Chris,

I have followed your site frequently and enjoy it very much. I was introduced to it through Dan Allison. I met Dan online and chat periodically about training ect.. I am in a mold very similar to Dan, young strength coach/powerlifter/amateur boxer in Oklahoma. Anyways, to make this short I am really getting interested in the “Caveman” approach towards eating after having followed carb cycling for a couple years now. My main goals are to add some size/strength while tightening up. I sit around 11-12% bf @ 195..

This is my initial plan but have a couple quentsions regarding this, Shoot for 6-8 meals day..Each Meal consist of a protein and fat source (green veggies in as many meals as possible)  + fish oil every meal

I was planning on adding in simple carbs around my workout (pre-during, workout fuel/bcaa ect ect..)

That is pretty much how I was going to start, my questions are,

1)what are your thoughts on adding fruits in with 3-4 of my meals (berries/apples/oranges) or even adding sweet potatoes?

2) I read where many people are against using cheese or even cottage cheese, what are your thoughts on these?

3) Poliquin recomends some of his athletes a carb up meal every 4-5 days. Your take? I would think that wouldn’t be as important if I was adding fruit in daily or even Sweet potatoes..

Like I mentioned earlier I am new to this approach. I have always followed diets full of starch and little veggies and fruit. I thought I would ask someone who has had time in the trenches with this. I have applied some of the things I have learned from your blogs with great success on some of my athletes, keep up the good work! Thanks for your time!

Take Care,

Luke Tirey

Depending on how high your triglycerides are would determine how much fruit is okay in your diet. One way of knowing this without getting blood work done is by how much fat you have at the suprapinatus site. Fructose doesn’t spike insulin so it causes glycation from the sugars festuring to long in your blood. Glycation is the cross linking of proteins (and DNA molecules) caused by sugar aldehydes reacting with the amino acids on the protein molecule and creating Advance Glycosylation End-products (AGE’s). An example of glycation is cutting an apple and leaving it on your kitchen table. After awhile it will start to turn brown. That’s glycation in action. Doctors in the know such as Dr. Paris Kidd don’t recommend much fruit in the diet. 5 to 10 grams is plenty, unless you’re a very lean athlete, then no more than 20 grams. If you are carb tolerant there are other sources of carbs that would be much better to consume, such as sweet potatoes, quinoa, couscous, brown rice, etc. When you do eat fruit remember this, the darker the fruit and the thinner the skin, the higher the antioxidant count and the better it is for you. That’s why blueberries makes the top 10 list of the healthiest foods to eat in Jonny Bowden’s book “150 Healthiest Foods On Earth”.

There’s a lot of evidence that dairy increases your chances of cancer. Plus most cows are fed estrogens to fatten them up. The higher the fat content in the dairy, the higher the estrogen levels you’re taking in. If you want to get really lean, avoid dairy unless it’s grass fed and not mistreated with chemicals and other impurities.

Poliquin gets the 4-5 day carb repletion method from Dr. Mario De Pasquale. The leaner you are, the more frequently you can replenish glycogen with carbs. At your body fat %, every 5 days carbing up on your last meal of the day would be great. Some nutritionists recommend eating your carb meal first thing in the morning, but I’ve seen better results with the last meal since the carbs increase serotonin, which relaxes the body and improves your sleep hygiene.

I have had great success with a medium sized sweet potato (no butter), medium banana, and 1/2 cup of slow cooking oats with cinnamon added. Each of those are on 3 different spectrums of the gycemic index. Also, one product that rocks during training is Biotest’s Surge Workout Fuel.

Thanks for the kind words. I’m glad you’ve found my blog useful. I’m about to open up a private training facility Urban Strength Institute on Nov. 1st. I’ll be posting tons of video and content then.