If you’re an athlete, especially the type that trains for endurance, then you must check out this book. This is the first book of its kind that goes into great detail about enhancing your diet and exercise to be similar to those of our Stone Age ancestors. These were the days before food was easily accessible and filled to the brim with hormones and preservatives.
This book is backed by a powerhouse of research and it can get very technical. If you have little knowledge of how we train, or how our digestive system works, then you might be referencing the web a lot to know what the book talks about. The Paleo Diet for Athletes discusses reasons why simple sugars and starches are only beneficial for our bodies in a post workout period, how glycemic load and acid-base balance impacts performance during training or competition, and most importantly, why the “typical athlete diet” is bad for recovery, performance, and health. Throughout the book, the authors reference the lives of the caveman to compare how we live our lives today and how we used to live thousands of years ago. Not to mention, it debunks some of the diet choices that many athletes adhere to today.
Who should read this book?
This is a must-read for any athlete. A large part of the book is dedicated to endurance running, but nothing that cannot be applied to athletes of a different type, such as boxers, hockey players, and cyclists. If you compete, then this is a must if you are looking for gains in speed and endurance. Some chapters in this book detail what you should be eating during competitions, whether they last 1 hour or 8 hours.
The Paleo Diet for Athletes is also a must read for personal trainers. If you’re a certified personal trainer, then you already have the knowledge to easily understand what is presented in this book. You can apply some, or all, of the diet outlines in this book to help your clients achieve what they want to achieve.
Can I read this book to learn how to lose weight?
Yes. Even if you are not an athlete (for the sake of this article, a non-athlete would be anyone who does not dedicated a large amount of time during the week to training), this book can be incredibly beneficial. Later chapters of the book layout exactly what caveman foods you can eat, and what you should not eat and how these foods effect your body.
To reference some of the older articles on this site, this is not a “fad diet” book. When we say diet here, we mean an entire lifestyle of eating. This does not mean cutting out chocolate and soda for a month and seeing what happens. If you eat like a caveman, day in and day out, then you will be as fit as you can possibly be.
There is an earlier version of this book titled “The Paleo Diet”. I have not read that one, but I guess it is geared towards the average Joe than the athlete. You can probably pick up both copies for a discounted price at Amazon.
June 20th, 2008 at 4:39 pm
Hi all great information here and good thread to comment on.
I am an adict to training and really want to get to my best this year!
Can I ask though – how did you get this picked up and into google news?
Very impressive that this blog is syndicated through Google and is it something that is just up to Google or you actively created?
Obviously this is a popular blog with great data so well done on your seo success..
June 24th, 2008 at 8:52 am
I am a fitness nut, as you can see from my webiste name. I take some protein drink before and after workout, but diet, now that is something that could be improved. I am going to check out this book you mention. It sound very good and could be something that I really need to hear and use. Thanks for the great post and I look forward to reading the book. I will check and see if it is on amazon.
Tim
August 6th, 2008 at 8:41 pm
Im guessing tht the diet had to do alot with a nomadic lifestyle? And eating was probably a priority, or at least finding food, but not the primary activity.
It is interesting to see how the shifts in our lifestyles and eating habits take such a toll on the body.
Im betting that if I had to forage for good, I’d be fit! and probably eat a lot less meat.
August 7th, 2008 at 10:49 am
This diet does have a lot to do with the nomadic lifestyle…. but it doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to hunt and forage for your own food. The entire gist of the book is to try to make people understand how the diet of thousands of years differs from our diet today, which particular emphasis on nutrients from food to maximize “the hunt” (your training)
September 11th, 2008 at 8:46 pm
I’m actually looking into becoming a personal trainer. Ive got the fitour course going for now, but I think I might pick up this book too and add it to my knowledge. You can never know too much. Thanks!
Jenny
September 21st, 2008 at 6:58 pm
“Yes. Even if you are not an athlete (for the sake of this article, a non-athlete would be anyone who does not dedicated a large amount of time during the week to training), this book can be incredibly beneficial.”
I think people need to realize that athletes aren’t the only ones who should be engaging in healthy living. The sooner everyday people make this part of their routine the sooner they realize how important fitness is.
October 14th, 2008 at 12:21 pm
all you have to do is work out and eat right a little bit every few days to realize how great a nutritious life style is. You can feel the difference in a little over a week.
October 14th, 2008 at 2:53 pm
This book looks very interesting and I’d be interested in reading to find out what kind of diet is suggested overall.
I agree about simple sugars being pretty much useless unless you have an immediate need for it like right after a workout.
Thanks for book reommendation and review.
October 17th, 2008 at 4:11 pm
I’m far from an athlete but I’ve tried many similar “caveman” style diets with great results. Way too many parts of our daily diets are comprised mostly of simple sugars from the sodas we drink to cereals and breads that make up most of our breakfast and lunch.
Sounds like a very interesting book, I will definitely look it up next time I start a cutting diet.
October 18th, 2008 at 8:38 am
This book has really helped me in my quest for iron distance triathlons. The times to eat and the types of foods are very helpful for recovery from exercise. Joe Friel’s scientific approach to nutrition is extremely well informed. I have used his techniques and had great results. I highly suggest this book to anyone who wants to increase their fitness level.
November 3rd, 2008 at 9:58 am
The book is great!
November 20th, 2008 at 8:13 am
This is a great book, and I’ve heard about it quite a bit. It sure does help out with peoples fitness and how to start a good diet for athletes. Losing weight and increasing fitness is a plus that this book can offer. It can definitely give some good results that people can live by, and it’s not at all boring.
November 25th, 2008 at 7:02 am
Hi,
Good book. The best part of the book is ,there is something for non athletes as well.
-Nancy
December 6th, 2008 at 6:53 am
I’ve looked at The Zone books that are all based around Paleo diets but never really felt that they were ‘accessible’. I’ll give this a go though. Thanks for the good review and recommendation.
December 7th, 2008 at 11:37 pm
A friend of mine had told me about this book recently. I like your review/overview of it, I may try to read it here soon.
December 16th, 2008 at 12:46 pm
Great Article. This books sounds very interesting for even the type of person that is not an athelete too.
December 30th, 2008 at 7:29 pm
2 years ago I tried a similar diet format. The first 2 weeks were hell, I got fatigued quickly during exercise and though I normally would run 7-10 miles 3 times a week, I would develope soreness after a 2 mile run.
Between week 2 and 3 things started to change my endurance returned as did my strength. By weeks 4 and 5, I was beating my best. I felt great, more energy and alertness than I had ever experienced. I can only imagine that this is what it feels like to take performance enhancers. There was no lag in the middle of the day and my mood was almost estatic. Strength, endurance and reaction times continued to improve.
The low carb nature of this lifestyle natural boosts dopamine levels. If you are a person who does well with less seratonin and more dopamine this might be a good fit for you.
I stopped the diet because it’s somewhat restrictive format is a bit hard to follow over the long run, but a day doesn’t pass that I don’t consider starting again.
January 1st, 2009 at 10:40 am
This book is actually amazing. I’ve used it and have lost a lot of weight. It should be supplemented with a good cardio routine though…thats what i was going! Awesome.
January 5th, 2009 at 7:43 am
Dieting is simple we tend to make it sound so hard, we have to learn and change our eating habit not keep on dieting
January 9th, 2009 at 5:00 pm
i agree we try to make so hard to diet…dieting is all in your mind…you just
have to motivate yourself
January 10th, 2009 at 11:21 am
I myself have had battles with my weight. I seem to lose then gain so I was looking for books to help me out on this hard journey and your post about this has made me want to go and find this at the store and actually sit still and read it back to back. Thanks so much for boosting me in the right direction.
February 18th, 2009 at 2:20 pm
This book looks right up my alley. I’ve always believed in cutting out sugars and starches, and this just reinforces that. I’m currently on nutrisystem and it does a lot of that. I do not eat much sugar and the starches are very low as well.
February 23rd, 2009 at 6:34 am
I’m an athlete. But I didn’t have time for sports last year due to my studies. Now I want to get back into sports. I want to improve my fitness to a greater level. I think this will help me for sure. Thanks for sharing the information.
August 25th, 2009 at 4:39 pm
[...] to be 120 years old? Probably. If you are interested in the science behind this theory, pick up the Paleo Diet book. Otherwise, take our word for [...]
September 6th, 2009 at 4:00 pm
If you are trying to eat paleo and need recipes, Ive made a Paleo cookbook to raise funds for charity! sites.google.com/site/paleopantry