Hello everyone,
I hope this post finds you doing well!
I have had quite an interesting week, as I have been really sick. Being sick kind of threw me off in terms of maintaining the Paleo diet. While I lost 2 pounds, in addition to the 8 pounds lost through Paleo, I was left empty with no appetite or energy to carefully plan my meal choices. I'm not going to deny it...losing your first 10 pounds is super exciting! However, because of the circumstances, I allowed myself to take a break from Paleo and eat whatever I needed to gain back strength. After 3 days of eating pizza, pasta, and other grains and dairy, I did understandably gain 2 pounds. I am fine with that; I can work with being 8 pounds lighter.
Enough about the digits, it's time to get back into the primal swing of things! Before discussing some recipes and new ideas, I wanted to provide the philosophy behind the Paleo diet (something I did not do in my "Introduction"). The Paleo lifestyle resembles that of an early hunter gatherer. During the Paleolithic era, also called the Old Stone Age, men and women had to actively obtain meat, fish, berries, plants, and nuts. There was no Mickey D's to drive by or Hungry Man packaged meals to purchase. By having to forage for food, the Paleolithic man needed to be active and even chase after animals every so often. Talk about really earning your food!
There were absolutely no grains available in fields. In fact, milling stones were only introduced around 10,000 to 15,000 years ago in the Middle East (Crayhon). Rice came into play about 7,000 years ago in India and China. If you look at life on earth from a distance, the advent of the agricultural revolution occurred at the tail end of human existence. You are looking at two-million-years of no grains versus 15, 000 years of including grains in our diet. At least for me, that is hard to fathom; we live in such a carb-rich world.
Yes, we as humans have changed through time, but not enough to require a different, grains-based diet. Grains in general have lectins, which are anti-nutrient proteins. Lectins, also found in legumes, provoke antibodies to attack them, as they look like other parts of the body. Antibodies end up attacking your own body, too! This can lead to autoimmune problems. Lectins are also no friend to the walls of your intestines. They can encourage "leaky gut". Lectins can never fully be ostracized as they are stable in heat, and resistant to enzymatic activity (Paleo Plan).
Then there is phytic acid, another anti-nutrient. Phytic acid binds to key elements in your intestine and cause them to leave the body...this is not good! Anemia is an example of a negative ramification of iron loss due to phytic acid. The big surprise here is that large amounts of phytic acid are found in nuts and seeds...I promise to research this more! Fishy business that nuts and seeds are so welcome in the diet. For now, know that phytates can be removed through soaking, fermenting, and sprouting.
Add gluten and insoluble fiber that can damage the cells of the GI Tract...and you've got a pretty solid argument against the inclusion of grains in your diet.
Now that I've beaten poor Mr. Grains to the ground, I should move on to the importance of real foods and thus, the need to stay away from processed foods. Overly processed foods contain preservatives and unnatural additives. Antibiotic-free meat and organic options are always a better pick; the less chemicals involved, the better. The original "Hungry Man" did not use any of this to embellish his meal.
So, after finding out more about the roots of the Paleo diet and sharing my findings, it is important to adapt these core values to today's environment. There is no way I'm putting on a Tarzan-style dress on and going out into my backyard to chase down an animal way faster than me! Or jumping into a lake to stab a salmon with a sharpened wooden rod. All silliness aside, it's important to be practical and figure out what will work in today's societal landscape. Let's be real--we have food processors, ovens, microwaves, and toaster ovens. These can all aid in expediting the preparation process. I have no qualms about purchasing raw almonds, pre-cut butternut squash, and chocolate bars from my local Shop and Stop. Everything organic can be super pricey. I will eat apples, strawberries, and bell peppers even if they belong to the "Dirty Dozen," which is a list of twelve produce items that are commonly contaminated with pesticides (Environmental Working Group).
As it is getting late (ok, more realistically I really want to chillax to some Arrested Development after a long day of work), I will leave you with this information and discuss recipes at another time. I think I will make my next post about my meal plan for next week (week of the 17th of February), once I am fully back on track and slim enough to envision donning a modern day Tarzan-esque dress ;)
Thanks so much for reading!
Arlene
References (taking advantage of this informal format and not going to do this APA-style...college has tired me out!):
http://www.mercola.com/article/carbohydrates/paleolithic_diet.htm
http://www.paleoplan.com/2011/04-27/phytates/
http://www.paleoplan.com/2011/03-30/why-no-grains-and-legumes/
I hope this post finds you doing well!
I have had quite an interesting week, as I have been really sick. Being sick kind of threw me off in terms of maintaining the Paleo diet. While I lost 2 pounds, in addition to the 8 pounds lost through Paleo, I was left empty with no appetite or energy to carefully plan my meal choices. I'm not going to deny it...losing your first 10 pounds is super exciting! However, because of the circumstances, I allowed myself to take a break from Paleo and eat whatever I needed to gain back strength. After 3 days of eating pizza, pasta, and other grains and dairy, I did understandably gain 2 pounds. I am fine with that; I can work with being 8 pounds lighter.
Enough about the digits, it's time to get back into the primal swing of things! Before discussing some recipes and new ideas, I wanted to provide the philosophy behind the Paleo diet (something I did not do in my "Introduction"). The Paleo lifestyle resembles that of an early hunter gatherer. During the Paleolithic era, also called the Old Stone Age, men and women had to actively obtain meat, fish, berries, plants, and nuts. There was no Mickey D's to drive by or Hungry Man packaged meals to purchase. By having to forage for food, the Paleolithic man needed to be active and even chase after animals every so often. Talk about really earning your food!
There were absolutely no grains available in fields. In fact, milling stones were only introduced around 10,000 to 15,000 years ago in the Middle East (Crayhon). Rice came into play about 7,000 years ago in India and China. If you look at life on earth from a distance, the advent of the agricultural revolution occurred at the tail end of human existence. You are looking at two-million-years of no grains versus 15, 000 years of including grains in our diet. At least for me, that is hard to fathom; we live in such a carb-rich world.
Yes, we as humans have changed through time, but not enough to require a different, grains-based diet. Grains in general have lectins, which are anti-nutrient proteins. Lectins, also found in legumes, provoke antibodies to attack them, as they look like other parts of the body. Antibodies end up attacking your own body, too! This can lead to autoimmune problems. Lectins are also no friend to the walls of your intestines. They can encourage "leaky gut". Lectins can never fully be ostracized as they are stable in heat, and resistant to enzymatic activity (Paleo Plan).
Then there is phytic acid, another anti-nutrient. Phytic acid binds to key elements in your intestine and cause them to leave the body...this is not good! Anemia is an example of a negative ramification of iron loss due to phytic acid. The big surprise here is that large amounts of phytic acid are found in nuts and seeds...I promise to research this more! Fishy business that nuts and seeds are so welcome in the diet. For now, know that phytates can be removed through soaking, fermenting, and sprouting.
Add gluten and insoluble fiber that can damage the cells of the GI Tract...and you've got a pretty solid argument against the inclusion of grains in your diet.
Now that I've beaten poor Mr. Grains to the ground, I should move on to the importance of real foods and thus, the need to stay away from processed foods. Overly processed foods contain preservatives and unnatural additives. Antibiotic-free meat and organic options are always a better pick; the less chemicals involved, the better. The original "Hungry Man" did not use any of this to embellish his meal.
So, after finding out more about the roots of the Paleo diet and sharing my findings, it is important to adapt these core values to today's environment. There is no way I'm putting on a Tarzan-style dress on and going out into my backyard to chase down an animal way faster than me! Or jumping into a lake to stab a salmon with a sharpened wooden rod. All silliness aside, it's important to be practical and figure out what will work in today's societal landscape. Let's be real--we have food processors, ovens, microwaves, and toaster ovens. These can all aid in expediting the preparation process. I have no qualms about purchasing raw almonds, pre-cut butternut squash, and chocolate bars from my local Shop and Stop. Everything organic can be super pricey. I will eat apples, strawberries, and bell peppers even if they belong to the "Dirty Dozen," which is a list of twelve produce items that are commonly contaminated with pesticides (Environmental Working Group).
As it is getting late (ok, more realistically I really want to chillax to some Arrested Development after a long day of work), I will leave you with this information and discuss recipes at another time. I think I will make my next post about my meal plan for next week (week of the 17th of February), once I am fully back on track and slim enough to envision donning a modern day Tarzan-esque dress ;)
Thanks so much for reading!
Arlene
References (taking advantage of this informal format and not going to do this APA-style...college has tired me out!):
http://www.mercola.com/article/carbohydrates/paleolithic_diet.htm
http://www.paleoplan.com/2011/04-27/phytates/
http://www.paleoplan.com/2011/03-30/why-no-grains-and-legumes/
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