Nell Stephenson's Blog, page 122

Dried Fruit & Nuts…A Good Snack?

Nell,

Can you clear something up?   I have been Paleo for going on four weeks…or so I thought.  My co-worker, also relatively new to Paleo, but for a longer period than I, has been giving me a hard time about my snack of choice- dried fruit with nuts.   I’ve been doing great and eating a balanced Paleo breakfast, even adding in veggies, and making extra dinner each night to bring to work for lunch the next day.    And, to tide me over between meals, I’ve been snacking on dried fruit and nuts.   I checked the label, and there is no junk like added sugar or hydrogenated oils, so what’s the problem with that?  Aren’t dried fruit and nuts on the ‘ok’ list for Paleo?  They’re so easy to grab and go; I don’t know what I’d eat for snacks if I didn’t have those.  I thought they were  a great option compared to what I used to snack on, which used to come from a vending machine!

Thanks,

Mike 

I am so glad when I receive questions like Mike’s because they serve as a reminder of a question I’ve been asked many a time before, thus making it a great blog topic.

To clear the air:

Yes, nuts are ok on the Paleo diet BUT only in moderation.  Why?  Because ALL nuts have an unfavorable Omega 3:6 ratio.  The 3s are healthy and anti inflammatory and one of the best sources is fish oil.  The 6s are inflammatory and all nuts are very high in them.    This doesn’t mean you cannot eat them, it just means they should be consumed in moderation, balanced out with some good 3s at some point during the day, and not relied upon as the main source of fat in one’s diet.

Yes, natural dried fruit is ok, but also only in moderation.   While the sugar we find in dried fruit is natural, it’s still a lot of it, and the high glycemic nature of it makes it far less than conducive as something to chow down on regularly.   Think of using it in terms of  a small sprinkling of dried cranberries atop a salad as opposed to a main part of one’s meal.

Finally, if you think of a snack and a meal as one in the same, your options grow incrementally. What’s wrong with a ‘snack’ of steamed broccoli, olive oil and some free range turkey?  Nothing!  It’s a perfect snack as well as perfect meal.

If you’re already prepping food for dinner, you’re leaps and bounds ahead of the game; just make a little extra yet and you’ll have your choice of whichever veg to pair with whichever protein and whichever fat you’ll have on hand in your very own kitchen!

(Nothing harm with a little plug, here: )   Pick up a copy of Paleoista for more on this very topic!

Deep Fried Filet Mignon and Other Forms of Adultery

Take Paleo out of the picture for a moment; some food preparations are just…wrong!  

I walked past a restaurant the other day and had a quick peruse of the menu; deep-fried filet mignon was one offering that caught my eye in particular.

Why would you do that to such a gorgeous piece of meat?

Granted, if someone orders what they consider a salad which is really nothing more than half a head of iceberg lettuce coated in a cup of buttermilk dressing, at least one can understand the ‘why’ behind doing so:   the lettuce might not taste like anything so adding the creamy, savory topping makes sense in an attempt to give is some flavor.    (Arguably, one might just opt for a more flavorful lettuce, like arugula, but that’s beside the point).

Other ‘interesting’ food combinations that made me wince include:

Chocolate creamsicle flavored kale chips
Pastured pork tenderloin topped with a Velveeta-based sauce
Fire roasted veggies that turned out to have been dredged in flour
Sauteed spinach served in a dish with more butter than spinach

Perhaps the one that ‘takes the cake’ is something I read about in last week’s Times:  a stick of deep fried butter.

What have you seen?   I’m always curious to learn more about what concoctions people come up with, both healthy paleo ones and odd non-Paleo ones alike!

 

Young Chefs

It always bothers me a little when I see things like a children’s menu in a restaurant listing hot dogs, fries and spaghetti or a cartoon-covered box of mac and cheese at the grocery store geared towards the little ones.

As if to presume that they couldn’t possibly be interested in real food, the same food we might want, just in a smaller portion.

Enter the “Twin Chefs”, as they’re called.

I just learned about them after reading an article in a Sonoma County Magazine; not even ten years old, their motto is, as per their website,  “kid friendly food with grown-up style”.

They’ve been on national TV and have a goal of being the youngest students to enter culinary school.

While this may be an usual situation, the concept I love is clear:  don’t underestimate your kids’ palates and presume they want nothing that you might serve as your healthy, Paleo fare.  Further, having them be involved in kitchen prep and planning might make them even more keen to learn about which foods to choose and how each makes them feel, for better or worse.

Give them a chance to try and you may be pleasantly surprised!

Readers’ Views on the “Cheating” Post

As I’m always a fan of keeping my blog on the interactive side, I thought it fitting to post a couple of the comments I received on the cheating post from a few days ago from readers offering a slightly different perspective on their take on ‘cheating’.

A few highlights:

For me personally, the cheating day has been a tremendous success. To be honest, “cheating” for me is more of a paleo-ish breakfast (maybe eating my son’s leftover smiley face chocolate chip pancakes from IHOP), my lunch is without question cheating, and I am typically back to a paleo dinner as my wife and I cook for the week on Sundays so our kitchen is overflowing with amazing food. I will then likely have a frozen yogurt or some ice cream for desert. In truth I don’t even love the foods so much as I love the freedom to choose to eat this stuff or not. I cannot imagine doing a full-bore “all day” cheat but a meal to two meals once a week seems to be healthier for my mind than anything else. Furthermore, while I do not typically feel sluggish at all during the week, there is no denying that the energy I have on Monday (day after cheat day) is a) different and b) a bit more powerful. I try to do my multi sport training on Monday as I tend to find I have a bit more energy then. From a science standpoint the weeks I have opted to not cheat at all due to not being in the mood or what have you have been the flattest weight loss weeks for me personally. Same can be said for the Monday energy spike which goes missing sans cheat. These absolutely could be a coincidence but my experience has taught me that consistency is likely not coincidence. I likely will continue the habit until it either proves to stop yielding consistently desirable effects or I grow bored of pizza every now and again.Aside from this day my wife and I are nearly perfect little cave people and truly love the lifestyle. Can paleo and your cheat day not live together harmoniously?
I think it’s a question of degrees. While I actively live the lifestyle, I won’t “kill myself” if I occasionally succumb to “peer pressure” or accidentally eat a salad that had some dressing made with soybean oil. Instead, I’ll chalk it up to a lesson learned and avoid that same situation again. While we shouldn’t eat these things consciously, we shouldn’t dwell on things, either.Also, when speaking to our friends and family, we should avoid being dogmatic. Think about the big picture. If our friends or family cut out dairy, processed sugars, and/or grains, it probably is counterproductive for us to get into an argument if they forgot to ask the grocery store if the beef they bought is grass fed, or if the salad dressing had some canola oil in it. Let’s be realistic first, and then gradually get people to improve their diets. My own route has been quite gradual over the past 3 years or so. At this point, I’m about 95% of the way there. Even at less than 100%, I can feel the benefits already.

 

I  don’t necessarily disagree with what either of the readers contributed in the sense that if one is mostly Paleo it’s certainly better than not Paleo at all, and I certainly have been rather candid that I’m not a fan of being ‘better than thou’ when dealing with friends and family who are not Paleo, or who are only partly Paleo.  

I, too, have been in situations where I’ve eaten something that I was told was paleo friendly and found out the hard way (via a stomach ache and so on) that it actually was not, and then have also made a mental note to not eat that particular thing again.

My transition to being completely Paleo also took place in stages, which is one of the reason’s I’ve chosen to leave my older posts up back from 2007 when I would still eat the occasional goat yogurt or rice cereal.

I’ve come to the place I’m at now, where I’ve been for several years of not wanting a cheat day or a cheat food.  I know how awful they are for the body, even as a once in a while type of thing, I know how awful they make me feel, I don’t miss the foods and thus, there you have it: I don’t cheat.

Whether or not the first reader’s comment about feeling more energy for workouts after a cheat meal has scientific validity would be difficult for me to comment on without knowing what was eaten on the days when cheating did not occur; often athletes who are new to Paleo underfuel and don’t replace what they ‘took out’ with paleo friendly fueling options.

My main issue with the concept of cheating in when it’s presented to the masses as ‘something you should do’ for no other reason that by default, it suggests a mindset that ‘of course I should cheat, and of course it’s normal to feel deprived on a ‘diet’.

Paleo done properly provides all the energy one needs, in a balanced, delicious, sustainable fashion and going into it with a mindset of ‘it’s only possible to do this gor

A Summer Favorite- Cherries

One of the many lovely fruits you might find at your farmer’s market are cherries.

No, they may not fall into the category of new, exotic or interesting as per my request for you readers to send in contributions of some of the more unusual foods you found at your market, but I had to write about them nonetheless.

Rich in antioxidants, melatonin, fiber and anti inflammatory properties, interesting to athletes in particular, you’re doing your body a favor when you eat them in addition to your taste buds.

A low-glycemic fruit, they make a great option for part of a healthy, balanced Paleo meal, along with lots of veggies, some wild protein and a healthy dose of natural fat.

Click here for an my easy Summer Salmon Salad recipe including these tasty little stone fruits!

The Concept of “Cheating”

In response to my  blog of a few days ago, about whether or not a certain famous doctor did or didn’t suggest that cheating on one’s diet is a good idea, a reader sent in the (disappointing) answer, along with a link to the article in question, entitled, Cheat on Your Diet and Still Lose Weight.

Understandably, if one is trying to follow a manner of eating that leaves them hungry all the time and eating bland, boring and unbalanced meals, of course they’re going to want to have an out now and then.

The issue I have with this approach is that it infers the presumption that there aren’t any ways of healthy eating that are both conducive to long term weight loss, then maintenance, as well as eating an enjoyable, balanced diet made of food that actually tastes so good and makes you feel so energized that you really don’t have those old ‘cravings’ and ‘urges to cheat’.

I’m not speaking only on my own behalf.   Yes, this does applies to me and to the Paleo lifestyle, but also to countless people around the world who’ve found they’ve been able to reach their optimal health, body weight, energy level and control of a vast variety of health issues through eating what we’re meant to be eating.

Some of the most interesting snippets that stood out in that particular article: 

“Going off your diet once in a while stimulates the thyroid gland and can “wake up” your metabolism”  (Really?)
“If you’re trying to lose weight, limit total calorie intake to between 1500-1600 calories per day.” (And this is a blanket statement regardless of height, weight, activity level and gender?)
“Swap regular bacon for extra lean turkey bacon” (Because fat is so bad for us…)
“Carbs increase levels of serotonin, which make you feel full and reduce your desire for more carbs throughout the day”  (Funny, I thought carbs increased your blood sugar when eaten on their own and caused an insulin surge.)
“Frozen yogurt with almonds or other nuts will give you an instant boost to help you combat the post-lunch energy dip that often occurs around 3 p.m. Almonds and nuts add a good source of protein. By having your sugary snack in the afternoon, you’ll be leaving enough time to burn it off before you go to bed.”   (Um… if you’re having a post-lunch energy dip, that screams blood sugar drop to me… in which case you haven’t likely eaten a proper balance of the macro nutrients at lunch time).

Ok, I’ll stop here.   Please do try and think outside the box, though, and be open to the idea that you can actually eat healthy, delicious, balanced, Paleo foods, all the time and not want to ‘cheat’.   A little gluten here and there, a touch of soy and a bit of dairy aren’t a good idea, even a little bit of the time.

Conversations at the Coffee Shop

The other day, while waiting in line to order an espresso at a certain local coffee establishment, I overhead the most interesting serious of commentary from two women standing in front of me in line, all of which had one thing or other to do with diet, nutrition or health.

Before they approached the barista to order, they were just wrapping up a convo in which one woman told her friend, “Well, you know what Dr. Oz says, “Those that cheat on their diets, stay on their diets”, to which the other nodded in unison.  

Did he really say that?   If so, what on earth are people eating on their ‘diets’ that makes them need to even conceive of the idea of ‘cheating’?  Who are they cheating?  No one other than themselves.  

One of the virtues of Paleo, when done properly, in its inherent, balanced fashion, is that the meals are so deletable and all made with things we are truly meant to be eating, that one wouldn’t want to cheat.  

I don’t personally agree with the idea of ‘having one cheat meal each week’; doing so implies that there’s something to be missed if one adheres to Paleo, and that’s simply not the case.  Plus, if we recognize how detrimental dairy, grains and legumes are, why would we want to eat them at all?  

Ok; down she steps from soap box.

And right back up she goes!

Moving along to the next part of the conversation, when one woman told her friend she’d found an amazing ‘lactose free cheese’, which she loved as she’s ‘lactose intolerant’.  That’s akin to saying I’m ‘plastic intolerant’, as in “I have a bad reaction if I eat plastic”.  

Of course she’s lactose intolerant!  We all are.  We not supposed to be drinking the bodily fluid of a cow which is intended for its offspring to drink from the udder.  

Finally, the women approached the barista and scanned the menu to decide what they fancied, asking a lot of questions (which was the only part of their diatribe I agreed with; asking questions, although the questions they asked weren’t the ones I’d ask.).

Not sure if they’d never been to one of theses franchises before, but they were very interested to learn about a certain whippy, milkshakey beverage.    They asked the barista what a ‘green tea frappunccino contained’, and whether it had dairy or soy or sugar.

The barista assured them that it had not dairy because it had a ‘cream flavored base but no actual dairy’.  (What does that mean?)

The woman then commented that she was ‘not worried about calories, only the sugar’ and could she please have one of the said beverages, but with no base and no syrup and no sugar.

Not sure what’s left?  Just an iced green tea?

At any case, it was both an amusing as well as a bit unsettling, yet comical exchange to overhear.

Representative, of course, of what many people think when they think they’re doing a good job of ‘being good/ being on a diet/being healthy’ which tends to equate to eating low or no fat, ‘sugar-free’ and all sorts of altered foods which would probably be less offensive if they weren’t tainted (if you’re going to do dairy, at least eating it raw and in full fat form isn’t quite as awful as low fat or fat free).

Those of you who are on board and Paleo, really Paleo, we’ve got to stand our ground and keep leading by example to show how fantastically natural this lifestyle really is!

Which Type of Calories Don’t Count?

None that I’m aware of!

It’s funny, though, to consider how many of us convince ourselves that somehow, certain calories are somehow not going to be recognized by the body as such.

Liquid calories come to mind first off.  Having a black americano over ice is vastly different from a venti-mocha-frappe type drink, the latter of which can have hundreds of empty calories.

Another type of calories that people tend to feel ‘don’t count’ are those which are consumed when they’re ‘just having one bite of something’, such as one bite of their kids’ birthday cake (which, come on, now, is not really just one bite) or sampling dishes being served at one well known mega-store, which does not typically make items like raw kale salad or steamed broccoli part of their normal offering!

Yet a third occasion where I see clients assuming calories don’t count are the sometimes endless amounts of salted, roasted nuts that tend to be eaten when people new to Paleo, that haven’t made preparing fresh food a priority and that mistakenly presume that eating copious amounts of nuts ‘since they’re Paleo’ is a good snack option.

Bottom line:  if you’re putting it in your mouth and it is some kind of food, or former food (as in, so highly processed that it’s no longer nutritious, but still has calories), it counts.

If it didn’t count, consider this:  why would you put something in your mouth, chew it and swallow it, if it did NOT serve some sort of nourishing purpose?   Unless you’re a small child, for whom the  behavior of putting things in one’s mouth to figure out what it is, is an developmentally acceptable behavior, it makes no sense.

So, does that mean we do have to ‘count calories’ if we’re trying to be Paleo?

Not necessarily.  Yes, of course calories count and I’d be telling tall tales if I suggested one could eat a jar of coconut oil, eight avocados and a side of beef in one sitting without adverse consequences.  

However, if you follow Paleo correctly, as in:

You balance out your macro nutrients in the proper Paleo fashion  (start with lots of veggies at every meal, then add some protein, then some fat and maybe some fruit)
You eat regular, small meals throughout the day, regarding snacks and meals as one in the same
You don’t go too long without eating, causing blood sugar dips and insulin reactions
You sleep and move properly

Then, with a fueled body and clear mind, you’ll not be all over the place from a blood sugar perspective, nor will you make poor judgements on what to eat as you will not be a ravenous, sugar craving lunatic.   That may sound like an extreme statement, but I’ve witnessed first hand how off the charts some people can get when they approach Paleo, or any ‘diet’ for that matter, incorrectly.

So, keep it balanced, completely Paleo and see if you don’t end up in a place where those ‘samples’ of brownie bites at the grocery store don’t even look attractive to you any longer.

Sweet Potatoes: A Better Source of Nutrition Than Rice or Corn. What a Concept!

I was thrilled to hear a piece about an initiative that the Bill & Melinda Gates are funding, which supports “studying the best ways to disseminate the more nutritious varieties of sweet potatoes to farmers and their families.”

Their website outlines some of the basics:

Many of the two billion people in the developing world are women farmers who rely on staple crops, such as cassava and maize, for income and to feed their families.
Many of these crops are deficient in micronutrients, which can lead to significantly lower birth weight, a decrease in cognitive development, and increased susceptibility to diseases. Vitamin A deficiency alone threatens an estimated 43 million children under age 5 in sub-Saharan Africa.
Although all sweet potatoes are excellent sources of carbohydrates, fibers, macronutrients, and many vitamins, only the orange-fleshed varieties are also very high in vitamin A. Improved varieties of this crop are proving to be easy to grow and thrive in Africa’s harsh climate—where drought, disease, and pests plague many staple crops.

I listened to this today on NPR.   The idea is so simple; of course it’s better for people to eat sweet potatoes as a source of many vitamins, in particular vitamin A, than it is for them to ingest the bare minimum which is eaten for no other reason than it’s cheap and makes the most economic sense.     

This particular initiative also supports teaching people in communities how to grow the sweet potatoes not only for their own consumption but to sell as a means of generating a small income.

What a perfect example of the type of programs we need to see more of; those with means helping others without and doing so in a fair, sustainable and (finally) healthy (and PALEO!) manner.

Good on you, Bill Gates!

Programming Your Body

I find it downright amazing when I really stop and think about what the human body can do in terms of rebuilding itself, recovering from stress or trauma and completely transforming itself….when given the proper stimuli.

Surely, all of us have witnessed this in ourselves, or in a friend, family member or even from afar in someone we do not know personally.   Someone is injured in a car accident and told they’ll  never walk again, yet they find the motivation and determination to prove their doctors wrong and not only walk again, but run.   A woman gives birth to twin babies and within a short time span, finds she’s actually a bit slimmer than  before she was pregnant and full of energy to keep up with the little ones.   An older gentleman decides he’s tired of taking pain meds and using a cane, joins a fitness program and changes his diet and then is able to move pain free.

All incredibly inspiring cases, and scenarios we can all use as examples of h0w to use our minds to choose what we want to be and what kind of like we want to lead as a result.

However, just as our bodies will respond to positive stimuli and adapt accordingly, so, too will it adapt to negative stimuli.   Spend your days sitting around on the coach, being sedentary and filling your body with items that are not food in the truest sense (in other words, completely devoid of nutrition in any way, shape or form), and your body will indeed respond; the extra pounds will pile on, blood pressure will rise along with bad cholesterol, joints will begin to cave under the undue stress, the skin, eyes, nails and hair will become ashen, yellow, and brittle, respectively, the gut and then the entire body will become inflamed and thus continues the cascade of overall systemic breakdown.

You can look at it scientifically or mathematically or simply from a common sense perspective.  If this, then that.   

Want to look like an athlete?  Fine!  The choice is made, now go and do the work and BE and athlete.  Eat like one, train like one, move like one, sleep like one.

Want to look like an obese, sedentary person?  The choice is yours as well.

Your body will respond in either scenario.

Easier said than done?

What is really valuable and worth having that is not hard?  Using a rationale of something being difficult for a reason to not do it simply makes no sense to me.

Once again, here it is in black and white:

Eat (Paleo) Food.  Move.