Nell Stephenson's Blog, page 64

They Never Asked What I Was Eating

I popped into a new spa today and had a chat to the aesthetician who was shaping my brows.  

Petite and slim with a glowing completion, I’d never in a million years have guessed that she suffered from horrible acne for years.

She happened to share that with me as we discussed good places to go for different skin care lines, spas in other areas of NYC and beauty regimes in general.

When she asked what line of work I was in and we began to talk food, she gasped when I mentioned how Paleo can create significant improvement in acne and all skin conditions, for that matter.

She confided that in addition to the numerous dermatologists she’d been to, including those who prescribed accutane, tetracycline and laser therapies, she’d explored every possibility one might imagine in an attempt to have clear skin…and none ever asked about her diet.

In the end, a course of potent accutane seemed to have done the trick, so she thought, until she noticed new issues including eczema and lips so dry nothing did the trick to moisturize them.

Her skin now looks lovely from afar, but up close, one can see a hint of scarring, possibly from the many chemical treatments she’d done over the years.

What is wrong with this model of healthcare in which we do not look at food as an integral component of one’s complaints?

How can any medical professional have such a low emphasis on the impact of eating food… or things that are not food.

It’s an absolute shame.

Looking at what you’re eating and how you feel is not actually a radical, new or alternative treatment.  

It’s just common sense.

What is Behind All This Paleo Bashing?

Is it me, or is the amount of ‘anti-paleo’ media coming to an all-time high?

I don’t seem to recall this degree of passion about a vegan or gluten free approach.  

Let’s think about why.

If one follows a vegan diet, there’s still plenty of room to suggest including all sorts of grains and legumes.  

While there’s no dairy, there’s obviously plenty of opportunity for a hard sell on getting in the gluten-rich TVP (texturized vegetable protein) from the numerous fake meat products, beans galore as a non-heme protein source and every last possible grain one could think of.

Similarly, in the gluten-free approach, while wheat, barley, rye and sometimes oats are given the cold shoulder, dairy is included as are all beans and any gluten free grains, and, of course, as we see by the preponderance of the many gluten-free treats, white sugar is everywhere.

And neither of these two approaches seem to have been taking a hit the way Paleo is at the moment.

Do you see a trend?

True Paleo doesn’t allow for any of the products sold by the big, bad boys- no grains, at all, nor legumes, no dairy and no sugar.  This is very frightening for any and all companies selling anything from cereal to bread to bagels to yogurt to cheese to peanut butter, soy sauce and energy bars.

If you’ve been Paleo for a while, you already know this stuff is in everything!

To send a message out to avoid all of it would wreak havoc on the marketing campaign of many an advertiser.

Further, since the main sponsors of the USDA include Coca Cola, The Dairy Council, Pepsico, Kellogg’s, General Mills and Mars Candy, it’s easy to see why registered dietitians educated under the current curriculum would be taught to encourage consumption of these foods in some manner, even if under the guise of them being ‘healthy’ options because they’re gluten-free or vegan.

Finally, just as an aside, have you ever noticed that generally, people tend to be more adamant in their disapproval of something when they don’t fully understand it, or if it threatens their current  belief system?  As if by giving a new idea a chance, they’d risk shaking the set of rules or values they’d believed to have been true all these years, so they find it best just to push them away?

And it’s not as if there’s a lucrative kale lobby on our side that can push back with the media.

So, we have to forge ahead as True Paleo pioneers and keep leading by example to show that, guess what?  If we eat lots of fresh veggies, natural proteins and fats and steer clear of sugars, refined carbs and junk in general, we’ll be a healthier society that isn’t getting fatter and sicker every single day.

 

 

Sourcing Calories, Even For Athletes

I’ve seen and heard it for years.  The old adage often applied to athletes that ‘since you’re expending all those calories through training, it doesn’t matter what you eat.  Just get those calories in.’ is so inaccurate it makes me cringe.

Sadly, it’s not just happening in the US.

Recently, a client based in Belgium, who was in Spain for a cycling training camp shared an experience he had at a local market.  He was out buying his Paleo produce and proteins and came across a very well known athlete.  In reference to what my client saw in this female athlete’s cart, he wrote: “I was surprised: bottle of industrial made dressing, rise cake, bread, butter and milk. Hum…I was thinking…no veggies or fruits but very industrial carbohydrates. Let’s assume she not Paleo in any kind I would aspect some healthy choices. Nothing really healthy in fact. Even when I wasn’t Paleo I never made the dressing choice. She’s a professional cyclist as in “she gets paid to do this”.  Overall I’m not that extroverted kind of person but now I couldn’t hold it in and I spoke to her about her goals and life as a professional cyclist. When we talked about food she was telling me she has a diet coach and that food was strictly guided and advised by the team. When I began about Paleo she never heard of that, no problem, not many here, but what surprises me was she thought she needed those things in her bag, after all she’s on a training camp, trains a lot and need lot’s of carbs…like rise cake. Ok, let’s assume the food she bought was not for her husband she makes the wrong choices if you ask me. It illustrates a lot to me about woman cycling in our country.“ 

Same old thing.   “We need these carbohydrates to fuel our training and racing: bagels, cakes, bread and butter and certainly dairy to help build our bones”.

So, so untrue.

Yet some athletes seem to perform at the top of their game despite repeatedly inflicting themselves with gluten, dairy and white sugar, all with the goal of ‘getting in the calories’.   So…can you imagine what their bodies could do if they were fueled with real food?

Worth considering!

I went from being a very average endurance athlete to being a very competitive one after transitioning to Paleo.

Pure food=pure fuel= optimal performance.  No pollution.  Not too tricky!

Paleoista and Pete Evans: A Paleo Perfect Pair

When I was approached recently to do a cooking demo with Australian Chef Pete Evans, I jumped on the opportunity in a heartbeat!

During his recent US tour gathering information from  a plethora of experts on a range of healthy living approaches, including Paleo, for his new international paleo cooking series, Pete has been filming interviews and cooking demos to create an extremely broad range of content.

With me, an excursion to the Chelsea Market to procure fresh veggies, local wild fish, grass fed meat, all from within a very close proximity was also part of the plan.

We had a lovely day chatting Paleo principles, finding our way around the numerous interesting shops within the market and finally, coming back to our NY Pied-a-terre to whip up some food!

We opted for four recipes from Paleoista as a starting point, then put our own spin on a few, adding a little bit of spice here and a new cooking technique there.  

Cooking with a trained chef of Pete’s calibre was truly an honor and proved to be an incredibly fun day, culminating in quite the tasty lunch comprised of blackened mackerel on sauteed rapini, grass fed meatballs on spaghetti squash, raw kale fusion and, of course, we saved just enough room for a signature Raw Paleoista Truffle, dusted in sumac (another contribution from his years of experience with new (to me) and interesting spices.

Stay tuned to his site for updates & watch this space!

 

Paleo-frightened

It happened again today.  I had a meeting with an organization, which shall remain anonymous, to discuss how we (I) might implement healthy eating principles into their employees’ daily regime.

They were intrigued at ‘healthy, common sense eating’, agreed with ‘local, sustainable and organic’ but as soon as the word Paleo came  up, they cringed.

I am quite cautious as to when I use the word, or opt to leave is as unspoken and subtle.  If I’m speaking at a Cross Fit Gym, an Ancestral symposium or at any type of venue where I’ve been invited to address all the health benefits of Paleo, then of course, it’s 100% Paleo this and Paleo that.

On the flip side, if I’m talking to a group targeted towards weight loss, or doing  a cooking demo about ways to prepare veggie, it may be more of the ‘yes this is Paleo but I’ll keep that fact on the down low.’

It doesn’t really matter…except when large groups as a whole that could benefit tremendously by doing things like clearing out the employee break rooms of microwave popcorn and soda, offering incentive programs for them to get moving and even (gasp) offering Paleo options in the cafe.

There are companies that do this already.  One well known software company in the silicon valley happens to  have a Paleo station at their cafe every weekday!

Keep in mind, I’m not pretending that in one fell swoop an entire mega company would go 100% Paleo overnight; but to not even let the conversation carry past a mention of merely including the Paleo regime as an offering does an incredible disservice to that particular company as a whole.  

If only people could understand what True Paleo really is before ruling it out based on the idea that it’s all about eating raw meat, loads of bacon and living as a knuckle-dragging caveman.  Such a shame! 

Spice It Up

If you’re new to Paleo and thinking your food is going to be boring without the sauces, dips and cheese you may have grown accustomed to, you’ll be happy to know that plain and Paleo do not need to go hand in hand.

In addition, you also needn’t take the route of going faux paleo and dousing your meat with a roux made with grass fed butter (dairy-not-paleo) and almond flour or creating a ‘cheese’ sauce using nutritional yeast and ground cashews to serve as a dip for crudites.

How?

By spicing it up!

A quick trip to the Spice Market in New York’s Chelsea Market today illustrated this point beautifully.  As I wandered through as part of the shopping excursion I went on with Australian Chef Pete Evans to prepare for a cooking demo we shot later on (stay tuned for more on this in tomorrow’s post!), I felt as he said he did, ‘Like a kid in a candy store’.

Not only was there every possible spice you’d ever heard of, there was an amazing variety of worldly spice blends that you’d never dreamed of.   The colors!  The smells!  Far too many to choose from to leave with only a small container of ground cinnamon or black pepper.

In the end we opted for Sumac, which we used while preparing my signature Paleoista Truffles, the Cajun blend which worked beautifully on a blackened fish dish, the Special Salad option that imparted an extra special something on the Raw Kale Fusion and finally, the Special Red Meat- a no brainer for the grass fed meatballs we prepared to serve with spaghetti…squash.

Never feel again that you need to go the ‘plain old’ route when you can add the health-packing punch of any spice you like!

 

Warning! Paleo Could Be As Dangerous As Smoking!

“Oh, what now?”, I thought to myself when I saw today’s google alert!  

There were references to not one, but two, articles focusing on the hazards of eating a ‘diet high in meat and eggs’ and yes, comparing the impact of doing so to the negative consequences of smoking cigarettes in terms of the effect each has on longevity.

After reading through both articles, one can take away what they choose, as opposing viewpoints are presented. Varying studies are referenced, citing that different age groups might be affected in different ways, but the headline that reads ‘People under 65 who eat a lot of meat, eggs and dairy are four times as likely to die from cancer or diabetes, study suggest’ really makes me cringe.

Statements like that usually indicate that the principles of a modern, True Paleo diet as we know it, from the work of Drs. S. Boyd Eaton, MD and Dr. Loren Cordain,  may not have been what the researchers were really looking at.

How can one propose that eating loads of fresh veggies and some fruit, olive oil, avocado and coconut oil and wild salmon or grass fed  beef leads to diabetes?   As if eating more refined carbohydrates would be helpful in preventing such diseases?  And the same regime would be more likely to predispose one to getting Cancer compared to if they added GMO-laden bread and hormone-filed, low fat dairy to their meals?

Sadly, one need only look at the corresponding picture (above) published with the first article in The Guardian to realize what type of (not) food was used as an (inaccurate) representation of Paleo cuisine. In all four plates, barely a hint of anything green… and that’s just the tip of the iceberg!

Click below to read the full articles:

The Guardian

AM Australia

 

Stocking Up…Without Vinegar

A reader wrote in recently asking if there was a way to make stock without using vinegar. All the recipes they’d come across called for this unPaleo ingredient.

Answer?

Absolutely!

Let’s review.

First of all, what is the difference between stock and broth?

According to our friendly resource, Wikipedia, “Broth is a liquid food preparation, typically consisting of either water or an already flavored stock, in which bones, meat, fish, cereal grains, or vegetables have been simmered” and “Traditionally stock is made by simmering various ingredients in water, such as meat, bones and mirepoix (a combination of onions, carrots, celery, and sometimes other vegetables.)”

The easiest way to make a stock is to throw your choice of protein and /or bones in a large pot of water, bring to a boil, then simmer until meat is cooked and falling off bones (if using a whole chicken, for example) or until remaining ‘bits’ fall off, in the case of using a carcass.

Add whichever veggies you like, whenever you like.  Sauteeing carrot, onion and celery in coconut oil before adding the protein and water is one option; I’ve also taken the approach when pressed for times of just putting everything in the pot of water at once and letting it simmer away.

You can then enjoy as is, let cool then freeze, or use a a base for other sauces or soups.

Cleaner and more cost effective than store-bought and a great way to use up leftover everything!  I sometimes call it ‘refrigerator surprise!’

 

It’s Not A Fad, But If You Want To Call It That, So What?

“Paleo is a fad diet”.  

I’ve heard this statement many a time and you have likely heard it or read it, too.

But rather than get up in arms about it, how about just rolling with it?

If we think in terms of the approach that there is no such thing as bad PR, we can look at it as an opportunity for people to learn about it and consider that perhaps those who think it’s a fad would mistakenly assume it would be like other ‘fads’ like extremely low calorie diets, lemon juice, cayenne and maple syrup diets or cabbage soup diets.

However, upon further investigation, they might just happen across some accurate information and see that it’s really just a common sense way to eat.

There actually are not any gimmicks to it.  

When we really break it down, the message is:  eat lots of vegetables, some fruit, lean meats and healthy fats and don’t eat processed, wrapped, canned, boxed items as the staples of your diet.

How is that a fad?

It’s my feeling that the issue arises with the interesting permutations of Paleo eating, some of which are so far from the principles of what Paleo is all about, they do indeed sound like a fad.

What can we do?

Lead by example, educate when we have a chance and continue following this balanced approach to healthy living.

 

 

Meals On Wheels Goes Gourmet

When you think of chefs Daniel Boulud, Scott Conant and none other than James Beard himself, what comes to mind?

Fine dining establishments?   Impeccable presentation?  Flavor profiles that are out of this world? 

I’d have to say all of the above ring true for me.    Being Paleo for the last nine years has not prevented me from enjoying cuisine from all regions of the world as well as places ranging from a local hole in the wall eatery in New York City to a Three Star Michelin in Los Angeles.

Until recently, the entire dining experience alone was enough to compel me to continue to try new restaurants based on the reputation of the chefs.

I just learned about another reason to support what they’re doing, because of another demographic they reach out to, who might not exactly be the customer you’d imagine.

City Meals on Wheels, which was founded in 1981 by James Beard and Gael Greene, has launched a new program called Chefs Deliver.   According to a recent article in The Times, ‘a number of New York Chefs will cook for 100 to 200 people and deliver a handful of the meals personally to clients who may be homebound, elderly and unable to get out to get weekend meals for themselves’.

The concept was the shared idea of Chefs Charlie Palmer and Daniel Boulud, who are both on the board.  For more info, visit citymealsonwheels.org

What an outstanding way to pay it forward!