what is the paleo diet? (plus how I’m doing it)

Paleo is the new Atkins. I don’t actually think this. But it’s what everyone likes to say. It certainly is a way of eating that’s attracting a lot of attention…and with it some terribly hysterical mis-information.

Screen Shot 2012 03 27 at 5.53.08 PM what is the paleo diet? (plus how I'm doing it)
infographic mages via greatist.com

Wondering what the hell I’m talking about? How about I give a bit of a Paleo 101 rundown…with some pointers to how I’ve chosen to interpret this way of living. Because, as hopefully you know, I’m not into doing “diets” or being strict and draconian with my eating, or doing what I’m told I should do (this extends well beyond food, I’m afraid) or getting caught up in a fad.

I like to eat my way… and gently. And so: the below is not a guide to how I think YOU should eat. I’m simply sharing my experiences experimenting, which perhaps might prompt you to experiment, too.

To be honest, I’ve resisted writing too much about it previously, although a lot of you who quit sugar are asking whether you “should also be quitting carbs”. (Should, should, should.)

I’ve resisted in part because I’ve been wary of boarding too many bandwagons and becoming a dreary bore who tells other people what to do. And in part because I’ve wanted to distance myself from the Paleo bores. And there are many. And they are vocal!

But mostly I’ve resisted because I like to try things fully before I buy it and share it (although I’ve written about it briefly here and shared recipes here.).

I’ve now tried out the caper fully – for about five months. So, time to share:

The elevator pitch answer: what is the Paleo diet?

Also called the cave man diet, it’s about eating in a similar way to the way our ancestors – up until the agricultural revolution about 7-10,000 years ago – used to eat.

This equates to: meat, saturated fats (from animals, avocados, nuts etc), non-starchy vegetables, nuts, eggs and a little low-sugar fruit.

It means not eating: anything that arrived on the scene since farming and processing began (grains, sugars, vegetable oils, Dunkin’ Donuts).

But Paleo peeps vary their take on the details (see below). To this end it’s an approach, not a diet (there’s no manifesto or original author who cashes in on the idea).

Why would you do such a thing?

Because we evolved to eat this way – and metabolise this way – over millions of years. Grains and other “processed foods” require radically different metabolic and digestive processes. Our bodies simply haven’t adjusted to these different processes (evolution is a damn slow process) and so we struggle with these “new” foods  at every mouthful. Our genes are 99 per cent the same as they were 10,000 years ago.

We haven’t changed genetically; our diets sure have. Ditto our waistlines and health…

Read more

why it’s good to give your stuff for free

I like this story: Trevor from Youth Lagoon recently told my friend Tim (who told me) that back before he was Somebody he decided to release his first single “July” on Bandcamp for free. Everyone told him he was mad. That he should monetise his efforts. But then the track went viral. And he got fans. And Youth Lagoon got big.

We know this kind of story, yeah?

advicetosinkinslowly27 why it's good to give your stuff for free
by Lee Basford via advice to sink in slowly

It’s The New Creativity. Give first. See what happens next.

PS: you might like to listen to “July” while you read the rest of this:

[vimeo]http://vimeo.com/34332459[/vimeo]

Seth Godin first explained the beauty of this concept to me early one morning on Skype. We chatted, quite literally, about the point of existence. He told me it’s about “shipping”.

“Real artists ship,” he says. You can fiddle and perfect and rehearse for a while. But then – fire up! – we have to press send or call in UPS to pick up our contribution to the planet – whether it be a report, a love letter, a meal, a blog post. That’s the point. Which is not far off my “quit the rehearsals, skip to the play” theory from last week.

Art is something we offer as a gift to humanity, Seth tells me.

Read more

how to make your own (gut-friendly!) cream cheese

This could possibly go down as one of my favourite recipe shares ever. It involves one ingredient. It’s satisfyingly wholesome and River Cottage-y to make. It produces no wastage AND results in two invaluable edibles. And it’s super superfood-y and gut-goodish. I could go on… 

how to make your own (gut-friendly!) cream cheese

I’m talking about homemade cream cheese.

The stuff from the box is terrible. It’s extracted by placing milk under high pressure, and contains very little goodness. The homemade version is essentially the by-product from extracting whey from milk or yoghurt (I do it with yoghurt), with extra gut-guarding goodness from the lactic-acid bacterial processes involved. Aaaaand, it tastes immeasurably better and creamier. Note: different yoghurt brands may produce different amounts of curd and whey. Generally, a cup of yogurt will yield approximately 1/3 to 1/2 cup yogurt cheese and produce about 1/2 cup whey.

The cheese:

* spread it on biscuits and toast with a sprinkle of rock salt on top

* mix in some fresh herbs and oil, or pesto, to make a dip

* put a blob in an endive leaf and top with some smoked salmon or grilled sardines and chives

The whey:

Make sure you keep the stash of whey. Whey is great stuff and I’ll be writing about what you can do with it down the track. For now:

* store it in the freezer to use for fermenting your own saukerkraut and probiotics (as I say, more to come.)

* add a tablespoon to your smoothie in the morning. It’s full of minerals and will help digestion.

Read more

Want to learn more about the Paleo diet? This is for you…

There’s much buzz at the moment about the Paleo diet. Some of it painfully pious. Some of it fascinatingly valid. I’ve written a little about it here and shared some Paleo recipes here. I keep getting asked to share my thoughts, and am often asked by recent sugar-free converts, “should I be quitting all carbs?”

Screen Shot 2012 03 23 at 7.46.12 AM Want to learn more about the Paleo diet? This is for you...
Photo by Lee Blaylock…a stylist I’m working with!

To be honest, I’ve been reluctant to wade into things too much because I’ve been experimenting with this way of eating myself, and forming my own opinion slowly. I don’t like to opine until I’ve tried and researched.

But recently the big names in the Paleo movement got together for an online Paleo Summit. I mention it because I think it’s possibly the best overview of the science, techniques, controversies and so on behind the thinking and it certainly helped me get to the bottom of what the eating approach/lifestyle is all about. Some of the names on the lineup you might recognise from on this blog (Chris Kresser who I’ve interviewed here, and Nora Gedgaudas who I interviewed here.)

For those of you who’re interested you can get the package of podcasts and videos and other bits and pieces here. Those of you who have noooo idea what I’m talking about…next week I’ll be doing a bit of Paleo 101 rundown. Tune back in.

Meantime, some of the more interesting guff that’s ticked off at the Summit:

How to do the Paleo dance with kids and a family

Are some carbs OK to eat? Nora Gedgaudas’ presentation is friggen great. She argues that no starches are safe. Others at the summit argue some rice and sweet potato is cool…all the evidence is laid out in both directions so you can make your own mind up.

Does Paleo help with autoimmune and inflammation? Neurosurgeon Dr. Jack Kruse speaks about how leptin resistance lies at the root of inflammation, obesity, and chronic disease. He also shared how he lost 60kgs in a year. Dr. Thomas O’Bryan, a gluten sensitivity expert, gives the rundown on how allergies work.

How to Win an Argument with a Vegetarian. Denise Minger, Author, Death by Food Pyramid, is a legend. She breaks down the China Study argument…with facts. I’m not sure who points this out, but most people who eat this way eat more vegetables than a vegetarian.

Read more

a kid in the 70s? then you probably have this photo of yourself…

I tweeted recently about how funny it was that family photos for anyone who was a young kid in the ’70s are identical – same props, same setting, same clothes. Let’s see what I mean…

010 Copy a kid in the 70s? then you probably have this photo of yourself...
Sunday after church shot. In good “clobber” and thongs

Any of these so very random captures familiar to you?

* you and sibling(s) in a wheelbarrow

* first day of school shot. You’re in uniform; younger sibling is wearing a pirate outfit (or vice versa). Perhaps they’re holding their capgun. Or sporting a batman cape. Whatever. It’s convincingly competing with your uniform. You’re smiling. They’re looking well grumpy.

* you as a toddler holding a beer can. Better still, an over-sized beer can.

* you as a toddler with a plastic ice cream bucket on your head

* family photo, often taken after church (when you’re all in your good clobber, knees scrubbed; thongs washed; BMX tee tucked into Rugger shorts). Me, I was mostly holding the youngest (and have wonky hips to show for it now…that one on my lap above…almost 12 lb when he was born!).

* wearing corduroy overalls with a coloured skivvy. That every other sibling also wore at some point.

* in a bath. With your brothers. And your cousins. It’s Christmas time and you’re so very not happy about the arrangement.

Read more

how to make chicken stock (and my mum’s chicken soup)

If there’s one thing anyone serious about their health should learn to do, after learning how to poach eggs, it’s to make chicken or beef stock.

image21 how to make chicken stock (and my mum's chicken soup)

It’s wonderfully weekend-evocative for me (was that a very Nigella line right there?). In winter Mum would always put a big pot on the stove on Saturday and it would bubble away for hours, then Sunday lunch was chicken soup full of root vegetables and herbs.

Mostly as an adult I’ve been too impatient to make my own stock. But then I did. And (apologies to issue a very Jamie O line now) I’ve never looked back. I try to eat some stock or bone broth every day, either to braise vegetables for one of my mish mash meals or as a soup or stew.

As you might recall, I’ve already done a post on how to make bone broth. Bone broth is same-same-but-different as a stock, but is mostly bones (and thus full of gelatin and minerals from the bones themselves). Stock or standard meat broth uses meat and bones, or in the case of my recipe below, a whole chooken.

7 reasons to make your own stock

1. Stocks are beyond nutritious…

…a condensed cauldron of minerals and electrolytes in a form easy to assimilate.

2. They are great for anyone with digestion issues.

Stocks have a soothing effect on any areas of inflammation in the gut. That is why they aid digestion and have been known for centuries as healing folk remedies for the digestive tract. This from Sally Fallon: “The gelatin in meat broths has the unusual property of attracting liquids… The same property by which gelatin attracts water to form desserts, like Jello, allows it to attract digestive juices to the surface of cooked food particles….Gelatin acts first and foremost as an aid to digestion and has been used successfully in the treatment of many intestinal disorders, including hyperacidity, colitis and Crohn’s disease…

3. It’s an efficient way to get protein into your diet.

Again Sally: The gelatin in stocks also “acts as a protein sparer, allowing the body to more fully utilize the complete proteins that are taken in. Thus, gelatin-rich broths are a must for those who cannot afford large amounts of meat in their diets.”

4. The store-bought stuff is full of additives and salt and tastes like crap.

5. It’s economical.

You can get about 3 litres and 6-8 portions of meat from one chicken.

6. It’s a de-stresser.

Seriously. According to cookbook author Hanna Kroeger, it’s more relaxing than Tylenol because it has a “natural ingredient” that feeds, repairs and calms the mucous lining in the small intestine…which of course makes up a large part of our nervous system. Ergo all that “chicken soup for the soul” stuff.

Read more

An announcement: I Quit Sugar now on ipad, kindle + nook!

I have news. And it’s all good. My I Quit Sugar ebook has been rebooted, rejiggled and fandangled into formats that are gloriously designed for all e-readers.

article 0 11F314A5000005DC An announcement: I Quit Sugar now on ipad, kindle + nook!
gobble it up!

Perhaps you’ve put off buying the my ebook I Quit Sugar because you have an eReader and only like buying eReader-ready books?

Well…

if you’ve got an IPad, Kindle, Nook, Sony Reader…

 

I’ve formatted my ebook I Quit Sugar. Afresh. For you.

What’s this mean?

* I Quit Sugar is still just $15 BUT now you get all formats

Including the original PDF version. They’ll all arrive in your download for the same price.

* If you’ve already bought the PDF version…

I’m giving you the other formats now…FOR FREE. Look out for an email in your inbox explaining how to go about this.

* The new version is a little updated + different

Just a few updates and an extra recipe or two. And minus a few pictures and pretty fonts. This is simply because this is how e-reader formats work. You simply can’t get the same design elements to translate. Just so you know (see below for more help on this, if you’re thinking of designing your own ebook).

* What to do next?

Read more

are you all dress rehearsal, no play?

It’s hit me just recently: this is the rest of my life. This awareness has arisen because I’ve had to face a few realities lately.

Screen Shot 2012 03 14 at 10.46.03 PM are you all dress rehearsal, no play?
Image by Ben Javens

I’ve led my life thinking it would look a certain way: high school, uni, work, husband, house (that I’d build with a view into bushland), things to own, kids with interesting names, package holidays to Bali (OK, now I’m just being dumb…you get the point). I just assumed, and over the years the milestones guided me, they were my motivation, as they are for many of us.

When I got to one milestone, I used it to prepare for the next. Everything was a run-up to the next thing. I didn’t have to think too much about whether it’s what I wanted. Many of us don’t. It’s so easy not to. The path is nicely worn. Of course you get married by thirty. Of course you’ll factor in kids at some point.

Life can trip along fairly easy like this, while ever you’re nailing the milestones. You can live a whole life this way, blindly ticking them off, never thinking about where it all leads. Until, perhaps, you miss a few milestones.

But I’ve been having accept of late that some (many) of these milestones won’t (can’t) be ticked off by me. It’s not all due to unforeseen circumstances. If I’m honest, I’ve chosen this path I’m on. Over and over. Without realising. Slowly I’ve been steering myself off to the left.

Either way, it begs…when the milestones are gone, what are you left with?

Illness or a setback or a wakeup call or crazy sets of life circumstances land people at this point. Life is stripped back. You’re unceremoniously pushed from the conveyor-belt.

And then what?

I’ll tell you what: you’re left with a

frighteningly boundless freedom to choose what the rest of your life will look like.

No milestones, no rules, no norms, no sitcoms to use as barometers of what’s “normal”. Just your self.

Mother friggen scary. And lonely. But mother friggen fresh, too.

Read more

15 tips + recipes for a sugar-free Easter

It seems kind of early to be doing an Easter post. But, hey, Woolworths got in months ago. Aaaannndddd, a stack of you have been asking for ideas and recipes and… So. Here you go.

quick and easy easter decorations 15 tips + recipes for a sugar-free Easter
image via bhg.com

First, some chocolate thinkings… and some good news

Since I’ve been asked this a lot, I’ll share where I’m at with chocolate. I love the stuff. Like, really love the stuff. It makes me teary with appreciation and gratitude and astonishment that something can just (not just taste but) feel so viscerally good.

But I do chocolate differently now.

* I eat raw cacao a lot more…see below for some ideas. Or my I Quit Sugar book for recipe suggestions. Raw cacao is the unheated, less processed version of cocoa (the stuff that most chocolate is made from). When people talk about chocolate being a high source of antioxidants and magnesium…they’re talking about the raw stuff; heating diminishes a lot of the properties. Makes sense. I use Loving Earth’s raw organic cacao…you can buy it here.

* I eat a few squares of the commercial 85 per cent cocoa stuff. Or, sometimes, the 70 per cent stuff.  In a small serve (three big squares or so), that’s about 1.5 (or three)  teaspoons of sugar. I weigh it up. I would rather eat great fats and proteins and veggies all day, plus some chocolate, than negotiate over a fruit salad or some tomato sauce on a burger. I choose, at times, to get my sugar through a small amount of sugar.

But I observe myself. I can tend to blow out and want to scoff the whole block. I have to be mindful. But this in itself is a good thing. As I bang on and on and on about.

After being off sugar some time, this is possible. Some no-sugar peeps don’t advise this.

* In the IQS ebook, I lament that there really ain’t any commercial chocolate bars out there using a safe sugar alternative, like glucose, rice malt syrup, xylitol or stevia. Instead the sugar free chocolates use sugar alcohols – like maltitol – and agave, both of which should be avoided. However, since then I’ve struck some luck…read on…

15 tips for easter

1. Easy egg treats: mix 5 tablespoons of coconut oil (melted) with 3 tablespoons of raw cacao powder (more or less depending on taste) and 3 tablespoons of hazlenut meal and pour into Easter egg moulds (the kind that come as a tray of indented shapes), or mini cupcake patties (the ones used for making chocolates). Place in fridge for an hour.

2. How about this…how to make an egg love heart. Oh my. Serve on Easter morning for “they’ll never know all the other kids are having chocolate confection” fun.

clever 21 15 tips + recipes for a sugar-free Easter

3. What about some lemon poppy seed bunny cookies?

lemon poppy seed bunny cookies gluten free1 15 tips + recipes for a sugar-free Easter

Read more