My Inner Wilma

February is crawling to a close and March will give away to, hopefully, glimpses of hope (e.g. Spring). March is also National Nutrition Month. National Nutrition Month is the perfect time for anyone to fine tune their diet to get ready for Spring break and/ or Summer vacations (also known as "swimsuit season").

For the past two years I have enlisted myself as a guinea pig to try out different diets. I tried out the DASH, Gluten Free, Vegetarian, and Vegan diet for a week apiece. Last year, my challenge was to make every meal a MyPlate meal. I am kicking off my challenge a little early this year because Spring break is the last week of March for me (and there is a lounge chair by a pool with my name on it).   

This year, I'm going to go back in time. Forget the idea of eating things my grandma would recognize. I'm only going to eat things that Wilma Flintstone would recognize. This type of eating is more commonly known as the Paleo Diet. Paleo is short for the Paleolithic Era, which happens to be the only era you can eat foods from. 

Wilma Flintstone (l) soaks in some rays with her best friend, Betty Rubble. This will be me in 4 weeks. 

This type of diet was first introduced in 1985 as the Caveman Diet by Dr. Boyd Eaton. Fast forward about 20 years, the diet has been promoted (heavily) by Crossfit enthusiasts and nutrition social media outlets, given a more hip name, and is once again gaining popularity. Dr. Loren Courdain developed the use of the term "Paleo" and worked with Dr. Boyd Eaton to create what we currently know as eating Paleo.  

There are numerous claims in regards to following the Paleo Diet. Some claims I have found include being able to control autoimmune diseases, increase athletic performance, and (my favorite) lose weight without diet or exercise. (Because we all know that cave people didn't have to be active to find food or to avoid being eaten by saber tooth tigers.) 

Enough with the background, lets get into the meat of this diet- literally. What did our paleolithic ancestors eat to help them be the epitomes of health that they allegedly were? For starters, there was a lot of protein available. These foods include grass-fed meats, fish, seafood, eggs, nuts, and seeds. They didn't just hunt though, they also gathered food. Fruits and most vegetables are also permitted on this plan. Last, but not least, they needed something to make sure that their meat didn't stick to their roasting sticks. This means that healthful oils, like olive, flaxseed, coconut and avocado, are allowed as well. 

Next are the foods that they didn't eat, so we shouldn't either. These items include grains (especially wheat/ gluten containing ones), legumes (bye, bye beans and peanuts), dairy, refined sugar, potatoes, processed foods, salt, and refined vegetable oils. 

I thought potatoes were a vegetable. 

The last set of rules to follow pertain to beverages, since our ancestors had to drink something to avoid dehydration. Herbal tea and water are allowed, in fact lots of water. Caffeinated beverages, such as coffee and tea, are also allowed in moderation. Yeast is older than cave people, therefore things must have fermented back in the day. As a result, certain alcoholic beverages are also permitted. There is still the usual one drink max for women, two for men on any given day. The caveat is that it can't have gluten, this means that beer is out.    

Now that the basic rules are listed, its time to add more restrictions. For the first week I am going to mostly be following the diet suggested for autoimmune diseases by the book Practical Paleo by Diane Sanfilippo. I was recently diagnosed with Raynaud's Syndrome, which is associated with a few autoimmune diseases. Thankfully, I have been cleared of the diseases connected to it so I am able to blame yet another thing on Wisconsin winters.   

There is a disclaimer in the book that what they are suggesting is not intended to be a replacement for professional medical diagnosis or treatment for a medical condition. This being said, in accordance with the recommendations in the book I will also be avoiding eggs, nuts, and seeds- mostly. I am not going to cut them out completely due to there are a few recipes in this book that require these ingredients. I also need something to snack on, and generally speaking, nuts and seeds are easy to transport. 

My goals with the Paleo Diet include:

• Increased energy, especially in regards to workouts
• Better manage my sensitivity to cold 
• Bikini- ready shape (I'll be honest, Spring break is at the end of this and a warm, sunny destination is involved.)

Stay tuned for related topics that I'm sure will arise in the next four weeks. I'm hoping readers can find something useful in this experiment, if not entertaining.

Sharpen those knives and let's get broiling!  

 

(Un)Junked Candy

Last week as I strolled through the aisles of Target, I did what most people do.

I impulse shopped.

As I came upon the food section, an end cap caught my eye. Candy. Unjunked. I blinked my eyes a couple times and shook my head to make sure I was actually seeing this.

It was still there when I reopened my eyes. This was not a mirage of black wrapped candy bars with glints of bright colors of red, purple, and green decorating the end of this aisle. These candy bars looked more like they should be placed with the video games rather than in the food section. I picked one up to see what was not-so-junk about this candy bar.

This is what was printed on the label:
UNJUNKED
NO ARTIFICIALS
NO HYDROGENATEDS
NO CORN SYRUPS
NO PRESERVATIVES
NO GMOS
UNREAL (This happens to be the brand name as well.)

Personally, no matter what is in candy, candy in itself is junk food. There are no ifs, ands, or buts about it. So I found it amusing they were claiming that because their bars didn't contain any of the items listed above, it was therefore "unjunked." Sugar, as in added sugar- including cane sugar (which is sucrose), is junk. Yes, it can assist in making food tasty, but it's true.

The one I happened to pick up was UNREAL8, their "unjunked" version of a Snickers bar. I am my mother's daughter (and Snickers is a guilty pleasure for me), so I had to try this. I already had my glorified candy bar, an Almond Brownie Balance Bar (which I consider a not-so-guilty pleasure), why not get this too?

When I returned home, I was famished from my Target trip. (Okay, not really... I just really wanted chocolate.) I pulled out the candy bar and tore into the wrapper to take a look at candy, unjunked.

Wow, not nearly as appetizing as a Snickers looks. Mars at least goes through the trouble to make the chocolate look like it was poured onto the bar by the ripple effect on the top. This candy bar only has dimples, from the wrapper. Maybe this tastes better than it looks. 

I think I broke a tooth... wait, nope. My teeth are still in tact (thank goodness). But man, this is a workout for my jaw. Ah, yes. There are no preservatives in this candy bar. They aren't kidding either. The first two bites were the most difficult to chew. For some reason, it got easier as I progressed through the candy bar. I'm not sure if it was any "fresher" than the end of it or if I worked up enough jaw strength. 

As for taste, it was decent. Nothing to write home about (but enough for me to blog about). It had enough sweeteners to make up for the corn syrups typically found in candy bars. These sweeteners included cane sugar, organic blue agave inulin, more cane sugar, a little more cane sugar, and evaporated cane syrup. It took all of those sweeteners to make up for what is usually used in a candy bar. 

The other notable ingredient in this "unjunked" candy bar was palm kernel oil. Palm kernel oil, like coconut and palm oil, is an oil that is relatively high in saturated fat. According to the nutrition facts, one of these candy bars alone makes up 25% of your daily saturated fat intake (on a 2,000 calorie diet). Yikes!

Now if you click on the link above (or conveniently right here), UNREAL not only takes the time to compare UNREAL8 to Snickers, but also to a pear. It shows that a pear and their "unjunked" candy bar have the same amount of sugar. No way! What they fail to highlight is that a pear also has fewer calories and contains no fat. Oh, and that the sugar in a pear occurs naturally.    

There is no reason to think the "unjunked" candy bar is above the typical candy bar. Either way, it is candy. It is no more nutritious for you than what you find from other candy companies. If you really want to be healthy, reach for a piece of fruit. If you really want to be naughty, have what you crave.