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Why Paleo Is Taking the World by Storm

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Back in June I spoke at a conference called Revitalize at the Miraval Resort in Tuscon, AZ, which was organized by MindBodyGreen.com. They invited 100 thought leaders and experts in the fields of nutrition, personal growth, fitness, and “green living” to present and collaborate on creating a healthier future.

My talk was called “Why Paleo Is Taking the World By Storm”. I share my personal story using a personalized Paleo approach to recover from a debilitating chronic illness. I also discuss:

  • Why a Paleo diet makes sense from an evolutionary perspective
  • The growing chronic disease epidemic and its disastrous consequences
  • How our modern diet and lifestyle contribute to chronic disease
  • How a Paleo approach can help prevent and reverse these diseases
  • What Paleo critics get right—and what they get wrong
  • How Paleo can help you to achieve your goals, and how to get started

It was an interesting audience to deliver the talk to, since many of the other nutrition experts at the conference are advocates of vegan / raw food / plant-based diets. Despite that, it was well-received and so far the Livestream version that is available online has generated some positive discussion.

If you haven’t watched it already, click the screenshot below to go check it out!

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  1. It’s taking the world by storm because it’s the only thing that makes sense!

    As long as we can keep people focused on the real food and not all the thousands of paleo treats and sweets, we will have huge success worldwide and continue to change the current system.

  2. Hi Chris

    I found your site after searching thyroid and adrenal health. I have followed a low sugar high vitamin gluten free diet after a host of issues crashed my body.

    Wow!!! I’m on a comeback. I have been on thyroid meds for 15 years. Taking sugar out dulled me from feeling bad anxiety. It took about 5 solid days but really felt the shift. One other surprise: Philips colon health!!! My anxiety has almost gone away completely. My labs have changed ft4 is great tsh is 10 higher but I feel great and my goiter is gone. With high tsh I normally have a goiter. Finally my bilirubin is normal!! I have had high bilirubin for 15 years too. Anyway want to share. I’m feeling a lot if hope. I tried other probiotics but Philips seemed to work magic on my body. Love your site.

  3. Chris,

    I’ll keep it short and sweet: what a truly inspiring twenty-minute talk. I am grateful beyond words that you are here in 2014!

    Keep up the outstanding work.

  4. i think it is taking the world by storm.

    Paleo foods going up in price or not available at all in my local supermkts – especially sweet potatoes. i see most stores and farmers mkt vendors trying to get $1.50/lb for them here in California. also beef liver was out of stock for several months at Walmart.
    and for some reason Walmart carries green plantains at 50c each – idk who else would buy these other than Paleo dieters.

  5. Korinna –
    I know you addressed Chris and he may respond to you but may I also direct you to the website and work of Dr. Daniel Kalish. Diet alone is not going to unwind your issues and Kalish’s protocol starts with hormones. Ongoing stress which it sounds like you’ve had alot of, creates a cascade of issues centered on your adrenals which can also involve your thyroid. Fatigue is certainly one of the most common results. Feeling “burnt out” which in fact, your adrenals may be. Kalish recommends a basically paleo diet but his protocol involves alot of straightforward test results to see if your adrenals are really up to snuff and to address through supplementation as well as diet and retest. You can print out a free 50 page description of his program on his website. It’s very transparent. For more support check out scdlifestyle.com which is a site developed by two guys who used Kalish’s protocol, among others, to heal themselves through many years of wasted time and trial and error. They sell a handholding program to walk you through it which is more affordable than paying a Kalish trained practitioner – but they also refer to two Kalish practioners as well so it is a balance of how much you can manage financially. You can handle this “online” and most likely order tests via email even from abroad. Chris actually supported the launch of SCDLifestyle’s program a month or so ago, so in case Chris doesn’t answer you, I think this should be helpful and represent his opinion as well, perhaps! It’s obvious you need more support than you’re getting in trying to treat yourself! Good luck!

  6. Hi Chris,
    I am 56 years old. 16 years ago I was bitten by a red bellied black snake, AND had shell back tick fever (Riketsia) within a few short months, both common to where I lived at the time in Australia. After a shaky recovery of fevers and rapid weight loss and a few hospital visits, I became a hyperactive nutcase. It was 2 years of running on quicksand before a doctor thought to test my thyroid> Sure enough, I was hyperthyroid to the max. I was put onto Neomercazole and betablocker , Inderal, to slow my racing heart down.
    After 5 years of this and being a ‘skinny’ person, I started to react to the medication. I was then put through irradiated iodine therapy leaving my thyroid mostly dead and me with hypothyroidism….and so slow that I hardly got out of bed. I did some serious couch commitment.
    After years of the ups and downs both in weight and moods, I also picked up Blastocystis Hominus in China which put my gut into turmoil. By this time, I thought i would go mad.
    BUT, I read a book called STOP THE THYROID MADNESS and put myself (via a GP) on natural dessicated pig thyroid and the Paleo diet (which is supposed to keep the Blastocystis down).HOWEVER, I suddenly jumped 12 pounds/5 kgs in weight that I cannot get rid of, and feel tired all of the time.I need some help. I am so confused
    Korinna

    • I was diagnosed with Blastocystitis too, and found success with a treat of Artemisia and Cloves. It was not a difficult treatment to follow, but I did get a herxheimer reaction the first week. The whole treatment took five weeks, and I feel WELL again.

      At the same time, I made the assumption that I was probably suffering from leaky gut, due to the affects of earlier treatments and the parasites, and followed a typical paleo protocol. (Specifically The Perfect Health diet, but it is largely similar to other protocols). I plan to carefully reintroduce foods, on the assumption that leaky gut can take a long time to heal so I might need to wait before reintroducing some foods.

      Good luck on finding health. Read and learn and treat yourself with kindness.

  7. Hello!

    In your talk you recommended to stop eating flour, sugar and industrial seed oils as a test for two weeks (first you say three, but it seems as if you meant two) and then to quit also grains, dairy products and legumes for another two weeks. This recommendation differs from the 30-day-program in your book, where we are told to remove all of these foods immediately.

    What is the difference between quitting “flour” in the first step and “grains” in the second, as flour consists of milled grains? So bread would not be allowed in the first two weeks but oat flakes are?

    Beside this, I liked your presentation very much. It was very insightful and motivating and I think that your approach to paleo eating (including “testing” and reintroducing foods) is the soundest one among the most prominent systems on the market, especially if people suffer from more severe health and/or digestion problems.

    Greetings from old Europe,
    guzolany

    • He calls it the Paleo diet, but it really is more epigenetic and a good book for this is “Deed Nutrition”. Whether you stop for 2 weeks or 30 days, the object is to start removing what can be intolerant ingredients/foods. Exercise. Deep breathing, etc. which is what I preach as a health consultant. We need meat or flesh for proteins, we need water, and we need veggies and very little fruit. In those societies which have now added grains and dairy, there is increasing weight and more diseases such as cardiac and diabetes. Write a plan, follow it and then dissect the results.