Stamped Eggs
In the UK all Eggs (from a source with over 50 hens) are stamped identifying whether they are organic, free range, from barn or caged hens. The stamps also show the size of Eggs and a code identifying where they came from.
I believe some parts of Australia require Eggs to be stamped, but it is certainly not the case in New South Wales (though a few particular brands do seem to have stamps, it is very rare). It bothers me that when I buy Eggs from a shop, I don't really know that they are the box describes. I've often had Eggs that don't seem as fresh as the box would indicate – I wonder if I've ever had caged Eggs that were in a free-range organic box? How would I know?
Whilst it would add an extra cost to stamp all Eggs, I don't think the cost would be prohibitively expensive. It would be a small price to pay for the assurance that the Eggs you paid for are the Eggs in the box.
Would you also like to see all Eggs sold in Australia stamped with the date, source and type?
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Low Gluten Cakes
Well this was a new one for me. I walked past a Gloria Jean’s coffee shop today and noticed this sign for a “Low Gluten” Hazelnut Chocolate Torte.
From what I've read about Gluten, it really is an all or nothing protein. Nora Gedgaudas spoke a lot about Gluten in her recent seminar, particularly about how gluten takes months to leave the body. Going 100% gluten-free seems to be the only way to avoid the negative effects gluten can have. Of course going strictly 100% gluten-free is also the only way to identify whether gluten has a negative impact. The significant numbers of people who are intolerant will be effected even by a cross contamination – so “low gluten” just isn't going to do it!
“Low-fat”, “low-calorie”, “low-carb”, “low-cholesterol”; “low” seems to be the word signalling a healthy product. I can almost guarantee anything with the word low in the title isn't Paleo.
I’ll have to keep a look-out for “Low Trans Fat” cakes, I'm sure they’ll be good!
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Avocado
I just saw this packaged Avocado in the supermarket, with added Thickner (401) and Vegetable Gum (415)
I must be missing something, is it really that hard to peel and slice an avocado yourself?
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Making Flight Food Paleo
I’ve just booked my flights back to the UK for a long awaited Christmas visiting my family. Australia couldn’t be much further from the UK, which means almost 24 hours of flying each way. One of the things I hate the most about flying is the very limited Paleo food options. Often airports limit what you can take through security and onto the plane – which makes it very hard to guarantee good Paleo options. Why can't they make Flight Food Paleo?
I usually fly with Qantas, which offers the following meal options:
- Diabetic: High in complex carbohydrate and dietary fibre; low in fat; no added sugar; low salt.
- Fruit Platter: Consists of fresh, tinned and dried fruits.
- Gluten Intolerance: Do not contain wheat, rye, oats, barley or malt or any milk or milk products.
- Hindu: Do not contain beef, beef derivatives, veal or pork. Meals may contain fish or lamb.
- Kosher Meal: Prepared to comply with Jewish dietary laws.
- Moslem (Halal): Do not contain pork, or pork by-products. All meats come from ritually slaughtered animals.
- Vegetarian (Asian Indian Style): Contain egg and diary products and are suitable for Hindu vegetarians.
- Vegetarian (Lacto Ovo): Do not contain meat, fish or seafood but may contain dairy products such as milk, butter, cheese and eggs or foods containing these.
- Vegetarian (Oriental): Contain vegetables, fruit, rice noodles and can contain nuts.
- Vegetarian (Strict Indian): Do not contain any eggs, dairy or bulbous vegetables and are suitable for Hindu vegetarians.
- Vegan: Contain fruits, vegetables, grains, nuts and pulses and do not contain any animal products such as meat, poultry, seafood, eggs milk or honey.
On my last two international flights (to PrimalCon and the AHS), I’ve tried different approaches, in the hope that I could stumble upon the best Paleo friendly meal option.
In my option, Diabetic people should follow a Paleo approach, to stabilise their blood sugar levels, so when I went to PrimalCon in April, I ordered a Diabetic meal. I don’t understand why this is a low-fat, but hoped it would come with some good meat and some alternatives to the processed, sugar filled snacks that often go alongside plane meals. Some of the actual meals weren’t too bad, for instance a breakfast of eggs, tomatoes mushrooms and spinach and a main meal of chicken, broccoli, carrots and white rice. Some of the food however, left a lot to be desired. Rice crackers served with a soy based spread (whilst everyone else on the plane got proper butter) and a breakfast of cereal and soy milk (remember, this is aimed at diabetics).
In August when I went to the Ancestral Health Symposium, I thought I’d try my luck with a gluten free meal. My Paleo diet is completely gluten free, so somewhat optimistically I’d hoped for a good equivalent here. I actually found the gluten free option considerably worse than the Diabetic option. As I noticed at the gluten free expo, gluten free seems to be a huge industry of franken-foods. Gluten is omitted – but replaced with lots of processed ingredients I don’t want to consume. They still serve biscuits, deserts and other junk food, it’s just had the gluten removed. Not Paleo.
On the way back, I therefore changed my meal preference and went with the standard option, which was actually much better. Yes, there was a lot I wouldn’t eat, but most of the food was closer to “whole” food. Butter was butter and I was lucky to have an option of a “meat and veg” style meal, instead of a pasta based meal.
So for this trip, I think I’m also going to try my luck with the standard option. It appears I can bring small amounts of packaged food onto the flight, so I plan to try my luck and bring some jerky, raw nuts and avocados. These foods, along with any reasonable looking meat and vegetables I can salvage from the plane food should be plenty to keep me going. There’s also the very Paleo option of a coinciding intermittent fasting, should my food get confiscated at security!
Wouldn’t it be great if there was a Paleo meal option of organic, grass fed meat and not a processed product in sight? Perhaps one day…
I’d love to hear your plane food hacks. How do you keep it Paleo during a long flight?
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How to do Paleo – a Beginners Guide
After listening to me talk about Paleo and seeing the positive changes, a few of my friends have been interested enough to actually try Paleo for 30 days, a whole30 approach, to see how it works for them.
I got a text message from one of my friends last week, which read:
“Hey, I want to try Paleo starting today for a month, that’s the whole30 right? Where do you shop for your stuff? What should I eat?”
I started to reply, but it quickly became far too long for an SMS, so I sent the email below instead.
OK, it was too long to text!
I would start by working out what you're going to eat for the next week. Where you'll be each day; how many meals you'll have at home and how many meals you’ll eat out. Write it down!
For the meals at home, go through the cookbook I gave you and pick out a few meals. Also look on Chowstalker and filter on “Whole30” to find some great Paleo recipes.
Do a big shop for all of the ingredients for the recipes you picked out – the first shop may be quite expensive if you don’t have many herbs and spices (which make such a difference to the recipes) – it’s a good investment though as they’ll last a long time.
The basics you need are: –
Meat. Where you can, get organic, at the very least free range (i.e. chicken) – and if possible grass fed meat. I have a great organic butcher near me, but Woolies and Coles have a few organic ranges
Eggs. I eat a lot of eggs. Pastured & organic are best, Omega 3 enriched are great – at the very least make sure they are free range. They usually last for a while and are great for quick food – so buy lots!
Vegetables. If you can, get organic. Try to get what's in season, rather than imported vegetables. In the first week or two I'd recommend sweet potatoes and squash. It's possible you'll find it really hard cutting out refined carbs, so that is what the sweet potatoes and squash will help with. Other than that, get a good variety of vegetables. Most recipes call for the basics like onions, carrots, garlic, green leafy vegetables etc. Ignore starchy tubers like potatoes (besides, you can substitute sweet potatoes any time you'd usually have regular potatoes). I also tend to use a lot of zucchini, capsicum and mushrooms.
Fruit. I don't have much fruit, as essentially it is sugar, but it might be quite good for you whilst you’re transitioning to this new way of eating. Berries are great and other good choices include kiwi, pineapple & melon. Eat fruit whole; don't make juices with it (this removed the fibre from the fruit which increases the insulin response – also it encourages you to consume a lot more than you'd eat whole)
Fats. You'll need to not be scared of fats! Only cook in coconut oil (coconut oil is only found in health food shops, choose unrefined virgin coconut oil) and animal fats. Olive oil (and other nut oils such as avocado oil) are good for salad dressings, but shouldn't be heated. Remember – no dairy (i.e. butter) for the 30-days. Coconut milk is another great fat source. Get this from the Asian section in any supermarket. I'd only recommend Ayam as it has the purest ingredients of any brand I've seen. Make sure you get the normal version NOT the light version. Use this as a basis for meals (i.e. a curry) or even with berries to make a berry smoothie. Avocados are another great fat source to go with a meal.
Nuts. Occasional nuts are great, but don't go overboard (which is hard!). Macadamias & Almonds are good. Almond butter is also good (used sparingly) and can be found in the macro range at Woolworths.
Drinks. With no dairy, think now about what you'll be drinking. Most drinks should be water, but you can add a slice of lemon/ lime and the water can be hot or cold. You can use carbonated water. I get lots of different types of tea (but check the ingredients carefully; you should recognise all of the ingredients – nothing artificial). Redbush, gunpowder, chai and green tea are some that I enjoy. You can also have tea with coconut milk.
If you're going out and options are likely to be un-paleo my top tip is not to go out hungry. If you eat before you go out you probably won't need to eat – and if you do it will be easier to look for better options without the distraction of immense hunger. Most places offer meat and fish – I ask for it as plain as possible and check how it's cooked. Avoid anything that is marinated or fried. Ask for no sauces or dressings on your meal. I usually substitute things like fries and mash for more veg or salad.
Breakfast is something people often find hardest. It’s easiest to get over the fact breakfast “has” to be a certain type of meal and realise breakfast is just fuel, like any other meal. Have good food; be it last night’s leftovers or cook something up. I find eggs a great breakfast option and often have omelette or scrambled egg with avocado and bacon. Noatmeal is another good option for an occasional breakfast, but not every day. I think it's really important to try to consume breakfast as soon as possible after waking up, within 30 minutes if possible.
You can get the basics from Woolworths or Coles. The “Macro” range at Woolworths, or the “Natural Health” range at Coles have a lot of good Paleo ingredients. Butchers (especially organic) will be a better source of meat. Farmers markets (if you have any locally) are a great source for most things. Health food shops are the only places I've found for coconut oil and Himalayan or Celtic sea salt.
Take a photo of yourself before you start and let me know if you can't find anything or want ideas!
Top tip – be organised and plan before you start.
GOOD LUCK!
Suz
So how did I do? I'm sure there are lots of things I should have mentioned that I forgot… I think it’s going to be helpful to have a list to give to anyone who asks me this in the future. What advice and tips do you give to people who turn to you for advice on starting Paleo?
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My Top Ten Herbs & Spices
Since I’ve been Paleo my cooking has got more and more inventive, and I find I’m using a lot of different Herbs & Spices.
This does start out quite expensive if you don’t have any, but I really recommend going out and buying a basic selection to get started with. Just by changing the herbs you can completely transform a meal.
When I went strict Paleo, I already had a lot of Herbs & Spices, but I went through all of my Paleo recipe books and bought all of the herbs and spices that came up in the ingredients list. I’ve noticed I tend to use a few very frequently, and some are barely used, so thought I’d share my top ten herbs and spices, and what I use them for.
- Onion Powder. Although I use onions too, this is great to add to lots of dishes for extra onion flavour.
- Garlic Powder. I use this similarly to onion powder, to gives an almost sweet garlic taste.
- Turmeric. I’m trying to add this to more and more of my cooking, as it is has so many great attributes – including having anti inflammatory properties. Turmeric gives a yellow colour and a slight bitter, mustard flavour. I always add Turmeric to curries.
- Cayenne Pepper. This is a hot spicy chilli pepper, with hot being the word! I only add a very small amount, but often add it to dishes like chilli, where I want a bit of heat.
- Paprika. This is from dried capsicum and quite a sweet flavour. It gives food a red colour and I’ll use it in sauces and dips.
- Oregano. I seem to use a lot of this, almost anytime I cook with tomatoes, I add some oregano. It has a slightly lemony flavour.
- Thyme. I often add this near the end of cooking to ensure the heat doesn’t damage it. I add it to lots of different things such as stews, vegetable dishes and stocks.
- Cinnamon. This is my current favourite – I use it in almost everything. Although it isn’t sweet, it’s great as a sweet substitute in tea and NoOatmeal. I commonly use it in meat dishes as it gives such a great flavour.
- Ginger. This is another favourite which I have to regularly replenish. I often add this to curries.
- Salt. This is another must have which brings out the flavour in dishes. I naturally have quite low blood pressure, and as I don’t eat anything processed think it’s quite a good addition to my cooking. I use Pink Himalayan salt as it is very pure with a great mineral content. I also have Celtic Sea Salt, which also has a great mineral content. I would go without rather than having table salt!
Are my most commonly used Herbs & Spices completely different to yours? Which are your favourite Herbs & Spices and what do you use them for?
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Cutting Back on Fruit
I've definitely started to notice there are a lot more Paleo friendly stories in the media recently. Perhaps the tide is finally turning?
I used to eat a lot of fruit and was always under the impression that you could never have too much. It’s good for you, right? Since I've got more and more into Paleo I've drastically cut back my fruit consumption from several pieces a day – down to maybe one or two pieces a week. Fruit contains a lot of fructose, which means it elevates blood sugar. I limit my carbohydrate intake in my Paleo diet, so fruit doesn't feature very often. I've been feeling great since I've been limiting carbohydrates, so I'm definitely on the right track.
When I do have fruit, I make sure I go for something in season. I also choose a fruit with a good nutritional profile, and a lower fructose content. Berries are a really good choice as they contain antioxidants and relatively lower sugar than many other fruits. Now we’re almost coming into summer fresh berries are becoming more and more abundant, so it’s definitely time to enjoy them. I eat a wide variety of good quality grass-fed organic meat and vegetables, so I am certain I am not missing out any nutrients by omitting regular fruit from my diet.
The Sydney Morning Herald posted an article this weekend on the role of sugar in obesity, in which Dr Taylor talks about how he believes sugar, not fat is behind the rise in obesity. Dr Taylor is running the Epworth Sweet Study in Melbourne where 100 participants are restricting carbohydrate (and fruit) intake, with positive results.
Hopefully articles like this will become more and more common place.
Have you limited your fruit intake? Which types of fruit do you value the most?
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Dairy and Paleo
Dairy is one Paleo area I've been thinking about a lot recently. A lot of people follow a strict Paleo diet, and include dairy, known as a lacto-Paleo diet. Dairy is also the main difference between a Primal and a Paleo diet (Primal includes modest amounts of high quality dairy).
Prior to my trip to the AHS in August, my diet was a lot closer to Primal than it was Paleo. Pedro Bastos gave an excellent lecture at the AHS on Dairy, Hormones & Human Health, which was quite an eye opener for me.
When I got back, I started the Whole30 which meant excluding dairy for 30 days. I used to drink lots of tea everyday, with milk (I am English after all) – but luckily I got over this in America, as tea just didn't seem to be as common place over there. I also used to have a fair amount of yoghurt and cheese, which I also gave up. I expected to be counting down the days when I could resume my dairy habit, but it just didn't happen.
Since August I haven’t had any milk, but I have had cheese a couple of times and yoghurt once. And the strangest thing? I just don’t miss it at all. I now enjoy drinking lots of different types of tea without milk, or hot water with a slice of lime. I'm not really sure how I’d include milk again now! I do like the taste of cheese and yoghurt, but I just don’t feel the need to include them in my diet. Since I've gone stricter Paleo, I've been feeling fantastic. My skin, sleep, mood, focus and general well being– everything has improved. I should probably reintroduce dairy to identify exactly the effect it has on me – but given that I don’t miss it, I’d rather just continue to avoid it.
I'm often asked how I can possibly get enough calcium without dairy. I eat a good amount of dark green leafy vegetables, which are a great source of calcium. From what I have read calcium balance is far more important than calcium intake. When eating a diet high in acid-producing foods, such as the standard western diet, the kidney balances the acid load using the alkaline calcium salts from the bones. As I don’t eat any processed food or grains and have a good balance of alkaline and acid foods in my diet, I have a good calcium balance – and therefore a lower calcium intake is not a problem.
Taking an evolutionary standpoint, obviously milk would not have been drunk until relatively recently, as ruminants weren't domesticated, so certainly wouldn't have been milked. The purpose of milk is to nourish the offspring of the mother and enable it to grow – when you consider we are the only animal to eat another animals milk, it does seem a little odd?
One of the main arguments against dairy is IGF-1 (insulin like growth factor 1). IGF-1 is increased by the cow’s growth hormones, which cause the cow to produce more milk. IGF-1 is believed to promote cancer by increasing cell division and multiplying of cancer cells. Commercial dairy cows are kept in gestation (by being artificially inseminated) almost constantly to ensure they produce milk. They are milked ten out of 12 months – whereas a more natural milking pattern would involve only milking during early pregnancy. It’s obviously in the interests of the dairy producers to do this, as they want to produce as much milk as possible. The further into the pregnancy the more growth hormones are contained in the milk (as clearly the purpose of the milk is to support a growing calf).
For me, the jury is still out. However, if I do decide to consume dairy again, I’ll go out of my way to find raw milk – I don’t think I could ever be happy with any commercial, pasteurised milk as I feel far to removed from the process and will never really know what is in it – and the condition of the cow(s) it came from.
What do you think about dairy? Do you feel better of worse including dairy in your diet, or leaving it out? I'd love to hear your views!
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Buying Coconut Oil in Australia & New Zealand
Coconut Oil is a huge staple in my house. I generally order a large tin in from my local health food shop, but having realised I’m getting through 700ml in under three weeks, I've started researching and comparing costs of coconut oil. I've been spending $36 on a 700ml tin of Melrose Organic Extra Virgin Coconut Oil every three weeks – which is about $900 a year – If I could make savings on this it would make a big difference! I've got no intentions of using less to save money, as Coconut Oil is such a great source of fat. I've never seen Coconut Oil sold in any of the major supermarket chains in Australia, like Coles or Woolworths, but perhaps this will change as it gains popularity.
Having looked at various online sources, buying from health food stores isn't as expensive as I expected. It’s convenient in that I can buy some the same day I realise I've run out – but it is a lot to carry home from work. I think I'm going to try ordering online next time.
I often visit Healthy Life which has stores across Australia. They mainly stock Aclara Health Coconut Oil which is all Organic. The Cold Pressed Extra Virgin Oil is between $10 and $24.95 for 250 to 700ml. Their other variety is refined, which I used to buy as I didn't like the coconut taste. Now however, I don’t used refined, as I’ve got used to, and quite enjoy the Coconut taste. Mainly though, I think refined is too processed and many of the benefits of the oil are lost in the processing. Aclara Health Refined Coconut Oil is $17.95 for 700ml, or $65.52 for 4 Litres, which is actually one of the lowest prices I've found, at under two cents per ml. The other brand Healthy Life stock is Fijian Gold, who make an organic Coconut Oil at $12.50 for 500ml. I’ve still got a bottle of this at home, which I like taste wise, but to be honest it comes in a bottle and I find it really hard to get the solid oil out! I realise I can warm it to make it liquid, but I’d much rather just buy a better packaged oil that I can spoon out!
I've recently found the “Pure Health” store in Sydney, which stocks Melrose, Spiral & Wild Harvest Coconut Oils. This is where I order the Melrose Oil from. Their smaller sizes work out really expensive on a cost per ml basis, but perhaps this is good for the very occasional user as 300ml starts at $7.95
You need to make sure you do your research before buying online. I found one store, Chemist Direct charging between 6 and 16 cents a ml for Nui Wild Harvest Virgin Coconut Oil, including $7.95 shipping to Australia (shipping to New Zealand is an extra $19.91!)
I was expecting the online store Kokonut Pacific to be really expensive, but it actually works out at under two cents a ml, including shipping to Australia. The draw-back however, is that to get the better deals you need to buy their large packs – up to 20 litres at a time! Perhaps if you have a large family and an enormous amount of kitchen storage this might be an option for you? Their shipping costs to Australia are reasonable (up to about $20), but for New Zealand the shipping is about double.
I'm going to order my next supply of Coconut Oil through iherb, as they seem reasonable, including shipping and have the best range I've seen. Most of their Coconut Oil is shipped to both Australia and New Zealand for $4 or $6, which seems fairly reasonable (it’s calculated on weight). They carry a lot of brands I’ve never seen in the shops in Australia, such as Artisana, Garden of Life, Harvest Bay, Jarrow Formulas, Jungle Products, Natures Way, Now Foods, Nutiva, Organic Fuji, Quantum Nutrition, Source Naturals & Spectrum Essentials. When I finish the Melrose, I'm going to try the 858ml Nutiva Organic Extra Virgin Coconut Oil, which should work out at about $23 shipped to Australia. I’ll let you know what it’s like! Iherb also offer $5 off your first order using the code DUV741 , which just about equates to free shipping.
I would love to hear which brand you use and where you get it from? I'm sure there must be lots of other sources of Coconut Oil that can be shipped to Australia or New Zealand for under two cents per ml – let me know if you've found one! Or perhaps you've found such a good brand that it is worth the extra cost? Let me know your thoughts and I’ll update this post.
