User marina - PaleoHacks.com

Paleo and Calorie Restriction

2010-05-05T02:37:20Z

I've recently been reading up on the primal/paleo lifestyle as well as calorie restriction. I'm not yet ready to commit to either, but I'm wondering these could be compatible. Seems like that might be problematic, since so many of you guys advocate eating lots of fat. But it would be quite a challenge to eat lots of butter while still eating enough other foods for a good variety of nutrients if your daily calorie limit, is, say, 1,500. Not to mention that so many Paleo peeps are against counting calories. But is it theoretically possible to follow both Paleo and calorie restriction? Is anyone out there attempting this?

Answer by Marina for Least toxic green vegetable?

2011-08-03T20:02:25Z

What about dill weed? I know most people just use it as a garnish but I have some growing in the garden and nothing compares to the delicate taste of fresh dill. Can't get enough of it. I don't think it has any toxins... anyway, it's not like you're safe from toxins if you stick to just meat, since fat is a great storage site for any sorts of junk that the poor animals pick up in the environment. Even in the most seemingly pristine of places - I'm sure grass-fed and wild-caught helps, but still, we do live in the modern, inconvenient truth world.

Answer by Marina for Food to keep hunger away

2011-07-27T06:39:02Z

Don't forget about seafood - tuna, sardines, shrimp, salmon...

Answer by Marina for CHEESE - Yes or No?

2011-05-19T05:44:58Z

And don't forget that you might react differently to goat or sheep cheese/yoghurt than cheese from cows - experiment a bit.

Homemade School Lunch Ban

2011-04-12T16:19:13Z

Apparently some Chicago schools are forbidding lunches brought from home unless there's a medical excuse. I'm just curious if anyone has had to deal with this yet or has any thoughts about how it should be dealt with - protest or finding a friendly doc to write a note?

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/wire/ct-met-school-lunch-restrictions-041120110410,0,5869022.story

Answer by Marina for "Pure Paleo" does it exist?

2011-04-06T23:32:55Z

We've got toxins now that have been detected even in the most remote spots. And beyond that, I don't think we can ever quite know for sure how things were back then, there may be factors no one has thought to consider. I think we should put more energy into figuring out how things stand today and how food is actually interacting with our bodies rather than speculating overmuch about the unknowable past.

Answer by Marina for How to survive a hippie diet?

2011-03-07T01:16:04Z

Try to bring more fish and other types of seafood into the household. Just make sure it's from good sources and wild caught. And if you can get fattier cuts of meat on your own at some nearby grocery, those are usually cheaper. Plus, there's been some posts about soaking techniques to make legumes and oatmeal less toxic.

Answer by Marina for I can't stand beef, what to do?

2011-02-21T01:59:41Z

There's always fish - you could get most of your protein & other nutrients from salmon, sardines, shrimp, oysters, and even get more adventurous if you have a nice sushi spot where you live.

Answer by Marina for Kicking the fruit habit

2011-02-05T21:02:58Z

If you're not ready to completely go the cold turkey route, you might go cold turkey on most fruit but still allow berries. Or only buy one or two pieces of fruit at a time. Just give yourself rules that make sense for your situation. If you live near a farmer's market, pledge to yourself that you'll only get a few fruits/berries at the market every week and nowhere else. And learn to love your veggies - cucumbers, dill weed, celery and lettuce can taste surprisingly sweet when they're at their freshest.

Answer by Marina for Anyone gone back on gluten for a possible celiac diagnosis?

2011-01-18T14:37:53Z

I wonder about the health insurance implications of a celiac diagnosis. If you're ever in a position where you have to purchase an individual plan, would the diagnosis be a "red flag" that would either cause the insurance company to reject you or charge you more?

Especially when the diagnosis in question is more of an FYI than anything else, I'd make sure that you explore all the possible "real world" implications of having something like that in your "file."

Answer by Marina for Getting over the hump

2011-01-15T14:47:58Z

One "easy" fix that doesn't address the underlying motivation but could help the "sneaking" is to not have those foods in your household. Of course, this doesn't work if you have a non-paleo spouce / roommates. But you could try setting up more strict boundaries of "my food" / "your food" After all, everyone has moments of weakness and boundaries like having to pay money or having to actually ask - "can I have some of your gummy bears?" could help you take a step back and realize that you don't actually want to give in to this particular moment of weakness. Or maybe it's time to go to 100%? Some people do best with no absolute rules, but others need the absolute rules to stick with whatever program they want to commit to.

Answer by Marina for What's the deal with calcium?

2011-01-15T02:18:48Z

Regarding veggies, dill weed is a good source of calcium (about 25% RDA for 5 Tbsp, I believe) and tastes great if you can get it fresh, but dried should work too. Sometimes I just munch on it.

Answer by Marina for Paleo Restaurant Menu???

2011-01-14T04:11:34Z

I'd love to try some expertly prepared "unusual" sources of protein. Bugs, lizards, possibly alligators or some exotic fish or mushrooms that I would otherwise never know how to find, much less prepare.

Answer by Marina for What kind of music do you spontanously associate with Paleo?

2011-01-12T01:05:07Z

Funny, I associate paleo more with post-modern America - youthful energy, a little rock, a bit funky, maybe even health-conscious hipster type? Which musically translates to

Free Energy's Bang Pop:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCljybuyPj8

And Weezer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0C3zgYW_FAM

Plus CocoRosie's haunting "Noah's Ark"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68E_JSCOD_I

Answer by Marina for What music pulls you through your workouts?

2011-01-05T04:58:19Z

Here's mine, I tried to get rid of all the repeats but might have missed a few. It's fun to look for musical near-soul mates and know they're nutritional soul mates too.

Thrash Unreal Against Me!

Brother Sport Animal Collective

Rebellion (Lies) Arcade Fire

Where’s Your Head At Basement Jaxx

Banquet Bloc Party

Surrender Cheap Trick

Mono Courtney Love

Echo Cyndi Lauper

Just Can’t Get Enough Depeche Mode

Let’s Go Surfing The Drums

I Felt Stupid The Drums

Calabria 2007 (Radio Version) Enur

I Am Not a Robot Marina and the Diamonds

Seven One Eight Fannypack

Slow Hands Interpol

What a Feeling Irene Cara

11th Dimension Julian Casablancas

Rumenye Rumenye Klezmer Conservatory Band

Shake It Metro Station

Animal Mike Snow

Kids MGMT

Flash Delirium MGMT

Temptation New Order

Sinnerman Nina Simone

Truck The Octopus Project

Enola Gay Orchestral Manoeuvres In the Dark

The Spirit of Radio Rush

Wolf Like Me TV on the Radio

A-Punk Vampire Weekend

Little Secrets Passion Pit

Always on my Mind Pet Shop Boys

Party Like a Rock Star Shop Boyz

Jump The Pointer Sisters

Can’t Stop Movin Sonny J

Dance, Dance Fall Out Boy

Dancing on my Own Robyn

I Don’t Feel Like Dancin’ Scissor Sisters

Lazy Eye Silversun Pickups

Stand Back Stevie Nicks

Mouth Full of Dry Sand Voxhaul Broadcast

Dog Days are Over Florence + The Machine

Burger Bun Substitute

2010-05-15T17:34:28Z

I hate the thought of using just lettuce leaves in place of the bun... is that the usual strategy? Or is there some bun-like substance that I could buy at the supermarket or some specialty store? Or a quick recipe that I could make at home? Something with almond flour, I'd guess?

I'm hoping to find something that I could buy, since I don't cook that much, but it might be worth it to prepare something for special occasions.

Answer by Marina for What else should we be eating?

2010-09-04T03:49:16Z

Bugs are a relatively untapped food source. If I knew more about the nutrient profiles and safety (are any to be avoided?) and could get over my squeamishness, I would be out "hunting" for critters a couple of times each week.

Answer by Marina for Body Fat Toxicity

2010-08-26T04:51:10Z

I'm still trying to understand this article (http://www.nutritionandmetabolism.com/content/1/1/12), but one of the things it states seems to support the idea of higher toxicity in the bodies of those losing weight: "During body weight loss, a decrease in fat mass results in lipid mobilization, and organochlorine concentrations increase both in plasma and remaining adipose tissue."

I'd say that this supports the slow-and-steady way of losing weight. If you're losing half a pound a week, maybe the amount of extra toxins released is not so great that your body's mechanisms for clearing them out would become overwhelmed. Anyone aware of any more studies done in this area?

Answer by Marina for powerbar replacements

2010-08-24T16:00:34Z

There's also youbars.com I think you can tinker about with the ingredient options to get something relatively low sugar/low carb, though it's pretty expensive and they seem to have better options for their trail mixes. Macadamias nuts are not available for their bars but can be added to the trail mix, for example.

Answer by Marina for Substitute for crackers?

2010-08-24T00:02:30Z

To add to that list of veggies as crackers - very big, thinly sliced radishes are great, too.

Answer by Marina for Paleolife Snapshot: What did you eat for dinner today?

2010-08-23T18:28:02Z

I usually have lighter dinners. Last night it was an egg, a cucumber, a bit of goat cheese and kombucha. I'm feeling inspired by some of the answers, though - maybe I'll actually attempt some cooking more elaborate than boiling an egg this week.

Answer by Marina for Goat/Sheep Cheeses/Yogurts = Dairy?

2010-07-19T05:52:56Z

From what I understand from the nutrition labels, sheep's milk is the way to go if you're not worried about lactose intolerance. It has a bit more lactose than cow's milk, but is also higher in fat, protein and calcium. Goat's milk has less fat and less lactose.

Answer by Marina for Paleolithic Fiber Consumption

2010-07-10T17:07:00Z

Perhaps this challenges somewhat all the people who say that veggies should be only garnishes to a diet of mostly fat and protein from meat and fish? I love my veggies and can easily eat several pounds of fresh cucumbers and several more of celery and carrots and lettuce in one day. It's nice to think that my ancestors might have done the same. Could they have munched on various things growing alongside their path as they walked about?

Answer by Marina for Salmon Parfried in Veg. Oil?

2010-07-04T20:15:14Z

Besides the canola oil, I wonder about the quality of the salmon itself. You really want to go for the wild-caught, otherwise I think it might not have as many omega-3s as you hope. It's telling that they have to add color to it. If it's missing color, why wouldn't it be missing the nutrients that salmon is naturally supposed to have as well.

Answer by Marina for Help with weight-loss?

2010-06-24T07:12:51Z

Everyone who's saying "tinker and figure out what works for you" is right on the money. From everything I've seen and heard, weight loss is a very individual process and what works for some won't work for others.

If you're already counting calories and that's helpful to you, perhaps think about getting the bodybugg or another device like it that will count how many calories you're burning each day to about a 90% accuracy. At least, that would be helpful if you choose to stick to the conventional calories in / calories out way of thinking. I have no idea if that's the right way to think about weight loss or if the bodybugg could register changes in your metabolism due to diet or a different training regimen.

But I also agree with those who say that the slow and steady approach is better for long-term weight loss. Your skin has more time to firm up rather than hanging there in its sad saggy way. And (pure speculation on my part) you get less toxins released into your system all at once from the fat "burning away." I suspect that's what must happen, since fat is a place the body likes to store toxins. But correct me if I'm thinking about it wrong...

Answer by Marina for Who/what was responsible for the rise in popularity of Paleo?

2010-06-22T01:26:41Z

My first exposure was the NYT article from perhaps half a year ago. It sensationalized the movement a bit, but it did catch my attention and made me want to know more.

Answer by Marina for Best protein sources when meat or seafood is right out?

2010-06-20T17:52:51Z

What about mushrooms, perhaps crimini or shiitake? I also like Melissa's idea about bugs, I wish there was nutritional info about some of the more common ones. And I'm sure there are at least a few ethnic restaurants in bigger cities like new york that serve bugs, but how to find them if you're not in the know? Two were listed on a chowhound page for LA, but both are a bit out of the way for me. And I guess it would be even harder for your friend to find edible insects if she lives in a more rural area...

Answer by Marina for More CAFO meat vs. less grass-fed?

2010-06-19T04:48:06Z

Have you considered some seafood options as well? Sometimes you can find wild-caught salmon on sale, though I guess it wouldn't be a staple. Canned sardines are great too and I can usually find some for a little over a dollar for ~100g.

Answer by Marina for What would you do with fresh-off-the-tree cherries?

2010-06-09T07:55:05Z

You could throw a "goodbye to the neighborhood/cherry gorging" party. With Laura's above mentioned steaks marinated in cherries as the centerpiece!

Or just invite neighbors to pick them when they have the time and inclination. Or take them to work to share.

But be sure to enjoy some fresh ones, too, a few with breakfast and/or lunch shouldn't have much effect on blood sugar, right?

Answer by Marina for Paleo Fast Food

2010-06-02T04:03:11Z

Can of sardines from a local grocer, and maybe some veggies if they look fresh. Also, the Whole Foods prepared foods dept peeps are sometimes nice to me and will cook up the little bit of grass-fed beef that I buy from their meat dept. And then there's the seafood dept, which often has prepared shrimp or alaskan wild-caught salmon. But I usually just have the sardines with some kombucha or tea on those lazy evenings.

Comment by Marina

2011-09-14T18:37:59Z

I don't think comments like "vegan alert" are helpful. I didn't sense any disrespect or even a particular agenda in this question. In any case, even if a question is asked by a vegan, it doesn't automatically make it an illegitimate question. There's no need to be hostile.

Comment by Marina

2011-09-05T22:55:34Z

Oh no - can't you move into a more theoretical (vs. experimental) position, or at least to a lab where you're not dealing w/ quite so many toxic chemicals?

Comment by Marina

2011-06-21T05:02:55Z

From everything I've ever heard and read, it's the abdominal fat that's a concern for health - the fat in the thighs might actually be a good thing, insurance for a worst-case scenario where you're badly injured and need to have docs working on you for 8+ hrs or whatever other emergency you can think of. In those types of horrible situations, it's good for the body to have some stored fat to burn...

Comment by Marina

2011-06-15T04:08:37Z

I'm also stumped by LFRV - Gazelle, or anyone? In any case, I just wanted to say that I'm loving this conversation, seems pretty rare from what I've seen of paleohacks so far and I wish we had more discussions along these female-specific lines.

Comment by Marina

2011-06-14T01:38:58Z

Exactly, when you can choose from so many different types of meats, birds & their eggs, seafood, veggies, fruits & berries, cheeses (goat, sheep & others?) if you include dairy, even insects! Lots of exotic stuff out there as well as edible greens or berries in the backyard that people never think to forage for. Anyone who calls paleo boring doesn't have much of an imagination, or is quite ignorant about food.

Comment by Marina

2011-05-29T14:07:29Z

but what about the theory that being healthy actually makes you MORE likely to get sick, because your immune system is strong and ready to mount a defense, while a weaker immune system would just let the virus/bacteria play around w/o causing symptoms of fever, runny nose, cough...?

Comment by Marina

2011-05-19T00:34:26Z

The Quilt, that's a very helpful mechanism theory, but how would one go about re establishing leptin sensitivity in a case such as teknodukk's (if it's really lack of leptin sensitivity that's behind her lack of periods)? She's already strict paleo, what more should she do?

Comment by Marina

2011-04-21T15:08:47Z

You might try making ice cubes from a favorite drink, maybe tea. Even cola might be better if you're just sucking on it for 15min in the small amount of an ice cube rather than guzzling it down. I actually haven't tried this myself yet, I've had the idea for a while but haven't gotten around to it.

Comment by Marina

2011-04-07T01:24:18Z

I agree, I think the question is distinct enough and should be re-opened.

Comment by Marina

2011-03-20T20:08:01Z

There must be a free clinic around as well, at least, I'd think, within a 50 mile radius. Unless you live in v. rural area, in which case you'd have the option Dr. K suggests.

Comment by Marina

2011-03-07T01:08:44Z

I'm especially interested in this because my mom loves cooking with olive oil and refuses to use anything else. But I thought olive oil was ok unless heated to a v. high temp that would be used in frying, for example. Do you have any concrete info/data/studies/science that it becomes toxic before reaching its smoke point?

Comment by Marina

2011-02-17T05:52:18Z

Since the situation seems to be quite dire, consider hiring someone (even some retired grandmother in the neighborhood) to cook some food for you. Eat what you like and fine tune after you get past this near-feeding tube stage. But if you can add in just 8oz of bone marrow (marksdailyapple.com/bone-marrow-recipe) each day to what you're already eating, you should be able to gain more than 7 lbs in just one month, in theory... If it keeps you out of the hospital, I'd think paying someone to cook some of your meals would be worth it.

Comment by Marina

2011-02-17T01:05:13Z

I've heard the "acne on certain parts of the body correspond to certain issues" theory but was never able to find any scientific support for this in literature or even any specific info in terms of what body part goes with what issue... I'd love it if you could point me to specific sources regarding this, did you read it in a scientific journal?

Comment by Marina

2011-02-12T18:41:09Z

Just wanted to chime in on the "cheat meal" term. I hate it too for some reason. Maybe because it implies that I'm breaking some sort of promise or equates my food choices to being married. I wish we'd call it something else.

Comment by Marina

2011-01-29T03:58:47Z

Good in theory, but what about the reality of healthcare costs, not to mention higher fuel costs for planes and use of resources in general as well as the need for supersizing seats, ambulances, etc...