Paleo Diet & Health Foods article submitted by Devan Ballagh
We have so much to be grateful for – and this time of year is a beautiful time to take a moment to appreciate all of our blessings. I am thankful for all of you – that I get to see each and every one of you multiple times through the week. You manage to always bring a smile to my face and make me excited for the next session! Thank you, for using your bodies they way they were intended to be used – for the betterment of your health and for functional movement that allows you to enjoy life to the fullest. Thank you for bringing so much effort to class. And thank you, for being wonderful people that have chosen to be a part of our Studio 410 family!
The pilgrims started Thanksgiving as they wanted to give thanks for all that they were able to provide for their families and small communities. These pilgrims farmed to feed their livestock, and to feed themselves. Granted, they would have been growing some crop that would be grain based, but the focus here is that their diets were largely made up from living from the land.
Most of the foods we crave are a combination of sugar, starch, fat and salt. This combination is often highly concentrated. Innately, our ancestors were drawn to fruits such as strawberries to satisfy their sweet tooth. They got the sweet taste they were looking for, but also benefited from many of the vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals that are contained in natural fruit. The salty food that they were drawn to was lean meat and vegetables in their natural form. They were able to get the right amount of salt in their diet without having to add it to anything.
It is incredible to think of the changes that have occurred from the Stone Age era to the Agricultural Revolution, then the Industrial revolution. Today, much of the food that is accessible to us is fake. They contain a combination of sugar, starch, fat and salt. If I handed you a 1/2 cup of white flour and asked you to eat it, you wouldn’t be able to! But when we add some butter, some salt and some sugar we have the base for cookie dough! If you take a similar mixture, deep fry it and glaze it with sugar, it becomes even tastier…a doughnut!
Dr. Loren Cordain in his “The Paleo Diet” writes, “If you want to feel more virtuous about the whole thing, you can substitute whole-wheat flour and honey and call it “health food”. But the bottom line is that non of these highly palatable food mixtures even remotely resemble foods that nourished all human beings until very recently”.
In Palaeolithic times, different kinds of food stood alone. There weren’t foods that were sugary AND salty. Our foods today are combinations of salt, sugar, starch and fat and trick our bodies into thinking that we always have more room! The ever popular phrase, “there is always room for dessert” holds some truth – fake foods are high-glycemic carbohydrates and high fats. What does that mean? Our appetite cannot regulate itself properly – you end up thinking you are still hungry. This carbohydrates make the fat taste better than it would on its own – so you eat more, and you likely won’t be satisfied.
Picture eating dinner and then having to have another serving of steamed broccoli or another chicken breast. I don’t know about you, but that isn’t too appealing to me! Now, if we consider having a bowl of ice cream sprinkled with chocolate chips….that is a different story.
Let’s take a piece of cake for an example; the high-glycemic carbs cause your insulin level to shoot up. A blood hormone, called glucagon tends to fall. These changes then limit the bodies ability to access fat and glucose. Hypoglycaemia results (low blood sugar) which stimulates your appetite. You will constantly feel hungry and never be satisfied. We will go into more detail about this process next week.
Focus on the foods that are provided by our wonderful land! You will be able to stay in touch with your body and will enjoy the way you feel and how you are able to enjoy the flavour and variety of what the land can produce!
Enjoy your turkey this weekend!! I hope you will be thankful for all the food at your gatherings this weekend, and will be able to be particularly thankful for foods that are readily available to us in their natural form. Happy Thanksgiving!
Insulin and Glucagon Regulate the Level of Glucose In our Blood
As I mentioned last week, I wanted to focus on the regulation of glucose in more detail. I think it is important to understand what happens in our bodies when we eat – when we begin to understand the way our body processes food, it can make it more desirable to make healthy choices that serve our bodies well.
Our pancreas synthesizes, secretes and stores both insulin and glucagon. When you eat a meal, your blood glucose (sugar) rises. However, these glucose molecules cannot help our nerves, muscles or tissues unless it can cross into them. The glucose molecules need insulin to access these tissues. You can think of insulin like a key. It travels from your pancreas, to the tissues throughout your body and opens the gate of the cell membrane so that glucose can get in. Because of the help of insulin acting like a key, the glucose in our blood can enter into our tissues where we can use it for energy. In summation, insulin lowers overall blood glucose levels because of its ability to facilitate the entry of glucose into the tissues of our body.
When you haven’t eaten for a while, blood glucose levels decline. The pancreas is then cued to start secreting glucagon. Glucagon and insulin have the opposite effect from one another. Insulin decreases overall blood glucose, but glucagon increases it. It stimulates the liver to convert stored glycogen into glucose, which is then secreted into the blood stream.
The glycemic index shows us how foods affect our blood glucose levels. Foods that have a GI value of less than 100 create low to moderate fluctuations in blood glucose. Foods that are broken down quickly and cause large increases in blood glucose are ranked with a GI of more than 100.
The glycemic load considers the quality of the carbohydrate (the GI index) and the quantity of the carbohydrate.
Why do we want to eat foods that have a low GI? Diets that contain foods with low GI may help to reduce the risk of heart disease and colon cancer because the diets generally contain more fibre and help to decrease fat levels in the blood. People who eat low GI meals, tend to have higher levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL), which is a good fat, and can decrease risk of heart disease.
Here is a GI chart – I have highlighted low GI foods that fit into the Paleo diet. However, there are many other low GI foods that are good choices to make when you are stuck or feeling like you want an “open meal”. My hope is that this chart will help you when you are trying to make decisions in your daily life – it should make things easier if you know to go with the choice that will have less of an affect on your blood sugar levels.
”Health Food”
The fitness and health market is saturated with quick fixes, miracle foods and many gimmicks that will serve very little purpose in your success. Here are some typical “health foods” that should be avoided:
Soy
Soy has been linked to issues with digestion, cognitive decline, infertility, cancer, and heart disease. It contains phytoestrogens, which have been suggested to disrupt adrenals, and the thyroid gland. However, the effects of phytoestrogens are controversial. They are estrogen hormones that are not created by our endocrine system, but can only be ingested or consumed. For women, excess estrogen can lead to infertility, polycystic ovarian syndrome and certain types of cancer. On the contrary, if a woman is experiencing decreased estrogen levels, extra estrogen through dietary sources may help to decrease cancer risk. While this seems slightly complicated and is very inconclusive, the majority of research sheds a negative light on the consumption of soy.
In addition to phytoestrogens, soy contains goitrogens which drains vitality from the thyroid gland, your key energy source. This has a HUGE impact on energy levels.
Don’t be tempted by the marketing of soy milk and veggie burgers – soy is definitely not a good way to go!
2) Wheatgrass
In recent years, wheatgrass as become a fad. There are now wheatgrass juices, bars, tablets, and powder. While it claims to have curative properties, the reality is that there are not any claims that have been scientifically proven. Wheatgrass has a high chlorophyl content (the green pigments found in plants that are involved in photosynthesis). It is closely related to grass – problem being -human beings can’t digest grass. In order to digest grass, we need four stomachs, like cattle. Wheatgrass also contains powerful plant toxins that make you want to throw up (e.g. dog eats grass when it wants to puke…dogs aren’t meant to eat grass either).
3) Gogi Berries
Claims suggest that gogi berries can help circulation, immune system and protect against cancer. Similar to wheatgrass, there is no evidence to support this. In fact, the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) was warned two separate times for making unsubstantiated health claims. Gigi berries are part of the nightshade family. Nightshades are a family of foods that contain lectins. Not all lectins are problematic, however, the lectins we avoid while following a Paleo diet are lectins that increase the intestinal wall permeability (aka leaky gut syndrome).
Foods that are part of the nightshade family:
Ashwagandha
Bell peppers (a.k.a. sweet peppers)
Bush tomato
Cape gooseberry (also known as ground cherries—not to be confused with regular cherries)
Cocona
Eggplant
Garden huckleberry (not to be confused with regular huckleberries)
Goji berries (a.k.a. wolfberry)
Hot peppers (such as chili peppers, jalapenos, habaneros, chili-based spices, red pepper, cayenne)
Kutjera
Naranjillas
Paprika
Pepinos
Pimentos
Potatoes (but not sweet potatoes)
Tamarillos
Tomatillos
Tomatoes
Lectins disrupt immune system and prevent the body from healing itself. They break through intestinal barrier causing small particles of toxic bacteria leak out of the intestinal wall and can cause massive inflammation to every part of the body. Excessive intake of lectins can lead to obesity, arthritis, skin disorders, and digestive disorders, weakened blood vessels, hypertension, and cardiovascular disease.
Moving forward;
What do we do with this information? We want to eliminate lectins and boost polyphenols.
What foods can we eat to increase our polyphenol intake?:
Cloves
Star anise
Cocoa powder
Mexican oregano, dried
Celery seed
Black chokeberry
Dark chocolate
Flaxseed meal
Black elderberry
Chestnut
Honourable mention goes to sage, rosemary, spearmint, thyme, capers, basil, curry, strawberries and coffee.
See this link for the top 100 list:
http://www.nature.com/ejcn/journal/v64/n3s/fig_tab/ejcn2010221t1.html
These micronutrients when digested by the human body are extremely powerful in fighting fatigue, boosting metabolic function, reducing inflammation, lowering cholesterol , boosting immune function, reducing joint pain, and enhancing digestion, anti aging genes, skin health. Eating polyphenols accelerate our bodies production of energy.
If we focus on getting adequate consumption of leafy greens, berries and roots, we will be ensuring we give our body enough polyphenols each day. Before agriculture, we ate plants as they were easier to digest than anything else that was available. Plant polyphenols are the most important part of our diet and should be a focus for you on your health and fitness journey!
https://draxe.com/phytoestrogens/
Devan Ballagh is a fitness instructor at Studio 410, Teeswater, Ontario ( Owner and founder with her sister Paige Ballagh )