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Stamped eggs lion free range organic law-min

Stamped Eggs

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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?

Stamped eggs lion free range organic law-min

Is milk paleo dairy primal lacto cheese-min

Dairy and Paleo

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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.

Is milk paleo dairy primal lacto cheese-min

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!

Buying Coconut Oil in Australia & New Zealand woolworths coles aldi iherb cheapest supplier paleo diet-min

Buying Coconut Oil in Australia & New Zealand

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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!

Coconut-Oil-Paleo-Australia iherb special offer-min

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.

Buying Coconut Oil in Australia & New Zealand woolworths coles aldi iherb cheapest supplier paleo diet-min

The Dirty Dozen clean 15 organic fruit vegetables paleo diet-min

The Dirty Dozen

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I’d love to grow all of my own organic fruit and vegetables.  Failing that, I’d love to buy everything organic from a really good local source.  Sadly, in the real word, financial constraints mean I can’t afford to buy all of my produce organic.  I prioritise my spending towards very good quality, grass fed, organic meat, as I feel that this is extremely important.  When it comes to buying fruit and veg, this means I just cannot buy everything organic.  I therefore have to choose a few items to buy the more expensive organic versions of, with the remainder being the cheaper non-organic versions.

Why Organic?

Organic farming is a more natural approach, free of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO’s) and synthetic chemicals (such as herbicides, growth promoters, hormones and pesticides).  Crops are rotated and naturally good soil promoted – this produces far more nutritious produce with higher levels of vitamins, minerals, enzymes and antioxidants.  The chemicals used in non-organic farming may also remain on the fruit and vegetables we eat – some of these chemicals have been linked to cancers and nervous and endocrine problems.  These chemicals and farming methods are not Paleo or optimum for our help.  The purpose of the chemicals is to make farming more profitable.

Dirty Dozen Veggies

How to Choose?

Initially, I’ll shop around to see where I can find good quality produce at good prices.  Often certain suppliers will have good offers, or end of day reductions.

I often use the “dirty dozen” rules to decide what I should buy the organic version of – and what I am more likely to be able to get away with eating the non-organic version for.

The dirty dozen is based on testing in the US on a wide range of fruit and vegetables.  The items were tested for residual amounts of pesticides and compares, to provide a “dirty dozen” list of items that frequently contain high levels of chemicals.  The list also includes items which consistently tested with very low levels of residual chemicals.  Whilst this list was compiled in America, I think it is still of value in Australia and New Zealand, as pesticide absorption seems to be based on the structure of the plant and how porous and thick the skin is.

The Dirty Dozen

The dirty dozen produce seems to vary slightly depending on where you look, but these are commonly featured: –

  • Apples
  • Pears
  • Peaches
  • Nectarines
  • Grapes
  • Strawberries/ Blueberries
  • Cherries
  • Capsicum
  • Celery
  • Spinach
  • Lettuce
  • Potatoes

Fortunately, not eating starchy tubers, I don’t eat potatoes.  I also don’t eat much fruit, as I'm trying to minimise my sugar consumption.  This makes my “must by organic” list quite reasonable.

How much of your intake is organic?  How do you prioritise what to buy organic?

The Dirty Dozen clean 15 organic fruit vegetables paleo diet-min

Paleo primal tea hot drink recipe more-min

More Paleo Tea

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As I mentioned in my previous post, I love tea!  I used to take my tea with skim milk and two sugars, then I “progressed” onto sweeteners with whole milk.  Now, I have it on it's own – I don't think I could go back to how I drank it before, my tastes have changed so much.  Tea is surely the perfect Paleo drink, naturally low carb and nothing artificial (if you're careful with the type you select).

I try to drink a lot of water, but there are times when it's great to have a hot drink.  One favourite is hot water with a slice of lemon or lime, but I've recently got I've finally ventured away from the mass produced tea bags, to a fantastic specialist tea shop near my office in Sydney.

Organic-Gunpowder-min

I'd rather not have caffeine, but I have my tea fairly weak so I'm not too worried about it.  It's probably a worthwhile exchange for the antioxidants anyway.

I started off with Gunpowder tea and today I added a few more to my desk collection.  I thought I'd try “Glogg”, which is black tea, cinnamon, orange, almond, ginger (I seem to have ginger in everything at the moment), cloves & cardamon.  I got an organic Sri Lankan Ceylon tea, for my morning cup of tea.  Then, as I was paying I spotted “Japanese Lime” which is the most amazing combination of green tea, lemon, lime & lemon-grass.  I'll be trying that one as an iced tea too.

Tea-Leaves

What is your Paleo drink of choice?

Paleo primal tea hot drink recipe more-min

paleo sausages

Paleo Sausages

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I've found an amazing organic butcher, really close to where I live.  I've used them for almost all of my meat for a while.  I was there earlier this week buying some bacon (the best bacon I've had in Australia, actually) and pork, when I mentioned what a shame it is that all of their sausages contain flour (though they only use rice flour, which is obviously a lot better than many alternatives out there).  He asked me if I wanted some special grain free Paleo Sausages made up for me!  I had no idea they would do this.

I could choose whatever I wanted to go with the organic beef, but he suggested capsicum (bell pepper), shallots and salt – I thought that would be a great combination for my first batch.  Even more exciting the castings for all of their sausages are made the proper way – from intestines, instead of synthetic castings, which can be made of all sorts of materials like  collagen, cellulose, or even plastic.  I certainly don't fancy eating any of those!

I picked up my order today, which worked out at about 30 sausages for the 2kg batch.

Paleo sausages and eggs-min

I've just had my first taste – and they were fantastic!

This is the ingredients for one of the better ranges of supermarket sausages: –

Ingredients: Beef (76%), Water, Potato Starch, Sea Salt, Dehydrated Vegatables (Onion & Garlic), Dextrose (Tapioca or Maize), Mineral Salt (451), Sugar (Cane Sugar), Preservative (223), Spices, Herbs, Natural Colour (160c), Natural Flavour, Yeast Extract, Herb Extract

And this is the ingredients for my Paleo sausages: –

Ingredients: Organic Beef, Capsicum, Shallots, Salt

There's no comparison is there?

Have you made your own Paleo sausages, or had them made?  I'd love to hear your suggestions of ingredients for my second batch!