our paleo* adventure : day 22 + more on why we’re doing this

A few thoughts from Sky today…

Ok, so I know it may seem strange/weird to go against the grain (literally) like Allyson and I are… but I wanted to pass along a great read from Robb Wolf, a nutrition scientist, that does an excellent job of laying out information in a fun to read way… Here’s a blog article I just read at his site: http://robbwolf.com/2010/04/16/kids-paleo-and-nutrient-density/ In the article, he references a paper from the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition that goes into great detail about the nutrient density of the paleo diet. Robb does an excellent job of relaying the info, so I won’t try to rehash it here… but a couple points to take from the paper are…

This paragraph about how much grain and sugar the typical American eats (note that term insulin resistance… insulin resistance most commonly means obesity followed by Type 2 diabetes):

“In the typical US diet, sugars with a high glycemic load (HFCS 42, HFCS 55, sucrose, glucose, honey, and syrups) now supply 18.6% of total energy, whereas refined cereal grains with a high glycemic load supplies 20.4% of energy (Table 1). Hence, 39% of the total energy in the typical US diet is supplied by foods that may promote the 4 proximate causes of insulin resistance: chronic and substantial elevations in plasma glucose (91, 92), insulin (93, 94), VLDL (95), and free fatty acid (96) concentrations. Although sugars and grains with a high glycemic load now represent a dominant element of the modern urban diet, these foods were rarely or never consumed by average citizens as recently as 200 y ago.”

And this paragraph about fiber content:

“The fiber content (15.1 g/d) (23) of the typical US diet is considerably lower than recommended values (25–30 g) (116). Refined sugars, vegetable oils, dairy products, and alcohol are devoid of fiber and constitute an average of 48.2% of the energy in the typical US diet (Table 1). Furthermore, fiber-depleted, refined grains represent 85% of the grains consumed in the United States (Table 1), and because refined grains contain 400% less fiber than do whole grains (by energy), they further dilute the total dietary fiber intake. Fresh fruit typically contains twice the amount of fiber in whole grains, and nonstarchy vegetables contain almost 8 times the amount of fiber in whole grains on an energy basis (64). Fruit and vegetables known to be consumed by hunter-gatherers also maintain considerably more fiber than do their domestic counterparts (145). Contemporary diets devoid of cereal grains, dairy products, refined oils and sugars, and processed foods (i.e. paleo diet) have been shown to contain significantly more fiber (42.5 g/d) than either current or recommended values (159)”

So not only is a little less than half the typical US diet composed of food nearly devoid of micronutrients and fiber, but it’s also a recipe for obesity and Type II diabetes.

It’s really crazy/angering/sad how bad we eat and then turn around and wonder why Americans are getting fatter and sicker… and now our kids will get the pleasure of paying for it… if only the USDA’s (the people behind the food pyramid that might not be so great after all) goal was to keep people out of hospitals and not to promote the sale of grain.  So anyway, while there are the cool benefits of this diet (fat loss, better physical performance, enjoying food instead of regretting it)… the real goal is to stay healthy longer.  … So, on that note… what I ate today:

Breakfast : coffee, yogurt with blueberries and almonds

Lunch : ham, cheese stick, carrots, 1/2 banana, 4 dried apricots, 5 strawberries, water, blueberry-pomegranate juice, one sun-butter brownie

Dinner : Grilled Pork and Plum salad (super yummy; recipe below is based on this one), green beans with bacon, milk

Bedtime snack : yogurt with strawberries, kiwi, and almonds

Grilled Pork and Plum salad

2 Tbsp. chili powder
3 cloves of garlic
1/3 c. packed cilantro leaves
3/4 c. orange juice
4 Tbsp. olive oil
pinch of salt
4 pork chops
1/3 c. olive oil
1 Tbsp. mayo
2 plums, halved and pitted
3/4 c. slivered almonds
1 pint strawberries, sliced
2 kiwi, chopped

Mix first 6 ingredients in blender to make marinade. Pour all but 1/4 c. of marinade into ziplock baggie with pork chops and marinade at least 30 min. Mix remaining marinade with 1/3 c. olive oil and 1 T. mayo to make dressing. Grill pork chops and halved plums, then serve with fruit and almonds, topped with dressing.