Pregnancy, Evolution, and Nutrition Data

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Evolution Prescribed Our Diet Long Ago

All the animals on the planet (except for us) need only venture beyond their den’s opening to find sustenance. And humans too, used to do the same. Nature’s pantry is stocked full with meat, fruits, and vegetables (and insects and fish). We were designed, from the beginning, to eat the foods available to us. Packaging and processing is a new trend. For hundreds of thousands of years we have been hunting and gathering our food, not walking down isles of extended shelf life.

Nutrition Data Comparison

The following are two sample diets – one of the SAD (standard American diet) and the other the paleo diet.

At NutritionData.com I added foods into the recipe calculator to show the difference between the Standard American Diet and the Paleo Diet.

Standard American Diet:

Breakfast A bowl of raisin bran with ½ cup of 1% milk, some frozen strawberries, and a glass of OJ.

Snack After the insulin drops, the modern pregnant American pops in at Carls Jr for a blueberry muffin; her mouth watered for more but she controlled her urge. At

Lunch She tries to keep it healthy with a low fat turkey sandwich and a Sprite.

Dinner Pasta with beef and tomato sauce, a slice of bread with margarine, and a small brownie for dessert.

Notice that the glycemic load is very high, the nutrient profile is low, the cholesterol and fat are too low, and the protein is incomplete.This is the health conscious version of the SAD. Imagine what the real American diet looks like!

The Paleo Diet:

Breakfast Two slices of bacon, two eggs cooked in butter, and some strawberries. This high fat meal takes her all the way through lunch.

Lunch A hearty helping of wild salmon with some vegetable soup which includes celery, carrots, and swiss chard.

Dinner Beef brisket with liver, a sweet potato, and spinach.

She eats organic vegetables and pasture raised animals and so the nutrient profile will actually be higher than what NutritionData.com offers. In this data, notice how anti-inflammatory the diet is, how high in nutrients, and how low the glycemic load.

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5 Comments

  1. The Paleo menue looks excellent…However, I have read so much about pregnant women should not exceed 20-25% of protein on a Paleo diet (Cordain and Kresser have both written about the subject) that I wonder if 160 g/day = 640 kcal might not be too much if consumed daily?

    • Thanks for pointing that out! That’s a lot of protein!

      I wasn’t looking at the macro-nutrient values as much as I was trying to show the difference in vitamins and minerals. Personally, I didn’t even eat that many calories per day when I was pregnant nor would I have had a desire for such a large portion of steak or salmon on a regular basis. My own pregnancy diet would have included more fat and less meat, which is true in every day life for me too.

  2. Dear Peggy,
    What about calcium intake when pregnant? for example if I follow the diet with high meat intake and low on fruits and veggies, do I take enough calcium?

  3. peggy,
    i see that nutirional data you recorded the beef intake as raw… was that correct?
    i’m usually a medium rare kinda girl, but all the medical research suggests that meat should not be undercooked for pregnant women, your thoughts???

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