The Paleo Diet Cookbook: More than 150 recipes for Paleo Breakfasts, Lunches, Dinners, Snacks, and Beverages (4 page)
Authors: Loren Cordain
BOOK: The Paleo Diet Cookbook: More than 150 recipes for Paleo Breakfasts, Lunches, Dinners, Snacks, and Beverages
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Although you will entirely eliminate three food groups (grains, dairy, and legumes) along with processed foods, you will be amazed at the astonishing diversity of healthy and delicious foods that you may never have considered. Let’s examine these incredibly varied foods.
One of the essential concepts of the Paleo Diet is to eat animal food at nearly every meal. But the key idea here is one of quality and freshness. Always try to eat your meat, fish, poultry, and seafood as fresh as possible. Fresh is almost always best, followed by frozen; stay away from canned, tinned, processed, smoked, or salted animal foods. When it comes to beef, pork, and chicken, free-ranging, grass-fed, or pasture-produced meats are best, albeit a bit pricey. Try your local farmers’ market or go to my friend Jo Robinson’s Web site,
www.eatwild.com/
to find a farmer or a rancher in your vicinity who can supply you with unadulterated, grass-produced meats.
www.eatwild.com/
to find a farmer or a rancher in your vicinity who can supply you with unadulterated, grass-produced meats.
Ninety-nine percent of the beef, pork, and chicken produced in the United States comes from enormous feedlots, which sometimes contain up to a hundred thousand animals. The driving force behind feedlot-produced meat is almost purely economic. The objective of these huge corporate agribusinesses is to turn out the largest, heaviest animals possible as rapidly as possible with the least amount of feed. To accomplish this goal, the animals are confined in small spaces, where they get little exercise and are fed unlimited amounts of grain. Does this situation sound familiar?
The end result is not pretty. Feedlot-produced cattle maintain a four- to six-inch layer of white fat covering their entire body. These artificial products of modern agriculture are overweight and sick. Their muscles are frequently infiltrated with fat, which we call marbling, a trait that improves flavor but makes the cattle insulin-resistant and unhealthy, just like humans. Because feedlot-raised animals are exclusively fed grains (corn and sorghum) in the last half of their lives, their meat is concentrated with omega 6 fatty acids at the expense of health-promoting omega 3 fatty acids.
The bottom line is that the nutritional characteristics of feedlot-produced meat are generally inferior to those of meat from grass-fed or free-ranging animals. However, as was the case in my first book, I still believe that some, but not all, of these meats can be a healthy part of the Paleo Diet, particularly if you try to obtain the leaner cuts and eat fatty fish like salmon a few times a week. The table below shows the differences in total fat and protein content between lean and fatty cuts of meat.
In the first edition of
The Paleo Diet
, I was steadfast in my advice that you should steer clear of fatty processed meats like bologna, bacon, hot dogs, lunch meat, salami, and sausage. That message still holds true, and you can see from the table that processed meats are more like fat disguised as meat. Processed meats are synthetic mixtures of meat and fat; they are artificially combined at the meatpacker or butcher’s whim with no consideration for the actual fatty acid profile of the wild animals our Stone Age ancestors ate. Besides their unnatural fatty acid compositions (high in omega 6 fatty acids, low in omega 3 fatty acids, and high in saturated fatty acids), fatty processed meats contain preservatives called nitrites and nitrates, which are converted into powerful cancer-causing nitrosamines in our gut. Furthermore, these unnatural meats are typically laced with salt, high-fructose corn syrup, grains, and other additives that have many undesirable health effects.
The Paleo Diet
, I was steadfast in my advice that you should steer clear of fatty processed meats like bologna, bacon, hot dogs, lunch meat, salami, and sausage. That message still holds true, and you can see from the table that processed meats are more like fat disguised as meat. Processed meats are synthetic mixtures of meat and fat; they are artificially combined at the meatpacker or butcher’s whim with no consideration for the actual fatty acid profile of the wild animals our Stone Age ancestors ate. Besides their unnatural fatty acid compositions (high in omega 6 fatty acids, low in omega 3 fatty acids, and high in saturated fatty acids), fatty processed meats contain preservatives called nitrites and nitrates, which are converted into powerful cancer-causing nitrosamines in our gut. Furthermore, these unnatural meats are typically laced with salt, high-fructose corn syrup, grains, and other additives that have many undesirable health effects.
FAT AND PROTEIN CONTENT
(Percentage of Total Calories in Lean and Fatty Meats)
(Percentage of Total Calories in Lean and Fatty Meats)
With the Paleo Diet I encourage you to eat as much high-quality real animal foods that you can get your hands on. Obviously, the closer you can get to wild, the better off you’ll be when it comes to the fatty acid profile and the nutrient content of your meat. Game meat is not necessary for the Paleo Diet, but if you want to be adventuresome, try some. It’s nutritious and adds a unique flavor and twist to any Paleo meal. Game meat is pricey (unless you hunt or know hunters), and typically only available at specialty markets, farmers’ markets, and certain butcher stores.
Use the following list to help you select healthy meats for the delicious recipes in the chapters that follow.
LEAN MEATSLEAN BEEF• Flank steak• Top sirloin steak• Extra-lean hamburger (extra fat drained off)• London broil• Chuck steak• Lean veal• Any other lean cutLEAN LAMB• Grass-fed lamb chops from Australia or New Zealand• Grass-fed lamb roasts from Australia or New ZealandLEAN PORK• Pork loin• Pork chops• Any other lean cutLEAN POULTRY (white meat, skin removed)• Chicken breast• Turkey breast• Game hen breastOTHER MEATS• Rabbit meat (any cut)• Goat meat (any cut)• EscargotORGAN MEATS• Beef, lamb, pork, and chicken liver• Beef, pork, and lamb tongue• Beef, lamb, and pork marrow• Beef, lamb, and pork sweetbreadsGAME MEAT• Alligator or crocodile• Bear• Bison or buffalo• Caribou• Elk• Emu• Frog legs• Goose• Kangaroo• Muscovy duck• New Zealand Cervena deer• Ostrich• Pheasant• Quail• Rattlesnake• Reindeer• Squab• Squirrel• Turtle• Venison• Wild boar• Wild turkey
Fish, seafood, and shellfish are some of the healthiest animal foods you can eat, and they are a cornerstone of the Paleo Diet because they are rich sources of the healthy long-chain omega 3 fatty acids known as EPA and DHA. Fatty fish, such as salmon, mackerel, and herring, are particularly rich in both of these long-chain omega 3 fatty acids. Try to include fish in your menu at least three times a week. Here’s a list of fish and shellfish that are key players in any modern-day version of the Paleo Diet.
FISH• Bass• Bluefish• Cod• Drum• Eel• Flatfish• Grouper• Haddock• Halibut• Herring• Mackerel• Monkfish• Mullet• Northern pike• Orange roughy• Perch• Red snapper• Rockfish• Salmon• Scrod• Shark• Striped bass• Sunfish• Tilapia• Trout• Tuna• Turbot• Walleye• Any commercially available fish
SHELLFISH• Abalone• Calamari (squid)• Crab• Crayfish• Lobster• Mussels• Octopus• Oysters• Scallops• Shrimp
In addition to being an excellent source of EPA and DHA, fish and seafood represent one of our best high-protein foods. The high protein content of the Paleo Diet is central to many of its weight-loss benefits. Protein helps you to lose weight more rapidly by raising your metabolism while simultaneously curbing your hunger. Additionally, protein lowers your total blood cholesterol concentrations as it simultaneously increases the good HDL molecules that rid your body of excessive cholesterol. Finally, protein stabilizes blood sugar and reduces the risk of high blood pressure, stroke, heart disease, and certain cancers.
Although eggs are a relatively high-fat food (62 percent fat, 34 percent protein) and are one of the most concentrated sources of dietary cholesterol (212 milligrams per egg), almost all recent scientific studies have concluded that regular egg consumption (seven per week) does not increase the risk for heart disease. You can now find eggs at your local supermarket that are enriched with the healthy long-chain omega 3 fatty acids, EPA and DHA. So go ahead and enjoy this highly nutritious food; just don’t overdo it.
The ground rules for fruits and veggies on the Paleo Diet are pretty simple. If you are lean and healthy, eat as much of these nutritious foods as you like, but make sure they are as fresh as you can get them. The only banned vegetables are potatoes and corn. Potatoes are excluded because they maintain high glycemic loads that may adversely affect your blood sugar and insulin levels. Corn actually is not a vegetable, but rather is a grain, and like all other grains was not a staple component of preagricultural diets.
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