Paleo Education

MythBusters: Protein Powder

August 22, 2013 by Jackie Ritz 12 Comments

I’m kicking off a series today titled, “MythBusters“; a copy-cat to the popular show on the Discovery Channel, but I’ll be adding in my own real food twist. MythBusters is a science fiction show that uncovers the truth behind popular myths and legends. If you’ve never seen the show, go watch it!

In this new series of mine, I’m going to be taking a real food look at some of the popular “myths” in today’s society. And today I’m going to talk about…

Protein: The Good, The(Not-So) Bad, The Ugly

Before we look at protein powder, I think it’s important to take a look at how much protein our body actually needs.

How Much Protein Do I Need?

Here’s 3 opposing schools of thought for you to chew on:

Protein recommendations from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) – according to their website, I should only be eating 5 ounces of protein PER DAY!!! One chicken breast is roughly 6 ounces. Excuse me while I LOL at this one.
Protein Recommendations from The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM): this site is pretty reliable, especially for athletes and endurance runners. Protein should be 15-20% of the diet, and the recommended daily allowance (RDA) is 0.8 grams of protein per kilograms of body weight.
Protein Recommendation from Ph.D. Paul Jaminet, author of The Perfect Health Diet: the micronutrients ratio he recommends is 20% carb, 65% fat, and 15% protein. He bases these recommendations off of these things:

Observations of our ancestors – a look into the hunter-gatherer diet shows us that our ancestors’ diets were very close to this ratio. They also did not favor lean meats except for periods of starvation and scarcity.
Composition of human breast milk – Human breast milk is 39% carbohydrates, 54% fat and 7% protein.
Composition of our own tissues – an average male is 60% fat and 20% protein. It makes sense to eat foods in the ratio that composes our body.
Preference for omnivorous animals for high-fat diets – all choose to eat an high-fat, low to moderate protein and moderate carbohydrate diet.

15% Protein Looks Like This…

A moderately active 5’10 male of 180lbs should eat 15% protein, which equates to almost 122 grams of protein. His workout day should look like this…

(Click here to figure out your macronutrients.)

Now that you have an idea of how much protein your body, truly, needs, let’s take a look at the different kinds of protein that we can use to fill our body’s 15% needs.

Protein Powder: The Ugly

What is protein powder? Protein powder is a “nutritional” drink that is packed with protein and can be consumed in a number of ways. Protein powder is not only consumed as a drink now, but many people are building recipes around this “nutritional” supplement. Whether you are trying to lose weight, enhance your athletic performance, or a busy mom with no time to make a real meal, protein powder seems very convenient.

Three Kinds of Protein Powder:

Soy – plant-based source of protein
Whey – a protein found in milk and is fast absorbing
Casein – the main protein in milk and is slow absorbing

What’s in Protein Powder?

Let’s take a look at the top-selling brand on the popular Bodybuilder website.

Questionable Ingredients:

Natural & Artificial Flavors – I could not find the specifics on what these are exactly. However, experience tells me to stay away from artificial flavors.

Lecithin (soy) – read here about all the dangers of soy

Cocoa (Processed With Alkali) – Alkali is simply a base, the opposite of an acid. Natural cocoa powder is lightly colored and has a somewhat sharp acidic flavor. Processing it with alkali neutralizes the acidity and makes the taste milder and the color darker. This treatment is called the Dutch process. Doing this makes it sweeter and helps it to mix easier with liquids, however, The Dutch process reduces the amount of natural flavonols, or antioxidants, in the cocoa powder.

Acesulfame Potassium Sucralose – the two most alarming things about this ingredient is:

According to Cancer.gov it causes cancer (source).
It contains methylene chloride, a known carcinogen (read source).

Sucralose (aka Splenda)– causes all sorts of issues (source)

Gastrointestinal problems
Seizures, dizziness and migraines
Blurred vision
Allergic reactions
Blood sugar increases and weight gain

That is a lot of harmful side-effects to America’s top best-selling protein powder. Sure, there might be some protein powders that are less harmful. If you’ve been around the real food world for a while, you will see that this is often a question that is asked.

Protein Powder: The (Not-So) Bad

“Which protein powder is Paleo?”

Well, none, really. Paleo is about eating WHOLE, unprocessed foods. However, canned coconut milk and almond butter are not whole, yet are accepted as real food. Also, the answer to this question depends on how Paleo you would like to be. I prefer to be 80% Paleo and leave the 20% to other non-Paleo indulgences. Maybe you prefer the same, and this 20% could consist of a decent protein powder.

Here’s a few recommendations:

PaleoPro – a new powder on the block consisting of eggs, beef, and sweetened with stevia.

Great Lake Beef Gelatin – this gelatin powder comes from grass-fed beef. We use it to add to shakes, smoothies, and coffee for added nutrition.

Hemp Protein Powder – it boosts 11g of protein and only ingredient is organic hemp seeds

Egg Protein Powder – this is from egg whites…if you could find one from whole eggs it would be better. Better yet, throw a few pastured, raw eggs in a smoothie.

Protein: The Good

Best Sources of Protein:

Beef

Hamburger patty, 4 oz – 28 grams protein
Steak, 6 oz – 42 grams
Most cuts of beef – 7 grams of protein per ounce

Chicken

Chicken breast, 3.5 oz – 30 grams protein
Chicken thigh – 10 grams (for average size)
Drumstick – 11 grams
Wing – 6 grams
Chicken meat, cooked, 4 oz – 35 grams

Fish

Most fish fillets or steaks are about 22 grams of protein for 3 ½ oz (100 grams) of cooked fish, or 6 grams per ounce
Tuna, 6 oz can – 40 grams of protein

Pork

Pork chop, average – 22 grams protein
Pork loin or tenderloin, 4 oz – 29 grams
Ham, 3 oz serving – 19 grams
Ground pork, 1 oz raw – 5 grams; 3 oz cooked – 22 grams
Bacon, 1 slice – 3 grams
Canadian-style bacon (back bacon), slice – 5 – 6 grams

Eggs and Dairy

Egg, large – 6 grams protein
Milk, 1 cup – 8 grams
Cottage cheese, ½ cup – 15 grams
Yogurt, 1 cup – usually 8-12 grams, check label
Soft cheeses (Mozzarella, Brie, Camembert) – 6 grams per oz
Medium cheeses (Cheddar, Swiss) – 7 or 8 grams per oz
Hard cheeses (Parmesan) – 10 grams per oz

Nuts and Seeds

Peanut butter, 2 Tablespoons – 8 grams protein
Almonds, ¼ cup – 8 grams
Peanuts, ¼ cup – 9 grams
Cashews, ¼ cup – 5 grams
Pecans, ¼ cup – 2.5 grams
Sunflower seeds, ¼ cup – 6 grams
Pumpkin seeds, ¼ cup – 8 grams
Flax seeds – ¼ cup – 8 grams

I hope this gives you an understanding of what your protein needs are and the proper sources for nourishment. Would love to hear what your favorite protein sources are and if you choose to use protein powder, which ones?

This post is linked to Party Wave Wednesday at Holistic Squid.

Serving the Homeless Our Leftovers and Expired Canned Goods

April 25, 2013 by Jackie Ritz 14 Comments

First, I want to apologize for slacking in the blogging sphere. Life has been intensely busy for us…especially for me. I have been in my studies of pursuing my Doula certification! I am so excited about it. I have had such a fascination with natural birth ever since I had a natural water birth with my son. I feel called to help other women who are pursuing the same kind of birth. I am a massage therapist already and am eager to add Doula training to that!

Anyways, I would like to share something that has been on my mind for years but wondering if there, actually, is a solution to the problem.

Let’s talk about food pantries…

Food pantries give food to the homeless and needy. They are set up by churches and non-profit organizations and we donate to them. We clean out all our old canned food, you know the “pre-Paleo” food that we don’t eat anymore, and give it to our church’s food pantry. I am so torn by this. Would you feed your kids food from a food pantry? I know we all would if we were starving and homeless. But I mean RIGHT NOW…if you had the choice, would you feed your kids that food?

I’m sorry…but they are getting our leftovers. I just feel it is wrong. They are getting junk food, processed garbage, and nothing to nourish their tired bodies. I just think we could do better than this! Couldn’t we? Isn’t there something more we could do to get REAL, whole food to the homeless and needy?

Are there any projects set up that do this? I am searching and searching and haven’t found any. This weighs my heart heavily. My passion and dream would be to one day have a community vegetable garden and real food pantry. I would work with local farms and local hobby farmers that have the same heart and would be willing to donate fresh eggs, meat, milk, veggies, and fruit. I would also buy beans and rice in bulk and separate them in gallon-sized baggies for each person.

However, I realize that when you are used to just opening a can and heating it up, then some education might need to happen. So, I plan on writing out meal plans and instructions to go in each bag!

Can you do this too? Talk with you pastor or find a needy family. Prepare a bag of fresh food with a simple meal plan included and give it to a single, working mother! Let’s try to help the needy a little bit better by not serving them our leftovers and unused, almost expired canned goods! I know we can do better!!!

What’s in My Fridge (Part 2: 3 Part Series on Freezer, Fridge, & Pantry)

April 12, 2013 by Jackie Ritz 2 Comments

Earlier this week I wrote about the Paleo foods that I keep in my freezer. If you didn’t see it, go check it out! Today, I’m sharing the Paleo foods I store in my fridge. As always, every brand recommendation is because I use and believe in it.

In my last house, I had a fridge in the garage and 2 deep freezers. It was great! I used to get 15 dozen eggs at a time and store them in the fridge in my garage. However, we are limited on space now, and I just have the fridge in our kitchen.

Most of my foods I get at a local farmer’s market. I also shop at Costco. Check out my list of 50 Paleo food items I found at Costco and 36 Paleo food items I found at Sam’s Club!

Here’s a peak at what is inside my fridge…

1. Farm Fresh Eggs – I’ve said this a few times before. Look on Craigslist for a local hobby farmer who has excess eggs. I found a lady about 4 miles from me who has the BEST eggs I’ve ever had! I love the deep orange yolk color, because it’s a sign of nutrients!

2. Sweetleaf Liquid Stevia – we sweeten with stevia. We love it in our coffee, smoothies, and homemade nut milks. We have tried a few different flavors of it and we really like the English Toffee, Chocolate Raspberry and Vanilla!

3. Coombs Grade B Maple Syrup – we prefer grade b syrup for its dark color. This is a great deal on Amazon.

4. Homemade Kombucha – Kombucha is a fermented tea loaded with healthy bacteria and probiotics. Our family drinks a ton of this stuff!

5. Homemade Mayo or Store-bought Mayo – I try to make mayonnaise ahead of time but sometimes that just doesn’t happen. In a crunch, I use Woodstock Organic Mayo which is NOT Paleo but it is the best of the store-bought kinds. This falls into our 12-20% non-Paleo part of our diet.

6. Renew Life 50 Billion Probiotics – I keep probiotics in the fridge for when we get sick, have upset tummies, flu-like symptoms, or need immune boosting. We do not take probiotics on a daily basis though because it’s just too expensive for our family of 4. Instead, we drink Kombucha daily which has probiotics in it.

7. Eden’s Yellow Mustard: I love the Eden brand and I love this mustard. It made with raw apple cider vinegar and comes in a glass jar!

8. Bionature Strawberry Jam: we still love jellies and jams! We use them on our pancakes and other baked Paleo goods. This brand I buy at Tropical Traditions and has no sugar and sustainable ingredients.

9. Kerrygold Butter – you may have seen this in my freezer, as well. I keep a lb in my fridge and a backup in my freezer! Can’t ever have too much butter! I buy the Kerrygold butter at Costco for super cheap!

10. MaraNatha Almond Butter – Costco sells a HUGE jar of this stuff for only $6! If you don’t have a Costco, you can get it for pretty cheap on Amazon.

11. Organicville BBQ Sauce – I get a huge 35oz jar of this stuff at Costco for like $4.99. I looked at the Amazon prices and they aren’t even comparable. Please note, this is another condiment that falls into my 20% non-Paleo. The ingredients are pretty good and they are organic, however it uses Agave Nectar to sweeten. So, if you have the time, make your own BBQ sauce!

12. Homemade Sauerkraut – we love sauerkraut! Not only is it another “cheap” probiotic, but it is soooo easy to make. I make them in my quart-sized mason jars.

13. Lots of produce from our local Farmer’s Market! I buy in season and local, which makes produce cheaper and fresher!

Fresh Produce from the Farmer's Market! — Fresh Produce from the Farmer’s Market!

14. Almond or Coconut Milk – my kids had raw cow milk for a while, but we have, once again, switched back to be completely dairy free. Their pediatrician recommended we take them off raw milk because of their seasonal allergies. I try to make a Coconut Milk Tonic for my kids when I have the materials and time. Read my post here on choosing the right coconut milk for your kids.

15. Land O Lakes Heavy Cream – my husband uses this for his coffee.

16. Meat, Bacon, and Deli Slices

17. Dates – I get a 2lb box of dates from Sam’s or Costco. I love them with almond butter inside!

18. Mason Jar Salads – ever since my friend, Dusti, wrote a guest blog post on how she makes mason jar salads for her family…my life has changed! These are genius, time-saving, and convenient.

I think that is just about it! What else do you have in your fridge that I didn’t include?

What’s In My Freezer (Part 1: 3 Part Series on Freezer, Fridge, & Pantry)

April 6, 2013 by Jackie Ritz 6 Comments

I have had quite a few people request that I do a series on items in my fridge, freezer and pantry. Starting Paleo can seem soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo overwhelming…I know, I’ve been there. My BIGGEST piece of advice I could ever give you is, START SMALL. You don’t need it all at once. I also am not a big fan of Paleo baked goods. I make them because my kids love them, but I suck at baking! And let’s face it, Paleo or “gluten-free” items for baking is not cheap and it HURTS when you pour your money and time into a cupcake and it’s comes out of the oven looking and tasting like a nasty mess.

So, I’m going to share with you what I use and where I buy it. Please know, I do not ever recommend an item unless I use it and can testify to it’s quality. Everything on this list is used by me and LOVED by me!

You will notice I get a lot of stuff from Cosco. If you have a local Cosco, then go read my article on “50 Paleo Foods Found at Cosco for Cheap“!

20 Paleo Foods In My Freezer:

1. Tropical Tradition Coconut Chips: We love these chips. My favorite thing to do with them is to toast them and add salt and cinnamon. Check out this recipe from the Well Fed Cookbook. We also use them in baking Paleo Comfort Food’s Morning Glory Muffins!

2. Tropical Traditions Coconut Flakes: I use the flakes to make my Fishy Bites or chicken nuggets. I, also, have made the Fishy Bites and the Chicken Nuggets and frozen them for an easy lunch for the kids. They freeze great after you cook them!

3. Tropical Traditions Coconut Flour

4. Cosco Flax Seed

5. Grassfed Ground Meat: I buy this locally at a Farmer’s Market.

6. Cosco’s “low sodium” Bacon: it’s sugar-free but still has nitrates if you are worried about that.

7. Homemade Popsicles: I buy these silicone molds and make popsicles for my kids (and me!).

8. Whole Chickens: this is another thing I buy from our local Farmer’s Market. I get 2 pastured chickens for only $15!!

9. Homemade Chicken Stock: this is so easy to make and so delicious. Check out this post I wrote for Paleo Parents on how to stretch ONE chicken into 4-6 meals!

10. Cosco’s Whole Bean Coffee: I use an organic coffee bean from Cosco to make my morning Bulletproof Coffee. Have you ever tried putting butter in your coffee? Well you should!

11. Cosco’s Adells Chicken Sausage: these come in a 3 pack from Cosco for $15, so I throw 2 packs in the freezer.

12. Honeyville Blanched Almond Flour: I prefer baking with almond flour when I do bake, and Honeyville is the best. In fact there is a 20% off coupon floating around right now! Use coupon code: spring13 to get 20% off your order. Shipping is only $5 anywhere in the US!

12. Butter: I either buy unsalted Kerrygold Butter from Cosco or I get it locally from my Farmer’s Market. I use this in cooking and my Bulletproof Coffee.

13. Strawberries, Blueberries, and Raspberries: I live in Florida and when berries are in season, you can find them really cheap at a local market or a You-Pick Farm! I stock up and freeze them for smoothies and homemade popsicles for the kids!

14. Cosco’s Frozen Organic Green Beans

15. Cosco’s Frozen Organic Broccoli

16. Random pieces of meat: I like to stock up on certain cuts of meat when they go on sale. We REALLY like to buy 1/4th cow and stock it in the freezer. However, this is a big chunk of change up front, and we are currently doing the Dave Ramsey thing, so we are choosing to pay down debt instead of buying bulk meat.

17. Milk: I stock up on almond milk or coconut milk when it goes on sale and freeze it. I’m cheap, have you noticed?

18. Leftovers: I have random leftover foods in my freezer. I love doubling a recipe and freezing it. This makes my busy days tolerable since I can just grab a homemade, frozen, Paleo meal!

19. My Ice Cream Maker: We make delicious coconut milk ice cream with it and I don’t have to worry about the weird ingredients!

20. Marrow Bones, Chicken Feet, and Chicken giblets: I get marrow bones from a local farmer to make beef stock with. Chicken feet and giblets are for my homemade chicken stock to make it more gelatinous.

What’s in your freezer? Am I missing anything? Hope this list helps you! I would suggest finding a deep freezer! We have saved so much money stocking our foods and freezing them! We found our freezer off Craigslist!

Week’s Worth of LOCAL Groceries & My Budget!

March 16, 2013 by Jackie Ritz 17 Comments

I am such an advocate of shopping local! Since my daughter was born, I made the decision to pursue healthier eating and shopping at local Farmer’s Market’s is one of the healthiest, most frugal way to eat better!

This week I’m gonna show you all that I got from my local Farmer’s Market and talk about my weekly food budget. We are a family of 4 and my grocery budget for EVERYTHING (paper products, dog food, household items, batteries, etc) is $200 a week. I get about 80-90% of our food from my local Farmer’s Market and supplement with trips to Costco or Publix.

Today I spent $91 at the market and came out with TONS of groceries! There are a few things that I don’t buy at the market because of the cost. These are…

Bacon – I buy that at Costco for cheap
Spices
Beef and Pork– too expensive for us. I either find a local meat market to purchase “Family Packs” or buy from Costco.
Alcohol – my husband will never give up his beer!
Oils, vinegar, and Maple Syrup – I buy them from Costco.
Eggs – I usually get these from a local hobby farmer but she was out of them so I bought some today from the market. I usually get them for $3. I found this local lady off Craigslist. At the market today they were $4.
Milk – my kids just started drinking raw milk again because I found someone local who sells it. I buy this for $10 a gallon and they get a gallon a week. When it’s out, it’s out.

Here is what I found at my Farmer’s Market…if I remembered the price, I listed it…

From left to right…

9 bananas, 4 for $1
2 large heads of broccoli, 2 for $3
pack of 6 large nitrate free hot dogs, $6
HUGE box (6 pints) of strawberries, $9
6 large carrots
2 green peppers
5 yellow squash
3 zucchini
4 avocados, 2 for $3
2 pints of blueberries, $3
5 tomatoes
lots of small red potatoes
2 heads of romaine lettuce
1 large cabbage
6 sweet potatoes
1 green onion, $1
1 large bunch of spinach leaves, $1
1lb of Amish butter, $6
2 pints of white mushrooms
bunch of red grapes
12 dozen eggs, $4
Asparagus bunch
2 whole chickens, 2 for $15

Total = $91!!! Can’t beat that, eh?!?!

I got a few other things at Publix to supplement this trip:

2 bottles of local wine, BOGO free $9.99
Yengling beer, $6.99
Yo Kids organic yogurt, $3.50 (I put these in the freezer for a frozen treat!)
BOGO watermelon chunks, $1.50 (I make popsicle with these)
Thyme – forgot to grab some at the market
Parsley – forgot to grab some at the market
Vanilla
Smoked Paprika
1lb of Boar’s Head chicken cuts, $9

Total = $57

This brings my total spending to $148 for the week!

A few budget points:

I have 2 lbs of ground beef in my freezer and 2 whole chickens from the market today to use in our meals, as well as bacon for breakfast.

I will need to use $10 on milk and $10 on more eggs (we average 4 dozen eggs a week) which brings my total to $168.

I will use the other $30 on buying more meat at some point during the week from Costco. I hope to get a roast and some chicken thighs. We eat out once, maybe twice, a week and never more.

I will not go over my $200 budget. I am pretty good about that. I operate on cash, so when the cash is out, so is the food and I need to be creative with how we use it. Also, I can, and have, cut this budget in half to only $100 a week, while still eating 75% Paleo. I supplement our meals with some rice, discount foods from market deals, and non-organic produce. It is possible, but it is more challenging. You have to really shop around.

Tell me what you find at your Farmer’s Markets and how you work your family budget!!!

Affording Paleo & Fruity Kombucha Jell-O Bites

March 5, 2013 by Jackie Ritz 3 Comments

Affording Paleo: On Any Budget

chicken I have a few guest posts out that I wanted to direct you all too. The first one is on the Paleo Parent’s blog and is about affording Paleo and making Paleo work for your budget. Included is my frugal technique of stretching 4-6 meals out of ONE CHICKEN! Please go check it out and get some great tips on affording Paleo for your budget.

Paleo Parent’s was my lifeline when I started Paleo over a year ago. They had kids and a baby and they were making Paleo work. After 30 days of eating Paleo, I, also, wrote this guest blog for them on how Paleo changed my life, helped my depression, and lowered my husband’s cholesterol so much that he is now STATIN drug-free!!!

Fruity Kombucha Jell-O Bites

My awesome and hilarious REAL LIFE friend, Summer, over at The Dirty Floor Diaries asked me post for her. I love Summer and I love her blog. It’s so real and I just want to be like, “thank you…I’m not alone in how I feel.” Summer speaks my language!

I posted on these awesome Kombucha Jell-O bites that I had recently made for my kids. My kids keep devouring them and they are so healthy! Go check out my recipe on The Dirty Floor Diaries!!

Where can I get Kombucha? You can either buy Kombucha at health food stores, or you can easily make it yourself at home!

Click here to get Kombucha cultures to make at home.

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