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Hey Guys, I'm considering to start doing Paleo, but I'm ridiculously short on time, and a poor college student. So for that, I want to buy things in bulk, and prepare my food ahead. That made me think that it would be great to try to produce a shake that contains all essential nutrients, and drink that as a meal, maybe twice a day.

On youtube someone presented a shake with veggies, berries, coconut oil and a chicken breast for protein (which he claims cannot be tasted) - I'm considering to do something like that. Of course I'd research my recipe in detail to make sure it covers all important vitamins/minerals. Then I'd produce maybe 2 x 1.5 litres (the standard charge of a blender), and keep that in the fridge for a very fast, healthy and affordable food. Maybe I'd do two shakes, one more sweet with fruit and one more spicy/salty with chicken breast.

Besides the fact, that this will take the pleasure of eating for me (which is why I probably won't do it for three meals a day), are there any health reasons why this might be a bad idea? For example:

  • is chewing the food or the enzymes in the saliva very important for digestion?
  • is it a bad idea to mix all foods together, i.e. is it better for digestion to emphasize protein in one meal, and veggies/fiber in another?
  • is liquid food an issue in any way? Do blenders break down the fiber in an undesired way?

Sorry about all those questions, but I think this is a super interesting topic, because I'm such an efficiency geek. Hope you guys will join in with your wisdom :)

Esuus.

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What are you goals/reasons for going paleo? – smartcookie Oct 31 2011 at 17:10
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 I do a half can of coconut milk, 4 raw eggs, cinnamon, and half a frozen banana when I'm running late for school. – sinn10304 Oct 31 2011 at 20:44
While you're reading/studying, gnaw on raw vegetables and fruits. Use a slow cooker for paleo simmered stews. – Nance Oct 31 2011 at 22:14
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 @sinn10304, I do that, albeit 6 eggs, whether I'm running late or not. It's great after training too. – Alan Nov 1 2011 at 11:19
@smartcookie: I tend to feel tired after eating, and I'd like to have generally more energy. Besides that, the health benefits. I am hoping to find some more scientific evidence for all the claims made for paleo, though. Thanks for the recipe, sinn10304. Are the raw eggs not gross at all? – Esuus Nov 1 2011 at 13:32

3 Answers

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Biologically speaking, people have been made to eat more than slurp. I know that saliva from chewing things that traditionally need to be chewed plays a big role somehow yet, all the food you eat gets mixed together in your stomach anyway.

Breaking food down to micro particals aids in absorption so you may need to consume less at one time to absorb the same amount if blended.

I also wouldn't leave any pre-made and processed food in the fridge for later use unless it was super cooked to destroy any bacteria in that rich environmental soup thusly it would have the fresh, nutrient richness cooked right out of it and kinda ruining the whole idea.

A one stop paleo solution might sound good but it also sounds like the same thing as over cooked processed food from a factory without the chemicals used to reduce bad bacteria and make people sick.

I guess you could call the idea sort of like some beers "industrial food light"

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Yes, I'm concerned about the durability as well. I would obviously not cook it (except for the chicken breast), to keep in all the nutrients. I think it may still stay good for a couple of days in the fridge, don't you think? – Esuus Oct 31 2011 at 16:43
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 Anything shredded or minced increases it's surface area tremendously and exposes it to air and microrganisms. That's why meat and veggies usually rot or grow bacteria from the outside in. It increases the area in which bacteria thrive. Cooked is better than raw for this reason but the amount of bacteria grows faster on things that have a larger surface area of the things it likes to eat which is why you can cut bad meat out of a whole roast but getting it out of shredded beef is next to impossible. – Christopher Oct 31 2011 at 16:58
In addition to that I have to think that a pre-blended shake of vegetables and meat would taste vile after a few days in the fridge. – Olivia Oct 31 2011 at 17:00
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 one other thing, the more you process food, the more bacteria you introduce to it. – Christopher Oct 31 2011 at 17:06
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 yeah, diced onions taste great, day old diced onions, ehh, no ser mucha – Christopher Oct 31 2011 at 17:07
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Liquid food tends to be a lot less satiating- liquids empty a lot faster from the stomach than stomach. Though if the shake had a high fat content, that would slow gastric emptying.

Since blended food is essentially pre-chewed (sorry for gross image), it'll be exposed to salivary amylase just the same as if you had chewed it yourself.

There's no issue with the whole food combining thing, that's a myth. Digestion will proceed the same in any case. Obviously certain combinations of macronutrients might be more or less satiating.

But really I would just take an hour on the weekend to hardboil a bunch of eggs, chop up some vegetables, and cook large batches of meat dishes to eat all week, bake some sweet potatoes, etc, rather than the shake idea. That's what I do (I'm a student too) and it works just fine. It takes me maybe 1 hour every week and most of that time isn't even active cooking. The thought of combining all my food into a shake is kind of nauseating.

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 I agree having cooked meat/poultry/eggs, chopped vegs/fruit around to just eat cold is a great idea. Way better to me than the shake idea. – smiley Oct 31 2011 at 16:34
So I'd get hungry too quick? How about eating some nuts or an egg before drinking the shake? – Esuus Oct 31 2011 at 16:41
wouldn't eating something before a nutricionally balanced and proportioned shake be like eating more just to curb hunger, adding more calories than you need? – Christopher Oct 31 2011 at 17:14
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What is the purpose of blending everything together? To put vodka in it?

If you have access to meats and vegetables, eat them. There is no call for blending.

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