Nell Stephenson's Blog, page 119

Gluten and Your Bones

Interested in developing osteoporosis?  One way to help speed the process is to keep that gluten in your diet, and all grains for that matter.

Refer to Dr. Cordain’s latest book, The Paleo Answer, and see for yourself.  In a nutshell, he states:

“The phytate (or phytic acid) in all grains (yes, even those that are gluten free) binds to the small amount of calcium found in grains, making us far less able to absorb it.

In addition, the calcium/phosphorus ratio in whole grains is very low, which has an end result of causing progressive bone loss.”

Is it any surprise that there are more and more reasons to simply cut the grains?   

They’re just fillers, nothing more, and have nothing to offer nutritionally that we can’t get elsewhere in a superior form.  Yes, millions of people around the world living in poverty must rely on grains as a major component of their diet as they’ve got no choice.  Meat is a rare treat for many.

If you’ve got the choice, choose not to eat it.   Opt for fresh vegetables in their proxy along with your protein, and your body will thank you.  Do the same for your family and children and prevent their own health from suffering down the line.

 

Coconut Water & Bananas…or Gels?

Nell,

I’m confused. I follow you on twitter and sometimes you post about having just coconut water and a banana or yams whilst training, but I’ve also read your posts about using man-made carbohydrate gel when you are racing.  Can you clarify when to eat what?  I’m training for my first 70.3 race.

Thanks,

Will, London

Great question!  I’ve always been candid about the fact that carbohydrate gels are the one non Paleo item in my diet.   I’d love it if there were a Paleo friendly version on the market, but as far as I’m aware, there currently is not one that’s found in nature.  Honey would be the closest thing and often people will ask why not just use honey; the problem with honey is the rate at which the sugars empty from the gut into the blood stream.    

While I’m working on a project to develop a paleo gel, I continue to use a commercially available gel when I’m racing or training at a high intensity.  How much?  The rule of thumb is 4 kcal/kg bodyweight/ hr of endurance training for bouts of activity lasting upwards of 90 minutes.

The coconut water, banana or yam comes in for efforts that are long and aerobic; fasted training comes into my regime when I’m doing a fast, hard, short effort (like a track workout first thing in the morning).

I find a balance of the three different fueling approaches works best for me, personally.

I’d recommend trying a three-pronged approach and seeing how you feel, what works best for you, and getting it all dialed in well before race day.

 

GI Distress While Running

It happens to all of us.  We’re running along, having a great workout and then… all of a sudden, that ominous feeling of impending doom in the gut hits us and our focus on stride, cadence and pace turns into a desperate search for a restroom, or worse, some bushes.

While I’m very happy to say this hardly ever happens to me since I’ve become Paleo, it certainly does happen once in a while.  (Before that, incidentally, I’d be sick to my stomach during most workouts, thanks to that gluten-filled bagel I’d eaten before hand, or that pasta dinner the night before).

Whether you run too close to the time you’ve eaten, or you ate something ‘off’ the night before, the end result is the same and it can ruin your run.

But does it have to?

Absolutely not!

How?

By not overreacting.  Yes, you may need to make an unexpected pit stop, but that doesn’t mean you have to cut the run short and head home in a funk.

Hopefully, you’ve got your electryolyte tabs with you (I like the Meta Salt brand, personally) and some water, so rehydrate, replace those salts, take in some calories and get your head back in the game.

Give yourself a chance to salvage the run and you might find that you’re actually feeling a bit lighter on your feet (after getting rid of what may have literally been weighing you down) and once again, able to get back in the game.

I’ve actually had some of my best run workouts after such a situation.

Builds mental toughness, too! 

Of course, if you’ve got other symptoms, for example, chills and fever and you’re coming down with the flu, that’s a whole other situation and you may simply need to get some rest.

Listen to your body, of course, but don’t overreact to every little thing.

A Cozy Little Book Shop Hosts Today’s Book Signing

I’m so looking forward to speaking today at 3PM at a local bookseller, Diesel, A Bookstore in Los Angeles.

I’ll be reading a bit from my book, Paleoista: Gain Energy, Get Lean, and Feel Fabulous With the Diet You Were Born to Eat, signing some copies and doing a Q&A afterward.

If you’re in the area, please stop by and say hello!

Diesel, A BookStore

225 26th St, Suite 33

Santa Monica, CA

See you there!

 

Is There A Problem with Sausage

Sausage is not Paleo.

Sausage is Paleo.

I’m sure you’ve heard both.

What’s the deal, then?

Apologies for being the bearer of bad news: It can be Paleo, but the vast majority of commercially prepared sausages are not.

Why?

Aside from being highly processed and  oh-so-nicely blended with lovely ingredients including but not limited to:

monosodium glutamate (MSG)
sodium nitrate
sodium nitrite
corn syrup solids
sugar
BHA (butylated hydroxyanisole). Similar to butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT);  added to many foods to prevent fat spoilage
propyl gallate (added to foods containing oils and fats to prevent oxidation)
flour
bread crumbs

However, there certainly are ways to go about including sausage in your Paleo regime, most easily by making your own.  If you buy a meat grinder attachment for that table top mixer you used to use for baking, along with the sausage stuffer attachment (both are inexpensive and easy and safe to use), you control what goes into it, and if you make a small quantity to eat right away, you needn’t worry about the fermenting or preserving process which would be of concern when making them en masse.

Not a problem eating the casing, which is often sourced from intestines anyway; it’s all about nose to tail!

Just as with grinding your own meat for burgers, you can choose your favorite meats, cuts, spices and mix and match to make your signature blend.

Isn’t Scent Enough?

This morning as I was running to the track, I took my usual three mile loop to get there, during which I stay in a completely residential area.

Being that it was just past six in the morning, people and their families were just beginning to stir as evidenced by the lovely smells of coffee wafting through the air…and bacon…and French Toast?

Yes, I still drink coffee and yes, sometimes eat pastured, uncured bacon but French Toast is neither something I miss eating nor think about, ever, until this morning.

For my entire childhood, breakfast was always hearty, and actually served in two courses.  I suppose that’s because my Dad always cooked breakfast (Mom did dinner), and since he worked as a contractor, prepared a beefy breakfast for all of us, similar to what he’d eat.   In the summer, we’d start with granola & milk; in the winter, steel cut oats with maple syrup, and then follow both with some permutation of eggs, bacon and sausage.

Told you it was hearty!

Anyway, once in a while, he’d make French Toast, or pancakes.

Even years before I figured out I had an intolerance to gluten, I’d realized even as a kid that when I ate those things, along with the cereals I mentioned, I’d get strangely sleepy shortly thereafter.

Add that to the fact that those items all cause horrible gastric distress for me, and the idea of consuming any is about as appealing as eating a pencil.

But this morning, nonetheless, I will admit that the smell of French Toast elicited a wee bit of nostalgia for me.   Which got me thinking…since all of our senses are engaged in eating, for those of you who ‘stress out and eat comfort food’ or choose food that reminds you of home when you’re missing your family, I have a proposition.

Why don’t you try just smelling it?

Seriously!

No harm done and it’s quite effective at bringing back those happy memories without the dire consequences.

There’s actually research that’s been done on this very subject…

Worth trying, no? 

 

Fish…for Breakfast?

Why not?

Not a ‘must do’, but certainly fair game.

I had to laugh a little when I read one of my twitter followers tweet to me today which read, “any recipe ideas without poached cod breakfasts?”.   

Yes, I do, in fact, sometimes eat fish as my protein for my first meal of the day, but there are other times when I rely on the good old morning protein standbys like eggs or (uncured & pastured) bacon.

You needn’t approach paleo in any measure that feels ‘too extreme’ to you; doing so might actually prevent you from wanting to continue.

Sometimes, I find that clients prefer to take it in steps.  On this topic, breakfast, a more user-friendly approach, if you will, is to follow the recommendation above and eat foods that you’ve already been eating at any give time of day that just happen to be Paleo.   

Surely, you wouldn’t think it odd to order a veggie omelet with eggs, spinach, mushroom and tomato, with some  fresh fruit on the side.  Well, guess what?  That’s actually a Paleo breakfast.

Of course, eating the same thing ad nauseam isn’t the greatest approach, so do vary it a bit; maybe eggs one day and steak the next?

Play around and find your own creative concoctions and don’t worry about what the time of day happens to be.  As long as a meal has some protein, some fat and some carbohydrate (from veggies), you’re golden! 

Paleo Mistake # 7: Confusing the Approach to Snacking

The way I see it, a snack is a meal and a meal is a snack.  They should both consist of:

real food
balanced, Paleo macro nutrient ratio (which is roughly 40/30/30, in favor of unprocessed carbohydrate coming from loads of fresh veg, along with some fruit)
appropriate portion sizes

Why would eating three perfect Paleo meals (breakfast, lunch and dinner) and then having something in a wrapper that was too low in calories to consist of a meal or imbalanced in its macro nutrient profile make any sense?    

Of course, some find that they prefer not to snack and eat three (or less) larger meals per day, and I’m a fan of trying different Paleo approaches and seeing what works best for you.

However, I will say that most clients (as well as me!) report feeling much higher, steady levels of energy, better results at losing and maintaing fat loss and feeling healthier overall when they follow the most balanced of all approaches.

Keep eating real food, keep it balanced, and keep it Paleo!

Avocado Varieties

Yes, there are more than two (as in, not just black or green!)  

Once again, I will admit being spoiled by living in So Cal and having several different types grown literally at my doorstep; however, in many other parts of the world, there are just as many, if not more, of this savory, rich fruit available in abundance!

Just a few types to consider are as follows, courtesy of avocado.org :

Bacon
Fuerte
Gwen
Hass
Lamb
Hass
Pinkerton
Reed
Zutano 

One of the best sources of fat for those of us who opt to live Paleo, delicious and versatile, they truly are a must-eat in all of our daily menu!   Make yourself some homemade guac, blend some into a smoothie or cut it in half, scoop out the pit, drizzle some lime in the cavity and eat it with a spoon.  Stand alone, a truly decadent Paleo treat.

Click here for one of my favorite, and easiest preparations, grilled avocado.

And On That Wine Tip…

Being resourceful as ever, I felt quite efficient yesterday when I finally came up with a use for a bottle of white wine that was given to us as a present over a year ago.

I cooked with it.  No, I don’t mean I drank it while I cooked; rather, I incorporated it into a pork loin recipe I prepared for dinner.  I reduced the entire bottle to about two tablespoons over the course of thirty minutes in a heavy bottomed saucepan, simmering over low, then whizzed it with lemon zest, fresh thyme and black pepper, then rubbed it into a pastured pork loin.  

Even if you’re not a oenophile, or if you cannot tolerate alcohol, including it in cooking is one way of adding another dimension to the flavor profile of a dish as the alcohol will evaporate, leaving flavor behind.

A dash of a big, red wine in a Paleo friendly marsala sauce, or a drizzle of white in a shrimp scampi dish are but two examples of how to incorporate this age-old beverage into your meals.

What’s your favorite way to use it?