Saturated with Fat

This is a picture of my famous bread with raw, grass-fed butter.  Yum!

Spin You Right Round


One thing is for certain, today any dietary "facts" you once held have been turned on their head.  Take saturated fat, the Darth Vader of fats.  You once thought of him as a serious badass--destroying lives and worlds in the name of evil.  That is what we once thought about saturated fat--that it was a one-way ticket to coronary heart disease.  Then, along come the Star Wars prequels, and now we think of the ultimate evil Darth as just one of many darths and really a wimpy, moody kid.   Thank you George Lucas for emasculating such an awesome villain.  Back to fats, we can actually thank the current research into fatty acids that saturated fat has been de-villainized.  This is a lot to wrap your mind around, I know, but saturated fat...is...not...bad.  Let me explain why.

The Big Bad

First off, lets look at the research.  Here is an excellent summary of the current research for the layperson.  There are some basic points to address from the article:

1. The diet-heart hypothesis established in 1953 that set up saturated fat as the big bad has been questioned by a slew of contrary evidence.  
2. LDL/HDL ratios are more important than simply looking at LDL count.  
3. LDL particle size is more important than its total count since small, dense LDL are the only ones that correlate with increased risk of heart disease by clogging arteries.  
4. Saturated fat intake increases both LDL and HDL counts, and HDL is the "good" cholesterol that cleans up the LDL.  
5. When fats replace carbohydrates in the diet, the amount of small, dense LDL decreases.  
6. Low-carb, high-fat dieters compared to high-carb, low-fat dieters typically have reduced markers of heart disease: reduced small, dense LDL, better HDL/LDL ratio, and reduced triglicerides.
7. What happens to excess carbohydrates in your diet?  They are converted into triglicerides.  This is why low-fat dieters can still have high triglicerides.  
8. Triglicerides are equally relevant in risk of heart disease.  
9. The current American Heart Association guidelines did not address this LDL research when making their guidelines to reduce saturated fat intake from 10% to 7% or less of daily calories.  

More on the current research: a meta-analysis performed in part by Dr. Krauss (who is referred to in the previous article as founder of the particle size importance) made this conclusion:

A meta-analysis of prospective epidemiologic studies showed that there is no significant evidence for concluding that dietary saturated fat is associated with an increased risk of CHD or CVD. More data are needed to elucidate whether CVD risks are likely to be influenced by the specific nutrients used to replace saturated fat.

Even Loren Cordain, Paleo Diet founder, has softened his once hardline stance on saturated fats.  From his blog:

The bottom line is that we do not recommend cutting down saturated fatty acid intake but rather decrease high-glycemic load foods, vegetable oils, refined sugars, grains, legumes and dairy.

My conclusion: it seems that saturated fat isn't the big bad we had once thought.



Is it actually, dare I say the word, beneficial?

Here are the main points of a Dr. Eades interview at Four Hour Work Week entitled: 7 Reasons to Eat More Saturated Fat.  Dr. Eades is a proponent of a high protein, high fat diet with reduced carbohydrate intake.  Go and read it for yourself to see the details.  Here are the benefits:
1. Improved Cardiovascular Risk Factors
2. Stronger Bones
3. Improved Liver Health
4. Healthy Lungs
5. Healthy Brain
6. Proper Nerve Signaling
7. Strong Immune System

However, if one has chronic inflammation, Dr. Ayers of Cooling Inflammation suggests limiting saturated fats, although he readily promotes saturated fats over vegetable oils and includes them as part of an anti-inflammatory diet.

Here is another take on the benefits of saturated fats from the Weston A. Price Foundation, a non-profit that distributes nutritional information from their founder, a nutritional guru.  Please read the site for more specifics and references to each point.  To quote his list of saturated fat benefits:

• Saturated fatty acids constitute at least 50% of the cell membranes. They are what gives our cells necessary stiffness and integrity.
• They play a vital role in the health of our bones. For calcium to be effectively incorporated into the skeletal structure, at least 50% of the dietary fats should be saturated.
• They lower Lp(a), a substance in the blood that indicates proneness to heart disease. They protect the liver from alcohol and other toxins, such as Tylenol.
• They enhance the immune system.
• They are needed for the proper utilization of essential fatty acids.
  Elongated omega-3 fatty acids are better retained in the tissues when the diet is rich in saturated fats. 
• Saturated 18-carbon stearic acid and 16-carbon palmitic acid are the preferred foods for the heart, which is why the fat around the heart muscle is highly saturated. The heart draws on this reserve of fat in times of stress.
• Short- and medium-chain saturated fatty acids have important antimicrobial properties. They protect us against harmful microorganisms in the digestive tract.

Bottom line: There seems to be more good about saturated fat than bad.  How about them apples?


Other Contributing Evidence


Here is another article, an older one, discussing saturated fats and their dietary role.  Unfortunately, it was funded by Nestle with agricultural interests to avoid having to reduce saturated fats in foods.

Mark's Daily Apple has a good discussion of saturated fat summarizing the background to the debate and why not to avoid them.

Free the Animal also has an extensive review of the debate and current research.  He is definitely not afraid to offend, so you are hereby warned.

Whole Health Source has a great post with a bunch of research articles to read about the topic.

I could go on and on.  The more I look, the deeper I get into research contrary to what I had previously assumed to be fact.  Thus, it looks like there is a lot out there turning the idea of saturated fats leading to heart disease on its head.  Bottom line: go ahead and eat your meat!

The Easiest Meat Preparation Known To Man: Seared Steak
Method taken from the America's Test Kitchen and applied to every steak I have eaten with great success.  In fact, I would rather cook my steak myself than buy one even at an expensive steak house! 

Ingredients:
grass-fed beef steak of your choice, room temperature is best, patted dry
kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper

Method:
Get your cast iron or stainless skillet* "NASA hot" (to quote Alton Brown).  Salt and pepper your steak (one side is all that is needed, just put that side down and add seasoning** to the other side after its in the pan).  Once seasoned, place the steak in the pan and DO NOT TOUCH until you see the cooked coloration climbing about halfway up the side of the steak.  The timing depends upon the thickness of the steak, cut, and what type of doneness you prefer.  Google some charts for more information.  I love my steaks on the rare side because the tenderness and juiciness is lost with overcooking.  I have come full circle from my childhood abhorrence of any red whatsoever, so I can tell all you well-doners to just shut up and try it medium, especially a good cut like ribeye.  The experience will speak for itself.  Okay, back to the steak.  Seeing some creep of color up the side means flip, with tongs (don't be all sly and try to get away with a spatula or a fork--I have been there and suggest tongs).  Try to land the steak on fresh skillet space by turning the pan 90 degrees and then placing the steak down.  Then, let 'er sear for another few minutes.  You can check doneness using your fingers and palm as a guide, but err on the side of under-done.  The second side takes less time, so watch it carefully!  Once you are satisfied, remove the steak from the pan and place it on a plate to cool for AT LEAST 10 minutes.  You need to seal in those juices--don't worry, it won't get ice cold.  Once finished, feast upon your delicious, freakin' simple steak!

* For best results, don't use nonstick and avoid getting nonstick too hot due to its release of toxins--they can kill birds, so they probably aren't good for us either.

** Don't try to add all other sorts of spices to this--most will burn.  If you want them, add other spices after cooking or in a sauce.

Serving suggestions:

I LOVE my steak with avocado slices on top.  Try it--it's divine!
Butter was also a recent indulgence that was mind-blowing.
When playing it loose with dairy, I melt for blue cheese on my steak.

But all in all, it only takes a good cut of grass-fed beef to make the experience memorable.

Sweet Salad

UPDATE 1/13/10:  This salad is just as good without the figs!  I love the lemon-walnut oil dressing.  So simple, so good!  Give it a try!

Okay, I am off the crack.  I have been sugar free for over a week (minus whatever sugary sauce is on unagi and Japanese salad during my sushi cheat meal).  It has been hard.  I saw a great comparison of sugar to heroin--both come from a plant (sugar cane or beet/poppy), both are refined (molasses/opium), refined again (brown sugar/morphine), and a final time into pure, white crystals (white sugar/heroin).  They both have seriously addictive properties and alter your body--mentally and physically.  Seems extreme, but it isn't a bad comparison.  I have been cranky and craving sugar really badly.  So bad I even cried about it as my mind filled with "why me's" and tried to break me down.  But I have resisted.  I still have my fruit, but I am cutting back.  Today's fig salad was last week's indulgence and since I can't rule out its contribution to my tiredness and headaches by late afternoon (probably related to my sugar detox), I can't indulge on dried fruit as often.  It is candy, unfortunately.  Delicious, natural, healthy and even-better-than-sugar candy, but to my body it is candy nonetheless.

I definitely recommend this DELICIOUS salad.  It has helped curb my sugar appetite and has been a good segue food back into the lower glycemic living that is where I want to be.  Give it a try when you are craving a sweet salad with a lemony kick!

But first, let's talk ingredients: figs, walnuts, and lemons.  When I first laid my eyes upon figs, they scared me.  Outwardly they reminded me of pears, but butterfly when cut into gummy-looking flowers.  Exactly how do you eat them?  On my quest to boldly expand my culinary horizons, I bought dried figs. They looked safe.  Lovingly prepared by a motherly Turkish woman on the label and all tightly packed into a pretty disk-shape.  Safe.  At first nibble, I was sold.  When dried, they have such a sweetness, just like sugar, but with taste!  Reminded me of the fig newtons my grandfather always broke out when we came to visit as children.  I remember being slightly miffed that he didn't keep chocolate chips and oreos on hand for his grandchildren (what was he thinking?), but the "grown-up" fig newton cookies were pretty damn good.  I loved to eat the filling out of the cookie or eat the cookie without touching the filling.  Oh the games...  At least I was enjoying my food.  Too bad they were nowhere near healthy, "grown-up" or not...

Figs are my sugary treat when I am forgoing sugar (even honey and agave, they count as sugar too).  Figs are relatively high on the glycemic index (61) and glycemic load scales (16) (see my upcoming post for more details about those--I know, I know, I keep saying that, but I swear it is coming!  It is hard to whittle down such a huge topic to present it here).  Numbers over 50 for the glycemic index and over 10 for the load are considered high.  But that is to be expected when you dry a fruit to its sugary state.  The paleo diet doesn't recommend dried fruits for their candy-like nature, but when weaning off the sugar, to me at least, they are an acceptable crutch, in moderation (which I really have to remember!).  Figs are high in potassium, antioxidants, and fiber.  They have been studied in correlation with reduced bone density loss, and high fiber fruits such as figs have been correlated with reduced risk of breast cancer.  For more details on the health benefits of figs, check out this site.   When choosing dried varieties, try to avoid those containing sulfites, a chemical preservative to which some people are highly sensitive, especially those with asthma.  Go organic to make sure there aren't any sulfites used.  Some people also have an adverse reaction to oxalates found in some foods, including figs.  Oxalates are natural molecules in some fruits, nuts, and seeds that can form crystals with calcium and potentially harm the kidney and gallbladder.  The conditions requiring restriction of oxalate-containing foods are rare, as is overconsumption of oxalates.  Interestingly, oxalates usually move through the gut and are metabolized by your gut flora without incident.  However, when there are absorption issues from a damaged digestive tract, undigested oxalate can move out of the digestive tract and into the bloodstream, thus creating some problems when it crystalizes and gets lodged in tight places.  What is one cause of digestive tract damage leading to a "leaky gut"?  I will give you one guess.  More on oxalate issues here and at the low oxalate diet website.

Back to our ingredients.  Where were we?  Ah, yes, walnuts.  Walnuts pair superbly with figs.  They are high in omega-3 fatty acids, which account for their anti-inflammatory benefits, cardiovascular protection, and cognitive boost.  Walnuts contain antioxidants that inhibit cancer growth and promote immune function.  For more on the health benefits of walnuts, check out this site.  The Paleo Diet book by Loren Cordain advices us to eat walnuts because they are rich in monounsaturated fats which lower cholesterol, risk of heart disease, and risk of cancer.  They are also rich in polyunsaturated fats that also lower cholesterol.  Cordain recommends walnut oil second only to flaxseed oil* (and mustard seed oil, which is a hard to find oil in the US).  He promotes a balance of omega 6 and omega 3 fatty acids, trying to achieve a ratio of between 2-3 to 1.  Omega 6 is unhealthy in excess and accounts for too high a portion of our dietary omegas, coming from highly-concentrated sources like cereal grains, grain-fed meat, and vegetable oils.  Even on the paleo diet it is always a push-pull to keep omega 6 fatty acids low.  They are in nuts, seeds, avocadoes, and even lean, grassfed meat.  However, omega 3 is very beneficial as discussed above with its recovery boost and protective benefits.  So we are always trying to counterbalance the omega 6 in our diet by consuming more omega 3 in the form of fish oil, fatty fish, and nuts.  In general nuts have too high a ratio of omega 6 to omega 3, but walnuts are a good choice with a closer to ideal ratio of 4.2.  Read more about fatty acids and nuts on the paleo diet website.  Bottom line: walnuts are one of the best nuts to eat!

Finally, lemons.  Lemons are interesting when looking into acid-base balance, an important component of the paleo diet.  While they (and other citrus fruits) seem acidic, the body treats them as a base.  Why is this important?  Ideally, we want to balance the acids and bases in our diet because if we don't, the body has to compensate and pull what it needs from the body to balance it out.  Osteoporosis is a leaching of calcium, a base, from the bones.  Many of our foods are acids and only fruit and veggies are bases.   To quote Loren Cordain, paleo diet founder:

Bone health is substantially dependent on dietary acid/base balance.  All foods upon digestion ultimately must report to the kidney as either acid or base.  When the diet yields a net acid load (such as low-carb fad diets that restrict consumption of fruits and vegetables), the acid must be buffered by the alkaline stores of base in the body.  Calcium salts in the bones represent the largest store of alkaline base in the body and are depleted and eliminated in the urine when the diet produces a net acid load.  The highest acid-producing foods are hard cheeses, cereal grains, salted foods, meats, and legumes, whereas the only alkaline, base-producing foods are fruits and vegetables.  Because the average American diet is overloaded with grains, cheeses, salted processed foods, and fatty meats at the expense of fruits and vegetables, it produces a net acid load and promotes bone demineralization.  By replacing hard cheeses, cereal grains, and processed foods with plenty of green vegetables and fruits, the body comes back into acid/base balance which brings us also back into calcium balance.  The goal is to avoid a net acid load on your kidneys.

and

In addition to promoting bone demineralization, a net acid-producing diet also contributes to the following maladies and illnesses: calcium kidney stones, age-related muscle wasting, hypertension, stroke, asthma and exercise-induced asthma.

To read more from this article and check out the ratings of different foods, look here.  The bottom line: we are trying to load up on fruits and veggies to counterbalance the acidic load of meat and salt in our paleo diet.  When life gives you lemons, make salad dressing!

* Flaxseed oil intake is a topic under much debate.  Check out Mark's Daily Apple for some introductory information on the issues.  I will try to put together a post on the findings in the future!

Fig Salad with Lemon-Walnut Dressing
Crunchy greens and a sweet and tart dressing make this an elegant salad!


Prep time: less than 15 minutes

Ingredients:
1 lemon
walnut oil
dried figs to taste (I buy the light skinned dried fig rounds from Turkey--they are superior to the mission figs I have tried, to me anyway)
greens of your choice  (I am partial to peppery baby arugula, which takes this salad to a whole 'nother level)

Method:
This is crazy simple: just plop your greens in a bowl (the more the better).  Tear up the dried figs into small pieces (say 4-8 per dried fig) and add to the bowl.  In another bowl or sealable container to store leftover dressing for another use, squeeze the lemon juice and add at least 1T of walnut oil.  Mix or swirl to incorporate.  Taste it and add more walnut oil as desired to balance the lemon's acidity.  Once you are happy, drizzle your dressing over your greens, as much as you feel necessary for equal coating and taste.  Toss to mix.  Finally, devour your tasty, sweet salad!

Serving Suggestions:
Since I always have meat when I have carbs (something I took from the Zone), I usually add meat to my salad, such as rotisserie chicken.  DELICIOUS!

Figs

The Paleo Lifestyle Resources

UPDATE 2/12/10: I am adding The Vegetarian Myth by Lierre Keith to my book list.  OMG it is life-changing, and I already eat meat.  Please read this book!

Sorry for the brief hiatus while on vacation.  It is so hard to crawl back into normal life afterwards.  I didn't cook all that much while on my stay-cation.  It was "just to get by" cooking and lots of quick rotisserie chicken fixes from New Leaf.  So now I am detoxing by eating real food and going sugar free again.  My body is still recovering from our final hurrah cheese night.  Oh I pay when I cheat, I pay dearly...  But I need to stay sane.  We all do.  Digressions are fun forays into the forbidden like off-highway meanderings; however, soon the streets turn dark and forbidding and not as fun and novel as at first.  I get slow, tired, heachache-y, and cranky as my body tells me to stop fueling it with junk.  Getting back on the paleo highway is the path to progress, getting me where I want to go.

To re-immerse yourself in the paleo lifestyle or to jump in for the first time, start reading about it to find more success stories and guidance.  I know it always helps me when I am in a slump or starting over again.  Mark's Daily Apple is a website chock full of primal wisdom, which is a sister lifestyle to paleo.  Mark just posted a great smorgasbord of paleo resources for someone looking to learn more.  Here is the link to his post compiling an awesome (by both definitions) list of sources.  I highly recommend you check it out!

To his list I would add these blog recommendations and those on my blogroll:

Elana's Pantry (decadent paleo recipes, if a little heavy on the agave.  She paves the road for paleo baking!)

Girl Gone Primal (an interesting take on primal/paleo from an experimental carnivore! She has some very tasty recipes!)

Correlation Is Not Causation (an insightful look into health and fitness from a primal/paleo perspective--great resources!)

Primal Wisdom (scientific insight into the primal/paleo diet)

Live Primal: Fuels and Recipe Book (awesome cookbook with so many recipes it overwhelms me, unfortunately, almost no pics though)

Caveman Food (I love her recipes and hope she updates more in the new year!)

Fitness Spotlight (nutrition and fitness info from serious practitioners--a great resource!)

Organic Thrifty (great personal experiences from mother striving to keep her family as healthy as possible.  She just posted a great shopping list with items separated out by store.  NOTE: she has some non-paleo choices on there, so evaluate her list carefully if you are sticking to the paleo diet (i.e. check all labels carefully!)).


For paleo products you can buy online, check out these resources:

Paleo Brands (a production by Robb Wolf (paleo diet and fitness guru), Loren Cordain (paleo diet founder), and John Welborn (former NFL athlete) that is about to offer frozen paleo meals delivered to your door)

PaleoKits snacks for on the go nutrition.  Their description says it all:

Proceeds from the sales of Paleokits fund Steve’s Club, a non-profit Crossfit affiliate devoted to training youth from Camden, NJ-often touted as the most dangerous crime-infested city in the country. Steve’s Club gives inner-city kids the chance to get away from the drugs and violence that plague their neighborhoods. Paleokits were originally developed to provide the children portable on-the-go nutritious meals they could eat at school and at home. Born to fuel their bodies, Paleokits now fuel the future of many kids looking for a positive place to stay safe and get strong.

To his list of books, I would emphasize:

The Paleo Solution: The Original Human Diet by Robb Wolf just published Sept. 2010.  Life-changing is an understatement!  This is more approachable than The Paleo Diet by Loren Cordain, but just as informative.  Find out more!

The Gluten-Free Almond Flour Cookbook by Elana's Pantry creator Elana Amsterdam.  Out of this world baking recipes!


Lights Out!  Sleep, Sugar, and Survival (an interesting, if fanatical, read about how artificial light has mucked the cycle of night and day, leading to a hormonal catastrophe and health problems.)

The Vegetarian Myth: Food, Justice, and Sustainability by Lierre Keith revolutionized my thoughts about vegetarianism and veganism.  No, not in their favor.

The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan is a feast for the mind, opening my eyes about the trip food takes from farm to plate.  Fantastic read from a fabulous writer!



Mastering the Zone (Zone diet book from Barry Sears)



The Top 100 Zone Foods (another
Zone book with interesting health information about ideal zone foods)








There are a slew of other Zone books if you want to quantify your diet and look into the effects of inflammation on your body.



More recipes to come!

Favorite Recipes: Spoon Salad and Simple Citrus Dressing

I have been trying out recipes from around the blogsphere lately and found a delicious keeper that will definitely become a staple: Spoon Salad by Simply... Gluten Free (sorry, I ate it before photographing it!).  While the name doesn't really illustrate the deliciousness of this dish, I implore you to check out the recipe.  I was skeptical at first too, but the tasty blend of every veggie known to man really won me over, especially after I added my simple dressing to spark the taste buds.  And the best part (besides being freakin' easy, quick, and no-cooking-required), as Carol discovered: the family will love it!  My husband really dove in and had it more than once, which definitely speaks something for those less inclined to feast upon veggies!  Here's my experience:

Ingredients I used:
4 small to medium golden beets, peeled and cut in half
2 carrots, peeled and cut in half

1/2 head of red cabbage, rinsed, dried, and quartered

6 small zucchini, rinsed, dried, and ends chopped off and cut in half

1 bunch of chard, rinsed and dried
1 bunch of Italian parsley, rinsed and dried
1 container of pre-washed baby arugula

I made the recipe as described, but used golden beets and was pleasantly surprised by their complete lack of stainability, a known problem with their red relatives.  I peeled four small-medium golden beets and cut them in half and added them to peeled carrots (cut in half) in the food processor.  I pulsed until the large bits were broken up and then let 'er whirl until the tiny bits collected on the sides.  I made sure I stopped short of puree, but the fine chop was ideal.  What came out was a sunset hue of veggies that was so gorgeous I almost stopped there.  The burnt orange-yellow sunset veggies looked so vibrant, reflecting off the sheet metallic bowl.  But I had so many veggies to use, I couldn't stop there.

Onward I plunged, scraping out the carrot-beet mixture, adding the half head of red cabbage, quartered, by itself since there was so much (and it took 2 batches to completely chop--so don't overfill or you'll be fishing out chunks from the finely chopped bits--not fun).  The purple hue added a twilight tinge to my sunset veggies.  Then, the zucchini (I could only find tiny ones, so I used twice as many and cut each in half before adding to the food processor), which added puffy white clouds to my sunset.  Finally, the vegetation to be bathed in sunset splendor: one processing batch each of rinsed and well-dried chard and parsley and arugula I substituted for watercress that I couldn't find at the store (I saved my kale for kale chips instead since I think I had quite enough greenery without it).  The arugula added a lovely peppery-ness I adored.  The result was a kaleidoscope of colors, a rainbow sunset with each color just screaming out from the masses with its own uniqueness of flavor and texture.   I was enthralled.

I let the salad sit until dinnertime and then dressed individual servings with Simple Citrus Dressing.  OMG it was divine and such an awesome way to get your raw veggies!!!  To note, on cold days, you can also heat the salad in the microwave and it tastes great!  I served it with seared scallops, broiled fish, chicken, grass-fed beef, you name it.  Delicious!  And the recipe makes a ton--so you can experiment with it and serve it in different ways for a good portion of the week (it lasts a good 4-5 days when covered and refrigerated).  Enjoy your veggies!

Simple Citrus Dressing
Use this vibrant dressing on all sorts of salads and seafood to brighten the flavor and spark your taste buds!
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Serves: 2 as individual salad dressing or one honking salad to be devoured by a group

Ingredients:
1 avocado (the larger, the better)

juice of 1-2 citrus--lemon or lime work equally well

optional: garlic powder/granules and chopped chives or green onions

optional: nut oil of your choosing to dilute dressing to your pleasing (NOTE: too much hazelnut oil makes it overpoweringly hazelnutty, you are warned)

optional for the lime dressing: chopped or torn cilantro

optional for the lemon dressing: small bit of olive tapenade or plain olives

play around with spices as you like!

Method:
Juice the citrus of your choice and place it in a bowl.  Add half of the avocado and mash the avocado with the juice.  Add any optional ingredients.  Taste and adjust quantities/seasonings.  Add dressing to the salad and mix throughly to coat evenly.  Cube the other half of the avocado.  Add it to the finished salad.  Voila!--you have a simple salad in five minutes or less!

Serving Suggestions:
This is great over the Spoon Salad, but also delicious over mixed greens and spinach.  I make it in a tupperware container and just keep adding more avocado and citrus (sometimes oil) as needed until I feel it has been around for too long (lasts at least a week).  This is also the only way I have kept avocado with success without it turning disgusting brown.  The citrus saves the vibrant green color for salad after salad!

Citrus Dressing

Make a Date with Delicious

Dates.  To me, they conjure up images of Arabian royalty dining upon these delicacies in their opulent palaces.  I also hear the Aladdin merchant yelling, "Sugar dates and figs!  Sugar dates and pistachios!"  Yes, I watched that movie way too many times in my youth.  The dates on the table in Raiders of the Lost Ark piqued my interest, although it saddened me when poisoned dates were responsible for the death of the cute little monkey spy...  Anyway, dates have always been foreign to me, not something to which I was exposed as a child outside of television and movies.

Bottom line: I was missing out!

Dried dates are candy, plain and simple.  They are an excellent substitute for sugar and retain its caramelization and candy-sweet properties.  However, we can assume that with that sugary taste comes a nasty blood sugar spike.  Or does it?  The glycemic index value of dates is 103, higher than glucose set at 100.  But that number has puzzled researchers due to dates having a high fiber content, which would lower their GI.  Their glycemic load, which takes into account grams of carbohydrate minus water weight, was very high, too, at over 40, which makes sense given they are dried.  But what does this mean?  Well, to calculate these values, 50g of this carbohydrate were tested, which is actually about the quantity used in my recipe.  Of course if you eat all 12 yourself in one sitting, your blood sugar will be higher than a kite!  Duh!  Another study tested other varieties of dates and found them to be low glycemic, so there is definitely some dispute going on.  There is even some contention about whether or not the glycemic index is more important than dietary fiber quantity in food or if it is relevant to real life eating situations since the values were obtained 2 hours after eating the food and on a fasted stomach.  Bottom line: it seems that dried fruit in moderation is fine and can be reaped for its nutritional benefits.

Medjool Dates used in my recipe are Moroccan in origin and were almost wiped out there due to a disease in the 1920s.  Luckily, a portion of the healthy plants were transferred to the US and have been successfully cultivated here.  Dates are perhaps the first cultivated tree crop dating back more than 5000 years.  They have been a royal delicacy for much of their history.  Dates are also nutritious.  They have a good percentage of dietary fiber and have three times the potassium of bananas!  Potassium is integral for maintaining blood pressure, healthy kidneys, and cellular functions.  It is lost through perspiration and regained through your diet.  They also have a variety of B-complex vitamins and are a good source of magnesium (used for bone development and metabolism).

Pecans, our second major ingredient, are native to the Americas.  Pee cans or puh-cahns?  As Emeril would say, pee cans are for truckers.  They are chocked full of antioxidants--more than any other nut!  One antioxidant in pecans, Vitamin E, is responsible for reducing the oxidation of blood lipids and, thus, helping to prevent coronary heart disease.   Their antioxidants may also protect against cancer and Alzheimer's disease.  More details can be found here and here.  They are also rich in monounsaturated fatty acids, which are heart healthy fat.  They also have loads of vitamins and minerals.

So, here is a delicious, tasty, EASY treat to blast your taste buds.  I was inspired by this recipe from Girl Gone Primal--love her site!  Such brilliance to try something so simple!  I made hers with the apricot and walnuts and wasn't overly impressed with the taste (even with roasted walnuts)--perhaps it was the different varieties of apricots or nuts across the continents or just my own weird taste buds.  I knew the idea had potential and I know that so many people like hers, so I am just weird, but I tinkered with it to find the perfect combination of flavors at least for myself.  I think I found it!

Pecan Fudge Truffles
Fudge, plain and simple and sugar-free (aside from those delicious-as-candy dates).  
Makes: 12 bite-sized balls


Cooking Time: 30 minutes of preparation, tops, even accounting for cooling before assembly PLUS as long as your heart desires for freezing to get an ideal consistency.  I like mine really frozen (a few hours), but they are certainly edible and just as tasty sooner.


Zone Blockage: You can be my guest to figure this one out.  Exactly what size/variety is the "2 dates per block"?  Can you even find pecans on the list?  I would rather just enjoy them as a paleo-style treat!

ingredients:
1/2c pecans
1t vanilla extract
6-8 small Medjool dates or 4 jumbo/large, pitted and torn in half (2-3 ounces)
unsweetened shredded coconut (1/2c at least)
unsweetened cocoa powder (1/4c at least)

This is pretty darn simple.  Toast your shredded coconut in a naked skilled over medium heat.  It'll take a few minutes to get going, but once you start to see browning, stir often and keep an eye on it until you reach desired GB&D level (Golden Brown and Delicious, courtesy Alton Brown's Good Eats).  Meanwhile, set your pecans on a sheet pan in a 350 degree oven (I suggest toasting more than you need for inevitable future batches).  Keep an eye on these as well since they love to burn and are already golden brown in color at the start.  Even mild burning leaves this dessert with that burned nut flavor, so err on the side of caution!  Let your toasted coconut and pecans cool before beginning the assembly process.  Place the cocoa and toasted coconut in separate regular-sized or shallow bowls.

Assembly: (this is almost so easy, it is laughable) get out your food processor.  Dump in the pecans, vanilla, and halved dates.  Pulse to chop up the dates then let 'er whirl until the mixture begins to clump.  This only takes a minute or so.  Make sure your nuts are ground into tiny bits, and then remove the clumpy mixture from the processor onto a parchment paper-lined sheet pan.  Create little teaspoon-sized balls with your hands (roll in your palm) then plop 4 or so into your bowl of cocoa powder.  Here is the magic method: instead of gunking up your sticky hands, swirl the bowl so that the balls roll around and coat themselves!  Brilliant!  Of course I figured this one out after many, many batches of club-hands.  Then, remove the balls into the coconut bowl and repeat the process.  You may want to get your hands involved to press on some coconut if it isn't sticking well.  Remove from the coconut bowl and place on the sheet pan.  Repeat the process with the remaining balls and leave room between them on the sheet pan.  Whack 'em in the freezer until you cannot stand waiting any longer.  Enjoy feasting upon their awesome fudgy deliciousness!


How can such a simple process create such amazing chocolately, coconuty fudge?!?  And the best part: NO SUGAR (besides the dates, of course).  How awesome is that?  Are these worthy of your unenlightened brethren who might think your diet is insane?  I think so!


Dates

Get Your Kids Off the Crack

A healthy start to your day.

Yes, that is what sugar is to our bodies.  It's addictive as crack and packed with a slew of health detriments worthy of being called a drug.  So today I am going to help any parents out there by providing some useful information and case stories to help you get your kids to eat healthy (and you yourself if you haven't taken the plunge!).  By healthy I mean: meats and veggies, nuts and seeds, some fruit, little starch, and NO sugar, NO grains, NO legumes, and NO dairy.  Difficult mission?  Not really as difficult as you may think.  Cue Scrooged voice over: "Your life might just depend on it."


Why bother?


Here are just a few reasons to change your children's diet:

1.  Their health.  Equipping your kids with the most healthy digestive system you can will help them fight off bugs that kids so frequently catch.  You are also setting up their bodies to resist disease and such prevalent problems plaguing our children as obesity and even cancer.  Check out all those healthy veggies I have been describing.  Antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals are necessary NOT optional.  Kids need protein, fat, and carbohydrate at every meal to help balance their hormones and avoid highs and lows in blood sugar.  Changing your child's diet can also help existing conditions such as asthma, MS, autism, and diabetes.  Check out Robb Wolf's site like this post for more on diabetes and read up on Loren Cordain's research on his website for more details and case studies.  If you knew you had a possible remedy for these conditions or could protect against them, wouldn't you give it a try?  

2.  Their body image.  You are setting your kids down the right path when you care about what they eat.  You are showing them how important good food choices are and how they are an important part of a healthy lifestyle.  Eating healthy will inevitably lead to a healthy-looking body.  No, they won't be paper thin models and no, they won't be obese.  Neither is okay or healthy.  You are showing them that food is fuel to help maintain bodily systems, build muscle, and allow for growth.  Along with exercise (like CrossFit!), your kids will develop healthy, toned bodies that are useful for reaching their fitness goals.  The perks of looking good in a bathing suit for your teen are just that: perks.  The real goals should be getting one more pullup, climbing the rope faster, finishing a workout faster with heavier weight and better technique, and achieving that difficult skill for the first time.  A healthy body comes from exercise and nutrition.  You can't have one without the other.

Check out this Dove commercial showing a model's transformation and how our perception of beauty is distorted.  Every young girl (and boy) should watch this.

Here is the take from a diet.com reporter on the photoshop extravaganza in our media: Part 1 and Part 2.

3.  Their well-being and mental clarity.  Giving the kids the tools to balance their diet with healthy protein, fat, and carbohydrates is like teaching them math or reading.  With these tools they can soar.  Their mental clarity will be pronounced.  No more highs and lows as their blood sugar roller coasters from the last sugar-laden meal.  Many teachers have reported remarkably better concentration at school from children following these dietary guidelines.  Here is evidence of improved test scores, better discipline, and improved health from a principal who banned sugar.  Balancing the nutrients and fueling the body with what it needs also protects against rapid mood swings and depression.  I am not saying that your teenagers will be angels, but if you can help them gain more control over their mental state, wouldn't it be worth it?  Eating healthy just makes you feel good.  Give it a try!

4.  Their values.  By cleaning up your children's diet, you are showing how much you care about your children and value their health.  By changing your diet to eliminate most processed foods, you are changing their value systems to respect local, organic sources for their food and to care about the process foods undergo to get to the table.  You are making them think about where their food comes from and to better connect with it.  Each trip together to a farmer's market and allowing your child a free-for-all to find fruit and veggies of his/her choice can be like a trip to the toy store or candy store.  Cook and prepare your meals together as a family activity.  Let these new experiences help define for your child what is healthy and fun.  Help your children respect the environment and their foods by making the right choices yourself.  Lead by example.

5.  Their future.   You have the means to send your kids down the right path right now.  The decisions you make now will echo throughout their lives.  If you give a kid childhood obesity, he will battle it throughout his adult life.  The same goes for the other side of the coin.  If you give your kids a healthy childhood, they will grow strong and be buffered against the not-so-wise decisions they may make later in life.  Imagine if you had a healthy diet and CrossFit when you were growing up.  What kind of a beast would you be today?  Check out CrossFit Kids HQ for examples of said beasts growing up with the benefit of CrossFit and healthy nutrition.  They are the role models we want for our kids.

If you could raise your kids so that they have the tools to lead a long, healthy life, wouldn't you make the effort?  Right now, by throwing away that leftover Halloween candy and purging the house of all high fructose corn syrup-laden foods, grains, and sugar you can make a difference.  It isn't that hard when it comes right down to it.  Some discomfort, yes, but time will win this war.  If you can hold up your resolve, soon the kids will stop asking for that candy bar or trip to McDonald's.  Instead, allow them to pick their meals and treats from healthy choices at the store or restaurant.  You will be surprised not by the limitations, but by the opportunities and bounty of real food that is out there.  Let your children's lapses into their old life and diet come from outside your control and soon your kids will realize that the sugar/grain hangover they feel after a sleepover binge isn't really worth it or at least definitely not something they want to do everyday.

Most importantly, you are their parent.  You can do this.  The rewards speak for themselves.


How Can I Get Started?

Here are some amazing resources to help you make this change as easy as possible.

1.  If you are just going to read one source for curiosity's sake, this is it.  This blog post at Organic and Thrifty is about how a mom got her kids to follow a gluten-free diet.  While gluten-free is a step in the right direction, it is best to give up ALL grains and sugars and even dairy since it is just concentrated grains (unless you switch to raw 100% grass-fed milk).  Sometimes it takes a celiac child to force this issue, but imagine what you can do if you make this change voluntarily and don't wait for such a problem to force your hand!  I love her thorough article detailing her personal experience and how to make it happen in your own life.  Please read this!

2.  Another great read is a father's experience and recommendations for how you can do the same at CrossFit California City.  He is straightforward, and the advice he gives is effective.

3.  Here is CrossFit Norcal's answer to how to get kids to eat paleo.  Simple and straightforward.

4.  The CrossFit Journal has a free article called "Getting off the crack" by Nicole Carroll.  This is an adult's perspective of embarking upon the zone diet.

5.  More brevity needed?  Here is CrossFit Kids nutritional advice:

Sane nutrition for kids in 150 words

Our goal with kids isn't to get them on the zone, but to get them to think and make good choices about what they eat. Our goal is to teach them very basic concepts, sugar is bad, protein is good and you need to eat some in every meal. Nuts and seeds are good fats. Eat them, don't avoid them. Pasta, white bread, and white rice are not that good for you, stuff that's red, yellow, green and found in the fruit and vegetable aisle is good for you. Eat a lot of it.

Look at your plate, make a fist, eat that much meat every meal; turn your hand over and fill it with nuts and seeds, eat that much good fat, fill the rest of your plate with stuff you found in the fruit and vegetable aisle. Fill your plate this way at every meal, don't eat more.

6.  Still have some arguments against the big change?  Here are six reasons NOT to eat paleo and why they DON'T hold up.  Let this be your ammunition when others question your "insanity."

7.  Robb Wolf chimes in with Kids, Paleo and Nutrient Density with a scientific approach to show that paleo is good for kids, and NO they will not miss anything vital to their nutrition--in fact, they will be far healthier!  

The First Step: Breakfast

Many people say the most important and effective first step is changing breakfast.  Throw away those high glycemic, sugary breakfast cereals and exchange them for real food.

My go-to breakfast is eggs (farmer's market or omega-enriched) and sausage (Aidell's varieties that are sugar, grain, and soy free) with either some bread or an apple (microwave it for a minute or two for a great warm apple breakfast suitable for this chilly weather!).  I also sometimes change it up and have leftover chicken or turkey sauteed with apple and cinnamon for a quick skillet breakfast.  I also used to go crazy with the omelets and veggies, which is probably preferable to the fruit.  For example, simply toss in some spinach, mushrooms, and summer squash for a hearty meal with your eggs.  Leftovers are also an option (mmmmnn  reheated spaghetti with meat sauce), as are Egg Cupcakes 2.0 courtesy of CrossFit Norcal for a more portable breakfast.  Breakfast is also the easiest meal to eat out in restaurants with omelets abounding any breakfast menu.  Just exchange the toast for a fruit cup.

For more on healthy meal ideas, check out my post Lunch Time for some simple lunch and snack ideas.  I have already posted some tasty dinner ideas and will post more in the future!

Are You Inspired to Make the Change? 

Let me know what else you need to help you get started and I will try to help in any way that I can! If you have already taken the plunge, let us know how you accomplished it!

Chips are back on the menu!

Yes, I have been a bit too into putting the old reliables back into my diet in a paleo way.  In one day I made three paleo pumpkin pies and muffins and don't even like pumpkin pie!  I tried to make a pecan fig tart over and over without success and have some good bar cookies and freezer bars (they don't stay together at room temperature) for our munching, but nothing really shines yet as THE recipe to submit to the world.  Still working, tinkering...  Since I have a husband trying to stay on the zone and am trying to preserve my own sanity, my baking is going to be more limited in the future.  Baking within paleo and fruit sugar source restrictions is difficult to say the least.  There have been many delicious failures...

Today, I would like to promote veggies.  Plain and simple.  I have made two awesomely delicious veggie chips that I have to share.

Being a skeptic with any recipe that says it can replicate chips (yes, I have tried baked apple chips and they DID NOT warrant the name of chips; they were more like chewy apple jerky), you can imagine how thrilled I was to find I can make crispy chips out of my own oven!  Using nutritious non-tuber veggies!  Without frying!  And I can make them easily all by myself!  How awesome is that?!  Now you can too!


Kale Creations


I already spouted about how nutritious kale is in Kale Salad.  For example, it is labeled as a superfood for being so nutritious, so check it out.  One caveat: cooking veggies leads to some nutrient loss, so keep that in mind.  On the other hand, heat breaks cell walls making many nutrients more bioavailable to us during digestion.  So the take away message: eat your veggies both raw and cooked!

Kale Chippies (yes, you have to say it in your squeaky, high-pitched GIR voice)
Basically, I tried this recipe I found at Girl Gone Primal and just converted the oven temperature to Fahrenheit and added my go-to spice: garlic powder!  Never underestimate the power of garlic to take something good to the next level of deliciousness!


Cooking Time: Start to finish, less than a half an hour!

ingredients:
1 bunch of kale per diner (I used dinosaur kale because it has such great texture--like dinosaur skin!)
olive oil
salt
black pepper
garlic powder
any other spices your heart desires

Preheat your oven to 355.  Meanwhile, wash the crap out of your kale (unfortunately, farmers market kale is often teaming with life, so wash thoroughly!).  Tear the kale leaves off the thick part of the stalk in big chunks.  There is some shrinkage in the oven, so don't make them too small or they'll shrivel up and burn.  Discard the thick stalks (I have to find a recipe using them, I feel bad throwing them away!).  Dry your kale in a salad spinner or with paper towels.  Dinosaur kale is pretty awesome in that it repels water, so there isn't much water to wick away after washing.  Now, put your kale on a sheet pan or pans (preferably lined with Silpat, parchment, or foil) so that they aren't overly crowded (ideally one layer).  I was living on the edge and neglected to line my sheet pan or use two pans for two bunches of kale--such a rebel!--but since the other recipes mention these preventative measures, I should too even though mine was successful and without excessive cleanup.  Next, drizzle on the olive oil (don't glug, but try to get enough on there to coat once you toss it--remember fat is GOOD) and then sprinkle on the salt, pepper, garlic powder, and any other spices you desire.  Toss the leaves around with your hands to coat everybody equally.  Now, whack 'er in the oven for 10 minutes and check.  Remove to a plate any browned ones or firm ones that are chips.  Yes, they are actually chips!  Leave in any floppy, moist ones for another 5 minutes in the oven.  Repeat until all of your kale has magically transformed into CHIPS!

Crunch away on one of the most awesome and nutritious chips out there!

Eggplant?  Seriously?

Alton Brown from the epicly nerdlicious Food Network show Good Eats helped inspire this eggplant application.  His brilliant pressing strategy lets the eggplant soak in taste rather than become a mushy mess.  Eggplant is delicious and nutritious, so don't shy away from this purple peculiarity.

Eggplant is a nightshade (NOTE: I will discuss at more length in a future post), which means it isn't the best if you are avoiding inflammation and is not quite tasty if you are a cat indulging upon human dinner left out on the counter momentarily unattended (yes, she threw up--but no, it didn't deter her from another counter scavenger hunt later that night, damn cat).  Nutrition wise, eggplant has a good amount of fiber, potassium, manganese, and B vitamins.  It is filled with antioxidants that provide a protective role in our bodies from damaging oxidative reactions.  One such phytonutrient antioxidant in eggplant protects the lipids in our brain cell membranes.  Another one in high quantity is chlorogenic acid which has been found to have anti-cancer, antiviral, anti-microbial, and anti-LDL cholesterol functions.  Bottom line: surprise, surprise, veggies are good for you!

Here is a great method of preparation which serves as a stepping stone to other inventive culinary creations!

Eggplant Chippies
Eggplant takes a little more preparation than kale, but there is a delicious reward for your diligence.  


Time Required: at least 2 hours of pressing, then it is fast and done in 15 minutes.  You can also prepare the eggplant ahead of time and use them for dinner that night--especially if you can give those babies a flip and change their towels half way through the day.  

ingredients:
one regular-sized eggplant per diner
salt
olive oil

Slice the eggplant into half inch thick...slices (I hate repeating myself) and lay one layer on sheet pans lined with pet hair-free tea towels or doubled paper towels.  Sprinkle with salt (don't coat).  Then, top with a tea towel or another doubled paper towel sheet.  Place another sheet pan on top and weigh it down using whatever you have handy that is heavy (i.e. cast iron pans, cans, your cat).  Let them press for 1 hour.  Afterwards, come back and replace the now damp towels, flip the eggplant, sprinkle with salt, and replace the heavies for more pressing.  Repeat as many times as desired/you have the patience for.  Once ready to cook, rinse the eggplant to get off the salt (don't worry, there is still some inside, but not too much, hence the "don't coat" warning above--believe me, I have been there).  Dry with paper towels/pet hair-free tea towels and lay in one layer on the bare sheet pan (use two pans if you can't fit them all).  Don't line the sheet pan this time because we are headed for the broiler and lining can't take the heat, baby.  Drizzle olive oil on your eggplant and you're going to have to be a little liberal since those suckers are sponges.  Turn your broiler on to Low and place the sheet pan on the highest rack.  Prop the door open at its broiler location (why is that again? perhaps for morons like me who like to close the door and forgetaboutit to the point of burnage?).  Check in five minutes for browning, and if you have it, flip.  If not, wait til you do.  Once both sides are browned, you are done!  Salt or spice to taste.

Serving Suggestions:

Neapolitan with Meat Sauce: One incredibly tasty way to serve these is as little Neapolitans with Basic Meat Sauce.  Just assemble your little Leaning Tower and create a tasty moat surrounding with the excess (mine was not suitable for pictures--even the sauce in my pic looks more bloody than tomatoey, unfortunately).   NOTE: this serving style will lose the crispiness of the eggplant, but their roasted sweetness really hits the meat sauce out of the park!

Dunkin' Style: You can avoid the mushiness of the first application if you serve the chips on the side of the meat sauce and use them to dip, as my husband did during our feast.  Yes, my husband is brilliant, but mine was more architecturally pleasing ;)

Neapolitan with Roasted Portobellos, Roasted Red Peppers, Pesto, Fresh Basil, and Fresh Mozzarella (sorry, I am off the cheese for awhile, so no pics of this one): When I used to indulge more on cheese, I replicated a layered deli item from Whole Foods.  After paying over $10 for this tasty dish, I decided to make it myself instead.  Just broil the eggplant using my recipe, broil portobellos the same way (no need to salt and press them first, just follow the broiling method after drizzling in olive oil and sprinkling with salt), then create a tasty stack of layered mushroom slathered in pesto, topped with roasted red pepper (roast yourself or buy in the jar, but check to make sure it is paleo--no citric acid, soy, wheat, or grain products allowed!), topped with fresh basil, topped with eggplant, and finally topped with fresh mozzarella cheese.  Broil or microwave the Neapolitan to melt the cheese before serving/gorging upon.  Um, yum!

Other suggestions:
The sky is the limit.  You have a great base for many flavors and applications.  For instance, try them as Eggplant Parmesan if you eat cheese or want to indulge.  I bet they would be damn tasty sprinkled with parmesan before broiling!  You can also just snack on them as chips.  I know I have, and I didn't feel once ounce of guilt!

Kale Chips
Easy and Addictive Eggplant "Chips"