Palep diet and athletes

Bog Butter

Hi all.

I'm on a strict Paleo diet. (for an acne problem) I started yesterday and will stay on it for at least 30 days in accordance with Loren Cordain's, Ph.D. advice. http://thepaleodiet.com/

I am doing a lot of training (running and circuit training) though. Is there anything extra I should do or be aware of?

Also how would whey protein interfere with the diet? He says:

"virtually all dairy products severely impair zinc absorption because of their high calcium concentrations, thereby leaving you at a greater risk for becoming zinc deficient. Zinc deficiency frequently occurs in acne patients and promotes one of the key elements underlying acne: inflammation.

One serving of Whey Protein contains 91.2 mg of Calcium. If I took one of those 3/4 times a week how would that compare to regular dairy intake?

By the way I should add that I will be supplementing my diet with 50mg of Zinc Gloconate for the next 30 days. With a reduction thereafter.

Hanley

I dunno how Paleo dairy is, but anyway...

The general recommendation that always comes out when people are talking about going Paleo while doing highly glycolytic activity is to increase carbs from yams/sweet potatos.

White rice is gluten free, as are some types of oats too.

Dotcomdolly

Whey protein shakes are out if you're doing paleo.
Theres a great group called whole30 on Facebook, even if you don't buy the programme there is a lot of great info and advice there.

Hanley

If you're looking to supplement protein, consider egg protein. Came up in a thread yesterday and could be a solution. Not sure of Cordain or Wolf's stance on it tho.

Red Cortina

If the purpose of adhering to a strict Paleo diet is to resolve the acne issue then I would leave the protein shakes aside for the month, see where you are at this point and then gradually re-introduce 1 thing at a time into your diet and see how you react to it. A sort of n=1 trial.

I think that this blog post is interesting. http://paleopepper.com/2011/05/pcos-and-acne-update/ Even though she talks about her PCOS, she also talks about all the things she has tried in order to resolve her acne issue. Might give you some other ideas to try?

With the Paleo diet the main thing that you are going to be lacking from a macro-nutrient POV is carbohydrate. Therefore if you are training hard then, as Hanley suggested, some safe starch might be the way to go.

Finally if it is a case that all the exercise that you are doing is actually a stressor in your life which you are not properly recovering from, then this could possibly be contributing to your acne problem.

Bog Butter

Thanks for the really great replies there and the links. I will deffo look into them. Yeah I think I will leave out for the month.

JohnnyNoxville

Cordain has written a book called The Paleo Diet for Athletes- I bought a copy on Amazon. Good luck !

Bog Butter

Thanks Johnny. What should a Paleo eater eat in the hours leading up to a running race (or any high exertion event) do you or anybody else know?

JohnnyNoxville

I have just started reading it today- ill let you know.