think 2 examples will do.
4. Talks down. "Optimize Performance. This is a big one." No kidding, huh? "All athletes are susceptible to inflammation of muscles and tendons" Really? I had no idea. By the way all those carbs they tell you to eat, promote inflammation.
5. Athletes. It bothers me that they define athlete as endurance sportsperson. There are soooo many other types of athletes that they never address. Sure you can make up some sort of variation and apply it to your sport, but then why'd I buy the book? I'd rather have specific advice from experts (not that I consider the advice in this book "expert") than make my own. Not that I consider the advice in this book "expert", it's just more regurgitated bad conventional wisdom that we've all heard - carb load, look out for saturated fat, etc. [...]
Summary of The Paleo Diet for Athletes: A Nutritional Formula for Peak Athletic PerformanceLoren Cordain, Ph.D., follows his success of The Paleo Diet with the first book ever to detail the exercise-enhancing effects of a diet similar to that of our Stone Age ancestors.
When The Paleo Diet was published, advocating a return to the diet of our ancestors (high protein, plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables), the book received brilliant reviews from the medical and nutritional communities. Jennie Brand-Miller, coauthor of the bestselling Glucose Revolution, called it "without a doubt the most nutritious diet on the planet." Doctors Michael and Mary Dan Eades, authors of Protein Power, said, "We can't recommend The Paleo Diet highly enough."
Now Dr. Cordain joins with USA triathlon and cycling elite coach Joe Friel to adapt the Paleo Diet to the needs of athletes. The authors show: o Why the typical athletic diet (top-heavy with grains, starches, and refined sugars) is detrimental to recovery, performance, and health o How the glycemic load and acid-base balance impact performance o Why consumption of starches and simple sugars is only beneficial in the immediate post-exercise period
At every level of competition, The Paleo Diet for Athletes can maximize performance in a range of endurance sports.
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