The Brady Nutrition Paleo Philosophy

Like many Paleo protocols, diets, etc. The Brady Nutrition Paleo philosophy is based on the roots of the Paleo movement to include Loren Cordain's "Paleo Diet", Mark Sisson's "Primal Blueprint", and bits and pieces of other variations of the diet. My wife and I have both always blazed our own trails and our adoption of Paleo is no exception. This is our general philosophy and guidelines we are following and having exceptional results with. I am certain we will be evolving this as time goes on and as we continue to learn and research. Please let us know what you think or if you have any questions.

The general philosophy is simple, our anatomy has evolved over many thousands of years to optimally utilize the foods available in our natural environment. The bounty of agriculture, more recent industrialized agriculture, and processed foods have only been around for an exceptionally small percentage of our evolutionary timeline. The introduction of these agrarian diets and processed foods have resulted in average diets that are far from optimal for our health. For the human body to function optimally we need to consume a mix of natural foods that are as close to what we might have found in nature as hunter gatherers. This philosophy extends to how we determine food type ratios as well as physical exercise type and duration. These theories are increasingly backed by science but most importantly by individual results.  This philosophy is meant to be a framework that coupled with science and self evaluation bring each individual to his own optimal lifestyle.

• Macro Nutrients - Throughout this blog you will find reference to macro nutrients. This is referring to fat, carbs, protein, and sometimes alcohol.  There is much debate as to what these ratios should be in the Paleo community.  The standard american diet (SAD) is 60%+ carbs, as little fat as possible and the rest protein.  I have found our ratios run around 50% fat, 25% carbs, and 25% protein. 
• Carbs - Paleo is not inherently a low carb diet.  However, if you have a good balance of foods that are Paleo then  you will likely be eating far less carbs than the standard american diet (SAD).  If you do any kind of endurance activity then you will likely need to plan for greater carb intake.  There are plenty of places to find carbs on Paleo with sweet potatoes being a #1 staple.  There is plenty of evidence that some hunter gather societies had fairly high carb intakes but unlike the SAD there carbs came from roots, tubbers, and fruits.  These societies were also located in equatorial regions where days were longer and sun exposure greater (more on why that is important in another post).
• Fat - From time to time you will hear people mention healthy fat.  How many people know what that is?  For the Paleo community this means fats that are high in omega-3s or more importantly have a good omega-3 to omega-6 ratio.  We should all be striving to have as close to a 1:1 ratio as possible. Food with high concentrations of Omega-6 fats include highly processed vegetable oils, grains, nuts, and grain fed meats.
• Meat - Eat as much meat as you want but with every meal try to make it a 1/3 meat to 2/3 veggies. This ratio will keep your overall nutrient mix at a good level. Stick to grass fed beef, pastured pork, free range chicken, wild caught fish, game meat, and any other natural varieties you can find. The fat and nutrient content of these naturally raised meets is superior and the methods of raising and harvesting the animals is far more ethical resulting in far healthier animals. Occasionally straying on your meat quality due to budget constraints, availability, or because your out at a restaurant is fine just try to make it the exception rather than the rule and stick to leaner cuts. Why leaner cuts? grain-fed meat has higher concentration of omega-6 due to the omega-6 contain grain fed to the cattle.  Feed lot cattle have concentrations as high as 20:1 omega-6 to omega-3.  Grass-fed and pastured animals exclusively ingest plant matter that is rich in omega-3s and their fat generally ranges from 2:1 to 1:1.
• Processed Meats - Some Paleo followers will say go crazy on bacon, we say make it the exception not the rule.  While bacon is delicious some of the preservatives are not great for you.  Don't fall for those cured without nitrites as they use high concentrations of celery juice that is really just nitrites. There are some processed meats we bend the rules on and say go for it.  Those are meats that are actually fermented, like salami, corned beef, etc.  Fermented meats like other fermented foods have many benefits these benefits balance out the high salt content of these foods in our opinion. Completely avoid mystery meat like standard hot dogs, etc.
• Veggies - Keep your veggies to 2/3 of each meal and mix it up. Variety is the key to getting a broad array of nutrients and keeping your diet interesting. Rather than buying 10 lbs of broccoli buy 1 lb of 10 things. The diversity of veggies that are available to our society is amazing and you will be surprised how delicious they all can be. Sweet potatoes are OK but avoid potatoes and corn, more on that later. Don't limit yourself to the one veggie per meal plan. Try cooking two or three for a single meal. Stay fresh and local if you can, live food brings benefits to digestion and health. Try to stay organic but again don't be afraid to stray if necessary, just make it the exception.
• Fruits - While many Paleo diets advocate limiting your fruit intake to avoid the carbs, we say tear it up. Most fruits are packed with great nutrients, carb levels are relatively low, and the fruit can give you a great boost. Fruits are great supplements to breakfast, simple healthy deserts, and especially great for daytime snacking. Again, variety is the key. Don't just go buy 10 lbs of strawberries, buy a little bit of everything and mix it up. Stay fresh and local if you can, live food brings benefits to digestion and health. Try to stay organic but again don't be afraid to stray if necessary, just make it the exception.
• Grains - This is a tough one for most people since it flys in the face of all we have been taught and also means no bread. Bottom line here is don't eat grains! Even if you are not obviously allergic to wheat it is likely to be least mildly inflammatory to your digestive track which can lead to a whole host of nutrient absorption issues. Even more importantly grain once cracked and used in the products we consume is pretty much pure carbohydrate. That means it breaks down to sugars promoting a high insulin response. Most people don't recognize how many carbs they get from grains and how little nutrient for that cost. This is where packaged foods really fall off the table. Just about every processed food contains some kind of grain by-product. No wonder our country is obese.
• Eggs - You can't go wrong with eggs. Spring for cage free with omega 3's. We eat eggs just about everyday. Wholefoods and Trader Joe's have some of the best deals on high quality eggs.
• Dairy - Pastured butter and pastured heavy cream are thumbs up. These are nearly 100% fat and will not cause digestive issues in most people.  Look for pastured again to get the healthy fats. Many people have issues with dairy due to lactose and may not even know it. Cut all dairy (butter and heavy cream the exception) out for your first 30 days. At that point if you can introduce small amounts of fermented dairy (yogurt and high quality cheese) and see if any issues develop. Fermented dairy has very little lactose following the fermentation process and has good fat and protein content.  If things go well incorporating small amounts into your diet long term should be fine.  Avoiding milk is probably a good idea due to the high lactose content.  Even if you handle lactose well it does cause a high insulin spike that is not all that desirable.
• Nuts - Nuts provide a great snack but should be consumed in moderation. Try to stick to nuts with a high omega 3 to omega 6 ratio. Consider that in nature nuts can be a challenge to find and get into so were likely consumed in very small amounts.
• Legumes- This includes all beans and peanuts.  Do not eat them!  Legumes have compounds (phytates and lectins) that are gut irritants and inhibit nutrient absorption.  While these compounds can be minimized through cooking thoroughly there are far better protein options like meat.
• Supplements - I have been a supplement hacker every since I was a teenager and am just now starting to decide what I want to start rolling into the diet. While I am still developing my stance on many supplements I have a couple recommendations. Take a good multi-vitamin, consider a vitamin D supplement if you do not get enough time in the sun (20 min per day), and consider fish oil if you are not getting much fish in your meat selection.
• Potatoes - Potatoes are not the worst thing in the world but sweet potatoes are a far better option. While potatoes are fairly nutrient dense they do contain some anti nutrients which reduce the benefit.  
• Corn - Corn is OK occasionally.  While it is a grain it does not contain gluten and is generally not disruptive to digestion.  It is however fairly sweet and can throw your progress off track if you are trying to lean out.
• Fasting - I have had some spectacular results with intermittent fasting. I don't think it is something that most people should embark on until the second month. The first month will involve so much adjustment in eating habits, shopping, your physiology, etc that adding in fasting may prematurely sabotage any positive behavioral progress. After you are very comfortable with the diet and have reached some sort of homeostasis try some short term fasts and then increase to what works for you. I currently fast about 3 times a week for 16-18 hours. I also start those days with my own fatty coffee variant inspired by Able James the Fat Burning Man.
• Alcohol - In american society suggesting the elimination of alcohol in any way is blasphemy.  We post recipes for some of our Paleoish drinks.  Keeping drinks natural as possible and avoiding grains is ideal.  This means beer is generally out.  If you have to drink beer try and make it a treat.  
• Cheats - Everybody needs a cheat. This diet is not intended to completely remove your ability to interact socially or go out for a meal. 3 meals a week is what many Paleo Diets suggest and we think this is the perfect balance for the start and provides the full health benefits and give you enough outs to keep you on the path to success. As you get more comfortable with the diet and you begin to fully feel the benefits you will find your cheats are less substantial.  At this point I have pretty much no desire to eat grains or sweets so cheats are not as much of an issue as they once were.
• Exercise - We all need exercise for optimal health but what we have discovered is that you don't need to kill yourself to get into great shape. Some activity everyday is ideal. Take a walk, park further from the building, use the stairs at work. Just do things that keep you active during the day. In addition to just staying active put in some time for regular workouts. If this is not already part of your routine keep workouts short and simple. 3-4 times a week for 10-20 minutes; play with your kids outside, jog a mile, walk a couple miles, do some body weight exercises like push-ups, pull-ups, or body squats, anything to get your muscles firing and your heart rate up a little. I will post more detail on my exercise routines in some separate posts. As you get past the first few weeks you will find yourself feeling energized and wanting to get out and do more things, that will be the time to start ramping up the intensity.
• Budgeting and Finance - One big driver on our day to day diet is budget. We have put a lot of effort into sticking to our conservative budget and financial goals and continuing this was a prerequisite for our Paleo transition. Many people assume that eating Paleo is going to be much more expensive. The reality is that it can be but doesn't have to. It is easy to try out Paleo for a month by downloading 30 days worth of gourmet Paleo recipes and moving out. A friend of mine that recently decided to try Paleo spent $400 on his first week. My first question was, "Did you eat and cook gourmet meals like this before?". The reality is there are plenty of simple delicious options that won't kill your budget. You will also stop buying all the junk you normally fill your cart with and head to a restaurant much less often. Instead of chips, dip, and a fast food hamburger you get blue berries, veggies, and steak. At the end of the day we still have to make some sacrifices to stick to our budget. We don't buy 100% organic, we don't buy 100% grass fed pastured meats, but we do the best we can. We watch for deals on meat to stock up and we try and buy as much as we can from local farms which can be very cost effective.  On the flip side if you don't mind spending the cash those gourmet Paleo recipes are awesome!