The Definitive Guide to Paleo Sweeteners sugar stevia healthy agave-min

The Definitive Guide to Paleo Sweeteners

Whenever I write about sugar, I get a lot of spam comments trying to advertise brands of “natural, healthy” sweeteners that, apparently, are simply bursting with healthiness. I’m also constantly aware of people choosing artificial sweeteners to avoid sugar; as well as people choosing “natural” sweeteners over artificial, or just regular sugar.

So what is the difference between all of these types and brands of sweeteners? Are there really new natural sweeteners out there, or is it just clever marketing of an existing product, with a new brand name?

The Definitive Guide to Paleo Sweeteners sugar stevia healthy agave-min

 

Natural Sweeteners

A natural sweetener, by definition is one that is unprocessed, and naturally occurring in nature – in the same state (or requiring minimal processing that you could do yourself). A lot of sweeteners sold as natural, actually require a lot of refining and processing to get to the state they reach us in – far from natural.

Stevia

One of the most talked about sweeteners, Stevia is actually a herb. It has a natural sweet taste, but no actual sugar molecules. The green leaf Stevia plant is therefore a great alternative to sugar. Unfortunately, far more readily available than the green leaf versions, is the white powdered form of Stevia (i.e. branded as Natvia, Truvia or Sun Crystals). This is very processed, and definitely one to be avoided.

Honey

Raw Honey is a great natural sweetener. Using a local honey is even supposed to reduce hayfever. Whilst honey is natural (and in fact the only sweetener I use), it still produces an insulin effect and is definitely best suited for occasional use – as are all forms of sweeteners.

Maple Syrup, traditionally made Agave Nectar (Miel de Agave), Sorghum Syrup, Coconut Sugar, Palm Sugar, Molasses, Date Sugar, Cane Sugar, Fruit Juice, Muscovado and Sucanat are also natural sugars – but, again, no sweetener is the healthier choice, even if they are natural! Incidentally you might have seen Brown Rice Syrup in you health food shop – and whilst it too is “natural”, it contains malt and is therefore a source of gluten!

Not So Natural?

Agave Nectar is another one that seems to be thought of as another supremely healthy product. Agave is natural, in that it comes from the juice of the agave plant. It has a low glycemic profile, which means less of an insulin spike. However, this is because Agave nectar contains only 10% glucose – which means the other 90% is fructose, which comes with all sorts of health issues and is definitely to be avoided. Not only should Agave be avoided for its high fructose concentration, but it also contains saponins; toxins that have less than desirable effects on the body. Agave Nectar is produced in a not too dissimilar way to High Fructose Corn Syrup – yet at least HFCS is seldom marketed as a healthy sweetener.

Turbinado Sugar and Sugar Alcohols (i.e. xylitol and erythritol) are also not natural; but often sold with impressive health claims.

Artificial Sweeteners

The chemical sweeteners really are a no brainer. Recognised as toxins in the body – and in many cases not established enough for us to really understand their impact, I can’t see any reason why anyone would want to consume these. There is also a lot of research into the insulin response, with many suggesting that the sweet taste, even in the absence of sugar, is enough to trigger an insulin response.

Artificial sweeteners include Aspartame (sold as NutraSweet or Equal), Saccharin (Sweet n Low), Sucralose (Splenda), Acesulfame-K (Sunette or Sweet One), Sorbitol, Mannitol and Tagatose.

Sweeteners – Are They Paleo?

Whilst the natural sweeteners are without doubt less harmful than their chemical or processed alternatives, they still aren’t “Paleo”. As an occasional treat Raw Honey is the only sweetener I would suggest.

Ultimately, it’s best to give up the need for constant sweetness. Since doing so, I’ve found my taste buds have changed and I no longer crave sweet things like I used to. Try giving up sugar; after a few weeks you’ll be glad you did!

Have you given up sugar? If not, what types of sweeteners do you use?

The Slow Paleo Transition primal diet-min

The Slow Paleo Transition

A lot of people seem to prefer to jump straight into Paleo. To clean out the kitchen, buy new cookbooks and go cold turkey on the grains all on the same day.

For others however, jumping straight in is a scary prospect. After eating a certain way for an entire lifetime, a slow, gradual transition into Paleo is the favoured approach for many. So how do you make a slow transition?

There are lots of plans that I think lead very gently into a Paleo diet, making it much easier to become “fully Paleo” without any fuss or issue. A lot of people who used to rely on refined grains, find suddenly cutting off those carbs can result in “carb flu”. This can last for a couple of weeks, and is not an enjoyable experience – but well worth persevering with to come out the other side, feeling like a new person.

Research and Reading

I always think the best start to a new routine is research. Understand exactly what you’re doing and why. Read everything you can Paleo from blogs, ebooks and books such as Mark Sisson’s Primal Blueprint and Robb Wolf’s The Paleo Solution.

Replace Industrial Oils

A quick win is to replace industrial seed oils with coconut oil and olive oil. You won’t feel your missing out on anything by throwing away the canola, sunflower, soybean, vegetable oil and margarine – but your body will thank you for it!

Quit Sugar

Giving up sugar is a great next step. Until you do this, you probably won’t realise how much sugar you actually eat. Ebooks like the Balance Bites “21 Day Sugar Detox” and Sarah Wilsons “I Quit Sugar” make the process easier, by taking you through this step by step.

Weston A Price

Once seed oils and sugar are in hand, I think adopting a Weston A Price approach would be an easy transition. This will enable you to focus on the quality of the food you eat. You don’t have to give up grains – yet – but you will be preparing them the minimise the harmful effects. You’ll still be consuming dairy, but you’ll be careful to ensure it’s good quality, raw dairy, which will be a significant bonus to your health.

Primal BluePrint

Once you become used to Weston A Price, it’s time to let go of the grains and address the rest of your lifestyle. Mark Sisson’s Primal BluePrint plan is the perfect next step. You’ll get rid of the grains, but keep the dairy. You’ll see the importance of the rest of your life and start sprinting and lifting heavy things. You’ll see the importance of sunshine, reducing stress and sleeping well. You’ll understand that there will be occasions you don’t make good food choices, but with the 80:20 rule, that’s ok – you’re getting it right far more often than not.

Whole30

One the Primal diet is dialled in, it’s time to go fully Paleo. I think the Whole30 is the best way to start this – and having been Primal, all you’re going to give up is dairy; not a big ask at all. A dedicated 30 days will enable you to see the benefits of eating this way and start to develop habits and routines.

Fully Paleo

After the Whole30, you can assess how you feel and slowly start to reintroduce foods (if you feel you really missed dairy, for example).

With a slow transition, you should be able to go from a SAD to a Paleo diet, without any real hardship or difficulty.

What was (or will be, for those just learning about Paleo!) your approach? Are you black or white, or do you prefer a slow transition? Did I miss any steps in a gradual transition?

The Slow Paleo Transition primal diet-min

Conscious Parenting Summit-min

Conscious Parenting Summit

One of my readers told me about the Conscious Parenting Summit, which starts today. The talks are free to listen to online for 24 hours; and there seem to be a couple of interviews a day on all sorts of parenting aspects.

Whilst the nutrition seems to be more geared towards raw food than Paleo, the summit talks about a number of issues that seem very relevant to bringing up Paleo Children, such as Pregnancy, Natural Fertility, Water Birth, Lotus Birth, Unassisted Birth, Bonding, Vaccinating, Breastfeeding, Co-Sleeping, Elimination Communication, Non-Violent Communication, Circumcision and Home-schooling/Un-schooling.

So if you have young children, are pregnant, or considering starting a Paleo family, it might be worth checking out the summit!

Does Your Child Have Paleo School Dinners lunches grain free healthy low carb high fat LCHF-min

Does Your Child Have Paleo School Dinners?

I was really interested to discover a fantastic blog, by a nine year old British schoolgirl, Neverseconds. She’s been taking photos of her school dinners and posting them onto her blog. As someone with a passionate interest in nutrition, but no children, this is such an interesting insight. The blog obviously isn't written from a Paleo standpoint, but it is very interesting to gauge just how far away school dinners are from (what I would deem) optimal.

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Images from NeverSeconds

For young children, good nutrition is absolutely crucial; they are growing and more importantly their brains are still developing. It’s becoming accepted that fat is extremely important in the nutrition of children; yet these lunches are clearly following the outdated low-fat “wisdom”. I find it concerning that young children eat their dinner staring at a big “LOW FAT” label, such as on the yoghurt. Even subconsciously this will lead to a long, deep held belief that fat must be avoided. As well as fat, the dinners look to be very low in protein too.

I also find the amount of refined carbohydrates concerning. After lunch the children will have grossly elevated blood sugar levels – leading to a crash probably during their next lesson. A crash in blood sugar levels isn't conducive to concentration and alertness!

There are so many processed foods, very little looks entirely home-made (perhaps just reheated). When cooking for large numbers as in a school setting, it should be perfectly possible to cook nutritious lunches from scratch, using local produce, on a budget.

Surely good nutrition should be easy with children? They don’t have a choice and aren't in the position to research and understand about nutrition in the same way adults are. What they eat as a child is likely to set their eating behaviours for life. It is so sad to see how these children are fed, by the very people who should be setting them up with good nutrition.

Do you have school aged children? I’d love to hear what the rules are at their schools – and what they are served. Are you able to insist your child eats Paleo at lunchtimes? How do you navigate a Paleo child and a conventional wisdom school lunch menu?

Does Your Child Have Paleo School Dinners lunches grain free healthy low carb high fat LCHF-min

Paleo or primal diet what's the difference-min

A Primal Diet, Or a Paleo Diet?

This way of eating, this lifestyle, is given so many names. You might follow a Paleo Diet or a Primal Diet – or perhaps you eat an Ancestral Diet or eat like a Caveman?

Does it matter what it’s called? And do the different terms even refer to the same way of eating?

Paleo Diet

The term “Paleo Diet” was coined by Loren Cordain and originally had a far less liberal stance on Saturated Fats. He has now updated his books on this and on the use of sweeteners, to the popular “Paleo Diet” followed by many today. Robb Wolf has also played a significant role in popularising the Paleo Diet as it is today.

As well as avoiding grains and legumes, Paleo also avoids dairy. In the Paleo community strict adherence to a Paleo diet is recommended for at least 30 days. After this period foods can slowly be re-introduced and any impact assessed to determine which foods have a detrimental effect and should be avoided in the future.

Primal Diet

The Primal BluePrint way of eating is from the book, written by Mark Sisson – and is much more than just nutrition. The plan places as much importance on movement, lifting heavy things, reducing stress, sleeping properly and getting some sunshine as it does on nutrition. Nutritionally Primal is very similar to Paleo in the avoidance of grains and legumes; dairy is where they differ. A Primal way of eating includes dairy – though it is recommended that it is raw dairy; from grass-fed Ruminants, un-pasturised and ideally fermented. Lacto-Paleo is another term used to describe eating a Paleo style diet, but with the inclusion of dairy.

The jury is still very much out on dairy. The growth hormones such as IGF-1 and the insulin response are behind the refusal of many, to include dairy in their diets. A lot of people find they don’t tolerate dairy well, which is reason enough to avoid it!

Paleo or primal diet what's the difference-min

Ancestral Diet

This term can apply to any form of Paleo, but I hear this term used more amongst the scientific/ research pockets of the community.

Caveman Diet

This is the term almost exclusively used by the mainstream media when talking about any type of eating that touches on Paleo. The term “Caveman Diet” is usually accompanied by photos of cavemen, Fred Flintstone or semi-naked people eating raw meat! When people talk about a Caveman Diet, they seem to assume it’s required to act like a caveman too and don’t realise it’s about science, not re-enacting cavemen! I would never refer to a Paleo or Primal way of eating in this way, but ultimately if it raises awareness amongst more people, I guess it doesn't matter what it’s called!

There are a lot of descriptions of ways of eating that have similarities to Paleo. I think a gluten-free diet could come close (though I think many people avoid gluten, but replace it with other undesirable refined grains and processed foods). The Atkins diet is also commonly assumed to be Paleo – and whilst there are similarities, it’s very possibly to follow Atkins eating nothing but junk food; not Paleo! A Weston A Price way of eating also has many similarities.

How do you describe how you eat? Do you avoid using labels like “the Paleo diet” or “the Primal diet”?

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Paleo & Multiple Sclerosis

I've been reading a lot about Dr Terry Wahls recently. Dr Wahls was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in 2000 and immediately went on a quest to learn as much as she could about the chronic neurodegenerative disease – and how she could delay what seemed to be the inevitable decline to the illness.

After extensive research and experimentation she started eating essentially a Paleo diet, ensuring this included nine cups of non-starchy vegetables and berries each day. This diet ensures 45 nutrients, that appear to be essential to the brain, are consumed in sufficient quantities. Of course, a standard western diet is woefully deficient in these nutrients.  Over time she reversed her MS; an amazing achievement.

multiple sclerosis dr terry wahls sydney

It doesn't seem to be any great surprise that a diet of natural, real food can transform many diseases. But I was surprised to see MS Australia fundraising earlier this week – by selling cupcakes! I'm sure they sell well and I realise the people they are selling them to don’t have Multiple Sclerosis. But you wouldn't see a lung cancer charity fund raising by selling lighters. It surprises me to see so many charities fund raising by selling products that clearly don’t help with the condition.

What do you think about Dr Terry Wahls protocol and her recovery?

11 Things You Should Give Up To Be Paleo diet follow list-min

11 Things You Should Give Up To Be Paleo

Ok, so obviously grains, legumes and perhaps dairy are no longer on the agenda – but what else should you give up as you embrace a healthy Paleo lifestyle?

1. Marking Every Event With Food

Birthdays, Christmas, Easter, Valentine’s Day – it’s all become about the food! Whenever there is a celebration of any sort it is so often marked with food – and it’s very rarely grass-fed beef jerky, omega-3 enriched eggs and avocados. Instead of taking in birthday cakes to the office – how about marking your birthday with an impromptu office trip to the park or a social event?

2. Relying on Everything But Your Own Two Feet

So you've got a car and a bus pass? That doesn't mean you should use them all the time. We’re supposed to walk, it’s good to walk; find a way to incorporate it into your day!

3. Trying to Please

When all of your friends eat differently, it’s easy to feel alienated in your Paleo diet. They might suggest a pizza restaurant – or cook a non Paleo dinner for you. In the short-term the easy option is to eat the food and avoid the risk of offending them. But it’s time to think long-term; this is how you want to eat; this is important to you – so be strong and stick to your principles! Who knows, they might even respect you for it.

4. Unrealistic Expectations

If you've come to Paleo looking to lose 15kg in two weeks, think again! Paleo is not a diet, but something to follow for life. It might take a while to achieve the results you seek, but give it time and they will come.

5. Your Doctor?

If your doctor is more interested in treating your symptoms with drugs, rather than finding out the underlying issue; perhaps it’s time to look for a new doctor?

6. The Past

Perhaps you used to struggle with making good food choices, or you used to make pancakes every weekend. Just because you used to do things, maybe now is the time to let go of the past and make some changes!

7. Fears

Whether you have an irrational fear of fat lingering from your conventional wisdom, low-fat days; or a fear of getting ill – there’s no room or purpose for that fear anymore, besides positivity is far more constructive.

11 Things You Should Give Up To Be Paleo diet follow list-min

8. Excuses

It’s too easy to blame a hectic travelling schedule, long working hours or bad finances for making poor nutrition and fitness choices. If you want to make it happen, you can make it happen – drop the excuses!

9. The Middle of the Grocery Store

Unless you enjoy studying packets of junk food, to see how many ingredients you can’t pronounce – it’s time to give up the middle of the supermarket. Everything you need will be on the perimeter – or better still, outside at farmers markets!

10. Avoiding Sunshine

Another phobia it’s time to let go of! Whilst it’s not good to burn, getting some sunshine and making your own Vitamin D is a good thing!

11. Your Shock Absorbing Running Shoes with Nano Technology

How did our ancestors manage without them? Have you tried running barefoot?

What have I missed from the list? What else should you let go of as you embrace a healthy Paleo lifestyle?

Learning from olympic athletes paleo mindset nutrition diet-min

Learning from Olympic Athletes

In the last three weeks I've been fortunate enough to meet and learn from two former Olympians. To become one of the best in the World – competing in the Olympics at a particular discipline, they clearly know a lot about what that takes. If I can learn just some of that and apply it to my own life, perhaps I can adapt their methods and enhance my own life? I also have a particular interest in their own nutritional beliefs and practices.

Learning from olympic athletes paleo mindset nutrition diet-min

Michael Stember

The first Olympian was American track & field athlete, Michael Stember, who taught a sprint class at PrimalCon last month. Being at PrimalCon he completely “gets” Paleo and everything that involves. I learnt a lot of practical running tips from him that I've been putting into practice – but what I found most enlightening was the psychology he applies to his sport. He made it really clear that just wanting to achieve a goal is not enough. To achieve a goal you have to dream about it and have the certainty that you are going to make it a reality.

Matt Welsh

Earlier this week I went to a talk by Australian Olympic swimmer Matt Welsh. He is an ambassador for a health fund, so I expected his message to be a blend of agendas. Matt started describing his own story and how he got into Swimming relatively late at the age of 18, but made the national team. I'm really interested in the mental aspect to training and achieving goals, which he spoke about at length.

Psychology

Matt started off on a smaller scale with his training – but he always kept in mind the big picture of the goal he wanted to achieve. This seems far more realistic than launching straight into a daunting regime – which is going to do anything but inspire. I was interested to hear how much importance he placed on being confident in races. He achieved this by “sabotaging” small local competitions (i.e. deliberately not wearing his swimming goggles), which meant that if something went wrong on the day of a big race, he’d already encountered that situation and knew how to deal with it. He removed the fear of the unknown by creating these different experiences.

I was also intrigued to hear the how much importance was placed on visualisation. The swimmers would visualise every detail of the race, as if they were actually in it. This process ensured that on race day they knew exactly what they were going to do, which ensured they stayed focused – at the optimum performance and arousal levels.

After the session (before I broke into my obligatory nutrition question), I asked Matt what he thought about when he was in the midst of a difficult training session. I've been asking this question of every athlete I meet, as I've found just changing my thoughts during a training session makes the difference between a dreadful session – and an exceptional session. Matt told me he used to let his mind wander and look at the tiles at the bottom of the pool – then one day he realised he was wasting his brain power. He switched his focus and would think about what his muscles were doing with each stroke – or when on the treadmill focus solely on a spot in the distance and not let his mind wander.

By-Product

It was interesting to hear Matt talk about how, when his focus was on swimming, he was fit and healthy. But being fit and healthy was a by-product of his swimming. He concentrated on training, technique, race strategy, nutrition, recovery and exercise to get to his swimming goals. When he retired from swimming all of a sudden good health and fitness were no longer automatic and for the first time in his life he had to make them his focus.

He stressed the importance of enjoying the exercise you do – and not just exercising because you feel you have to, rather because you enjoy the activity in its own right. Consistency is key.

Nutrition

I was very eager to hear what he had to say about nutrition; as you've probably gathered, this is my favourite topic. The nutrition discussion started well, as Matt stressed the importance of eating what you need, before eating what you want. If you focus on what you want you won’t have room for what you need. Sadly the nutrition section then turned into not only a teaching of conventional wisdom (food pyramids, cut out fat – you get the picture), but also a soapbox on the importance of carbohydrates (and he wasn't talking about sweet potatoes)!

Matt had mention that he’d just started reading “Sweet Poison” by David Gillespie, so I thought it was a safe bet he’d know something about Paleo. Or Primal, or an Ancestral diet – or even a Caveman diet! I wasn't sure what to ask to get onto the topic of nutrition, but I thought I’d ask what he thought about a Paleo diet, which is something that has been very beneficial to me, but seems very different to what he discussed. His answer made it apparent that he didn't know much about Paleo – but had always been taught the nutritional approach he’d spoken about and he knew there were lots of studies backing up that nutritional approach.

He’d mentioned in his talk that he doesn't think we need to know the ins and outs of nutrition (but that it’s great if you do learn). He said we all know what’s healthy and we just have to make the healthiest choice available at any given time. I found his response to my question really enlightening as I just assumed athletes would have an interest in researching nutrition and experimenting on themselves. After all, they know how essential nutrition is to their performance and recovery. Clearly this isn't the case and often the nutrition advice handed out is taken as gospel without being questioned or experimented with. Personally, I disagree. I think everybody needs to know at least the basics on nutrition. Given that we literally are what we eat – how can we not have an interesting in understanding what we eat and what our body does with it?

Do you think people need to understand a little about nutrition? Or is it enough that they follow advice that someone else has researched?

The dash diet paleo primal fad-min

The DASH Diet

One of the things I liked so much when I started researching about Paleo, was the ease and simplicity. The books basically tell you to eat a simple diet, of the natural foods we've evolved to eat. I found there really was nothing confusing or contentious. As well as reading the Paleo and Evolutionary health books – I read everything else I could find on nutrition. There is a book for every fad diet imaginable, with completely conflicting and confusing advice. Some of the diets just seem downright complicated to follow and devoid of any logic.

One of the best selling diet books in Australia at the moment is about the “DASH Diet”, so I couldn't resist taking a look. I've noticed the newer fad diets seem to be more closely resembling Paleo, so I always hold out hope that books like this will be about Paleo, but with a different name.

DASH stands for “Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension” and is aimed at those suffering from High Blood Pressure, though it also has a significant focus on weight loss. I had high hopes when I picked up the book – but it quickly became apparent that the book is based on the flawed food pyramid. The plan recommends a diet high in fruit, low-fat dairy and whole grains. It also advises avoiding processed food and limiting (not eliminating) sugar.

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While the DASH diet is based on studies, these studies only compared three different nutritional plans. Unfortunately they don’t give the specific meal plans for each of the diets in the study, just the macro nutrient profiles – and some of the micro nutrient profiles. From this it’s apparent the DASH diet had 10% less fat than the other diets (taken entirely as Saturated fat), with the 10% added onto the protein and carbohydrate consumed. Without knowing exactly what they ate, this is rather meaningless. Cheap, commercial chocolate is high in saturated fat – as is butter – they clearly aren't equal, yet this study doesn't allow us to differentiate.

The book is full of un-Paleo recommendations such as only eating whole-grain bread, avoiding coconut oil, trimming all visible fat off meat and only eating low-fat dairy.

I'm sure someone coming from a highly processed SAD diet would (initially) see benefits on a DASH diet – but only because they had cut out processed foods, sugars and therefore reduced their carbohydrate intake. It saddens me that unwell people follow this diet in good faith – when it isn't based on good science – and certainly doesn't seem optimal.

What do you make of the DASH diet and the other fad diets out there?

The dash diet paleo primal fad-min