What You Could Buy to Stock a Paleo Kitchen

So after the New Year you feel inspired to try a new diet. You've chosen the Paleo diet; seems to be popular. Good for you, you’re taking a big step towards better health and more energy. But as you survey your kitchen, you realize that your refrigerator contains nothing healthy.

Lets see, I have plenty of beer, processed cold cuts, condiments; my freezer is full of precooked industrial products; the pantry is full of bread and pasta, nothing Paleo HERE!

Stocking a gluten-free, grain-free, paleo kitchen can be a little intimidating at first. It is absolutely critical to read labels. It seems everything in the grocery store has gluten, sugar or other processed food chemicals.

A Starter Paleo food Shopping List 

Refrigerated departments:

• Fruit
• Vegetables
• Fresh meat (without nitrates)
• Fish and shellfish
• Eggs (preferrably pasture fed)
• Orange and some other juices (100% juice only) [not really paleo]

Store Interior:

• Coconut milk (no preservatives, preferrably no guar-gum)
• Thai curry paste
• Water chestnuts in water (paleo? use for what?)
• Olive oil, preferably first cold press
• Starkist "Low Sodium - Low Fat" tuna, or tuna in olive oil other canned fish in olive oil or water, preferrably no salt added.
• Tomato paste/sauce (must not have flavorings or natural flavors, nor salt)
• Unsweetened applesauce ("natural") [better to make your own with lots of cinnamon]
• Spices
• Green tea (or loose at the natural foods store)
• Bottled spring water

Learn More About the Paleo Diet 

These two Paleo recipe books not only provide simple and clear instruction and time-saving techniques, but can also help you save money on ingredients and meals. The recipes themselves are well written, easy to follow.

It is a recipe collection appropriate for seasoned and beginning cooks, housewives, bachelors, and newcomers to the Paleo and Gluten-free diets. The front section provides a brief introduction to the slower cooker and the Paleo diet. A Paleo gluten free diet allows you to loose weight and at the same time preserve health.

The purpose for using a slow cooker in the first place is to make cooking easier and more convenient. The recipes should be simple. The main idea of the slow cooker is to start a dish before you leave home for work, and have a fresh, hot meal ready for you when you get home.

Download Paleo Slow Cooker and Paleo Snacks today, and become a "slow cooker pro."

Paleo Avocado and Shrimp Omelet

The paleo diet is a modern nutritional plan based on the presumed ancient diet of wild plants and animals that various hominid species habitually consumed during the Paleolithic era.

The Paleolithic era is a period of about 2.5 million years which ended around 10,000 years ago with the development of agriculture and grain-based diets.

Also popularly referred to as the caveman diet, Stone Age diet and hunter-gatherer diet.

Over 100 mouth-watering Paleo snack recipes for a buck!

Paleo Snacks: 100 Super Healthy Paleo Snack Recipes - Important Details on the Popular Paleo Diet

These delicious Paleo recipes are: gluten-free, grain-free, bean-free, potato-free, dairy-free, and sugar-free. Enjoy!

Ingredients for Shrimp Avacado Omlet:

6 eggs
2 Tbsp. chopped parsley
2 Tbsp. lemon juice, divided
1/4 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. hot pepper sauce
1 large* ripe avocado, diced
1 1/2 Tbsp. avocado oil
3 oz. bay shrimp
3 parsley sprigs
Directions:
* Large avocados are recommended for this recipe. A large avocado, sometimes called a 40 count or 48 count avocado, averages about 8 ounces. If using smaller or larger size avocados adjust the quantity accordingly.
1. Beat together eggs, parsley, 3/4 of the lemon juice, salt, and hot pepper sauce; reserve.
2. Gently toss avocado with remaining lemon juice; reserve.
3. Heat oil in an omelet pan. (Use a large omelet pan for four or more servings.)
4. Pour egg mixture into pan.
5. Cook over medium heat, lifting edges and tilting pan to allow uncooked egg to run under, until set but still moist on top.
6. Scatter reserved avocado and shrimp over omelet.
7. Fold omelet in half; heat another minute or two.
8. Slide onto a warmed serving plate; garnish with parsley sprigs.
9. To serve, cut omelet into wedges.

Primal/Paleo Spinach Omelet

Ingredients:
2 eggs
1.5 cups raw spinach
coconut oil, about 1 tbsp
1/3 c salsa
1 tbsp fresh cilantro
Directions:
1. Melt coconut oil on medium in frying pan. Add spinach, cook until mostly
wilted.
2. Beat eggs and add to pan. (Other optional ingredients: peppers,
mushrooms, cheese, etc.)
3. Flip once the egg sets around the edge.
4. When it's almost done add the salsa on top just to warm it. Move to plate and add
cilantro. Serves one.
Check-out this ebook.

Paleo Snacks: 100 Super Healthy Paleo Snack Recipes - Important Details on the Popular Paleo Diet

Low Glycemic is the Diet for the Future

Studies conducted at the New Balance Foundation Obesity Prevention Center of Boston Children’s Hospital on three popular diets reveal some surprising results.

Assigning each of the dieters, in random order, to follow four weeks each of three diets with the same number of calories:
One was a standard low-fat diet - another was an ultra-low-carb diet - and the third was a low glycemic diet.
The results were impressive. Those on the low carb diet burned 350 calories more per day — the equivalent of an hour of moderate exercise — than those on the standard low-fat diet. Those on the low-glycemic diet burned 150 calories more, roughly equivalent to an hour of light exercise.

The long-term downsides,  in practice, people have trouble sticking to low-carb diets. 

Over the long term, the low-glycemic diet appears to work the best, because you don’t have to eliminate an entire class of nutrients, which our research suggests is not only hard from a psychological perspective but may be wrong from a biological perspective.”

You might need a little background here: To differentiate “bad” carbs from “good,” scientists use the term “glycemic index” (or “load”) to express the effect of the carbs on blood sugar. High glycemic diets cause problems by dramatically increasing blood sugar and insulin after meals; low glycemic diets don’t.

Highly processed carbohydrates (even highly processed whole grains, like instant oatmeal and fluffy whole-grain breads) tend to make for higher glycemic diets; less processed grains, fruits, non-starchy vegetables, legumes and nuts — along with fat and protein — make for a lower glycemic diet. Read full article New York Times

Work with insulin resistance which led David J. Jenkins to develop the glycemic index in the early 1980s. When sugar enters the bloodstream, the pancreas secretes insulin which triggers cells to absorb the sugar. Many years of introducing quick bursts of sugar would eventually result in cells becoming resistant to insulin. This resistance would leave sugar in the bloodstream longer which would then cause the pancreas to release even more insulin.

This excess insulin would eventually drive blood sugar below normal levels. Jenkins (and others) discovered that, in addition to potentially causing diabetes, this effect would also produce cycles of hunger. Excess sugar consumption led to excess insulin which led to low blood sugar which led to hunger pangs which led to the consumption of more sugar.
Here is a Kindle ebook I found explaining the glycemic index and glycemic load fully: 
The Low Glycemic Diet: Maintain consistent glucose Levels for more energy, weight loss, and better overall health (Healthy and Fit)

Diet and Nutrition for Athletes

If you have ever played any kind of sports, you probably have learned through experience, that you need to eat enough calories to support your physical activity.

 Athletes who go through intense workouts, know food is essential for performance and to complete the exercise routine and not run out of energy.

Did you know most Pro NFL players will eat a couple of times before they hit the weight room. Pro bodybuilders eat every 2-3 hours to build their massive muscle bulk.

Eating a meal prior to training provides you with the energy you need to complete intense workouts. Without adequate nutrition you won't be able to progress with your training. When placing physical stress on your body you will need those extra calories to build muscle.

Just as important as eating a healthy amount of food, it is as important to make sure you drink enough water! Our systems use more water while performing any kind of physical activity, and if you don't drink enough, it will zap your energy and leave you feeling fatigued, unable to finish your exercise.

I know all of us like a little dessert now and then, but if your serious about training, try to eat healthy whenever you can. This means whole fruits, veggies, and healthy foods. Loading up on carbs before training is standard practice. Carbs are digested quickly and help to replace replenished glycogen stores for sustained energy. While diets high in carbohydrates are normally taboo for a person watching their weight, they are not as bad as many believe. Carbohydrates are actually the body's preferred source of energy.

The body breaks down carbohydrates to glucose and stores it in the muscles and liver as glycogen. Our body's main storage tank is in the form of Glycogen. While exercising, our bodies convert glycogen back to glucose and use it for energy with the amount of carbohydrates stored in the body.

In the early stages of moderate exercise, carbohydrates provide 40 to 50 percent of the energy requirement. The initial levels of muscle glycogen is related directly to the ability to sustain extended exercise periods. The body can only store a limited amount of carbohydrates, enough reserves to last for 90 minutes or less. Eating Extra carbs will not help.

For endurance athletes such as cyclists, marathon runners, and triathletes competing in events that require heavy workouts for more than 90 minutes, diets high in carbohydrates eaten for two to three days before the event allows glycogen storage tanks to be filled.

Fats also provide energy for the body. 

During moderate exercise, approximately half of your total energy output is derived from free fatty acid metabolism. When a workout lasts for more than an hour, the body will draw mostly fats for energy. How much your body uses fat as fuel depends on the duration of the workout and the condition of the athlete.

Protein

Protein provides energy for the body when carbohydrates and lipid resources are low. Strenuous exercising may increase an athlete's need for protein.

Americans exercised regularly by working out, playing sports, and other physical activities, thus the importance of proper nutrition is of great interest to athletes and exercisers for optimal performance and long term benefits.