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Hello,

My typical breakfast is some protein powder, milled flaxseed, blueberries, strawberries, blackberries, & raspberries with about a cup of skim milk blended into a smoothie. I love this and look forward to it in the morning but now that I am trying to eat paleo, milk is not allowed.

Anybody have any thoughts on what a good substitute is for something like this?

Thanks.

Kevin

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Ditch the smoothie, too refined. Try meat and nuts charlespoliquin.com/ArticlesMultimedia/Articles/… – Chris Aug 9 2010 at 3:20
I'd be careful with the poliquin breakfast... omega 6's are off the chart... I'd be careful with the flaxseed if I were you. It looks like you're a guy and flaxseed has phytoestrogens. It also unfortunately only has the short chain omega 3 FAs, ALA. As it seems you're a guy, you're probably only going to be able to convert like 7-10% of that to longer chain EPA/ DHA (bioactive forms). (Women can do something like 22% if i remember correctly). (As people have said below) For the milk. Coconut milk, cream, almond milk (unsweetened... its kinda gross and not nutritious but if you want...) – Krish Aug 10 2010 at 12:59

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Grok wouldn't even recognize protein powder as food. The berries are very Paleo, though. Given that your dentition and digestive tract is evolved to eat them as berries straight off the bush, not pureed and drunk through a straw, why don't you just have a bowl of berries in berry form and maybe have an egg or some bacon with it?

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Probably because smoothies taste so very delicious and I don't think it's a big deal if they are squished up a bit before consumption. Lets not get over picky here! – Eva Aug 9 2010 at 6:17
Taste does not dictate nutrition, berry fiber slows fructose metabolism, blending/processing speeds it back up. Tasty sure, just as healthy, no – Stephen-Aegis Aug 9 2010 at 20:38
Well I imagine he can, if he was REALLY worried, make up for slight absorption changes via eating one less strawberry per shake or some such thing. However, assuming he is not overconsuming fructose in the first place, compared to how much glycogen he burns, I just don't see this as a problem at all worth worrying about. – Eva Aug 10 2010 at 3:27
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Bacon and Eggs.

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Pastured or Omega-3 eggs if available preferably...this is my breakfast along with a few strawberries. – Ian G Aug 9 2010 at 19:09
I get Christopher Eggs (soyfree 660mg O3 per egg) when I can't get full pasture farm eggs – Stephen-Aegis Aug 9 2010 at 20:36
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If you tolerate milk, drink it. Don't worry about whether it's paleo or not. I'd suggest using whole milk instead the skim milk though. Raw whole milk would be ideal.

If you want to go without the dairy milk, I'd suggest coconut milk. If you don't like that, nut milks are another decent option. Also, try adding a couple egg yolks instead of the protein powder.

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I second these ideas, and would add that whole cream is lower in lactose than milk, and that's what I used in my protein shakes when I was trying the Eades' Six Week Cure, as it's what they recommend. Water it down, and you'll have the same end result without the "un-Paleo" lactose. – Girl Gone Primal Aug 9 2010 at 3:57
Yes, I completely agree about the cream. Thanks for adding that. – Susan Aug 9 2010 at 6:54
heavy cream just makes protein powder taste good. i use Egg protein powder and when combined with coconut milk you have a no dairy shake for your morning. – MikeD Aug 9 2010 at 17:15
I was wondering if the protein powder was whey... I 3rd the cream. Just use water/ice cubes/cream for tastiness. I'm lacto-paleo, however - I just can't do without the butter/cream/cheese. – Dave S. Aug 10 2010 at 13:54
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I'd use either coconut milk or whole cream/water with your regular additions, and maybe half the protein powder and add a raw (pastured) egg. It would be a reasonable compromise to keep your breakfast close to what you like to eat now.

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Coconut milk, almond milk, hazelnut milk...

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I ditched the diary and went with coconut milk with about 60% water and I love it! I think coconut milk is much tastier than regular milk but it's rather intense so I usually thin it down with water. – Eva Aug 9 2010 at 6:14
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Water It is as Paleo as it gets

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Kefir would also get you something like milk without the milk (i.e. not as much lactose). I buy the good stuff (the stuff without skim milk added) at Whole Foods, then blend it with ice and a few berries. The kefir at WF is whole goat's milk and the cultures used to ferment it, and that's all. Nice on the stomach.

Surprised nobody has jumped on the flaxseed yet. Here's David Moss, succinct: http://paleohacks.com/questions/277/is-alpha-linolenic-acid-ala-necessary-by-itself

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Protein powder rest on the idea that the only factor in building muscle is protein. If you're eating lots of protein, and doing no exercise at all, your body is not going to build muscle. I'm not going so far as to promote the idea of a "protein myth", but the single most important factor in muscle building is strength training, and to a lesser extent, cardio.

Protein shakes are part of the food culture of bodybuilding just like oats and peanut butter and chicken breasts. In the end the effectiveness of such foods is subjective and their progress on such a diet is more likely caused by the intense amount of weight lifting they do.

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I think Kevin is just trying to eat breakfast, not body build Stancel. – henny Aug 9 2010 at 1:03
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The leucine content of a meal and completeness of the amino acids is a good predictor of the magnitude and duration of the protein synthesis elevation seen post prandially. – Chris Aug 9 2010 at 3:23
LMAO Anna! Gave me a good chuckle. I guess we paleos can get a bit too intense sometimes! – Eva Aug 9 2010 at 6:16
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I use coconut milk, pineapple (little), nut butter and an egg. i call it my pina colada. delicious - takes me to lunch time. i may add protein powder - if i remember.

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Have you tried egg milk? I use it for coffee, hot cocoa or blueberry smoothies.

put 100 - 150 g coconut oil, liquid 2 eggs (or just 2 eggyolks) in your blender start blending and ad boiling water until you achive 500 ml.

Looks and smells like creamy milk, but it's not as sweet. You can keep it in the fridge for 2-3 days.

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I just never found cream all by itself to be that tasty. I don't know if I am the only one or what, but I find coconut milk to be far more tasty for something like a smoothie. Plus I love that coconut milk fat is highly saturated and therefore so very healthy for you. Saturated fat is the most stable and least likely to go rancid type of fat. I save my cream for sauces and cooking where it seems to really be much better suited as far as taste.

The reason I didn't jump on flaxseed is because I don't consider it all that healthy compared to other alternatives. It has a lot of PUFA and the DHA is not very bioavailable so why drink it? I've never tried it so I don't know if it is super tasty or not, but I don't see the point of drinking a lot of seed oil if I can drink tasty coconut milk instead. -Eva

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Cream was an inspiration for ambrosia, the drink of the gods in ancient Greek mythology. – Ikco Aug 10 2010 at 6:17
Hi, Eva, I wasn't all that clear. I meant I was surprised no one had called into question the flaxseed yet -- as you see, David Moss's post in the thread I linked to did just that. I would edit my answer, but then I'd send this question back to the top of the list. And Krish also posted a helpful comment above. Peace, Paul. – Paul Aug 10 2010 at 22:37

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