About seven years ago and relying on natural remedies, proper rest and nutrition to stay healthy. I experienced an unfamiliar sense of mental cloudiness, and fatigue just prior to, and especially after an intense martial arts training session. As an intensely active martial artist teaching professor and researcher, maintaining a clarity of mind and high energy was essential. Until the age of 45 my routine diet provided me with an appropriate amount of nutrition, 80% plant-based foods supplemented by 20% protein sources and fat, such as chicken or fish. But to my confusion, I suddenly started experiencing a chronic feeling of fatigue accompanied by mental haziness before and after my workouts . Around 2009, I felt the pressure of wanting to optimize my energy and mental clarity, but not really knowing how with so much nutritional information out there, it was hard for me to make sense of it all and benefit from its potential. And as a martial artist’s intent on improving my diet for better performance, I sought answers in books, internet, and conversations with those who had undergone, similar experiences as myself. Now with the rise of digital media and social networks. I was inundated with an ever-growing stream of data on nutrition, body mechanics and beyond from the trustworthy to unreliable. It felt like a sea that could easily drown someone in ambiguity, it seems if, if everywhere you turn there was seemingly reliable yet conflicting answers, leaving me feeling more confused and lost in this online abyss.
One day after a challenging training session, I asked my instructor if he ever faced this type of mental fatigue and cloudiness, and his response was to suggest looking at a new approach to my nutrition and recovery. His suggestion, his
His suggestions led me on an incredible journey of knowledge that eventually introduced me to the world of Kenogenic nutrition, intermittent fasting and ancestral wellness lifestyle for high performing athletes. Something different from what I had been used to as a martial artist and runner. As I delved into the trending books and podcasts on nutrition and ancestral lifestyle that he recommended, I found Rob Wolff’s Paleo Solution podcast. From the very first episode, I learned a new perspective on nutrition and vital insights on efficient training and recovery for athletes who demanded peak performance from their bodies. After listening to the first episode I became inspired, Rob Wolf explained a simple solution that empowered me with powerful tools for feeling more energized and clear.
Enter RobB WOlf’s Paleo solution.
Wolf’s impressive credentials as a biological researcher, jujitsu martial artist, kickboxer, and strength trainer. Combined with his willingness to challenge traditional thinking about athleticism. Rob Wolf was truly an inspiring athlete.
He famously took aim at the Zone Diet approach that many athletes have been relying on for years by introducing them to low carb diet, supplemented with moderate protein and high fat dietary recommendations. What resulted in improved athletic performances across the board. His thought provoking argument that a low carb diet could produce the best performance in athletes certainly piqued my interest. To further his point he provided inspiring case studies of elite and, aspiring athletes who achieved success thanks to their paleo regiment proving it could work for anyone at any level. I was particularly intrigued by all the new metabolic terms as well.
Glucogenesis insulin sensitivity and ketogenic diets that were foreign concepts to me at first, but now make perfect sense when related to athletic performance. From this first podcast, I took seven crucial lessons that I took into consideration when approaching nutrition for physical performance.
Firstly, diets that focus on a high carbo loading and caloric consumption and counting have been proven ineffective in terms of optimizing athletic abilities. Instead he said to consider a balance between fats, carbs, and proteins, as recommended by the paleo or ancestral diets. Secondly, a one size fits all mentality is far less effective than tailoring your daily intake, depending on activity level.
Thirdly, the abundance of information flooding the markets. And the internet nowadays require us to really keep a skeptical lens on armchair experts and the research that’s coming out, always asking why? What else? What’s missing? Why does that matter? Why does that make sense? Or why doesn’t this make sense?
Fourthly, the first stage of ancestral diet requires at least a three week period, which works out to be about 21 days to notice changes in the body composition, energy, mental clarity with the understanding that for the first 10 days, we’ll more than likely experience a slight decline in athletic performance.
But after 21 days of continuous high intensity training and modified nutrition, rest and recovery habits. We should start to see an uptick in our performance and seemingly amazing results in performance and body composition as we adapt and incorporate new nutritional practices, rest and recovery habits, a social behaviors.
Fifthly, paleo, or ancestral works because it helps shifts us away from our modern sedentary life towards those pre-industrial nutritional practices, lifestyle habits and fitness routines. Sixthly, the new concepts he introduced such as insulin sensitivity, ketogenic and glucogenesis helped to increase our understanding of some of the biological processes within our. That we create the changes we want on a biological level.
Finally, I learned that the real key to an ancestral lifestyle or paleo nutrition lies in first consuming the proper ratio of fats to carbs, to protein. Second, improving sleep hygiene. That is getting the proper amount of rest and recovery in between training. And thirdly, social connection and accountability as key to the paleo approach. For instance, with regard to nutrition, first, he suggests that we lower our carbon intakes to around 50 to a hundred grams per day, give or take, depending on the level of glucose demanding activities we engage in. Second, he suggest that we eat a moderate protein based on our body weight. And finally, add a high proportion of saturated fat from plant and animal sources to get the body to switch from sugar burning to fat burning. With regard to rest and recovery or sleep hygiene, he suggested getting seven to eight hours of sleep, second, adjusting our sleep closer to our natural circadian rhythms of our body and third, adjusting our environment and daily habits to optimize the forementioned. With regard to social connections, it helps to develop a community of accountability, friends, and supporters.
At his suggestion, I took his 21-day challenge to eliminate grains in all forms, reintroduce meat and animal fats back into my diet and get the appropriate amount of rest. Ultimately after 21 days, my mental cloudiness lifted and my persistent fatigue lowered significantly. I continued the protocol and in subsequent weeks, my body composition began to improve and I found myself energized, and enthusiastic about training with less mental fogginess, a state that had been absent for years. This newfound enthusiasm prompted and motivated me further to explore ancestral wellness concepts from the likes of Loren Cordain, Mark Sisson, Ben Greenfield, Rhonda Patrick, and others.
My experience with paleo nutrition and ancestral living has allowed me to follow basic principles to promote health and well-being with out suffering or sapping the enjoyment of life. It simply encourages us to increase our fat intake, limit carbs in all forms (sugar, starch, or fiber), and return to whole-food eating for the majority of our meals meaning avoiding heavily processed food options.
What do you think? Have you tried ancestral nutrition? Share what you learned in the comments below,
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