Weigh The FAQS

Last time, I gave a very basic introduction to my Paleolithic diet. To recap:

-No beans, legumes, grains, starches, or processed sugar (basically, nothing but honey is allowed), and very little salt.
-Eat fresh whole food, raw when possible.
-Civilization has made us sick, by feeding us food to which our bodies have no adaption.
-Eat meat, fish, eggs, vegetables, fruits, and nuts.

But before you start going crazy at the grocery store and throwing recipes together, understand that the quality of the food is as important as the classification of the food - especially when it comes to animal products. Not all meat is created equal.

The quality of the meat - any animal product, really - is arguably more important than the other stuff. Buy organic vegetables and fruits if you can afford it, but I think it’s far more crucial that the animal products you eat come from “paleo” animals. If you subscribe to the notion that eating food our bodies are evolutionarily adapted to is imperative for optimum health, doesn’t it follow that the animals we eat should also eat the “correct” food? Fruits and vegetables, organic or not, “eat” the same stuff: sunlight, water, nutrients.

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Just in case all the Popeye cartoons from your childhood didn’t make this point clear to you, let me make it once again: Spinach is good for you. Really, really good for you. And if you still have a childhood aversion to it for that reason, give it another try! Like most leafy green vegetables, it’s relatively tasteless - except that it has a rich texture that makes it quite tasty when prepared well.

First, let’s dispense with the myths. You’ve heard that spinach is high in iron and calcium, but you’ve also heard that’s just a lie perpetuated by self-righteous vegans - so which is it? Well, both. Spinach is in fact high in both iron and calcium, but spinach also contains high levels of oxalate, which reduces the absorption of both iron and calcium.

So you won’t exactly get the most iron or calcium from your spinach, but don’t let that deter you from its green leafy goodness. Spinach is still an excellent source for vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin E, vitamin K, folic acid, magnesium and various antioxidants. With all that studies have shown spinach contributes to healthy bones, brain function, eyesight, and cardiovascular system. Oh, and it also fights cancer. How about that?

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Just when you think you’ve heard it all, the Japanese come up with something else to blow your mind (and possibly your lunch, so stop reading now if you’re the squeamish type). The latest health trend from our friends across the Pacific ain’t for the faint of heart as it involves a pig, a placenta, and a whole lot of peach flavoring.

Yes, Japanese company Nihon Sofuken are now offering “Placenta 10000″, a flavored jelly drink touted as great for your all-around health due to a secret ingredient: pig placenta. The placenta, as we all know, is the organ that follows the baby out of the birth canal post-delivery. As you may not know, the placenta is actually a nutritious piece of a flesh, containing a high volume of minerals that give it uniquely regenerative, anti-aging properties. It’s also a great weight loss booster and a natural cure to postpartum depression: mothers who consume the placenta after birth report feeling more upbeat and chipper than those who didn’t. It’s even vegan! So what’s not to love?

Well, for one, I’m of the mind that social taboos exist for a reason. If guzzling peach flavored placenta juice was good for you, we’d all have been doing it since the dawn of time. Secondly, just because something is “natural” doesn’t mean it makes a tasty appetite-suppressant. Call me old fashioned, but I still believe that a healthy diet and regular exercise is the surest way to sustainable weight loss. How many magic serums have you tried promising results that never delivered? I get the feeling this is just more of the same.

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Every dieter knows that junk food is bad for them. They call it junk food because it’s full of all the things people should avoid (namely: trans fats, high refined sugar, empty calories), and lacking of all the things people need (namely: vitamins, fiber, actual nutrients). And yet, around a third of the calories most American adults eat are from junk food. Instead of swearing off junk food altogether, here are some tips to get the same craving-filling taste with actual nutritional value.

FRENCH FRIES
The salt. The oil. The starch. For many people the french fry is the ultimate in junk-food comfort. Unfortunately, most french fries are loaded with trans fats and almost no nutritional value. In fact, the high starch can play havoc with blood sugar levels and make you feel worse after eating them. To fix the high-fat, high salt craving and actually get some nutrients in, pick a vegetable-based side-dish at restaurants instead. Creamed spinach or buttered broccoli aren’t great, but they aren’t as bad. If you want to do even better yet, a side salad with a salty vinegarette and some cheese should also hit that fat and salty fix. If you simply must have something crunchy and fry-shaped, at home make your own sweet potato fries by coating sliced sweet potato with egg whites and your favorite salty seasoning and then baking them in the oven. Sweet potatoes (and yams too) are much lower on the glycemic index than regular potatoes, which translates to being much better eats for you.

DONUTS
The ultimate office and road trip treat, donuts combine a fried fix with sweet sugar. They also happen to be one of the most useless foods people can consume, and worse, are loaded with hydrogenated fat. To resist the donuts in the break room or sitting in the case at your favorite coffee place, go for a bran muffin instead to get the same sugar fix. Watch the portions though — most large muffins are at least twice as big as they need to be. And if you absolutely can’t resist, settle for enjoying a single donut hole.

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