You may have seen us use the words Paleo and Primal almost interchangeably in our posts in the recent past.  You may have even heard us say that we eat ‘modified Paleo’ or ‘Robb Wolf Paleo.’   While it was not my intention to cause confusion, I figured it’s time to clarify.   Mark Sisson of Mark’s Daily Apple wrote a great article differentiating the two.  Here’s the gist of it:

Paleo and Primal diets both contend that agriculture and all its banes didn’t appear until 10,000 yrs ago.  Sounds like a long time, but in the evolutionary timeline, it’s a blink.  So, the goal is to eliminate grains, up the proteins and greens intake.

They differ in more ways than you’d think, though:

• Fear of fats: The Paleo Diet steers people away from the good stuff, mainly saturated fats in the form of coconut oil, butter, bacon, and eggs, leaving us with processed polyunsaturated oils like canola. Primal eaters see the value in these fats and their role in our neurological function and partake in moderation. See our previous posts on lipophobia and cholesterol.
• Dairy: Again, the Paleo Diet states that absolutely no dairy products must be consumed. While it is understandable that your average milk can have some inflammatory substances such as gluten due to the industrial dairy cow’s diet, items such as butter and heavy cream are practically devoid of these. Then again, these fall under the fats demonized by Loren Cordain (author of the Paleo Diet).
• Coffee: The Paleo Diet discourages coffee drinking while the Primal community counts it as a sensible vice. Robb Wolf is an admitted coffee addict. Granted, it’s not the best option if you are already dehydrated, but it does have it’s usefulness. (and is pretty darn tasty with heavy cream!)
• Wine: Cordain advises against any alcohol consumption whatsoever. On the Primal side of things, red wine would be considered one of the best options if you were to drink alcohol.
• Salt: The Primal diet says that salt in moderation has some health benefits, while Paleo pretty much strives to eliminate ANY added salt from the diet.

Now while it sounds like Cordain is a giant party-pooper, there is some reason behind his recommendations. His stance against alcohol, caffeine and salt is due to the net acid effect these substances may have on the body. For more on the whole acid/base subject, check out Sean’s post.

Marcus says:

For my own two cents on the matter, I agree with most of what Cordain recommends with the exception of his stance on fats. Unfortunately, his prescription is only possible in a vacuum and many find it difficult to live up to. I personally know that trying to cook anything without salt and fats would leave me ready to binge on crappy foods. So in the greater context of adherence to a plan, Primal is much more livable in my opinion. This is why you may have heard some of my advice and later seen a contradiction if you’ve read Cordain’s book. Don’t let this be discouraging though, as following either of the two will put your health in a much improved state over the Standard American Diet (SAD). If having some salt, coffee and wine get you to stay on track, I think the overall benefit will far outweigh the net acid balance. Sure, you could do better but nutrition is largely a game of whack-a-mole and covering all bases (no pun intended) isn’t realistic. I’ll let Ruth and Sean add their respective stances to the comments.

WOD 2.15.10

Press 3×5
Push Jerk 3×3

Then, for time –
5 rounds:

• 5 Power Cleans (80%work set)
• 10 Box Jumps (high)