Nell Stephenson's Blog, page 106

The Debut of the Paleo in LA Meet Up

We had our first meeting last night at ART LA in Bergamot Station.

Although the undesirable weather caused a decrease in the number of attendees we had, it was, in my opinion, a success.

In fact, the small number made it more conducive to get to know one another a little better and make a cohesive plan for some upcoming Meet Ups, now that we’ve  had the chance to put faces and names together in person.

It was a casual setting and we were able to mingle about while we had some Paleoista hors d’oeuvres: 

Seasonal Vegetables Farmer’s Market Broccoli, Heirloom Carrots
 Muhammara-inspired Relish Roasted red pepper, walnut, extra virgin olive oil, lemon, cumin
 Free-range Chicken Skewers Coconut milk, ginger root, garlic, hearts of romaine
Grass-fed Flank Kabobs Cayenne, Paprika, Fleur de Sel, Freshly cracked black pepper, black kale

I loved hearing all the different reasons why everyone decided to try Paleo in the first place and the tremendous success they’re experiencing, from a woman who conquered her lifetime battle with asthma to a police officer who is finding Paleo to be a great way of eating in order to stay fit, lean and healthy to another who easily shed twenty pounds (plus her sugar cravings).

Ultimately, it was and will continue to be a great opportunity to network with like-minded Paleo Aficionados, enjoy some Paleo foods we may not have thought of before and to build the growing Paleo community.

All are welcome to join- click here for more info! Hope to see you next time!

Restructured Meat

Did I hear that correctly?  Unfortunately, yes.  Today on  NPR it was that very phrase that made me stop, mid-kale-preparation (and you know, that takes something pretty big) to make sure my ears weren’t playing tricks on me.

Nope.

Curious to know what that means?

I sure was.

Here’s what I found:

“According to Chicago magazine, restructured meat products are commonly manufactured by using lower-valued meat trimmings reduced in size by comminution (flaking, chunking, grinding, chopping or slicing). The comminuted meat mixture is mixed with salt and water to extract salt-soluble proteins. These extracted proteins are critical to produce a “glue” which binds muscle pieces together. These muscle pieces may then be reformed to produce a “meat log” of specific form or shape. The log is then cut into steaks or chops which, when cooked, are similar in appearance and texture to their intact muscle counterparts. … Such products as tripe, heart, and scalded stomachs are high in protein, completely edible, wholesome, and nutritious, and most are already used in sausage without objection.“

While I have no objection to eating organ meats or skin from time to time, I do have an issue with ingesting something so highly processed that it can form a ‘glue’ and be made into the shape of a ‘log’.  Isn’t that what kids do with play-doh?

I love the mention of the nutrients in organ meat… as though all the other non-food bits in a Mc Rib don’t matter, such as azodicarbonamide, ammonium sulfate and polysorbate 80 — those are just three of the 70 ingredients (34 in the bun alone) according to time.com.

Think I’ll pass.

 

 

How Much Is Too Much?

“How much avocado should I eat each day?”  ”Is 6 ounces of wild salmon too much for one meal?” “Are two apples in one day too many?”.

All commonly asked questions and all have the same answer- there is no right answer!

In other words, there are too many other factors that I’d ask of someone who made any of those inquires.  Simply put, there is not enough info for me to make a blanket statement in response to any of the sample questions listed above.

How much fat, protein or carbohydrate one eats in any given meal depends on several factors including:

The person’s age, gender, size and activity level
What else is in any given meal
When the meal is eaten in relation to exercise
When the meal is eaten in relation to other meals
One’s physical hunger level

It would be a grandiose statement of misinformation for me to arbitrarily announce that something like “no one should eat more than one apple per day” or “all of us need twenty grams of protein for breakfast”.

Of course, use common sense; does it sound like a good idea to eat ten apples in one sitting?  Or an entire jar of coconut oil? Precisely!

Just think balance.  Imagine a medium sized plate with leafy greens, some wild, lean protein, followed by a dollop of natural fat, sometimes with some fruit, and use that as a model for all your meals.

Take that, MyPlate! (No need to save room on your plate for grains, legumes or dairy!)

Sprouting Foods

When you’re walking down the aisle in the market (yes, as I mentioned in Paleoista, it’s true that you won’t often need to venture down that part of the market for anything but tampons & toothpaste, but there are exceptions, including when it’s time to procure olive oil, spices and, for the purposes of this post, some raw nuts), you may see something curious in the bulk section.

Curious, that is, if you’re relatively new to Paleo.

Sprouted Nuts.

What’s the diff between those and regular raw nuts?  Which is healthier?

Sprouting nuts and seeds, or soaking them, actually, is a way to make them healthier for us.  Doing so reduces phytic acid and encourages the production of beneficial enzymes.

What is phytic acid and why do we want to reduce it?  Also known as phytate, is present in the brans and hulls of most grains, beans, nuts, and seeds.  Phytic acid is an anti nutrient that has very high binding properties which allows it to binds to minerals, vitamins and metals and to prevent us from properly absorbing them.   In addition, it can contribute to the development of leaky gut syndrome.

But wait!   If grains and legumes have phytates and are not Paleo, why, then, are raw nuts ok?

It all comes down to quantity.

Nuts should not be considered a major part of Paleo.  I like to think of them as a garnish from time to time, rather than a main fat source.   All nuts are inflammatory in the sense that they have high levels of Omega 6s and low levels of Omega 3s, compared to other fat sources like avocado or olive oil.

So, a handful of raw walnuts once in a while, even though some nuts have a higher phytic acid content than some grains, still nets out better than heaping wads of pasta, breads, soy and peanuts eaten on a daily basis.

Do yourself a favor and make those occasional nuts sprouted, and you’ll be even further ahead in the low-phytic acid consumption game.

 

 

Serious Side Effects and Sicker People

Ok. I’m warning you in advance- this is going to be a rant, so watch out!

Today in my email inbox, amongst some of the other junk mail, was a notification suggesting that if I, or a loved one, had ever taken a particular anti depressant medication while pregnant, I may be interested in participating in a class action law suit as this medicine has now been shown to cause birth defects.

How have we gotten to a place where we’re taking things like this, poisons, if you will, without knowing what they are and what the ramifications will be?

I don’t take this lightly and this is not meant to me a dismissive post suggesting that those who are depressed should not take meds; far from that.  I recognize that there is a broad range of mental illnesses requiring many different modalities of treatment, some of which may include prescription medications.

What I have an issue with is the ease at which these meds are distributed and without trying other things first.  Why are diet, exercise and perhaps psycho therapy not the natural first step to ask people to include in their regime when dealing with depression?   Why are strong medications and then more medications for the first medication’s side effects step number one?

I worked with one client who shared her own experience with me; she’d been diagnosed as clinically depressed as well as having a anxiety disorder. She was put on a regime of effexor and trileptal.  Then she had to add meds for the stomach distress caused by the two.   She gained weight and developed acne, too.   Long story short: fortunately, she found a new naturopathic MD who was able to guide her off those prescriptions, add some natural relief via Sam-e, 5 HTP, fish oil and a gluten free diet (which ultimately led her to Paleo).

Will there ever be a day when prescriptions are no longer the first course of action?  Oh, right, silly me for asking such a question when there is simply too much profit to be made from the sales.

Sigh.

I will continue to support the Hippocrates approach: ”Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food”.

Students Run LA- Absolutely Brilliant!

Yesterday, I went for a training run in the Santa Monica mountains, which I am quite fortunate to have literally at my doorstep.  With the LA Marathon a mere nine weeks away, I’m quite dialed in to my run training at the moment, and after my home race, I’ll be switching gears and getting ready for the 2013 triathlon season.

For me, integrating a balance of trail running, treadmill work, track sessions and, yes, a little bit of road now and then, has proven to be the formula that works best in terms of providing different training stimuli and minimizing risk of injury.  I find that if I do any of those too much, in particular running on hard, unnatural surfaces like asphalt or even worse, cement, it’s asking for trouble.

Oh, right.  Back to my point.

I typically see a variety of people on the trails: hikers, mountain bikers, joggers and friends out for a casual stroll, but it’s not that common to see kids out there.   Whether that is due to parents not getting out the door with children enough or possibly not being aware of the proximity of this amazing venue as an option for family activity, I don’t know, but it’s quite a shame.

However, yesterday proved to surprise me, in a good way.

I saw a group of about thirty young kids and what I suspect must have been their teachers, out for a training run/jog/walk (there were different groups) and all had their SRLA (Students Run LA) tee shirts on.   Granted, I was focused in on my own heart rate, pace, cadence, stride length and RPE, amongst the many other running things that I’m concentrating on during any training session, so I didn’t see them closely enough to know how old they were, but they were definitely young.

When I got home, I did a little research and found the following mission statement on their site:

“The mission of Students Run LA is to challenge at-risk secondary students to experience the benefits of goal-setting, character development, adult mentoring and improved health by providing them with a truly life-changing experience: The training for and completion of the LA Marathon® “.

Brilliant.

I can vouch for how much being involved in sport has changed me for the better, and I can’t even begin to elaborate about how much what one learns in sport can so positively affect all other areas of one’s life.

I, for one, am signing up as a volunteer today.

How about you?

What a better way to affect change and help kids who are at risk also become healthier in addition to all the other skills they’ll learn while preparing for a race?

 

Click here for more.

 

Incidents in the Kitchen

“Yow!” is an oft heard expletive in my kitchen, my husband would likely claim.

While I’d disagree with just how often, I’d be fibbing if I were to pretend I never hurt myself in the kitchen.

Due not to lack of skill, but to my seemingly constant need to multi-task, I can’t count the number of times I’ve sliced my finger, burned my hand or splattered hot oil on my skin.

Not to worry; I typically just run the affected burn under cold water and wrap it in ice, or create a makeshift bandage with a towel and carry on cooking with one hand.

These serious of mild but unfortunate events, while not preventing me from continuing to multi task while cooking, do serve the important role of continuing to make me stop and pause (even if it is only for a second), then breathe and tell myself to slow down, which I do (albeit temporarily).

I have a theory on this:  being the type A over-acheiving personality that I am, I wonder whether a small cut on the thumb or a bump on the hip (thanks to the sharp edge of the stainless counter), in small, steady doses keep me from going 200 mph all the time… and then ending up in a serious type of accident, rather than a mild kitchen one.

If so, I’ll take it!

Bacon and a Date

No doubt, there’s definitely a huge bacon following in the Paleosphere.  

A rich, tasty piece of uncured, pastured bacon can transform an otherwise bland turkey breast into a decadent delight and it can also do wonders…in a dessert.

Last week, I wrote about a shoppe I’d read about in New York who features bacon in all their products, which made me think about a passed Hors d’oeuvre that I’ve seen served many a time, in many permutations, some of which are Paleo and some.. not so much.

Personally, I find the sweetness of a dried date, balanced by the savory nature of the pork and a nice finish of fleur de sel, oven baked and served warm, to be the perfect accompaniment to a cup of fresh berries on a chilly winter night for the occasional treat.

To clarify, yes, I realize I said chilly winter night in the same context, and here in LA, we are able to procure local, organic strawberries much of the year in our cold (ok, 50 degree) winter weather.

Bake up a batch for your next dinner party and watch everyone’s eyes roll backward!

Click here for the easy recipe!

Ramon Nuts: What Are They And Are They Paleo?

This was an inquiry I received recently, to which I had to reply in earnest, I have no idea.

I went ahead and researched a little and found out the following tidbits:

They’re also called Maya Nuts and breadnuts (as they have traditionally used in making flat-bread)
They have a chocolaty taste and are often used in lieu of coffee
Can be made into a ‘recovery’ from sport drink, hot or cold, and perhaps blended with green tea, maca, cinnamon and coconut water
It’s a member of the fig family
The ‘nuts’ are actually seeds from the ramon fruit

So, bottom line, I would summarize that if they are in fact a seed, then they’d likely be acceptable to eat in moderation on the Paleo diet, just like using the occasional dash of black sesame seeds on an Asian dish you’re preparing or eating a handful of nuts with an apple.

Remember, all seeds and nuts are high in Omega 6s, low in Omega 3s and tend to have a high phytic acid, or phytate, content (which is somewhat lessened by sprouting), which is why we shouldn’t rely on them as our main source of fat.  

Simply put, if you have seeds or nuts, or their derivative products, like nut butters, sometimes, just make sure you eat plenty of Omega 3s (from wild salmon, for example) that day, as well as plenty of  fresh leafy veggies to help the body return to alkalinity. 

Why Am I Hungry?

I receive inquiries at least on a weekly, if not daily, basis about why someone is feeling hungry on Paleo.

A typical email might read like this:

“Nell, I don’t know what I’m doing wrong.  I am 100% Paleo, but for some reason I feel like I’m always starving. Is this normal? “

To which I’d reply, “No, absolutely not, it’s not normal and one should not be walking around feeling starving.”  Then, in the event the inquiry came from someone who is interested in further troubleshooting what the issues might be, the first thing I’d ask them to do before our consult would be to keep a food diary.

In the food diary, not only am I looking to see what people are eating, but also when, how much, what ratio and how they feel before, right after and an hour after they eat.  Incidentally, often clients detect trends and patterns before I they even submit their food log to me!

Following is a sample day from an anonymous client who fit that bill; he couldn’t figure out why he wasn’t losing the ten pounds he wanted to shed nor could he determine why he always felt too hungry.

Keep in mind this client was 6’2″ and weighed 220, with a goal weight of 190.  He is in his late 30s.  This day he indicated that after his 7 am smoothie, he’d gone to the gym and done an hour on the treadmill followed by 30 minutes of weight training.

7am Smoothie (20 oz) made of strawberries, banana, almond milk 

10am Hard-boiled egg 

12pm Grilled veggies and chicken, about 5 oz each

3pm Apple, handful of almonds

6pm 4 oz grilled wild salmon, salad with lemon juice

So, was he Paleo?  Well, yes, he ate Paleo foods, but far too little and not in the proper balance.  Since he had a fat loss goal, he could have done his treadmill run fasted.   His breakfast lacks protein. The one egg snack at 10 am is a mere sixty calories and all subsequent meals for the rest of the day are also portioned too small.

And that’s just for starters!

Trust me, I leave no stone unturned when I’m working with a Paleo custom counseling client; here is one time where my OCD-ness tends to come in quite handy; and no client has even complained when my nitpicking about their diet resulted in them losing the last few pounds once and for all, clearing up their skin, or no longer having terrible GI Distress.

Interested in doing your own fine- tuning to your own Paleo regime?

Click here for details!  Available globally.