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Category Archives: Sugar
A Better Tasting Cookie and The Fall of The Roman Empire
We nutrition geeks like to immerse ourselves in the science. We debate nutrient ratios, plant-animal caloric balance, sustainability, and the all-important question of whether the modern day cantaloupe even remotely resemble its ancient sisters. All pressing issues that no one standing around the water cooler at the local gym has ever discussed. So I relish those moments when someone has the guts to finally stand up and state the “real” issue with the Paleo diet: Our cookies suck! Honestly, they do. In all our years of extolling the virtues of lean meats, fresh fruits, vegetables, and unprocessed foods, we’ve forgotten…
Easy With That Salt Shaker: The Effect of Dietary Salt On Sleep
INTRODUCTION Got sleep? Fact is many of us have a problem sleeping. You probably fall into one category, either being unable to sleep, or not getting enough sleep. In actuality, “counting sheep” and staring at the clock may be the favorite pastimes of many adults. Poor sleep quality, and associated sleep disorders like insomnia remain at the foremost of global health issues. For many, a common solution to tiredness entails having a daily fix of caffeine. Yet, the negative effects of caffeine on the heart, as well as the importance of sleep in regulating chemical imbalances within the brain, cannot…
5 Simple Tips to Expand Your Paleo Palate
Have you ever wondered why cilantro tastes like soap to 10% of the population,1 or why pregnant women suffer from food aversions2, or why children are such picky eaters?3 Although seemingly random, all of these are related by the origin of our complex sense of taste. Taste was a necessary evolutionary tool to prevent our hunter-gatherer ancestors from eating poisonous foods.4 The five basic tastes- bitter, salty, sour, sweet, and umami (savory) each work through specialized receptors on our taste buds to ensure our survival.5 However, in modern times they may be leading us down the wrong path. The processed food…
Does Fructose Promote Overeating?
In the early 1980s, public health authorities began warning that saturated fat was driving obesity and various degenerative diseases. During this same period, high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) rose to prominence, sneaking itself into processed foods, especially sodas, cookies, and cakes. Saturated fat consumption fell. Sugar consumption and overall caloric intake rose. Obesity, metabolic syndrome, type-2 diabetes, and other diet-related diseases got worse. These disturbing facts have prompted nutrition scientists to begin investigate fructose (a primary type of sugar) as a possible driver of the obesity crisis. Does fructose uniquely promote overeating? Does fructose affect satiety differently than other sugars, particularly…
Rage of Ages: Advanced Glycation End Products
If you were to walk into your local physician or general practitioner’s office and ask them about the connection between nutrition and health, most would toe the party line and tell you that a diet high in plant foods and low in animal proteins and fat is the way to go – end of story! If you were to dare to probe more deeply and ask your doctor about the glycemic index and how it influences your health, most would stare off blindly into space or ignore your question because many of them are unaware of this concept. It is…
Autoimmune Disease: Drawing the Lines of Defense
The case for the Paleo Diet continues to grow as the modern diet leads to an epidemic of modern health problems. Over the last three decades, epidemiological data provide strong evidence of a steady rise in autoimmune disease, where the body fails to recognize the difference between its own cells and foreign invaders.1 We have to wonder why more people than ever are afflicted with the following conditions: multiple sclerosis, type 1 diabetes, inflammatory bowel diseases (mainly Crohn’s disease), systemic lupus erythematosus, primary biliary cirrhosis, myasthenia gravis, autoimmune thyroiditis, hepatitis and rheumatic diseases, bullous pemphigoid, and celiac disease.2 Indicators, based…
Nutrition Divided: Low-Fat vs. High-Fat Diet
The amount of debate in the nutrition field has never been greater.1, 2, 3 As Americans (and everyone in the world) gets progressively more obese, we seem to be digging into our respective trenches, saying ‘this diet or that diet will cure all ills’.4, 5 This is a sad waste of resources, and a little bit irresponsible, especially in a field where the endgame should be helping people – not furthering one’s own agenda. Sure, you may say I’m biased as well, writing this piece for The Paleo Diet. But the bottom line is, I care about people’s health more…
Paleo’s Promising Effects on Menstrual Cramps, PMS, and PMDD
“I’m cranky when I have my period; I feel awful and I just want to stay home in bed.” “I have such horrible cramps during my time of the month which puts me so on edge, I can’t stand to be around anyone. Every little thing drives me nuts!” Do these sound familiar? No need to be sheepish, it’s more common than you think! In fact, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists estimates that at least 85% of menstruating women have at least one PMS symptom as part of their monthly cycle, and most of these women have fairly…
Mom, Can I Eat It? The Slippery Slope of Food Choices for Paleo Kids
“Can I try the bread,” my four year old asks me, when our server automatically delivers it to our table. It was the first time she asked to eat a grain, when I didn’t have a Paleo-friendly alternative, such as an almond flour cupcake at a celebration, and I felt ill-prepared to answer. I had a split second to make a decision: if I said no what message would that send, and if I said yes what implications would that have on future choices? How do you discern when your Paleo child will eat grains? Hunter-gatherers didn’t have to navigate…
Eat Your Vegetables!
There may not be a more agreed-upon nutritional choice, across the board, than daily intake of vegetables. From our parents, to our grandparents, we likely always heard “eat your vegetables” at every meal.
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