Paleo Quick Tip of the Day #81 Do NOT be Resistant to Starch!

pqtd 81  Do not be resistant to starch

The Paleo, low carb diet- this is what it started out to be.

But, the great thing about the paleo diet, and how it has evolved, is that it is largely completely open to new science, and will adapt!

Unlike conventional diet advice, or those of vegetarians, vegans, and other hardcore “cultists”, as I see them.  And so, of course, this puts standard medical advice, like low fat, low calorie, food pyramid, USDA type of advice in the CULT camp!

Which it is, since they keep on keepin’ on with what they’ve been saying for 50 plus years, despite all evidence to the contrary!

YOUR GUT KITTENS!

Not to intentionally inject politics into this, but it’s like saying that Obamacare has been a great success, over and over, in spite of all of the overwhelming evidence that proves it has NOT been a success in any way, shape, or form!  It failed, it is failing, and it will continue to fail!  Sorry, but the truth is the truth.

Just as conventional medical advice has failed, is failing, and will continue failing, since it is based on proven errors, that can be documented scientifically, over and over.  Sorry, old MD’s that don’t like it, but you bought into a lie- it’s time to acknowledge it at last...

But, onto my point- as I said, the original point of the paleo diet was that we were (and are) vastly overfed on processed carbs in the modern diet!

And this was, and is, very true!!

But then, the die-hard believers went too far (as earlier did the low-fat proselytizers) and recommended eliminating carbs as much as possible.

This turned out to be a mistake.  Although the ketogenic diet can be very therapeutic for certain medical conditions, such as Epilepsy and even Parkinson’s, it can become harmful if followed exclusively long term!

Why?  Our microbiome, the tiny microbes or “bugs” that live within us, particularly in our guts...they actually comprise about 80% of our total volume of cells in total!  We are less “us” than we are “them”, to be honest.  And without them in synchrony, in harmony, and well-nourished and thriving:

WE will not be thriving!  Our gut micro-biome is that important!!

So- we want to be healthy, we want our guts to be healthy so we will be healthy- what should we do??

We need to eat carbs- NOT processed carbs like in the SAD Standard American Diet, but in green leafy vegetables, leeks and onions are particularly rich in pre-biotic starch, sweet potatoes, and some white potato is good as well!

In other words, we need to feed our little “gut buddies”- our “PETS” if you will!  And then, they will feed US, by digesting these (to us) undigestible fragments, and then protecting us from bad microbial invaders!

The bad microbes tend to be fed ideally (for them) by the processed, fast food type carbs that everyone should try to avoid at all costs.  Things like grains, sugars, Taco Bell- you get the idea.  Bad microbes prefer bad food. Good, beneficial, Ben Carson types of microbes prefer real food.

The star food you probably don’t know about, just as you didn’t probably know about Ben Carson a few weeks ago??

DRUMROLL!.......           POTATO STARCH!!

Really!  Bob’s Red Mill has a widely available brand that you can get almost anywhere- it is a powder made from the potato, but it is in an undigestible form for us humans, unless it is heated and cooked. That’s why it is made- as a thickener for soups and gravies and such...

BUT DON’T HEAT IT!

I really really, really want you to eat it, but raw, so your good, wonderful, gut buddies can eat it and prosper, to help you live long and prosper!

“But Jay, Jay- how can I do that PaleoJay!!??”  I hear you querying.

“A Green Paleo Smoothie!” I respond in the deep voice of Zeus.

Really- sorry for the hyperbole (that’s just me), but a green smoothie, whipped up in a Vitamix, is just loaded with prebiotics that according to the most recent research are the most potent form of health production you can find!

So, just do it.  Get a Vitamix- click on the link at www. paleojay.com to get one without shipping charges- they are expensive enough without that!  Then, make yourself a daily, Paleo Green Smoothie (the recipe is also available at www.paleojay.com and in Perfectly Paleo Exercise the ebook and Paleo Quick Start, all available anywhere ebooks are sold); but it is also free on the website itself.

Soon, I will release a real honest to God real book with all of this in it, but until that halcyon day, just start making smoothies, low on fruit high on veggies and spices and fats, cut the processed crap, and eat real foods!

YOUR ALL IMPORTANT GUT FRIENDS WILL THANK YOU!!

Check out this episode!

PaleoJay's Smoothie Cafe #73 A Healthy Gut means a Slim Body and a Happy Mind

How cute- HAPPY gut flora- happy gut buddies!!

Did you know that, if you get and maintain a healthy GUT, you will get and maintain a healthy weight, that is a healthy body composition of low fat to more muscle?  This is the fascinating stuff that is emerging from new research, and the studying of past research from the 1950’s…

It seems that of the many beneficial strains of intestinal bacteria, or “gut bugs” that live within each and every one of us, there are some bacteria “gut buddies” that help us to maintain a healthy weight of less fat!  When these bacteria are killed off, via antibiotics, we are unable to regulate this healthy ratio of fat to lean tissue- thus, WE GET FAT!

The other way we inadvertently kill these beneficial “fat regulator gut buddies” is by eating a processed food diet, with none of the resistant starches to
feed them- if we eat a corn/soy/corn syrup diet, we feed exactly the wrong, bad microbes that we do NOT want in our guts- the ones that make us fat, and SICK.  You know, the diabesity foods that lead us down the now all-too-typical path of fat gain, disinclination to movement and exercise, depression, more fat gain, pre-diabetes, diabetes, and ultimately heart disease and/or cancer…

Back in the early 1950’s, there were experiments sponsored by pharmaceutical companies that determined that the new antibiotic drugs were effective for weight gain- first it was tried on chickens, and then cattle…  this is the reason antibiotics were originally introduced in cattle feed!    It was not to prevent disease- back then most cattle did not get sick, since they were raised on grass, in typical farms of open air grazing and humane treatment, which kept them healthy.  But, too skinny and lean from the farmer’s point of view- after all, the fatter he could get those cattle, the more money they brought at the sale barn.  So, the new antibiotic feed was in great demand- it made the cattle FAT!

They really didn’t know how the drug made the animals fat- they were just glad it did… it was later that they realized that, since the antibiotics also had the effect of preventing disease under unsanitary conditions, that the CAFO model of animal farming reared its ugly head-

NOW ANIMALS COULD BE CLOSELY CONFINED, FATTENED QUICKLY AND CHEAPLY VIA GRAIN FEEDING, AND THEY COULD BE KEPT ALIVE LONG ENOUGH TO SLAUGHTER!

All thanks to these miracle drugs put in their feed…

Then, there were also experiments done on humans- and the results were the same!  Humans also got much bigger and fatter!!  (Remember: this was in the 1950’s, when bigger was better!  They all wanted to be BIG!)  Nowadays, when almost everybody is big and fat, right down to the kids, we all want the opposite, and rightfully so.

And now, we know just why  the drugs work for fattening animals (and humans), or at least are starting to figure it out- certain strains of gut bacteria are being killed, and other bad strains are being cultured, the first by the drugs, and the second by a bad, grain and sugar based diet.

A tip of the hat to Angel Coppola at www.latestinpaleo.com for going into depth on all of this on his latest podcast, Latest in Paleo, which I highly recommend.  Check it out for more in depth on this topic…

But as a takeaway, remember this- a healthy gut biome means a healthy you!

And so, consume fermented foods, like sauerkraut, naturally fermented pickles, and kimchee… put potato starch in you daily green paleo smoothie- that is key-it feeds your healthy gut bugs better than anything- eat some resistant starch like Uncle Ben’s parboiled (converted) rice- cook it, and then freeze and reheat for a more effective prebiotic, meaning it feeds the beneficial gut microbes so they can multiply, and thereby stop YOU from multiplying your fat cells!

I have an interesting side note to offer on this topic, my own N=1 experiment on myself:  since adding in potato starch to my smoothie, with no other changes in my otherwise quite healthy lifestyle, my waist has dropped a full inch… and I thought I didn’t really have any fat to lose!  Rather startling, really- and just by feeding my gut buddies well for about a month or so.  I believe it was visceral fat;  the kind that is deep within and around the organs- not really visible, but the most damaging kind… and so, good riddance visceral fat!

The one other thing I’d like to say, is this: that by feeding and healing your gut fauna, by including ample prebiotic food for them in the form of potato starch and other resistant starches like the reheated parboiled rice and green bananas, you are allowing these beneficial little microbes to regulate your weight properly; but you are also letting them influence your mind  as well!  You will find that you are much calmer, much more “in the moment” in daily living, and also you will have very interesting, compelling, lucid dreams on a nightly basis…

At least I, in my experiment of one, have had these results.  Last night, my daughter came over (in my dream) with a 150 pound little elephant, and the next thing I knew we were leading it on an expedition up a huge hill…  it was really fun, and we both loved that little elephant…

YOUR DREAMS MAY NOT CONTAIN ELEPHANTS!!

But that’s OK- all dreams are fun, and I believe are manifestations that our subconscious is healthy and happy, and communicating with our conscious mind.  And they are great fun as well!  I look forward to my “other night life” quite a bit now, and it makes going to bed early and getting my ideal 8 and 1/2 hours of nightly restorative sleep all the more appealing!  The dreams are much better than network television!!

So, shed your fat, build your brain and psyche, and get down with your sleep!  Just avoid antibiotics as much as possible, feed your gut buddies, and build your health along with that of your little “friends” within.

J

P.S.  We Love You!!

Your gut buddies