Caveman Nutrition: How Can We Eat Like This?

Paleo Breakfast Recipes :

John Williams, Ph.D., has degrees in archaeology and anthropology. His research and fieldwork has focused on the Paleolithic and Neolithic of the "Old World", which basically means the Stone Age of Europe, Africa and Asia. John has always had an interest in nutrition, which actually works quite well within prehistoric studies, because our past was one big food quest.

Caveman Nutrition: How Can We Eat Like This?

CB: Tell us more about your approach to nutrition, and more importantly, developing delicious healthy eating recipes.

JW:
You might ask, how in the world did an archaeologist get into creating healthy recipes? I've never been a stranger to the kitchen. My Mom never really enjoyed cooking, so she encouraged me to cook for myself from a very early age. In fact, in grade school, I would wake up at 6 AM so I could make an omelet for myself before school. OK, so maybe I was a strange kid, but I certainly learned to find my way around a kitchen.

Cooking skills have also come in very handy on excavations, where there are crews of 10-20 people needing nourishment from long days of heavy labor in the sun. We usually have chefs, but I'm always poking my nose around the kitchen, giving them recipes to make sure we have sufficient protein and a good fatty-acid profile.

My travels have also taught me a lot about international cuisine. I had an Indian roommate in Israel when I was doing my dissertation research, and he taught me a lot about Indian food, which I think is some of the best in the world. I've also been to various places around the Middle East and Europe, where I picked up quite a few cooking tips.

Over the past few years, I've been continually experimenting with making healthy recipes that taste great. Bodybuilders are some of the most knowledgeable people out there when it comes to nutrition, yet many of them will resort to eating tuna from a can and boiling chicken breasts. Not that there's anything wrong with an occasional quick snack, but there are certainly ways to make healthy meals both quick and delicious.

CB: What is your take on eating dairy? Are there any problems with consuming large amounts of dairy products?

JW:
My fridge is full of cottage cheese and yogurt. But I'm not a big fan of milk, as I've found that it makes me 'stuffy', for lack of a better word. If you want to know the gory details, I get some mucus buildup after drinking milk, which leads me to suspect I have a low-grade allergy to it. It's the same feeling I've had after eating takeout Chinese food loaded with MSG - not good. Interestingly, I can eat cottage cheese and yogurt all day without the stuffiness.

There's also the whole issue of dairy and insulin response. A few studies have shown that dairy products cause a disproportionately large insulin response, which some people believe could prevent fat breakdown.

But of course milk and dairy are an excellent source of casein, which is one of the best sources of protein out there. So in the end, it's entirely up to the individual. Personally, I won't be making all that many recipes with milk in them, because of the potential side effects.

CB: What is your take on the low-carbohydrate approach to fat loss? Do you have any low-carbohydrate case studies you would like to share? What are your top sources of carbohydrate that you recommend people eat?

JW:
Extremely low carb approaches like Atkins, and even all liquid protein and EFA diets like the Velocity Diet certainly can be effective in losing fat fast. But like I said earlier, a more balanced diet is certainly better in the long run. I think that avoiding foods like spinach or broccoli because of their few carbs would be a travesty.

CB: What are your top sources of protein?

JW:
I usually grill about 3 pounds of chicken breasts at a time for quick meals during the day, and cook a proper breakfast and dinner with eggs, lean beef, fish, and the occasional game meat (bison, venison, etc.)

CB: What are your top sources of fat?

JW:
Each morning I have a strong cup of Joe and a teaspoon of fish oil to clear the mental cobwebs with a caffeine-DHA combo. Not mixed together of course - I wouldn't want to ruin the taste of my Ethiopian Harrar! Then throughout the day, I'll have a couple of omega-3 eggs (Pilgrims Pride EggsPlus), some olive oil in various meals, and various nuts - particularly almonds and walnuts. I also take a couple of fish oil caps with every meal. This tends to balance everything out, providing a moderate amount of saturated fat, sufficient monounsaturated, and about a 2:1 ratio of omega-6 to omega-3's.

CB: Can you tell us the role of food in controlling "inflammation" (i.e. controlling arthritis)? What foods should be avoided? What foods should be consumed?

JW:
One of the easiest ways to combat inflammation is by drinking sufficient water. Particularly if you drink coffee or any caffeinated beverage, water is a must. The commonly accepted amount for active people is about a gallon a day.

Another major pro-inflammatory aspect of our diets is a high omega-6 to omega-3 ratio. If our cell membranes are full of omega-6's, then muscle soreness and damage will be much worse after weight training. But get those fats balanced (more omega-3's), and inflammation/soreness can be reduced, leading to reduced recovery time.

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Quick and Easy Raw Food Recipes, With 5 Ingredients Or Less!

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Are you looking for easy raw food recipes? Well here are a few really quick and easy raw food recipes with 5 ingredients or less for the raw food beginner.

Quick and Easy Raw Food Recipes, With 5 Ingredients Or Less!

The raw food diet is a type of diet where people eat the majority of their foods in their natural whole state without cooking them. Many people are adopting this lifestyle to eat a natural whole foods diet and to get the benefits of all the nutrients available in fresh raw fruits and vegetables.

Most raw food recipes available on the web or in recipe books are complicated, time consuming, and require a lot of fancy kitchen equipment. This unfortunately turns a lot of people off to the diet because they think it is too hard and time consuming to fit into their busy lifestyle. In this article I'm going to offer a few easy recipes that don't require any fancy equipment or exotic ingredients.

*Most people already have a blender so some of these recipes require a blender.

Easy Green Smoothie Recipe

2 bananas 4 kale leaves chopped with stems removed 1/2 of an apple 1 cup water

Blend in a blender until smooth. This nutritious green smoothie can be eaten for breakfast or as a mid afternoon snack. By blending the kale you are making all the nutrients in the kale leaves such as A,K,C, Iron and calcium easy for your body to absorb and digest. The sweetness from the bananas makes the kale leaves palatable, you'll be surprised by how good it tastes! Serves 2.

Easy Cucumber Salad

2 cucumbers chopped 2 ripe tomatoes chopped 1 red bell pepper chopped 1 bunch cilantro chopped 1 avocado chopped pinch sea salt

Mix all ingredients in a bowl and enjoy as a simple and delicious side salad. The juices of the tomato and bell pepper will marinate with the cilantro to dress the cucumbers. The flesh of a cucumber is a very good source of vitamins A, C, and folic acid. The hard skin is rich in fiber and a variety of minerals including magnesium, silica, molybdenum, and potassium. Serves 4.

Easy Avocado Salad Dressing

1/2 an avocado 1 cup orange juice 1 tablespoon lemon juice 1 tablespoon chives pinch cayenne pepper pinch salt

Blend all ingredients except for the chives in the blender until smooth and then mix in the chives. If you don't have a blender mash the avocado and then whisk the ingredients in a bowl until smooth. Avocados provide nearly 20 essential nutrients, including fiber, potassium, Vitamin E, B-vitamins and folic acid. Serves 2-4.

Easy Mango Pudding

2 mangoes peeled and diced 1 teaspoon honey 1/2 cup raspberries 1/4 cup water

Blend all ingredients except for the raspberries in the blender. Put the mango pudding in a bowl and then garnish with the raspberries or layer the mango pudding with the raspberries in little dessert dishes to make a healthy parfait. Serves 2.

I hope you enjoyed these recipes and are encouraged to try making them at home. For more free easy raw food recipes please check out the resources below:

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Eating Foods From Paleo Food Lists for the Best Results

Paleo Breakfast Recipes :

Early humans, the so-called cavemen, did not have the luxury of being able to drive down to the store whenever food was needed; these people obtained all their nourishment from hunting animals and gathering the wild fruits and vegetables around them. It has been found that these people were robust and healthy, mostly because of the natural diet they ate. The Paleo diet mirrors the diet followed by our ancestors, and eating those types of nourishment found on Paleo food lists can help you to feel healthier while providing optimum nutrition.

Eating Foods From Paleo Food Lists for the Best Results

Our diets have become saturated with foods that cavemen would never touch - spam, fatty chicken and turkey skin, sandwich meats, and processed meats like pepperoni and sausage. These foods simply contain too much unhealthy fat to be included in the Paleo diet, not to mention the foul assortment of preservative compounds and chemicals with which they are infused. Processed foods have been changed so much from their original form, and contain so many additives and so much salt and sugar that they can not only clog our arteries, but also make us fat.

The plow was completely unknown to cavemen, and instead they lived by following herds of animals and gathering the fruits, nuts, and vegetables that appeared in season. Grains were basically unknown to these people, and are therefore not included on Paleo food lists. All of us modern people have grown accustomed to eating bread, noodles, muffins, cakes and cookies - but these foods simply did not exist 20,000 years ago, and the people then were strong and healthy. It is also unlikely that many of them were overweight. Besides these processed carbohydrates, it is important not to eat food such as corn on the cob, rice, or wild rice if this diet is to be followed successfully.

Our ancestors were much more sensitive to the seasons and what foods would be available at certain times of year than we are. The nesting season in the spring provided the cavemen with a bounty of eggs, and eggs are an allowed food on the Paleo diet that will help you enjoy the type of breakfast you are accustomed to. The gazelles, deer, elk, and other hoofed mammals that the cavemen hunted provided lean, quality meat that had been fed on grasses and herbs rather than being fattened up on grains in the unnatural environment of the feedlot. Look for the leanest cuts of meat at the store, or cut excess fat away before cooking. Hamburgers that are advertised as extra lean and are specifically described as having less than 7% fat are suitable for such meals.

Fresh fruits and vegetables formed a large part of the caveman diet and they should also form a core part of your diet. While fruits are usually enjoyed raw, your vegetables should also be eaten this way, too, you will get more nutrition and more fiber from them. The exception is if you cook them up as part of a recipe, to accompany and flavor meat and to give more variety to your daily menu.

Partly because of the increased fiber and also because of the lean meat you will be eating, which takes a long while to digest, you will find that the diet described on Paleo food lists will leave you feeling full for a longer period after you eat. The quality of the food will slow down your digestion, and as you will be avoiding grain based carbohydrates, you will not get a 'sugar rush' that burns up what you have eaten too quickly. You will find yourself eating when you are hungry, rather than according to a schedule.

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List of High Protein Foods

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High protein foods are great for packing on extra muscle. To make sure that your diet is filled with muscle-building proteins, it is extremely important to consider which high protein foods you should consume during your daily eating routine. To help you select the best high protein foods for your diet, we've compiled a list of some of the most protein-packed foods that you can find in your average grocery store.

List of High Protein Foods

You will notice that the list covers a broad variety of high protein foods. This was done intentionally so that you can compare food types and have more options to add to your daily meals.

The list:

(all nutrition estimates are based on standard single servings)

Peanut butter (2 tbsp)

Protein- 8 g

Calories- 188

Fat- 16 g

Raw almonds (19 pieces)

Protein- 7 g

Calories- 180

Fat- 14 g

Almond butter (1 tbsp)

Protein- 2 g

Calories- 101

Fat- 9 g

Skinless chicken breast (1 cup)

Protein- 38 g

Calories- 258

Fat- 10.4

Ground beef (90% lean, 3 oz)

Protein- 23 g

Calories- 182

Fat- 9 g

Ground turkey (3 oz)

Protein- 22 g

Calories- 193

Fat- 11 g

Salmon (half fillet)

Protein- 39 g

Calories- 367

Fat- 22 g

Tuna (canned, 1 cup)

Protein- 39 g

Calories- 179

Fat- 1 g

Deli turkey (1 oz)

Protein- 4 g

Calories- 31

Fat- 1 g

Findings:

High protein foods vary substantially in protein, fat, and calorie content per serving. Some of the best high protein foods have high fat counts; however, it is important to consider that not all fats are bad for you, and some can be very beneficial to your diet- even if weight loss is your top priority. Almonds, for example, are rich in omega three fatty acids but low in saturated fats.

In general, if you are looking for an efficient way to increase your protein count but keep your calorie and fat intakes minimal, than fish and lean meats are an effective option. Canned tuna (hold the mayo) tops the list as the most efficient protein source. Skinless chicken breasts, deli turkey, ground turkey, and lean ground beef are also highly efficient high protein foods.

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