The Paleo Solution: The Original Human Diet

I came close to creating a new shelf just for this book, titled "couldn't finish." There's a lot of interesting, potentially useful information in it, but the author's tone is obnoxious. If his goal was to persuade me, he failed, and not because of his data. Rather, it was that I felt that he didn't understand his audience. He thought he did, but his sense of it was clearly based on people who'd come to him looking for help, and people who'd opposed him from the start, and there was no room for the curious but somewhat sceptical reader.

Two things I found particularly naive were his belief that living a Paleo diet was easy and straightforward for everyone (he tends to take his own experiences and generalize wildly from them - he got very show more sick on a vegetarian diet, so he assumes that anyone eating such food _must_ also be sick, even if they feel healthy, for example), and that it's just a matter of prejudice or lack of will that prevents their success. (He even mocks one woman who failed his program for her attitude - nice.)

In fact, he never mentions the expense of going Paleo - those tasty free-range meats and wild-caught fish and organic veggies aren't available everywhere*, and when they are available, they tend to cost more. So strike one. Second, he doesn't factor in the time involved in this diet - not just the time to prepare the food but also the time needed to shop for it. As "evil" as grain-based and legume-based foods may be, one thing they do have going for them is a stable shelf life. If you don't want to spend your time shopping every other day for your fresh veg and meat, you're going to have to include something else in your diet. So strike two. If you live in a food desert, or work a double-shift, or live on food stamps, sorry, folks. If you're fat and unhealthy, it's your fault for not going Paleo.

I was hoping to be persuaded that the Paleo diet was feasible - and instead I came away feeling scolded and irritated and condescended to by someone I couldn't respect. Perhaps this is what works for some people; it didn't work for me.

*This is the Alice Waters problem. It's reasonable to advise people to eat only local in-season vegetables when you're in a place like California where a variety grows year round. In many parts of the country, however, you're looking at several months of turnips, potatoes, onions and squash - and that's if your grocery store even carries local produce. show less

Whether you're a fan or not of Paleo eating, exercise, or self-help books... this is one seriously entertaining read!!! Robb Wolf is hysterical, very tongue-in-cheek, and is not above smacking his readers around a little, but in a good way! He presents Paleo eating & lifestyle with humor, sarcasm, SCIENCE, and a heavy dose of reality.

Honestly, even if I wasn't interested in eating Paleo, I'd probably have enjoyed the book.

I read this one because I'd heard that a Paleo-style way of eating could be highly beneficial to my particular health issue, and my husband had actually been eating this way for several months without realizing that it was an actual well-known way of eating (and he's lost over 50 lbs since going low-carb, show more high-protein).

As of yesterday, I'm four weeks off grains, legumes, dairy, and refined sugar. I've made a few modifications of my own to the Paleo plan and I'm not one of the paleo police (ie. people who take things waaay too seriously... but you'll find that with any non-traditional way of eating), and aside from the health issues I'm dealing with, I feel amazing. My doctor also approved it and thought I looked great, which was so nice to hear.

...and it's not as hard as you might think when you hear "no grains." Do you eat a piece of chicken, or steak with your dinner? Some steamed veggies? A green salad? That's Paleo! You're probably already doing it some days of the week, and you didn't realize.

The book is hilarious and fantastic, and I've seen the honest, REAL results that eating and living this way (ie. exercising!!!) can have in my own life and my husband's life. Even if you're not interested in Paleo, it's a great read... and for skeptics, Wolf has pages and pages of references so you can check up on all the science points he discusses (which he encourages!).

Loved it. show less

It's an okay book. It champions one particular view of the paleo diet and that can be a bit misleading. Thinking has evolved to allow for different interpretations that are not mentioned in this book. This is not a bad book to read, but don't make it your only source of information about the paleo diet.

Great balance of science and humor--yes, humor. It was actually FUN to read and I learned a lot. Loved the stack of references at the back of the book.

I definitely didn't expect it to be this enjoyable! Loved all the humor and the geeked-out info as well.

The information is very concise - with a lot covered in few pages. As someone who already follows a paleo life style, I know it works but wasn't very clear on all the reasoning behind the results. Robb pretty much cleared up every question I could have asked plus I have lots of new recipes to try!

A funny and convincing introduction to the Paleo diet, without fanaticism

Роб Улф е нещо като неофициалният говорител на Палео диетата и начина на живот и това му е основната книга, в която показва процесите, които текат в тялото в резултат от храната, която приемаме, как да се храним, за да сме по-здрави и защо.

Като цяло полезно четиво, описващо основите на виждането на човешкото тяло като на продукт на еволюцията, неприспособено към съвременния начин на живот. В стремежа си да show more бъде по-разбираем и непринуден обаче, авторът използва малко дразнещ стил, макар да дава много по-подоробна научна информация относно преработването на хранителните вещества и процесите в организма. Освен това фитнес съветите му са доста общи и като цяло си личи, че не е специалист в областта.

Определено полезна книга, но бих препоръчал по-скоро тези:
1. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4642174-body-by-science (само храненето, не фитнеса)
2. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/14871266-the-paleo-manifesto show less