Nell Stephenson's Blog, page 114

Egg Powder?

Can a processed food actually be part of the Paleo diet?   Even one as refined as a protein powder?

In my opinion, yes, but with a few caveats:

First off, the only one to consider is an egg protein, and one that’s completely egg protein at that.  In other words, not a blend of egg along with whey, soy, rice pea or other sources.
Next, make sure that if you opt for an egg protein, there are no hidden non-paleo ingredients, like artificial anything.  100% egg is what we’re looking for.
Last, try and make it what I refer to as a ‘plan b’ protein source, rather than one you’re ingesting every day as a matter of course.  Real, fresh, whole raw eggs are far superior both to just eating the whites as well as to having a protein made from the whites.   If you’re uncomfortable eating them raw or do not have a good, reliable, local source, you can soft boil them in order to achieve the happy medium between eliminating many of the potential illness-causing bacteria without cooking them to death as in an omelet.  As one example, I’ll use an egg powder when traveling to races so I can make my pre-race breakfast easily in the hotel room. I bring along my immersion blender and coconut oil and all I need to find locally is a banana!

This is another case of making a the best choice when there are not always lots of great things to chose from.  Of course a fresh egg (or fresh any protein, for that matter) is a better option than a powder; however, a powdered egg that you can use to make your own protein shake is still far better than buying a can of Slim-fast or a packet of diet protein mix!

Holiday Dilemma # 5- The Cocktail Party

Nell,

Please don’t tell me my only option at the holiday party this year, since I’m now Paleo, is water.  One of the things I’ve been trying to get across to my colleagues is how this way of eating/living is not restrictive, but if they see me sipping water, I’ll never hear the end of it.  Actually, to clarify, it’s not just that I don’t want to seem odd to my workmates, I actually enjoy a drink or two now and then.  Hoping you’re not going to say Pellegrino is my only option!
Thanks,

Betsy,
New York, New York 

Don’t despair!  I, too, enjoy a festive drink now and then and no, it needn’t be fizzy water in a green glass.

Of course, red wine would be the best option as it actually has health benefits (like a potent dose of antioxidants & resveratrol).
Clear, neat spirits (gluten free) are also an option, such as grain-free vodkas (Karlssen’s, Chopin or Ciroq, for example), tequila or rum.   
Do your best to keep the day leading up to the party as balanced and full of veggies, protein and healthy fats as possible; given that you’re planning on getting your drink on later, you needn’t include any more refined sugar than that!
On another note, if you don’t actually want to drink, and you’ve got that one person who feels the need to hassle you about it and just won’t let up (even though they’re a grown person and not in high school….but whatever) an old trick is to use the old ‘soda-water-with-lime’ in a glass which you can pretend for the sake of quieting that one annoying person up is a hard drink.

The important thing is to have a plan, stick to it so that you feel fine the next day (as in, no need to go overboard and have eight neat drinks- one or two is enough) and can rest assured you’ve not set yourself up for the ‘oh, the heck with it approach’ which might otherwise have led you straight to the Christmas candy and cookies which are always far too plentiful at this time of year!

Holiday Dilemma # 4- The Paleo Break Up Between Friends

Yes, I wrote ‘break up’.  And this doesn’t pertain to an intimate relationship necessarily, and it certainly doesn’t pertain to the holidays.

I’ve worked with several clients who’ve found that their friends or families just don’t buy it.   Whether they think Paleo is some odd, fad diet,  and they’re genuinely concerned that you’re not eating properly because they have an inaccurate idea of what it is, or they’re envious of your success after changing your lifestyle for the better, the bottom line is that situations can arise that are really, really uncomfortable.

One friend realized she needed to end a long relationship with someone who used to be her best friend, but once she began losing weight on Paleo while her friend opted to not change her eating and exercise habits and remain unhealthy, the friend became judgmental and actually quite mean.

Another client, after being told (on her wedding day) by a family member that she looked great followed by an underhanded compliment (?) that she clearly must have had to have worked tremendously hard to take off ‘all that weight’ (in actuality, she’d lost about ten pounds, but the comment implied she used to be about fifty pounds over!), decided that simply because someone’s of the same blood line, it doesn’t actually mean you’ve got to like them and spend time together!

I’ve also personally experienced strange behavior from one or two people who used to be friends and no longer are.  It’s hard to figure out people’s behavior sometimes, but no matter how close you used to be to someone, if they’re now providing nothing but negative energy and a unsupportive demeanor to you and all your efforts and success, why spend time with that person?

I’m against spending time with anyone who sours the mood with negative energy.

Bring on the peace and spend time with those who invigorate, not drain!  Easier with friends than family, of course, and even more so at the holidays when many feel compelled to attend family gatherings, but at least keeping in mind that it’s them, not you, should help a little.

Is “Ensure” A Good Protein Drink Option?

A new client asked if Ensure would  be a good option for a quick meal on-the-go. 

Ensure is a product marketed as, per their website, having “more protein than an egg, 21 essential vitamins and minerals, and 180 calories, Ensure Clear is the fat free, refreshingly clear choice to help fill your nutritional gaps. In delicious Blueberry Pomegranate and Peach!”.

Hmmm.. sounds good, but have a quick peek at the ingredient label and you’ll find:

Water, Corn Syrup Solids, Sugar, Whey Protein Isolate. Less than 0.5% of the Following: Citric Acid, Natural Flavor, Phosphoric Acid, Ascorbic Acid, Acesulfame Potassium, Sucralose, FD&C Red #40, Zinc Sulfate, dl-Alpha-Tocopheryl Acetate, Ferrous Sulfate, Niacinamide, Manganese Sulfate, Calcium Pantothenate, Cupric Sulfate, FD&C Blue #1, Vitamin A Palmitate, Thiamine Chloride Hydrochloride, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Riboflavin, Folic Acid, Chromium Chloride, Sodium Molybdate, Biotin, Potassium Iodide, Sodium Selenate, Phylloquinone, Vitamin D3, and Cyanocobalamin.

Corn Syrup as ingredient number two is a giant red flag right off the bat; the artificial sugars Acesulfame Potassium and Sucralose don’t help the case, and the red and blue dyes really seal the deal.

So, no, I would not suggest ingesting this product.  Check out my recipe pages for some easy, tasty and Paleo friendly protein smoothies instead.  

Paleo Snobbery

I’m a coffee snob.  I admit it.  OK, and I wine snob, too..but only in the sense that if I have a cuppa joe or a glass of vino, I want it to be something that tastes good and came from a reliable place.

I use the term ‘snob’ jokingly to make fun of myself, but I recently received an email from a reader commenting on his perception that some of the info he’s read online about Paleo borders on snobbery, too:

“I still avoid wheat but occasionally eat fried and baked foods and I have never been obsessed with sourcing ‘grass-fed’ beef. I always found that side of things borders a bit too much on ‘food snobbery.’ Your blog isn’t like that at all  but if you look at some of the Paleo forums, there is an incredibly snooty, superiority complex theme from a lot of the people that post. They seem to look down on everyone else while they eat their steak sourced from grass-fed cows, I find that quite infuriating as well!“

I found this to be a really interesting viewpoint.   

Personally, I think it comes down to the intention.   I’ve openly criticized big corporations and the media for shoving their unhealthy products and equally distasteful suggestions about what to eat at us, but that comes from a place of genuinely wanting society as a whole to be healthier; certainly not because I want to show off to my readers that I prefer to buy grass fed beef over cheap, corn-finished meat from a stockyard.

I suppose anyone can be snobby about anything, but I’m not a fan of giving off that impression, and if I ever have, that was certainly never the goal!  I was glad to see that the reader above felt that my blog reflected my true approach and, as always, invite anyone to ping me if they have constructive criticism.   No doubt sometimes my passion about Paleo could be misconstrued and I’d hate for that to put anyone off of giving this healthy approach a try!

 

Holiday Dilemma # 3: On the Topic of Stuffing…

What about stuffing, Nell?  I love it!  I don’t know why; I know it’s not healthy and certainly not Paleo…Any ideas for what to eat instead?

For starters, let’s think about the name.  Stuffing.  Pretty much says it all.  What happens if you eat it?  You’ll feel stuffed.  Do you actually want to feel stuffed?

I don’t.

Why not call it a filler?   No different from feeding corn products to cattle or hens, or adding rice starch to pet food, it can certainly ‘fill someone up’, but there’s no nutrition in it.  If the goal is to pack on the pounds through empty calories, then go ahead and pile it on!

Set aside whether someone agrees with the concept of Paleo or not, the mere idea of serving something with the goal of ‘stuffing’ someone doesn’t sound very appealing.  

Even more so as it’s something that’s served in addition to an abundance of other foods on the Thanksgiving or Christmas table, rather than something to be eaten in place of  vegetables and protein when they’re not available due to monetary restraints.  (A box of good old Stove Top is only $1.98 for six servings on walmart.com- far cheaper than six servings of most vegetables and protein).

There are so many foods that are already part of the traditional Thanksgiving or Christmas meal that just happen to be Paleo, that not partaking in the stuff (sorry, bad joke) wouldn’t be that difficult as you can still experience many of the other offerings, such as turkey, veggie dishes and seasonal fruits, like apples.

Finally, if you don’t already have it, be sure and check out The Paleo Diet Cookbook, which I collaborated on with the one and only Dr. Cordain and his wife, in which you’ll find a recipe for a paleo stuffing recipe, using many of the flavors and spices perfect for this time of year!

 Enjoying the meal without feeling like you’ve induced a food coma after the fact is not only a possibility, it’s easy!

Holiday Dilemma # 2 – Addressing a Sweet Tooth at Holiday Parties

“Help! I admittedly have a massive sweet tooth. Many times when I go to holiday parties, they may have one or two paleo-friendly options for a while, but they often disappear or get taken away in favor of sugar-laden, yet somehow still very tempting desserts. What are some good ways to handle these parties? I always seem to cave in when I linger and get hungry, but I don’t want to leave my friends just because I can’t sustain myself on what they’re serving!”

Another oh-so-common inquiry, and this one is certainly not particular to the holidays.

When a client tells me they ‘have a sweet tooth’ or use the word ‘craving’, I immediately want to know what they’ve eaten last, and when and whether or not it was in correct macro nutrient balance.  Even if foods are Paleo, if they’re not eaten in keeping with the suggested 40/30/30 macro nutrient ratio, they can still promote less than an ideal blood sugar level.  For example, think about how you’d feel if you ate three bananas, a dab of honey and some raisins with no protein or fat, as a mid day snack at work.  Not too energized after the quick surge of sugar!

So, here we go:

Unless you know for sure that you’re going to get a completely Paleo, balanced meal at the party, have a balanced meal before you go.  Not being starving is the most simple way to not set yourself up for a blood sugar crash and the subsequent message that it’s a good idea to eat cake, candies, cookies and sip sugary holiday cocktails.
There’s no need to be anti social.  Even if you ate a meal before going to the party and you find there is a fresh veggie platter amongst all the other naughtier options, you can still easily eat some veg as you’re mingling around.  Doubtful that anyone’s going to survey your plate and ask why you’re eating veggies while they’ve opted for the pastry-wrapped sausage rolls!
As far as drinking, there is room on Paleo for some red wine.  I’ve written quite a bit about my love of vino, and certainly not just because it’s high in resveratrol!  If you’re not a wine aficionado, you can still have clear spirits now and then.   Non-wheat based vodkas, neat, such as Chopin, Karlssen or Ciroq, are also an option so that you don’t feel like the odd-person out when everyone else is sipping the Christmas Cosmos.

By far, the most important thing is to keep your healthy eating as part and parcel all day long leading up to the party.  I cannot stress enough the significance of how much going to an event overly hungry will set you up for making very poor choices…and a lot of them!

Holiday Dilemma # 1- Family Acceptance of Your Paleo Lifestyle

Thank you, readers, for sending in your holiday eating-related questions.  So far I’ve received many great inquiries about how to handle a variety of tricky situations, and the fact that some of them are nearly identical to one another illustrates what I’ve written about before- that many of the questions you as readers have are similar to those of others all around the world.  So, send them my way!

Here’s the first of several posts I’ll be doing on the subject:

“I love visiting my family; however, there’s always a lot of tension between my mother and I when I decline the food she prepares and offers me (my family eats a lot of whole grains, crackers, cheese, baked goods, loads of processed ice cream, etc. Those are honestly the ‘staples’ of the family food culture). She knows I don’t enjoy eating grains or dairy, I have explained this all to her, but she probably just feels like she’s not feeding her college daughter well enough. Naturally, as I’m eating Paleo, I’m quite well fed! But she’s always so hurt whenever she tries to get me to eat something she’s made, and I don’t want to have it. This always gets worse around the holidays. How do I stay paleo while easing the tension?”

I’ve had clients in this exact situation before.   How can you balance eating how you normally do, which supports you feeling great, with not hurting mom’s feelings?  I had to laugh when one woman I worked with, after overcoming this very circumstance, proudly stated, “No one is ever making me eat cake again!”.

Try to have a private conversation with whomever is potentially going to be offended before the day of the holiday meal, rather than risking a big blow-up at the dinner table.  Explain that you realized that certain foods were making you feel ill and that now since you’ve cut them out, you feel better.
Compare to someone the family knows who has an allergy; it’s really no different.  If your cousin is horribly allergic to cats and everyone knows it, it would be rather unlikely that they’d be forced to pet the family house-cat.   Let it be known that if you eat gluten/soy/dairy etc., you will have a migraine/stomach ache/joint pain etc. and that as such, you’d prefer not to eat those things.
You may want to omit the fact that ‘you follow the Paleo diet’ as sometimes, others can be more sensitive and judgmental, as weight and ‘diets’ are such a touchy subject for many.
Also share that it means so much that mom (or whomever) wanted to go out of her way to cook something special for you, so think of something she can make that you would love to eat, if there’s a dish that fits that bill.  Was there a childhood treat or activity that you loved doing together?  For example, one client had happy memories of going to an apple orchard with the family and picking their own apples. She suggested they do that, but rather than make pies, they made paleo-friendly baked apples.
Take the focus off the meal.  Divert the conversation to other topics that demonstrate how the way you eat is actually making you a better student/athlete/parent/ etc.. because you have more energy, sleep better, are rarely sick, etc..

Ultimately, you can’t please everyone, but you can certainly try the ideas above and more often than not, the person who was previously giving you a hard time will at least begin to understand! 

Young Runners

Have you read the piece in the Times yesterday on the two young girls who are making headlines in the half marathon distance?  

Two sisters, aged ten and twelve, were on the front page of the sports section, with the question posed, “too much, too soon?” in reference to whether or not it was a “good idea for children this young to be competing in a race this tough”?  (The race was held near the Great Salt Lake and hit an elevation high of 7,300 feet.).

Throughout the article, there are references to different races and their age minimums (a runner must be 18 to run the NY Marathon, but the LA Marathon had 500 under- 18 finishers last year), questions about whether this type of activity will “put too much stress on young kids’ growth plates” as well as if the distance is excessive.

Please.

If a child wants to run, let them run.

Granted, if it were a scenario where the child didn’t want to run and was being forced to by their parents or coach, of course, that’s a completely different story.

Running is one of the most natural things we can do, and I, for one, think it’s absolutely fantastic to read about these two young stars.

What’s next?  A judgement that toddlers shouldn’t be playing on the jungle gym because “they might get hurt”?

In a country where the overweight rate is 60% and growing, how can we possibly have an issue with kids wanting to move?

Find your love of motion and go with it!

For the Umpteenth Time, Paleo is Not Atkins

If I read one more article about why Paleo isn’t a good way to eat because “it’s the same as the Atkin’s Diet”, or “it doesn’t provide enough fiber or calcium” or “it doesn’t support an athlete’s training regime”, I may very well pull my hair out.

Paleo is not a high protein diet.  It’s not a high fat diet.  It’s not a no-carb diet.  It’s not low in calcium or fiber, it does support many different types of athletes training programmes and yes, it is sustainable for the long haul.

The macro nutrient ratio of Paleo is roughly 40/30/30, with 40% coming from fresh vegetables (at every meal, thank you), along with some fruit, and the remaining 60% divided evenly between natural, good fats and lean, wild proteins.

Vegetables provide eight to eleven times the amount of fiber compared to processed grains.

The net calcium balance of the overall alkaline paleo diet is far superior to one which includes net-acid-forming dairy.

If Paleo doesn’t support endurance training, how is it possible that I’ve been Paleo for over seven years and have raced Ironman (including six times at Kona)?  It’s not just me; I’ve had the opportunity to work with high level ironman, ultra running and cycling athletes, as well as those who CrossFit, row at the Olympic level and race in short (but screaming fast) running events.

If you think you’ve tried Paleo and concluded that it ‘doesn’t work’ for any reason, I’d be willing to bet it wasn’t followed correctly.

Eat real food + move = optimal health.

What else is there?

Now please, help the word out…before I proceed with heading toward pulling-out-the-hair.  I believe I would not look very healthy if I were bald.