Mornin'!
I learned something new recently. But first, a little background:
I think Matthew was first one to mention that it was more healthy to "shop the perimeters" of the grocery store for the paleo diet. Why? Because that is usually where the REAL food is - eggs, fresh produce, meats, seafood, etc. The shelves in the center of the store are more likely to contain the cans, bags, and boxes......of PROCESSED food, the "no-nos" on this diet.
One of the main reasons for processing foods is to increase their shelf life - they last longer and are less likely to spoil. Here is what I learned - that other organisms besides humans (animals and even bacteria/fungi) are genetically programmed to search out nutritious food, REAL food. They are less likely to go after processed foods. In fact, this was one of the main benefits discovered when they refined wheat flour. Refining the flour took out many of the beneficial vitamins, but the flour then lasted on the shelf much longer because it wasn't as palatable to organisms, who "knew" that it was no longer an ideal source of nutrition.
When I first started the paleo diet, I found I had to do a major overhaul of my kitchen. I needed far less shelf (pantry) space after eliminating most processed foods and far more refrigerator space (for the fresh stuff). I realized that I had to shop much more frequently, too. At first it was an inconvenience (shelf life has it's merits!) but now I just schedule in the extra time I need for shopping, preparation, and cooking of the paleo diet. It has become second nature.
Love,
Polly
P.S. My question for the day is..............if the other animals/organisms are so smart, why aren't we? Why do we constantly eat stuff that is not nutritious? Have our genes been overruled by the advertising industry, the gov't. etc? LOL!
Shelf Life (an interesting observation)
Moderators: Rosie, JFR, Dee, xet, Gabes-Apg, grannyh, Gloria, Mars, starfire, Polly, Joefnh, mbeezie
Shelf Life (an interesting observation)
Blessed are they who can laugh at themselves, for they shall never cease to be amused.
Hi There Polly!!
I'll give you my take on why some aren't smart when it comes to eating healthy.
The food industry (money makers of processed, shelf stable foods) have made it "too easy" for people nowadays. It's too easy for some to pick up something that is already prepared and take it home and pop it in the oven or microwave.
I've heard so many times from people that they don't know how to cook, they don't have time, thier just too busy, their tired.....
Of course, my reply would be
!! LOL!
I've recently heard that fast foods sales are really up, so it got me to thinking.. Look out!! LOL!!
Is it the stress eaters contributing to this due to the stress of the economy, the parents that use the excuses above that I have posted because it's fast, easy, or because it's cheaper for one to eat there, or to feed a family that garbage ????? Where does any intelligence of eating healthy play into this????
When my children were growing up I worked full time. They both were involved in sports, so I'd be going to one sport at like 4:30 in the afternoon, then running from, to the others game, and not get home until at least 9 pm. There was NEVER a time that those children came home to eat just sandwiches. I would get up before work and throw a complete healthy meal in my slow cooker, or get out my trusty pressure cooker.
Our food industry has made people just plain LAZY!!!!!
The people on the Paleo are so right on!! It does't take recipes to throw a healthy meal together.
And I find that on your diet, it takes creativity!!! Personally, I love to be creative in the kitchen!!!!
There are lots of meals that I now fix that are Paleo, and they don't take much prep to put them together.
Cave Woman 
Love
Dee~~~
I'll give you my take on why some aren't smart when it comes to eating healthy.
The food industry (money makers of processed, shelf stable foods) have made it "too easy" for people nowadays. It's too easy for some to pick up something that is already prepared and take it home and pop it in the oven or microwave.
I've heard so many times from people that they don't know how to cook, they don't have time, thier just too busy, their tired.....
Of course, my reply would be
!! LOL!I've recently heard that fast foods sales are really up, so it got me to thinking.. Look out!! LOL!!
Is it the stress eaters contributing to this due to the stress of the economy, the parents that use the excuses above that I have posted because it's fast, easy, or because it's cheaper for one to eat there, or to feed a family that garbage ????? Where does any intelligence of eating healthy play into this????
When my children were growing up I worked full time. They both were involved in sports, so I'd be going to one sport at like 4:30 in the afternoon, then running from, to the others game, and not get home until at least 9 pm. There was NEVER a time that those children came home to eat just sandwiches. I would get up before work and throw a complete healthy meal in my slow cooker, or get out my trusty pressure cooker.
Our food industry has made people just plain LAZY!!!!!
The people on the Paleo are so right on!! It does't take recipes to throw a healthy meal together.
And I find that on your diet, it takes creativity!!! Personally, I love to be creative in the kitchen!!!!
There are lots of meals that I now fix that are Paleo, and they don't take much prep to put them together.
Cave Woman Love
Dee~~~
"What the heart gives away is never gone ... It is kept in the hearts of others."
Good Morning Polly,
Awesome question! Talk about thinking out the box . . .
This entire concept is intriguing, isn't it. It probably drills all the way down to the remnants of our primal instincts. I have some thoughts on this, but I need to organize them. Let me think about it a while, and I'll hopefully have a response later.
Love,
Tex
P S I think Dee is on the right track.
Awesome question! Talk about thinking out the box . . .
This entire concept is intriguing, isn't it. It probably drills all the way down to the remnants of our primal instincts. I have some thoughts on this, but I need to organize them. Let me think about it a while, and I'll hopefully have a response later.Love,
Tex
P S I think Dee is on the right track.
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
Hi There Again, Polly!!
A couple questions for you.
How would you compare your shopping experiences and finding meats, veggies and fruits that you do eat, to what I will call non paleo people?? What do you shop for?
What about the cost??
I think we, that buy GF/DF/SF and other items know that our grocery expense is extreme, IMO..
I know that I could easily go Paleo, but I think it would be a hard diet for DH to adjust to.
Does your family all eat Paleo???
Just curious on this end..
Love
Dee~~~
A couple questions for you.
How would you compare your shopping experiences and finding meats, veggies and fruits that you do eat, to what I will call non paleo people?? What do you shop for?
What about the cost??
I think we, that buy GF/DF/SF and other items know that our grocery expense is extreme, IMO..
I know that I could easily go Paleo, but I think it would be a hard diet for DH to adjust to.
Does your family all eat Paleo???
Just curious on this end..
Love
Dee~~~
"What the heart gives away is never gone ... It is kept in the hearts of others."
OK, this doesn't exactly address your question, but I believe it sheds some light on it. For one thing, most predators/parasites have a somewhat limited range of prey/host species that they recognize as "valid" targets, due to highly developed instinctive behavior. IOW, some species of weevils will be attracted to wheat flour, but others will fail to recognize it as basically the same species that they relish, before it's form is altered.
Another example that's easy to visualize is the screw-worm fly. The larvae of this species prefers living flesh, (and the screw worm was the bane of Southwestern ranchers, and wildlife managers, back before the successful screw-worm eradication program of the 1960's - in fact, screw-worms killed around 80% of whitetail deer fawns in Texas, each year), while most other maggots prefer dead flesh. Fortunately, this eradication event took place before the advent of the endangered species act, so no one seriously objected to the extermination program, and this is why whitetail deer populations in Texas virtually "exploded", beginning in the late 1960s. Anyway, this type of selectivity is typically the rule, and it applies all up and down the chain, so it's highly possible that whoever made that original claim, may have made some unfair assumptions.
As to why we humans tend to be duped into thinking that processed food is as wholesome as unprocessed food - I'm pretty sure that it's a combination of factors. Unlike more primitive species, we are intelligent enough to recognize that processed foods retain the basic composition of the original food item, (even though the form and texture may have been changed), and we, (as a society), are gullible enough to fall for the combined pitch of advertising media, government, and the medical community. Why are we so gullible as to fall for this? Because we want to believe it. As Dee correctly pointed out, we're inherently lazy, in that if we save time/effort in one segment of our lives, that allows us more time/energy to do other things that we enjoy, and we always seem to believe that we're short on time/energy. Whether or not we actually are short of time and/or energy, is an entirely different matter.
Anyway, those are some of my thoughts on the subject.
Love,
Tex
Another example that's easy to visualize is the screw-worm fly. The larvae of this species prefers living flesh, (and the screw worm was the bane of Southwestern ranchers, and wildlife managers, back before the successful screw-worm eradication program of the 1960's - in fact, screw-worms killed around 80% of whitetail deer fawns in Texas, each year), while most other maggots prefer dead flesh. Fortunately, this eradication event took place before the advent of the endangered species act, so no one seriously objected to the extermination program, and this is why whitetail deer populations in Texas virtually "exploded", beginning in the late 1960s. Anyway, this type of selectivity is typically the rule, and it applies all up and down the chain, so it's highly possible that whoever made that original claim, may have made some unfair assumptions.
As to why we humans tend to be duped into thinking that processed food is as wholesome as unprocessed food - I'm pretty sure that it's a combination of factors. Unlike more primitive species, we are intelligent enough to recognize that processed foods retain the basic composition of the original food item, (even though the form and texture may have been changed), and we, (as a society), are gullible enough to fall for the combined pitch of advertising media, government, and the medical community. Why are we so gullible as to fall for this? Because we want to believe it. As Dee correctly pointed out, we're inherently lazy, in that if we save time/effort in one segment of our lives, that allows us more time/energy to do other things that we enjoy, and we always seem to believe that we're short on time/energy. Whether or not we actually are short of time and/or energy, is an entirely different matter.
Anyway, those are some of my thoughts on the subject.
Love,
Tex
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
Tex and Dee,
I enjoyed your thoughts.....they seem right on target. Another thought I had is that so much of our processed food now is refined flour and sugar. I think I read somewhere that humans will seek out that sweet taste over all others. In olden days it probably helped us add calories (fatten up) in order to survive periods of time with little nutritious food. And it was much rarer then to find sweets. (There weren't coke machines on every block!
....Hah - I always wanted to use that emoticon!). Our palates have maybe become adjusted to eating sweets constantly.
Dee,
Before going paleo, I spent hours in the grocery store reading labels. And then more time on the phone double-checking with manufacturers, lists, etc. And even then I frequently missed an intolerance. It was difficult.
Now, it is so much easier just buying real food. Of course, it is not cheap to eat this way, but I think many people waste lots of money on processed foods that have no nutrition at all. At least I am getting a bigger bang for my food buck. I have decided that I am worth it and therefore will buy what is necessary to keep me healthy. I don't eat organic all of the time - usually just those veggies/fruits that have been shown to have the highest residual pesticide levels. And I use the crockpot as well as roasting a lot so that I can use cheaper cuts of meat. I use some free-range meat but not all. I don't eat farm-raised fish, but any wild fish is fair game (pun intended!).
I try to buy locally-grown veggies and fruits (difficult in winter, of course). Initially we bought a freezer, but I have found we don't really need it..... because on the paleo diet you simply have to shop much more frequently. Veggies and fruits often last only a few days. (For example, yesterday I ate an apple, banana, pear, red grapes, and fresh rappini, broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots. And used onions and celery in a soup). They go fast at this rate! My hubby does most of the grocery shopping, and he has gotten to the point where he likes to go every day to get the fresh leafy greens. Since we go to the store so much anyway, we buy the meats, etc. at the same time and therefore don't really need to freeze them.
I am very fortunate that hubby eats the same way I do. I do add some things for him, like a rice side dish or rice noodles in soup (I don't dish any out for me when I eat the soup). My 21 yr. old son who is in a local college and works at Home Depot rarely eats with us. And he has typical "college" tastes. I can have a pot of wonderful homemade chicken/rice noodle soup simmering on the stove and he will fix himself a ramen noodles. Go figure.
I hope I've answered all of your questions. Ask away if not. That's interesting that you do some paleo meals. It doesn't surprise me with your nutrition and recipe knowledge. Have you checked out Elizabeth's blog? And a great big welcome to the "Caveworld" here! Please stick around - I always learn so much from you. And you make me laugh a lot. I think if we ever got together we'd talk and laugh for days!
Love,
Polly
I enjoyed your thoughts.....they seem right on target. Another thought I had is that so much of our processed food now is refined flour and sugar. I think I read somewhere that humans will seek out that sweet taste over all others. In olden days it probably helped us add calories (fatten up) in order to survive periods of time with little nutritious food. And it was much rarer then to find sweets. (There weren't coke machines on every block!
....Hah - I always wanted to use that emoticon!). Our palates have maybe become adjusted to eating sweets constantly.Dee,
Before going paleo, I spent hours in the grocery store reading labels. And then more time on the phone double-checking with manufacturers, lists, etc. And even then I frequently missed an intolerance. It was difficult.
Now, it is so much easier just buying real food. Of course, it is not cheap to eat this way, but I think many people waste lots of money on processed foods that have no nutrition at all. At least I am getting a bigger bang for my food buck. I have decided that I am worth it and therefore will buy what is necessary to keep me healthy. I don't eat organic all of the time - usually just those veggies/fruits that have been shown to have the highest residual pesticide levels. And I use the crockpot as well as roasting a lot so that I can use cheaper cuts of meat. I use some free-range meat but not all. I don't eat farm-raised fish, but any wild fish is fair game (pun intended!).
I try to buy locally-grown veggies and fruits (difficult in winter, of course). Initially we bought a freezer, but I have found we don't really need it..... because on the paleo diet you simply have to shop much more frequently. Veggies and fruits often last only a few days. (For example, yesterday I ate an apple, banana, pear, red grapes, and fresh rappini, broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots. And used onions and celery in a soup). They go fast at this rate! My hubby does most of the grocery shopping, and he has gotten to the point where he likes to go every day to get the fresh leafy greens. Since we go to the store so much anyway, we buy the meats, etc. at the same time and therefore don't really need to freeze them.
I am very fortunate that hubby eats the same way I do. I do add some things for him, like a rice side dish or rice noodles in soup (I don't dish any out for me when I eat the soup). My 21 yr. old son who is in a local college and works at Home Depot rarely eats with us. And he has typical "college" tastes. I can have a pot of wonderful homemade chicken/rice noodle soup simmering on the stove and he will fix himself a ramen noodles. Go figure.
I hope I've answered all of your questions. Ask away if not. That's interesting that you do some paleo meals. It doesn't surprise me with your nutrition and recipe knowledge. Have you checked out Elizabeth's blog? And a great big welcome to the "Caveworld" here! Please stick around - I always learn so much from you. And you make me laugh a lot. I think if we ever got together we'd talk and laugh for days!
Love,
Polly
Blessed are they who can laugh at themselves, for they shall never cease to be amused.
Hi Polly,
I believe you're right about the reason why we crave sugar, and that's also probably the reason why many/most of us are programmed to overeat. I'm sure our ancient ancestors learned to eat more than necessary, in times of plenty, so that they could live on fat reserves, when they couldn't find enough food for long periods.
I notice that you eat grapes. I love 'em, but they tend to clean me out. Maybe I just eat too many of them at one time, (I hate so see them spoil, you know. LOL).
Love,
Tex
I believe you're right about the reason why we crave sugar, and that's also probably the reason why many/most of us are programmed to overeat. I'm sure our ancient ancestors learned to eat more than necessary, in times of plenty, so that they could live on fat reserves, when they couldn't find enough food for long periods.
I notice that you eat grapes. I love 'em, but they tend to clean me out. Maybe I just eat too many of them at one time, (I hate so see them spoil, you know. LOL).
Love,
Tex
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.