Stephan Guyenet Posts His Diet, Paleo Turned Non-paleo

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Popular "paleo" blogger Stephan Guyenet, recently posted his diet. Many of you probably know of him from being in the "nutrition scene" over the last ten years. I was quite surprised at the amount of starch/grains/legumes he eats as "paleo" guy. In a Peat context, he uses nixtamalized corn. I was also surprised that he uses high-oleic sunflower oil.

Whole Health Source: What I Eat

"Potatoes reign as my single largest source of calories from September through March. We harvested 800 lbs of potatoes from the garden last season, and we've already gone through most of them. Contrary to claims that the quickly-digesting starch in potatoes makes you hungry and fat, I find that potatoes keep me full for a long time, and I certainly haven't gained any weight. I usually bake or microwave them whole, and eat them plain as part of my meals. I also sometimes toss them in a little oil and turn them into oven fries for a treat. The skins go to our hens.

I eat a variety of grains and pseudograins, particularly corn, rolled oats, brown and white rice, and buckwheat. I eat oats with mineral-rich yogurt to make up for its high level of phytic acid. I also make popcorn sometimes. I don't eat much wheat, but I do eat whole grain bread from time to time, and white bread or pasta on special occasions.

I often use buckwheat, rice, and chickpeas to make a sort of starchy "pancake". I soak the ingredients overnight, rinse well, grind it all into a fine batter in my Vita-Mix with salt, and then use the batter to make thick, savory pancakes onto which I put other foods. I invented this recipe, but it's inspired by the practices of many traditional cultures.

I grow flour corn (Painted Mountain), and use most of it to make masa. This involves the traditional South American method of nixtamalization, which makes corn more digestible and nutritious. Nixtamalizing and grinding the corn is labor-intensive, but it results in satisfying, hearty tortillas and tamales. I also use the corn to make make hominy and flour."

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I do agree with him that vitamin D is really the only supplement worth taking if you don't live in the sun. I think taking hormones is a band-aid that isn't addressing the underlying problem and that a mediocre diet will not solve problems even when taking hormones but I understand why people do it for experiment.
 
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barefooter

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That certainly is surprising/shocking that he's using sunflower oil. However, I don't think he ever claimed to follow a paleo diet. I used to follow his blog, and he had some of the best posts on traditional processing methods for grains that I'd come across, so it shouldn't be shocking that they make up a good portion of his diet.

Edit: also, if you're interested, I read through all the comments, and this is what Stephen said about PUFA.

"I've become fairly agnostic about PUFA. Some of the arguments I used to find convincing have fallen apart (e.g., the idea that high n6 increases inflammation). I do choose added fats that are lower in PUFA (olive oil, butter, high-oleic sunflower), but I don't worry about PUFA in whole foods. All available evidence suggests that nuts are healthy, regardless of PUFA, so I don't worry about it too much. I do try to eat n3 PUFA regularly from seafood."
 
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NathanK

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Apparently he doesn't spend enough time on this forum :)

I'd like to hear the PUFA =/= inflammation argument that had him reconsider. Fresh nuts with high E content are probably somewhat healthy when you have no stored PUFA, but whatever
 

dfspcc20

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I've never really considered him "Paleo" either. I've always seen him on the same level as Chris Masterjohn- non-dogmatic, open to new info, etc. The paleo community did seem to cling to both Guyenet and Masterjohn, though.
 

tara

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My guess is that even though he does eat some of those PUFA containing foods, his diet is probably relatively low-fat compared with SAD, so probably not as much PUFA as many people eat. He talks about a little oil on potato chips as an occasional treat, not large amounts every day. Eating the amount of PUFA you get from whole foods is a lot less than if using lots of cooking oils and margerines regularly.
 
OP
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Edit: also, if you're interested, I read through all the comments, and this is what Stephen said about PUFA.

"I've become fairly agnostic about PUFA. Some of the arguments I used to find convincing have fallen apart (e.g., the idea that high n6 increases inflammation). I do choose added fats that are lower in PUFA (olive oil, butter, high-oleic sunflower), but I don't worry about PUFA in whole foods. All available evidence suggests that nuts are healthy, regardless of PUFA, so I don't worry about it too much. I do try to eat n3 PUFA regularly from seafood."

This is something I said a year ago:

The naturally occurring PUFA in whole foods is not the problem. Focus should be on limiting free, unbound oils, not whole foods. For example, I sometimes consume a fresh seared tuna, which has PUFA, or a small amount of peanut butter, but I'm not concerned with that PUFA, it's the free unbound oils that I avoid.

Are fibrous green vegetables and beans so bad?

I'm not saying it's right or wrong. But great minds think alike. and now with his love of starch, Stephan is copying me. :sunglasses: jk, I think his visit to Santa Rosa last year may have influenced him: Stephan Guyenet, PhD talks about the neurology of obesity

"Stephan J Guyenet, PhD, was a recent speaker at a McDougall Advanced Study Weekend in Santa Rosa, CA."

My guess is that even though he does eat some of those PUFA containing foods, his diet is probably relatively low-fat compared with SAD, so probably not as much PUFA as many people eat. He talks about a little oil on potato chips as an occasional treat, not large amounts every day. Eating the amount of PUFA you get from whole foods is a lot less than if using lots of cooking oils and margerines regularly.

Apparently, high-oleic sunflower oil has a similar fatty acid profile to olive oil.
 
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tara

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InChristAlone

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Wow he has an extremely diverse and well rounded diet!! but also this... "I eat junk food sometimes. By that I mean highly palatable, calorie-dense, refined foods with low nutritional value. Pizza and ice cream are two of my favorites." I am jealous of his potato harvest!! I wish I could grow that much food.
 

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