Cavemen in New York City

I hear about the Paleo diet and the broader "Caveman" movement form some friends who are big workout fanatics and also practice all kinds of dietary restrictions to go along with it. And lo, here's an article on them in the New York Times. (My friends are not mentioned in the article, but they're part of the same movement/ loose group). Vegan always seemed extreme to me, but his is also rather formidable. what do you guys think?

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/10/fashion/10caveman.html?scp=1&sq=caveman&st=cse
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uptowngirl 2yrs+
Yuck I could never survive on an all meat diet.( btw I love night shades i.e. tomatoes) I also wonder if they have bad breath and suffer from constipation. As for fasting , I have to annually do a fast from sunrise to moonrise which I find difficult enough how would I ever go 36 hours without food? thanks but no thanks I am fine with my few extra pounds and keep fit by hitting the gym every day.
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hhusted 2yrs+
I think I will stick with my current diet. My body works overtime as it is, so when I eat, the foods are digested quickly and turn into energy, which are burned at once. So when I have a big meal, I am usually hungry about two hours later. Imagine me at 6 feet tall with my weight at 165 lbs. People tell me I am skinny for my height. Whatever, I have always found it hard to gain weight from when I was a little kid.
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Uraniumfish 2yrs+
What I find fascinating is that they're not retro in the sense that they all want to live in the woods and go back to rubbing sticks together. A big part of the movement is very much tied to urban living. These people are definitely urbanites, pursuing professional careers of all types. I can vouch fro the ones that I know that they are extreme people in all areas of life: they're successful, ambitious, good at their work. It seem they all share this trait of going to "healthy" extremes.
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hhusted 2yrs+
Hey, if it works for them. Great. I do my best to respect the way people live their lives as long as it does not hurt me in the process. This includes someone's religion, diet, and view of politics. In a way, there are topics I find too controversal, and because of that I prefer not to get involved in those topics. But talk about anything else and I'm all ears.
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hhusted 2yrs+
Change is good as long as it benefits the person. I an open-minded to certain facts as long as it doesn't go against my own beliefs.
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Caveman Diet sounds good - but the average lifespan of a person in those times wouldnt have been 30 years. Diet might have something to with it.
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Uraniumfish 2yrs+
@ JVS Yeah, that's what I had been thinking too. Perhaps our much more complex way of eating is BETTER for us, not WORSE for us.

@ jackvsawyer Totally true. As near as I can get to understanding this, the logic seems to be that evolution is so slow, we're not fundamentally different now than we were a few thousand years ago. This doesn't mean that I agree with their logic or even that I find it sound thinking. We definitely HAVE evolved, even if only a little bit.

I did find one thing of value in their lifestyle, which is to think a lot more carefully about how you eat. Complex fats for example, like what you find in potato chips and all those processed foods--I can't touch that stuff any more. And that's probably a good thing. I've also significantly lowered my carbohydrate intake, and to excellent effect. In general I don't find the caveman diet misguided, just a bit extreme.
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hhusted 2yrs+
The bottom line is the body. If what you do or feed it, keeps you healthy, it is worth time to get involved. If it proves to be unhealthy, logic dictates you forsake it.
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Sounds like just another hipster fad to me. I think any of these trendy eating movements, in any direction, is unhealthy; what's wrong with a common-sense diet and moderate exercise? NYMag had a great analysis of the paleo movement here: http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2010/01/meet_the_cavemen_new_yorks_mos.html
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hhusted 2yrs+
That's right, ajadedidealist. As long as you eat right and get exercise, you should have a good healthy body.
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Uraniumfish 2yrs+
I'm definitely not sticking up for the Cavemen, since I find these tactics a bit weird and a bit too extreme. However, the associated crossfit movement (mentioned in the article only briefly) which includes quite intense methods of working out, is gaining ground pretty quickly. Their membership has doubled and quadrupled in only a couple of years, and there are now locations in Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens.
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