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Vitamin-D

I’m working on the supplement chapter for The Paleolithic Solution and I wanted to share a few goodies I’ve tracked down in my research. The first is a link to theVitamin-D Council. This is an outstanding site that draws heavily from evolutionary biology as part of the analysis of Vit-D requirements. It’s interesting, 20-30 min of summer sun exposure can produce 10,000-20,000IU of vitamin D, but yet the governmental recommendations are for an anemic 200IU. This amidst mounting evidence adequate Vit-D may help prevent everything from H1N1 flu to cancer, diabetes and autoimmunity.

If you decide to get your Vit-D the old-fashioned way and spend some time in the sun, here is a cool tool for figuring out how many hours are available at your location under varying conditions. You will just need to track down your latitude and longitude. Here isone link for finding that, and here is another.

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Vit D and Muscle Mass

A study was forwarded from the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism discussing the relationship between vitamin D status and muscle mass and muscle fat in young women. Vitamin D insufficiency has now reached epidemic proportions and has been linked to increased body fat and decreased muscle strength. Whether vitamin D insufficiency is also related to adipose tissue infiltration in muscle is not known. The objective of the study was to examine the relationship between serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25OHD) and the degree of fat infiltration in muscle.

In the conclusion they found that vitamin D insufficiency is associated with increased fat infiltration in muscle in healthy young women.

The most important question, where does vitamin D come from?

The main source of Vitamin D is sunlight. The only other place to naturally get vitamin D is from fish. From an evolutionary standpoint, many of our ancestors might have ate a limited amount of fish, as they all did not all live near the ocean. But one thing is true about our ancestors, they spent a lot of time in the sun. Studies show that people that spend a lot of time in the sun can get ten times the amount of vitamin D we get today.

Just another reason to get outside and soak up some rays, the sun is a performance enhancer and will help with muscle mass.

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Indian Style Slaw

Here is an easy, cheap veggie idea. If you use a bag of ready made broccoli slaw, you can really save time. Tomatoes are optional. Though this is a stand-alone veggie dish, you could add some leftover meat to this for a complete meal.

Time: 8 minutes

• 1 bag broccoli slaw

• 1 cup fresh diced tomatoes (optional)

• 1 Tbsp olive oil

• 1 tsp mustard seeds

• 1 tsp cumin

• 1/4 tsp turmeric

• 2 Tbsp lemon juice

Heat 1 Tbsp of olive oil over medium heat in a skillet, add 1 tsp of mustard seeds. Cover and cook until the seeds stop popping. Next, add the whole bag of slaw, the tomatoes (if using), plus 1 tsp cumin and 1/4 tsp of turmeric. Saute for 3-5 minutes, tossing occasionally, until the slaw is soft. Add 2 Tbsp of lemon juice. Stir and serve.

Zone info: 2 servings at – 1.5 carb blocks, 4.5 fat blocks

Cooking For Health and Performance Vol 1

Cooking For Health and Performance Vol 2

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Paleo Brands Beef Jerky

When Paleo Brands launched in 2009, we started with a quick and easy travel snack called Paleo Snax. It was a huge hit at the Mr. Olympia Expo in Las Vegas, NV of all places. It was a simple combination of low-sodium grass fed beef jerky, nuts and fruit. Like most of our other products, it started at my home here in the OC. I had been going to a butcher in Costa Mesa, CA and purchasing the jerky, then to Mother’s for nuts and fruit. After making them for a few months, Joe said “I wonder if we could make these?”, and the Paleo Snax were born. After a few months and moving more than a fair share of product, Joe, Robb and I came to the conclusion the jerky was the winner. I found myself picking around the fruits and nuts and just eating the jerky. The carbs from the fruit were more than what I wanted and I just wanted a simple package of meat. So we went back to the drawing board and designed a simple package of grass fed beef jerky to offer to the Paleo Brands customers. Looks like the products should be ready for delivery by next week. Realizing people might still want the fruit and nuts we will offer those for sale, but the real winner is the grass fed jerky. And much like the meals, grass fed jerky is not the easiest thing to find so keep a look out for a new Paleo Brands product.

I found this picture and wondered who would have thought this was a good idea. While we will not be selling this product, I guess you could purchase the jerky to make your own. This is taking a Paleo lifestyle to new meaning.

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How Are the Paleo Gourmet Meals?

The other day was pretty exciting, I showed up the gym and a package was waiting for me. The first delivery of Paleo Brand’s Paleo Gourmet Meals.

Everyone at the gym was anticipating their arrival since CrossFit Balboa is about 4 weeks into our 2010 Paleo Challenge. People are tired of being modern hunter/gatherers and wanted a quick, easy and tasty meal to tide them over. I decided to give the masses a view of the meals and some information about them.

The meals arrived frozen and ready to be heated and served. We fired up the microwave (I know the microwave is not very Paleo but we were excited and not wanting to wait) and got out the forks.

The meals came out awesome! It was a long trip from my kitchen to meals showing up at my gym ready for the masses. Most people don’t have the time to cook every meal and this is what I was looking for, an easy and good meal post workout or when I get home too late from training and need something high quality for recovery.

We will start carrying the Paleo Brands meals in our gym this week and be posting some testimonials so others can get good information about the meals and how people are enjoying them.

Thanks!

John

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Food For Kids

If I had a dollar for every time someone has asked me, “What do you feed your kids when eating Paleo?” I would be a gazillionaire…  The short answer is, they eat what I make - and what I allow in my house.  If you only have healthy options available in YOUR house, there will not be any need for arguing, negotiating, begging, or pleading.  ALL the food in my house can be eaten whenever my kids want to eat it; there is no “special” food, “reward” food, or “dessert” food.  If we DO have ice cream in the house, or chocolate, the kids can eat it.  BUT this does not happen very often and if we want a dessert like ice cream we leave the house to get it.  This way – it’s over, it’s done, and we avoid any possibility of crying fits for dessert after every meal.  A big treat in my house is sliced strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries with a drizzle of honey and served with homemade whipped cream.

Another kid issue and big question is – what do I pack my kids for lunch?  Pictured is what my 6 year old will have for his school lunch tomorrow.  It’s a tupperware of chicken and hardboiled egg salad, carrot sticks, dried cranberries, pistachios, and mandarins.  Sometimes school lunch will be deli meat, celery sticks, apple slices, and a dried fruit bar.  My 14 year old usually packs his lunch of pastrami, celery and carrots, an apple, and cashews.  Sometimes he chooses to eat hot lunch and comes home feeling horrible.  He is 14 and beginning to understand what happens when he makes poor food choices.

Another question that often arises is how do we handle the need for a quick breakfast: My oldest is typically our breakfast guy.  I teach early morning classes 5 days a week so my husband and kids are on their own most mornings.  We buy a lot of already cooked bacon that takes 30 seconds in the microwave, my son will scramble up a half dozen eggs, and then my husband packs individual tupperwares of eggs and bacon for everyone and they all eat in the car.  Sometimes I’ll make a big batch of sweet potato and sausage hash that lasts a few days or I’ll make a giant frittata that we eat throughout the week.  Hard boiled eggs are a must and I recommend always having a dozen ready to go in the fridge and you can see from my pictures that hard boiled eggs do not have to be boring!

Also pictured: A bunch of after school snacks as well as food I always have in the car for the boys such as tupperwares full of nuts, dried unsweetened cherries, and pieces of beef jerky.  I never leave home without a bag of beef jerky, dried blueberries, sliced apples and nuts.  My kids are ALWAYS hungry when I pick them up from school and with food in my car there is never even a request for fast food.  At this point my kids understand that fast food is horrendous anyways, in fact, my 6 year old got into a huge debate with his teacher the other day – his argument being that no one should EVER eat fast food.  She was teaching a health unit and mentioned that it is possible to find healthy choices at fast food restaurants and that eating fast food periodically is ok…  For those of you who know my 6 year old, you can probably imagine the passion he conveyed during his part of the conversation…

So, those of you with kiddos, I promise that you can make it happen!!  Don’t be neurotic, but be strong.  Remember, the food that enters your house is there because it was YOUR decision.  If my kids go to a friend’s house or to a party, I don’t attach a note to their foreheads reading that they cannot eat gluten or sugar, I instead rest assured that 95% of the time they have real, quality food, and I SEE that they are healthy, active, and overall pretty amazing kids.

See more at Everyday Paleo.

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Just Say No!

Alli, Orlistat, Meridia, Xenical, these are just a few of many diet drugs that have been and are being prescribed by physicians to help their patients lose weight.  In the year 2000 it was estimated that Americans spent $34.7 billion dollars on weight loss and diet products/services.  Today the estimate has grown to over $60 billion per year, with over $2.0 billion of that being spent on weight loss drugs alone.  Sure these drugs (when combined with a ‘healthy’ diet and exercise program…), may be effective, but are they really worth the cost?

A recent study, published in The Archives of Internal Medicine, put a low-carbohydrate, ketogenic diet up against the diet drug Orlistat combined with a low-fat diet – the results…

The low-carb ketogenic diet proved to be more effective for weight loss and had a greater, statistically significant effect on lowering blood pressure.  Additionally, improvements in insulin, glucose and HbA1C levels improved onlyin the low-carb group.  Even though weight loss and glycemic parameter data differences were not significant, this study demonstrates that drugs are not necessary to successfully lose weight.  And given more time, the results may be more striking.

Just Say No… to weight loss drugs, diet programs and ‘engineered’ diet foods – spend your cash on high quality paleo foods instead.  The best part – no laundry list of side effects!

Amy Kubal

www.fuelasrx.blogspot.com

amyk.rd@gmail.com

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So Close…

We are almost ready to ship meals! Below is a photo of a test shipment I received. Stay tuned!!

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Bacon Wrapped Tenderloin

Back Wrapped Tenderloin

Time:  18 minutes

• 1 lb beef tenderloin
• 8 slices of bacon (no nitrites)
• 1 Tbsp olive oil, divided
• sea salt to taste
• 1 slice of red onion
• 1/2 cup sliced mushrooms
Place bacon onto a roasting pan and start baking in the oven at 350 degrees.  Meanwhile, pre-heat a skillet to medium high and add 1 tsp olive oil.  Cook the tenderloin in the hot skillet for one minute on each side.  Plate and set aside.
Remove the bacon from the oven once it has become soft, but not crisp.  Carefully wrap bacon around tenderloin, holding it in place with toothpicks.
Place the tenderloin on the roasting pan, lightly sprinkling the steak with sea salt.  Return to the oven for around five minutes, checking frequently.
Meanwhile, add the mushrooms and sliced onion to a small skillet, along with 2 tsp of olive oil.  Saute for around 8 minutes, or until soft.  Serve the wrapped tenderloin topped with the sauteed veggies.
Zone info:  4 servings at  4.5 protein blocks, 7.5 fat blocks.  Carbs negligible.

Cooking For Health and Performance Vol 1

Cooking For Health and Performance Vol 2

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Has it really come to this?

We’ve got the Blackberry, the iPhone, Facebook, Twitter, etc…  It was only a matter of time before advanced, personal technology would be incorporated into the fight against obesity.  Sure, heart rate monitors, pedometers and devices like the Med-Gem and Bodybugg have been around for a while.  But now there are a few new tracking devices in the works.  These new tools do everything from monitor workout time, food consumption and the wearer’s location (like McDonald’s as opposed to the gym…).  These little devices are designed to provide the user with ‘instant’ feedback and there’s even work being done on one that will send a text message if it senses the user is being too lazy.

There may be practical application for these devices in research, but are they really necessary for the general population?  A few words of advice for those considering investing in one of these – step away from the Oreos, eat Paleo and move more.  It’s a surefire strategy, and in the event you don’t have unlimited texting, it’s FREE!!!

Amy Kubal

www.fuelasrx.blogspot.com

amyk.rd@gmail.com

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