Paleo Challenge

Pretty soon Hill Country CrossFit will be having a Paleo Challenge so here is a little heads up on nutrition.

Nutrition is the foundation for all athletic development and essential for achieving elite fitness and health. The CrossFit nutrition prescription in it's simplest terms is "Eat meat and vegetables, nuts and seeds, some fruit, little starch, and no sugar." This ensures that you are eating "real food," the food that our hunter-gatherer ancestors have eaten for millions of years, and avoiding the processed "edible food-like substances" that come in boxes, bags and packages.

Evolution has not kept pace with advances in agriculture and food processing resulting in a plague of health problems for modern man. Coronary heart disease, diabetes, cancer, osteoporosis, obesity and psychological dysfunction have all been scientifically linked to a diet too high in refined or processed carbohydrate. Many have observed that keeping your grocery cart to the perimeter of the grocery store while avoiding the aisles is a great way to improve health. Real food is perishable. The stuff with long shelf life is all suspect. An easy rule is "If you can hunt it or gather it, you can eat it."

If you follow these simple guidelines you will benefit from nearly all that can be achieved through nutrition.

What Should I Eat?
Protein: Fish, Meat, Chicken, Eggs
Carbs: Fruits and Veggies
Fat: Nuts, Seeds, Avocados, Olives and Oils

What Foods Should I Avoid?
Anything that doesn't exist in nature, or has been processed. Corn, rice, bread, candy, potato, sweets, sodas, and most processed carbohydrates. Processing can include bleaching, baking, grinding, and refining. Processing of carbohydrates greatly increases their glycemic index, a measure of their propensity to elevate blood sugar.


What is the Deal With Hormones?
Hormones regulate how the body stores and releases fat. The hormonal response your body has to food determines whether you store fat or burn it. As far as hormones are concerned, food is a drug--a very powerful drug. Consuming low-glycemic foods, that keep insulin levels steady, will allow stored body fat to burned up as a fuel. On the other hand, high-glycemic foods (especially processed carbohydrates) spike insulin levels, raise blood sugar, and send a double wammy message to your body telling it to (1) store calories as fat and (2)block body fat from being used as fuel. The CrossFit prescription is a low-glycemic diet and consequently severely blunts the insulin response.

Caloric Restriction and Longevity
Current research strongly supports the link between caloric restriction and an increased life expectancy. The incidence of cancers and heart disease sharply decline with a diet that is carefully limited in controlling caloric intake. The CrossFit prescription is consistent with this research. The CrossFit prescription allows a reduced caloric intake and yet still provides ample nutrition for rigorous activity.

Silent Inflamation and Fish Oil
Although you can not feel Silent Inflammation, your body mounts a hormonal response in an attempt to dampen its affect at the molecular level. If not contained, you now rapidly accumulate additional body fat. When inflamed fat cells go bad, Silent Inflammation exits the cell, enters the plasma and becomes systemic increasing numerous health risks related to heart, brain and immune function. Silent Inflammation not only makes you fat and keeps you fat, but erodes your wellness.

Ccontrolling and minimizing Silent Inflammation is the desired hormonal foundation for successful weight loss and optimal heart, brain and immune function. You will not only affect your quality of life today, but many years in the future.

Efficient reduction of silent inflammation requires using high dose ultra refined fish oil. These fatty acids aid in thinning the blood, which helps reduce inflammation factors in joints and blood vessels. This allows for better circulation in the heart and brain as well as reducing aches and pains. Omega-3 has also been shown to increase HDL "good cholesterol" levels This may explain why populations that consume the most fish have the lowest rates of autoimmune disorders in the world.


You should aim for .5 grams of EPA + DHA for every 10 lbs of body weight. For example, I weigh 170 lbs, so I should be taking 8.5 grams daily (170 lbs/10 = 17, 17 x .5 = 8.5 grams).



Paleo "YES" foods...
Thank you to Creighton University for providing this list.

LEAN MEATS



Lean beef

Flank steak

Top sirloin steak

Extra-lean hamburger (no more than 7% fat, extra fat drained off)

London broil

Chuck steak

Lean veal

Any other lean cut

Lean pork

Pork loin

Pork chops

Any other lean cut

Lean poultry (skin removed)

Chicken breast

Turkey breast

Game hen breasts

Eggs

Chicken (go for the enriched omega 3 variety)

Duck

Goose

Other meats

Rabbit meat (any cut)

Goat meat (any cut)

Organ meats

Beef, lamb, pork, and chicken livers

Beef, pork, and lamb tongues

Beef, lamb, and pork marrow

Beef, lamb, and pork “sweetbreads”

GAME MEAT

Alligator

Bear

Bison (buffalo)

Caribou

Elk

Emu

Goose

Kangaroo

Muscovy duck

New Zealand cervena deer

Ostrich

Pheasant

Quail

Rattlesnake

Reindeer

Squab

Turtle

Venison

Wild boar

Wild turkey

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 other commercially available fish

SHELLFISH
Abalone

Clams

Crab

Crayfish

Lobster

Mussels

Oysters

Scallops

Shrimp

FRUIT
Apple

Apricot

Avocado

Banana

Blackberries

Blueberries

Boysenberries

Cantaloupe

Carambola

Cassava melon

Cherimoya

Cherries

Cranberries

Figs

Gooseberries

Grapefruit

Grapes

Guava

Honeydew melon

Kiwi

Lemon

Lime

Lychee

Mango

Nectarine

Orange

Papaya

Passion fruit

Peaches

Pears

Persimmon

Pineapple

Plums

Pomegranate

Raspberries

Rhubarb

Star fruit

Strawberries

Tangerine

Watermelon

All other fruits

VEGETABLES
Artichoke

Asparagus

Beet greens

Beets

Bell peppers

Broccoli

Brussels sprouts

Cabbage

Carrots

Cauliflower

Celery

Collards

Cucumber

Dandelion

Eggplant

Endive

Green onions

Kale

Kohlrabi

Lettuce

Mushrooms

Mustard greens

Onions

Parsley

Parsnip

Peppers (all kinds)

Pumpkin

Purslane

Radish

Rutabaga

Seaweed

Spinach

Squash (all kinds)

Swiss chard

Tomatillos

Tomato (actually a fruit, but most people think of it as a vegetable)

Turnip greens

Turnips

Watercress

NUTS AND SEEDS
Almonds

Brazil nuts

Cashews

Chestnuts

Hazelnuts (filberts)

Macadamia nuts

Pecans

Pine nuts

Pistachios (unsalted)

Pumpkin seeds

Sesame seeds

Sunflower seeds

Walnuts



Paleo "NO" Foods...

DAIRY FOODS
All processed foods made with any dairy products

Butter

Cheese

Cream

Dairy spreads

Frozen yogurt

Ice cream

Ice milk

Low-fat milk

Nonfat dairy creamer

Powdered milk

Skim milk

Whole milk

Yogurt

CEREAL GRAINS
Barley (barley soup, barley bread, and all processed foods made with barley)

Corn (corn on the cob, corn tortillas, corn chips, corn starch, corn syrup)

Millet

Oats (steel-cut oats, rolled oats, and all processed foods made with oats)

Rice (brown rice, white rice, top ramen, rice noodles, bas mati rice, rice cakes, Rice flour (all processed foods made with rice)

Rye (rye bread, rye crackers, and all processed foods made with rye)

Sorghum

Wheat (bread, rolls, muffins, noodles, crackers, cookies, cake, doughnuts, pancakes, waffles, pasta, spaghetti, lasagna, wheat tortillas, pizza, pita bread, flat bread, and all processed foods made with wheat or wheat flour)

Wild rice

Cereal Grainlike Seeds

Amaranth

Buckwheat

Quinoa

Legumes

All beans (adzuki beans, black beans, broad beans, fava beans, field beans, garbanzo beans, horse beans, kidney beans, lima beans, mung beans, navy beans, pinto beans, red beans, string beans, white beans)

Black-eyed peas

Chickpeas

Lentils

Peas

Miso

Peanut butter

Peanuts

Snowpeas

Sugar snap peas

Soybeans and all soybean products, including tofu

Starchy Vegetables

Starchy tubers

Cassava root

Manioc

Potatoes and all potato products (French fries, potato chips, etc.)

Sweet potatoes

Tapioca pudding

Yams

SALTY FOODS

Almost all commercial salad dressings and condiments

Bacon

Cheese

Deli meats

Frankfurters

Ham

Hot dogs

Ketchup

Pickled foods

Pork rinds

Processed meats

Salami

Salted nuts

Salted spices

Sausages

Smoked, dried, and salted fish and meat

Virtually all canned meats and fish (unless they are unsalted or unless you soak and drain them)


FATTY MEATS
Bacon

Beef ribs

Chicken and turkey skin

Chicken and turkey wings

Fatty beef roasts

Fatty cuts of beef

Fatty ground beef

Fatty pork chops

Fatty pork roasts

Lamb chops

Lamb roasts

Leg of lamb

Pork ribs

Pork sausage

Soft Drinks and Fruit Juices

All sugary soft drinks

Canned, bottled, and freshly squeezed fruit drinks (which lack the fiber of fresh fruit and have a much higher glvcemic index)


Sweets

Candy

Honey

Sugars

Stone Age Substitutions from The Paleo Diet
Salt: Powdered garlic, powdered onion, lemon juice, lime juice, lemon crystals, lemon pepper free of salt, cayenne pepper, chili powder, commercially available salt-free spice mixes, black pepper, cumin, turmeric, ground cloves, oregano, ground allspice, celery seeds, coriander seeds, ground cardamom seeds, or any spice or combination of spices can be used to replace salt. I do not recommend using any of the so-called "lite" salts or potassium chloride salts because chloride, like sodium, is undesirable when it comes to your health.

Vinegar: Substitute small amounts of vinegar with lemon or lime juice (fresh or reconstituted from fresh).

Butter/Fat: Replace butter, margarine, shortening, lard etc. with olive oil, flaxseed oil, walnut oil, canola oil, or avocado oil. Olive oil has a wonderful flavor and is high in the health promoting monounsaturated fats but generally has a poor omega-6 to omega-3 fat ratio (~13). The same situation exists for avocado oil, and these two oils should be frequently complemented by or blended together with other oils containing better (lower) omega-6 to omega-3 ratios such as flaxseed (0.24), canola (2.0) or walnut (5.1) oils.

Sugars: Concentrated sugars of any kind even natural sugars (honey, maple sugar, date sugar), really were not a staple component in most pre-agricultural diets. Sugars should be obtained primarily from fruits and vegetables and not from concentrated sources. That being said, fruit purees, flavored with lemon juice and spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, mint leaves, ginger, vanilla, and other spices), can be used in recipes to add sweetness to sauces, condiments, and desserts.

Alcohol: Alcoholic beverages were clearly not a component of true Stone Age diets, and should be limited to an occasional glass of wine, beer or spirits as a part of your "open meals." Wine, as long as it does not contain salt (as most cooking wines do), can be used to marinate meats and add flavor to many cooked dishes. When wine is used in this context, the amount of added alcohol and sugar is negligible – furthermore, wine contains a number of health promoting phytochemicals and antioxidants.



Post Work Out
Post workout is the one time we will allow a slight deviation from Paleo. If you are unable to stomach solid foods after training a protein drink is a great alternative. For fast and complete recovery we suggest a post workout protein shake and some sweet potatoes. You should mix the protein with water (aim for 20-30 grams), and eat 3-9 ounces of sweet potatoes. If your primary goal is to decrease body fat and get leaner skip the potatoes. If you just finished Murph, Eva, Badger or other 30+ minute intense workout, go higher on the starches to replace glycogen. Your performance the next day is dependent on it.