When
I started my nutrition program in early 2009 I had a time trying to find
recipes that I could eat. With my mom
being on a nutrition program as well, and having very similar food
sensitivities, we started collecting recipes.
For a long time I was afraid that I was going to have to compile a
cookbook to get recipes that had no grains or refined sugars in them. I could find gluten free cookbooks but all
had loads of sugar. I could find sugar
free cookbooks but those used artificial sweeteners (chemicals!).
Imagine
my joy when I picked up a cookbook at Whole Foods in St. Louis that did not
have a single ingredient that I would not recommend for my family or my
patients! I’m not sure how I missed it
for so long but I found the Paleo way of eating. This way of eating was the only one that
mirrored what I had been recommending for my patients.
Paleo
is not so much a “diet” as it is a way of eating. In its most pure form, those that eat paleo
stick to eating only foods that they believe would have been available to humans
during the Paleolithic period. It is
also referred to as the “caveman” diet.
In
a nut shell, the paleo diet consists of good, wholesome, unprocessed meats,
vegetables, fruits, and nuts. It does
not include any grains (wheat, rice, corn), legumes (beans, peanuts), dairy (paleo
in its purist form) or refined sugars.
It basically is a clean way of eating and removes the processed foods
out of the diet that are causing so many problems.
Eating
the paleo way has been shown to help improve and even reverse many health
concerns. These range from auto immune
conditions (such as Lyme’s and Rheumatoid Arthritis), blood sugar regulation,
diabetes, digestive health, fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue, neurological health,
heart health, thyroid, obesity, cancer recovery and athletic performance.
Paleo
Cookbooks in my own kitchen collection:
·
Practical Paleo by Diane Sanfilippo, BS, NC (2012)
·
Paleo Comfort Foods by Julie & Charles Mayfield (2011)
I
myself used the ultra-strict Fat Loss program in Practical Paleo for a month (no grains, legumes, white potatoes,
dairy, AND no fruit or any other kind of sugar!). I felt better, lost fat weight, and never
felt like I was going to starve! I will
let myself splurge some for the holidays but will stay pretty much in the paleo
way of eating just because I function so much better.
So
do some searching for Paleo recipes and see what may tickle your tastebuds. You may find some new favorite recipes for
the holidays, too!
