Muscle developing exercise more important for women.

Read the below link on why weight bearing exercise (weight training) is more important for women than low intensity, steady state exercise (such as running, walking, cycling or stair climbing).

http://www.bodybyscience.net/home.html/?page_id=301

The Dose-Response Relationship of Exercise

Below is a link to a very interesting writing regarding exercise. I highly recommend reading it it better understand how exercise works on our body.

http://www.bodybyscience.net/home.html/?page_id=221

MythEGGology

After decades of misinformation and poor research eggs are about to be 'rehabilitated' in the UK as well as the USA.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7882850.stm

now you can eat your eggs without guilt and fear, whew!

I would recommend buying the Omega 3 eggs if you can get them to improve your omega 3 to omega 6 ratios.

A tale of two peoples

http://www.proteinpower.com/drmike/...nter-gatherers/

This is an interesting comparison of agriculturalists and hunter-gatherers. The two groups of people are compared from the same region (same hunting grounds) and probably the same genetic heritage, just at different points in history. One group were farmers the other hunter gatherers. care to wager which group was healthier??? Read on...

low intensity stedystate excersize, are we built for it??

One of the points that Doug McGuff, the author of Body By Science makes is that low intensity, steady state exercises(walking, jogging, stair climbing, cycling, rowing, etc...) is not our optimal way to get fit and stay healthy due to accumulative damage to our joints and ligaments or chronic wear and tear. One of the premises of the Paleo-Lifestyle is to eat and move in tune with what are bodies are naturally evolved for. Our bodies are made for intense explosive motion, not steady state low intensity motion. Think about our hunter-gatherer ancestors, and how they hunted and lived. Case in point a recent post by Mark Sisson of Mark's Daily Apple Blog:

http://www.marksdailyapple.com/did-humans-evolve-to-be-long-distance-runners/

Happy Birthday to me!

Well, today is my 39th birthday! My lovely wife nad son got me a Kayak! I am really excited. if the weahter is good I will make my maiden voyage! All I need now is a life vest and a fishing pole holder.

More Body By Science

This is a great short, 6min, interview of Dr. Doug McGuff on youtube giving you a brief synopsisof the Body By Science excersize and diet principals.

I have been following this regimen of excersize for the past 3 weeks. I will hold off on posting my results, but I will tell you, have already seen strenght improvemnts!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahIKTdJaXPE

here is another interwiew and workour demo of the author

http://www.kens5.com/news/health/stories/KENS20090209-BodyByScience.35a4bbf6.html

Enjoy!

Collared Greeens

Inspired by my recent trip to Atlanta Georgia!

Recipe adapted from Alton Brown's Good Eats

Ingredients :

• 1 quart chicken stock
• 1 1/2 pounds smoked turkey or pork parts*
• 2 pounds stemmed collard or turnip greens
• 1 teaspoon salt, plus extra if desired

Directions :

Place the water and turkey legs in an 8-quart pot over medium-high heat. Cover, bring to a boil, and allow to simmer for 10 minutes.
In the meantime, remove any large stems from the greens and wash them thoroughly; do so in a sink with at least 5 inches of water. Moving the leaves around in the water and allowing them to sit for a few minutes to allow the sand or dirt to fall to the bottom of the sink. Once clean, chop pieces in half. You should have 2 pounds of greens once they are stemmed. (Weigh the greens after stemming, but before washing.) (I bought 4 bunches, that seemed to be about right.)
Once the turkey legs* have simmered for 10 minutes, add the greens, salt reduce the heat to low, cover, and allow to simmer gently for 45 minutes or until the greens are tender. if using a smaller pot, you can add the greens in batches as the leaves cook down a bit. Move the greens around every 10 to 15 minutes. Taste and season with additional salt, if desired. Serve immediately. The southerners like to add hot sauce to the greens for a little kick.

* I used smoked pork necks, but any smoked pork or turkey parts will do, I have seen smoked turkey necks and wings as well. I like the flatter pieces as they sit better at the bottom of the pot.

Family going Paleo!

I am happy to announce that my wife has been doing well on the Paleo Diet. In fact, I am surprised how strict she has been. she occasionaly allows herself to cheat with dessert and has been much stricter than I thought she would be. My sister has also began Paleo Eating.

This weekend I had a sit down with my parents and expressed my concerns about their diet and poor health. Both of my parents are overweight, and high blood pressure. In addition, my father has been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. they both agreed to change their diets and eliminate grain, refined sugar, dairy and legumes form their diet. I gave my mother my copy of good calories bad calories in the hopes that it will motivate her further (as she is the cooke in the family). I alos offered to train them every sunday at my gym using the body by science principals.

Crock pot BBQ Beef

Ingredients:

• 5 LBS bottom round
• 4 med onions, chopped
• 5 cloves garlic, chopped
• 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
• 1/4 cup low salt chicken broth or other flavorful liquid
• 1/4 cup BBQ sauce
• 3 Tbsp mustard
• 1 1/2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• cooking fat

Directions:

Slice bottom round into 1.5 inch rounds. Heat an iron skillet. (I used the trimmed fat from the bottom round and rendered it as the skillet heated to use as the cooking fat) brown the meat on both sides. Pour 1/4 contents of crushed tomatoes at bottom of crock pot, place a layer of meat on the bottom of the crock pot. Brown the onions and garlic, place over the first layer of meat, pour 1/2 the contents of the crushed tomatoes over the onions. Brown the remainder of the meat and layer over the onions. cover with remainder of tomatoes. Deglaze the skillet with chicken stock and pour contents into crock pot. Set on high for 6 hours. Pull meat apart with 2 forks until shredded, add mustard, BBQ sauce and Worcestershire sauce. Cook on low until liquid is absorbed, maybe another hour. This recipe works great with pork loin or pork shoulder as well.

Lebanese Kaftas

I had some leftover groud lamb, so I decided to make traditional Lebanese Kaftas. very paleo!

Ingredients:

• 1 lb ground Lamb (beef can be used as well)
• 1 med onion, minced in food proccessor
• 4 cloves garlic, minced in food proccessor
• 2 cups tighly packed washed and picked parsley
• 1/2 cup fresh mint leaves or 1 tbs dry mint leaves
• 1/4 tsp each ground cinammon, cloves, nutmeg
• saltto taste
• 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
• wooden skewers

Directions:

In a food processor finely mince onion and garlic, add parsley and mint. Remove nad fold into the meat along with the spices. take a habd full of meat mixture and apply to the skewers making a sausage with skewers in the middle. Heat an Iron skillet, add cooking fat, and cook the Kaftas untill golden brown all around, turing every 2-3 min.

Nutrition Data

this is a great site to investigate the nutritional data of food. I use it to check glycemic load and net carbs. Just plug in the food name and category. very simple and informative.

http://www.nutritiondata.com/

beef stew with carrots and radish

this is a low carb stew using low Glycemic Load root vegetables The lowest Glycemic Load root vegetables are radish and turnip (GL 1 per 100g) followed by carrot (GL 2 per 100g)

I just happened to have a Dakkion radish laying around. (also known as Chinese radish)

Ingredients:

• 1 lb stew beef cut into 1.5 inch cubes
• 3 med carrots sliced into 1/3 inc rings
• 1 dakkion radish, cubed
• 1/2 cup chicken broth (or other flavorful liquid)
• 2 med onions chopped
• 5 cloves garlic coarsely chopped
• 1/2 tsp dry thyme
• 1/2 tsp dry sage
• 1/4 tsp fresh ground pepper
• cooking fat

Directions:

In an iron skillet render fat (I used beef fat, but you can use canola oil or any cooking fat). Brown beef, transfer to heavy pot such as a dutch oven. Brown onion, then add garlic and cook for 2-3 min longer. Transfer to pot. Deglaze with broth, or red wine. Pour liquid into pot. Add herbs to pot. Bring to a boil, cover with lid and simmer for 2 hrs on lowest heat possible. I had to transfer to a small burner to keep it at a gentle simmer. This is technically a braise cheaper cuts of meat with lots of connective tissue such as shoulder cuts (chuck) work best in braises. Add carrots and radish. Cook for another 45 min - 1 hr until veggies soften. The radish looks and has the texture of potatoes without the carbs. Turnips may be used as well, but they have a stronger flavor. Next time I will try it with regular radishes.

Adverse effects of horomones found in cow milk

The following isw an excerpt form Dr. Cordain's PaleoDiet news letter.

Insulin
Type 1 diabetes (T1D) is an autoimmune disease in which immune cells (T-lymphocytes) mount an attack on the cells of the pancreas that produces insulin (beta cells) resulting in its destruction. These patients have to rely on insulin replacement therapy to live. Last week, we discovered that bovine insulin (BI) is present in commercially pasteurized milk and infant formulas. We also learned that BI has good oral bioavailability since antibodies to BI are a common phenomenon among children who have consumed infant formula containing cow's milk. This is very important information for children who have a genetic predisposition for T1D because BI differs from human insulin by only three amino acids. The immune response induced by BI in these children may react with human insulin and lead to β-cell destruction, especially if children are exposed to infant formula containing cow's milk before the age of 3 months. This is a period of high intestinal permeability or leaky gut. As expected, various epidemiological studies have associated cow's milk consumption with T1D in genetically susceptible children, especially when the initial exposure begins in the first months of life. Thus, exclusively breastfeeding during the first 6 months and avoiding formulas based on cow's milk is highly recommended.

IGF - 1
We already know that cow's milk is associated with increased plasma IGF-1 concentrations in both children and adults. Furthermore, there is evidence that cow's milk increases the IGF-1/IGFBP-3 ratio, setting a hormonal cascade that may ultimately result in epithelial cell cancers and acne, among other diseases.

Betacellulin
Humans have a hormonal receptor called the epidermal growth factor (EGF) receptor (in the skin, gastrointestinal tract, lung, kidney, mammary gland, pancreas, prostate gland, ovary and other tissues) that binds the EGF family of hormones, including Betacellulin (BTC). BTC is a hormone found not only in liquid cow's milk, but also in whey and cheese. Why is this relevant? There is a very good probability that BTC may survive degradation by gut enzymes, bind the luminally expressed EGF receptor in the gut, and thereby enter circulation. If this chain of events occurs, then BTC may also bind the EGF receptor bound in all epithelial cells. This is where it might contribute to the pathogenesis of epithelial cell cancers and acne since up-regulation of the EGF receptor pathway occurs in acne31 and in a wide variety of cancers including breast, prostate, ovarian, lung, pancreatic, gallbladder, stomach, testicular, kidney, and head and neck cancers.

Estrogens

Various milks contain estrogen metabolites and that the most prevalent form of estrogen in cow's milk is estrone sulphate, which has high oral bioactivity. This is potentially alarming for the following reasons:
In vitro and animal studies support the notion that estrogens are implicated in prostate cancer.
Estrogens may adversely effect the ovarian epithelium.
The use of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) is associated with an increased incidence of corpus uteri cancer in the United States, and it should be remembered that estrone sulphate comprises 45% of the conjugated estrogens in Premarin and Prempro. These are the most frequently prescribed hormone replacement therapies for menopausal women.
Estrogens can initiate breast cancer and promote the growth of existing tumors in breast tissue.
Elevated plasma concentrations of endogenous estrogens are associated with increased risk of breast cancer.
Exposure to estrogens through HRT and oral contraceptives is associated with an increased breast cancer risk.
Whole and low fat milk were found to promote 7,12-dimethylbenz(a) anthracene induced mammary tumors in rats.
Dihydrotestosterone (DHT) precursors As mentioned last week, commercially pasteurized cow's milk contains progesterone, 5α-androstanedione and 5α-pregnanedione that are dihydrotestosterone (DHT) precursors, and DHT is implicated in acne and prostate cancer.

Unfortunately, we aren't aware of any study that has looked at the absorption of these hormones, so we don't know if this is really a problem. Nevertheless, evidence that other hormones have good oral bioavailability suggests that it may indeed be a cause for concern. As expected from the evidence presented, dairy intake is strongly associated with a higher incidence of acne, moderately associated with prostate cancer, and mildly associated with ovarian cancer. Dairy consumption has also been associated with an increased incidence of testicular, kidney, and head and neck cancers. There have been very few studies looking at this, so it is difficult to draw more significant conclusions. Although epidemiological evidence can't show cause and effect, and clearly, many more studies need to be conducted, the current evidence strongly suggests that cow's milk may be implicated in a variety of cancers as well as acne.

The Paleo Diet, by emulating the nutritional characteristics of hunter-gatherer diets, avoids the consumption of milk and other dairy products. Thus, the Paleo Diet protects us from the potential problems inherent in dairy consumption. Yet, when combined with sufficient sun exposure and proper exercise, the Paleo Diet still optimises bone health because it:
1. Provides all the micronutrients (including calcium, which can be obtained from green leafy vegetables, such as broccoli and kale) needed to optimize bone health and prevent osteoporosis
2. Includes enough fruits and vegetables to be net base yielding (a net acid yielding diet can cause calcium and magnesium losses
3. Includes sufficient protein (which increases intestinal calcium absorption and has an anabolic effect on bone, particularly in the context of a net base yielding diet
4. Has a lower omega 3/omega 6 ratio (a diet with a high omega 6/ omega 3 ratio can cause bone loss and a low glycemic load/insulinotropic effect (high insulinemia causes calcium loss)

To subscribe to The Pale Diet Newsletter go to:

http://www.thepaleodiet.com/newsletter/

Understanding fat loss

Obesity is a reaching epidemic proportions in the US. Just look around. I sat in the Atlanta Mall yesterday, just people watching. The majority were fat, there were few lean people. Much of the problem is our misunderstanding of energy metabolism due to decades of misinformation from our government. This is in part due to recommnedations by scientists with large egos barking up the wrong trees, making incorrect assumptions and sticking to their flawed hypothesis despite poor support evidence and evidence to the contrary.

Fortunately, our understanding of energy metabolism has improved and the misguided scientists with big egos either retired or died.

It is critical to understand nutrient metabolism in order to understand the science of fat loss.

Body fat storage is dependant on the macro-nutrient that is least available. For the past 2 million years of human evolution the least available macro nutrient for our hunter gatherer ancestors was carbohydrate. When the least abundant macro-nutrient is in greaqt supply it is a signal for the body to store fat. This occurs in the late summer and early fall months for omnivorous mammals: us. The hormone insulin's largest role is in energy storage, therefore body fat storage is dependant on the hormone insulin.

Insulin's function is to move sugar from the blood to storage organs. The biggest glucose (sugar) storage organs in our bodies is MUSCLE, and to a much lesser degree the liver. Once the muscle cells are full to capacity with glucose, the insulin receptors on the muscle cells will decrease in insulin sensitivity so that no more glucose will enter the cells. This raises the sugar levels in the blood which in turn stimulated an increase in insulin which now causes the storage of the excess sugar in the form of FAT in adipose (fat) tissue (since muscle and liver are full to capacity). As you can see when there is an abundance of available carbohydrate fat storage results.

Fat is mobilized from adipose (fat) tissue via the hormone insulin sensitive lipase. This can only occur when insulin levels drop, since insulin sensitive lipase is inactivated by insulin. This can even occur at a calorie deficit as seen in low calorie/high carbohydrate diets. Basically whenever insulin levels are elevated you will not loose fat. And carbs raise insulin levels, especially the refined carbohydrates such as sugars and grains.

Once you understand the above scenario food metabolism. you can appreciate the fallacy of low fat/ high carb diets that are still encouraged by our government agencies. Carbs are the culprit, especially the unnatural carbs we consume today in the form of dairy, beans and the greatest of all culprits: grain (including corn and rice). Which were never part of our NATURAL DIET.

If you have not had it yet, I hope this has been your eureka moment!

Something else to ponder: Our bodies are able to manufacture sugar for energy from fats and proteins, but we cannot manufacture all the necessary proteins and fats. This is why we have essential fatty acids (fats) and essential amino acids (protein). So why would a diet that restricts fats or proteins be healthful???? We can survive without carbohydrates, but we cannot survive without protein and fats. This is the flaw in vegetarian and low fat diets.

Today's Eats

Today's culinary excursions are better documented...

Breakfast was once again at the hotel

egg omelet with mushrooms and onions, side of sausages and bacon, bowl of mixed fruit, ice water infused with splash of cranberry juice. (beats drinking boring water), hot earl grey tea.

Lunch was a simple staple: grilled chicken breast over mixed field greens in a balsamic vinaigrette dressing. this can be had in any basic eating joint any time any where.

Dinner was at Aja, an Asian fusion restaurant in Atlanta. The decor and atmosphere were top notch. and the food was amazing. This is Twist's sister restaurant.

Appetizer of chicken wings in some Asian dressing and Coconut shrimp soup

Tofu with sauteed spinach in garlic sauce (I skipped the tofu)

Seafood and vegetables in spicy sauce

pepper steak with vegetables. my favorite!

Diabetics Improve Health with high fat/low carb diet, decade old evidence gone unnoticed!

SAN DIEGO, CA -- June 15, 1999 -- A very high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet has been shown to have astounding effects in helping type 2 diabetics lose weight and improve their blood lipid profiles.
The results of three studies involving such a diet, which is similar to, but has a few key differences from the famous "Dr. Atkins Diet", were presented today at the annual meeting of the Endocrine Society.
Dr. James Hays, an endocrinologist and director of the Limestone Medical Center in Wilmington, DE, admitted that the concept of a high-fat diet in people who are already at higher risk of cardiovascular disease might seem incongruous. Nonetheless, this study of 157 men and women with type 2 diabetes showed an impressive benefit in body mass index (BMI) triglycerides, HDL, LDL and HbA1c.
Most people are encouraged to reduce the amount of fat in their diets, particularly saturated fats, and diabetics in particular are advised to reduce their overall caloric intake, Dr. Hays explained in an interview in San Diego during the conference.
Whereas a normal diet would be in the order of 1800 to 2100 calories, with 60 percent of calories coming from carbohydrates and 30 percent from fat, patients in this diet were restricted to 1800 calories per day and were encouraged to get 50 percent of their caloric intake from fat, and just 20 percent from carbohydrates. The balance of 30 percent would come from proteins.
A whopping 90 percent of the fat content in their diets was saturated fat, compared with just 10 percent that was monounsaturated fat.
"I think this is at least worth considering for any diabetic," Dr. Hays said in an interview. "The thing many diabetics coming into the office don’t realize is that other forms of carbohydrates will increase their sugars, too. Dietitians will point them toward complex carbohydrates ... oatmeal and whole wheat bread, but we have to deliver the message that these are carbohydrates that increase blood sugars, too."
Higher-fat diets, on the other hand, seem to make the person feel full faster so they eat less; higher-fat diets also tend to reduce postprandial hypoglycemia so the patients feel better after eating.
“Every diabetic comes home from the doctor with instructions as to what their diet should consist of, but they’re not getting the information from dietitians about what complex carbohydrates they should eat,” Dr. Hays said.
“The important thing here is no ketosis. We absolutely don’t want people to become ketotic, and so we said they had to have so many exchanges of fresh fruits and vegetables and we specified the ones they could eat.”
They were able to eat all the meat and cheese they wanted, but as for carbohydrates, they are restricted to eating unprocessed foods, mainly fresh fruit and vegetables, he added.
Subjects recruited into the study (84 men, 73 women) were all type 2 diabetics and were required to undergo a standard American Diabetes Association modified diet for one full year before entry into the trial. Over the course of one year, the subjects achieved a mean decline in total cholesterol of between 231 and 190 mg/dl. Triglycerides declined from 229 to 182 mg/dl.
Low-density lipoproteins (LDL cholesterol) fell from 133 to 105 mg/dl, while HDL increased from 44 to 47 mg/dl.
HbA1c, which at the start of the study averaged 3.34 percent above normal, declined to the point that at one year, the mean was just 0.96 percent above normal.
The average weight loss among subjects in the study was in the order of 40 pounds, Dr. Hays said.
By the end of the one-year study, he added, 90 percent of the patients had achieved ADA (American Diabetes Association) targets for HbA1c, HDL, LDL and triglycerides.
Even among juvenile diabetics, he said, they might not be overweight and they might have more or less normal lipid levels, but when they are on this kind of diet it is possible to treat them with lower doses of insulin and make their lives a little safer, he said.
As for the response from cardiologists who see a high-fat diet as anathema to what they have been instructing their patients for years now, Dr. Hays said he has three cardiologist patients who are now on the diet.
"If you have a diet that results in weight loss, lower cholesterol, and a better lipid profile, eventually, everybody will be eating that way. It’s going to come whether we like it or not."

By Cameron Johnston for Doctor Guide News

This is essentially the Paleo Died with the exception of cheese

Wifey has seen the light

My wife finally succumbed to my requests to try to switch to my way of eating. She is a big Italian food and dessert girl. She agreed to go low carb for breakfast and lunch and have a "free meal" at diner. She will include dairy for now. Hey it's a start. She also agreed to have me train her using the Body By Science principles for 6 months.

new pants size!

After dinner we hit the mall. My jeans are so big on me now that I can only keep them up with a belt and they are getting really baggy. 3 months ago, when I started the Paleo Diet, I had to hold my breath to squeeze into these jeans. They were very uncomfortable, but it was the last pair I could wear without going up a size. I had to air dry them so they did not shrink. Now it looks like I am wearing a potato sack. I wound up buying a pair of jeans 2 sizes lower and there is a little room left. I probably could have gone down one more size. It felt so great!

today's eatings in Atlanta

Today breakfast was at the hotel. I had the buffet: wild mushroom and red onion omelet with bacon bits, a pork and a chicken/apple sausage, 3 strips of bacon, and mixed fruit.

Lunch was at Hudson Grill. I feasted on lemon/pepper chicken wings (not breaded) and a shrimp and field greens salad with a spicy vinaigrette dressing.

Dinner was a read culinary adventure. We went to TWIST, a hip restaurant in Buckhead area of Atlanta. They have an amazing tapas menu as well as sushi and an entree menu. You can sample a lot of different food for the price of a single meal. I stuck with the tapas, which are small appetizer size meals. This time I had enough sense to snap a few photos:

chopped salad with crumbled egg

chicken liver with onions - best I ever had!

baked cauliflower in a cream/Parmesan cheese sauce. (I let as much sauce drip of as possible)

asparagus in garlic and oil sauce. again, best I ever had

Korean bulgoki beef and kimchi (upper left)

BBQ pork ribs with red cabbage slaw (upper right)

Beef fillet medallions (bottom) I picked off the cheese

I drank so much unsweetened iced tea today, my teeth turned yellow!

When to eat organic

The cost of organic produce can be quite high. This is especially an issue during these tough economic times. The benefit of eating organic is to reduce the amount of pesticides we consume. But not all produce is laden with pesticides. Recently The Environmental Working Group rated pesticide residues of fresh produce. It claims that you can lower your pesticide exposure by 80% by avoiding the 12 most pesticide laden fruits and vegetables. So if you are willing to shell out bucks for organic produce do it for only these 12. Also referred to as "the dirty dozen":

1. peaches
2. apples
3. pears
4. nectarines
5. imported grapes
6. strawberries
7. cherries
8. bell peppers
9. kale
10. celery
11. lettuce
12. carrots

There are vegetables that were rated as the cleanest in regards to pesticide contamination. Save your hard earned cash and forgo the organic versions of the "clean dozen":

1. avocados
2. pineapples
3. mangoes
4. papayas
5. tomatoes
6. eggplant
7. watermelon
8. kiwi
9. onions
10. asparagus
11. broccoli
12. cabbage

stikin' to paleo diet on vacation

I'm spending 4 days in Atlanta Georgia with my wife's sister and family. We'll be eating out every meal. It is tough to be super strict around all the southern food. Lunch was collared greens, grilled chicken over salad. Dinner was fried chicken, BBQ ribs, fried okra and boiled collared greens. Except for the breading I did well considering that dinner ended with ice cream, which I abstained from. finished the day with a pear and a plum. Going to the zoo tomorrow!

scored a new book

Although eaten by many cultures, Offal has literally fallen by the way side in the US today. There is no doubt that our Paleolithic ancestor wasted no part of the animal. I found this used book by chance. Published in 1974. Can't wait to explore it.

Preparing offal is making a comeback, even is some upscale restaurants.

Like executive chef, Chris Cosentino of Incanto Restaurant in California.
you can visit his blog: Offal Good at http://www.offalgood.com/site/

paleo eating at the fair

Its pretty easy to stick to paleo eating when eating out. We had dinner with friends at a steak house. my dinner consisted of tuna carpaccio (quickly seared sushi grade tuna), NY shell steak and escarole sauteed with garlic. Yesterday I took my son to a local carnival. for a snack I had a grilled smoked turkey leg and for dinner we went to a local Friday's. grilled shrimp skewers and steamed broccoli was on a low carb menu. I was able to stick to the diet despite a table full of french fries, burgers, brownies and ice cream.

Lamb chops

This is the last of my grass fed lamb stash. As you know grass fed meat is much higher than in Omega 3 than the grain fed variety.




Ingredients:

• lamb shanks (I happen to cook about 10 for the week)
• salt/ pepper to taste
• 1/2 tsp dry oregano
• 1/2 tsp dry thyme
• 1/2 tsp dry sage
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp dry rosemary (I omitted this as my wife hates rosemary)

Directions:

Heat a large cast iron skillet. while the skillet is warming up (3-5 min) pat the lamb chops dry. salt and pepper both sides. brown both sides on med-high heat , about 5-7 min. The second side takes a bit more as the skillet has cooled. You do not need to add oil as this meat gives off enough fat to cook in. heat oven to 350 degrees. combine herbs in a small bowl to mix well, sprinkle both sides liberally with herb mixture,( this is where metal tongs are your friend) cover loosely with aluminum foil shiny side down. and finish cooking in the oven for another 20 min. drain the fat (a lot will be rendered out)and save it if you like to cook with it. I love lamb!

Flattened chicken

This is my mom's best chicken dish. She used tons of fresh garlic and used to pound the chickens flat with a mallet. I ran out of garlic and did not use a mallet. This recipe is also known as "chicken under a brick"





Ingredients:

• Cornish game hen
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp onion powder
• 1/4 tsp dry thyme
• salt/pepper to taste
• canola oil

Butterfly the chicken: using kitchen scissors cut along the back bone on both sided removing it entirely along with the tail. clip off the end joint of the wings. (save these cuttings for stock) Flip the bird around and remove the keel bone by scoring along it with a boning knife. it takes some work but with care and patience this can be done without destroying the meat too much. Rub with canola oil and season with the spices on the breast side. be generous with the garlic powder. heat a non stick skillet on high. add oil to cover the base in a thin layer. Place the chicken breast side down. place a plate over the chicken so it covers it completely. lower the heat to med-low and place a heavy weight on the plate to flatten the chicken further. (I used a pot filled with water.) cook until browned. season the uncooked side, flip over and cover with a new plate to prevent cross contamination. Cook until browned and cooked through.

this can feed one or two people(half the chicken) depending on how hungry you are. As you can see I was very hungry.

HIGH INTENSITY TRAINING

Today was my first day of a training routine as outlined in Body By Science by Doug McGuff. I was very impressed by this book as it not only backed up by the scientific literature and is highly referenced it takes into account our body biology, our evolution and dispels some very common excises and fitness myths. If exercise is part of your health and fitness regimen then I highly encourage this book.

Today's workout consisted of 5 exercises and was completed in 13 minutes.

Horomones in our dairy

This excerpt is from the latest issue of The Paleo Diet News letter. to get your copy of the newsletter emailed to you as well as references to this article go to

http://www.thepaleodiet.com/newsletter/

HOROMONES IN MILK
The existence of hormones in cow's milk that could be problematic for humans. Before we discuss the potential adverse effects of each of those hormones, it is important to know that in order for any of these milk hormones to potentially cause or promote a certain disease, it must:
1. Survive the pasteurization and processing methods
2. Survive the human digestive processes intact
3. Cross the gut barrier intact

It is normally believed that protein shearing enzymes in the human gut breakdown proteins and hormones before they can get to the small bowel where absorption occurs. This is what happens when you eat protein-containing foods, such as beef or fish, and this is the reason why some diabetics have to take insulin intravenously and not orally.

Nevertheless, we should remember that milk's main purpose is to accelerate growth in weaning mammals, who have a low endogenous production of hormones. Milk contains not only the necessary hormones to promote growth, but also catalysts, transporters and stabilizers that ensure their maximum bioactivity. Cow's milk also contains peptidase inhibitors that could prevent proteolytic breakdown of various peptide hormones and growth factors, such as IGF-16 and the EGF family of hormones (like betacellulin).

The evidence suggests that most of the hormones mentioned last week fulfill, at least, the first two of the above requirements: surviving the pasteurization and processing methods, and surviving the human digestive processes intact.

Insulin:
Cow's milk, as well as human milk (and presumably milk from all mammals) contains insulin.
We know that bovine insulin (BI) (which differs from human insulin by three amino acids) survives pasteurization because immunity to this hormone is common in children who consume cow's milk or infant formulas containing cow's milk. This not only confirms that BI is present in commercially pasteurized milk, but also in infant formulas, and perhaps other dairy products (although direct evidence is lacking). These studies also provide evidence that BI survives the human digestive processes and crosses the gut barrier intact, although this could be related to the fact that infants have higher intestinal permeability than older children and adults. Nevertheless, var ious factors may cause the so called "leaky gut" in virtually everyone, so we shouldn't dismiss bovine insulin altogether.

IGF-1:
Cow's milk contains active IGF-1, but this has been largely dismissed as irrelevant since pasteurization and fermentation appear to reduce its content. Yet, cow's milk consumption is associated with higher plasma IGF-1 concentrations in humans (both children and adults). This could be due to the calcium in milk (that has been shown to increase IGF-1 in boys and girls), the effect of milk upon insulinemia (the high elevation of plasma insulin caused by drinking milk could lead to higher plasma IGF-1 ) or residual IG F-1 in milk

Betacellulin:
Betacellulin (BTC) belongs to the epidermal growth factor family of hormones, and it is found not only in cow's milk and whey, but also in cheese. It survives both pasteurization and processing. Although no direct evidence exists yet, bovine milk contains peptidase inhibitors that prevent human gut enzymes from degrading EGF5 and most likely BTC. Additionally, a low ph, such as may be found in the gut, does not impair or prevent BTC from binding its receptor.5 Finally, there is a luminally expressed EGF receptor in the gut through which BTC may enter circulation.

Steroid Hormones:
The major sources of animal-derived estrogens in the human diet are believed to be milk and dairy products, which presumably account for 70-80% of the total estrogens consumed. Furthermore, it has been pointed out that most milk for human consumption is obtained from cows in the latter half of pregnancy when estrogen metabolite levels are greatly elevated. To confirm this, US researchers Daniel Falow and colleagues have measured estrogen metabolites in various milks and have shown that buttermilk contains the highest total amount of estrogen metabolites, followed by skim milk, 2% milk, and whole milk. So, estrogen metabolites appear to survive pasteurization, but do they survive the other necessary steps? It is highly possible because estrone sulphate, which comprises 45% of the conjugated estrogen in Premarin and Prempro (the most frequently prescribed hormone replacement therapy for menopausal women), has high oral bioactivity, and it is the most prevalent form of estrogen in cow's milk.

There are also other steroid hormones in commercially pasteurized cow's milk, such as progesterone, 5α-androstanedione, and 5α-pregnanedione, which are dihydrotestosterone (DHT) precursors. Unfortunately, we aren't aware of any study that has looked at the absorption of these hormones, so we don't know if they can survive steps 2 and 3: surviving the human digestive processes intact and crossing the gut barrier intact.

Lauren Cordain Podcast

Here is an interesting podcast with Lauren Cordain the author of The Paleo Diet book and a long time researcher of the diet of our hunter gatherer ancestors.

http://www.podfeed.net/episode/Super+Human+Radio+Show+-++283+-+The+Paleolithic+Diet+Revisited/1744620

FORAGING IN MY BACK YARD

I just planted 3 trees: pear, cherry and apple.

I also planted blueberry, raspberry and blackberry and gooseberry bushes, and strawberries.

And I stared a garden on 3 plots. The garden is started from seeds. I think I bought every vegetable they had except for beans and tomatoes. Just finished the March plants. I will plant the April plants in 2 weeks.

Looking forward to foraging in my back yard!