Anyone who has talked nutrition with me at any length already knows that I'm not so nuts about nuts. For the rest of you, I'm here to tell you why I'm not so nuts about nuts and why you shouldn't be either.

Let us start by clearing any confusion surrounding the following:

"Eat meat and vegetables, nuts and seeds, some fruit, little starch, and no sugar."

Think of this as the 35,000 foot ariel shot of the Paleo Diet. It gives you an idea of how to eat, but does not offer much detail. We have found this to be an effective way for one to begin their Paleo Adventure. It facilitates a switch from the Standard American Diet to an entirely new lifestyle where natural, whole foods are consumed. This is why you will see that quote written on the whiteboard at the Fort. It is also why you will hear us reciting it to newbies just beginning their Paleo Adventure.

Now, let's get more specific.

Unlike the healthy saturated fats that we promote, polyunsaturated fat intake should be kept to a minimum. This is because polyunsaturated fats are highly unstable and weaken the integrity of our cells, thus suppressing our immune system's ability to protect us against the daily attack that we are under. Think of consuming polyunsaturated fats the same as letting free radicals enter and run wild in your body.

When it comes to polyunsaturated fats, most people know of the omega-3 (linolenic acid) and omega-6 (linoleic acid) variety. It is healthiest to keep the ratio between omega-3 and omega-6 as close to 1:1 as possible. Sadly, the Standard American Diet throws this ratio far out of proportion due to the enormous consumption of vegetable oils and grain-fed meats.

For those of you who have removed the vegetable oils from your diet and eat only grass-fed meats, your omega-3 to omega-6 ratio may still be off if you eat nuts. You're probably wondering how this could be. Have a look at these numbers:

From this table you can see that the most common nuts in the Paleo community are the ones doing the most damage to your omega-3 to omega-6 ratio.

Merely keeping your omega-3 to omega-6 ratio in balance may not be enough though. Due to the instability of polyunsaturated fats, it would be a safe bet to keep overall intake of omega-3s as well as omega-6s to a minimum. This means that macadamia nuts, and especially walnuts, should be avoided.

Another thing worth mentioning is that nuts are not a good source of omega-3s. This is because the omega-3s found in nuts are of the short chain variety known as ALA and the human body must convert ALA to either EPA or DHA (both of which are found in fish oil) before it becomes usable. This conversion process is quite sloppy in the human body and may be less than 5% efficient! This is precisely why we frown at those who supplement with flax seed oil. The same thing is going on there.

So why are nuts such a staple in the CrossFitting community then? The reason why most CrossFitters chow down on nuts is because they are a convenient, appealing way to increase your fat intake. Eating the strip of fat on your grass-fed ribeye or drinking the grease in the pan after browning some 80/20 ground beef simply doesn't appeal to most people; at least not in the beginning  Paleo man didn't have this option though. Think about the time and energy that would have had to be spent gathering and shelling nuts if you couldn't buy them in bulk at Sam's Club. Mankind would have become extinct shortly after Paleo man ever made the decision to gather nuts instead of chasing down a several hundred pound beast.

I urge you all to pay attention to your dependency on nuts. If you are one of the many who routinely consumes more than 1 small handful of nuts a day, it is time to search for an alternative food source. Here are a few ideas:

• Eat fattier cuts of red meat at mealtimes and don't throw the drippings or strips of fat away.
• Cook with coconut oil or add it to your coffee.
• Add grass-fed butter or ghee (clarified butter) to your dishes.
• Eat more egg yolks while giving the whites to your bodybuilder friends

The health benefits will be noticeable!