Conventional wisdom bad advice paleo diet primal-min

More Health Advice/ Conventional Wisdom

Another gem from my afternoon of reading “health” magazines in all of their Conventional Wisdom glory.  This one was in the October issue of “The Australian Healthy Food Guide”, in an article all about fat.

Conventional wisdom bad advice paleo diet primal

  • Choose a canola, sunflower or olive oil reduced fat table spread instead of butter

This sounds very similar to the advice in yesterdays post, based on an irrational fear of saturated fat.

  • When cooking, use spray oil wherever possible

I’ve not seen spray coconut oil, so can only assume they must mean spray “vegetable” oils.  The whole reason for spraying is to use less fat.  In that respect I guess it’s better to use less vegetable oil – but none would be a much bigger health improvement.

  • For salad dressings, choose a vegetable or seed oil such as canola, sunflower, olive, soybean, sesame or peanut

+1 point for the olive oil.  But I’d personally rather have my salad undressed – with a serving of meat & an avocado to make sure I got some good fat with my lunch.  As for putting soybean oil on my salad – what a horrible thought – don’t do it!

  • Choose low-fat varieties of foods whenever possible

Instead of natural, whole foods, with no added or altered ingredients, go for Franken foods instead!?

  • Choose reduced-fat or skim dairy foods

Fat soluble vitamins in the dairy can’t be absorbed, without the fat.  Also without the fat, the sugar content is proportionally higher – increasing the insulin effect.   Not to mention the fact fat is not the villain?

Fat is essential for so many functions.  It is a great energy source, without the crash and burn of relying on carbohydrates for energy.  I wonder how many more years it will take before health magazines catch up?  Will they actually tell us to increase our intake of good fats and give up the grains?  One day?

Conventional wisdom bad advice paleo diet primal-min

Margarine or Butter paleo diet primal health nutrition-min

Margarine or Butter? Seriously?

I couldn't help myself.  I read through October's Issue of “Good Health” magazine today.  Our ideas on what constitutes good health couldn't be much further apart.

I thought conventional wisdom was starting to come round to realising that natural, animal fat maybe isn't so bad after all.  Clearly not.

So, let's compare the ingredients: –

Butter

  • Cream

Margarine (this example is Flora)

  • Water
  • vegetable oils (including sunflower oil) (so other vegetable oils are also in the mix, with a high omega 6 ratio)
  • plant sterol esters (12.5%) (this is an additive that reduces cholesterol, but interferes with absorption of fat soluble vitamins & hormones)
  • modified tapioca starch, salt (1.0%) (this is a chemically altered thickener)
  • buttermilk
  • Emulsifiers: Mono- and di-glycerides of fatty acids, sunflower lecithin
  • Preservative: Potassium sorbate, citric acid, vitamin E, flavouring (often synthetic chemicals), vitamin B6, folic acid
  • Colour: Beta carotene, Vitamins A, D and B12

So, this article specifically mentions trans fats.  Well, as Julianne Taylor clearly explains, “trans fat free” margarine doesn't sound too great either.  And as for the trans fat in butter – natural trans fats are created in the stomachs of ruminants (like cows) – and have a completely different fatty acid profile to trans fats found in artificial foods.  A lot of evidence suggests that these natural trans fats may actually be beneficial.

Margarine or Butter paleo diet primal health nutrition-min

Margarine, seriously?

Giving the Paleo Treatment to Sunglasses blue light natural health eyes sight vision sun glasses-min

Seeing Things in a Whole New Light – Giving the Paleo Treatment to Sunglasses

During the three years I've lived in Australia, I've spent a lot of time wearing Sunglasses (or, as they're more commonly known in Australia, Sunnies).  Even in the winter here, it's often very bright and sunny (even if the air is cool).  In the summer, it gets really bright and sunny.  Sunglasses – well, that's what they're for isn't it, wearing in the sunshine?

Sunglasses paleo treatment-min

The more I've found out about Paleo, the more I question other aspects of my life, sunglasses being one such example.

Whilst early examples of sunglasses have been seen as far back at the 12th century, they didn't become common until the early 1900's.  That's not even five generations ago.  Whilst correlation is certainly not causation, it is interesting to note that 25-35% of people of a European descent have Myopia (short sightedness) today, whereas a study of hunter gather tribes revealed Myopia in just 0.4% of the population (1) As well as diet, could widespread use of sunglasses be responsible for the widespread decline in eyesight?

Some estimates suggest Indigenous Australians have been here for up to 70,000 years, surviving for 69,900 without needing sunglasses?  Why are they now they essential for optical health?

Sunlight entering the eyes takes two courses – one for vision, the other goes to the hypothalamus gland.  This pathway seems to have a crucial role in the body clock, energy and hormone production (including melatonin).  It would make sense for the body to use this pathway to regulate circadian rhythms.  Circadian rhythms ensure sleep and wake cycles occur properly, and that the body is in tune with seasonality.  Therefore doesn't it stands to reason that wearing sunglasses, and reducing the sunlight entering your eyes, will impact these functions?

This would tie in with anecdotal observations I've heard that when not wearing sunglasses, people get less sunburnt, then when they do wear sunglasses.  Perhaps wearing sunglasses also leads to people staying out in the sun for longer than they would without sunglasses?

In the spirit of n=1 self experimentation, I'm going to wean off the sunglasses this summer and see what (if any) impact it has on me.  Will my new found improvements in my sleeping patterns improve further still?  Will my eyesight improve?

I'll report back in a future post any differences I've noticed.

Do you wear sunglasses?  Do you think it is foolish not to wear sunglasses throughout the Australian Summer?  I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments, below!

Giving the Paleo Treatment to Sunglasses blue light natural health eyes sight vision sun glasses-min

New paleo events in australia sydney melbourne brisbane new zealand-min

New Events In Australia

Check out the newly listed events down under….

New paleo events in australia sydney melbourne brisbane new zealand-min

Lectures on Sleep, Sugar, Vitamin D, Allergy Workshops, Health & Fitness Expo & the Australia Beef Expo in NSW, VIC, ACT & QLD

Have you heard of any Paleo related events in your area?  WA, TAS, NT, SA and New Zealand seem to be a bit under represented?  Let me know below and I'll add them to the list!

paleo meets vegan vegetarian-min

Paleo Meets Vegan

There's an interesting talk at the Sydney Opera House tomorrow, as part of the Festival of Dangerous Ideas.  The talk is entitles “What We Are and What We Eat”, by Jonathan Safran Foer.  Foer has written a book called “Eating Animals”, and it sounds like he has a strong vegan, anti-Paleo agenda.

From what I've read, it looks like he is very concerned about cheap, factory farmed animal produce, which is a viewpoint I completely agree with.  However, whilst I tackle this by sourcing very good quality, grass fed, organic meat, with a minimal degree of separation between myself an the farmer – I wonder if Foer's approach is tofu and grains?

I'm always interested in hearing and understanding differing viewpoints about diets and food sustainability, so I'm quite tempted to go along.

Must remember to take some beef jerky with me, I think they only sell sweets & crisps at the Opera House…

PrimalCon

7,497 Miles to PrimalCon

One of the highlights of 2011 so far was the weekend I went to PrimalCon 2011 in California in April.  I enjoyed it so much, that I booked my ticket for the 2012 event as soon as the tickets went on sale this morning.

Sunset at PrimalCon-min

Sunset at PrimalCon

I hadn't realised quite how far America was from Australia when I booked this year.  I went at quite short notice and used my air miles, so didn't pay too much attention to minor details like flight times.  I was trying to minimise time off work, so I left Australia on the Friday and flew back on the Sunday night.  This was a big mistake!  I now know very well that Los Angeles is a very long 14 hour 7,497 mile flight from Sydney.  To make matters worse, as I used my air miles, I was assigned a very impressive route of Sydney to Brisbane, a night in Brisbane, a flight from Brisbane to Melbourne, then finally I got on my international flight at Melbourne!

It was all for the best however, as I met a wonderful new friend on the flight to LA, who was also attending PrimalCon (with just two people going from Australia, what were the chances of us being on the same flight?)

I'm planning to make PrimalCon 2012 into a much more sensible length America trip, especially as it falls the weekend after Easter.

I made some lifelong Primal friends in April, in fact, I spent a wonderful week in Texas with two of my PrimalCon friends, and met up with some others at the AHS in August.  I'm really looking forward to catching up with them and making some more Primal friends.

Over the whole weekend, the food was incredible.  So much was local Californian produce and it was great to have things like Kale and Turkey, which I find so difficult to find here in Australia (if you know of any good sources here, please let me know in the comments!)

One of my highlights from the weekend was the running workshop with Barefoot Ted.   I learnt so much from him and my running style has changed forever.  In fact, it was his workshop that inspired me to buy my Vibrams!  I'm thrilled to see Barefoot Ted is back again for next year’s event – hopefully I can refine my technique further still.
Barefoot-Ted-PrimalCon-Paleo-Network-min

Erwan Le Corre is a new presenter for the 2012 event.  I really enjoyed his talk and demonstration on MovNat at the AHS this year, and to have the opportunity to have a small group workshop with the guy who does this is incredibly exciting!

I just received my latest Amazon book order of Exuberant Animal by Frank Forencich yesterday – so couldn't believe it when I read Frank Forencich is also a presenter at PrimalCon!  I’d better get started on his book…

Hopefully we'll be able to get Mark Sisson over to Australia/ New Zealand in the near future, but in the meantime…  anyone else coming to PrimalCon with me?

LighterLife anti paleo diet

Lighter Life, The Anti Paleo Diet?

There's been a lot in the UK press recently, about British actress Pauline Quirke.  Quirke has lost about 47kg (105 pounds) in just eight months.  This extreme very low calorie diet seems really popular in the UK, but thankfully it doesn't appear to have taken off in Australia and New Zealand.

She has done this by following the LighterLife program, which fascinates me.  The program is for people with high BMI's – and a lot of weight to lose.  It is a very low calorie diet, where about 500 calories is eaten a day.  You eat this in the form of shakes, soups or bars  which come in “food packs” provided by the company.  The idea is that by having under 50g of carbohydrates a day you'll go into Ketosis forcing the body to use bodily fat for fuel.  I'm completely on board with ketosis, but the idea of this diet sounds completely miserable to me.  You can easily become fat adjusted (and go into ketosis) on more calories than this, whilst eating normal Paleo foods and plenty of fat.  It seems dangerous to go from obese to such few calories overnight.  I also hate the idea of existing only on processed “nutritionally balanced” foods.

I've found the ingredients for lighter life  and am horrified, but not shocked by what they show.

Chicken Flavour Soup: Ingredients:  Skimmed milk powder, Maltodextrin, Soya protein isolate, Soya flour, Milk protein, Soya lecithin, Inulin, Flavouring, Hydrolysed wheat and maize protein, Potassium chloride, Calcium phosphate, Stabiliser (Xanthan gum), Magnesium oxide, Onion powder, Calcium carbonate, Parsley, Ascorbic acid, Pepper, Ferrous fumarate, Nicotinamide, Copper gluconate, Zinc oxide, Vitamin E acetate, Manganese sulphate, Calcium d pantothenate, Pyridoxine hydrochloride, Thiamin hydrochloride, Riboflavin, Vitamin A acetate, Sodium molybdate, Chromic chloride, Folic acid, Sodium selenite, Potassium iodate, d-biotin, Vitamin K, Vitamin D3, Vitamin B12

Fruit Flavour Meal bars: Ingredients:  Maltitol syrup, White coating (sugar, hydrogenated vegetable oil, skimmed milk powder, whey powder, emulsifier: soya lecithin, stabiliser: E492, flavouring), Milk protein, Soya protein isolate, Whey protein concentrate, Polydextrose, Whey powder, Potassium phosphate, Sunflower oil, Calcium carbonate, Magnesium oxide, Maltodextrin, Ascorbic acid, flavouring, Ferrous fumarate, Nicotinamide, Copper gluconate, Zinc oxide, Vitamin E acetate, Manganese sulphate, Calcium d pantothenate, Pyridoxine hydrochloride, Thiamin hydrochloride, Riboflavin, Vitamin A acetate, Chromic chloride, Sodium molybdate, Folic acid, Sodium selenite, Potassium iodate, d-biotin, Vitamin K, Vitamin D3, Vitamin B12

So no meat in the chicken soup (obviously, meat is bad, right?), skimmed milk powder (we don't do fat), lots of soy, sunflower oils, sugars, trans fats and grains-a-plenty.  I think the only thing I'd consider eating would be the parsley…  For these “foods” to be the only fuel you consume for several months is quite a scary thought.  I'd love to find out more what these ingredients do to the body, I'd imagine they are very inflammatory.

Obviously consuming such few calories, weight loss is inevitable.  But then what?  Once you get to a healthier weight, you still have no knowledge about eating healthy, so presumably you go back to your former eating habits – and back to square one.

I'd love to see some studies about extreme diets like this.

What do you think about diets like these?  Do you think the ends justify the means?  Would you willingly consume those ingredients?

Handling Social Gatherings Whilst Remaining Paleo diet primal party dinner friends socialising-min

Handling Social Gatherings Whilst Remaining Paleo

Throughout my “official” Whole-30 period, I found it really easy to keep on the Paleo-straight & narrow, without a single cheat.  I think I'm especially fortunate living in Sydney, where many restaurants pride themselves on fairly whole, local (and often organic) food.  I eat out fairly often, and continued to do so during the 30-day challenge.  I've always avoided certain types of restaurant, so that wasn't a problem.  In the restaurants I did eat in, without exception there have always been a few meals on the menu that are Paleo (for example fish and vegetables) and even more meals that I can “tweak” to make them Paleo (swapping the fries for a salad for example, and asking for no sauce/ dressing).

Last weekend however, I encountered my first Paleo difficulty.  I was invited out for a friend’s Birthday as a Moroccan restaurant in the Sydney.  However, as we were such a large group, we had to have the set menu.   I’d been quite busy, so just had a cursory glance at the menu a few weeks ago.  I saw “beef” and “chicken” and assumed I’d be able to make it work, and left it there.  Had I looked properly, I would have called the restaurant ahead as often, with notice, they can be very accommodating.  Fortunately I played it safe and had a late lunch on the day, a tactic I often employ before social events.  I've found there is nothing worse and more challenging than being ravenously hungry, surrounded by less than optimal food options.

We started with bread and dips.  One of the dips seemed to be egg plant, but with nothing to “dip” in it, I gave that a miss.

We were then presented with a Tabouli Salad, which after asking about the ingredients I dived into.  It contained parsley, mint, onion, olive oil, lemon & something called Bulgar.  After the first two mouthfuls I found out Bulgar is basically wheat, so didn't have any more of that.  Why put wheat into a lovely salad?

Handling Social Gatherings Whilst Remaining Paleo diet primal party dinner friends socialising-min

With the salad came Halloumi Cheese (I’m avoiding dairy, as I’ve felt so good since I eliminated it for my Whole30), Fried Cauliflower with Eggplant jam (sugar!), pinenuts and yoghurt (more dairy).  I was starting to get a bit embarrassed by this stage that I hadn’t eaten more than two mouthfuls, so I was very relieved when the next dish was BBQ Garlic & Harissa Octopus & Skordalia.  Octopus – perfect.  One of the things I love about eating out is having things like Octopus that I would never have at home.  Octopus is supposed to have a good amount of Omega 3, calcium, potassium, phosphorus and selenium, so a good option.  I’ve since found out that sometimes Skordalia is made stale bread in the puree; or potatoes, walnuts or almonds in olive oil; but I guess you can’t win them all.  The other dish in this course was the Moroccan equivalent to Spring Rolls; spicy lamb & pinenut boreks, with yoghurt sauce.  Didn’t have any of that either.

I was sat with lots of people I’d not met before, who were very interested in my “unusual” diet and why I was quizzing the waiting staff about what was in every dish.  I love talking about Paleo, and it definitely helps to be upfront about what you’re doing.  I always find it interesting to hear how others perceive Paleo – the main response I get time after time is how impossible they would find it to give up bread.

The main dishes would have to be more Paleo, surely!  Fortunately they were, we had: –

  • Lemon Pepper Chicken Shish Kebab with Tomato Caraway Sauce, Served with Chickpea & Nut Pilaf Lamb Kafta Shish Kebab with Pomegranate Glaze, Served with Chickpea & Nut Pilaf
  • Beef Cheek Tagine with Sweet Potato & Caramelised Onions, Served with Carrot Steamed Couscous

Served with

  • Fattoush Salad Sumac and fries
The Chicken and Beef Tagine were great, and better still my fellow dinners were so full up on the bread, pastry and beer that there was plenty left for me.  Luckily I realised the Fattoush salad contained pita bread pieces (why?) before I took any.Dessert was a beautifully presented sugar laden meringue with ice cream and lots of miniature sweets and cakes.  I used to have such a sweet tooth, but I noticed my attitude towards food like this has completely changed. I wasn't even remotely tempted by these items.  When I look at food like this, instead of the enjoyment and taste I used to see, I now see the unwanted insulin spike it will give me, the less than par feeling I’d get an hour later and the Gluten, Phytates & Lectins in the grains creating all sorts of problems I just don’t want.

I left the meal $57 lighter, but feeling great – which certainly wouldn't have been the case had I indulged as I would have pre-Paleo.

Going to a social event with non-Paleo friends soon?  Here are my top three tips to make the occasion as Paleo friendly as possible: –

1.       Find out what food will be offered in advance – call the restaurant several days in advance to explain your requirements and see if they can help you out

2.       Be open with the people you’re with about what you’re doing & why

3.       Don’t go to the event hungry, this will make it much harder for you to find your way through the maze of SAD food to the best Paleo choices

How do you manage social situations with SAD food?  Are your friends supportive?  Do you find particular social events better than others?  Let me know in the comments!

How to get cheap vibrams vff five fingers barefoot shoes running sydney australia-min

How to Get Cheap Vibrams

As I explained in my previous post, I love running barefoot, in VFFs.

My Vibrams

My Vibrams – I've got a pair of pink Treksports and black Classics. So far.

When I was in America for PrimalCon & the AHS this year, I was so shocked to see how cheap Vibrams were, compared to here in Australia.  I bought two pairs, the Treksport in pink from a big outdoors store in Texas and a pair of Classics in black from another store in San Francisco.  Each pair worked out at well under $100 AUD, including taxes.  Not only were they cheaper, but the stores stocked so many different models, colours and sizes.  I should have bought more.  It takes going overseas to realise how expensive things are in this part of the world.

The bigger sports shops in Sydney seem to carry just a few models, and you can forget about getting them in exciting colours.  The bigger Rebel Performance stores sell a small selection, for upwards of $169.99 AUD, which is a lot of extra money to pay, especially for a small selection.

cheap_vibrams_vffs

Vibrams can be expensive in Australia

I bought my first pair of Vibrams on Ebay last year.  I carefully researched the model and tried an equivalent pair on in the city, to make sure I ordered exactly the right size.  I still paid about $100, so not that much of a bargain.  They arrived and I was instantly disappointed with Vibrams in general.  The toes were all the same length – meaning only my big toe would fit properly.  The top of my other toes didn’t even reach the bottom of toe section!  I initially assumed this was just how they made them, perhaps I had freaky toes, as they weren’t all the same length?  On close inspection it became apparent that the box and literature in the box was quite odd too.  It was upside down and back to front.  I think I probably spent my hard earned cash on a pair of fake Vibrams.  So my word of warning is be really careful where you buy them from.  If you buy them online, be sure they are genuine!

Luckily I wasn’t put off and after meeting so many VFF owners at PrimalCon I soon realised how they were supposed to fit and behave.  I bought my next two pairs earlier this year.  The difference is incredible!  They are an amazing fit.  Wearing them feels as close to barefoot as I’m realistically likely to get in the city centre.

Prices generally do seem to be coming down in Australia.  I found a sale today at the Adventure Mega Store in Sydney CBD selling VFF’s starting at $99, which seems to be a great deal (but I'd love to find a better price in this country).  They had by far the largest range I’ve seen in Sydney.  I also saw an indoor yoga style for the first time (with 40% discount) which looked perfect for dancing, though I’d need to see how they would compare to my existing dance footwear.  I don’t have the “Sprint” model, and think this might be a good choice for my next pair, I’m very tempted.

cheap vibrams VFF

I found a good sale on Vibrams in Sydney today…

If your toes do happen to all be exactly the same length, I could do you a great deal on a second hand pair of VFF’s.  Unworn…

Have you found any good deals on Vibrams in Australia and New Zealand?  Have you found a great stockist with lots of choice?  Have you managed to get any “real” ones shipped here at a good price?  I’d love to hear your tips in the comments below.

How to get cheap vibrams vff five fingers barefoot shoes running sydney australia-min

NLP paleo boy running marathon primal diet-min

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? Nope, it’s NLPaleo Boy…

Author:  Kevin Bees (whole 30 sceptic-turned convert)

OK, a Marathon run (42.2km / 26.1m) is not very ‘Paleo’.  But, let’s play for a while to find out how ‘Paleo’ eating could impact a distance runner and ask the question:

What would happen if you mixed the Paleo diet, 28 degree heat, with a Whole 30 sceptic-turned-convert into the Sydney Marathon?

I did just that… and the results are in, and have been counted and verified… and you want to hear this, especially if you are non-Paleo runner (or any non-Paleo athlete for that matter).

NLP paleo boy running marathon primal diet-min

Pre-run preparation:

  • Training– my training was actually not exemplary.
    • Between 21 May and 14 August I did not run.
    • Between 14 August and the 18 September Marathon, I squeezed in six runs only.
    • In this time, and before I started the Paleo diet, I had to drop out of a training run at 22km due to lack of energy.
    • Two weeks later and fuelled by the Whole 30 Paleo diet (and some simple and powerful NLP techniques), I accidentally ran a whole marathon when aiming at 30km.  (I don’t run with a watch or Satellite Navigation, and I have never made that mistake before – since my reducing energy would prompt me to stop… which in this instance it didn't!) 
  • Fuel – Whole 30 Paleo for the four weeks prior to the Marathon.  Therefore pre-race pasta feast – gone.  This was substituted for the much tastier and enjoyable Chicken, Sweet potato and pumpkin… which I incidentally had for breakfast too the next day.  (My only Paleo cheat in this process is GU gels whilst running).

The BIG day:

Arriving at the race with a face full of banana, I meet my Non-Paleo running partner.

I thought it would be a good idea to join this running partner since she is younger, fitter and well trained. Her personal best is 3H 44Min and mine is 3H 47Min – so, hopefully some inspiration to knock a few minutes off of my best time. (Plus she has a very nice bottom, so it would be a pleasure to run a few steps off of her pace!)

The Start

Bang… the gun goes and we push across the start line to the tune EVERYDAY I'M SHUFFLING (and my slightly amended lyrics):

Paleo-Grok is in the house tonight,

Everybody just run a good-time

So fit you gonna keep your mind

Everybody just run a good time.

And we’re off.  For the first 10km we settle into a comfortable pace.  Only, I am noticing that I am going a little faster than my pace setting friend… and she is getting to check out my butt instead.  Lucky girl.

At this point, I have no idea if I am faster or slower than hoped (still no watch), but I just keep running at the pace that feels comfortable.  Only another 2km and I fully settle into my faster stride and my friend and I run our own races.

It wasn't until the finish line at 42km that I actually realised what had happened.  I thought my friend was having an off day and going slower than we expected, but in actual fact, I was faster than I could have even dreamed.

I smashed my personal best by 13 minutes.

In the heat.

With very poor training.

That’s 13 minutes off of my personal best.

‘Chuffed’ doesn't quite cover it – especially when I understand the story of the post run statistics:

  1. Energy consistency
    1. My 1st, 2nd & 3rd 10km were all 50 minutes (give or take a few seconds).  Over this distance you would expect a degradation of performance… impressive since I had no pacemaker… just my own feeling of energy.
    2. My 4th set of 10km was also very close to the 50 minute mark and probably would have been equally consistent except for the two convenience stops.

 

  1. Comparative performance improvement

My rank Vs other runners in the race at each set of 10km went:

  1. 1,027
  2. 596
  3. 383
  4. 369

And the last 2.2km – arguably the hardest:

  1. 57

Put another way – in the hardest 2.2km, I was in the top 1.5% of all marathoners.

Do you think I might have got higher if I didn't stop and pose for these too??

The Paleo diet delivered me consistent energy to make this achievement a reality and left me with enough juice in the tank to finish very strong.

FINISHING STRONG

Watch my finish video here, I'm the fast one!

The best part about this is that I know there is more to come.

30 days of Paleo, poor training, and I smash a personal best.

What if I combine this new fuel source with a training program that is greater than six runs!?

With a Paleo diet, you too can see, hear and feel your goals coming to you faster too, can you not?

Give it a go… NLPaleo Boy say so!