What is better food, better health?

Am I a paleo blogger? No. Do I believe health starts with nutrition? Absolutely. If you're looking for a manifesto on clean eating and arguments in favor of a paleo lifestyle, you won't find it here. Check out The Whole9. In fact even if you're not looking for something radical check that site out anyway. It's a great starting point. It's got links and articles and a whole bunch of science - data - about nutrition and how our bodies use macronutrients. I'm not a licensed expert but I listen to experts who back up their claims with real compelling data. And I've tried a few different things to "eat healthier" over the years - Weight Watchers, Zone, starvation (that was a brilliant one) to name a few. Nothing has been better for me and yielded better results than eating low glycemic with a paleo foundation (it's actually similar to Zone too, but with less precision). I have a busy schedule, a two year old, a husband, a full time job, I work out and I have a closet for a kitchen. I figure there must be a few people out there who can relate to some of that. I used to think eating healthy and making time for regular meaningful exercise was "hard." It really just takes some guidance, awareness, and enthusiasm. So here's a start - here's what I cook and eat (and sometimes what I read).

Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Sweeteners and Metabolism over History

I am embracing low-glycemic eating and don't miss the starches from my meals much, if at all, but I still have a sweet tooth (probably partially because I never truly completed a Whole30) so I was looking at what sweetening options are "allowed" for paleo eaters and came across this on the PaleoHacks site. (http://paleohacks.com/questions/1457/artificial-sweeteners-is-stevia-primal#axzz2Mti5EXfB)

 The main points I found most useful were (italics are my emphasis, bold is the author's):

 "its use should be limited to foods or beverages that will inherently add something positive to the diet. In other words, if you aren’t getting anything positive from the meal or drink, you shouldn’t be taking the risk of the artificial sweetener. A better angle? Expand your cooking repertoire. Train your taste buds in the right direction, and don’t let the artificial stuff get in the way of that progress."

 And:
"Thank goodness there is no paleo high priest to decree one way or another and excommunicate us for our sins. As Richard Nikoley has eloquently pointed out more than once "paleo is not a [insert expletive here] religion." It is a guiding principle."

And:

"The top of PaleoHacks is currently sporting a quote from Dr. Kurt Harris: "Metabolism first, history second." ... I anticipate that his answer to this question would be similar to the one he gave about pork rinds: "Are you planning on making it a staple?""

And finally:

"...if making your stevia sweetened soda helps you along in your transition from Neolithic SAD-eating human cattle to Paleo Man-god then I say on the whole it is positive. Even if you never make it to [eliminating sweetener], nutritionally and health-wise you will still be light years ahead of your former self."

The answer/comment was given by user KetoWarrior. I hope he doesn't mind my quoting but paraphrasing would have been more plagiaristic in my opinion. Plus since it's a comment from a forum it's possible the link may stop working eventually. 
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