Planks, Love and Guacamole: Paleo coffee creamers

OK coffee lovers I have posted a few things on Paleo coffee ideas but honestly I have gotten pretty comfortable with my own personal fatty coffee variants.  If you really need some of your old school creamers but are now living in a Paleo world check out Planks, Love and Guacamole: Paleo coffee creamers.  These ladies have put together a handful of your old favorites, in Paleo style, and they look sure to get you your fix.  Go check them out.  They have lots of other delicious looking recipes that I am adding to my list of must trys.

Thanks for stopping by!
Chuck

A New Way to Look at Breakfast

I have ran into a number of people recently that have either asked me what I eat for breakfast or explained to me what a healthy breakfast is to them. These pictures are the visible image results from searching for "healthy breakfast" on Google. At a distance these images have a lot of fruit, oatmeal, toast, orange juice, and an occasional egg. Clearly the web is more in agreement with the people I have run into than what I believe is a a healthy breakfast.

Here is a decent example of one of these healthy breakfasts; two pieces of whole wheat toast, a cup of berries, glass of orange juice (16oz), and a small bowl (1 cup) of oatmeal. If you are Paleo and especially if you have played with intermittent fasting then this breakfast probably scares the hell out of you. If you are new to Paleo or are stumbling upon this blog randomly then you would probably agree this is pretty healthy.  There are a whole host of reasons why a standard American healthy breakfast, like this one, is not as good as it seems but for this post I want to focus in on one of those variables and that is carbohydrate.

Let's break down the macro nutrients for this average standard American healthy breakfast:

• 750 Cal
• 145g Carb
• 5.5g Fat
• 18g Pro

Carbs are essentially sugar, all carbs become blood glucose within a short period of time, so this healthy breakfast basically included 145 grams of sugar AKA ~2/3 a cup of sugar.  That is a ton of sugar! It also includes very little protein or fat which to some may also seem a benefit.

At first I decided the only way to write the rest of this post was with a lot of scientific detail.  Later I decided to focus on the big picture and if you are intrigued and want to learn more I would point you to the big guns who have already broken down the science behind all this. 

So why is all this sugar bad?  There was a time not too long ago when I also thought this was a healthy breakfast.  I would think to myself, "These foods are going to give me energy and get my day going right.".  RIGHT??  WRONG!

We have several metabolic methods of producing energy, including methods that utilize fat and glucose. While you are sleeping your body enters a fasted state.  When you wake up your body is in a prime condition to begin utilizing  glycogen and fat that has been stored for energy.  In addition a series of hormones including growth hormone and epinephrine are active and can increase metabolism. As soon as this breakfast enters your body digestion occurs and sugar enters your blood stream.  The sugar quickly raises your blood glucose levels, the more complex carbs are broken down a bit slower resulting in elevated blood glucose for an hour or more.  Your body reacts to this with the hormone insulin.  Insulin removes the sugar from the blood by pushing it into your cells during this process fatty acids in your blood are also stored.  Essentially eating this sugar has turned off your body's natural fat burning capabilities for the preference of storing this currently abundant fuel resource for later use.  Between two and three hours later something interesting happens, the insulin completes its job and maybe goes a little too far resulting in a sugar crash.  Now mid-morning you find yourself a bit groggy and what better than to head for a snack to pep you up.  This is just supposed to be a look at breakfast but it is easy to see how three meals a day and a couple high carb snacks can easily result in high insulin levels throughout the day.  This means you are in fat and glucose storage mode most of the day.

When is it possible for our body to burn fat when our hormones are constantly telling our body to store fat? The answer is, there really isn't any time.  While you are sleeping your body will enter the a fat and glucose burning state but the energy required is significantly less than during the day.  You can exercise but if you have ever calculated the amount of work required to burn off a certain number of calories this can be an insurmountable task.  To burn off that breakfast I would have to run close to 6 miles.  Don't get me wrong exercise is an important component of health but not the most efficient way to lose fat.
 

Instead of turning off the body's natural glucose and fat burning capabilities we should strategically embrace them.  Fat that is consumed does not cause an insulin release like carbs and sugar do but can be used for energy.  Protein can cause an insulin release but mainly in larger doses.  So a perfect breakfast is a relatively small amount of food that is primarily if not completely comprised of healthy fats.  The fats you consume give your body a fresh supply of energy to kick start your day without the mid-morning crash while enabling your body to stay in a fat and sugar burning mode. The idea is not to starve yourself but completely avoid carbs and keep your fat to protein ratio high.

So what does my breakfast look like?  I generally have a Phatty Coffee or maybe two (~175-350 calories). This gives me a good dose of fat from coconut oil, grass-fed butter, and grass-fed cream. Some days that is all I do until lunch.  Other days, especially days following a hard workout, I have one or two eggs, maybe some almond butter on top (especially delicious with over easy eggs), and on even fewer occasions I have some meat as well. Beyond my Phatty Coffee, I find that the less I eat the more energetic I am.

So there is one unanswered question, "If not at breakfast, when do I eat my carbs?".  The answer is, the later the better and preferably post-workout.  After a workout your body needs to replenish the energy (glycogen stored in the muscles) that was burned and can also use some protein to support the recovery process. During this period of time insulin is a good thing to help an efficient recovery. Later in the day the body is also more resistant to glucose and fat storage

Resources to find out more about how all this stuff works:

1. Check out John Kiefer.  He has written a couple books on how best to incorporate carbs into your diet. 
2. Check out HowStuffWorks description of the fat storage and burning process.  It is a nice description although the last section "Losing Weight and Losing Fat" does not make much sense if you think about what the whole article is laying out.
3. Check out the FatBurrningMan he has plenty on these topics including intermittent fasting, fatty coffee, and his podcast is excellent.

In the meantime try rethinking breakfast, drop the carbs and sugar for a few weeks, and see if you don't look and feel better.  Of course if you have any health conditions talk this stuff over with your doc first!

Thanks for stopping by!

Chuck

Brady Nutrition Phatty Coffee

So this is how I make my Phatty Coffee.  I have this almost every morning but especially when I am fasting. I try to do an 18 hour fast three or four days a week.  I have primarily been inspired by The Fat Burning Man, Abel James’ Fatty Coffee.  You can check him out on his website at Fat Burning Man 

It seems like I buy most of my groceries at Wholefoods these days and you can find all of this at the Charlottesville Wholefoods.

I toss in 1/2 to 1 tablespoon of Kerrygold grass fed unsalted butter into the bottom of my coffee cup.  Then I toss in 1/2 to 1 tablespoon of coconut oil usually Wholefoods 365 extra virgin coconut oil.  I sprinkle a little cinnamon but not too much since it is easy to put too much.  Then I throw in 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon of cacao powder.  Lately I have been adding in some fresh nutmeg also.  I usually buy whatever whole bean coffee is on sale.  I brew up a pot and poor some in my cup.  I stir it around for a minute or so and drink it up for a delicious fatty jolt in the morning.  I plan to try MCT oil in place of the coconut oil at some point soon.
  

The Barista and My Fatty Coffee

This morning I got up extra early so I could start the weekend a little early.  I decided I would kick the day off with a Fatty Coffee and fast until after work when I meet up with a couple friends.  When I went to bed last night I realized I had not ground my coffee and running the grinder at 5:30 AM would certainly lead to a toddler uprising in my house.  My wife suggested I load my coffee mug with my standard fatty coffee ingredients and head to the local coffee shop to cover down.  I thought this was a great idea.  So sitting in the bottom of my coffee mug is a tablespoon of very yellow grass fed butter, a table spoon of coconut oil, a sprinkle of cinnamon, and about a teaspoon of pure cacao powder.  I roll into the coffee shop, order a Café Americano and hand over my mug to the barista.  She asked if I would like room for cream glances into my mug and her face dropped and began to resemble the face of someone that was ready to lose their lunch.  As she grimaced in discomfort I assured her twice in quick succession that everything was OK.  She reluctantly moved to the espresso machine looked back at me and asked in a distressed voice what I had in there.  I very briefly explained without going into too much detail and she let me know she thought she had heard somewhere that this was good for you.  It was definitely a priceless coffee shop moment and the Fatty Coffee was exceptionally delicious this morning.

Check out the specifics on my Phatty Coffee at Chuck's Phatty Coffee
I have primarily been inspired by The Fat Burning Man, Able James’ Fatty Coffee.  You can check him out on his website at fatburningman.com and he has a video on Fatty Coffee located here Able James' Fatty Coffee

For those keeping track I finally broke below 174 this morning with a weight in at 173.8

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!