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Starting Your Day Right- Paleo Diet Breakfast

There are two kinds of people in this world. The kind that absolutely love breakfast and the kind that can live without it. A Paleo diet breakfast can make both kinds happy. There is not hard line rules for what constitutes the ideal Paleo diet breakfast.

Of course you want to avoid the:

Once you review the list above it sort of leaves you scratching your head wondering if you have to avoid all of that stuff what is left to eat. There is plenty left to eat! You may have to get creative but there are plenty of things left to eat.

If you are not a big breakfast person and don’t feel the need to break your fast right away then its fine to grab a black coffee (or with a little added coconut / almond milk and stevia if you prefer) and head out the door. However keep in mind that this is not a fit for those that have low blood sugar (hypoglycemia) or wake up with headaches and is probably a better option for those applying intermittent fasting. It is highly recommended to eat breakfast, but if you just do not like breakfast and prefer to eat later on then it is okay to grab a coffee and head out, but it is better to grab a coffee and maybe a half avocado and spoon or some high quality protein as can often be found in some bars.

If You Are Not Big On Breakfast

If you are not big on sitting down to a meal in the morning, there are some Paleo diet breakfast ideas that may work perfectly for you. You can make a quick smoothie with kale, carrots and some fresh squeezed juice of your choice and a little added protein powder. It will give you the energy boost you want but since you are technically drinking breakfast it may suit you better.

Grab a handful of almonds and seeds (if you are cutting fat this is not for you).

If You Are a Breakfast Lover, Mix things up with a Paleo Diet Breakfast

When you think Paleo diet breakfast think outside the box. A lot of Paleo diet recipes for breakfast mimic traditional breakfast foods in an attempt to make the food more appealing to people that are making the transition from “foods that are bad for you” to “foods that will really feed your body”.

Paleo Diet Breakfast Ideas from Paleo Transitions Cookbook

Paleo Diet Breakfast Ideas from Paleo Transitions Cookbook

If you are big lover of breakfast then using recipes that mimic traditional breakfast foods are going to help you to make the transition to healthier eating. Pure unrefined foods are your best choice. Plant based foods that are organic or home grown are excellent options as ingredients in your breakfast meals.

If you are a committed to a bowl of cereal in the mornings that is fine as long as you are using Paleo ingredients to make your own cereal and opting for unsweetened Almond milk or Coconut milk to splash on top. You can create cereals like Honey Bunches of No Oats. You may have to put a little extra work into it but if you make a large enough batch it can carry you over for the week.

Eggs are NOT dairy. That is surprising to some people because eggs are always sold in the dairy section of the supermarket, but they obviously do not come from a cow, so therefore they are not a dairy product. However if you are on an autoimmune Paleo diet then eggs are not always a Paleo diet breakfast option for you. Eggs may also not be great for anyone that is struggling with gluten allergies / sensitivities because they may also be reactive to the protein in eggs.   You can use eggs technically on a Paleo diet but that is really up to personal preference and diet goals.

Get creative with your morning meal. It will be worth the effort.

What’s on the Paleo Diet Breakfast Menu?

Coming up with a Paleo diet breakfast menu can seem a bit daunting. If you are new to the idea of the Paleo diet and you are struggling with what to grab in the mornings it is understandable. It can seem like the Paleo diet limits options for breakfast foods but that is only because you have yet to rearrange how you think about what breakfast food is.

Breakfast foods do not have to be rooted in grains and dairy. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day so doing it “right” really pays off.

The Benefits of Paleo Diet Breakfast Foods

When you start your day out the Paleo way you are going to experience more energy, you will be more alert and you will not experience that mid-morning crash that you do with other breakfast foods because you will not be getting those empty carbs and temporary highs from the grains that are found in traditional breakfast foods.

The Paleo diet breakfast can include things like:

  • Anything green
  • Coconut flour (great for making wraps)
  • Oat free oatmeal (made with seeds and nuts)
  • Berries, nuts, seeds (by the handful or as a muesli type cereal served with almond milk)
  • Coconut/Almond milk
  • Almond meal (instead of grain flour)

Personal taste will guide which foods become your favorites. Some people like to have something sweet in the morning. Many people that are new to the Paleo diet are simply floored when they find out that sweet can come from a lot more places that refined sugar.

Honey, Molasses, fruits all contain natural sugars that can be worked into many different recipes that are friendly Paleo Diet breakfast foods. Whipped coconut cream is a nice replacement for whipped cream and goes nicely with berries.

Make it Ahead of Time

If you are like most of us, morning time is go time. It can be tempting to grab something at the drive thru when you are running late and super hungry. So to ward off any potential slip ups make your Paleo diet breakfast ahead of time. It does not have to be elaborate. You can make a nice breakfast salad (yes salad remember you are working on changing how you look at breakfast foods).

Your breakfast salad could have kale, spinach, nuts, berries and some good quality olive oil drizzled over it. Pop it in the fridge and grab it on the go in the morning. How about a trail mix that you prepare over the weekend and put into individual bags so you can grab the bag as you head out the door.

Need something a little more substantial in the morning? A can of tuna with some cut up veggies is a great breakfast rich in protein. You do not have to go the egg, dairy, cereal, grain route to have a healthy balanced breakfast, you just have to change the way you look at food.

Paleo Diet Breakfast Ideas from Paleo Transitions Cookbook

Paleo Diet Breakfast Ideas from Paleo Transitions Cookbook

Drink Your Breakfast

Smoothies are a great breakfast option. They are fast and easy to take with you. Keep some kale, carrots and berries on hand so you can throw them in the blender as you are walking out the door. You can experiment with your smoothie recipes by adding in other fruits and plant based foods.

For The Times That You Have Time

Paleo diet breakfast food is not relegated to raw uncooked veggies (but doesn’t that sound nice) banana bread made with bananas and almond meal is a great weekend breakfast food. Sweet potato pancakes is Paleo friendly and super easy to make. Waffles made with coconut meal and a berry sauce are delicious.

Once you have tried out some of the breakfast food recipes and become more familiar with the Paleo Diet and all its benefits breakfast will become easier and easier to prepare.

Holistic Nutrition for Optimal Health and Wellness

Ideas of what makes for an ideal dietary intake are numerous. The bottom line is that regardless of your dietary pattern, it should be a holisitic nutrition plan and follow the principles set forth by the Paleo Diet. Holistic nutrition conforms to the needs of the body as it changes with time and various demands placed upon it. This is the opposite of the ones size fits all diet idea. Diets are temporary changes that rarely show any long term benefits, and they certainly do not universally apply equally to everyone.

Do you Really Want to be on a Diet . . . Neither Does Anyone Else!

Let’s face it, no one wants to be on a diet. Diets are boring and monotonous. What is worse is that they feel restrictive. The very nature of a diet makes you feel like you are going to give something up. Do you like giving things up? I don’t and you shouldn’t have to in order to obtain an improvement in your health. In fact, since I started eating a more holistic nutrition, or Paleo Diet, pattern, the number of foods that I now consume has vastly increased. The restrictions that are part of a diet also make them not a good fit for most people. We are all unique and have our own requirements. Each person’s body functions different. This is a fact that I have become very understanding of after practicing functional medicine and holistic nutrition for over a decade.

What Holistic Nutrition Offers You

First off, we have to move past the idea that what worked for our friend or the person in the magazine is going to work for us too. This may not be the case at all. Why? The answer is that each person has their own individual makeup that alters the way that they respond to the foods and the nutrients that they consume. There are some core concepts that we should all adhere to, but even within this context, we are all unique. As an example, your friend may be able to lose weight by consuming higher fats and lower carbohydrates. Yet when you need to drop a few pounds, that same dietary approach left you frustrated because the scale would not budge. This was not the right approach for you.

To accurately apply holistic nutrition, there are a couple of key tools that I use. The first of these is going to be advanced lab testing. This is not the out-dated traditional lipid / cholesterol panel that leads to a generic recommendation of eat less fat. Instead I am referring to assessing your genetics and looking at the use of numerous aspects of your nutrition from your diet to any supplements you might be taking. This is the way holistic nutrition is best practiced. Only from this can you establish your inherent dietary and nutritional needs. We are not clones; therefore we have no reason to think that we are all going to respond equally.

What Can Holistic Nutrition do for You?

Holistic nutrition is the basis for good health and wellness. Without it, you have one option, sickness. Do you want to be a statistic of the traditional medical system? Of course you don’t. And the dirty little secret that is rarely talked about is that a growing number of the clinicians that work in traditional healthcare don’t trust their health to it either expect in the most dire emergency situations. This is because most everyone had rather take care of themselves than end up in a doctor’s office. But holistic nutrition is not just about prevention. I run into patients all the time that don’t have a basic understanding of nutrition, so from the start they are on a path to bodily dysfunction that starts as symptoms and progresses into disease.

The great thing about nutrition is that with a little effort the basics are easily understood. So with that said, I want to impart probably the most important concept that you need to understand to set you on the path to a lifestyle that incorporates holistic nutrition to support your entire body. This concept is eating real foods as close to the way that you would find them in nature as possible. It does not matter version of the Paleo diet you are eating, the key is eating real foods. The great part is that this is consistent with everyone’s genetics. Regardless of your most unique needs, your body only wants clean, unrefined, pure forms of food. So therefore, when you are curious about where to start with your journey into holistic nutrition, or even maintaining it, you should always come back to one of the most core ideas of the Paleo diet; eat real food.

Artificial Sweeteners Can Contribute to Diabetes . . . Through the Gut

It is no surprise to anyone that diabetes is on the rise. Yet you might be surprised to find out that one of the reasons is associated with something often recommended to those that are diabetic, or even those that just wish not to gain weight. What I am referring to are artificial sweeteners. Artificial sweeteners are often incorporated into foods as a safe option to natural sugars with the premise being that the use of these will not raise blood glucose levels and worsen the condition of diabetes. Basically they are being used as a safer alternative to natural sugars. The truth is they are not.

The Source of the Problem

Artificial Sweeteners have been used for several years and marked as options that those suffering from blood sugar problems can safely use to reduce elevations in glucose. The theory is that since the artificial sweetener does not contain calories therefore it should not cause a spike in glucose. What the artificial sweetener can do is promote a stimulus to our nervous system that registers as sweet. The assumption was that the use of an artificial sweetener would not allow blood sugar levels to increase since it did not contain calories, while at the same time providing the sweet taste often sought after.

Problems with Artificial Sweeteners

The Chlorine found on Splenda (Sucralose) Contributes to Imbalances in the Gut

Today, we recognize many of these artificial sweeteners by their trade names. The most common examples include Equal, Sweet’N Low, acesulfame potassium and Splenda (sucralose). Among these, Splenda is probably the most popular. This should not be of surprise since it is 600 times sweeter than table sugar (Food Chem Toxicol. 2010 Nov;48(11):3067-72.). Splenda has been given the label of safe, but like some of its counterparts, the testing used to draw the conclusion that artificial sweeteners are safe is questionable and was likely approved through the FDA without proper testing (Int J Occup Environ Health. 2010 Jan-Mar;16(1):89-96.). It appears that where many of these studies fail is that they are assessing acute dosages. There is virtually no acute toxicity that is observed. However, the accumulated use of artificial sweeteners over time tells a much different story.

The Real Effects of Artificial Sweeteners

As with most things that are introduced into the body that are man-made, artificial sweeteners are not safe and have been shown to have ill effects on human health. Ironically, diabetes, a condition thought to be aided by the use of artificial sweeteners, is actually made worse. The mechanism has been defined through the gastrointestinal tract. Again, this emphasizes the point that if the gut is not healthy, disease is on the horizon. As it relates to the use of artificial sweeteners, they alter the growth of bacteria in our guts. This altered gut environment is created when the most beneficial strains of our probiotics are decreased, leading to either a lack of diversity in our colons or the overgrowth of strains that are least beneficial to the bowels, or even harmful. With the establishment of this environment, metabolic conditions such as insulin resistance and its progressed form, diabetes, are made worse. In short glucose intolerance develops through unfavorable changes in the gut microorganism balance that are promoted by the use of artificial sweeteners (Nature. 2014 Oct 9;514(7521):181-6.)

While some may argue that artificial sweeteners do not have acute toxic effects and that they are a better option for those that wish to control or avoid diabetes, new evidence suggests otherwise. Numerous studies now show that the results of routine artificial sweetener consumption do indeed have negative effects on balancing blood glucose, though the effects are indirect by way of changes to the balance of microorganisms in the gut. So while an immediate effect on blood glucose levels may not be seen, what is seen long term is a worsening of the metabolic state. Moreover, the change in gut composition that leads to impaired glucose tolerance is also a well-established culprit in many other chronic diseases. It is blatantly a contributor to a slow, toxic death.

 

References for the negative effects of artificial sweeteners on the gut:

Cell Metab. 2014 Nov 4;20(5):701-3. A bitter aftertaste: unintended effects of artificial sweeteners on the gut microbiome.

Nat Rev Endocrinol. 2014 Nov;10(11):637. Gut microbiota: not so sweet–artificial sweeteners can cause glucose intolerance by affecting the gut microbiota.

Nature. 2014 Oct 9;514(7521):176-7.Health: The weighty costs of non-caloric sweeteners.

Tilapia Nutrition – Is One of America’s Most Popular Fish Toxic?

Tilapia has experienced a significant increase in popularity. It can be found in almost any retail grocery store and is often a featured item on many restaurant menus. But have you ever wondered what you are really eating? I did. Having grown up around both fresh and salt water fisheries, no one ever talked about tilapia. The reason is that this is not a native fish to the United States. This should create your first suspicion about this species of fish.

Where Does Tilapia Really Come From?

As tilapia is not native to the United States, we have to ask, were does tilapia come from. Tilapia is a tropical fish that originated out of Africa with a relatively short growth time. They live in fresh water environments and are not found in saltwater. So at this point, the questions should begin to stir in your mind as to what is the tilapia that is so often found in the grocery store and being served.

Most of the tilapia in the United States actually comes from China and Indonesia. This fish is farmed and then shipped to the United States. At this point, I feel that it is important to understand what farmed fish means. In a nutshell, you are rapidly growing fish in an artificial environment by feeding them “food stuff” that they would not have exposure to in the wild. These environments to not lend themselves to a vast amount of space to swim in, but rather the fish are densely packed in the man-made environment and routinely exposed to high amounts of ammonia and waste.

tilapia farming

Tilapia Farming leads to Poor Tilapia Nutrition

One big concern with the source of these fish is that according to a report from the USDA in 2009, China fails miserably with food safety standards, including those that are exported to the US. It appears from the findings of this study that many of the fisheries are located next to heavily polluted areas. Such toxins include environmental pollutants, agricultural residues, feces and veterinarian drug residues. It should be no surprise that if the fish are exposed to these toxins, then those that consume the fish are also going to be ingesting these toxins. What is also interesting is that tilapia fisheries exist in the United States but do not meet the demand, thus encouraging import from foreign markets.

Tilapia Nutrition is Questionable

One of the reasons that many individuals turn to fish in their diet is the consumption of omega 3’s. Omega 3’s have been shown to be effective at supporting conditions including cardiovascular disease, arthritis, autoimmune conditions and cancer just to name a few chronic conditions. However, farmed tilapia is higher in omega 6’s, which are inflammatory and have the opposite effect on our health. The unnatural diet that the fish are fed creates a low omega 3 content and a high omega 6, whereas the fish in its natural environment has just the opposite profile. (Int J Food Sci Nutr. 2009;60 Suppl 5:203-11.) From this we can see that the food provided to these fish makes a significant difference in their nutritional value, leaving us to ask what else we should question regarding tilapia nutrition.

Well, since you asked, the fatty acid ratio is not the only problem with tilapia nutrition. The concern of genetic modification rears its ugly head again. In this case it is not referred to as genetic modification, but rather transgenic. Transgenic tilapia has had genes added to their DNA for a desired outcome. In this case, it resulted in “successful production of transgenic tilapia by injection of transgenes (mouse metallothionein promoter/rat growth hormone gene). (Aquaculture. Volume 105, Issues 3–4, 1 August 1992, Pages 219–232) So rat genes to enhance growth hormone production were added to tilapia DNA. No doubt this is to enhance the rate at which the fish can produce. The bigger concern is that by eating genetically modified, or transgenic, tilapia, you are consuming something that is not in natural state and thus has the potential to increase the activity of the immune system in a negative manner. As we have seen with other GMO (genetically modified organism) debacles, this usually comes at a price.

What You Can Do

If you have been eating tilapia, starting off with a good detox would be recommended. Since these fish are mostly coming from polluted foreign sources, you have likely accumulated some of these toxins. You can begin the detox process by eliminating all of the refined, non-organic sources of food from your diet. You will want to transition to foods that are colorful and nutrient dense along with consuming adequate amounts of protein to support your inherent detoxification pathways.

If you are consuming fish to increase the amount of omega 3 fatty acids in your diet, a safer option than eating farmed raised tilapia is taking omega 3 rich supplements. You could eat the fish itself, but this is not an option in the United States, leaving supplementation as preferred source. The other option that you have is to consume wild caught fish. Wild fish such as salmon, cod and halibut are better options and do not come with the same risks of altered fatty acid composition as farmed fish. Therefore, the nutrition of any of these fish is going to exceed tilapia nutrition.

Paleo Dog Nutrition . . . Not Exactly the Same as Humans

I am a big fan of dogs. I enjoy spending time with my two mutts (said with the utmost endearment) and watching them interact with their world with instinct as opposed to logically as we as humans do. Having said that, it probably comes as no surprise that I want my animals to eat as close to the way they would have in nature as possible. Of recent, I have been on a recent pursuit of finding the right things for dogs to eat. Sure there are some reasonable foods out there that have been prepared, but this is just not the same as the way our animals would eat if they were in the wild.

Is the State of Pet Healthcare Really that Different than Human?

Paleo Dog Nutrition

Paleo Dog Nutrition

A trip to an emergency vet will get you thinking. No one wants to go to an emergency visit, but unfortunately it happens sometimes. On a recent visit with my female mix, one thing became very clear to me; there are some striking similarities between the healthcare that humans get and that delivered to our furry friends. God bless the vet who was on staff the night my dog started having an unexplained anaphylactic (allergic) reaction. I still to this day am not certain what initiated it, I just know that the vet was great at her job and helped me get control over the immediate inflammation that had occurred. However, for as good of a job as this vet did, my dog still suffers from subtle, not severe skin itching. To help, I tried seemingly numerous options, both conventional and alternative. If the treatment was reasonable and did not impose harm, we tried it. This allergen free food, that round of allergy shots, this supplement cocktail, etc. Nothing seemed to make a significant difference expect going to pure, raw food.

The Frustration of a Pet Store

Having narrowed down the list of reasons that may have triggered my dog’s immune reaction, I decided to spend some time in the dog food aisle attempting to find the cleanest food I could find. What I found instead was disappointment that turned to anger. The dog food industry is as crooked as the human food industry. Maybe even more so since domesticated animals are mostly defenseless. The ingredients I found should never be consumed by a dog and they would not be except for the fact that they have been enhanced with flavors. Since dogs use their noses extensively, stimulating that region in the brain with smells tells them to eat.

The ingredients I found include, but were not limited to, grains, canola oil and alfalfa, just to name a few. The problem with grains is just as severe in dogs as it is in humans. None of the canola showed that it was from a non-GMO source and since the alfalfa was not defined as organic on any label, one has to assume that it is not. This means that it was sprayed with Roundup, most of which stays in the plant at the time of harvesting and is then ingested by dogs. In a nutshell, it is slowly poisoning an animal. What else is wrong? I was not able to find the source of any of the meats. Not one bag actually listed the meat source. It would state the type of meat; chicken, fish, beef, but not the origin of it. I could continue, but I won’t. So this does not leave many options for food choices.

What Paleo Dog Nutrition Should Look Like

A study of our canine friends will teach us that they are not completely carnivores, although mostly. They do have an herbivore side to them as well.  Therefore, Paleo dog nutrition is mostly a protein, or meat, based diet. I have enjoyed turning my dogs loose in the woods only to watch them come back having taken and dined on some small quarry that they caught. It is a natural instinct for them. However, it also amuses me when we are walking that they will like the grasses and start nipping at them. They also seem to rather enjoy a few fresh vegetables as well.

Duck patty and asparagus

Paleo Dog Eating Duck patty and asparagus

With more meat based options becoming available such as raw patties, it is becoming easier to support the health of our canine friends. I like to make their food or use the patties and supplement with safe vegetables and fruits. Here are just a few that I have found to be safe from researching.

Fruits: apples, apricots, bananas, blueberries, cantaloupe, mango, orange, pear, pineapple, raspberries, strawberries and watermelons

Vegetables: asparagus, bell pepper, carrots, celery, cucumber, green beans, pumpkin, spinach, sweet potato

Stopping the Cause of Pet Diseases

Just like humans, chronic pet diseases are on the rise. Who would have thought that diabetes and hypothyroidism would be things that we would be talking about in the canine population? What almost seems crazy, but it is now a reality. As the food of humans has continued to stray further from the original sources and methods of gathering, so too has the increase in human diseases, especially those related to immune dysfunction. Therefore, it is no surprise that the shift in the diet of dogs may equally be responsible for the shift towards increased diseases. Maybe the time has come to consider Paleo dog nutrition as an initial approach to the well-being of our animals.

Please note, by writing this I make no claims of being an animal nutrition expert.  However, I am observant and an informed pet owner.

The Stressful Pursuit of the Correct Meal Plan

With literally hundreds of meal plan variations from which to choose, it is no wonder people can become stressed and frustrated. Which one is best and why? Some experts seem to promote the “correct” plan for everyone. If the experts disagree, who is right? With that said, let’s look at some general principles regarding nutrition. Once we grasp these principles, we can do a better job of selecting the proper plan.

Principle #1 – Protein is a Mainstay

Principle #1 – Protein is responsible for a great many bodily processes. One of the primary roles is to act as a structural component of cells and tissues. Without enough protein, the cells and tissues would not function properly. Proteins, by the way, are large, complex molecules made up of smaller amino acid compounds. Some amino acids are made by the body; others (essential) are not. You must get the essential amino acids from your diet. Protein also provides a small amount of energy in absence of carbohydrates and fat. Therefore, consuming high quality, clean (organic, grass fed, free range) protein is extremely important. The idea is consume enough protein to support your system. This depends on your age, activity level, genetics, metabolism, and overall muscular structure.

Principle #2 – Know Your Carbs for the Best Meal Plan

Principle #2 – Carbohydrates produce energy and assist in digestion. Most, such as starch and sugar, break down into glucose. Fiber, another carbohydrate, is vital to digestion, but it does not break down into glucose. Carbohydrates can be either simple or complex. Simple carbohydrates are sugars and can be naturally occurring or added to foods. Natural sugars are found in fruit, dairy, vegetables, legumes, and other whole foods. Added sugars, such as sucrose and dextrose, are packed into processed food, which are usually low in nutrients and high in calories. Generally, we consume far too many carbohydrates in the Standard American Diet (SAD). The principle here is to consume enough carbohydrates, but not too many.

Principle #3 – Fat Does NOT Make You Fat

Principle #3 – We need to eat a reasonable amount of fat to stay healthy. There are two main categories of fatty acids – saturated and unsaturated. Both can be beneficial. However it is wise to limit saturated fats (do not eat more of them than you do unsaturated). Fats help the body maintain its core temperature, absorb nutrients (vitamins A, D, E, K), and provide energy. Additionally, fats are extremely helpful for our cells, brain, hormones, hair, and skin. The dangerous thing with fat is really not so much the eating of fat but the storage of fat. Our bodies suffer greatly because of excess fat accumulation around the organs and waistlines.

With a workable understanding of the three principles, we can better decide what works best for us regarding meal plans. That’s right…I said “works best for us.” There is no once size fits all program that will work the same for everybody. Each of us is different and has different requirements. I will say, however, a Paleo plan or slight variation seems to fit MOST quite nicely.

So where do we begin in selection of a plan for us?

One key to remember is this: Limit carbohydrates to between 50-150 grams daily. This is the “sweet spot” and can be a great place to start. Begin somewhere in the middle and adjust up or down depending on your need. If your body fat is already in an acceptable range, you may be able to consume a little more. If you body fat is out of range on the high side, you will want to really focus on using fat as your primary source of fuel. As an extreme in a high body fat condition, a practitioner may utilize a ketogenic nutrition plan, which forces the body to utilize fat as its main fuel source. This in turn, can substantially lower body fat. I caution you to obtain a practitioner’s supervision with this to avoid excessive muscle wasting.

Mark Sherwood

Mark Sherwood – Fitness Expert

It can be quite confusing I must admit. Start with a Paleo plan or slight variation and go from there. Many Paleo type plans focus on higher amounts of quality protein and fats and lower calories from carbohydrates. Utilize the glycemic index when selecting carbohydrates and eat at least 80% of them from the low glycemic variety with the remaining 20% coming from the moderate glycemic category. Limit high glycemic carbohydrates.

This should assist you greatly in your selection. Here’s to living the wellness life together!

Learn more from Mark Sherwood at Live4E.

What is the Paleo Diet, Back Then vs. Now

Simply put, paleo diet is the consumption of food without preservatives and grains. It’s an effort to encourage similar to the diet our stone-age ancestors used to have. The food our ancestors consumed consisted of anything they could hunt and gather – leafy greens, nuts, meats, fishes, seeds, and regional veggies.

What is the Paleo Diet?

Processed food items have become a part of our regular diet and is a type of food that our bodies haven’t evolved to digest properly; foods such as rice, pasta, and bread. Thus, instead of these, we should eat foods that our bodies can digest easily; mostly those food items that occur and are available naturally.

What is the Paleo Diet

Paleo Vegan

To answer the question, “what is the paleo diet”; it is a big advocate of protein from natural sources – meat, eggs, and seafood. Vegetables and fresh fruits are even more highly encouraged. This gives paleo diet a crossover with veganism, making it a diet rich in both, protein and fiber content, the source of which are vegetables and not grains. You could even call it Paleo-vegan, the perfect combination of mostly plant based foods with the addition of protein and fat as needed.

Our genetics haven’t changed from older times

Tens of thousands of years ago, our stone-age ancestors survived and thrived as hunters and gatherers. Despite a millennia passing since then, our genetics haven’t changed all that much. An average human back then, used to be quite tall, very muscular, extremely agile, and athletic. On the other hand, an average human being now, is out of shape, obese, unhappy, stressed, and losing the battle against a horde of preventable diseases.

What happened?

Agriculture is what happened! Couple of thousand years ago, farming was discovered and soon after that, the agricultural revolution was set forth in full swing. Our species evolved from hunters and gatherers to being farmers. Tribes settled down and formed societies, progress took the fast track, and this is where we humans are today with the advent of industrialization making things even worse.

The underlying issue is that our bodies never really adjusted to the amount of grains we are now farming and consuming. From the beginning of our species to where we are today, 99.5% of the time we have spent on earth has been as hunters and gatherers. Considering this data, notice the significant amount of time our bodies have had to adapt to that lifestyle, with only 0.5% of the time spent as farmers with our diet pattern being abruptly shifted. Just imagine what we are putting our bodies through.

Rather than consuming meat, veggies, and fruits, we have become dependent on grains – rice, bread, corn, pasta, and so on. Moreover, our government recommends 6-11 servings per day, and you can witness for yourself how more and more people are succumbing to obesity.

Something definitely isn’t right; paleo diet is not an effort to go back in time, but a way to restore the natural process of our body; the way it was biologically designed to function. This will allow us to begin living a healthier life instantly.

Fortunately, now that you know what is the paleo diet all about; instead of going on a paleo diet completely, you can simply restrict the foods that aren’t included in the paleo diet. As a result, you may very well be able to stop counting calories forever. Other than stopping you from worrying about calories, this particular diet enables you to eat until you’re full. Additionally, it aids your body in building muscle and losing weight, and gets you in shape way faster than any other diet.

In conclusion, what is the paleo diet, really? It’s a step in the direction human beings were supposed to take well before agricultural revolution, without the presence of preservatives, chemicals, and modified grain content in our foods. Paleo Diet would not only would help in preventing obesity but protect you from all the modern diseases that are the direct result of unhealthy diet patterns that we have formed ever since the agricultural revolution.

What is the Paleo Diet in Modern Times?

Nowadays most nutritionists and health authorities believe and promote how healthy cereal grains are for diseases of all civilizations. The information these bodies are basing their claims on is a product of medical studies that cannot establish the cause and effect. These studies are showing an association that is inverse between western diseases and consuming cereal grains, which aren’t demonstrated via controlled randomized trials.

When one asks, what is the paleo diet, they must first ask what it is not. The standard American diet that Americans consume is not a paleo diet. In fact, this diet is the culprit behind the plethora of chronic health issues that seem to emerge out of nowhere, from diabetes to cardiovascular disease, to even subtly contributing to the growth of cancer cells and tumor tissues. Our diet nowadays consists mainly of genetically modified processed foods, which disturbs multiple mechanisms of our body. The possibility of long-term health with these foods in our daily diet is practically nonexistent. They are certainly not paleo foods.

What is the Paleo diet

The Modern Paleo Diet

When shopping at the super market, you can easily identify these types of food. They will usually come in ready to serve containers, laden with preservative and chemicals that an average shopper can’t even pronounce. Just picture how serious the situation has become; more than half the foods we consume are processed and more than half the planet is surviving on them. The increase of diet related illnesses is a clear indicator that something has to change in how we produce the food and how we decide to eat it. Processed food gives birth to food allergies, diseases that are difficult to diagnose let alone treat, and creates more issues for the consumers than solving them. The Paleo diet is a decision one chooses to make on a personal level and implement in their lives.

Consume only organic and pastured meats

We indeed are what we choose to eat, and since we have a choice, you would want to select pastured meat in this modern day and age. Yes, pastured meat may cost a bit more; consider it an investment in not only the environment but also the wellbeing of your body.

What is the Paleo diet and how it prevents food allergies nowadays?

Paleo diet is now more important than ever before, because according to the Food Allergy Research & Education, about 15 million people in America are suffering from numerous food allergies, that includes children more accurately 1 in 13 of them. It rose from by 18% among children over the course of 10 years between 1997 and 2007.

In addition, a paleo diet contains a great amount of fiber rich vegetables. Fiber greatly aids in the function of the gut; in the gastrointestinal tract vegetable fiber ferments, creating fatty acids that promote healthy gut bacteria, and prevents the growth of antagonistic strains of bacteria. What is the paleo diet? It prevents in the development of new allergens.

What is the Paleo Diet in this Modern Day and Age?

Paleo diets have proved to be a remarkable change for quite a lot of individuals. The types of food that are a part of this particular diet make it suitable for everyone, no matter which part of the world you belong to.

Over the last 20 years, human beings are requiring less and less physical activity to get through the day, and consuming processed food on top of such a lifestyle can prove to be dangerous to your health. The consumption of processed foods accumulates harmful fats and problematic toxins in our body. Due to reduced physical movement, these fats and toxins fester into chronic health conditions that are difficult to diagnose until after significant damage has been done.

The Paleo diet can negate the likelihood of obesity and counter all the symptoms that make us lethargic. In addition to that, it will aid in the prevention of numerous chronic health conditions and transform your entire body for the better, while maintaining your body for long-term health.

We are convinced by the media that the world is becoming increasingly health conscious (and that might be true for small percentage of the world’s population), but this is nowhere near to the extent that we’ve been led to believe. Therefore, to not be a victim, could you benefit from the dietary changes now that you know, “What is the Paleo Diet?”

Are Toxins Making You Fat?

Just the word toxin sounds scary enough, but did you know that toxins may be making you fat. That’s right! The toxins that you are exposed to in your environment may be the reason that you are not losing weight. This is just the tip of the iceberg. Many of the conditions that wish to never deal with such as cancer, diabetes, and heart disease can trace part of their roots back to toxins and how they cause fat tissue to become overactive.

Here is what you must understand. Toxins are going to keep making you fat. You are not going to get away from toxins. Why? Because our environment is continually being polluted by a growing number of chemicals. These are not harmless chemicals. Rather they are extremely harmful. What is even worse is that many of these toxins are passed off to the public as safe. Nothing could be farther from the truth. They may not cause immediate effects, but the cumulative effects are traumatic to our health. How big is this problem? Well according to the Institute for Functional Medicine, more than 80,000 new chemicals are released each year. That is a massive amount.

Even You are Toxic!

At this point, you may be saying, “but I am not toxic, otherwise I would know.” You may be surprised to find out that according to recent research, nearly everyone has appreciable levels of toxins that have built up in their body (Neurotoxicology 2012 May 31). You don’t necessarily know that you are toxic. The onset is usually slow and you become more toxic over time. So the take away is that if you are having trouble losing weight, it is not a question of are toxins making you fat because they are.

Are Toxins Making You Fat? – The Rationale

Here is exactly what happens. You encounter toxins, of which there are many sources. Some of the most common are refined foods, non-organic sources of food, plastics, medications and water. When we think of toxins, it is common to think of chemicals that are clearly marked as hazardous. However, we rarely realize we have encountered most of the toxins that we do. Once you have encountered these toxins, they are going to find their way to fat tissue in the body. The reason that toxins go to fat is not because it is a storage depot, but rather that many toxins are fat-soluble. They have a natural affinity for fat. Yet once the toxin reaches the fat, then problems for our fat tissue start to kick in.

Fat and fat with toxins embedded in it is not the same thing. Fat with toxins embedded in it does not look natural to our body and as a result, it sets off alarm signals. The answer to these alarms comes from the immune system. The increased activity of the immune system stirs up an inflammatory storm that causes the fat tissue to increase in size. This is how the toxins are making you fat. When the inflammation flares, the fat cells become more active. Worse yet, they also create problems elsewhere in the body that affect appetite control and blood sugar regulation. Clearly a seemingly harmless toxin is anything but harmless. It could be the stimulus to not just making you fat, but causing chronic disease. (Environ Health Perspect. Feb 2013; 121(2): a61.)

How to Detox

There is a way to overcoming the effects of toxins on your fat tissue. It starts with eliminating the sources of toxins that you can identify. For many though, this is simply not enough. If your body has been overwhelmed by toxins, you will need additional support. Supporting increased toxicity means supporting your body’s own detox systems. Before you jump to conclusions, we are NOT talking about purging your bowels which may actually make you more toxic over time. Rather there are specific nutrients to support detoxification as our body performs it. Replenishing these nutrients is the key to successful removal of toxins, and moreover dropping those stubborn extra pounds of fat. But you cannot stop there. Again, you must eliminate what you can and that means eating a cleaner diet without all the foods that are refined and contain chemicals. Do this and not only will you detox, but you will start dropping fat as well.

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