Paleo Introduction and How It Works

     

     I wrote an e-mail today to a friend who wanted information about Paleo, I kept the identity secret but thought that this e-mail might help out other people with similar questions. Enjoy. Feel free to e-mail me at paleofitniche@gmail.com for free diet coaching.

   Dear #####,

     I’d love to help you out. I also suffer similar skin problems, I have Celiac’s Disease which can account for around 80% of the country that’s Gluten intolerant. I used to be depressed because I’m a workout junkie and I wasn’t losing the weight, adult acne, dry AND oily skin, gas, flu like symptoms after meals, terrible joints and so one and so forth. Since I’ve changed my diet everything has improved a hundred percent.

      I like to do a combo of Paleo, juicing, and non-dairy smoothies. The first tool to help you more than any diet is to educate you and your family on what these commercialized, anti-nutrient, and over processed foods do to us.

     Grain and legumes fall into the same category of anti-nutrients. What this means is that the plant has a natural defense mechanism to protect itself from being eaten. How it does this is by coating our cells with a barrier that keeps us from accepting vitamins and nutrients. This same thing also happens when we eat things like potato chips with fake anti-nutrient oils and chemicals. These anti-nutrients also cause inflammation all over our bodies, accounting for pain and bloating.

     Dairy isn’t a natural thing for us to be ingesting. Cow milk is only for baby cows,and milk for humans is only appropriate for young toddlers, up until around the age of 6. Milk is a cellular growth food, it can speed up the aging process and how fast cancer cells grow once we are too old for it. It’s important to look for signs of bloating, gas, and mucus buildup after eating milk which can be signs of intolerance.  Some paleos eat cheese in small amounts, I try to avoid it for the most part just because I notice my bowel function isn’t right and I bloat and get gas. Milk also contains a lot of infection, unless you go organic you will be consuming a lot of cow utter puss from the infections they get (Gross I know) and when we consume diseased animal foods those same diseases can store up in our tissues, along with anti-biotics and bovine growth hormones (why girls get their periods earlier now a days, also a source of cancer as well).

     Then we need to look at sugar, sugar is in everything. The way we look at foods as being different in category doesn’t mean anything once it’s breaking down in our bodies, grain, processed corn, dairy, and fake sweeteners cause our insulin levels to spike and to encourage the onset of Type 2 diabetes which is reported to affect 1 out of 2 people in just under 10 years. A recent documentary I watched had a nutrition doctor giving a speech to a local school. He wheeled out a wheel barrow full of sugar cubes and dumped it onto the stage, then explained to the parents this was the sugar one child would consume in a year just from school milk.

     Sugar and Carbs are too easily found now, and so rarely found in nature which is where our real food is supposed to come from,.We would never rationally be eating grain and sugar in large amounts if we lived in our natural state like the cavemen did. Which is where Paleo comes from, it is a science based nutritionally balanced diet our ancestors ate during the peak of physical health for the human race and what we are still genetically geared to eat today, but with a twist so we can still enjoy cooking fun and delicious varieties of food.

*Haven’t we evolved?

Yes in the our lifestyles are different, which is why it’s even more important now that we eat better. In our day and age we need to fill our plates with healthy fats, antioxidants, vitamins and minerals. Our digestive structure has not changed a bit.

*Didn’t cavemen die around 35?

Yes, but they didn’t have the advantage of modern medicine that we have today, child birth was very dangerous, and the quick fixes we have become accustomed to in the ER. However, the elderly that lasted still thrived better though, unlike today.

*Meat, eggs, butter, how about cholesterol levels?

The idea that consuming foods in high saturated fat and cholesterol has been medically debunked and now is just a tool for diet companies to sell their products. i.e the Framingham Study, the Honolulu Heart Program Study, and the Japanese Lipid Intervention Trial.

   Marketing campaigns by the food industry have confused everyone to know end, saying fat is the enemy and we should live on low-fat grain, corn, and rice based cereals loaded with sugar, crackers (sugar), and that whole-grain is some how heart healthy. They have their best interest in mind because it is a high yielding, low-cost product. Pharmaceutical companies also have a great influence because they supply drugs to “fix” or “band-aid” the problem which only end up making the problem able to stick around unnoticed until it develops into something irreversible like a massive heart attack, cancer, diabetes, or stroke.

Why eat Paleo food?

Your life will be enhanced. You will look good be healthy, feel amazing, live longer and have….

. Optimal Brain Function

. Balanced Moods

. Fat Loss

. Healthy Joints

. Strong bones and teeth (a paleo nutritionist told me during a seminar she had some people claim to regrow parts of teeth).

. Clear Skin

. Incredible Strength and Fitness

Here’s a few folks before and after Paleo

Here are some signs that your current diet isn’t working for you……

1. Body fat Storage: The World Health Organization believes that in 2015 2.3 billion over weight adults and 700 million or more will be obese (fat storage to the point of being unhealthy).

2. You’re a Serial Snoozer: The way you feel in the morning is an indication of your general health. At peak health our bodies will awaken naturally like a timer after 8 hours of sleep. We get up after struggling with which hygiene practice to for-go that morning for a few more minutes in bed, pump ourselves full of caffeine, then crash, and  day-dream about getting back to our bed’s. Sounds awful.

3. You Fart, A lot: Excessive gas shows us that the foods we’re eating aren’t good or working right with our digestive system. Sherry A Rogers, author of “Detoxify or Die” explains that the road to good health is paved with good intestines. Listen to your body, once you start eating clean it will let you know what foods it doesn’t want or recognize.

4. Skin Issues: Skin suffers the most after eating and drinking over the weekend. Inflammatory problems like acne, eczema, psoriasis, and dermatitis are even more serious cries for help from your body, Topical creams don’t fix the root of the problem, which is totally fixable. Your skin is a the reflection of your health, if your skin isn’t good you are on a toxic overload. Once your gut becomes impaired and unable to alleviate these toxins it sends to out of your skin.

Inflammatory Foods to Avoid:

Sugar, poly saturated vegetable oil and hydrogenated trans fats, commercial dairy, processed and grain fed meat, iodized salt, alcohol (if you must drink try to stick to red wine and tequila), preservatives, imitation flavors, fake sweeteners, and additives…basically if you don’t know what it is either does your body. Read your labels before buying 🙂

The solution to these problems is to heal from the inside out so we can

*balance blood sugar levels, digestive support, reduced inflammation, improved detoxification

How do I change my mind to change my health? As told in The Paleo Primer

1. No excuses, with so many healthy recipes to choose from there are no excuses to not eat well.

2. Acknowledge to yourself this isn’t a diet…it’s a lifestyle.

3. Realize that health food does not mean bland and boring, most people think health is a chicken breast and steamed broccoli….would you eat a burger and just a bun? no way you’d dress it up, learning these new recipes is fun and once you realize healthy isn’t boring most people get over joyed, we all love to eat.

4. Know that no one can’t afford to not do this, people have a conception that health food is timely and expensive. It is better to invest a little more time and money into today and paying for tons of health care later and wishing we had lived differently. Plus who is tired of starting their day out feeling like complete crap?

5. Love that you can still have a social life, all you need to do is just modify your foods at a rest or ask for no bun, we don’t need to be rude about it or feel more informed but just simply state you have a sensitivity or allergy, let the rest know how to prepare your food, and let them know to expand their menu, we now see more diet friendly items on menus. GF, V.

6. Accept that you can live without pizza or cake, but you don’t totally have to. Many paleo friendly recipes include sweets and comfort foods but made with whole foods that don’t do as much harm and won’t leave you feeling off.

7. Believe that you will see results. It took a long time to get the way we are so we can’t expect a 6 pack in a month, it will take time but the benefits will show up in many ways and eventually to your ideal weight.

I hope this helps you out in understanding how it all works. I personally like to do juice cleanses to jump-start my healing process as well as eat paleo foods. If you have Netflix I recommend “Hungry for Change”, “Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead”, and “Food Inc.” in that order. It will educate very quickly and give you an extra push toward the goals you want and they are free to watch.

Feel free to keep contacting me about changing your lifestyle 🙂 its great practice for being a Health Coach.

Paleo Cottage Pie

This recipe was inspired by Elena’s Pantry, however I added a few things and changed out the ground beef for a chopped slow cooked grass-fed  roast I had leftover from two days earlier. You can always find a recipe and try and think of ways to use what you already have.in the kitchen. This helps keep our food budget under control and promotes creativity in the kitchen 🙂

 What’s Good: Low-Glycemic Index (good for diabetics or those laying low on sugar) or maybe your trying to trick your husband and kids into something healthy without looks of disappointment.  Cooked Cauliflower contains high levels of: vitamin-c, vitamin k, folate, vitamin-B6, Fiber, Omega-3, and is Gluten free.

Health Benefits

While cauliflower is not a well-studied cruciferous vegetable from a health standpoint, you will find several dozen studies linking cauliflower-containing diets to cancer prevention, particularly with respect to the following types of cancer: bladder cancer, breast cancer, colon cancer, prostate cancer, and ovarian cancer. This connection between cauliflower and cancer prevention should not be surprising, since cauliflower provides special nutrient support for three body systems that are closely connected with cancer development as well as cancer prevention. These three systems are (1) the body’s detox system, (2) its antioxidant system, and (3) its inflammatory/anti-inflammatory system. Chronic imbalances in any of these three systems can increase risk of cancer, and when imbalances in all three systems occur simultaneously, the risk of cancer increases significantly.  To learn more about the long list of health benefits click here .

What You Need: 

• 2 tablespoons Olive Oil
• 1 large onion, diced
• 1 pound turkey or pork bacon, cut into 2 inch slices
• 2 cups diced carrots
• 2 cups diced celery
• 1 pound organic grass fed ground beef why do I choose grass fed? click here
• ½ teaspoon pink Himalayan salt  or just sea salt why use sea salt vs. table salt? click here
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1 cup chicken broth (I recommend buying storage containers and freeze your meat broths, it will save you a lot of money and maximize your meals)
• 2 large heads cauliflower, trimmed, chopped and steamed until very soft

 don’t have a steamer? improvise with a colander, medium sized sauce pot filled half way with water, and a lid

• 2 tablespoons coconut oil see what Dr. Oz has to say about coconut oil, click here
• 1 table spoon turmeric 
• 1 table spoon curry

1. Heat olive oil in a very large frying pan
2. Saute onion for 15 minutes until soft

Let’s Do It !

1. Add bacon pieces to pan and sauté until cooked, about 10 minutes
2. Add carrots and celery to pan and sauté in bacon fat (get in the habit of saving your bacon fat, this can be frozen too or refrigerated if its something you use a lot)  for 10 minutes until soft
3. Add ground beef to pan and sauté until brown, just a few minutes.

1. Season with salt, pepper and smoked paprika

1. Add chicken broth and cook down broth until 60% evaporated

1. Place cauliflower in food processor or a blender and puree with olive oil until smooth
2. Pour ground beef mixture into a 9 x 13 inch baking dish

    I had to improvise and foil up a ceremaic presentation tray.

1. Pour mashed cauliflower over beef mixture

1. Bake at 350° for 30 minutes

1. Serve

Yields: 6 Servings

Inspired By:  elenaspantry.com & functionalfoodie.com