What's in What You Eat?It is said you are what you eat, from your head to your feet. So why not know… What's in what you eat?

Eating a good diet is often thought to be expensive, especially when sticking to the quality standards that the paleo / primal lifestyle has (grass-fed meat, wild fish, free ranged poultry). This being said, there are ways to get the best value for those who don’t have an endless food budget without sacrificing too much quality. Most people know that the top notch quality foods are found at farmers markets, but is it really necessary to buy all your food there to have optimal nutrition? Here’s a guide about the places to shop to make your money stretch further without lowering your quality goals.
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Meat: ideal quality
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Beef : 100% grass-fed & grass-finished

With the quality of beef being so important, it might make sense that this is one to get at the farmers market. It actually isn’t. With the exception of ground beef, the beef at farmers markets is a good 40+% more expensive than at grocery stores that stocks good meat. The high price you are paying doesn’t get you any additional quality, in fact since it is almost all frozen, you are losing quality. In both settings the cows are raised on open grassland, living optimal lives. Unlike poultry (see below) the farmers market really offers no advantage other than carbon footprint of less travel time.

Instead, buy your 100% grass-fed meat at stores such as PCC, Whole Foods, Trader Joes, and Ballard Market. From what I have found, PCC is typically the least expensive. Another options is to order directly from Thundering Hooves. The absolute cheapest option? Buy a whole cow and split it amongst friends. This typically gets you 100% grass-fed beef for around $4 per pound.

If fully grass-fed meat is still just plain too expensive, look for Country Natural Beef which is 90% grass-fed (yes the last 10% does make a huge difference) and antibiotic and hormone free. Country Natural Beef is sold at many stores including PCC, Whole Foods, Madison Market to name a few. This is still far better than conventional, cheaper meat.

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Lamb: 100% grass-fed & grass-finished

Very similar to the beef issue, only fewer grocery stores sell it. The cheapest, highest quality lamb is again through Thundering Hooves. As far as retail stores go, PCC and Whole Foods are the places to go. At the farmers market, expect to pay a lot more for the same quality stuff. If you are concerned about buying only local however, Whole Foods lamb is very far from it…but remember we are trying to save money here and do our best.
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Poultry: 100% pasture-rased

Chicken and turkey are one of the best indicators of the quality differences you receive at different grocery stores. Allow me to break it down for you:

QFC/ Safeway/ Fred Meyer/ Albertsons: (CONVENTIONAL) Birds raised in cages, zero room to move. Beaks and wings clipped to prevent conflict. Birds pumped full of antibiotics to make up for cramped conditions. Feed is entirely corn, wheat, and soy.
PCC / Whole Foods / Other Natural Stores (FREE-RANGED): Birds raised in large hen houses without cages with a door that is open if the birds choose to go outside. Crammed together. No antibiotics are administered. When inside, they eat corn, wheat, and soy. When outside, they eat grass, bugs, worms, etc. They are usually inside, so their feed is usually corn, wheat, and soy.
All Stores (ORGANIC). Same as conventional raising in the natural food stores, however the corn, wheat, and soy they are given have to be certified organic. Big whoop. Not worth the money.
Farmers Markets: Birds raised primarily outside, eating optimal amounts of grass, bugs, insects, etc while still receiving some corn, soy, wheat, and various vegetables from the farm. The extra bugs and grass they are eating significantly increases the nutritional content of the meat. Farmers markets are definitely something to look into when buying poultry.

Out of all food items, poultry is the biggest one that buying from the farmers market will benefit you.
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Eggs 100% pasture-raised, golden yolks

Eggs can follow the exact same guide as the poultry above, however there’s one more variation I’d like to touch on

Omega 3 Enriched: Still fed corn, soy & wheat, however also fed flaxseeds which increase the omega 3 content. If you can’t buy farmers market eggs, I would go for these. They are eating less of the bad stuff and give you a little extra omega 3 to enjoy.

Depending on the weather, the chickens will be inside or outside on varying levels. I would say there is definitely a potential argument for getting better value buying during the dryer months from farmers markets since if the weather is bad, they will be raised indoors regardless. Some farmers though will feed the chickens bugs and grass still inside, so talk to your farmer! If your yolk is yellow, they haven’t been outside much. All supermarket eggs have yellow yolks!

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Side Note: So is organic meat worth it? No. The reason I buy only organic beef at Whole Foods is simply because their 100% grass-fed meat happens to be organic. There is plenty of organic meat that is completely corn fed, just organic corn. Any farm that is going the effort of producing 100% grass-fed meat is going to be raising to organic standards, just without the extremely expensive certification. Thundering Hooves for example has some of the best quality meats in this area. They are not certified organic, which is why it is still affordable.

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Seafood: Wild Caught

The biggest thing here is to make sure you are getting wild fish and not farmed fish. If the product says “Atlantic,” it is farmed. Buy from a source with a knowledgeable employee who can guarantee you the fish is not farmed. Just like with beef, some fish starts wild and then is farmed for the last portion of their life. Really make sure the fish you are getting is 100% wild.

Fresh or frozen? Whatever is cheapest. Fresh will taste better, but if you can get a good deal on frozen, go for it as long as it is wild. I honestly don’t have a suggestion for where to shop to save on fish, just not the farmers market. Today I saw the same type of salmon at QFC for $2 more per pound than at Whole Foods. Go figure.

In reality however if money is a concern, you might be better off skipping the seafood. Grass-fed meat has the same healthful fatty acid profile as wild caught fish and is significantly cheaper. With the money you save, buy some fish oil!

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Produce: Your money saver

Organic produce often does taste better and can be quite expensive. With this in mind, I feel it is the main area you should spend less on when faced with a tight budget. Unlike cheap meat where you are consuming antibiotics and hormones as a byproduct, eating cheap vegetables really only results in lower vitamins and mineral contents, which even that topic is debatable. Pesticides are another potential issue, which most who buy organic assume they are avoiding. The reality though is that organic pesticides exsist and they are often used in organic farming. Simple solution? Wash your veggies, and wash them well! The last reasonable concern is that of genetic modification, which there is no solid research saying it is good or bad. I’m personally concerned, but not concerned enough to let my meat quality suffer when having to spend more on produce.

When cost is a concern, your best bets are shopping at places like QFC, Safeway, etc. Also surprisingly, if you find a produce market on the side of the road such as Rising Sun, it is significantly cheaper than grocery stores. At these cheaper places, if you can afford their organic produce, then go for it. Also occasionally checking Whole Foods and PCC for produce sale items can prove beneficial as well.

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Conclusion: Don’t Hate Me!

I am by no means anti-farmers market. I fully support local farmers and the difference they make. If I had an endless budget, I’d buy all my food from the farmers market to get the most optimal choices available. However, in a realistic world, as you can see, some things just aren’t worth it while on a tight budget. If you have the money, then go for it! If not, don’t worry…there are many other ways to shop.

Nutrition Interview Of Gil Butler – Paleolithic Man

by Marshall Smith

Marshal1: 1. What is the Paleolithic diet?

Gil: The paleo diet is a diet based on human evolution and the human body’s ability to adapt to different foods overtime.

Marshall: 2. What are the foundations of eating when following a Paleolithic lifestyle?

Gil: The foundations of paleo are eating meat (grass-fed beef, wild caught fish, free ranged poultry), free roaming eggs, vegetables(no white potatoes as they are blood sugar spiking), fruit (emphasis on low sugar wild berries), and small amounts of nuts & seeds.
Also included are healthful fat sources such as avocados, olive oil, grass-fed beef tallow, grass-fed butter, palm oil, and coconut oil and fish oil.

Marshall: 3. The Paleolithic diet limits many foods from ones diet. What are those foods?

Gil: Grains (even whole grains), legumes, sugar, white potatoes, processed foods, and most dairy

It also does not allow meat from corn-fed, factory farmed, antibiotic & hormone injected animals. Also not allowed are refined vegetable oils such as corn, soybean, safflower, sunflower, canola, and other highly polyunsaturated fats.

Marshall: 4. Why are these foods excluded from the Paleo diet?

Gil: Humans have been around for 2-3 million years. For 99.9% of human existence we lived as hunters & gatherers. Our diets were completely supplied by nature, as farming and processed foods were not around yet. This means our diet consisted of the only 5 main food groups available. It wasn’t actually until 10,000 years ago when agriculture first began. While this may seem like a long time ago, in terms of an evolutionary perspective, that .1% of time we have been farming is nowhere near long enough for our bodies to adapt to an agricultural-based society. Archaeological data shows that almost immediately when we started farming and began eating grains, legumes, and dairy, illness such as heart disease, diabetes, obesity, auto-immune disease, as well as many others started showing up in growing numbers. There are various tribes around the world that are still living as hunters & gatherers today and have been able to hold perfect health generation to generation, without having to rely on medicine to keep them alive.

Marshall: 5. What makes / why are these “modern foods” bad for us?

Gil: Grains and legumes contain toxic substances called Lectins. These are the plant’s defensive mechanism to not wanting to be eaten. This is why grains and legumes in the raw are inedible and poisonous. When we cook them, enough of the lectins are destroyed that it doesn’t immediately kill us, however lectins are known as “anti-nutrients” that bind to other vitamins and minerals in our body. You can actually get a nutritional deficiency by eating grains and legumes because of this. The most potent lectin found in some grains is the protein known as “gluten.” There is a huge percentage of the population that is highly allergic to gluten, and pretty much all of the population has some negative reaction to it, often an issue never thought to be associated with diet. Gluten destroys your gut lining which opens you up for many auto – immune diseases. Basically if you were to Google any auto immune condition followed by the word “gluten” you would see remarkable connections with it. It is sometimes as simple as stomach aches all the way to people who have been wheelchair bound regaining their ability to walk after going gluten free.

Grains, legumes, and other refined carbohydrates also have a similar glycemic index to sugar, and during digestion, all carbohydrates are broken down into mainly mono and poly saccharides. This means your body cannot tell if you are eating a slice of toast or a spoonful of sugar – its all the same. To combat this, your body has to release insulin to control your blood sugar levels by storing the sugar as fat. By eating lots of starchy carbohydrates (grains & legumes) you keep skyrocketing your blood sugar levels causing inflammation, weight gain, insulin resistance, and eventually type 2 diabetes and obesity.

Marshall: 6. What are your thoughts about this diet and your cholesterol level? One would assume your cholesterol would be sky high.

Gil: There is absolutely no correlation between high dietary cholesterol and high blood cholesterol – it is simply not the same thing. Saturated fat does increase total blood cholesterol, however as much as it raises your bad cholesterol (LDL) it also raises your good cholesterol (HDL) which balances it out. Additionally, high blood cholesterol by itself is NOT a risk factor for heart disease. The cholesterol issue is when someone has highoxidated cholesterol. Risk factors for oxidizing cholesterol include smoking, excessive drinking, being overweight, being inactive, and most importantly eating a diet high in starchy carbohydrates (grains and legumes!). Also, eating plenty of anti-oxidants (in multicolored vegetables, the main component of the paleo diet) helps reduce this effect even further.

Marshall: 7. Where did you learn about this diet and why did you decide to adopt it?

Gil: I first learned about this diet from a trainer at a gym I am a member at (NW CrossFit). He told me about the diet and I thought all of the negative things that you are probably thinking. All that meat he’s eating is going to give him cancer. He’s not getting any fiber without grains, this diet is going to kill him. I dismissed it for a while until I eventually came across the book “The Paleo Diet” by Loren Cordain in the bookstore. I thought “what the heck” and bought it to see what all the hype was about. I was absolutely fascinated. Both the history and the science of it just flat out made sense. I decided to go on a short trial to see how it felt. That first week I tried it, every morning I woke up with more energy than I ever had in my life. I started doing more and more research about it and before long, my entire life’s career goals now are centered around bringing the paleo diet to people and transforming their lives from sickness into prosperity.

Marshall: 8. I’ve heard that the Paleolithic diet includes lots of red meat. It has also been said that red meat raises ones risk of cancer. What is the Paleo view of this predicament?

Gil: There are several components into the myth about red meat causing cancer. First off, the studies that were done were so broadly focused that the results are useless. The resulting statement from the main group of studies that got everyone going coo-coo for tofukery burgers stated “a diet with high amounts of red and processed meats cause a higher instance of cancer. Even more importantly, there was no separation between looking at the quality of the meat. Basically, they are conjoining a double bacon cheese burger from McDonald with a 100% grass-fed new york steak from the farmers market.
Now for the second issue. The studies looked at meat products as a whole, regardless of what they were served with or on. A slice of pepperoni pizza was considered “meat” so when it turned out that people who ate a lot of meat topping pizza had a higher risk of cancer guess who got blamed? The refined flour? The trans fats? No, the meat sitting on top.

If you were to buy cheap meat from corn fed, sick animals, bread it with flour, deep fry it in hydrogenated soybean oil until it is completely well-done, then yes you are going to be increasing your risk of cancer. Is it the fact that it was at some point an animal that is causing this? Absolutely not.

If you are eating 100% grass-fed, open pasture animals raised in a low stress environment, there is absolutely no data that would say this to be a cancer causing food. In fact, there IS lots of data that shows that the high amounts of omega 3 fatty acids and Conjugated linoleic acid that are in these foods are extremely effective at lowering inflammation and making people healthier.

Marshall: 9. What are your bowl movements like?

Gil: …

seriously?

Marshall: yes

Gil: The copious amounts of insoluble fiber from the leafy greens that are eaten keep things flowing nicely. If at times things are flowing too nicely, then switching to more soluble fiber vegetable choices easily fixes that.

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Everyone can read about nutrition and lifestyle, but there is no one size fits all approach to health. This site gives a pretty good example of what to eat, but only in the general sense. If you are someone who is trying to get healthy, that is something I would love to help with. We work with your personal goals to make your path to health as realistic as possible for you.

So, my gift to you. Simplistic Nutrition.

NutritionofSeattle.com

Portage Bay Cafe

This restaurant was already my favorite general place for eating out breakfast or brunch, so it was to my absolute delight that it happens to also be the best paleo place to eat out for those meals.

Here’s what I had:

SPECIALTY HASHES

Moving away from the Mexican theme, but staying on the late night comes an awesome Mediterranean restaurant tucked in a small location on University Way (the Ave). Hungry at 3am, this is what I found:

Gyro Salad

Menu Description: Fresh lettuce, onion, tomato, tzaziki, olive oil, vinegar, lemon juice, feta, lamb, and beef

Taste: 9
Nutrition: 8
Filling: 7
Price: $ ($6.18)
Overall Value: 8

I felt the portion size would be a little small for a normal time meal, but at 3am it was just what I needed. Also beware a friend tells me that they may put wheat in their lamb roast, but this is unconfirmed and I felt fine after eating there. You may want to double check if you are very gluten sensitive.

When it comes to paleo & primal eating, there is without a doubt no one size fits all approach that works for everyone. Depending on your goals, the recommended food plan for those trying to lose weight, gain weight, increase performance, or improve a medical condition varies in all of these categories.

As it has said before, the diet consists of meat, fruit, vegetables, seeds, nuts, and healthy fat. This being said however, there is an all too common misconception that as long as you are eating from that list, that you are following a correct paleo approach. Here are some of the biggest flaws and their dangers. Improving these things will gain you title of a true paleo eater, rather than just a low carber.

1. Eating Only Meat
Paleo is not an “all meat” program. I see this a lot in people who are either trying to follow a very low carb approach or those who are too lazy to chop up vegetables. Just because you are eating meat, does not mean you are eating paleo. This makes you more of an Atkins dieter.  If you are worried about carbohydrates content for weight loss you can stick with leafy greens such as kale, spinach, collard greens, chard, etc, but you still need to be eating your vegetables. Still eat good quality meat at every meal, just eat some greens with it!

The Issue: By skipping out on vegetables, you will likely be switching yourself from the body’s needed alkaline base to one that is acidic, putting you at high risk for osteoporosis. You also lose out on tons of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, phytochemicals, and fiber that you would be getting from the vegetables.

2. Eating Low Quality Meat
Just like paleo isn’t an all meat program, it also holds strict standards to the types of meat you are eating, specifically how they were raised prior to consuming them. Our ancestors were not eating corn fed factory farmed animals and you shouldn’t be either.

The Issue: The nutritional content of grass-fed animals vs corn fed is completely different. The fat profile of grass-fed meat is almost identical to heart healthy fatty fish that we all know to be good for us. The omega 3 – 6 ratio is spot on where it should be. By eating cheap meat, you are throwing off your body’s adapted 2:1 ratio of omega 3′s to 6′s. In addition, corn fed animals have 4x less vitamin E, 4x less conjugated linoleic acid (a cancer fighting compound), and numerous other nutrients. You end up also taking in traces of antibiotics and growth hormones that were fed to the animal, which lead you down an unfriendly road. While some bad meat is better than none, if you are buying cheaper meat, and can’t afford to upgrade, it is essential to go as lean as possible (lean cut, fat trimmed & drained) and look at supplementing fish oil at every meal.

3. Eating Processed Meat
Another thing I see often is people who’s normal lunch is sliced deli meat from somewhere like Safeway. Beef jerky, sausages, and yes bacon come into this topic too.

The Issue: In addition to all of the issues listed in issue #2 above, processed deli meat is loaded with preservatives, added sugar, salt,  and other artificial ingredients. Beef jerky also typically has soy sauce in it, which means gluten! It is nothing like the meat that we evolved on, and definitely isn’t doing much for your health in a positive way. Sorry people, I hate to be that guy, but unless your bacon is made fresh from a quality butcher, it is not paleo.

4. Eating Misleading Meat
When dining out especially, browsing over the menu looking for acceptable options is tough. You may think you are safe with any meat choice but you are far from it. Meatloaf, meatballs, crabcakes, italian chicken dishes, beer battered / braised meats, more often than not have breadcrumbs or other sources of gluten. Teriyaki dishes typically will always have soy sauce, which contains wheat. A very common ingredient in thick gravy is flour.  It is really important to avoid these if you are not sure about the establishment. Also as a reminder, check when ordering if your salad has croutons!

5. Eating Lots and Lots of Fruit
While some fruit is good for you, especially fresh seasonal berries, eating fruit all day at meal times and at snacks is not paleo.

The Issue: Our modern day ways of producing fruit significantly increases the amount of sugar that is in it compared to fruit back in the pre-agricultural days. Fruit was also more of a treat in the past unlike how easily accessible it is now.  If you are eating lots of fruit and expecting to reach your weight loss goals, you can think again as it likely will not happen. Sugar is carbohydrate regardless of how natural the source is. Keep fruit as a treat or dessert for best results.

6. Eating too many Nuts & Seeds:
While yes, nuts and seeds are paleo, using them as a substitute to meat and vegetables is not. They should be eaten in moderation, working your way to as little as possible. I typically don’t eat nuts unless I’m hungry in a place without food, I keep some in my car. Nut flour, nut butter, paleo seed bread, and all the other inventions that have come out of nuts and seeds really are not too paleo.

The Issue: Most nuts and seeds are extremely high in omega 6′s. Lots of the more recent paleo research is also showing people achieve much better results when cutting out nuts and seeds. Some nuts and seeds also may have trace amounts of lectics, one of the danger’s grains and legumes have. Finally with a caloric content so dense, it can definitely stall weight loss.

7. Eating Paleo Bake Goods and Alternatives.
Paleo pancakes, paleo pizza, paleo pie, paleo cookies, you name a food you miss, someone’s made a paleo alternative. They are all tempting and delicious.

The Issue: In addition to the fact that you likely will over eat these, you probably also had to use a nut flour to make it possible, skyrocketing your omega 6 intake. If its a dessert you made, something made it sweet. You either put lots of fruit in it (sugar) or sweetened it with honey (more sugar) or agave (toxic sugar). While these foods make an awesome treat on a special occasion, having them as a staple is not a good idea, and again if you are trying to lose weight, you will for a while and then will likely plateau and stop. Think meat and vegetables at every single meal and then see where you have room for these.

Another thing to consider with all the fruit and sweeteners you may be consuming, these still have a glycemic response, it can still give you a major sugar crash, and can still make you develop diabetes while trying to follow a paleo diet!

Does this sound like you? If so, I’m glad you are reading!

Memo’s Meixcan

While we are on the theme of Mexican food, here’s another one to look at. You might not want to eat there, but looking will do ok.  The food really isn’t very good, but they are open 24 hours so if you are out and hungry at 1am and don’t want to settle for a Dick’s burger and fries, you have another option here.

Another thing is that the food is cheap. Really cheap. So cheap that it scares me a little to think of the quality that they are probably serving. Well here we go. What I did was order a 4 side dishes rather than one of their entree items. 2 sides of beef, 1 chicken, and 1 guacamole. The whole thing ended up costing me about $6.50

Taste: 2
Nutrition: 7 (Based on the fact that it was just meat and avocado, if I knew the quality it would be lower scoring likely)
Filling: 8
Price: $
Overall Value: During normal day hours, 3
At 3am when I went, 8

In conclusion, I do not recommend this place unless you are either out late or slightly intoxicated.

Located in the heart of Broadway on Capital Hill is a Mexican restaurant that has been around for 30 years. They must be doing some right one would assume. Well they sure are!

I haven’t tried ordering off the menu before because they have an all you can eat buffet offering daily too, and for someone like me if I have the option to eat all I can, then I’m going for that! Buffets in general are often very promising for Paleo eaters since you can really choose what you want and it is easy to avoid the things that you don’t want. I had always dreamed of someday finding a paleo all you can eat buffet, and finally did.

So for 14 bucks during the dinner hour, and around 8 bucks at lunch time, you can feast upon all you can eat Mexican cuisine, which features lots and lots of meats, vegetables, and healthy fat. On the buffet line was 3 different beef entrees, 3 chicken, some pork, and even salmon. There were also cooked vegetables, salad, and guacamole on the line which kept me happy.

Taste: 10
Nutrition: 10
Filling: 10
Price: $$
Overall Value: 10

I had no idea if my choices had hidden sugar, soy, dairy, or gluten in them, but other than the feeling of being extremely full from stuffing myself with 3 plates full of what is pictured, I felt pretty good afterwards.

The Paleo Diet book was written a number of years ago by Loren Cordain. This book has been the most common one falling into the hands of people who are just discovering the diet, or want to learn more. While I still recommend it to people as a great starting point, there are a number of things that have changed following further research that must be pointed out.

1. Saturated fat: Cordain labeled all saturated fat as bad due to the possibility of raising your” bad” cholesterol (LDL). It is now known though that however much it may raise your “bad” cholesterol, it also raises your “good” cholesterol (HDL).  Additionally, the risk for heart disease and other illness isn’t based on the amount of a certain cholesterol, but is based on whether or not you are likely to oxidize it.

Risk factors for oxidizing cholesterol include lack of exercise, smoking / drug use, excessive alcohol, and eating a diet high in sugars and other blood sugar spiking foods. Basically, if you are following the primal lifestyle avoiding high glycemic foods, drugs, and getting exercise, saturated fat is not something that needs to be worried about. The only reason to avoid saturated fat on the paleo diet is if you are struggling to lose weight even with a very low carbohydrate diet. For those of you following a standard american diet with lots of grains, dairy, and sugar in it, saturated fat is not something you should be eating (along with the other 3 things too).

2. Fatty Meat: The issue with fatty meats was primarily for the same reasons listed above for saturated fat, so the same rules apply. If you are following the paleo lifestyle, then you can eat the fatty cuts of meat. This being said, I would ONLY recommend eating fatty cuts of meat if you are sure it is 100% grass-fed. If it is not entirely grass-fed, still go for the leanest cuts available since they will have a poor ration of omega 3 – 6 balance. If you have free ranged chickens, the skin doesn’t need to be tossed.

3. Eggs: Same issues as above, as long as you are following paleo lifestyle and buying cage free, free ranged, pastured raised, omega 3 enriched eggs, you don’t need to limit to 6 per week.

4. Canola oil: Cordain liked Canola oil due to its good ratio of omega 3′s to 6′s. Unfortunately, Canola oil is heavily processed and far from anything that was available in the Paleolithic era. Additionally, with all the heat unstable omega 3′s that are in there, cooking with it can be much more likely to damage it, creating cancer causing free radicals. With so many other options to cook with, there isn’t any place that canola is necessary.

5. Low heat oils: Extra virgin olive oil, nut oils, and flaxseed oil should never be exposed to much of any heat. Cordain initially said to cook with flaxseed oil however has retracted that statement.

For the good oils for different temperature ranges see here

6. Vinegar: is fine, as long as it is not malt vinegar, which is grain derived

7. Salt: salting food to taste is fine in controlled amounts (ie when cooking a steak). The issue with sodium is more from processed foods that you should be avoiding anyways. Try to go for sea salt containing all the electrolytes as well as iodine.

8. Fruit: It was written that you can have as much fruit as you want and still lose weight. Unfortunately for many this is not true. If you are stalled on the paleo diet, it is time to start cutting back on fruit in take. In the end, sugar is sugar.

9. Starchy Carbs: In addition to fruit, carrots, tomatoes, squash, and other starchy vegetables should be avoided if total stalled weight-loss is occurring.

10. Maintenance: If weight loss isn’t a concern, the yams,  sweet potato, fruit, carrots, squash, etc are fine (no regular potatoes though)

11. Cheat Meals: Cordain said that any cheat meal is fine up to 3 times per week. We now know that you must try to stay gluten free during these times. The best and worst cheat meals can be found here.

12. Artificial Sweeteners: Cordain had said the occasional diet soda is ok. While it is better than regular soda, aspartame and other sugar free sweeteners are bad news.

Are you following Cordain’s plan verbatim with stalled results? Try these changes and let me know how it goes.

Located on Greenwood & 85th street, comes a Mexican restaurant that promises to be healthy. But what do they define as healthy?

“We are completely transfat free, our beans are made without lard or oil, our rice without chicken stock, all of our meats are grilled, and our salsas are all made from fresh tomatoes and chiles. We have many vegetarian and vegan options, even our chips are completely animal free.”

Well they’ve got some stuff right, being trans fat free and using fresh ingredients….but the other things? Not that I eat beans or rice anyways but I would be hardly concerned at all if there was animal fat in the base. Promoting vegan and vegetarian? Oh boy…don’t get me started.

However, if you look on the menu there is another option that I am totally excited for.