mattstanton,
I completely agree that processed foods and processed grains are bad for humans- terrible in fact.
The problem is the processed grains (white flours of all grains, oat, barley, wheat, etc), not the grain in it's natural state before processing. When any grain is harvested, it contains 3 parts: the germ, the bran, and endosperm. In processing, the bran and the germ are removed. This was started in the 19th century because the bran/germ have a small amount of fat (healthy fat) and with no refridgeration, and the advent of the train allowing the food supply to be shipped hundreds of miles, that small amount of fat caused the flours to go rancid (the term shelf life became relevant). By removing the bran/germ, leaving only the endosperm allowed for a longer shelf life but at the trade off removing the good part of the grain and concentrating the calories of the endosperm.
Fast forward a 100 years and we now know that the bran and germ are where most of the fiber, vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals are found, i.e. the stuff that is good for us. Whole grain consumption -not processsed grain- is associtated with lower body weights, less incidence of heart disease, lower/more stable blood sugar and many other conditions. Plus it tasts good and is easy to sustain a diet on.
In the last 10 years, whole grains have made a comeback and can be found in pastas, breads, cereals and are great for you. The average American gets 11-14 grams of fiber, but needs at least 25 for women and 38 for men (those are minimums, our ancestors of 100 years ago were eating 60+ grams per day.) Fiber is filling, associated with lower rates of disease. Unless the Paleo diet is promoting 10 or more cups of fruits/veggies per day, you probably are not getting enough fiber in the diet if whole grains (which are rich in fiber) are not present, which it sounds like they are not.
When I say that grains aren't the problem, I mean whole grains, not the processed grains.
We've helped thousands of people (literally) lose weight, and when I see someone eliminating whole grains, I predict they are going to gain the weight back and I'm usually right. They've set themselves up for failure from the beginning becasue they have eliminated one of the staples of the human diet for thousands of years: the whole grain.
I've witnessed hundreds of people try these style of diets, like the Paleo diet, and it's usually the same: they lose a lot of weight, grow tired of eating that way, then revert back to the old habits that caused the weight gain. It's been less than an hour since I met with a 45 year old nurse who's been on these fad diets for years and is losing the weight, only to gain it back. I just signed her up for our Ultimate Loser weight loss challenge. I let you know in 10 weeks how she did. But I can tell you this, the crazy fad diets have failed her miserably because they didn't teach her how to eat in the real world.
I'm just advocating a common sense approach that teaches sustainable behaviors and provides scientifically-proven healthy foods- and fat is not healthy in doses above about 30% of total calories.
To be clear, I've never read the Paleo diet, nor the 100's of other diet books on the market. I don't need to. I already know from the hundreds of clinical trials proving how humans should eat and only need to compare the characteristics of the latest diet to that standard to know if it's credible.
Visit nih.gov and search for Treatment of Overweight and Obesity. That tax-payer funded research project reviewed almost 400 clinical trials over 20 years and thousands of test subjects on characteristics of successful weight managemers. You won't find any of the fad diets showing up in the clinical trials as effective in maintaining weight loss. That is just one research project, there are many others showing the similiar results.