Diets Decoded: The Paleo Diet
Is the Paleo Diet healthy? We’re going to let you in on a little secret. Most popular healthy diets that are touted for weight loss—from Paleo to Mediterranean and vegetarian—share many of the same basic principles. All involve eating whole foods (as opposed to packaged and processed) and filling your plate with quality sources of protein, healthy fats, complex carbohydrates, and vitamin-, mineral-, and fiber-rich vegetables. (Again, we’re talking about the ones that fall somewhere on the healthy spectrum, not unhealthy fad diets like, ahem, the Grapefruit Diet.) However, each proposes a slightly different path that leads to fulfilling those principles. In this column, we’ll be breaking them down for you one by one so you can figure out which (if any!) is right for you. We’ll quickly explain the facts and then provide quick, actionable tips on how to follow the diet as part of a Nutritious Life (with recipe suggestions!). First up, going Paleo. The Paleo Diet The One-Liner The Paleo Diet focuses on mimicking how our pre-agricultural, hunter-gatherer ancestors ate as closely as possible, using foods available now. Followers say it will help minimize your risk of chronic disease (based on the premise that those ancestors didn’t suffer from the ones we now face) and lead to weight loss. RELATED: What the Heck is Inflammation and How Does if Affect my Health? What you Eat Meat from animals raised the way nature intended (i.e. grass-fed beef, pasture-raised chicken) wild-caught fish and other seafood, fresh vegetables and fruits, eggs, nuts, seeds, healthy oils like olive and avocado, and small amounts of raw honey and maple syrup. What You Don’t Eat Processed foods. Grains (not even the ancient ones are ancient enough)—so that means bread, pasta, rice, quinoa, crackers, chips, etc. Legumes are also a no-no, as are vegetable seed oils and refined sugar. The true Paleo diet also outlaws dairy, although many followers disagree and do eat foods like grass-fed butter and Greek yogurt. RELATED: Should You Take Probiotics? Pros and Cons Eating high-quality meats and fish with tons of veggies and no processed foods is basically a great formula for weight-loss and long-term health. However, too much of anything is …too much, and with all grains, beans and dairy off the table, Paleo eaters often end up leaning way too heavily on meat. How to eat Paleo as part of a Nutritious Life Go heavy on the veggies. For example, at lunch and dinner, make them three quarters of your plate, with one quarter occupied by meat—instead of the other way around. If you’re OK with just Paleo-ish, you could even replace a few meat dishes each week with a plant-based meal that incorporates legumes or Greek yogurt (cue the fainting of Paleo purists). Which brings us to my second point: there are few science-backed benefits to getting wrapped up in every nitty gritty ingredient in attempts to truly follow what your ancestors ate. I mean, there are now Paleo-approved packaged snacks, and I doubt cavemen were wandering the aisles of Whole Foods. If you take the basics and tweak them to fit your lifestyle, you’ll be better off. 3 Paleo Diet-Approved Recipes Green Vegetable Omelet Steak Salad with Lemon Dressing Sweet Potato Pie Cookies
Easy, Delicious Recipes for Gluten-Free Baking
Whether you’ve got Celiac disease or are just trying to eat less wheat, mastering gluten-free baking is one of the trickiest steps to going gluten-free. (Okay, parting with pasta is pretty painful, too!) RELATED: The Dos and Don’ts of Going Gluten-Free First of all, you don’t want to end up with dry, dense muffins or cookies that are as chewy as a stick of gum. And you definitely don’t want to spend hours blending dozens of flours together. RELATED: The 6 Best Gluten-Free Flours These recipes take care of both dilemmas. They result in tasty baked goods everyone will love and are as easy as pie to make. (Actually, scratch that. Have you ever made pie crust? These are much easier.) 6 Amazing Recipes for Gluten-Free Baking Sweet Potato Pie Cookies These are gluten-free, but also totally grain-free and refined sugar-free. What do they have? Healthy fat from coconut oil, antioxidants from cinnamon, and protein from hemp seeds. Fudgy Chocolate Chickpea Brownies It’ll take you just 10 minutes (really!) to get these in the oven for gooey chocolate bliss served up in under an hour. The Healthiest Zucchini Bread Now this is what you call wonder bread. You’ll be stirring in almond, coconut, and cassava flours, which are way more nutritious than white flour, and other nutrient-dense ingredients like sweet potatoes. Protein-Packed Corn Muffins Planning a southern BBQ feast? Serve these corn muffins made with garbanzo flour alongside that organic pulled pork. Double Chocolate Cupcakes Moist chocolate cake and rich chocolate icing—no grains or white sugar needed. You’re convinced already, right? Healthiest Morning Glory Muffins If you love the flavors of autumn, you’ll fall for these muffins fast, thanks to pumpkin, apple, and cinnamon. Bonus: chia seeds add a protein punch.
The Dos and Don’ts of Going Gluten-Free
Whether going gluten-free is a good choice for you depends on factors like how your individual body digests gluten and your lifestyle.
The Healthiest Zucchini Bread Ever (Grain-Free!)
This gluten-free wonder bread (not that kind!) includes healthy fats from coconut oil, antioxidant-rich spices like cinnamon, and nutrient-dense sweet potatoes.
How to Deal With People Who Judge Your Food Choices
Does this sound familiar? “Surprise, surprise! Keri’s eating kale again.”
5 Easy, Hearty Winter Squash Recipes You Haven’t Tried
From butternut to acorn, these vegetable-focused dishes will squash (ha!) your old notions of comfort food.
The Most Unexpected Way to Serve Sweet Potatoes
Sweet potatoes are a healthy staple that land on your grocery list regularly. You’ve roasted, mashed, and baked them, but have you used them in cupcakes? Yes, sweet potato desserts are actually delicious and can be amazingly healthy. You’ve already ditched all-purpose flour and begun baking with healthier flours, but maybe it’s time for you serve the tasty tubers in a whole new way? Solana Nolfo, NLC, is here to help. Nolfo is a star holistic health coach and baker who’s a graduate of The Nutrition School and is also certified by The Institute for Integrative Nutrition. She dreamed up the recipe for these Chocolate Sweet Potato Cupcakes, which also happen to be gluten-free (in case your mother-in-law has celiac disease, naturally) and are packed with other nutritious ingredients. Sweet Potato Dessert To Shake Up Your Baking Routine While the sweet potatoes provide powerful antioxidants like beta carotene, you’ll get servings of healthy fats from both the coconut oil and almond flour. Not to mention the presence of cacao, that magical food linked to cardiovascular health, stress relief, and so much more. Of course, you can keep all that to yourself if your family is really just interested in biting into and savoring the sweet, gooey goodness. They won’t even know you’ve baked a health boost into their sweet potato dessert. You may also want to keep this one on hand for your gluten-free girlfriend’s upcoming birthday (just add candles). Get the recipe here, and learn more about getting Nutritious Life Certified like Nolfo, here. Just imagine all of the desserts you could end up adding sweet potatoes to.
4 Superfoods You Should Definitely Be Eating
When you hear the word superfoods, your mind probably goes right to kale and blueberries, right? Well it’s time for some other “new” superfoods to make it to your Instagram feed. I recently shared four of my faves with Rachael Ray, and you may want to add them to your repertoire of nutritional superheros in place of your old worn out go-tos. Because let’s face it, you can never have enough superfoods on your plate! 4 Superfoods You Should Definitely Be Eating Matcha: Use this bright green powder to replace your morning coffee. Matcha is made from whole tea leaves that are ground into powder form. Since you’re consuming the whole tea leaf (versus steeping and dumping a tea bag) matcha provides you with a super dose of antioxidants – 10 times the amount of traditional green tea. The high levels of both ECGC (a type of catechin) and polyphenols will provide you with anti inflammatory benefits, may improve your blood pressure and play a role in cardiovascular health. Matcha contains caffeine as well the amino acid known as l-theanine. This combination will help to improve your mental alertness and help you focus without the 3:00 p.m. crash you usually get from downing your daily dose of java. Add this powder to warm almond milk to replace your morning latte, blend with Greek yogurt, add to smoothies or even sprinkle on popcorn. Ghee: Use this to replace traditional butter. Ghee is a type of clarified butter that you’re definitely going to want to add to your grocery list. This creamy spread has more short and medium chain fatty acids than traditional butter. What does this mean for your bod? The calories from these fats are burned faster so the energy the ghee provides is more quickly utilized. These healthy fats also benefit your gastrointestinal health and ghee also has more vitamin A, D, and E than the traditional stuff, meaning it can help repair damaged skin, improve your vision, and even help balance your hormones. Use ghee anywhere you would typically use butter. Swipe a teaspoon on a slice of Ezekial toast in the morning, or drizzle a tablespoon over veggies before roasting. The higher smoke point makes it safe to cook at high temps, too. Black Rice: Toss the white stuff, and go for this instead. Slightly lower in calories and higher in protein, white rice pales in nutritional value (and color) compared to its darker rice counterpart. It’s packed with antioxidants called anthocyanins (this is what gives it the dark color) that have been shown to reduce your risk of cardiovascular disease and can improve cognitive function and mental decline. Use black rice to replace white or brown rice. Top a cup of black rice with beans, diced tomatoes, roasted corn, avocado, and grilled peppers to make a super fast and nutrient-packed burrito bowl. Chickpea Flour: This flour could be the new whole wheat. Made of nothing more than simply ground chickpeas, this flour is versatile, wheat free, gluten-free, high in protein, and a wallet friendly option compared to other gluten free flours (I’m looking at you, almond flour). So you can try chickpea flour if gluten makes your stomach turn, or even simply to keep you fuller longer after meals, thanks to its high protein content. Commonly known as ‘socca,’ this chickpea flour crepe recipe is simple, healthy and delicious and the perfect vehicle to be topped with veggies and enjoyed (or try it sweet by adding a little vanilla and cinnamon to your batter).
The Best Paleo Chocolate Chip Cookies
If you know anything about Nutritious Life, you know we’re all about our conscious indulgences (and I’m all about the chocolate chip cookies)! But we also believe in them having their own special time and place. Every one of Rachel Mansfield’s recipes always have my mouth watering, and her Paleo Chocolate Chip Cookies are no different – they totally hit the spot. You can check out the full recipe here! Ingredients: 3 tablespoons coconut flour 2 eggs at room temperature ¼ cup coconut oil melted and cooled 1 cup sunflower seed butter ½ cup coconut sugar ½ teaspoon baking powder ½ cup dark chocolate chips
The 6 Best Gluten-Free Flours
Some might say that there’s a fine line between a muffin and a cupcake—but I like to think that there’s a fine line between a muffin and a salad. Okay, okay—so maybe that’s a maaaaaajor stretch, but if you choose your ingredients wisely, you can do yourself a real nutritional favor the next time you’re craving a delicious home-baked treat. You’ve probably already tried replacing oil with applesauce and eggs with ground flax and water, but have you moved beyond your container of all-purpose flour? Gluten free flours can can give your favorite baked goods a flavor AND nutrition twist, so it’s time to update your pantry. Today, I’m sharing my favorites. The 6 Best Gluten Free Flours Almond Flour – Great for those seeking low carb, higher protein treats. While high in fat—and mostly “good fats”—almond flour also contains a large amount of omega-6 fatty acids. Though it’s an essential fatty acid (your body can’t create it on it’s own so you must get it from your diet) they are also proinflammatory, and therefore potentially detrimental to your health in high amounts. Try balancing the flour with chia or flax seeds – good sources of anti inflammatory omega-3s. Try making banana bread with almond flour instead of your favorite all-purpose gluten-free blend. Almond flour is a source of calcium, which is important for optimal bone health, magnesium, which helps the body absorb calcium and relax your muscles and mind, and vitamin E, which helps to protect you against free radicals and toxins that speed up the aging process. Coconut Flour – A dietary fiber powerhouse, coconut flour is not high in fat but the fat that it does have is of excellent quality. Because it’s highly absorbent and a little goes a long way, recipes with coconut flour tend to call for more eggs or liquids than recipes with other flours. Baked goods made with coconut flour have a particular dense texture—and, of course, delicious coconut flavor. One of my fave treats to make with it is a cookie that’s actually healthy and perfectly portable for an on-the-go breakfast: mix ⅓ cup coconut flour with 1 cup of your favorite nut butter, 1 egg, ¼ cup maple syrup, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, ½ teaspoon baking soda, ¼ teaspoon of salt and add in about 1 cup of your favorite mix-in combo (think hemp, chia or flax seeds, shredded unsweetened coconut, dried cranberries, dark chocolate chips or cacao nibs…) Scoop out tablespoon-size dough balls and flatten with your fingers or the tines of a fork and bake at 350-degrees on a parchment lined sheet for 14-15 minutes (should make about 20 or so cookies—enough to share or freeze for another week!). Coconut flour is a source of trace minerals such as manganese (for hormonal balance), iron (vital for muscle health) and copper (which keeps connective tissues such as hair, skin, nails, and ligaments, strong). Quinoa Flour – An excellent, all-purpose and versatile flour, quinoa flour is high in protein and works great in many classic recipes. It’s a great way to get more of this ancient super-seed in your diet. It’s also easy to make at home: just put your uncooked organic quinoa into a strong blender or use a coffee grinder and pulse until a fine powder forms. Then try using it in your favorite cookie recipe. In addition to being high in protein, quinoa flour is a source of manganese, calcium, and vitamin B2, which helps in energy production. Garbanzo/Chickpea Flour – So much love for chickpea flour! Between the fiber, the protein, and the versatility, it’s a go-to for savory and sweet recipes alike. My favorite use is for binding healthy fritters; zucchini, carrot, sweet potato—you name it. You can also make very simple crêpe-like wraps by mixing a 1:1 ratio of chickpea flour and water, allowing to sit for 30 minutes, and then cooking just as you would pancakes. Chickpea flour is a source of folate, which helps with cellular repair, and also iron and magnesium. Cassava Flour – Especially great for those who can’t have nuts or coconuts, cassava flour is made from the whole cassava root, also known as yucca. It’s great for gluten-free tortillas, pizza dough, and pasta. Delicious and chewy pasta dough can be made with a simple mixture of: cassava flour (1 cup), eggs (2 + 1 yolk), olive oil (2 tablespoons) and salt (¼ teaspoon). Roll the mixture into a ball and chill it in the fridge for 30 minutes, then roll it out and slice or shape. Top your cooked cassava pasta with a beautiful veggie sauce for a decadent and healthy meal! Cassava flour is a source of vitamin C, which helps the body heal and repair—it actually has more C than potatoes or yams! You can also bump up its nutrition profile by including mix-ins like chia, hemp and flax seeds. Tigernut Flour – There are no nuts in Tigernuts; they’re actually tiny tubers and a super-ancient superfood. This small root vegetable is a stellar source of fiber and resistant starch, which fuels your gut’s good bacteria. The flour is also naturally sweet so you can cut down on sweeteners (which is always good to do regardless!) You can make delicious no-bake chocolate chip cookies with tigernut flour. It’s hard to come by in regular grocery stores, but if your local health health food shop isn’t carrying it, you can purchase it online. Tigernut flour is a source of phosphorous, which is just as important as calcium for healthy bones, and zinc, which supports immune system health. There really isn’t one golden-ticket in the gluten free flours department, so grab your mixing bowl and spatula and dive in to discover which ones call your name. Also, you’ll be nudging even closer to “salad status” if you include your favorite veggies or fruits in your baked goods—zucchini, sweet potatoes, apples, even avocado—and consider throwing a savory treat into the mix every so often (warm basil and feta
