Paleo Cookbook For Dummies (14 page)

1. Lie face up with the Swiss ball resting in the middle of your back and your feet planted on the floor.

2. Bring your arms up to a 90-degree angle at the shoulder and elbow.

3. Lean your head back and extend your spine as far back as you can go while keeping your feet planted on the floor, trying to touch your hands to the floor

4. Hold for 30 seconds.

Check out this stretch in
Figure 2-1
. You won't want to get up! Just remember all your spine does for you and be sure you take the very best care of it.

Photograph by iStockphoto.com/Alexander Novikov

Figure 2-1:
Swiss ball stretch.

Chapter 3

Discovering Paleo Superfoods

In This Chapter

Introducing the Paleo superfoods

Getting to know the Paleo yellow light foods

You've probably heard the term
superfood
tossed around before. So what's a superfood, exactly? It's food that's so nutrient dense and carries such nutritional excellence that it's the best raw material you can possibly give your cells. Bar none.
Paleo superfoods
are simply the healthiest foods on earth. They're the meat and eggs, fish and seafood, fruits, non-starchy and certain starchy vegetables, healthy fats and oils, and nuts and seeds that are in the optimal form for you to consume. If it's a Paleo superfood, it's got to be good!

When you get in the know about what these simple, natural foods are, going Paleo becomes second nature. The recipes in this book are all made with Paleo superfoods. As you go through the recipes and choose which ones you want to create, you begin to see how easy these superfoods are to use and enjoy. This chapter is your launch pad to discovering these foods.

Adopting a Paleo diet means the guesswork is over. That has to feel good — liberating, even. The framework of Paleo has set up a clear and definitive group of foods that are “yes” foods. You don't have to feel that food confusion you may have been dealing with in the past.

Green Light Foods: Loading Up on Paleo Superfoods

Paleo foods are by nature the real superfoods. Instead of thinking of Paleo as a diet, a way to heal conditions, or even a way to enhance athletic performance, think of it as simply eating the healthiest foods you can possibly consume. That's it. Putting Paleo into the mixed bag of diets or healing remedies undersells and diminishes what it really is at the core. The Paleo-approved foods include the world's greatest superfoods, and they provide you with all the nutrition you'll ever need.

Your hunter-gatherer ancestors didn't have access to industrialized foods or planted crops, which means they didn't have grains, sugars, starches, legumes, dairy, or processed foods or oils. They survived on lean meats and eggs, fish and seafood, certain vegetables, certain fruits, nuts, seeds, and healthy fats — the same foods that make up the Paleo superfoods list in the following sections. Coincidence? I think not.

Meats, eggs, and bone broths

Protein builds and repairs you, increasing lean muscle mass and reducing body fat. Adequate protein supports your physique and ensures that your appetite is satisfied. The right quality protein supplies you with natural healthy fat.

Primal meats:
Wild animal meat — venison, rabbit, bear, and even wild boar — is an excellent protein choice. It's very lean and full of healthy omega-3 fatty acids.

Lean meats:
Your choices should always be free of antibiotics and other fillers. Beef, buffalo, lamb, goat, turkey, and chicken are all good sources. Just make sure your choices are always free of antibiotics and other fillers.

Organ meats:
Organ meats such as kidney, liver, and heart have a high concentration of fat-soluble vitamins; they're one of the best sources of vitamin D. They also have essential fatty acids. Be sure you get them from a healthy source to avoid toxins; I like U.S. Wellness Meats (
www.grasslandbeef.com/StoreFront.bok
).

Homemade bone broths:
Bone broths
are flavorful liquids made from boiling animal bones for an extended period of time, often with vegetables or herbs, and then straining out the solids. The resulting broth is rich in vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and amino acids. Bone broth is a powerful healer that reduces inflammation, heals infection, boosts immunity, stimulates bone health, heals the gut, and even has a calming effect. Check out the bone broth recipe in
Chapter 18
.

Eggs:
Rich in many key nutrients, especially fat-soluble vitamins A and D, egg yolk is also loaded with a B vitamin that's super brain food. Look for organic, pastured eggs with omega-3 for the best fatty acid profile.

If you choose to eat vegetarian protein sources, the most optimal choices are organic, non-GMO foods. (
GMO
refers to
genetically modified organisms,
which have had changes introduced into their DNA by genetic engineering techniques.) Avoid processed meatless burgers and so on. Instead, plant-based foods such as the following, which are closest to their natural state without all the processing, are your best choices:

Tempeh

Natto
(steamed, fermented, and mashed soybeans)