The Craziest Thing that Paleo Eating Has Done to Me

I am very rarely hungry anymore. I get hungry and I can either let it pass within the next few minutes, or eat something small like a hardboiled egg. If I eat something small, something that is more like a snack, I feel full and am good for at least another 4 hours before I begin to feel hungry again. Because of this lack of hunger and my desire to only eat when I feel hungry, I have been eating only once a day for the most part. The only times that I eat more than once or snack is when I eat fruits... if I eat just a few pieces of fruit I get ravenous. Especially if I eat them as more of a desert. Consuming fruits before a meal works out rather well. Something similar occurs when I eat almonds, I eat 4-5 of them, then I eat another 4-5, and so on until I realize that i have been snacking on them and have eating a good 30+ almonds in one sitting.

So I am trying to cut out almonds and fruits from my diet, unless I eat them right before a large meal to increase my appetite.

Any other Paleo/Primal eaters out there experience anything similar, even with other foods?

Sensitivity to Non-Paleo Foods

Last weekend was Easter and we went to my parent's home for egg hunting, Easter dinner, and just general visiting. Dinner was grilled hot dogs for the kids and grilled pork tenderloins, raw veggies (carrots, broccoli, cauliflower), and a coleslaw made with bacon, red wine vinegar, and some mayo (store brand). Though the mayo in the coleslaw was not what I would have preferred, having been only eating home-made Paleo-friendly mayo for the past 3 months, I figured that I could cheat on the store-brand mayo since I was not partaking in any of the various forms of candy throughout the house.

I was wrong, and so was my wife (who is 80% Primal and eats small amounts of grains occasionally).

We were both sick after eating to the point that we left much earlier than we would have normally. I got a raging headache, my stomach felt bloated and extended, and I worried about bathroom issues. My wife felt overly full and just generally crappy.

It just goes to show how the so-called "regular" foods interact with the body and how most people discount what they are feeling or blame it on something else, like stress.

No Soap/Shampoo and Recent Developments

I decided a month or so ago to take the plunge and stop using soap and shampoo to wash myself with. I still use soap on my hands throughout the day to keep them clean, but soap no longer touches my body, nor does shampoo. I went this route after reading about other Primals going the no soap/shampp route and thought why not. I have had some remarkable changes that can not be attributed to my move into Primal eating alone.

Before and during my Primal lifestyle change my scalp had this strange sort of cradle cap thing going on, which was disgusting to say the least. Luckily it was not noticeable unless your hands were actually running through my hair, but I love the feeling of hands through my hair and scalp massages, meaning that while I loved it I refused it because I was afraid of what my wife would think. Regardless of if she felt grossed out or not, I felt grossed out for her. Since I have put down the shampoo bottle, by scalp does not have this problem anymore. I feel a whole less self-conscious, amazing what something as small as scalp issues can do to one's emotional health.

The other skin problem I had was this strange rash across my chest, back, and arms. Almost like a precurser to acne, but it never got as bad as real acne does. Anyways, much like my scalp problems, I did not want my wife to have to come in contact with this so I tried not to ask for back rubs and back scratches as much as possible. I changed detergents, changed soaps purchased all natural soaps from health food stores that were even safe to drink. Nothing helped. Except for not using soap at all.

I know it sounds crazy, but it worked.

"But you smell, don't you?"

Sugar, What Is It Good For?

First off, what is sugar anyways? Sugars are carbohydrates no matter if you are speaking of a jelly bean or a bagel. The difference in terminology is because sugar is considered to be either one or two sugar molecules. Single sugar molecules are glucose, i.e. blood sugar, and fructose, which is commonly found in fruits. Sugars that have two sugar molecules are called disaccharides, an example of which is table sugar (1 molecule of glucose paired with 1 molecule of fructose). Trisaccharides and polysaccharides are three or more simple sugar molecules that have linked together. These are what we call carbohydrates or starches, you can take your pick, and are found in grains, legumes, and potatoes.

Trisaccharides and polysaccharides are indigestible, so the body breaks those links between the simple sugar molecules, liberating the glucose and fructose so that the body can actually do something with them. So, regardless of what you call them, carbs or starches, the body sees them as only one simple thing: Sugar. Holding off from eating candy to indulge in bread, pasta, bbq baked beans, or french fries actually doesn't seem so smart now, does it?

Quick Guide to Different Cuts of Beef

Why we eat Primal/Paleo: Processed food is full of Shit

In the wake of the peanut butter salmonella scare (caused by rats, roaches, and other awfulness inside the factory), an op-ed in the New York Times examines the government's standards for acceptable levels of gross stuff in food. According to the writer, you are likely ingest up to two pounds of "flies, maggots and mites" each year, without being aware. Snip from The Maggots in Your Mushrooms (E. J. Levy / New York Times):

"In its (falsely) reassuringly subtitled booklet “The Food Defect Action Levels: Levels of Natural or Unavoidable Defects in Foods That Present No Health Hazards for Humans,” the F.D.A.’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition establishes acceptable levels of such “defects” for a range of foods products, from allspice to peanut butter.

Among the booklet’s list of allowable defects are “insect filth,” “rodent filth” (both hair and excreta pellets), “mold,” “insects,” “mammalian excreta,” “rot,” “insects and larvae” (which is to say, maggots), “insects and mites,” “insects and insect eggs,” “drosophila fly,” “sand and grit,” “parasites,” “mildew” and “foreign matter” (which includes “objectionable” items like “sticks, stones, burlap bagging, cigarette butts, etc.”).

Tomato juice, for example, may average “10 or more fly eggs per 100 grams [the equivalent of a small juice glass] or five or more fly eggs and one or more maggots.” Tomato paste and other pizza sauces are allowed a denser infestation — 30 or more fly eggs per 100 grams or 15 or more fly eggs and one or more maggots per 100 grams."

Here's that happy-fun FDA publication that the article speaks of: "The Food Defect Action Levels - Levels of natural or unavoidable defects in foods that present no health hazards for humans." Bon appetit!




Basically, if you don't get sick, it's not a problem.

There's a difference between sanitation, which is biological, and cleanliness, which is psychological.

For instance, take a beaker and autoclave it. Then spit into it. Then a minute later, drink your spit. It's totally sanitary, but probably psychologically "disgusting".

And Americans in particular are obsessive about "cleanliness" of food, while frequently ignoring whatever is in it that's actually physically harmful to you. McDonald's food possibly epitomizes this.

Bacon Food Porn and a Primal-Friendly Cheddar Spread

Yes, that is a wonderful sight: A plate full of freshly cooked bacon.

Now, far be it from me to tell you what to do with your bacon, but if you are planning on inviting people over and you want to keep things Primal (meaning, this will contain dairy), I have just the dip for you.

Heavy Metal Wines

There are a good number of studies out there about wine that speak about the various health benefits of wine.



Polyphenals in wine are extremely healthy, there is research showing the polyphenols break down the oxidation of dietary fat, that red wine contains 5-10 times as many phenals than white and that white wine contains zero amounts of resveratrol,that same resveratrol can combat cancer and reduce the signs of aging or protect against it completely, that you get a 30% increase of antioxidant activity when you mix wine and berries together, that both red and white wine prevents cavities, the polyphenols in red wine block the formation of proteins that build the plaques long-thought to destroy brain cells and promote senility and Alzheimer’s, that the consumption of red wine seemed to increase the concentration of omega-3s which everyone should be consuming more of, and that wine gives those that drink it a better immunity and resistance to infectious cold viruses than those who do not drink.

To be honest, I could keep going, but I feel that it is not really necessary.