Nell Stephenson's Blog, page 47

Coconut Oil In My Coffee?

Yes, you read that correctly.

And if you’ve been in the Paleosphere for a while, you’ve likely heard about this.

I was introduced to the concept a few years back when I did an interview with The Bulletproof Executive (click).

His signature formula contains butter, I’ve played around with just using the MCT oil without the coffee as I don’t do dairy and have found that as a natural, ergogenic aid to my training, it works quite well.

Refer to his site and you’ll see some of the benefits to MCT oil (medium chain triglycerides, for which coconut oil is the best food source) including:

 MCTs improve blood sugar regulation (yay!), improve metabolism (especially fat metabolism), may improve thyroid function, improve appetite regulation, and are used to treat many ailments (Diabetes, Alzheimer’s, seizures, cystic fibrosis, etc.).
As far as brain function goes, MCT oil is like rocket fuel because it enhances ketone production. Ketones, of course, are a more efficient fuel for your brain. For productivity, using MCTs to outwork my competition is my unfair advantage.
Improved body composition. If you’re into burning fat, MCTs are your friend.

While it may take some getting used to, as I find with most clients who ask what to replace their ‘nondairy’ creamer and splenda with in their coffee, just as with the rest of our daily regime, going with more good fat and no sugar overall is the way to go.

Unless you don’t want to be leaner and have better mental focus, of course.

 

Your Body Is Talking To You. Listen.

If you were to buy a new type of body lotion and apply it to your skin and then have the unfortunate experience of breaking out in a rash, it would be rather obvious that there was some type of ingredient that simply didn’t agree with you.

You’d then be likely (hopefully) to put two and two together and opt to not use that lotion again.

No brainer, right?

So they why such a disconnect between what we put in our bodies and how they react, from the inside out?

How have we gotten to a place where what we are eating is not regarded as the absolute first thing we look at, hands down, when something isn’t copasetic?   And further, why do we believe that aches, pains, indigestion, stomach aches, irregularity, migraines (and so on, and so on) are just ‘part of life’, ‘part of aging’ or something we have to grin and bear?

Imagine how you’d feel if you ate a handful of birdseed.   Shells and all.   All sorts of seeds; the very seeds that so many who are trying to manipulate Paleo into something other than what it really is, into a pseudo version of it which is more like a gluten-free approach to the Standard American.

Stomach aches, cramps, bloating and or diarrhea and constipation may occur.

And again, hopefully you’d realize you’d just eaten something you weren’t meant to eat.

And not eat it again, right?

Not usually.

Instead, we’ve come up with all kinds of reasons and rationale to keep eating things that are causing distress to our bodies.

We joke about how beans are the ‘musical fruit’ and yet we keep eating them.  (Attention- it is not normal to have gassiness after eating.  That’s a sign that something isn’t being digested properly).

We notice that when we cut sugar and dairy that our skin radiates and breakouts become a thing of the past.   Yet they continue to be part of the normal daily regime because ‘that Greek yogurt is too good to give up’ and ‘just a little sugar in moderation is ok’ and it’s easier to go to the dermatologist and get a script for an oral antibiotic or topical cream.

Think about how broken this is.

And backwards.

It’s really not complicated.

Stop eating things that don’t work for you.  And let your body be the one to tell you that they don’t work because that ultimately must supersede anything you read in a book or see on TV or advice from your healthcare practitioner.

Only you know how you feel and if you tune in and let your body do the talking, you’ll find all your answers.

Try it!

Before You Gobble Up Those “Paleo” Baked Goods…

Have a look at this.

Keep in mind that while replacing white flour with almond flour, white sugar with honey and using tapioca as a thickener are indeed slightly less offensive than sticking with the good old Standard American and acceptable for the rare treat on special occasions (think about how often cavemen likely ran into a beehive to eat honey), relying on these concoctions as a regular part of a healthy regime simply misses the boat on what True Paleo is all about.

Just as we as a society have gone well beyond overboard with soy consumption (remember, eating copious amounts of soy protein isolate is a huge leap from those who ask about their great grandmothers in Japan eating edamame from their gardens and living to be 103; still not Paleo but you see where I’m going…), we are now doing the same with almonds.

Almond flour, almond milk and almonds in and of themselves are ok as a small part of a meal now and then… but that’s it.

Have a look at this great article on the reasons (and there are a lot!) to avoid eating almonds too much, too often, including:

Almond flour is very high in inflammatory PUFAS

About 20% of the fat in almonds is polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs).

PUFAS- encourage an inflammatory response in the body, cause digestive issues by impairing the action of certain digestive enzymes, slow down thyroid function, inhibit detoxification enzymes, deplete antioxidants in the body, inhibit production of progesterone and androgens while activating production of estrogen. This encourages estrogen-dominancy in the body and this contributes to many health issues like weight gain, PMS, hormonal acne and more.
The fats in almond flour aren’t heat stable
Almond flour is high in enzyme inhibitors

The article then carries on to recommend baking with coconut flour, which, as far as I’m concerned still perpetuates the whole faux Paleo idea, so I’d have a tough time recommending that, either.

Bottom line- bread is still bread even if it’s gluten free- and we simply don’t need to be eating it where we have the luxury of access to produce and wild proteins, both of which surpass the marginal nutritional contribution of grains and without any of their detrimental side effects.

Skip the bread and the baked goods…all of it.  Save it for the once or twice a year special day like a birthday or anniversary and stick to veg, protein and fat as your daily go-to.

Eating real food is what it’s all about!

Pulling Back to Move Forward

Last year when I was preparing for Ironman World Championships, I pulled a muscle in my back.

Far from the worst type of injury, of course, but significant enough to affect my training and to draw my attention to what my body was telling me, and likely had been telling me for a while but I’d opted not to listen:  take a break.

I began racing in 1998 and enjoyed it so much, made a balance of training and work and met some incredible people through the sport (including my husband), that I simply never took a real break.

A grade II strain of my hamstring ten days prior to the LA Marathon in 2011 was enough to force a short break, but even then I was straight onto more cycling and swimming and full speed racing ahead, with that season culminating in Ironman World Championships (which was,  indeed my PR year there), followed by the NY Marathon three weeks later (not a PR) and then Cal International three weeks after that (again, not a PR and another just over 3hr time…again).

Shortly there after, I had a little tweak here and a little tweak there but even then I carried right on racing.

Mostly because it’s just what I did.

But the truth is, it was starting to feel not all that fun, and I began to think about taking some time off.

I promised myself years ago that the time I’d pull back and pause would be if it ever wasn’t as fun.

So last fall, after a disappointing, but not surprising finish at Kona (not remotely surprising, actually, given the fact that my training had been so modified) I proactively decided to focus on strengthening what was weak (gluts!), getting in a bit more rest and seeing what it was like to not be racing as much.

It felt good for a few months, and I’m very happy to write that in late spring, I began to get the bug to race again.

Being in NYC, though, was a horse of a different color in terms of training. Of course, there are many triathletes who live and train there, so I’m not for a second pretending it’s not possible… it’s just…different.

My husband and I tried our hand at some other racing.  He raced the heck out of the NY Gran Fondo and he and I together raced a more low-key one a few weeks later.

A few half marathons also proved to be fun and at both races, guess what?  It turns out a rested body performs quite well!

Add to the mix what I’ve just begun studying with my yoga teacher training and I approached my race yesterday at Ironman Timberman 70.3 with a calm state of mind I’d never before experienced.

To say I didn’t care about the outcome would not be correct; rather, I didn’t feel like my world would end if I didn’t win or come top three, which is how I felt about my racing for a long time.

I had a good swim, rode at a higher wattage then I ever had before and had a solid, steady run, though not my PR, I was still quite happy with the 2nd place finish (Drat that swim!  The winner had five minutes on me there and we were nose to nose in the other two!) and a slot to next year’s Ironman 70.3 World Championships in Austria.

I think it comes with experience and time and when one is actually ready to pull back and take a break.

It was scary, no doubt.  Emotionally, the idea of not racing was, for me, unthinkable for a long time but ultimately there came a time when I simply had to listen to myself and ease up a little.

I see the same thing in friends and clients and it’s definitely a case of being ready to look at the big picture and know that if your body says to pull back, you probably should.  And don’t worry, you’ll be back, so long as it’s something that you truly still want to do in your heart.

And if not, something else will come along that’s just as fun.

Fun being the key word.  Why else spend so much of your free time doing something you’re not enjoying?

Good to be back!

Road Trip

A friend I had in college loved taking road trips.

Not so much for where they’d take him, but for what they represented in his mind as an opportunity to eat all the ‘food’ he’d deemed ‘naughty’ and therefore suitable for the occasional trek from LA to Palm Springs or something of the like.

A morning stop at McDonalds for breakfast, another stop at Starbucks for a Frappuccino and then a final stop at Dairy Queen, if I recall correctly, were the norm.

Typical?

Yes, of course, but necessary?  Absolutely not.

While it may seem there are no viable options for healthy eating on the road, with just a little planning ahead and/or research in terms of what’s available, it’s actually really simple.

One perfect example is stoping at a road side produce stand if you’re on a summer time trip with the family.

Just yesterday, while driving through the beautiful countryside of New Hampshire the day before today’s race, we picked up some lovely local arugula, basil, olive oil and turkey which made for an expensive and completely Paleo meal.

Bringing food along with you is also a clear winner as you’re in total control of what you’re eating and can be sure there are n funny additives.

In either case, there’s simply no reason to feel that stopping for fast food and synthetic ice cream is a must do simply because you’re on the road.

What Exactly is PGPR?

A client asked me the other day if chocolate was an acceptable part of a True Paleo approach.

It certainly is!

If we choose a variety that is at least 85% (I recommend 100%) and ideally raw and fair trade, it can be healthy, as well as sustainable something special after a meal now and again.

It’s quite decadent and so much so that just a square or two does the trick in terms of making one feel satiated and far from how they’d feel if they were following a ‘diet’ in traditional terms.

Then she asked if the Hershey Special Dark type would fit the bill.

I had a quick peak online to check and found the following list of ingredients:

SUGAR; CHOCOLATE; COCOA BUTTER; COCOA PROCESSED WITH ALKALI; MILK FAT; LACTOSE (MILK); SOY LECITHIN; PGPR, EMULSIFIER; VANILLIN, ARTIFICIAL FLAVOR; MILK

Clearly, it’s not the best choice but I wanted to know was, what is PGPR?  That was a new one for me.

A little more searching and I found, thanks to Wikipedia:

“Also known as E476, PGPR is an emulsifier made in a three step process[2] from glycerol and fatty acids (usually castor bean derived), respectively. PGPR reduces the viscosity of chocolate and similar coatings and compounds. It works by decreasing the friction between the particles of cacao, sugar, milk, etc. present so they can flow more easily when melted.
PGPR is a yellowish, viscous liquid composed of polyglycerol esters of polycondensed fatty acids from castor oil. It may also be polyglycerol esters of dimerized fatty acids of soybean oil.
PGPR is strongly lipophilic, soluble in fats and oils and insoluble in water and ethyl alcohol. In chocolates, it is used as a viscosity-reducing agent.[3] It is virtually always paired with lecithin or another plastic viscosity-reducing agent.
It can also be used as an emulsifier in spreads and in salad dressings or as a crystal inhibitor and anticlouding agent in fractionated vegetable oils.
Overall, it did not constitute a human health hazard.

So what was used before the invention of this product?   Cocoa butter.  Why not just use cocoa butter, then, which we can all identify as a food?

You guessed it… the good old dollar bill.

“PGPR can be used to replace the traditional but more expensive cocoa butter as an ingredient in chocolate. Palsgaard’s website asserts that cocoa butter is an expensive raw material for chocolate manufacturers. By using PALSGAARD 4150 the chocolate recipe has lower costs in terms of less cocoa butter but also gives the benefit of having less fat.”

I’d rather pay a little more for a chocolate that’s come from a place of purity and that also supports local economy; so may types are now available which fit this bill, so there’s not much reason to default to the Hershey approach.

Anyway, it’s not exactly something we’re meant to be eating in large quantities anyway, so a little will truly go a long way.

Paleo Bread Makers, Meatless Chicken Strips and Diet Ice Cream

Kinda all fit in the same boat, if you ask me.

When I was vegan, I avoided all animal products, including honey, and wearing wool or leather.  Yet for some reason, I wanted to eat things that looked and tasted like them, so I’d eat Tofurky on Thanksgiving and  was thrilled when I found a place in Chinatown that served faux shrimp fried rice.

And it’s long been a trend in the diet industry to recreate lower calories versions of many a ‘treat’ like ice cream to a ‘snack’ like crackers with the sheer focus being number of calories and indirectly grams of carbs or fat.

And along comes Paleo.

True Paleo recommends mimicking the foods our ancestors ate with foods readily available to us in our grocery stores, farmer’s markets and our own back yards.

Go crazy with veg, add some wild protein and douse it with some healthy fat, and you’re golden!

But wait….somehow along the way we took this honest, real-food approach and began to taint it.   At first, it was  benign and I whole heartedly am still a fan of making the occasional (again- occasional!) treat for a special day like my signature truffles on an anniversary or perhaps a homemade, real fruit sorbet for a child’s summer party.

But now, the Paleo craze, involving many, many things that are so far from Paleo, they’re basically just slightly less offensive versions of the SAD, has taken a hold, and portrays these ‘treats’ that were meant to be eaten very rarely as though they’re something we’re meant to include in our daily regime.

I thought all bases had been covered with cookbooks, websites and blogs as well as food products themselves that are more Faux Paleo than not, but today, I saw what I believe to be the debut of Paleo into a new frontier- kitchen equipment, in particular, a “Paleo Bread Maker”.

It came in the form of someone sending me an email, asking me to endorse it.

No, thanks.

I’m sure we’ll be seeing it everywhere, given the popularity of things adding the word ‘Paleo’ as a marketing tool, regardless of whether or not it actually is.

Let’s just hope that this, the idea that everyone and anyone can jump on the Paleo bandwagon is the component of Paleo that’s a trend and that it doesn’t skew the judgement of too many people so that the real message never gets out.

If you’re going to eat bread, eat it, but don’t pretend it’s Paleo, even if it is gluten-free.

Same with ice cream.

And same with eating any food that’s not really the real thing that you want, and is made with a wide range of odd ingredients which may, or will, make you feel ill, and result in the whole experience being unsatisfactory all the way around without even enjoying that thing you wanted in the first place.

It makes no sense, it’s not healthy, and it’s not Paleo.

Just eat food. And move.

Five Healthy Reasons to Eat Ice Cream??

“There’s nothing like a refreshing scoop of rocky road or very berry strawberry on a hot summer day — but if you’re very health conscious, you might pass on ice cream no matter the season. Well, what if we told you it isn’t so bad for you after all? In fact, if eaten in moderation, ice cream has some surprising health benefits. We’ve got the scoop on five reasons to treat yourself“, was the opening line in a recent article entitled ‘Five Healthy Reasons to Eat Ice Cream‘.

So what are these five mysterious reasons?  Let’s read on…

Lose WeightA study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that women who ate at least one daily serving of full-fat dairy products, such as ice cream, gained less weight than those who didn’t.      Hmmm… now how would this compare to people who ate vegetables (gasp), wild proteins (oh. my), healthy, natural fats and avoided processed man-made items, I dare wonder?
Fight InfertilityA Harvard study published in the journal Human Reproduction showed that women who ate full-fat ice cream two or more times a week had a 38% lower risk of ovulation-related infertility than women who had full-fat ice cream less than once a week.        And this compares to people who exercise regularly, sleep properly, rest and relax how, exactly?
Important NutrientsIce cream provides your body with a handful of key nutrients, including bone-strengthening calcium and phosphorus, blood-pressure-lowering potassium and energizing B vitamins. It also provides a decent amount of protein, which is important in tissue repair and cell growth.     Ok.   So people are eating ice cream to get their nutrients?  Hardly.
It Makes You SmileResearchers out of the Institute of Psychiatry in London tracked the brain activity of people eating vanilla ice cream. As soon as the participants swallowed ice cream, researchers saw an immediate effect on an area of the brain called the orbitofrontal cortex, a pleasure center that activates when people enjoy themselves.       If eating ice cream is the only thing that makes someone smile, there are some larger issues that need to be addresses.
It May Boost Your Sex DriveIce cream has fairly high levels of calcium and phosphorus, both of which help build your muscles’ energy reserves and boost your libido.        So many things can factor into one’s libido and eating ice cream in an attempt to address a lack of it isn’t far off from putting a band-aid on a broken bone.  If you have a low libido, something’s off and it needs to be investigated, not smothered with milk, cream and white sugar.

Look- if you’re going to eat ice cream, own it.  It’s not healthy, it’s certainly not Paleo and it’s just a way to get a sugar fix.  Plain and simple.

Yes, I had ice cream as a child and yes, I do have memories of the few times we went out for a cone, but that’s it.

It’s not something that I need to recreate as an adult any more than I want to lie on the floor and paint by numbers.  There are plenty of other things to do and ways to get our nutrients, boost our fertility and keep smiling than eating ice cream.

Funny how we, as a society, keep doing things like this.  Eating one thing that’s clearly not remotely nourishing and then adding protein to it to call it a healthy choice for a meal.

Please.

 

Paleo on the Front Page of the Times’ Dining Section!

Nope, I’m not making this up.

There’s an article with a completely Paleo recipe on the front cover of today’s Dining Section in a piece by Melissa Clark .

The focus is all about how despite perhaps not being the prettiest cut to look at, skirt steak can be a go-to to ‘throw on the grill’.

Then, the recipe, which calls for basil, scallions, lemon thyme leaves, garlic, jalapeños, lemon, olive oil and of course, skirt steak.

Make a marinade and cook it then serve it up with some veggies.

This is Paleo.

Simple. Real. Good.

Sometimes it pays to portray it more on the subtle side.  Rather than seeing yet another cookbook, website or blog blasting it’s latest (silly) recipe for (faux)Paleo brownies, pancakes or bread, this is the real deal and without even saying so.

Paleo is just…food.

Meat Causes Diabetes, According to a Study….Oh, Really?

“Meat has a higher correlation to diabetes than sugar”, was the opening line on recent Fox News, Houston piece.

“Animal Fat is the culprit as is animal protein” stated Dr. Garth Davis, the doctor who was interviewed for the piece.

He carried on to tell us about a  ‘big study’ conducted in Europe to find what caused diabetes.  Initially, the thinking was that  it was carbs but this ‘big study’ showed a very low correlation between carbs and the disease but a strong correlation between all kinds of animal protein and diabetes.

Hmm.  Go figure.

The good doctor continued and shared this gem: “By eating a protein and a fat together’ (or ‘sugar and fat’, actually, he added)  anytime you’re eating anything that will rise (yes, he said rise) your insulin, which is protein and carbs it draws fat into your cells and then your cells don’t respond.”

This was a verbatim quote.

Quite an interesting way to describe how the body utilizes certain substrates and how ‘it draws fat into your cells and then your cells don’t respond”.

What does that even mean, Dr. Davis?

He then cited another study in diabetics went on a vegan diet including pasta, cereals, lots and lots of fruit versus subsequently fared did much better than those who followed an “ADA Diet which is rich in meat”.

What diet is that, then?

Finally, he enlightens us with the “SAD creates a situation where Americans are extremely sick and have the highest rates of diabetes, all because of eating meat at every meal”.

Right! I’m sure it has nothing to do with the obscene amount of sugar that is consumed, along with processed grains and fat free dairy.

It’s just because we’re eating meat.

I’m honestly wondering if this isn’t really a farce of a newscast??

If only…

Here’s the thing- if you’re going to make such statements, they should at least be partly accurate…even a teeny, tiny bit?  Diabetes has nothing to do with carbs and everything to do with meat consumption?

OK, common sense to the rescue!