Paleo food is nutrient dense!

​What does nutrient dense even mean?

There are only so many calories you can consume in a day - so its a good idea to use those up with nutrient dense foods. Nutrients are vital proteins, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins, minerals and enzymes.

The best way to use up your calorie budget is to simply eat the foods that carry the greatest amount and variety of nutrients.

“The most nutrient dense foods you can eat are organ meats, herbs and spices, nuts and seeds, fish and seafood, beef, lamb, and wild game, eggs, vegetables, and fruits. And those are exactly the foods that a Paleo diet emphasizes!” Chris Kresser

That is a pretty strong argument to following the paleo diet.

Research has shown that our bodies have adapted to these food groups the best, and when consumed we function with vitality, and balance in mental and physical health.

See the chart below for a detailed view on nutrient destiny:

Red meat - the super star!

We are extremely lucky to live in NZ for a number of reasons but one of them is because we have grass fed (sometimes grain finished) red meat.

Basically the principal 'you are what you eat' also applies to the animals we eat. Cows are not designed to eat grains. They are herbivores that thrive on grass.

Depending on the breed of cow, grass-fed beef contains between 2 and 5 times more omega-3s than grain-fed beef.

grass-fed meat compared to grain-fed contains more antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals. Carotenoids, such as beta-carotene, are precursors to vitamin A that are found as pigments in plants. Grain-fed beef does not contain levels of carotenoids, as grains don’t contain them. However, cows that eat carotenoid-rich grass turn these compounds in significant amounts into their tissues. These carotenoids make the fat from grass-fed beef more yellow than the fat from grain-fed beef, so fat colour can be a good indicator of how nutrient-rich your meat is.

Eggs - eat the yolk!

Whole eggs are a nearly the perfect food, with almost every essential vitamin and mineral our bodies need to function. It is one of the few natural food sources of vitamin D and contains 7 grams of high-quality protein. Whole eggs are also full of omega-3 fatty acids and deliver many of the B vitamins and nutrients (B6, B12, riboflavin, folate, and choline) that, in fact, are believed to help prevent heart disease. L-arginine, an amino acid found in eggs, is critical to the body's production of protein and the release of growth hormones. Another amino acid found in eggs, leucine, also helps the body produce growth hormones as well as regulate blood sugar levels. The yolk itself contains most of these vitamins and minerals, plus half of its protein. When you eat only the egg whites, you’re missing out on all of these nutritional benefits. So eat the yolk and never make a rubbery egg white omelet again, Hurray!

Leafy green Veggies & Fruit

Reality is that eating completely organic is a pricy choice. Especially in NZ, where the demand for organic foods is only slowly on the rise, making produce ridiculously expensive. I for myself budget carefully and don't buy everything organic, simply because I cant afford to. But a good indicator, which i follow, is the list:

“Clean fifteen and dirty Dozen”. The list groups vegetables according to their chemical exposure from herbicides and pesticides.

The Dirty Dozen (advised to buy organic only)

1. Apples

2. Celery

3. Strawberries

4. Peaches

5. Spinach

6. Nectarines

7. Grapes

8. Sweet bell peppers

9. Potatoes (not paleo)

10. Blueberries

11. Lettuce

12. Kale

The Clean 15 (lowest in toxic pesticide)

1. Onions

2. Sweet corn (defiantly not paleo)

3. Pineapples

4. Avocado

5. Asparagus

6. Sweet peas

7. Mangoes

8. Eggplant

9. Cantaloupe

10. Kiwifruit

11. Cabbage

12. Watermelon

13. Sweet potatoes

14. Grapefruit

15. Mushrooms

Knowing this helps me make choices on a budget - and sometimes I still just buy normal fruit shop veggies, because in the end, after a good wash, they are still better than a carb loaded nasty alternative.

Why not eat grains like the “food pyramid” tells me to?

With the dawn of the roller mill in 1872, flour became accessible to virtually everyone, though the bran and germ were stripped out, leaving very little of the minuscule nutritional value the grain had to begin with.Surely though, as grains are the centre of our diet, an important source of fibre, and a low-fat staple, the general health of the New Zealand population must have dramatically increased from this novel invention? Or not…

In the last 130 years of increased grain consumption, chronic disease rates have skyrocketed, fertility has fallen and the average weight of the population has steadily risen. The more consumption of grains rose, the more fertility rates fell. Research from the University of Missouri, the average sperm count of American males has dropped 50% since the 1930s. To add insult to impotence, testicle size tends to have an inverse relationship with grain consumption.

when ground into flour the surface area of a grain is increased to 10,000 times the surface area of the grain itself. The resulting high-starch food is biologically similar to consuming pure table sugar. Consider the fact that flour is often mixed with sugar to create recipes and instantly you have a virtual diabetic coma in a bowl.

1.Lectins

These are found in large amounts in grains, legumes (especially soy), and nightshades (potatoes, peppers, tomatoes, eggplant). One theory is that lectins are a natural defence mechanism for plants, in that they make plants very difficult for animals like us to digest. They are sticky, so when they enter your digestive tract, they glue on to your intestinal walls and wreak havoc. They can contribute greatly to leaky gut syndrome, which is when you essentially develop holes in your gut that allow food particles to get into your blood stream. Basically, it’s when your poop gets into places in your body that it’s not supposed to go. Your immune system attacks it and any kind of inflammation (food sensitivities) can happen from there, including autoimmune diseases like celiac and rheumatoid arthritis. Leaky gut has a lot to do with basic gastrointestinal complaints like gas, bloating, and indigestion, which often lead to fatigue, headaches, etc.

2. Phytic acid

This acid actually binds to the magnesium, calcium, zinc and iron in foods and takes those crucial nutrients OUT of our bodies. Along with lectins, phytic acid is considered an anti-nutrient, and is not digestible by humans because we lack the enzyme phytase.

3.Gluten

Gluten is a sticky, water soluble protein that is found in your favorite grains (wheat, rye, barley, etc). Grains like corn, rice and oats have similar proteins that cause problems over time, and gluten free products should not make up for the bread you have lost when going paleo. Rice, Tapioca or corn flour cause a drastic insulin spike - which means you might as well tip white table sugar in a bowl and spoon it.

Gluten and similar grain-based proteins work to break down the microvilli in your small intestine, eventually letting particles of your food leech into your blood stream (leaky gut syndrome) causing allergies, digestive disturbances or autoimmune problems.

On top of that, most modern day grains are a far cry from what our ancestors used to chew on. Corn and wheat has been genetically modified to get greater yields and is smothered in chemicals throughout its growing process. There are numerous studies that these chemicals are link to a whole spectrum of modern day diseases, intolerances and allergies.

These chain-reactions created by grain consumption are shown to increase your risk of:

Various cancers including:

- pancreatic, colon, stomach and lymphoma

- Autoimmune diseases like Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis

- Infertility

- Diabetes

- Obesity

- Arthritis

- Autism

- Depression, Anxiety and Schizophrenia

- Allergies

So now we know that grains can deplete nutrients, cause weight gain and infertility, but don’t they still have nutrients?

Unfortunately, grains do not have the nutritional profile that all the granola-pushing commercials of late make them out to have. It makes much more sense to get your nutrients from foods like vegetables, proteins and healthy fats, and some fruits (Berries are best as they contain the least amount of fructose) which offer much higher nutrient profiles without the drawbacks.

See the chart below and check on my what is paleo? page for more info on what foods to eat and which to avoid.

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