Caveman Cafeteria (Paleo Street Vendor)

I have been looking for a Paleo restaurant for a number of years now and finally got to try one today! It is called "Caveman Cafeteria" and is a little street vendor on 16th Street Mall in Denver, CO. Their website is http://cavemancafeteria.com/

Here is a quote from their website about the food they use to make their meals:

"We make everything from scratch, using the freshest ingredients and our menus meet the guidelines popularized by the Paleo / Primal movement. By default, we use no sugar, grains, processed oils, or industrially raised meat or produce."

And here are a few photos of it:

1. This is me next to the food stand on 16th Street Mall. As you can see from the picture, it is 100% grass-fed, gluten-free and organic!

2. Here is the menu they had this week, along with the chef who made our food.

3. This is the food I ordered: grass-fed steak and kale. It was delicious! (this picture was taken after I had eaten over half of my food...)

Food, Inc. and The China Study

Last night was a big "food" night for me. I watched the movie "Food, Inc." and started the book "The China Study." If you've never heard of either of these things, here is a little synopsis.

Food, Inc. (<-- click on that link!) is a documentary-type movie about the food industry. It shows the "dark side" of where our food comes from and how it is produced nowadays. It interviews people such as Michael Pollan (author of The Omnivore's Dillema) and Joel Salatin (Polyface Farms), and advocates eating local, organic food. It was great to watch with one of my roommates who may be inheriting a family farm soon and actually have the opportunity to do it right. The one gripe I had about this movie was that it was too serious - I wish they would have injected a little more humor into it. But it is very informative and inspiring! I was so happy to be a part of a (local, organic) CSA after watching it. Next challenge: figure out how to help people who can't afford to eat like this be able to eat like this. SAME Cafe seems to be doing a good job of this - I need to visit that place soon!

The China Study is a little more controversial for me. So far I've only read the first chapter and some strong claims have been made that essentially a vegan diet (no meat, dairy, eggs) can reverse and cure things like heart disease, diabetes, and cancer. I really want to believe that a vegan diet is the way to go b/c I don't like killing animals for food (and I am trying more and more to figure out how to bring peace to the world in every way possible), but one question pops to mind in response to his claims - which makes me less apt to believe his findings fully: why did the eskimoes have low rates of heart disease on a diet of mostly all seal meat? (I know the omega-3 to omega-6 ratio is good in seal meat...) I do, however, believe that the author, T. Colin Campbell, has something very right: more fruits and veggies make for healthier people. Looking forward to hearing what else he has to say.

The Paleo Diet cures Depression?

I just read a story about a woman who "beat Depression" by changing her diet to a basic form of the Paleo Diet: no wheat, dairy, caffeine, or corn.

Here is a link to the article on MSN.com: How I Beat Depression and Weight Gain

I hadn't thought much about my mental health and how the Paleo Diet can help it b/c I don't have any major mental health problems, but I do know that this diet generally just makes me feel better. I would be interested to hear if someone I know with Depression went on the Paleo Diet and if it made a difference in their mental health.

I do know that an "extemporaneous" part of the Paleo Diet - exercise - really, really helps my mental health. When I am feeling stressed or anxious, if I just get a good, hard workout in I feel "cured." And really, that is part of the Paleo lifestyle so it can't be separated from what is known as the Paleo Diet.

One last thing: I have been learning that chocolate makes me feel bad. I've tried eating dark chocolate (without dairy) but I still don't feel great afterwards. I think this is one thing I need to work on eliminating from my diet. Wondering if there is something comparable I could replace it with that is Paleo-friendly?

Relapse & Effects of Paleo on Blood Sugars

It sounds like Mitch and I have both had some relapse these past couple weeks (I know this from talking to him on the phone).

It has been a couple of very busy and stressful weeks at work for me (we just changed our name!), so maybe that has something to do with it. I would say I have been eating about 70% Paleo these past 2 weeks, and here are some of the hurdles I have been running into with the diet:

1. After getting a really hard workout in (i.e. hockey practice or swimming) I am famished. In a moment of weakness [twice] I got a junior Arby's roast beef (I can't even remember the last time I had fast food!). No convenience food can be tough in times like these.

2. My gastroparesis flared up from insulin pump infusion site issues, sending my blood sugar soaring to 300+ a couple times. This is when it is tough to eat Paleo for me b/c it is all high fiber food that is hard to digest. So I have gone back to my Asian food staples (miso soup, sushi, a little lettuce with ginger dressing) a few times these past couple weeks. These are things that I know digest well for me. But they do tend to send my blood sugars a little higher... which brings me to this point...

While "normal" healthy people might not be able to tell any concrete signs if the Paleo diet is working for them or not, I am here to tell you that it does! I get to see the direct effects of eating Paleo and non-Paleo meals on blood sugar and here is what I've found:

***When I eat Paleo meals my blood sugar typically stays around 80-100 mg/dL before and after eating, and for most of the day (right on target).

***When I eat NON-Paleo meals my blood sugar tends to run around 170 mg/dL for most of the day (too high).

So, that should be pretty good motivation to eat Paleo, right? Well, most of the time. I am committed to doing this diet long term b/c I have seen what a great effect it has had on my health, but I am also only human so sometimes I slip and eat the tasty modern morsels put before me. The numbers help...

-Andi

Less insulin! ...and weight

So here's my problem right now: I'm having trouble getting enough calories each day and my sugars are crazy low all the time.

I haven't stepped on a scale but I can tell by the way I look and how my clothes fit that I have lost some weight. I haven't changed much besides my diet (like Mitch). You have to eat so much REAL (Paleo) food to get the same amount of calories that you get from things like rice and bread, which are missing from my diet now!

I also hardly take any insulin before meals and dropped my evening basal rate last night because I couldn't get my blood sugar to go above 60 (even after eating 35 carbs! "eat 20 carbs and retest after 20 minutes" is standard for getting your blood sugar back to normal range...). Kelli kept me company on the kitchen floor at 11pm as I ate some honey and drank some juice. She's been super helpful lately whenever my sugar gets low.

I think the rest of my basal rates need some readjusting as well. I'm told that needing less insulin is a good thing, so hopefully these symptoms are indicators of progress!

My next endocrinology appointment is on Monday (4/12) so I am anxious to see what my doc thinks about all of this and if he can help.

I started "Diabetes Solution" by Bernstein a couple nights ago and am going to compare his solution to the Paleo Diet. I might need to find some middle ground between the two.

"Two cavities" was the verdict I received at the dentist yesterday. :( I am looking forward to seeing if this is my same verdict at my next visit when I have been on this diet for a while!

-Andi

Andi's Day 2: Cold Turkey or Ease Into?

Day 2 was hard!!

Here is what I found to eat:

Breakfast: banana/mango/strawberry smoothie (with a little almond milk and apple juice mixed in) - my own recipe and actually very delicious!
Lunch: tuna (with pimentos and homemade mayo), leftover baked apple (with walnuts and raisins), hard boiled egg
Dinner: (grilled out!) 1 chicken sausage, a little piece of extra lean beef, grilled peppers and onions, 1/2 mango, 1/2 cup almond milk

An especially hard part for me is that we have these delicious walnut brownies I made as a last hoorah on Sunday - and ate two as my dinner on Sunday night - sitting on our kitchen counter and Emily and Kelli won't finish them!

Also, had a discussion with Jacob and Emily tonight about what is better (?):

1. To go 100% Paleo, "cold turkey" as they say -or-
2. Ease into the diet

What do you think?????

Emily says that in her job in tobacco cessation they always recommend "cold turkey." I think this is based on lots of research, or maybe just the fact that doctors can't really "recommend" that one of their patients smokes cigarettes at all.

Jacob made the point that there are plenty of things, such as training for a marathon, that you need to build up to and ease into. Especially if you want to make a long term change to something as big as your diet.

Then again, do you get the benefits of the Paleo Diet if you don't go super hard core about it all at once? The book I read seems to advocate a wholehearted approach... I guess you need to get your metabolism to switch over to a fat-for-energy rather than carbs-for-energy model, right?

Andi's groceries

Here are my groceries for the week!

Granted, these are for 3 people - Emily and Kelli (my two roommates) have agreed to give this diet a try for a week with me as long as they can get bread, yogurt, and a few soy things for themselves.

The biggest struggle for me is that we have decided to buy mostly NON-organic. My big 2010 New Year's Resolution was to go ALL organic, but Paleo has trumped this resolution right now. Otherwise my roommates have told me that this diet would just be too cost prohibitive.

Emily convinced me that buying organic is less important than buying local after reading the book "Omnivore's Dilemma." I'm only 1/4 of the way through this book right now so I have taken her word for it.

Even though we are not buying organic produce (except for spinach and broccoli), we ARE buying grain fed meats and eggs. This is important because I strongly disagree with feeding our animals unnatural corn - it is simply unhealthy (i.e. much lower Omega-3s in your food) and bad for the environment.

Week one, here we come!

- Andi

A little background

Hi! My name is Andi, sister to Mitch, and I am 27 years old. Here is a picture of us from this past July.

This is primarily our blog about nutrition and health (giving The Paleo Diet a try), so let me give you a little background on my health situation.

I have had type 1 (juvenile) diabetes since I was 10 years old. I've always taken fairly good care of my health, exercising regularly (I play/have played on hockey, soccer, and lacrosse teams), eating well (I thought...), and checking my blood sugars multiple times per day. I've managed to keep my A1c around 7 for most of my life, so I thought I was at a pretty low risk for complications. But about a year ago I was diagnosed with a diabetes complication called "gastroparesis" which rocked my world. I couldn't eat much solid food and consequently lost 30 pounds in 3 months! I tried EVERYTHING to get better - i.e. Reglan, Ethromyacin, a low fiber gastroparesis diet, better control of my blood sugars, etc. - and nothing seemed to help. That is, until I found Eastern Medicine. The combination of acupuncture and Chinese herbs helped get my digestive system working again. I slowly got off of my all-liquid diet and can now eat most things, especially if they are cooked. I also switched over to an insulin pump, which allows me more control and flexibility over my life with diabetes.

Despite all of this moving forward, I went to the doctor this past month and found that my A1c has risen to 7.7! People in normal health tend to have an A1c of 4.0-6.0. Upon receiving this info, my primary care doc recommended a book by Richard K. Bernstein, MD, called "Diabetes Solution." I have not read it yet but have heard it is very similar to the book I just finished called "The Paleo Diet" by Loren Cordain, PhD. I picked this book up at Vitamin Cottage recently after hearing my acupuncturist talk about what a great thing the Paleo diet is. And what I've learned is that the Paleo diet can get your A1c down to the 4-5ish range or even CURE some newly diagnosed type 1 diabetics!

That's right, the Paleo diet can cure some newly diagnosed type 1 diabetics!

I never ever thought I would put the words "cure" and "type 1 diabetics" in a sentence like that. But check out Michelle's blog about it to see an example of what I mean: http://michellestype1diabetes.blogspot.com/

That's a pretty powerful story. And that is why I have decided to give this Paleo diet thing a try.

-Andi