After two years, we at the Ancestral Weight Loss Registry (AWLR) are proud of what we’ve become. Over 3,100 people from all 50 states and over 55 countries have registered and shared the tribulations and triumphs populating their noble journey towards health, fueled by fatty meats with a side of buttered broccoli. A physician’s recommended eating strategy that, but for a few years ago, would at the very best be viewed as a data-less void of speculation, and at the worst, labeled utter quackery. Asking an overweight patient to eat foods high in calories does not pass the proverbial eyeball test, defying all common wisdom characterizing weight loss advice to date.

Coming up with a testable hypothesis for why we gain weight and how to lose it undoubtedly involves logic, intuition and researcher experience. As Nobel laureate Richard Feynman describes scientific discovery and hypothesis testing:
 

“First we guess it…then we compute the consequences of the guess to see what it would imply. And then we compare those computation results directly to observation to see if it works. If it disagrees with the experiment, it’s wrong. In the simple statement is the key to science”

But what if we didn’t have to guess it? What if we had the capabilities to crowd-source hypothesis creation instead of relying on bias-confounded researcher intuition? This is the motivation for AWLR, and central to its success is you. Primal Blueprint (PB) followers make up 40% of registry members and from the bottom of my heart, I thank those who have registered thus far and urge those who have not to register here today to help make AWLR the largest weight loss registry the world has ever seen.

PB eaters have contributed a tremendous amount of data. The common experiences and behaviors that materialize by straining your conglomerate information through an algorithmic sieve become hypotheses that spawn a reverse engineering problem, beginning with clinical findings and searching for mechanisms of action. One of the most interesting such trends was that related to hunger.

“After going primal, I just didn't get so hungry any more. And when I did feel hunger, it wasn't so pressing, and I could easily ignore it and it would go away for a while.”


“The ease of Primal Blueprint has surprised me the most. Fat tastes delicious, so I eat better-tasting food. I don't go hungry because I simply eat until I'm full instead of counting calories.”

See our testimonials page for hundreds of similar quotes. 95.8% of PB eaters report feeling “rarely or never hungry between meals” and of those who have tried a low fat diet in the past, 91% report feeling less hungry while eating PB. This satiety has led to an average of 33 pounds lost and over 31,000 pounds dropped total.

Could these findings be real? Or are they simply a function of the non-randomized, self-selected data that has accrued? Taking a journey through the medical literature may offer some insight.

They Starved, We Forgot
In 1944, Ancel Keys recruited 36 men into what would be known as the Minnesota starvation experiment, to study the physiologic and psychological effects of prolonged and severe dietary restriction. He documented his findings in a 1400 page tome, and shortly after the experiment began, the men quickly realized how difficult it might be. The predictable signs and symptoms quickly crept in: constant hunger, low body temperature, decreased libido and a total inability to think of anything but food. One subject offered a particularly chilling exposé of what it is like to eat such little food:

"How does it feel to starve? It is something like this: I'm hungry. I'm always hungry - not like the hunger that comes when you miss lunch but a continual cry from the body for food. At times I can almost forget about it but there is nothing that can hold my interest for long. I wait for mealtime. When it comes I eat slowly and make the food last as long as possible. The menu never gets monotonous even if it is the same each day or is of poor quality. It is food and all food tastes good. Even dirty crusts of bread in the street look appetizing and I envy the fat pigeons picking at them.”

So what were they eating? “The major food items served,” described Dr Keys “were whole wheat bread, potatoes, cereals, and considerable amounts of turnips and cabbage. Only token amounts of meats and dairy products were provided,” with an average daily intake of 1570 calories, including about 50 grams of protein and 30 grams of fat.

Fast-forward 70 years
The director of Boston Medical Center’s weight management clinic and obesity consultant for Dr. Oz, Dr. Caroline Apovian describes in an interview how she treats her patients’ weight troubles.

“If somebody came into my clinic who had a BMI of 30—female—I would put them on a 1,200- to 1,500-calorie-a-day diet, and they usually would be eating 2,500. A normal, moderately active female eats 2,000 calories a day, and a male, 2,500.” But wouldn’t this “produce a chronic hunger?” the reporter aptly counters. “It does,” replies Apovian, “and it’s usually a hunger that people cannot tolerate. That is the reason most diet programs fail.”

So how did the ‘starvation diet’ of 1944 become the standard of care today?

Protein, Hunger & Weight Loss

The Fat Trap, a popular New York Times article from 2011 profiles a study by Dr. Joseph Proietto, highlighting the difficulty in losing weight on a low calorie diet. Proietto recruited 50 obese men and women, studying the biological state of the body after weight loss. The patients were given 500 calories of a low fat Optifast shake each day for eight weeks. But after a year, the weight slowly came back and the subjects were haunted by their diet-induced hormonal changes, feeling “far more hungry and preoccupied with food than before they lost the weight.” Researchers also noticed that ghrelin, often dubbed the ‘hunger hormone,’ was about 20 percent higher than at the start of the study. “What we see here is a coordinated defense mechanism with multiple components all directed toward making us put on weight,” Proietto says. “This, I think, explains the high failure rate in obesity treatment.”

However, this weight-loss-induced ghrelin rise is only observed when ketosis is absent. These same researchers three years later sung to a different tune:

 

“Ketogenic low-carbohydrate diets are a popular means of weight loss, and in the short-term, often result in greater weight loss than low-fat diets…it is commonly proposed that ketones suppress appetite, and it has been observed that study participants on ad libitum ketogenic diets spontaneously restrict their energy intake.”

And their randomized trial in the European journal of clinical nutrition confirmed this observation, demonstrating that “in mildly ketotic participants, the increase in the circulating concentration of ghrelin, a potent stimulator of appetite, which otherwise occurs as a result of diet-induced weight loss, was suppressed.”

This anorexic effect secondary to a high protein, high fat diet likely explains why PB eaters are so successful and happy with their new way of eating. It could also explain why in the majority of randomized clinical trials testing such diets, those highest in protein and fat systematically lead to more weight loss. There are at least 14 randomized clinical trials in which the people assigned to a calorie unlimited high protein, high fat diet lose more weight than their low fat, calorie restricted counterparts.

Which begs the question: Where are the randomized clinical trials supporting low fat diets as the standard of care? The studies where a low fat, calorie restricted diet results in more weight loss than a calorie unlimited high fat diet. In fact, we at AWLR were so bewildered by the lack of evidence that we are running the ‘Low Fat Challenge’ for anyone in the world to find such a trial, incentivized by a crowd-funded pot of cash. After nearly a year, hundreds of dollars have been raised with no winner to accept.

My wildest dream would be to make AWLR the largest weight loss registry in the world within the next year, overtaking the National Weight Control Registry that has a 15-year head start. They boast around 10,000 members after approximately 17 years of existence.  At 3,100+ after two years, it is an ambitious but attainable goal; A dream that can only be achieved with your help. It would make a tremendously unbelievable statement to the dietary research community if Paleo and PB was so prominent and demonstrated such incredible improvements in health. If you have not registered yet, please take 10 minutes to do so here. And if you have, sharing this post with the world would make all the difference.

As you are reading these words, there is someone out there who is depressed, unhealthy and overweight. A poor soul being shunned by the medical community due to their “lack of willpower,” who struggles to get by on their 1400 calorie low-fat diet. A beautiful human being with boundless happiness trapped underneath the overwhelming heaviness of constant hunger and a label of ‘BMI > 30’, desperately searching for a real solution. With your help, I hope we can reach them and offer a gentle, heart-felt helping hand.

In the fall of 2010 my husband stumbled upon marksdailyapple.com and starting looking into the primal/paleo diet. As he learned about diet health, he shared the information with me, and I began to learn about it as well. It intrigued me and challenged my assumptions about diet health. After reading through Good Calories, Bad Calories, I became convinced that this diet was clearly on the right track, and decided to follow the Primal Blueprint.

At the time I did not have any intentions of losing weight. I carried around an extra 10-15 lbs, but didn't look or feel particularly fat, and was never concerned with weight loss; I simply wanted to be healthier. My concept of health at the time was the expectation that I would live longer and not be so decrepit in my old age. I had no idea what kind of changes were in store for me...

In following the diet, I immediately gave up grains, legumes, sugars and vegetable oils (which had previously constituted a fairly large portion of my diet). I ate mostly meat with a little bit of fruits, vegetables, nuts, and dairy. I ate more potatoes than is probably recommended by the primal blueprint, but then again, the amount of safe starches you consume is supposed to be tailored to your individual needs, and I'm insulin sensitive, so I can handle the range of 100-150g carbs a day. What followed was a startling and entirely unexpected improvement in my well-being in a number of areas. Here are some of the spontaneous improvements that occurred when I switched to eating primally:

1. Improved bowel movements. I had been having trouble with what I believe were hemorrhoids and anal fissures. I kept bleeding when going to the bathroom and I experienced quite a bit of pain. My stools were large and bulky, and it had gotten to a point where it felt like I was passing a cactus. It was excruciating. When I changed my diet, my stools immediately softened and the hemorrhoids went away and the fissures healed. Going to the bathroom was no longer painful.

Shortly after going primal, I decided that I wanted to revert back to my old diet, so that I could eat all of the desserts and foods I was used to eating around Christmas time. I intended to temporarily forgo eating primally until the beginning of the new year. However, when I switched back to eating grains and such, the pain associated with going to the bathroom came back with such violence that it ultimately motivated me to switch back to eating primally, even before Christmas rolled around. I never want to experience that kind of pain again. Unfortunately, the second time I went primal, it took my bowels a full month to heal and get back to normal, but they have stayed normal ever since.

2. Reduced flatulence. I used to pass gas quite frequently, and this made me rather self-conscious. Giving up grains, however, seems to have eliminated the bulk of it. I hardly ever pass gas when I'm following the diet; it's a substantial reduction. I notice also that when I cheat and eat a lot of carbs or sugars, I get gassy again, though not quite as much as when I used to eat grains.

3. Elimination of back spasms. I had been having sharp spasms of pain in my back that would shoot through like bolts of lightning. I'd been getting them for about a past year or so, occurring roughly once every two weeks. I had gone to a chiropractor to try and get rid of the pain, but that accomplished nothing. In the months prior changing my diet, the spasms had increased in frequency to an average of once or twice a day. Within two days of going primal, the spasms stopped entirely. I had one small spasm within the week, and then nothing. In the past two and a half years of being primal, I've had a handful of weak spasms, but they are effectively gone.

4. Elimination of stomach pain. I used to have to eat about every three hours in order to avoid getting too hungry, because when I got really hungry, I would get an excruciating pain in my stomach that would last maybe half an hour to an hour and was completely incapacitating. Once the pain would start to set in, I would quickly try to eat as much as I could to stave it off, but it never worked. Once it started, it just had to play out. Generally I was paranoid about always making sure to eat in order to avoid this kind of pain, but it still ended up occurring every month or couple months anyway. After going primal, I stopped getting this pain. It recurred once only, after I made the mistake of ordering cream of broccoli soup at a restaurant. (It occurred to me afterwards that the soup was probably thickened with wheat flour.)

5. Reduced hunger. I think this one deals with having stabilized my blood sugar. I used to get hungry very often and eat frequently. Especially with the threat of the aforementioned stomach pain, I was particularly careful to always have food on hand. About two weeks after going primal, I just didn't get so hungry any more. And when I did feel hunger, it wasn't so pressing, and I could easily ignore it and it would go away for a while. This meant I could take the time to prepare food when I was hungry instead of rushing to grab whatever was quickest and most convenient. After I had adjusted and stabilized, I spontaneously ate less food and less frequency. Hunger was no longer such an urgent and constant issue.

6. Spontaneous weight loss. I was never particularly fat, but I did gain about 7 lbs in college and about 8 more lbs afterwards from eating a lot of fast food. Although I had a bit more fat on me than I would have preferred, it wasn't enough to bother me, so weight loss was never really a goal of mine. Nevertheless, in the course of six weeks on the diet, I lost 15 lbs and reverted to the weight I had been in high school, with a visible reduction in body fat. I was very happy with the resulting change in body image, especially considering it took no effort on my part. I wasn't even exercising. I've gained back some of the weight since then (probably because I haven't adhered consistently), but I still weigh less than I did before going primal.

7. Mood stabilization. One of the things that went with being hungry on my old diet was moodiness. When I was hungry, I got really irritable and difficult to be around. But once I was primal, that stopped. In the same way hunger no longer led to an urgent need for food, it also no longer led to bitchiness. But even beyond that, I generally felt a lot happier and more emotionally stable. Prior to the change in my diet I had experienced anxiety and depression on and off, but after the change in diet, it was mostly off. Happy is my default state and rare are the days when I feel overwhelmed by anxiety or depression. It's a vast and invaluable improvement in my general well-being.

8. Improved sleep. I used to have significant trouble falling asleep and maintaining a consistent sleep schedule. Insomnia was a problem for me. After going primal, I noticed that I just fell asleep fairly easily and quickly most nights, and woke up feeling well rested and refreshed in the mornings. It was a nice improvement. I've noticed that eating sugar/excessive starch is most disruptive to my ability to sleep well.

9. Increased energy. I used to be rather lethargic, not wanting to get up off the couch, not having a lot of energy to do stuff. After going primal, I had so much energy; I had no trouble getting up and moving about and I would get restless if I sat around too much.

10. Improved saliva production. Ever since my teenage years I've had trouble producing enough saliva. I always have to drink when I eat, or foods will get stuck in my throat, and it will be rather uncomfortable. I probably would have on average five glasses of water with a meal, just so that I could comfortably swallow the food. After improving my diet, this dropped to about one to two glasses, and sometimes I don't even need water at all with a meal. I think my saliva production is still a little lower than normal, but it's vastly improved when I eat well. Whenever I cheat and it too many carbs, my saliva production goes down again.

11. Improved dental hygiene/health. This probably goes along with the saliva production thing, but also I noticed that my teeth just did not accumulate anywhere near as much plaque as they used to. When I brush my teeth now, it's like they're already clean before I brush.

12. Improved immune function. I virtually don't get sick anymore. On occasion I'll get a bit of a sore throat, but in two and a half years, I've only really been sick once. And that includes a 6-week time period where I was in a house surrounded by sick people during cold season and a toddler bringing home germs from day care.


As you can see, it's quite the list of improvements, and the drastic change in my overall well-being convinced me that this primal diet was definitely the right one for me. It hasn't been all smooth sailing, though. For a while it was difficult to adhere consistently. I would generally do well for about a month, and then decide to have a cheat, and I'd eat some ice cream or chips or chocolate. I would often think that I could handle just a little bit, but a little bit would quickly turn into a lot, and then some of the pains would come back, and I would remember again why I was supposed to be avoiding those foods.

In general, I've been pretty good about avoiding grains. Initially I was very careful to avoid wheat (with the exception of an occasional burger bun) but cheated some with corn, somehow convincing myself it was a lesser evil. However, after a bit of that, it became clear to me that eating corn-containing foods resulted in negative side effects as well, and I cut it out completely, so I'm completely grain free now. I've also gotten to a point where I no longer cheat with wheat at all. It's just not worth it to me. Even though when I see cookies in the store and they look delicious, I also see them as instigators of pain, and I realize that the temporary reward from eating grains is outweighed by the negative side effects.

It's sort of been a learning process, every time I cheat. I've been able to notice which foods lead to which symptoms, and I've come to realize that even small amounts of grains and vegetable oils produce noticeable, adverse reactions. I'm now to the point, though, that I don't really cheat much at all any more. I really enjoy having good health and I like to keep it that way by not screwing it up with junk.

Weight has been a struggle for me since high school, but in my late twenties I found myself at an extreme of obesity. I began working with a friend and personal trainer who recommended a low-carb diet. In looking for resources for how to carry out the diet I stumbled upon Mark Sisson's blog and began to learn about paleo/primal eating. 

After a few false starts and experiments with low-calorie dieting (I had a hard time giving up bread at first since I fancied myself a baker), I finally kicked grains and beans, including some milk in the form of cheese or creme. Once the diet commenced the weight just seems to fall off. Around the same time I should note that I also began weight lifting and triathlon training and racing, but while both of these activities have contributed to my fitness, I don't consider them major elements of my weight loss. After most of my intense training efforts I find that I am very hungry and typically replace all of the calories expended, so there is no real net loss. 

I've been fairly diligent on the diet for a year and a half now and have lost a total of 65 lbs. I typically eat a couple of "cheat meals" a week that are neither paleo or low carb, but the rest of the time I remain fairly strict in the diet. 

What was the biggest challenge to adopting a carbohydrate-restricted or paleo diet?
Finding quick and convenient snacks could be a challenge, but with the increase in paleo cookbooks we've found it easier to find alternatives.

What advice (if any) would you give to someone interested in trying a carbohydrate-restricted or paleo diet? Were there any obstacles that you overcame that could help future dieters?
Stay away from refined grains like the devil and also be very careful of milk. I had a great love for Latte's and Cappucino's that for a while kept my carb levels higher than I thought. Once I realized how much sugar is in these drinks heavy on the milk, I switched to black coffee, espresso, and sometimes a coffee with creme. I also got rid of everything in my house that was not low carb and was tempting to me so that when a carb craving did come, as it would at times, I had nothing I could fill it with and would ultimately find a low-carb snack instead.

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