health benefits | The Paleo Mom

The Importance of Fish in Our Diets

August 14, 2012 in FAQ, Protein, Superfoods

In my previous post, I discussed why the mercury content of fish is not worthy of concern for most fish species (see this post). My point isn’t just that we don’t need to worry about eating too much fish; we should really be eating way more of it!

It completely frustrates me that it is generally recommended for pregnant women to limit seafood consumption to two 6oz servings per week in order to avoid excess mercury exposure. Many women take this a step further and avoid all seafood while pregnant. Some even avoid seafood while lactating. Not only is the mercury exposure from seafood a complete non-issue (with the exceptions of the few fish that are higher in mercury than selenium), but by limiting seafood during pregnancy, women are missing out on the best food source of DHA, an extremely essential nutrient for their health and the health of their growing baby. In fact, a maternal diet rich in DHA has been shown to improve a baby’s IQ by 10 points. The recommendation should probably be for a minimum of three 6oz servings of oily cold-water fish per week for these women, if not a diet that is heavily based on fish as a protein source (although, there still is a legitimate rationale for avoiding sushi). I personally wonder how different my two pregnancies would have been if I had known this back then.

Fish and other seafood should be a major part of everyone’s diet. What are the health benefits of fish and other seafood?

Fish and shellfish are rish in long chain omega-3 fatty acids DHA and EPA. These are the anti-inflammatory omega-3 fats that are readily used by our body. The shorter chain omega-3 ALA, which is in flax, chia and walnuts, is actually not easily used by our body because it must first be converted into DHA or EPA, which is a very inefficient process. A 3.5oz serving of wild-caught salmon (fresh or canned; any species), sardines, albacore tuna, trout or mackerel has over 500mg of DHA + EPA. Fish which have moderate amounts of DHA+EPA (150mg-500mg per 3.5oz serving) include haddock, cod, hake, halibut, shrimp, sole, flounder, perch, bass, oysters, crab and farmed salmon).¹ Why not just get your DHA and EPA from fish oil supplements? These polyunsaturated fats are very easily oxidized in response to heat or light and are not very shelf stable, especially once isolated. Consuming oxidized omega-3 fats is not helpful to your health (contributes to inflammation as opposed to reducing it). Eating fresh, frozen or canned whole fish protects the omega-3 fats from oxidation plus provides all the necessary cofactors for optimal absorption and use by the body.

The protein in fish and shellfish is very easy to digest and research shows that the amino acids in fish are more bioavailable (your body can absorb and use them more readily) than beef, pork or chicken ^2,3. Fish and shellfish also have a balanced quantity of all of the essential amino acids, giving them very high Amino Acid Scores (see http://nutritiondata.self.com).

Fish is also rich in two very important minerals which can be challenging to get in sufficient quantities from other foods: iodine and selenium. Iodine (which is also rich in algae and seaweed) is vital for normal thyroid function but is also extremely important for proper immune system function, wound healing, and fertility. Table salt is enriched with iodine due to rampant dietary iodine deficiency (goiters were very common before the advent iodized salt). Since paleo diets tend to be lower in salt (and many people switch to sea salt, which is not iodized), it is very important to include food sources of this essential mineral. Selenium is required for a class of enzymes called selenoenzymes which are part of the body’s natural protection against oxidants. Selenoenzymes are particularly important for protecting the brain against oxidative damage, but selenium deficiencies are also linked to thyroid disease, cardiovascular disease and cancer.

Fish is also a food source of Vitamin D (which can also be found in organ meats). Vitamin D is a steroid hormone that controls expression of more than 200 genes and the proteins those genes regulate. Vitamin D is essential for mineral metabolism (it regulates absorption and transport of calcium, phosphorous and magnesium) and for bone mineralization and growth. Vitamin D is also crucial for regulating several key components of your immune system, including formation of important anti-oxidants. Very importantly, Vitamin D has recently been shown to decrease inflammation and may be critical in controlling auto-immune and inflammatory diseases. Vitamin D is also involved in the biosynthesis of neurotrophic factors, regulating release of such important hormones as serotonin (required not only for mental health but also for healthy digestion!). Vitamin D helps control cell growth, so it is essential for healing. Vitamin D also activates areas of the brain responsible for biorhythms. Scientists continue to discover new ways in which Vitamin D is essential for human health; for example, Vitamin D may prevent cancer. As we spend less and less time outdoors (our bodies synthesize Vitamin D in response to sun exposure), dietary vitamin D becomes more and more important.

Which fish are best to include in your diet? Oily cold water, wild-caught fish will have the highest omega-3 and Vitamin D content. However, even fresh water white fish are an excellent source of protein. The only fish that are worth limiting in your diet are farmed tilapia and farmed catfish as these fish tend to have higher omega-6 content ¹ (they still have that great easily digested protein though!). Yes, fish can be expensive. Canned fish (especially sardines and salmon) are great inexpensive options. Pickled herring and smoked kipper are often less expensive as well. I can usually find frozen wild-caught pink salmon fillets on sale for $4 per pound at my local grocery store (which means it’s cheaper than ground beef!). The take home message here is that fish is good for you, so eat it as often as you want.

¹ Gene Smart “Guide to Omega-3 Levels of Fish”

² Faber, TA et al. “Protein digestibility evaluations of meat and fish substrates using laboratory, avian,and ileally cannulated dog assays” J ANIM SCI 2010, 88:1421-1432.

³ Sheeshka J and Murkin E “Nutritional Aspects of Fish Compared with Other Protein Sources” Comments on Toxicology 2002. 8(4-6):375-397

⁴ Protein Efficiency Ratio Table 6-13

Tags: ancestral, DHA, Diet, EPA, fish, health benefits, Healthy, how much, iodine, mercury, Omega-3, paleo, Paleolithic, Pregnancy, primal, seafood, selenium, vitamin D, Weight Loss, why
26 Comments »

The Paleo Mom and Paleolithic MD Are Teaming Up For A Recurring Series: Overcoming Medical Dogma

June 26, 2012 in Overcoming Medical Dogma

I am happy to announce a collaborative effort between myself and Dr. Ernie Garcia, the physician behind PaleolithicMD.com(also on Facebook and Twitter). We are working together on a new series of posts titled “Overcoming Medical Dogma”. The goal of these co-written posts is to go beyond the typical physician-patient interaction where the patient describes symptoms, the physician diagnoses and prescribes medication and/or dispenses diet and lifestyle advice. In each post, we will discuss a common medical condition, the typical treatments that your doctor may recommend, and what you should know about these conditions that your doctor may not tell you. We will reference relevant research and present our recommendations for addressing this condition. You won’t be surprised to see that our first recommendation will almost always be to adopt a paleo diet; but, we will also go into details of paleo diet modifications where appropriate. Lastly, we will address the benefits of pharmaceuticals (prescription and OTC) as well as home/natural remedies which may help.

I would like to properly introduce you to Dr. Ernie Garcia. So, I asked him some questions that you might be interested to know the answers to.

1. Hi Ernie. Thanks for answering some questions for my readers so they can get to know you better. Tell us about yourself and your practice? Sure, first I’d like to say how excited I am to collaborate with you on these posts. The reason I started PaleolithicMD.com was to not only get the word out about the paleo diet, but more importantly to help people understand how it may help them treat or avoid common chronic medical conditions. I’m 35 years old and I’ve been in private practice as a board certified Internal Medicine and Sleep Medicine specialist for going on 8 years now. I treat all ages above around 16-17 years old, but the majority of my practice consists of older patients. I see the results of our typical carb-based American diet on a daily basis and my hope is I can help my patients see a better way.

2. How did you learn about the paleo diet? My next door neighbors started the paleo diet around a year and a half ago. Initially I was skeptical, but I eventually came around to looking into it. My blog has a good deal on my journey to paleo in the About Mesection. I basically looked into it and it made so much sense. I picked up Robb Wolf’sbook and away I went. I’ve been strictly paleo for going on 9 months and have enjoyed every minute of it.

3. So, this is different than what you learned in medical school? It’s tremendously different. My nutrition education in med school consisted of a few hours of basic “calories in-calories out” information and a lecture on intravenous feedings. The best way to put it is that the concepts behind the paleo diet run basically contrary to everything I was taught. Heart healthy = Low Fat and High Whole Grains. It really could not be more different.

4. Why do you think the medical community in general is so hesitant to recommend paleo diets to their patients? I’m very much into defending the medical community on this. It’s very easy to get all wrapped up about doctors not pushing the Paleo diet. What it comes down to is simple, it’s hard to know what you are not taught. The amount of information you need to know to become a physician is extensive to say the least. Nutrition is just another of a long list of topics, and the fact that it is so poorly emphasized in school makes it a low interest topic for most physicians. Also, the medical literature, at least mainstream medical literature, has been very slow to publish studies involving the paleo diet. There have been articles here or there, but not many. As a busy practicing physician you are lucky to have the time to review articles from the 2-3 major journals in your field. Until the paleo studies become more mainstream, most physicians will not be exposed to the concepts. It’s very easy to mount what I call the “Paleo High Horse” and condemn doctors for not knowing more about paleo. To me that is the wrong approach. If you believe in it, spread the word, even to your doctor.

5. Tell us about your blog. My blog is all about blending the best of modern medicine with paleo concepts to lead to the most optimum health you can. What you’ll see on my blog includes Opinion pieces about certain aspects of paleo, opinion pieces on the healthcare system and its flaws, real patient data from patients who have converted to the paleo lifestyle, recipes and food photos because I LOVE to cook, interesting health articles, book reviews, and a few more surprises here and there. I’m very new to the blog thing, and I hope to grow it much more over time.

6. Is your family on board with paleo? Yes…and no! My wife was a little slow to come around, but she follows it pretty closely now. She is not as particular as me, but I’d say she’s a solid 80% paleo. The kids are into it, but we do not push the issue too much. I have a 3 year old and a 6 year old, and they are becoming better eaters every day. Generally I cook things I know they will eat, and they remain pretty darn paleo in the house. When we go out to eat, or if they are at school or whatever, we allow them to be kids. Since going paleo though, I’d say my kid’s diets have improved tremendously. I simply want them to understand as they grow up what are good food choices, and hope they make the right ones throughout their lives.

7. Are you excited about our collaboration (no pressure to say yes, of course)? Any opportunity to spread the paleo word is a good opportunity to me! It’s also wonderful to collaborate with someone else who is in the “trenches” you might say; although different trenches they are. I’m in the hospital and office daily working with patients to make their lives different, and you have given up your career to be a mom and raise your family hands on. Physicians passing paleo on to patients and parents passing paleo on to children are two of the most important jobs I can think of! We have the same job, with different audiences…

8. Any last thoughts? We have many topics we want to cover, and hopefully we can sneak in a few reader’s choices along the way. Thanks to everyone for reading!

Tags: Diet, ernie garcia, health benefits, introduction, overcoming medical dogma, paleo, Paleolithic, paleolithicMD, series
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The Benefits of Intermittent Fasting

June 9, 2012 in Beyond Paleo, Food Issues, Hormone Regulation, Paleo Philosophy, Weight Loss/Gain

Intermittent fasting, or IFing, is a very popular strategy for stimulating healing, increasing longevity, balancing hormones, increasing energy and mental clarity and losing weight. If you’ve heard this term bantered around paleo circles and have been wondering what it’s all about, then wonder no longer!

How does Intermittent Fasting work? Intermittent fasting provides a variety of health benefits, predominantly due to stimulating a process call autophagy. Autophagy is the process by which a starving cell can reallocate nutrients from cell machinery that is not working optimally to fuel more essential cell processes. The cell degrades its own components, including damaged organelles, cell membranes and proteins, in a tightly regulated process. Autophagy can destroy viruses and bacteria within the cell that are resistant to other ways a cell might destroy them. It can even help the cell identify a viral infection that may have otherwise gone undetected. Autophagy plays a crucial role in immunity and inflammation, balancing the beneficial and detrimental effects of immunity and inflammation, and thereby may protect against infectious, autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. It may even prevent cells from becoming cancerous. Autophagy plays a normal part in cell growth, development, and homeostasis, helping to maintain a balance between the synthesis, degradation, and subsequent recycling of cellular products. In fact, failure of autophagy is thought to be one of the main reasons for the accumulation of cell damage and aging. Turning on autophagy is extremely beneficial (whether it’s turned on by intermittent fasting, exercise, ketosis, or straight calorie-restriction). The result is healthier, more efficient cells, which means a healthier, more efficient body.

What are the benefits of Intermittent Fasting? The benefits of intermittent fasting can be inferred from the effects of autophagy. However, more and more scientific studies are being conducted to confirm the effects of Intermittent Fasting and also isolate the optimal strategy for putting it into practice. Many of the benefits listed below have not been directly tested in humans using Intermittent Fasting; however, there is either strong evidence from animal studies or evidence from studies of autophagy itself, combined with anecdotal evidence to support these claims. The benefits of Intermittent Fasting include:

Increasing lifespan.
Increasing insulin sensitivity, which has many health benefits in and of itself. Of interest, the resulting increase in insulin signaling in the brain is thought to be how fasting/calorie restriction works to increase lifespan.
Lowering blood lipids, triglycerides and other markers of metabolic syndrome.
Fighting/preventing cancer. There is also some evidence that fasting before chemotherapy treatments can help reduce the negative side effects.
Increasing growth hormone secretion (which builds muscle and burns fat).
Normalizing expression of the hunger hormone ghrelin, thereby reducing appetite.
Promoting brain and peripheral nervous system health by increasing neuronal plasticity and promoting neurogenesis, which has a large variety of effects such as boosting mood, memory, and mental clarity.
Increasing dopamine production, thereby boosting mood and increasing anticipation and response to rewards (meaning we get more enjoyment from less food).
Increasing energy through regulating metabolic hormones.

Intermittent Fasting is a little like hitting a reset button. It can help curb sugar cravings, restore energy, and even promote deeper sleep.

How do you do it? And how often? There are many options, but in general fasting for at least 16 hours is required to receive any benefits. Fasting beyond 24 hours doesn’t extend those benefits. So consider a fast anywhere between 16 and 24 hours. This includes sleep time, so a great way to intermittently fast is to simply skip breakfast. Ideally, that also means skipping your morning coffee. Drinking water is okay. Expect to feel hungry when you fast. This is different than simply listening to your body’s cues and waiting until you are hungry to eat (although many people are opportunistic about when they fast and simply choose days when they aren’t that hungry anyway). If you want to fast for 24 hours, you can skip breakfast and lunch. In terms of frequency, it is perfectly safe to fast 2 or 3 times per week (in the absence of health conditions that might complicate matters). If you prefer a longer fast, then once or twice per week is fine. Some people opt to have an 8-hour feeding window every day (see Leangains). However, I would argue that a daily fast is no longer intermittent. The body is able to adapt and predict the fast and many of the benefits are dulled. I also want to point out that you can benefit from fasting even if you do it very infrequently. Perhaps you only want to fast once per month, or once every few months. There is no clear evidence that fasting frequently will dramatically improve your health. Try it, see how you feel, see how you feel when you try it the next time, and then decide what is best for you.

What should you break fast with? When you are ready to eat, eat a balanced meal with lots of great protein and tons of veggies. You probably won’t feel very good if you eat too many carbs, so I urge caution with starchy vegetables and fruit. And don’t overdo the quantity you eat; try and aim for a normal meal (or only slightly larger than normal). I actually found in my own experimentation that I wasn’t that hungry and would eat an unusually small meal to break fast (I would then have more appetite for the meal after that).

Is fasting for everyone? The answer to this is a resounding NO! If you are not getting enough sleep or if your stress is not well managed, you may experience exaggeratedly high cortisol production in response to fasting, which can be detrimental. If you have a history of metabolic derangement or adrenal fatigue, I urge caution for the same cortisol-spiking reason. Women may be more likely than men to have an exaggerated cortisol spike in response to fasting (here‘s a great post reviewing women-specific responses to fasting). If you are not currently eating a fairly low carbohydrate diet (say, less than 100g per day), then fasting may have some side effects that mask the benefits (like headaches, fatigue, and nausea, caused by high cortisol). If you have any grains or dairy in your diet, you may experience a withdrawal-like effect because you aren’t consuming the opiate-like substances found in those foods. If fasting does not feel good, then don’t do it. If fasting feels good the first few times, but then stops feeling good, then stop. My own personal experience with intermittent fasting led me to realize that I can only get away with doing a 16-hour fast once or twice per month. Any more frequently and the cortisol spike stops weight loss, wrecks my sleep, and makes the whole experience completely pointless.

Tags: ancestral, autoimmune, benefits, Diet, eat, Fast, Fasting, health benefits, How To, IF, IFing, inflammation, Intermittent, paleo, Paleolithic, primal
17 Comments »

Why Everyone Should Be Eating Organ Meat

April 7, 2012 in FAQ, Protein, Superfoods

You’ve probably heard a lot about how important it is to eat organ meat: things like liver, kidney, tripe, heart, and even brain. What do these meats have that the muscle meat that we’re used to eating doesn’t have? The answer is A LOT! Organ meats are the most concentrated source of just about every nutrient, including important vitamins, minerals, healthy fats and essential amino acids. In the olden days (yes, I use that term purposely vaguely because it’s different for different cultures), organ meat was revered and saved for those at the highest echelons of society (exactly who depended on the culture, sometimes it was saved for pregnant women, sometimes the head of the family or tribe, sometimes the oldest members of the society, sometimes the hunters, etc.). I remember my mom cooking liver once a week when I was a kid (I also remember hating it, which is strange because I look forward to it now). But most of us don’t eat any organ meat anymore. So, what changed? How have we, as a society, migrated so far from organ meats in just a couple of generations? I think the answer to that question could be a dissertation in itself, but there is one BIG benefit for us: organ meat, even from grass-fed animals, can be very cheap compared to muscle meat (and organ meats from grass-fed animals are even higher in nutrients than organs from grain-fed animals). So, not only do you get to eat the healthiest meat from the animal, but you get to save money doing it! If you’re living on a tight budget, this might be a great way to work in some grass-fed meat!

I urge you to be adventurous with organ meats. I love ordering more unusual organ meats and things like feet and knuckles in ethnic restaurants, especially French and Chinese (although you do need to be careful of gluten ingredients when you do this). But when it comes to cooking at home, certain organ meats are easier to find than others. I suggest starting with the three organ staples: liver, kidney and heart. All three are available from US Wellness Meats (both beef and lamb, but also look at their variety of organ meat sausages) and liver is available from GrassFed Traditions (bison, beef and lamb).

Compared to the muscle meat we are used to eating, organ meats are more densely packed with just about every nutrient, including heavy doses of B vitamins such as: B1, B2, B6, folic acid and the very important vitamin B12. Organ meats are also loaded with minerals like phosphorus, iron, copper, magnesium, iodine, calcium, potassium, sodium, selenium, zinc and manganese and provide the important fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E and K. Organ meats are known to have some of the highest concentrations of naturally occurring vitamin D of any food source. Organ meats also contain high amounts of essential fatty acids, including arachidonic acid and the omega-3 fats EPA and DHA.

Liver is known to be one of the most concentrated sources of vitamin A of any foods. In addition to containing dozens of important vitamins and minerals, it is an outstanding source of Vitamin D, Vitamin B12 (and other B-Vitamins), copper, potassium, magnesium, phosphorous, manganese, and iron, which is in a form that is particularly easily absorbed and used by the body. Kidney is particularly high in Vitamin B12, selenium, iron, copper, phosphorus and zinc. Even though heart is technically a muscle, it also is also a superfood. Heart is a very concentrated source of the supernutrient, Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10, important for cardiovascular health and also rich in kidney and liver), contains an abundance of Vitamin A, Vitamin B12; folic acid, iron, selenium, phosphorus and zinc, and is the number one food source of copper. Heart also contains twice as much collagen and elastin than regular meat (which means it is rich in the amino acids glycine and proline), which are essential for connective tissue health, join health and digestive health (see The Health Benefits of Bone Broth).

I recommend incorporating organ meat into your diet at least twice per week. In fact, the more organ meat in your diet, the better, especially if it’s grass-fed. Because the flavor can be challenging for some and because cooking organ meat can be daunting, I am devoting all of my recipe posts for next week to delicious organ meat recipes!