Pain, Pain, Go Away!

How about almond-crusted liver and gathered greens & veg with refreshing paleo ranch dressing . Home-grown lettuce (along with a little from the farmer's market), nasturtium, lamb's quarters and borage flowers along with cucumber and bell peppers make for an interesting salad. To make the liver, have a beaten egg and some almond meal ready. (I take a handful of almonds and put them in the food processor with the S blade for a few minutes.) Cut the film off the liver and cut the liver into pieces about 1.5" square. Roll the pieces in the egg, then in the almond meal and fry in lard over medium heat.

I'm getting the sense that human ancestors were serious meat eaters. I'm reading The Wisdom of the Bones by Alan Walker and Pat Shipman, a contemporaries and colleagues of Richard Leakey. They discuss evidence that humans moved up in the food chain: increased sociality, territorial expansion and decreased population density, and smaller GI tracts. Sociality As Leakey noted in one of his books, if you live on raw vegetation, you can just grab a leaf or a piece of fruit and eat it. You don't need a tribe to do so; in fact, you might want to hide your booty from everyone else so they don't bug you to share it. Hunting big game, on the other hand, requires cooperation. Richard Wrangham says in Catching Fire that some hunter-gatherers have strict rules about women sharing their vegetables only with immediate family members, while men are supposed to share their meat (hunted cooperatively) with the group ( Catching Fire, page 163-164). He who eats alone is an orangu

A potato is a lump of sugar. -Guest on Jimmy Moore's podcast Three years ago when I got into low carb diets and helping my mother control her diabetes, I gave myself a blood glucose test. Since I was wheat-free, I used a suggestion from the Blood Sugar 101 site : I ate a potato. That you can use a potato for a home glucose test should be the first clue that it isn't very good for you. Further clues take a little more digging (sorry). It's a given in camp paleo that grains and beans are Neolithic foods--foods that we weren't eating much of, if any, before we started farming. They're full of lectins and antinutrients. But so are some other agricultural products: potatoes have been cultivated for around 7,000 years in Peru,(1) and spread to the rest of the world only in the past 500 years.(2) Even if you're Irish, German or Russian, your ancestors haven't been eating potatoes for more than a few hundred years. Traditionally, potatoes went through a proces

Four More Weeks My orthodontist wants to wait four more weeks to take my braces off so that I can get a new crown. Meantime, my insurance is actually considering paying for some of this expensive dental work. Hot dog. Acid reflux, acne, and upset stomach down to flavored coffee I just tried to expand my food horizons and once again, ended up with problems. It took a few months to figure out it was flavored coffee. It's not the caffeine or the acid, since regular coffee and tea doesn't bother me, or anything I put in it (I take it black). It's not any natural flavors, since nuts, vanilla and cocoa don't bother me. It's the chemicals. According to enotes.com , Flavoring oils are combinations of natural and synthetic flavor chemicals which are compounded by professional flavor chemists. Natural oils used in flavored coffees are extracted from a variety of sources, such as vanilla beans, cocoa beans, and various nuts and berries. Cinnamon, clove, and chicory

"Machiavellian: A person who is charming on the surface, a genius at sucking up to power, but capable of mind-boggling acts of deceit for control or personal gain."(1) "Understanding the narcissism epidemic is important because its long-term consequences are destructive to society. American culture's focus on self-admiration has caused a flight from reality to the land of grandiose fantasy."(2) Exasperating to deal with and dangerous when gullible people believe them, narcissists and Machiavellians really have become more common since the beginning of agriculture. There are several reasons--Machiavellians  producing more offspring and passing on their traits; culture; parenting practices; even viruses. I can only imagine life as a hunter-gatherer, but possibly, living such a life among 50 to 150 people, some who'd known you all your life, meant facing reality every day and knowing who you were and what you could do. Nevertheless, the occasional hunter-g

"If your dog is fat, you're not getting enough exercise." Baloney! It's just one more piece of cute conventional wisdom that doesn't bear out in real life. My dog gets more exercise than I do, and I'm the thin one. She, if anything, eats the healthier diet: home cooked, all paleo, very low carb, no junk or grains. I control her portions, but Molly's an easy gainer. I don't force her to exercise: after I come home from work and pet her, the first thing she does is jump on the treadmill. Sundays, she bugs me until we go for a walk, a swim, or a trip to the dog park. Trucking along on the treadmill last week. Drying her face on the carpet today after a long walk in Confluence Park and (for the first time) swimming across the South Platte River and back.  A +1 to any reader under age 40 who knows where the phrase "lazy brown dog" comes from. Hint: ask Mom, Grandma or anyone else who didn't grow up with a computer.

Well, your media collection looks shiny and costly How much did you pay for your laboratory testing And how much did you pay for your conference admission Is it you or your mom who needs the paleo prescription? Now Vibrams for running and trails with clean dirt And freezers for organs that you haven't even heard of And how much did you pay for your Crossfit subscription That proves that you care That you're living like a cave man? How do you afford your paleo lifestyle? How do you afford your paleo lifestyle? How do you afford your paleo lifestyle? Parody of Rock'n'Roll Lifestyle by Cake Illustration from http://animals.m1.timduru.org/dirlist/pig/

As you'd expect, there's no lack of good restaurants in San Diego. I didn't go to as many as I wanted to: I was hungry only once or twice a day, even though I did a lot of walking. Since I was doing so much walking, I ate more carbs than I normally do. Grand Central Cafe at the YMCA Building, Broadway & India. So-so food; a little pricey for the lack of quality. I ate here a second time only because I didn't want to walk elsewhere in the coldest rain I'd ever been in. (I don't recommend their noisy hotel, either.) Burger Lounge. Best burger I've ever had, anywhere. Excellent salad, too. According to their website, "Our beef comes from one farm, grown by a small company where the animals are well treated and never spend time in a corporate 'feed-lot'. Their diet consists of tall green grass from beautiful Kansas prairie land. This is what nature intended cows to eat and nothing more. No hormones, no antibiotics, no grain, no corn, j

Whatever . Longer version: Out of necessity, I have a foot in both worlds. I pretty much know how I need to eat; I come online to seek out others who eat this way for fellowship. I don't like to argue. I was born old, and now I'm a 43-year-old dowager with no need to agree or convince or get along with everyone. If someone does well on starchy tubers and lean, dry, tough meat and daily workouts, that's great. (It worked for me for awhile, too.) If they think everybody should be on such a diet, time will take care of that. More likely, most young paleos will take a noncompliant spouse and the paleo diet will go out the window. A lot of them will be reconsidering low carb diets in ten years.

I've been on a reading jag about evolution: The Greatest Show on Earth  by Richard Dawkins and Why Evolution is True  by Jerry A. Coyne. I also threw in Dawkins' 1991 Christmas Lectures titled "Growing up in the Universe."   (Link goes to online videos.) A few things worth knowing (among many others): Evolution hasn't made our bodies perfect. The earliest life was bacteria, and all life forms have changed by tiny increments ever since. There was no going back to the drawing board and starting a new, more logical design. For instance, our maxillary sinuses draining at the top is a trait we inherited from ancestors who walked on all fours (their sinuses drain at the front).(1) Both books have an entire chapter on parts that have evolved badly. Good fuel helps a lot, but it won't fix a bad design. Natural selection can occur rapidly. We're all familiar with bacteria evolving resistance to antibiotics. But natural (or artificial) selection has been observ

Readers interested in the raw paleo+supplement diet that I've proposed for fibromyalgia might be wondering how to put this into practice. There's a lot to read--you can skip parts if you want to--but the better you understand how this works, and the more lousy conventional wisdom you dispense with, the more likely you are to stick with it and fine-tune it to your needs. The basic ideas: Fix any leaks in the gut. A strict paleo diet eliminates foods like grains, potatoes and legumes that can cause this problem, allowing the gut to heal. (UPDATE 6/27/2012: Avoid an additive called carrageenan . It's a neolithic food and an inflammatory.) This may also help with autoimmune diseases. Stop ingesting antinutrients that interfere with magnesium absorption. Grains and legumes have antinutrients (search for "phytate" at Google Scholar if you're interested). Antacids keep you from absorbing magnesium (and calcium, zinc and iron) and interfere with protein digest

This post is for a friend of mine who is suffering so badly from fibromyalgia that she's unable to work. Comments, suggestions and corrections are welcome. I care more about helping her than being right. What is fibromyalgia (FM)? Literally, the word means fiber (fibro) and muscle (my) pain (algia). The American Fibromyalgia Syndrome Association lists symptoms that include pain, fatigue, memory and concentration problems, sleep disorders, exercise difficulties, irritable bowel syndrome, chronic headaches and jaw pain. Sufferers have tender points on the neck, back, hips, shoulders, arms and legs . Thyroid disorders are common, but they're not necessarily a cause or effect. Stress and accidents or injuries can set off painful episodes. The vast majority of sufferers are women. Nobody is sure what causes it, but different people suspect nutritional deficiencies, autoimmune disorders or infection. Since it's a syndrome, different things might cause be the cause in differen

I've been researching fibromyalgia for the past few weeks and have come to a couple of conclusions. I'll give my reasoning and cite clinical research in a future post. Step 1. Go on a strict paleo diet (no grains, no dairy, no legumes, no soy, no artificial sweeteners, no seed oils, period). Eat plenty of non-starchy veg, as long as it doesn't interfere with any thyroid or digestive problems. What is a paleo diet? See this . What's left to eat? See this . Step 2. Avoid large doses of calcium supplements--they interfere with magnesium absorption. Step 3 . If you're on acid blockers, get off of them. They interfere with magnesium absorption, they can lead to other health problems, and they were never meant to be taken indefinitely . See this post to learn how I cured my GERD. Basically, I went on a low carb diet and it cleared up within a few days. Step 4. Take magnesium supplements. A supplement ending in -ate will be better absorbed than Mg oxide. How much

This just arrived in my email: Today the Institute for Justice will file a First Amendment case in North Carolina, where our client, Steve Cooksey, is being threatened with criminal charges for sharing through his website dietary tips and advice that saved his life. State officials are demanding that Steve acquire a government-issued dietician’s license in order to offer insights through a Dear Abby-style column. To learn more, please watch this short video about the case: www.ij.org/paleospeechvideo . Thank you for making this and all our work possible. Chip

Liver is Mother Nature's multi-vitamin, and at two dollars and change a pound, it's an inexpensive meal. The challenge is eating it if you don't like it. How about giving yourself a reward while you eat it: gravy! Chicken Fried Liver 1/4 pound chicken livers 3 T coconut flour 1 egg, beaten 3 T almond meal Pinch salt Few dashes of savory spice mix (herbes fines, jerk spice, Mrs. Dash, etc.) 2 T lard or coconut oil Heat the lard or coconut oil over a medium-low flame. In a small bowl, mix the salt and spices with the almond meal. Roll the liver in coconut flour, then egg, then the almond meal mix and put on a separate plate. When all the livers are ready, put them in the pan, using tongs and an oven mitt for safety's sake. Gently turn them after one minute. Let them cook for five to ten minutes until they're no longer bloody. Place them on a clean plate. Gravy Pan drippings from the liver 2 large chopped button mushrooms 1/2 c chicken or other m

Here's my tasty ranch dressing to go with fish cakes, salad, or raw vegetables. 1 c homemade mayonnaise 2 c coconut milk 1/2 English cucumber, peeled and pureed 2 garlic cloves, minced 1 T Dijon mustard 2 T lemon juice 1 t dried dill 1 t dried parsley salt and pepper Mix all ingredients well. Serve.

Have you even been going along on your normal diet and suddenly started gaining weight? You're not alone: I was again in that position last week. I was getting a wheat belly without the wheat. During my recent illness, I put on a few pounds, but didn't worry about it. Last week, though, I started gaining a pound a day. This was not good. I didn't want to think about what shape I'd be in after a year's time. But it was funny that conventional wisdom first came to mind: eat less, work out more. No: after two years' blogging and research on low carb diets, I'm convinced of their healthfulness and effectiveness. Working out is great for fitness and well being, but unless you're a serious amateur or professional athlete or dancer (and maybe even if you are), it's not much use for losing fat. My carb intake was under control. But carbohydrate isn't the only thing that spikes insulin: dairy does, too. Paleo researcher Dr. Loren Cordain writes in

Pasta, potatoes and rice may be staples of the Mediterranean, northern Europe and Asia, but there's another, older food that's almost never mentioned in connection with these places: blood. Before explorers brought potatoes to Europe from North America (that is, a few hundred years ago), people in harsh climates used blood for food: it's nutritious, and the animal doesn't have to be killed. Jennifer McLagan writes in Odd Bits, In harsh northern climes where food was often scarce, both Scandinavians and the Irish survived on animal blood. The growing antlers of reindeer were a source for Laplanders, while in Ireland they turned blood into a national dish. The French writer Henri Misson de Valbourg wrote about his voyages through England, Scotland and Ireland in the late seventeenth century in Misson's Memoirs and Observations in his Travels over England  (1690). In Ireland, he recalled eating 'one of their most delicious dishes' made from blood mixed wit

Once again , the Wall Street Journal has run a (sort of) helpful article(1) on digestive issues--this time, on gluten intolerance, or what they should have called "wheat intolerance": You've got abdominal pains, bloating, fatigue and foggy thinking. You feel worse after eating wheat or other foods with gluten, and better when you avoid them. Add weight gain and rampant appetite to that, and that was me before I cut out wheat a few years ago, even though a previous medical test showed no signs of celiac. I stopped eating wheat to lose the 20 pounds I'd put on within a few years after I went back to eating the stuff. Indeed, I started slowly losing weight and feeling better. Wheat is an appetite stimulant. Later, I found out that humans have gone practically our entire existence without eating grains: there's no need in our diet for them. For millions of years, we lived on meat, roots, greens, eggs, fruits and nuts. But don't try this on your own! Accordin

I think I may now hold the record for most illnesses in a six-month period for someone on a mostly lacto-paleo diet: I still have a cough hanging on from when I got sick in January. I don't feel horrible, but coughing and spending 12 hours a day in bed aren't things I normally do. I've just started the fourth round of antibiotics in six months. The PA also gave me prescriptions for a cough suppressant and a steroid to calm my bronchial tubes, saying it shouldn't mess up my blood sugar if I'm not diabetic, but if I didn't feel well on it, I could stop taking it. A nearby restaurant, Spicy Basil, offered coconut curry chicken soup that hit the spot. I don't normally eat out, but I was on the bus today with my car stuck in the garage because of the snow. They also had seaweed salad, which I'll try when the weather is warmer. EDITED TO ADD: By sheer coincidence, Sami Paju and his girlfriend had chicken coconut curry soup as well last weekend, and they k