I've also noticed my mind is clearer since I've been paleo: I talk about this in Eat Like A Predator, because everyone's so fixated on the weight loss that they neglect to mention the other advantages!

I suspect the lifting of mental fog involves a combination of several factors that impede clear thinking on the SAD:

• Continual blood sugar swings due to lack of metabolic flexibility
• Ghrelin is neurotrophic. We are smartest when we're a bit hungry -- but if we're constantly snacking in order to "keep our energy up" in the face of impaired met flex, we never get that boost
• Gluten exorphins
• Low-level allergic reactions and intolerances that slow us down both mentally and physically

And we don't know enough about gut-brain to understand what might be happening, but it's entirely possible that it is a factor.

Whatever the case, I'm glad to hear of your success. Welcome home.

JS

I have been paleo + daily home made sauerkraut for three years now. Magic!

One stunning realization for me is that for the previous 50 years pre-paleo I have lived in a dream-like, fuzzy-minded state. Now on paleo my mind has become clearer, my emotions more even, and - amazingly - I have become interested in maths and engineering to the point that I, with no previous knowledge, have recently designed and constructed 1) a classroom toy/model that illustrates various applications of conic sections 2) a new form of construction blocks for children. Engineering, maths and physics now interest me.

What is the basis of this? I suspect it has to do with a lessening of chaotic messaging from the intestines through the enteric system to the hind brain, allowing the forebrain to operate better/be more dominant.

Just a theory.

Other improvements in my health include the fact that my system of fascia is in much better health (flexibility, strength posture).

In fact, today, my health is just great.

Viva Paleo! Viva!

It sounds like you're basically eating a ketogenic version of Paleo, which is indeed an excellent strategy for treating candidiasis.  (Tip: apple cider vinegar is an excellent topical treatment for candida, and for fungal infections generally.  Just rub it on.)

Another benefit of ketosis is improved mental function, especially if your metabolism is impaired.

You'll find that your health continues to improve over the coming months and years, though more slowly -- as I've said many times, "You didn't screw yourself up in two weeks...don't expect to fix yourself in two weeks."  And you'll also find that cheating becomes less and less tempting as you continue to enjoy the benefits of staying on point and inhabiting a healthy body.  Food cravings aren't just mental weakness -- they are greatly exacerbated by a dysfunctional metabolic and hormonal environment.

I'm glad to hear of your success!  Welcome.

JS

I laughed.

JS

I believe epigenetic changes can also be passed down via the father.

JS

Someone will always be attempting to exert that sort of control...if not the government, then some guerilla insurgency or drug lords (which are often the same thing).  The question is "Are the things they want control over things I care about or disagree with?"

JS

As you continue to eat this way, you'll grow stronger both physically and mentally -- and the lack of local packmates will bother you less, because you'll be stronger than those who oppose you.  Feel free to find support here when you need it.

As for myself, after the apocalypse I'll be summering right here at the lake and wintering down in the Carson Valley, just like the Indians used to.  (Unless I've moved.)

MasterNinja:

I've heard it said: "Don't take diet advice from a fat man, or cooking advice from a thin man."

Status for gnolls is much simpler than it is for us.  It starts with who your mother is (or was), and is only maintained by your ability to justify and protect it, by ability or force.  They don't really comprehend the idea that an elaborate hat, or something abstract like "money" or "laws", could give someone else a "right" to eat first or live on an area of land.

And you're right: don't be a vegan.  Q: "How do you know if a stranger is vegan?"  A: "Don't worry, they'll tell you."  But we can't afford to be wallflowers, either...if someone is spreading misinformation, polite disagreement is warranted.  (And, if appropriate, a link to one of my articles.)

JS

JS,
I had no intention of becoming a radical, I just was determined to find health. I'm alarmed and repulsed by the truth that the promotion of human suffering is so profitable. I'm also feeling a little vulnerable as the only gnoll in my neck of the woods. I can't decide whether to curl up in a ball and cry, or just go eat a little more meat. I am comforted in my paranoia to hear from the rest of you out there. Where is our tribe meeting after the apocalypse? Please wait for me...

As for thebakingfairy, I'd rather just step in the flaming dog poop rather than try and read that again.

Susan, being the only gnoll means an unhindered hunting ground.  🙂  I get your point, though.

The fact is that the comparison is easy to make.  I ask people daily, "Why should you take dietary advice from the government of the fattest people on Earth and the "experts" they taught? Really??? When there are so many examples of relatively effortlessly fit, healthy people who follow an ancestral nutrition plan, you still listen to the conventional wisdom?"

That is only the dietary component.  Too many of us have been suckered into wasting many years in pursuit of monetary and status goals.  I picture the gnolls saying, "Nerga, nerga, nerga." and then laughing at our expense.  Gah! I can give countless examples of people who live simply and with minimal attachment to "stuff" who are much happier than many people of great wealth.  As well as my own experience of being on the debt/work treadmill.

In all of this, it is easy to give in to hard feelings, but shouldn't we who have heard the song of our blood understand that a life full of memories and good relationships is important enough to not be so forceful in our spreading the word that we alienate the very people we are trying to educate.