February 11, 2010 in nutrition, Real Food Challenge, seminars by Turbo
Real Food Challenge Day 26
So I’d like to address questions we’ve had on whether certain foods are “allowed” on the paleo diet, such as water chestnuts, snow peas, bamboo shoots and beets.
Snow peas: officially beans/legumes and therefore not paleo, however they are good in my books. Anything green and “vegetabally” is better than beer and cookies.
Water chestnuts: actually an aquatic vegetable according to Wikipedia, so I think they are safe.
Bamboo shoots: I don’t see any reason they wouldn’t be paleo, high fibre, low carb vegetable…
Beets: The paleo experts seem to be divided on this one. Probably because beets, along with other relatively sweet/starchy root vegetables are relatively high in carbs. I say relatively because that’s in comparison to greens. They are still great compared to bread and pasta. In my opinion, OK in moderation and depending on goals.
But let’s get past this and get to the heart of the question. Does it matter if it’s officially paleo? In this post, I explain why we called this a “real food challenge”. Paleolithic nutrition works wonders, but we don’t want it to be a “diet” and we want you to understand why it works so that you can start making your own decisions about what to eat. This is exactly the message I tried to get across in this post. One of the reasons paleo nutrition works is that it keeps your insulin in check. It also improves digestion and reduces inflammation. So when deciding on these foods, consider how much you are eating and ask yourself:
- Will this spike my insulin more than I need given my objectives?
- How does my body react to this?
- Do I digest this well?
- How do I perform on this food?
- How do I feel on this food?
13 Comments to “Real Food Challenge Day 26”
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February 12, 2010 at 11:24 am
lunch is a bowl of chili and some veggies
February 12, 2010 at 11:48 am
“vegetabally” I like that word!!
I have definitely noticed a change in my cravings. I used to allow myself a piece of chocolate a day and recently noticed that I haven’t been having that piece and haven’t been missing it.
I have a question though – why are beans and legumes not paleo? I know I don’t seem to be able to tolerate them but I am just wondering.
February 12, 2010 at 11:53 am
@Erika
“Most legumes are poisonous if eaten raw. Legumes are high in lectins, protease inhibitors, and phytates. Lectins are proteins that bind carbohydrates, been identified as being inflammatory and toxic, and have a casual relationship with auto-immune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, Type I diabetes, and lupus. Phytates or phytic acids, have been shown to inhibit the absorption of minerals such as calcium, magnesium, iron, and zinc in the digestive tract. Furthermore, the presence of protease inhibitors interferes with the breakdown of proteins into amino acids. Vegetarians seeking protein from legumes, may actually be making their protein deficiencies worse! A diet high in legumes, at best, will give you gastrointestinal problems and could result in a mineral deficiency. At worst, a diet high in legumes could induce an “auto-immune” response. Furthermore, the soy industry has been pushing the “health benefits” of soy. As a result, most of our processed foods contain a soy additive or byproduct, in effect, lacing our foods with possible toxins.”
http://www.healingcrow.com/dietsmain/paleo/paleo.html
February 12, 2010 at 1:06 pm
Lunch – Salad, spinach, 2 slices of bacon, tomatoes, omelette, balsamic vinegar
February 12, 2010 at 1:22 pm
Lunch was homemade turkey meatloaf and steamed carrots from last night’s dinner. For Breaky I had 3 Guac-Devil-Eggs… recipe posted on Marksdailyapple. They were tasty!
February 12, 2010 at 1:30 pm
@MLC
let’s clarify beans–not the kidney-type ones, but green beans I guess is what I’m confused about in the reference here, as they don’t seem to be superstarchy (and maybe similar in traits to snow peas) like lentils, kidney beans and black beans.
lunch: tuna with mayo and leftover steamed broc/cauli from last night. small cuz I ate later and am training at 3:45 today and am coming prepared with a post-workout meal (not great, but better than nothing: eggs and 1 carrot)
February 12, 2010 at 1:33 pm
@SuperBean
Read what Turbo wrote above:
“Anything green and “vegetabally” is better than beer and cookies” and;
“-Will this spike my insulin more than I need given my objectives?
- How does my body react to this?
- Do I digest this well?
- How do I perform on this food?
- How do I feel on this food?”
That’s all you need to know right there hun.
February 12, 2010 at 1:37 pm
@MLC
Thanks for that M. Didn’t know any of that. Definitely makes it easier to stay away from those things when you realize what they do to your body.
Lunch: Pork tenderloin stir fried with some veggies. Heading into the kitchen right now to make it!
February 12, 2010 at 1:52 pm
Lunch – big spinach salad with alfalfa sprouts / onions…with yummy lemon pepper chicken…dressing was evoo+lemon juice+spices.
happy friday!!!!!!
February 12, 2010 at 2:34 pm
Lunch today was a chef salad, no cheese and some watermelon.
My self, not really into root veggies anyway. I really like fruit, fresh or dried it doesn’t matter, I really should eat more veggies though they’re good for digestion.
February 12, 2010 at 2:45 pm
Breakie: 2 eggs omlette, with 1 oz chicken and 1 oz ham and 1/4 zucchini and a dash of coconut milk, yummy!
Lunch: Large Spinach salad with grapefruit, and sliced pork steak from last night with some leftover applesauce smeared over it all.
I must say, I completely aggree with the “green and vegetablly is better than beer and cookies”. I often think that when my co-workers offer me a homemade strawberry birhtday cupcake topped with an inch of creamy frosting and a fan of fresh strawberry on the top. I maw down on my apple or carrot or whatever “just in case” food I brought and say no thanks to the sugar overload. I realize I don’t want to eat fruits and root veggies in excess, but it’s better than the other stuff, it’s keeping me on track. All veggies and fruits are better than anything commercially produced or laced in sugar and flour.
I remember reading in some paleo type article once a long time back, [when choosing what to eat] “open your fridge and make the best possible choice every time”.
February 12, 2010 at 4:05 pm
LUNCH: salomon steak with lemon pepper & sauteed brussel sprouts with onion, mushroom & ham
February 12, 2010 at 6:33 pm
Very true about performance and how you feel about certain foods. I can’t claim that I am 100% strict paleo right now because things like protein shakes and cottage cheese boost performance enough to be beneficial. Paleo has been a great baseline to build on and experiment from though!
Lunch: Chicken breast broccoli and parsnips stir fried in tomato sauce