The Paleo Diet (19 page)

It is a worrisome fact that we live in a polluted world, and most of us are exposed to a host of toxic compounds. However, the greatest risk to your health is not from environmental pollutants, but from heart disease, diabetes, obesity, stroke, and the associated health disorders of metabolic syndrome.
Eating fish protects you not only from these diseases but from all causes of death, including cancer.
Because fish is one of our greatest sources of omega 3 fats, it can also help prevent depression and improve your mood, as my friend and colleague Dr. Joseph Hibbeln of the National Institutes of Health has shown. In short, fish should be part of your diet.

You should still be prudent when you shop for fish and seafood. Here are a few ways you can minimize your risk of eating contaminated fish:

Fortunately, over the long run, the Paleo Diet’s many fruits and vegetables—and their disease-fighting antioxidants—can help prevent cancers and health problems that are a direct result of our environmentally polluted world.

Yet the possibility of environmental contamination isn’t the only thing you have to worry about when you eat fresh fish and seafood. Another, much bigger concern is simply whether the fish has gone bad. Improper handling and warm temperatures offer great potential for bacterial contamination and spoilage as fish makes its way from wherever it was caught to its eventual place of sale. The freshness clock begins to tick immediately: most fish have a shelf life of seven to twelve days once they’re out of the water. But fish often remain on a boat for five to six days after they’re caught. They may spend another day or two in transit from the processor / wholesaler to the marketplace—and then may sit on a retailer’s display counter for several days more before they are sold. If the fish get too warm during any stage of transport, they’ll spoil even faster. Bacteria are the main culprits in the spoilage process, but enzymes in the fish tissue and even atmospheric oxygen can contribute. Fortunately, spoiled fish release a pungent warning—a compound called “trimethylamine,” which causes the telltale fishy odor associated with bad fish.

Fresh fish is practically odorless. If a fish smells, spoilage is most likely well under way—so stay away from smelly fish. Here are some other tips:

It’s called “aquaculture.” Many species of fish and shellfish—including salmon, trout, catfish, tilapia, carp, eels, shrimp, and crayfish—are produced in closed waters and ponds and fed soy-and cereal-based chows. This is similar to the situation of feedlot-fed cattle. What they eat causes their own meat to be low or deficient in the beneficial omega 3 fatty acids that help make fish so good for us. Numerous scientific studies have demonstrated the omega 3 fatty acid inferiority of farmed fish compared to wild fish.

Farmed fish are usually cheaper to bring to market than wild fish. In the United States, trout—unless you have caught it yourself in the wild—is almost always farmed. Fresh, wild salmon has a marvelous flavor; most farmed salmon is bland-tasting. Decide for yourself. Note: Some farmed fish is labeled as such; most is not. If you don’t know, ask your grocer.

Canned tuna is America’s favorite fish by far. But the canning process causes a number of problems, the least of which is a loss of fresh flavor. This is what happens: the tuna is cooked at high temperatures and then sealed in a can containing salt, vegetable oil, water, or a combination of these three ingredients. The canning process removes 99 percent of the vitamin A found in fresh tuna, 97 percent of the vitamin B
₁
, 86 percent of the vitamin B
₂
, 45 percent of the niacin, and 59 percent of the vitamin B . It also increases the level of oxidized cholesterol in the fish, specifically a molecule called “25-hydroxycholesterol” that is extremely destructive to the linings of arterial blood vessels—so destructive that oxidized cholesterol is routinely fed to laboratory animals to accelerate artery clogging in order to test theories of heart disease. In animal models of atherosclerosis and heart disease, only 0.3 percent of the dietary cholesterol needs to be in the form of oxidized cholesterol to cause premature damage to the arterial linings.

To complete the degradation of this formerly healthy food, the tuna is packed with salt water or vegetable oils, which usually are high in omega 6 fatty acids. If you have the choice, always choose fresh or frozen fish over canned fish. If you do eat canned tuna, try to find brands that are packed in water only (no salt) or in more healthful oils, such as olive. (Most water-packed tuna contains added salt, but this can be removed by soaking the tuna in a shallow pan filled with tap water and then rinsing the fish in a colander under a running tap.)

Eggs are healthful foods; our Paleolithic ancestors ate them seasonally, because they just weren’t available all the time. Several recent studies have shown that eating one egg a day has no discernible effect on your blood cholesterol level and does not increase your risk of heart disease. So go ahead—enjoy a couple of eggs for breakfast every few days.

There’s more good news on the egg front: you can buy chicken eggs that, like the wild bird eggs our ancestors ate, have high levels of omega 3 fatty acids. These enriched eggs—produced when chicken are fed omega 3-enriched feeds—are nutritionally superior and are available at many supermarkets and health food stores.

Because eggs are one of our richest dietary sources of cholesterol, the way they’re cooked influences the level of oxidized cholesterol—which can damage the cells lining your arteries and increase your risk of developing atherosclerosis and heart disease. High heat—like that of a griddle—produces more oxidized cholesterol than slow cooking: poaching, hard-boiling, or baking. When you have the choice, avoid fried eggs.

A recent study demonstrated that eggs from free-range hens had up to 1/3 less cholesterol, ¼ less saturated fat, 2/3 more vitamin A, 2 times more omega 3 fatty acids, 3 times more vitamin E, and 7 times more beta-carotene, than battery-cage eggs.

Similar to the situation with grass-fed, free-range meats, eggs produced from chickens allowed to live and forage freely are more nutritious and healthful than are their factory-produced counterparts. One of the first poultry farmers to recognize the superiority of free-range eggs was my friend George Bass. You can sample George’s eggs at his Web site for the Country Hen below. I also recommend that you visit Jo Robinson’s Web site,
www.eatwild.com
, to find a local producer of free-range eggs near your home.

One of the first changes you’ll notice when you start the Paleo Diet is the large amounts of fresh fruits and veggies that you will need to keep on hand. Note: To help produce stay fresh longer, keep fruits and vegetables covered in plastic bags in your refrigerator.

The constant need to replenish your fresh produce supply gives you a good excuse to explore new venues. Try going to local farmers’ markets in your area. They’re wonderful sources of wholesome, fresh, and delicious fruits and vegetables. They may even inspire you to try growing your own vegetables at home. Also, take this opportunity to try out-of-the-ordinary fruits and vegetables (many are included in the recipes and meal plans in this book). You may want to look for exotic produce in Asian, Far Eastern, and ethnic markets if there are any in your community. As you gradually wean yourself from salty, sugary, and starchy foods, your taste buds will become attuned to the subtle flavors and textures of wonderful real foods.

To be on the safe side, be sure to wash all produce before you eat it (even if it comes in a bag that says it’s been washed). Like fish, fresh produce can contain trace residues of pesticides, heavy metals, or other pollutants. The Food and Drug Administration has monitored the levels of contaminants in the U.S. food supply for almost forty years in a program called the Total Diet Study (you can read about it on the Web at:
vm.cfsan.fda.gov/~comm/tdstoc.html
). The study, which began in 1961, periodically examines more than 230 foods from eight regional metropolitan areas to determine which hidden ingredients—and how much of them—we’re getting in our food. Since its inception, the study has found that our average daily intake of all toxic contaminants—including pesticides, industrial chemicals, heavy metals, and radioactive materials—is well below acceptable limits. Of course, it would be even better if our average daily intake of contaminants were zero, and we could rest assured that our food was completely free of any pollution—but it’s pretty safe to say that this will not happen any time soon.

The bottom line is that fruits and vegetables have much to offer—antioxidants, vitamins, minerals, and all the healing benefits we’ve discussed in this book. We can’t do without them; more than that, they need to play a starring role in our diet.

Nuts and seeds are a good adjunct to the Paleo Diet, but they’ve got a lot of fat, so you need to eat them in moderation. Too many fatty foods—even beneficial nuts and seeds—can rapidly upset your balance of essential dietary fats and derail your weight-loss progress. Throughout the book, we’ve talked about the omegas—omega 6 and omega 3. One kind—omega 6 fats—is not good for you when eaten in excess. The other kind—omega 3 fats—can make you healthier in many ways. The ideal ratio of omega 6 to omega 3 fats should be between 2 and 3 to 1. For most Americans, unfortunately, it’s between 10 and 15 to 1. All nuts and seeds—except for walnuts and possibly macadamia nuts—have unacceptably high omega 6 to omega 3 ratios. This is why you must eat them in small amounts.

But nuts are part of the Paleo Diet. They’re high in monounsaturated fats and have been shown in numerous clinical trials to lower cholesterol. This is why they’re on the diet
in moderate amounts,
so that you can benefit from the good things nuts have to offer. But the high quantities of omega 6 fats in these nuts can also predispose you to heart disease—because they displace the omega 3 fats, which are known to prevent fatal heartbeat irregularities, decrease blood clotting, lower blood triglyceride levels, and reduce the inflammatory profile of prostaglandins and leukotrienes (hormonelike substances that control the inflammation process). Omega 3 fats have also been shown to lessen the symptoms of many inflammatory and autoimmune diseases, including arthritis and inflammatory bowel disease.