Author - Dee

I run on Dunkin’.  (Although I may not be a coffee drinker anymore after this article.)

Rarely ever do I go to Starbucks for coffee, unless it’s 1) convenient and I need it or 2) Dunkin’ is too far…but now, NEVER AGAIN!  This post will support my decision to never drink Starbucks again; for any Paleo person who occasionally enjoys a Starbucks…you may be disappointed of my findings.  I’m actually scared to look up Dunkin’, but for now – out of site, out of mind.

So it just so happens that Starbucks has pumpkin spice lattes out a little early, way ahead of Dunkin’ Donuts (pumpkin coffee from DD is my weakness).  So for anyone who’s itching to have that pumpkin spice and decides to head over to StealBucks, you may want to keep that car in park for a moment and read this.  Pumpkin Spice Lattes are rumored to be one of the most popular drinks, and for anyone who loves fall and such, I can see why.

What is in a Starbucks Pumpkin Spice latte?  Perhaps, espresso with something pumpkin-y, steamed milk, whipped cream (if you’re into it)…sadly, you are mistaken!  You have been deceived, friends.  This beverage contains NO real pumpkin, just pumpkin pie spices.  That delicious, yummy, warming, pumpkin spice flavor you taste…yeah, well that’s syrup, HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP!  Plus, the sweetened condensed milk, may contain high fructose corn syrup in it, as well.

If you’re into Paleo, you know that artificial coloring, is a no-no.  So caramel coloring is something WE CANNOT HAVE.  In this cup of coffee, it contains, not 1, but 2 doses of the MOST DANGEROUS caramel coloring out there!  It is made with ammonia and considered a carcinogen.  A U.S. government funded study was conducted, and the conclusion was that feeding mice caramel coloring IV ,which contained 4-Mel, (just like the stuff you find in Starbucks products) increased their risk of developing lung cancer and leukemia (in California it is known to cause cancer).  Say what?!  I’m starting to get a headache just writing about this.  The milk they use is from cows that are fed GMO corn and soy.  It also contains a stabilizer that is linked to inflammation and cancer.  If you order the grande, even in your best French accent, it contains 50g of sugar, not to mention 380 calories of nothing!!  That’s not healthy!  You can enjoy your cup of joe with artificial flavors, preservatives, and sulfites; with a side of possible pesticides from non-organic coffee beans!  Are you following me??  And when you think you’re ordering it with soy milk because maybe you’re vegan…well guess what?  That’s not made with vegan’s in mind since the Pumpkin syrup has condensed milk in it!

Starbucks does not sell organic coffee, as fancy as you are fooled to think they are.  Coffee imported from other countries is generally the most heavily chemically treated crop.  So every time you enjoy a nice hot cup of coffee from Starbucks, consider it a cup of dangerous pesticide exposure.  A lot of pesticides and toxins banned here in the U.S., are not banned anywhere else and can be poisonous.  You can forget that decaf too–the coffee beans are soaked in a chemical solution to make them decaf (I’ll have to do more research on it later, though).

Here’s a link to a healthier version of the Pumpkin Spice Latte.

Here’s a link to Dr. Mercola’s article, If You Drink Coffee Make Sure It’s Organic.  It’s a really good, informative read.

I have included links to Starbucks ingredients, as well as the warning about caramel coloring IV.

Takeaway from this post: don’t spend your $5 bucks on a Starbucks death trap!  Go put it in a jar and label it, “Trip to Dublin.”  <—that’s what I’m doing with mine.

“Your life is your message to the world.  Make sure it’s inspiring.”

By now you may have seen the LeBron James photo of him looking very slim.  It is said that he may be following the Paleo lifestyle.  A lot of critics aren’t sure why, an athlete in such great physical condition would adopt such a lifestyle, but as a follower myself, I don’t see the problem.  It’s a protein rich diet that can help athletes maintain optimum performance levels by lowering the wear and inflammation on their bodies and joints.  When someone eats clean-limit carbs, consume lean meats, healthy fats, and absolutely cut out ALL processed foods-it will cause the body to go into a catabolic state, which means our body is naturally burning it’s own fat instead of glucose for fuel.

A lot of athletes and celebs practice Paleo.  It accelerates weight loss, reduces blood pressure, prevents diabetes, heart disease, Alzheimer’s, and cancer.  For athletes on Paleo, they usually adapt it to their needs.  They add more starchy carbs.  Paleo also helps with recovery.

She’s friends with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and she also does Paleo… It’s Megan Fox!  Yes, her good looks and fit body are a product of Paleo.  She avoids alcohol, dairy, and all refined carbs.  Six months after giving birth, she dropped 23lbs.  Also, Jack Osbourne, who has MS, adopted the Paleo lifestyle, and he claims it helps treat it.

“When you stop chasing the wrong things, you give the right things a chance to catch you.”

-Megan Fox-

“But poetry, beauty, romance, love…these are what we stay alive for.”

Robin Williams, thank you.

Does our diet play a roll in our mental health?  It certainly plays a role in our physical health, so why wouldn’t it play a role in our mental health.  From personal experience, I believe it does, at least to a certain extent.  If you’re an emotional eater, it can affect you in a negative way.

The great Robin Williams passed away yesterday after struggling for years with depression.  Mental health has been brought to light because of this tragedy.  Every television station, and every social media outlet has been flashing the suicide prevention hotline (1-800-273-8255).  I guess sometimes people who feel like they may be the only one realize, when things like this happen, that there is help out there and someone willing to listen.  Depression is a very real thing, and if you’re lucky enough to not suffer from it, then you may not truly understand it.  Be a friend to someone.  Just listen and be there for them.

Stress and anxiety turned me into an emotional eater not too long ago.  And I think what some people may not understand, is that when someone is feeling down or overwhelmed, it’s not easy to just “push to the side” or “just get over it”.  I don’t want this post to be entirely about depression, but to tie it into my Paleo journey, I decided to do some research on how diet can affect our mental health.

I scoured the internet to see what I could find.  I found an article on how gluten can cause depression or anxiety.  We know that gluten will cause inflammation in our gastrointestinal tract (I’ve wrote previous posts about this).  This inflammation in the gut will cause an autoimmune response to the gluten protein.  This attack will release cytokines.  They enter our brain causing it to become inflamed, then causing the depression or anxiety.  99% of the population have the genetic potential to have antibodies against gluten, develop.

Okay, so…autoimmune response to the cytokines can affect other organs besides the brain, e.g. joints, lungs, kidneys, heart, and more.  If you haven’t read it yet, even after I have suggested it, go read “Grain Brain” by Dr. David Perlmutter.  It talks about the ties between gluten, sugar, and lactose to Alzheimer’s and depression.

Many factors can lead to depression or anxiety; stress, alcohol, antibiotics, GMOs, sugar, etc.  <–and that my friends is why you should switch to a Paleo lifestyle.  It’s the way to go!  I cannot stress this enough…if you see a product labeled “gluten free”, AVOID THEM!  The wheat in these items is usually replace with rice or corn.  They contain proteins that are very similar to gluten.  Plus, they are highly processed, loaded with sugars, salts, and preservatives.

I also read that people actually diagnosed with celiac, can have psychological symptoms–depression being one of them.  The attack on the proteins can damage the small intestine.  Once it’s damaged, essential vitamins, minerals, and proteins may not be absorbed as well as they should.  This malabsorption consequently leads to depression.  Zinc, tryptophan, and B vitamins are essential nutrients to maintain healthy brain function.  They help produce serotonin <–the thing that keeps us happy.  So perhaps maybe these fancy doctors should focus more on nutrition, than prescribing medication to just help people deal.  Now excuse me while I take my vitamin D, B12, and Zinc.  Sadly, many doctors think nutritional deficiencies are unrelated to depression.

If we really want to take care of ourselves, we should really focus on feeding our bodies in order to achieve optimal physical and mental health.   In “Grain Brain”, you will read how consuming grains causes degenerative brain disorders.  He supports a Paleo lifestyle, but in his Grain Brain diet, he allows for small amounts of diary, legumes, and gluten free grains such as rice and quinoa a few times a week.  Diet alone will not solve all the problems; if you’re suffering, please talk to someone.

Depression and diet create a vicious cycle.  Depression leads to poor motivation –> then you emotionally eat –> then you feel bad you ate the way you did –> you eat more –> you end up feeling more down.  If you eat right, you can get your energy levels up, and squash some of those down feelings.  Cut out processed foods and alcohol.  Increase your intake of serotonin rich foods — kiwis, plantains, bananas, sour cherries, pineapples, and tomatoes — to name a few.

“You’ll have bad times,
but it’ll always wake you up to the good stuff you weren’t paying attention to.”

–Robin Williams as Sean Maguire, Good Will Hunting-

Friday, August 9, was my one year anniversary! Paleo Strong! Can’t believe where I was last year, compared to where I am this year. It’s been amazing so far!

It’s crazy how I have just adopted this as the way it is…me…out of all people. If you asked me a year ago about it, I would have told you I would have to be crazy to change…well, I guess I’m crazy then. 🙂

There is a frightening statistic about how many people in America are diabetic or pre-diabetic. There is a direct correlation to the disease and diet.  I read a study that compared the Paleo diet to the Mediterranean diet in people with type 2 diabetes. Basically, the big difference between the two, is grains and dairy are NOT discouraged in the Mediterranean diet. They discovered that people who followed the Mediterranean diet showed little to no improvement with the diabetes symptoms; anyone who followed Paleo actually showed reverse symptoms to diabetes, and at the end of the study, had normal glucose levels.  Celiac and Diabetes are connected, in that, 1% of the population has celiac and 10% of people with type 1 diabetes, have celiac.  But some articles I have read do say to get tested for celiac and a gluten intolerance before eliminating them completely.

“I can. I will. End of story.”

This post took me a few days to do the research, and here it is!  I know you’ve all been waiting.  I am not a doctor, nor do I have any medical training; my posts are based on research and personal experience.

Hashimoto’s Disease is a type of hypothyroidism where the thyroid function is reduced.  It was one of the first autoimmune diseases ever discovered, and it was discovered by Hakaru Hashimoto in 1912.  Blood tests can be done to see if you have it, although it is often misdiagnosed as depression, PMS, chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, or an anxiety disorder.  These tests haven’t really evolved yet.  The only way it really shows concern in a blood test is when it’s in an advanced stage.  Stool analysis is said to be a much more sensitive test in it’s ability to detect a problem.  Dr. Kenneth Fine used this method and concluded that 35% of Americans are gluten intolerant, that’s 1 in 3!  A horrible statistic for a country where refined flour is consumed in huge amounts.

The tie between gluten and Hashimoto’s is this…”the molecular structure of gliadin, which is the main protein of gluten, closely resembles that of the thyroid gland.”  So when you eat gluten, it permeates your intestines and leaks into your gut.  The immune system then goes into defense mode and attacks it.  If you suffer from a thyroid disease and you consume foods with gluten, your immune system will attack the gluten and your thyroid.  The consumption of any gluten can lead to a 6 month long attack on your thyroid!  It will be more than necessary to eliminate gluten 100%.

Celiac disease and gluten intolerance are undetected quite often.  There is a huge misunderstanding as to what these issues actually do to the body.  It’s more than just a digestive issue.  In previous posts I address other issues that gluten intolerance can cause.  Based on personal experience, I believe that we would all be better off going Paleo, or completely gluten free, at the very least.  Try it for 30 days.  Eliminate as much as you can: gluten, dairy, grains, legumes, processed foods.  After the 30 days you can start reintroducing things and see where you stand.

Beware!  A lot of products contain hidden gluten.  Do your research and be pro active when food shopping or going out to eat.
Here’s a few examples:

• Soy sauce – fermented wheat
• Sauces and soups – often thickened with flour
• Condiments – gluten is used as a stabilizer and thickener
• Asian food – sauces contain gluten
• Licorice – contains wheat (there are gluten free options)
• Seitan or “fake” meat products – contain wheat protein – seitan is pure gluten
• Vegan cheese – many contain gluten
• Oats – naturally gluten free, but more often than not, cross contaminated
• Barley and malt – sweetener in chocolate, carob, candy, coolers, and hard lemonade

I read that wheat flour can actually stay in the air for up to 24 hours.  It is recommended that you should be careful when using shared kitchen utensils and appliances.  Also, wooden cutting boards are porous and the gluten can actually get trapped!  Terrible for someone who may suffer greatly from consuming even the smallest amount of gluten.

Read your labels, ask your questions, and use logic!  At first, your transition to gluten free or paleo may be rough, but stick with it!  You will eventually be more aware of the benefits of not eating gluten.  Feel empowered by the food choices you make.  They are good for you and make you feel good!

Paleo was, and still is, one of the fairest choices I’ve made for my body.  I know some people can’t conform to saying they have gone Paleo, but you can just consider it – morally, ethically, spiritually, physically, positively, absolutely, undeniably and reliably (name that movie!) – 100% gluten free!!

“You can’t out-exercise a bad diet.”

Everything in this post is based on my own personal observations.

Okay, so I decided to watch some Paleo/diet debates.  First thing I noticed, the person who is against Paleo is always on the high “energy” end.  They get so worked up.  Second thing I noticed, the only thing people who are against Paleo can really debate with someone who is for Paleo is usually the definitions of some of the terms used; processed foods, anti nutrients, etc.  I saw a debate where they said that when you kill a cow and cook it, that it then becomes processed food.  Well, no.  Foods packaged in cans or boxes are processed.  If the list of ingredients is long or hard to pronounce, the more processed the foods are.  Additives and artificial flavors are things you would find in processed foods.  Here’s a good example: avocado oil, olive oil, and nut oils can be obtained by using a cold press, whereas canola oil, soybean oil, or other types of vegetable oils go through a chemical extraction, bleaching, and deodorizing.  So any food containing those processed oils, are bad news.  But now you see why part of the Paleo lifestyle includes olive oil or the nut oils.  Ghee is minimally processed (yes, minimally processed), and it’s a must-have for Paleo-goers.  Plus, you can make ghee at home, and you don’t need fancy equipment.  Why can’t we eat grains?  Because grains are highly processed.  Humans can’t actually digest grains without them going through extensive processing.

I will still stand by the fact that every single person needs to find out what works for them.  If you stick to a strict 30 days of Paleo, you can then introduce things back into your diet, such as dairy.  If it works, then great, if it doesn’t, then you know.  People get a little hung up on the idea of a “caveman diet”.  Calm down, people!  Obviously, we are lucky enough to not have to go out and hunt for our own food, or move huge boulders to make shelters, but what we can do is mimic cavemen to modern standards.  Living Paleo is comparable with someone who is vegan, or gluten free, or someone who follows the famed “South Beach Diet”, in that, we do and eat what we want because that’s what works and it’s what we believe in.

I am a perfect case example of why Paleo could work for some people.  I’m not into diets, and I’m not the hugest fan of working out.  I have stated facts and examples of ailments I had, and I’ve told you what becoming Paleo and doing research has done for them.  I will reiterate some of them now…I was sick so often, once I went Paleo I managed to remain healthy.  I lost a bunch of weight in a healthy way and have been able to maintain the weight loss.  I have more energy, considering I work an overnight shift.  My cryptic tonsils are no longer an issue having eliminated dairy.  My joints have not been achy and sore since stopping my gluten intake.  My eczema has cleared up so much that it’s almost completely gone!  Migraines?  Thing of the past.  Need I continue?  If you’re interested in what else it’s fixed, I suggest you go back and read my old posts.

“If you keep good food in your fridge, you will eat good food.”

For anything you do that you want to succeed at, there is a formula you must follow.  Remember, the formula is different for each individual.  It may take time, but you’ll get there…I think I finally figured mine out.  (although it could use some tweaking)

So in order to successfully live the Paleo way, you must recognize that we are eliminating certain foods, so in turn, we need to replace the nutrients some other way.  I’ll explain…

Numero uno:  Dairy

We have eliminated dairy having adopted a Paleo lifestyle.  This means we will need to get calcium in our diet.  Calcium is important for new bone growth and keeping our bones strong!  You can easily incorporate this in your diet by eating collard greens, kale, broccoli, spinach, or even canned sardines.

Numero dos:  Grains and Potatoes

This makes you miss out on complex carbs.  These are a main source of fuel for our bodies.  Fruits and foods packed with vitamin D and omega 3 will help you get the boost you need!  This will also help raise your serotonin levels and give you fiber.  Sweet potatoes and turkey meatballs makes for a pretty good meal, if I do say so myself.

Numero tres:  Legumes

You need to make sure you get fiber — both soluble, and insoluble.  Each one has a different function.  To allow the body to absorb more nutrients, soluble fiber will make you feel full and will slow digestion.  As for insoluble, well let’s just say this helps with movement.  Sayonara constipation!  Fiber’s pretty easy to get into your diet.  Most of the veggies we consume are great sources of fiber.  Brussels sprouts and bacon, anyone?

“I don’t count calories, I count chemicals.”

First and foremost, for anyone who lives in NJ/NYC, there is a Paleo Presentation tomorrow, Wednesday, July 23, 7:15PM at Family Chiropractic Center of Bayonne — 734 Broadway, Bayonne, New Jersey 07002.  Dr. Noah and Dr. Mike will be rocking the house!  They are also starting a 30 Day Paleo Challenge on August 4…so what are you waiting for?!  Noah posted THIS video…go check it out!

So over the weekend I was hanging out with Noah.  He had made some lamb fries (aka lamb balls), and well…when in Rome.  haha!  They tasted like pork, not bad; I had more trouble getting over the fact that they were lamb balls.  I believe he said he got them from U.S. Wellness Meats, just in case anyone was interested in trying them.

Paleo is a lifestyle, not a diet (you don’t know how many times I’ve had to try to defend myself).  I have fully accepted and embraced this concept. People always pull the, “So what do you eat?  Twigs and berries?”  I usually end up just asking what they like to eat, and responding with, “I can eat that, too!”  Conversation usually ends there.   People can be such haters…eesh.  Don’t let them get you down though.

I’m working on compiling some recipes of my own.  Last night I made a beef stew!  Holy delicious!  I made sure to write it all down after I ate it and realized how good it was.  Amazing how much my cooking skills have improved.  I would really like to put together a cookbook…I have some good material so far.  I’m starting to understand the ingredients I’m using, so that’s a big help to creating recipes.

“Do not be too timid and squeamish about your actions.  All life is an experiment.”
-Ralph Waldo Emerson-