Blog Archive

Those interested and signed up for the challenge please come to get pinched either Friday afternoon 4pm to 6pm.  Or Sunday at 6 to 7 pm. I’ll post a pinch time sheet.  Bring the $100.00 Cash Entry Fee.

This will be a 12 week summer challenge with a check-in at 6 weeks.  That’ll be the July 29-31st CrossFit Games Weekend.  Tbear and the Dash will be here.

Again there are lots of open spots.  At least 2 evenings of diet Q&A and a chance at 5 or 6 spots to have dinner with Robb Wolf at Lupo’s Restaurant Sunday, July 11th.

I’ll post the fine details/rules under paleobear community section.

Tbear

Ever wonder what a ninja really is?

A ninja (忍者?) or shinobi (忍び?) was a covert agent or mercenary of feudal Japan specializing in unorthodox arts of war. The functions of the ninja included espionage, sabotage, infiltration, and assassination, as well as open combat in certain situations. The ninja, using covert methods of waging war, were contrasted with the samurai, who had strict rules about honor and combat.

All I know is that I believe the ultimate ninja would be a CrossFit ninja…and I love this picture.

Anyway, not that ninjas have anything to do with today’s workout, I just think they are super cool and I’m trying to distract myself from the results of last night’s game. Without further fanfare,

Technique: Heavy cleans, find your 1 rep max

Workout: “The Chief”

3 power cleans 135/95 lbs
6 push ups
9 air squats

As many reps as possible in 3 minutes. rest 1 minute between rounds. 5 rounds

-Kermit

GO CANUCKS GO! And on that note, I have received word from on high that due tomorrow night’s Game 6 of the Stanley Cup finals between the Vancouver Canucks and the Boston Bruins the 6 and 7 pm classes will be canceled. If you are not a hockey fan please don’t shoot the messenger.

Assuming you are somewhat of a hockey fan, what has been your favourite moment of the playoffs thus far? Mine was Kevin Bieksa’s goal against Antti Niemi to give the Canucks the Western Conference Championship. Post yours to the comments.

Now onto business.

Technique: Push press (1,1,1,1,1)

Workout: “Super Grover”

Number of rounds in 20 minutes of:

5 push-ups on plates - ladies get the 25lbs plates and gents the 45lbs. You are going deep!
10 weighted lunges – ladies grab a 35lbs bar and throw it on your shoulders, gents the 45lbs bar if you please.
15 weighted sit-ups – using that same bar hold it above your chest while lying on your back, think bench press position. As you sit up maintain those straight arms. At the top of the sit-up the bar should be locked out directly overhead.

-Kermit

“B.C. now has its own “Highway of Heroes” after the provincial government renamed a stretch of the Trans-Canada to honour 13 soldiers from the province who have died in Afghanistan.

A dedication ceremony was held Thursday to officially rename a section of highway between Langley and Abbotsford, southeast of Vancouver, and a large sign measuring 5-1/2 metres wide will be unveiled on Saturday.”

Read full story here.

Our beloved Andy Nutts is one of them. So let’s honour him and get fired up for The Nutts Cup!

SATURDAY:

Teams of 2 (pairs) Nutts Wod:

2 Rounds of:

• 10 HSPU
• 15 Deadlifts
• 25 Box Jumps
• 50 Pull ups
• 100 Wall Balls
• 200 Double Unders
• 400m Run with a 45/25lbs plate

Here’s the deal:

You can share the reps; one partner do more than the other; it does not matter, it’s up to you as a team to decide how you are getting it done.

The 2 of you complete the first round, the whole thing, including the run.

Only then you can start the second round. Yes the whole thing again!

SUNDAY:

I know that because of the games, many people missed a wod that they would like to have done. So here is your chance to catch up on a wod you didn’t do during the week!

Coaches can accomodate classes depending on the wod demand!

Be happy, keep smiling and enjoy the sun!

Love, love, love

Fancypants!

Our very own Matt Guterres is putting on another awesome Paleo Dinner and he has a request:

FREE PALEO MEAL

SwallowTail is looking to get another Paleo Dinner happening for us in July and a good outdoor location is still needed.

Do you or anyone you know, have a big back yard space where we can host our pig roast and have everybody sit around a fire afterwards? Clean up will, of course, be taken care of.

In exchange, you get the best meal you’ll eat this summer for free!

Contact Matt:

or 778 968 2205

Lets’s help him make this happen and have a great time as always!

Now… talking about food AGAIN… for a good laugh… the talking dog:

FRIDAY:

Warmup: Tabata Run

Tech: Sumo Deadlift High Pull… we don’t do it very often and I think it’s a great skill to practice! Keeping the bar very close to your body as you would in a regular deadlift, explode your hips creating momentum in the bar and finishing with your elbows high and outside! Arms down first, hips back, bend the knees.

Wod: “Quicky”

4 Rounds of:

• 200 meters Run
• 30 Sit Ups
• 15 Push Ups

Enjoy your day!

I’m crossing my fingers for the Canucks!

Kisses,

Ana.

Many have asked for why, but why can’t I eat this and that

so I’ve collected, copied down, edited what I think is going on.

Please comment with your thoughts.

Avoid the Grains

As humans, we didn’t adapt to eat grains, we also didn’t adapt to consume dairy and processed sugars. However looking at our diet they are one of the most consumed foods, with fresh vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds and meat being far less consumed; and these are the foods which we have been evolved to eat and should be eating. Grains are so fricking cheapto make and are sold in bulk to billions of people and incidentally, the average person worldwide has become fatter and un-healthier since their overrated introduction to society.

Although grains contain protein, carbohydrates and some vitamins and minerals, which seem to make grains seem like a brilliant food source, but grains also contain

anti-nutrients, lectins and gluten

all which have negative traits.

Anti-nutrients are pretty much how the word sounds, ANTI nutrients. The main anti-nutrient found in grains is called Phytates, which bind to vitamins, minerals and enzymes to make them unavailable to the body. The main minerals Phytates target include calcium, magnesium, iron, copper and zinc, which interestingly are also the main minerals found in grains itself, preventing full absorption of the nutrients present along with taking them out of the body to later cause, with consistent consumption of grains, possible nutrient deficiency in those areas and/or more.

Phytates will also attack enzymes, which are needed for digestion and other bodily functions and will assist in inhibiting protein digestion.

Anti-nutrients are also found in legumes, nuts and seeds, and even eggs contain an anti-nutrient called avidin; however you’d need to consume a drastically high amount of raw eggs to get enough avidin to start causing negative effects on the body.

Nuts and seeds are a food source that are good for us, as they contain good traces of fatty acids and protein, so we don’t want to stop eating them because they contain anti-nutrients; what we can do to reduce the amount of anti-nutrients is to soak them in water, this is quite beneficial as this process will not only reduce the anti-nutrients, but will also improve the nut/seeds digestibility, so we end up getting more of the good stuff! If you don’t have the chance to soak your nuts. Moderate your intake.

The process of soaking grains and legumes is used a lot in traditional societies and cultures, and is one reason why those people don’t seem to obtain the same health problems as in the Eastern culture.

Traditional Indian, African, Ethiopian and Latin American cultures prepare their food with great care by sprouting (consistent soaking until a sprouted stem appears), soaking (in water or sour milk) and/or fermenting their legumes, grains and nuts before eating. They will soak these foods for several days or sometimes up to weeks before they are prepared into a meal, this process dramatically reduces anti-nutrients and leaves them containing more nutritional value, however there will always still be some stubborn anti-nutrients left in the grain, and there are also other factors of grains we need to take into consideration that cause negative effects in the body, such as lectins and gluten.

Lectins and gluten are both types of protein and can be categorized in the same family. However each has its own dangers.

It’s important to know that lectins (which are also found in legumes, peanuts and soy beans) are resistant to cooking and our digestive enzymes, so it’s a hard task to try and stop them from doing their nasty work in the body.

Lectins have been linked to inflammatory problems as well as digestive diseases; leaky gut syndrome becoming one of the larger problems in society at the moment, which is then linked to autoimmune diseases (in which the body attacks itself). The reason lectins have such an intense effect on our digestive system and cause leaky gut syndrome is because lectins dramatically damage the gut defences (as well as going on beyond the gut to damage joints and our skin complexion) called microvilli which line the small intestine and help to digest and transport food particles into the blood stream and the lymph system. When leaky gut syndrome has set in, the damage done to the microvilli has become excessive and has made the absorption of fats, vitamins and minerals extremely hard to digest.

Most people have heard of celiac disease; celiac disease is when a person has gluten intolerance. Although not everyone gets celiac, it’s important to note that across all species of animals tested (including humans), grains have shown to cause gut irritation. It’s also important to note that you may think that the grains you are consuming are doing you little damage, despite the somewhat in-depth information provided above, but the negative side-effects/allergic reaction of grains aren’t always something you will notice quickly, the damage done from grains is a slow process that is generally only found out about when it’s all too late. The majority of celiac disease suffers will only find out about their allergy once they have become noticeably sick and decide to get tested.

Something, which a lot of people don’t realize, is that the sugars (carbohydrates) in grains feed the bad bacteria in our gut. Unfortunately, most people are walking around with more bad bacteria than good, and this is solely because of dietary choices. Our bodies should always have more good bacteria than bad and eating foods, which contain lots of sugars, i.e. Grains, sweets and dairy, will damage your digestive system and feed bad bacteria and yeast.

The good bacteria in our gut are essential for good health as they keep our intestinal function healthy, they assist in the digestion of necessary nutrients making them more absorbable, they keep the immune system strong and help prevent disease causing bacteria which if build up, leads to a large number of autoimmune diseases. Too much bad bacteria can lead to a lot of problems; including candidiasis (a systemic fungal infection) which can be left un-noticed (until later in life) or treated through wrong diagnosis.

And last, but not least, I’ll quickly touch on the high Glycemic Index (GI) factor of grains. The Glycemic Index is a scale used to determine the speed that sugar (from foods) breaks down into glucose in the body, creating an insulin release. Foods, which are of Low GI status, such as broccoli and spinach, will slowly release sugar into the body over a period of time. Foods which are of High GI will release sugar extremely fast and cause blood sugars to rise to high levels within a short amount of time. When consuming high GI carbohydrates at the wrong times, it can not only be harmful in promoting fat gain quite easily, but it is also the easiest way to put yourself in the firing line for cardiovascular disease and diabetes.

When blood sugar is raised constantly (think breakfast, lunch, afternoon snack and maybe even dinner), your body gets confused and after time can’t control sugar levels; hence diabetes. If grains are a food source you consume often, chances are your blood sugar is being raised often as well, especially if your diet is combined with diary, starchy foods such as potatoes and sugars. Foods which spike our blood sugar should be consumed on a considered basis, not a consistent one.

Insulin spikes do have benefits though, as mentioned before, if insulin is released during the wrong times, negative results can occur, however an insulin spike provided at the correct times for your body can be beneficial in creating certain performance and body composition goals. An insulin spike for an endurance athlete during an event or training is extremely beneficial to bring up sugar levels for energy and to prevent hypoglycemia. Insulin spikes can also be beneficial in helping build muscle mass as insulin is an anabolic hormone which helps send proteins and carbohydrates into the muscle cells to promote growth.

Unfortunately in society we will always be hearing that grains are good for us, but doing your own solid research can provide you with balanced nutritional information. Prevention is always the best cure; eat nutritious foods and less non-nutritious foods (i.e. grains). Consume lots of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, fish, meat and water and you’ll be so much better off, in health, performance and longevity.

Below is a table of comparison of the nutritional value of fruits and vegetables, and that of grains. As you can see, grains provide next to no nutritional value.

VEGFRUITGRAIN DIAGRAM

The Deal on Dairy

Most people will aim to achieve optimal health and wellness during their lives, unfortunately a lot of people believe their current nutritional diet is fantastic and leading them to a healthy lifestyle, but in actual fact the foods they are consuming are playing negative rolls towards their health.

Why is it that so many people are eating incorrectly when they strive to achieve optimal health?

The answer is fairly simple; it’s the advertising and marketing of unhealthy food products as being essential for health, which misguide people’s beliefs on healthy foods.

Currently, there is a huge amount of quality research documentation showing health related problems associated with certain foods. There are also many health care practitioners, who through general practice have seen many patients suffer health issues because of the consumption of these foods and as a result have spoken out about the issues in books, magazines and on TV.

Two food products, which fall under the statements above, include dairy and grains.

These two foods have been marketed as health foods for many years, even with the huge amounts of evidentiary support showing these foods to be bad for us, dairy is still being heavily marketed as the best source of calcium and grains are still being heavily marketed as an essential dietary food source.

Although this may have been the case 1000 yrs ago, times have changed and the manufacturing of these particular foods has changed dramatically. Before the mass production of these products, milk would be consumed almost straight after being milked from the cow. Cheese, butter, yogurt and kefir would be made by hand and left to mature or ferment in a natural environment. Grains would be harvested by hand and soaked for several days or weeks before being cooked; this soaking process reduces the anti-nutrient content and improves the grains nutritional quality.

In addition, the quality of soil grains where grown in were much richer in nutrient value and weren’t sprayed with chemical pesticides in order to keep bugs and insects away. Cattle are now eating these grains instead of their natural food source of grass.

Today, it’s extremely hard to find dairy and grain products, which have been made fresh from chemical, free grains and grass fed cattle and produced with the natural fermentation or soaking methods. The processing factors which both grains and dairy are now going through denature the natural nutrient value behind these foods, not only do the chemical additives such as pesticides and growth hormones injected into cows reduce the quality of the foods and increase the burden of added chemicals which our body’s system must eliminate, but the speed and method in which these foods are being processed further reduces the nutritional value.

Milk is a perfect example of this, firstly if the label on the milk you are purchasing doesn’t state that the cattle the milk came from ate grass, then chances are the cattle are fed grains which isn’t their natural food source and definitely isn’t a food source they should be consuming. Cows have the ability to convert omega3’s in grass to omega3’s in their body; if you aren’t aware of the many health benefits associated with omega3 fatty acids, come see me or google it already.

It will then be clear that the health of the cattle eating grains is very poor as they will not be achieving the same state of good health associated with omega3’s and antioxidants, which are rich in grass and close to non existent in grains. In addition, as mentioned earlier, cows are now being pumped full of bovine growth hormone to increase the amount of milk the cows will produce on a regular basis, although this may be beneficial for the manufactures, the consumers of the milk will also be consuming traces of growth hormones designed for cows which is causing many health problems for them including;

• Delivering deformed calves
• Digestive problems
• Causing puss to enter the milk supply
• Causing inflammation of the mammary gland (mastitis) which can enter the milk supply
• Shortening lifespan by up to 13 years

If this is what is happening to cattle being injected with growth hormone every week, how do you think this will affect your health, not to mention the health of your children who are still growing and developing?

Once the milk has been obtained, it is then run through processing methods including pasteurizing and homogenizing. You may have read these on a carton of milk, or at least heard of them, but do you know what that process involves and do you know how it’s affecting the quality of the milk you are drinking?

Pasteurizing aims to destroy microorganisms and bad bacteria in the milk; this process exposes the milk to high temperatures. The pasteurization process not only kills off bad bacteria, it also kills off the good bacteria and digestive enzymes, which are essential in the human body for good health.

Pasteurized milk is something we need to look out for; the same goes for any pasteurized dairy products. Chances are that if you’re buying milk from a supermarket in a carton, it’s been pasteurized, some milk companies will even say that the milk has been pasteurized and homogenized on the carton, like it’s a good thing.  WTF.

Pasteurized milk destroys and denatures the milks structure, it’s denatures the proteins and destroys active enzymes, kills beneficial bacteria and dramatically reduces the vitamin content. The milk now is far from its original form; it has been processed to the stage where its structure looks nothing like what it would if it came straight from the cow. Most yogurts will go through this same manufacturing process and to make it worse will have substantial amounts of sugar added into it as well. The high amounts of sugar added to yogurt will generally out weigh any beneficial bacteria (like lactobacillus acidophilus) and any good qualities that it may still contain.

If you are drinking fresh milk from a grass-fed cow, without it going through processing factors, milk could be a beneficial addition to your diet as it will still be nutrient rich. But if you’re not, then you need to eliminate or reduce your milk consumption in order to improve your health.

Too many people tout milk as a healthy food, and it’s easy to see why with all the marketing going on saying how milk is such a fantastic calcium source. In fact the marketing for milk and dairy products is so high that many people don’t even know what other food sources contain calcium. Here is a small list;

• Sesame seeds, Flax seeds
• Almonds, brazil nuts, walnuts, pecans and most other nuts
• Green leafy vegetables i.e. spinach and broccoli
• Salmon, sardines

The food sources mentioned above are a far superior source of calcium for our bodies than milk and other dairy products. Yes, dairy contains a high amount of calcium, but that doesn’t mean it’s bio-available in the body, in-fact research shows calcium from plant sources are absorbed much better than that of calcium in milk.

The reason why is that calcium is a mineral that needs an alkaline environment in the body to be absorbed effectively, un-fortunately dairy as a food is acidic. The result is our bodies search for ways to balance up the acidity of the dairy with something alkaline, and if you haven’t eaten anything with an alkaline Ph level at the same time (fruits and vegetables) your body will go to the best source, which is the calcium in your bones. This same problem occurs with any other foods we consume that are of a high acidic level, the body will find balance by leaching calcium from our bones in order for it to correctly digest the meal you have consumed. Osteoporosis, anyone?

This is extremely important to know, as the best way you can assure that your body is going to keep as alkaline as possible is to eat lots of fruits and vegetables, pretty much the only real source of alkalinity for the body. Also keep in mind that other factors contribute to an acidic environment in our bodies, stress and breathing in chemical fumes are only a couple of things the majority of us are faced with on a daily basis.

There are lot of people who are finding out they are lactose intolerant, and this is actually a normal intolerance for all humans (with exception to some groups of Central European people), it just depends on whether your body shows signs such as feeling lethargic, coughing, acne, or getting a skin rash. This is similar to gluten allergies, research shows that amongst all species of animal life, everyone has a gluten intolerance, whether you notice that now and decide to discontinue eating those food sources, or do that in 20 years when you get diagnosed with something serious (caused by a gluten allergy), it doesn’t change the fact that your body has an intolerance.

People don’t need huge amounts of calcium everyday, even if you consume relatively small amounts of green leafy vegetables, nuts, seeds and fish, you will be consuming enough calcium for the body to run effectively.

There is also evidence showing that certain cells in our body play the roll of bringing calcium into our bones, and other cells which play the roll of taking calcium out of our bones. There is a limit for how many cells responsible for bringing calcium into our bones stay around for. If during our lives we begin to consume too much calcium, these cells will be used up a lot faster due to the fact more are needed to transport the calcium into our bones. If say after 10years you have no more calcium transporting cells, your body is no longer going to be able to replenish our bones with calcium to stay strong. This may help have a high rate of osteoporosis.

What to use instead of milk in cooking?

Nut milk (coconut and almond milk or the cream version )

Note: Soy milk is not good! It is also heavily processed, denatured and full of sugars.

Homogenizing significantly alters the structure of milk by breaking up the fat particles in order to prevent the cream floating to the top of the milk during storage. When the fat particles are extremely small, the cream/fat is constantly distributed evenly throughout the milk.

When reading through the feeding of cattle and the processing stages milk now goes through compared to how milk used to be consumed many years ago, it’s clear to see how milk is not a healthy food source anymore.

However, it is still marketed to us as an essential dietary food for good health and essential for the healthy growth of children.

why is this?

Well, what would the billion dollar dairy industry care more for… billions or dollars, or your health? Want the short answer? Follow the fricking money!!!!

Grass fed meats Vs Grain fed meats

How would you differentiate the two in regards to health benefits and nutritional value?

When it comes to grass-fed meats they are higher in omega-3 fatty acids, higher in conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), and have been shown to have higher density of vitamin E. Grass-fed meats have a healthier ratio of omega-3 fats than do grain-fed meats which means that eating grass-fed meats contributes to achieving a proper ratio (4:1 to 1:1) of omega-6 to omega-3 fats and lessen systemic inflammation.

Conjugated linoleic acid is also about 5 times higher in grass-fed meat than in grain-fed meat and has been shown in animal trials to reduce tumor growth and in human epidemiological studies to be correlated with lower rates of breast cancer. Grass-fed meat is also about 4 times higher in vitamin E when compared to grain-fed.

From my experience I can say that the number one best “supplement” that I ever added to my diet is grass-fed meat. I can see immediate changes in my overall health and performance when I switch to eating pasture meats.

PASTURE FED – What’s the big Difference – SUMMARY

1. Protein Advantage

• Pasture/grass/range fed beef  – 77%protein by total energy
• USDA Choice (+) beef             – 48% protein by total energy
• USDA Choice (0) beef             – 40% protein by total energy
• low price tag ground beef        – 20% protein by total energy

1. Omega3 advantage – 3/6/9 ratio – this means a lot – plays a gigantic role in the treatment of coronary heart disease, hypertension, type 2 diabetes, arthritis and other inflammatory and auto-immune diseases and cancer.  Get on your grass-fed!!!
2. ALA & CLA content – great reducer of systemic inflammation – compare grass-fed 39mg/100g ALA to 12mg/100g ALA of grain fed.
3. Feedlot cows are slaughtered in 24months, happy cows on pasture take 4 years before they meet their maker.
4. Feedlot Meat has excessive triacylglycerol accumulation which increases total and SF Acids.
5. Vitamin E – 4 times higher in pastured meat, Riboflavin – up to 10x.

Does nutrition play a major part in achieving and maintaining a healthy body? What are your thoughts when it comes to medication to treat illnesses over a healthy diet and lifestyle?

Nutrition is so important, yet so many people neglect it, even elite level athletes. When it comes to getting lean the number one most important factor is your diet. That’s not to say that exercise is not important for maintaining a healthy weight or just good health in general, you still need exercise to be healthy and vital. However, when it comes to getting/staying lean it’s mostly your diet. I recently suffered a shoulder injury that put me out for quite a while and I wasn’t able to be nearly as active as I should have been, but I still managed to stay lean and maintain a muscular body simply by eating a lower carbohydrate paleo diet.

Using pharmaceuticals to treat lifestyle diseases has been largely ineffective and provides no solution or long-term option for improving one’s health or reducing disease risk. Most drugs that are used to treat lifestyle diseases like heart disease, diabetes, acne, etc only act as a band-aid to eliminate symptoms, not to eliminate the root of the problem.

Additionally, most of these drugs have undesirable side effects that essentially thwart the original purpose of the drugs, which is to improve quality of life. What good is taking a statin drug to reduce your risk of heart disease if your going to be walking around like a zombie all day with achy joints, memory loss, and muscle weakness? And that’s assuming that the drugs actually reduce your risk for getting heart disease in the first place (research suggests that they don’t). I do want to point out that I don’t think that all pharmaceutical drugs are evil and should avoided at all costs. For instance, bacterial infections that would have killed people years ago before we had modern medicine can now be treating quickly with the use of antibiotics.

Also, some of those “lifestyle” drugs like insulin for instance can used effectively in the short term or in low doses as a compliment to a healthy lifestyle when necessary. A good example of this is insulin use in diabetics. Diabetes can usually be essentially cured with a low-carbohydrate diet, but some people have done so much damage over the years and trashed their insulin sensitivity that small doses of insulin along with a paleo lifestyle may be optimal in controlling their diabetes.

The point I’m trying to make is that drugs should only be used as a last resort and in the proper context, not just given out like candy, as doctors currently tend to do.

In reality, the only way to become truly healthy is to eat right, exercise, get good sleep, and handle stress properly. There are no short cuts, no magic pills, and no quick fixes. It takes effort, hard work, and a proactive mindset to be healthy in our world.

I don’t mean to bother you with my own idealism, but it seems that we have lost sight of the fact that the only way to achieve anything worthwhile in life is to work hard, there’s just no getting around it. The key is to make it fun. Just because getting healthy and fit is hard work doesn’t mean it has to be drudgery or misery. After all, the idea is to get fit to improve your life and happiness, not to hinder it.

The first step to making this happen is to find some community support. If we put ourselves around others who want to improve themselves it makes it a lot easier for us to stick to lifestyle changes. If you’re trying to stay paleo, or workout everyday and everyone around you is eating cookies, getting hammered, and sitting on the couch watching TV it will be much harder to make the necessary changes. That’s why I’m such an ardent advocate of Crossfit; it provides this community atmosphere and camaraderie.

This kind of goes back to the whole paleo concept in the first place. Our hunter-gatherer ancestors were closely connected with one another. They hunted together, ate together, slept together….they did everything together. Humans tend to do what others around them are doing. It’s a part of our tribal ancestry to feel wanted; it’s a survival mechanism. So the take-home message is that we need to surround ourselves with others who have the same goals to improve our chances of success.

What are some of the most common illnesses/diseases that you have come past or experienced that have been easily treated through the consumption of paleo foods?

Many suffer with acne. A friends girlfriend had it for years and it had a considerable impact on her level of self-confidence and overall happiness. When she first started dating I encouraged her to give paleo eating a shot, since I knew that inflammation and insulin resistance were the root causes of acne. She agreed and went on a flexible paleo diet for a few months and saw some moderate and decent improvements in her skin.

Eventually she decided that she wasn’t going to settle for modest improvements and went 100% strict low-carb paleo and her skin literally cleared up completely within weeks. Whenever she falls off the boat and cheats her skin breaks out again, it’s like clockwork. If she eats something bad I can guarantee that she will have a breakout the next day.

This is a strong testimony to the potential for paleo to treat certain conditions. The interesting thing is that she has discovered that even some paleo foods cause her to breakout. For instance, whenever she eats apples her skin breaks out, even though apples are completely allowed on the paleo diet. On the other hand she can eat raisins, which are a high GI fruit, but have no problems at all. I guess this just goes to show that although some basic guidelines are very helpful, everyone needs to experiment to find what works for them.

I would say that most people should use a strict paleo diet as a starting point and then alter certain components as necessary to get really dialed in to what foods work for their own body.

Digestive conditions are very responsive to paleo eating as well, and this makes sense since digestion is simply the process of breaking down and assimilating whatever you put in your mouth. Put in junk, and problems are going to occur. Put in good stuff and things are likely to be just fine. I really think that more people in our society are gluten intolerant than we tend to believe. Just from my own experience and the experience of some of my friends and family members who’ve made changes to their eating, I’ve found that gluten is a major issue.

A friend, for instance, has told me that every time she eats anything with whole wheat she gets serious digestive disturbances. It got to the point where she started taking nexium (despite my recommendation to eliminate grains from her diet first!) and her symptoms cleared up for a while but ended up coming back even worse. She switched to a diet much lower in gluten (although she hasn’t completely cut it out) and noticed immediate improvements in her digestion. She used to get awful stomach pains after a breakfast of whole-wheat pancakes, which have subsided since switching to a gluten-free pancake mix made with tapioca. Still not paleo, but definitely an improvement.

Also, a friend of mine has had colitis all of his life. When he found out about paleo and made the switch he was able to drastically reduce his dose of medication to control this condition. He still has problems sometimes, but overall his condition has improved greatly with nothing more than a simple change to paleo eating.

Three of the major food sources that aren’t part of the paleo diet include grains, dairy and processed sugar. Apart from the fairly well known diseases associated with these foods, such as celiac disease and diabetes, what other diseases can be brought on by consuming a large quantity of these foods that people may not be as aware of, and would you say these diseases could be treated through a change in diet which consisted of paleo foods.

I think the most intriguing area of research surrounding the elimination of grains, beans, and dairy products is multiple sclerosis (MS) prevention and treatment. As you may know, MS is a debilitating autoimmune disease that results in the destruction of parts of the myelin sheath that relays chemical messages in nerve cells. Loren Cordain, the author of The Paleo Diet, has been doing some interesting research in this area and found some intriguing connections between food components found in grains, beans, and dairy products that may be implicated in the development and progression of MS.

There’s not enough time to get into all the biochemical details of how these foods may cause MS, but we basically know that proteins known as lectins found in grain and legumes may be implicated in MS.

Essentially, the way lectins cause problems is they interact with antibodies created by the body in response to infection. Many common pathogens (that people are regularly exposed to) contain proteins also found in the myelin sheath of nerve cells. When we consume grains and legumes, the lectins contained in them bind with pathogens in the gut, creating a protein matrix that can cross the gut lining and enter the blood stream (which wouldn’t be possible without this binding). Once in the blood stream the immune system mounts an attack on the protein matrix, since the body has already developed antibodies to the pathogen after initial exposure with the pathogen in the past.

As a result the body labels the proteins found in the matrix as being foreign and attacks the proteins. Unfortunately, some of the same proteins found in the pathogen are also found in the myelin sheath of the nerve cells. The result is that the immune system attacks not only the pathogen/lectin complex, but also attacks and destroys the proteins found in the myelin sheath. This process is known as molecular mimicry. This leads to the break down of the myelin sheath, and causes the symptoms of MS. Interestingly, butyrophilin, a protein component of casein in dairy products has been found to bind with wheat germ agglutinin, a lectin in wheat products, and may afflict the same damage.

Another unexpected player is tomato lectin, found in tomatoes, that also may be implicated in molecular mimicry. Loren Cordain has conducted some case studies on a few people implementing a grain, legume, and dairy-free diet to treat MS. Interestingly, he has found so far that all people that switched to the paleo diet either stopped the progression or even improved their MS symptoms and regained some physical function.

Unfortunately, it appears that the paleo diet does a better job of stopping the progression of MS than improving the condition, so it is important to catch the disease early and make the switch early on to minimize CNS damage. However, it is important to note that lectins likely aren’t the only factor at play in MS, as some epidemiological research has also linked MS to low vitamin D status, not to even mention the genetic factor at play.

In theory, this same process is behind most diet-related autoimmune diseases, like rheumatoid arthritis, graves disease, scleroderma, psoriasis, etc. Although most accounts of improvement of autoimmune disease with a paleo diet are anecdotal, research is underway and thus far it appears that lectins do indeed play a significant role in auto-immune disease. Keep your eyes open for studies in the near future, because I think that this is an area of research that is going to explode once Cordain publishes his results.

Tony’s Website

I’m always amazed by different cultures and how people can be so distinct from one another. Various aspects distinguish people and culture, but how!?!

So let’s take a look at the definition of the word “CULTURE” (from Wikipedia):

Culture is a word that has many meanings. From the Latin cultura stemming from colere, meaning “to cultivate”. For example, in 1952, the word culture was compiled from a list of 164 definitions to: “Culture: a Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions.” However the word Culture is mostly used in 3 basic senses:

1. Excellence of taste in the fine arts and humanities, also known as high culture
2. An integrated pattern of human knowledge, belief and behavior that depends upon the capacity for symbolic thought and social learning
3. The set of shared attitudes, values, goals and practices that characterizes an institution, organization or group

A great way of understanding and getting to know different cultures is by their culinary uniqueness! Culture is learned behavior and so is food!

I love food and I love eating; it’s one of the things that really pleases me. The whole dynamic of sitting down around a table with good people (and best with good wine!) really appeals to me, especially when I’m about to try something new. Ok, I have to agree that I’m usually about to try something that to me is considered “normal” food. Different, but “normal”.

Now, what’s normal for me is maybe not normal for you! And here is my point…

Because we live in North America, some of the Asian, European, African etc… foods are considered weird to us! But to them, it’s not!

Post to comments what’s the most weird/exotic food have you ever eaten! I’m very curious to know!!

Now… if you didn’t puke yet get ready for FRAN!!!

THURSDAY:

Warmup: Dot Drill

Tech: Box Squats 5 x 3

Focus on pushing your hips back and not letting your kness move forward, be explosive on the way up pushing up from your heels.

Wod: FRAN!!

21 – 15 – 9

• Thrusters
• Pull ups

Let’s attack this one people!

Love,

Ana

CrossFit Vancouver has transformed my life. CFV allowed me to pursue
health and fitness at a time in my life when I wasn’t
certain I could ever regain either again.  I decided to attend the
Executive Diploma Program, and I am thrilled with the
results.  Patty and his crew shared both their personal and business
experiences, and having the benefit of their six years of
wisdom is indispensable as I move toward my goal of CF
affiliate owner! CFV’s Executive Diploma Program is an invaluable tool to
have in your toolkit!

Terri-Lyn Higgs