Paleo Quick Tip of the Day 33- Microwaving your Food is... GOOD!

Microwaving your food is...GOOD!

I'm sure that many of you have read articles about the evils of microwaved foods...

 

 

I know I have, and so I endeavored to come to the bottom of the issue.  And the bottom is- (drumroll)-

 

Microwaving your food and beverages is not only SAFE-

 

 

It preserves nutrient value BETTER than most other forms of cooking!

 

So there.  

 

 

Here is an article on the blog of Paul Jaminet of the The Perfect Health Diet.  

 

He goes into detail on the latest, and older studies of microwaves and their effect on food.  I think the main problem is that we ALL, me included, have an innate distrust of what we perceive as processed foods.  And rightfully so!  Industrially processed and FAST foods are indeed largely unhealthy, and pernicious not only in how they affect our health, but also in how they effect our home lives by supplanting family meals, meal preparation, and just a wholesome life centered around the home and the kitchen.

 

BUT, and this is important, sometimes we need to look at the whole picture: 

 

Sure, Aunt Bea didn't use a microwave, since it was not yet invented! 

 

 BUT, she WOULD have, and not skipped a beat in Mayberry, since it would simply have been another invention that would have made her daily meal preparation so much easier and efficient- for instance, if there had been one in the courthouse, Andy and Barney could have heated their meals there- Aunt Bea wouldn't need to bring them down from the house...

 

 

Mayberry aside, we don't want to be Paleo LUDDITES- people who fear technology, and shun it as entirely EVIL.  All technology is not necessarily evil at all, and microwaving our food, and iPhones, and computers, all seem to fall into this camp of USEFUL TECHNOLOGY.  

 

Such technology should be prized, not feared!

 

Here is another quick read about microwave cooking from the Harvard school.  

 

If you're not convinced yet, well then go ahead and give up microwaves!  It won't hurt you to do so...

 

But it sure won't help you, or your health, at ALL!

 

J

Check out this episode!

Paleo Quick Tip of the Day 32 Be your own Coach, Teacher, Doctor and GURU!

PQTD #32  Be your own coach- teacher-doctor- and GURU!

 

Yes, that’s right paleo grasshopper- YOU need to to MAN or WOMAN up to be the best you you can be! This is key for being healthy, sane and happy- to be a realized individual that can deal with life in a non-scripted, healthy way.  

 

Most people are simply addicted to the modern life experiment. This is the life most live nowadays: 

 

addicted to television- cell phones- SCREENS of all sorts!

addicted to processed carbs

deathly afraid of fats!

ALSO deathly afraid of dirt and things that are hard!!

 

If this is you, then I am the guru for you... for I am the guru that will insist that YOU be your OWN guru!

 

Don’t listen to infomercial gurus like P90X and all the clones, including Crossfit and other canned workout boxes that tell you exactly what to do, and when, and what to eat, and when, ad nauseum.  Think for yourself!

 

Try to do things for yourself- grow a garden, however small.  Shop at farmer’s markets- go out on a limb and make connections with the growers!  Talk to ranchers, or butchers that market good quality pastured meats and dairy- be gregarious, even if it is not in your nature!  Trust me, it soon will be... and it is so worth it to get good quality food that will vastly improve your health!

 

DO NOT go to medical doctors- I know, this will be controversial, but it is common sense and a no-brainer, really.  Unless you are in a horrible accident, like a car wreck where you are seriously broken, medical doctors know almost NOTHING about health- they only know about disease, and how to mask the symptoms!  That is the truth- the medical establishment can do wonders if you are horribly broken, but after they put you back together... your own BODY is the only thing that can heal you, and YOU are the only one that can restore, and reBUILD your HEALTH!  Pay no attention to those men and women behind the “white coat” curtain...

 

Try to have LOTS of hobbies- reading is great, especially about health and fitness in an ancestral manner... history is great for learning how people of the past lived, ate, slept and worshipped- we learn through stories and metaphors, primarily: so fiction is every bit (and probably MORE) important for our well being than non fiction!

 

This is kind of an all encompassing, general type of podcast, but heartfelt for all of that- here are my takeaway points for you, your marching orders if you will:

 

Do NOT turn on the TV, UNLESS you are either exercising, stretching, or at least just SITTING on the floor!  Be Asian- squat, or just sit on the floor when relaxing- sitting on a chair or couch is just letting your body become a mass of jelly...

 

Only eat carbs in small amounts, and ONLY in the form of SAFE STARCHES, like white rice, white or sweet potato (without the skin and its antinutrients), or in the form of green carbs in unlimited amounts. 

 

AND DO NOT EAT PROCESSED CARBS- AT ALL! EVER!! JUST DON’T DO IT!!

Your grandparents didn’t, their parents didn’t, folks from the middle ages didn’t, ancient times didn’t, and neither did paleolithic peoples- and they had NONE of our diseases!

 

Eat LOTS and LOTS of real, God Made saturated fats!  These are the fats, like that from the (Pastured!) fatted calf that are vitally important for our health- what our ancestors all prized for their goodness and health promoting properties- and what our hormones and actually our very CELLS are made of- EAT FAT!  Whole eggs with cream cheese, tons of veggies with tons of pastured butter, pastured bacon with all of the fat left in the pan to fry eggs, cook a duck and save the fat for later- (that’s what I’m doing right after I finish writing this podcast!)- 

 

DIRT IS GOOD! I don’t mean filth- filth is man made- things like broken glass, spilled chemicals- well, like a modern agribusiness growing field for GMO corn or soy!  That is filth...  

    

     I mean SOIL- living, breathing soil; loaded with microorganisms and earthworms- those microorganisms are our partners in life- they are within us, and creating a wonderful microbiome that we ingest, that is and always has been a part of us.  Grow your garden- get your hands dirty!  Walk around barefoot!  Be like your ancestors- be healthy, natural, happy, and NOT dependent on 

Big medicine

Big government

Big entertainment

 

to keep you happy and healthy- depend on YOURSELF, your family and your friends and your neighbors!  IT IS THAT EASY, NATURAL, AND COMMON SENSE!

Check out this episode!

Paleo Quick Tip of the Day #31 Eat Fat to be Healthy, Slim, and HAPPY!

Paleo Quick Tip of the Day #32  EAT FAT to be Slim, Healthy, and HAPPY

 

 

Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain- Eating saturated fat is GOOD for you!  How good?  Well, good enough to:

 

reduce your body fat 

increase your muscle mass

increase your satiety; i.e. you won’t be hungry!

make you more “sane” by vastly reducing depression, anxiety, and feelings of anxiousness

increase your bone density

reduce your risk of cancer

improve your skin, eye, and dental health

 

All of the aforementioned are wonderful reasons to include MORE saturated fat in your diet!  By saturated fat I mean things like the lard and tallow from wild caught or pastured animals- pastured bacon grease is wonderful stuff- have you ever fried your (pastured eggs) in bacon grease?  Really, really yummy- and incredibly good for you, too.

 

Pastured butter like Kerry Gold or Organic Valley is great as well, as is my favorite, coconut oil!  I put coconut milk in my smoothie, and coconut oil in my coffee on a daily basis.  I also put it on my skin as a body cream from head to toe, shave with it as a shaving cream, and swish it in my mouth while I shower to “oil pull” and kill mouth bacteria and reduce the acidity in my mouth...  I love coconut oil!

 

You are probably thinking to yourself that:

 

“This PaleoJay character sounds like a complete lunatic!”  

 

Maybe you’re right, gut remember that you, and all of us have been brainwashed for over 50 years by the BIG FAT LIE!  That is the lie originally propagated by Ancel Keyes back in the 1960’s, and then spread through misinformed governmental, agricultural, and pharmaceutical interests for all of those decades.  Now, ALL of the recent science supports the importance and healthfulness of those saturated fats that have been vilified for so long... but, if you have said the wrong thing for all of those years, well, it’s not too easy to say that you’ve been WRONG!

 

And so, human tendency is to keep on keepin’ on, as long as you can...

 

But now, YOU my friend, YOU know better!  Eat lots and lots of saturated fat- it is truly good, and necessary for your health and well being.

 

But, you also have to know the other side of the coin- what you REALLY should have been concentrating on eliminating for all of these years- the things that have really been the things that have made us, overall, the fattest, sickest, and unhappiest generation in American history:

 

1.Vegetable oils- corn, canola, crisco, margarine, peanut- all of those trans-fats that would never actually be found in nature as oils

Processed carbohydrates and gluten- all of those food like substances made by man, not in Nature as made by God.  In fact, if you include these bad carbohydrates in quantity along with good saturated fats, it will be a perfect storm of unhealthiness- so restrict the carbs, and replace them with good fats!  Don’t try to include both- it won’t work, it won’t help, and it will probably make matters worse.

Sugars- this means all sugars, like cane sugar, agave sugar which is WORSE than cane sugar, high fructose corn syrup, chemical sweeteners like Aspartame- they are all horrible for you.  Keep them at a minimum- including FRUIT!  Yes, small amounts of fruit is fine; I put some berries and citrus in my daily Paleo Smoothie- but the ratio of fruit to vegetable and kefir, eggs, spices, other ingredients is a fraction of the total.  Sweeteners are inflammatory, and inflammation is the indirect cause of virtually ALL modern diseases!  Restrict them.

 

And so, now you know the rest of the story: 

 

Real God made fat is really, really good, and Fake man made fat is really, really, really

 

BAD.

 

Check out this episode!

Paleo Quick Tip of the Day 30- Heal Your Feet and Eyes, Paleo Style

Paleo Quick Tip of the Day #30  Heal Yourself- Throw Away your Casts and Crutches

 

I know, you probably don’t have literal casts on your limbs and crutches to get around on!  But, perhaps you or someone you know has had one or the other in the past, and you certainly know what either does for them-

 

The limb encased in a cast withers and weakens...

 

The leg supported by the arms through crutches weakens as well, while the shoulders and arms actually strengthen by supporting the injured leg!

 

You don’t have a cast or crutch?  You do, my friend-

 

If you wear shoes on your feet, and glasses for your eyes- you are wearing crutches that will weaken the God made structure of your body over time!

 

Now, I don’t mean to tell you to totally go cold turkey on these modern inventions; but I do want you to be aware that every time you rely on them, you are depriving your body of the small stressors it has adapted to require for optimum foot health and eye health.   

 

For instance, your feet are like intricate suspension bridges, taught with tendons and finely crafted bones that can flex, move, and adapt to all kinds of natural surfaces.  Your feet are also equipped with sensitive feeling and temperature sensitive devices that are exquisitely designed to fine tune your gait, posture and joints to optimal movement.

 

Now, imagine your feet in SHOES- cumbersome, confining blocks or “casts” of leather or plastic and rubber- cutting you off from the ground entirely, with no feeling left, no freedom of movement, an unnaturally raised heel, and no temperature sensing or intricate sense of balance left to be felt and accounted for- in other words, ALL of these small “stressors” that are so beneficial to the health and strength and safety of our feet health is... gone.

 

Now, I’m not saying to go “cold turkey” in this modern world of ours, with shattered glass lying around some places, and No Shoes No Service signs around- but I am saying to just do the best  you can to go barefoot, or at least in socks in the house, or in barefoot shoes as often as you can!  Xero Shoes are ideal for this!

 

The MORE natural movement you can get on your soon-to-be healthy feet and knees and hips and back the better- it will really, naturally restore the health of a really problematic and neglected facet of your body!

Kind of like rebuilding your body from the ground up...

 

As for your EYES- the younger you are, the more you can rebuild your eye health!  Apart from optimizing your nutrition in a Paleo type of fashion, and consuming a wonderful God made diet of real foods, especially vegetables and real fats, (ideally in a Paleo Smoothie whipped up in your Vitamix blender)- the best thing you can do for your eyes is to EXERCISE THEM!

 

Take off your glasses as much as possible- do not rely on them exclusively, make your eyes WORK!  

 

With your eyeglasses on, your eyes are on crutches- they hardly have to work at ALL... and, over time, they will get weaker and weaker!

 

If you can read without glasses- DO IT!  If you can see far without glasses- DO IT!!  Just like shoes- the less you use glasses as crutches, the stronger your eyes will become.  At least in your house and yard- just like shoes- don’t wear them!  If you are reading, move the book or phone back just enough so the print starts to blur- wait at this edge of vision, and usually the print will clear up and become sharp!

 

Over time, just move it back a little farther, at least for short sessions of reading.  Do the same with distances- see how far you can focus- concentrate on a branch that is just past your range of distance vision, and then move slightly closer- gradually it will sharpen up, as your eyes work to focus.  

 

Do pushups for your eyes- focus on something close, like your finger close to your face- then, quickly concentrate on something like that far away branch- repeat for “reps”!  

 

The last thing for eye health is to go to someone called a Behavioral Optometrist!  They are trained in just the sort of thing I am talking about here- to restore real vision to your eyes NATURALLY, and to not let them gradually degenerate!  

 

Request a weaker prescription for your next pair of eyeglasses!  Even if you can’t find a Behavioral Optometrist you can do this- you want your prescription just strong enough so that you can see ok, but not so strong that you have big telescopes on your eyes that allow your eyes to “coast” and weaken!  Then, next year or so, get a still weaker prescription...

 

This whole process really does work- over time, I have become eyeglass free myself, although I used to have to wear them constantly- and getting away from wearing glasses changes your whole view on the world, and how you relate to other people in a big, big way...

 

So, I hope I have convinced you to get rid of your casts and crutches-

 

Set yourself FREE!  

Check out this episode!

paleo Quick Tip of the Day 29 Eat Fermented Foods and THRIVE

Paleo Quick Tip of the Day #29 Eat Real Fermented Vegetables and THRIVE

 

 

I have been an advocate of fermented veggies for a long time, but recently I have come to realize that they are very, very important indeed for your overall health!

 

I mean right up there with eliminating grain and sugar from your diet important...

 

For a long time I have repeated over and over “Add in Kefir or Greek Yogurt with active cultures into your daily Paleo Smoothie!”  And this is, and was wonderful advice indeed.

But I have been reading scholarly articles (so you don’t have to) and the latest rage in Paleodom is: Lactobacillus Plantarum, OR L.plantarum 299v

 

This is the fermented microbe, or “gut buddy” that lives in us all, and does really good things for us, health-wise!   Perhaps most importantly, this particular, plant-based microbe protects and heals our almost always damaged intestinal linings.  This means things like Chrone’s disease, irritable bowel syndrome, diverticulitis, anything in the gut- Lactobacillus Plantarum is what we need- it is the answer to our problem!

 

I had always thought that a good gut microbe was a good gut microbe... and that’s true- but the rest of the story is that we need both- MILK based gut buddies- Lactobacillus acidophilus...

 

AND PLANT based gut buddies!!

 

Lactobacillus Plantarum, OR L.plantarum 299v!

 

I have long advocated that you use Kefir, or Greek yogurt to promote the Dairy based microbes of health- but NOW I know that you need BOTH varieties: SO, you need Plant based gut buddies, yes indeed you do DAILY!

 

But, not in your Paleo Smoothie.  

 

Eat a pickle or two.  Have some sauerkraut with your brat, or with your eggs, or your pork chop.  Have some kimchi with whatever you like!  Maybe on your salad... 

 

BUT THESE ARE IMPORTANT!  OUR ANCESTORS ATE THIS STUFF EVERY SINGLE DAY OF THEIR LIVES (before refrigeration), since fermentation was the only preservation available- and we have adapted to that!  We NEED fermented veggies to be truly healthy!  Processed foods (once again!) are found... SADLY LACKING!

 

So, where do you get this superfood, this wondrous health producing wonder of the Paleo era??  

 

Ideally, you make your own- it’s not hard, and kind of fun.  I’ll include a link to Mercola.com that explains how to do it on a larger scale...http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2013/06/01/fermented-vegetables.aspx

 

But if you are just getting started, you might want to just BUY some fermented veggies to get started!  I think this is a natural reaction, and I can relate.  

 

Go to your local supermarket, and buy...http://bubbies.com/story

 

This is the only national manufacturer of fermented vegetables like pickles and sauerkraut that does it right!  NOT pasteurized (that would kill all the gut buddies!), not just packed in vinegar to give a sour taste without any fermentation at all- their stuff is the real deal!

 

Farmer’s Markets often have vendors that make their own fermented veggies for sale- this is also a wonderful option, just like making it yourself.  But, if not available- do NOT but the mass manufactured pickles and sauerkraut and other FAKE fermented vegetables- THEY ARE NOT FERMENTED, REALLY, AT ALL!!

 

Don’t buy them- but, if you have Asian stores in your area, pick up a bottle of kimchi!  Wonderful, pungent but VERY healthy stuff!!  The Asian stuff is wonderful, but the standard fermented sauerkraut and pickles are....

 

Just another indication of the sad state of America’s food supply- things listed as healthy and wholesome are usually... NOT!  Caveat Emptor- “Buyer Beware”

 

As true today as it was in Imperial Rome, which we are coming to resemble more and more each day!  High taxes, destruction of the small land holders in favor of the rich, politically connected BIG land holders, profits over quality, money over health...

 

The list goes on and on.  

 

Back in the latter days of Rome, those with her original values moved “back to the land”... FAR from Rome- out to Spain, and France, and even Britain!  They decided to provide for themselves, as much as they could, since the Empire itself was rotten and decaying.  

 

I am sad to say, but we are in a similar situation today.  REMOVE yourself, as much as possible, from BIG government.  Ignore their recommendations.  Do what YOU know to do be best:

 

1.Eat real, God made food- not processed crap

Avoid grains and sugars, that are in all the sterile foods recommended by the Government via the FDA and the Food Plate

Rely and trust your local neighbors and friends, NOT the BIG Government bureaucrats

Use your God given common sense- do what your grandparents would have done, about EVERYTHING- physically, mentally, spiritually- to quote the Wizard of Oz

Eat fermented foods

 

But a Vitamix!  Best way to eat real foods in the modern world!  AND, if you use my link for free shipping on www.paleojay.com you are helping to support the show, and also helping to support your own healthy life, and that of your family!

 

Check out this episode!