Quinoa Stuffed Cabbage Rolls

Quinoa stuffed cabbage. How's that for nontraditional?

It was a dark and stormy night... 

Wait. This is a recipe post. Let me start again. Got your cocoa? Are you settled?

Chapter 1.

The tight blue tiled kitchen glowed in the afternoon sun that slatted through the western facing junipers and spilled across the cupboards in a honeyed glaze so dazzling she had to lower her eyes to keep from squinting like a cowboy as she grabbed a frayed dish towel and cracked the oven door. The scent of sweet potatoes, apples and onion laced with garlic, nutmeg and cinnamon filled the room. She tugged her worn wooden spoon from the mustard crock and stirred the tender jewels bathed in apple juice. For the first time in days she felt connected to something tangible.

Read more + get the recipe >>

Karina's Kicked Up Colcannon Recipe

An Irish classic- colcannon. Mashed potatoes with a twist.

Traditional colcannon is an Irish potato recipe thick with cream and sticks of butter. If served for the Celtic New Year, a bowl of colcannon might include a lucky coin hidden in its pillowy depths; the charmed recipient- if she didn't break a tooth on it- kept the buried treasure for a New Year's worth of kind fortune. 

My version of colcannon is anything but traditional. I'm a half Ashkenazi-Jewish-Scot-Irish shiksa zen Jungian humanist, after all. So you know I had to change it up a bit. It had to be vegan. And it had to be spiked with the flavors I crave. Flavors that love snuggling up to potatoes.

Because when it comes to this turning-back-the-clock dark and spooky time of year nothing beats a good potato recipe. 

Read more + get the recipe >>

Easy Gluten-Free Pumpkin Pie Recipe

Easy, delicious gluten-free pumpkin pie.

This will be one of our little secrets, okay? Just make this impossible pumpkin pie recipe and serve it with a smile. No apologies. No caveats. No waffling or waggling. You don't have to label it vegan. Or gluten-free. Or lactose-free. Which it is. Because no one will ever know. It tastes that good. And you'll score serious points with your vegan guests. You'll be a hero to gluten-free pie lovers. A goddess to egg-free pumpkin-cravers. A rock star to dairy-free angels.

My secret? It's in the details.

First- no tofu (yes, Babycakes, my pumpkin pie is soy-free so you won't have to put up with your cousin's tofu jokes on Thanksgiving).

Second- it's also rice-free. No gritty rice flour (which, come to think of it, I am hardly using any more). No cornstarch (for those of you avoiding corn). In a sweet little nutshell, it's very food allergy friendly.

Even your Aunt Sadie who is allergic to Wyoming might be able to eat this. Unless she's allergic to pumpkin. 

Then you're screwed.

My secret ingredient? My favorite grain of late. Buckwheat. I thank my lucky stars every night that I can eat buckwheat, not only because it's deeply familiar, ingrained as it is in my semi-Ashkenazi bones (while the Scot-Irish half of me pines for Guinness), it's a cereal-free "grain" with a soft, sweet nutty taste and a higher protein content than many other gluten-free flours. And it is drop-dead sexy in baking (have you tried my Buckwheat Chocolate Chip Cookies? My Pumpkin Raisin Cake?).

Buckwheat? In a pumpkin pie? you ask.

Affirmative. You see, this is a crustless pumpkin pie- a close relative of my crustless quiches (though they contain eggs which helps beyond imagining- but vegans, keep the faith, because I'm also working on an eggless quiche slash kugel). As impossible as it seems (okay, allow me, please, a corny nod to the old Bisquick trick) the buckwheat flour helps create a tender and barely discernible crust, which- for a quasi-baker like me is a high-fiving relief because there is nothing I have less patience for than wrangling with fall-apart-when-you-sneeze gluten-free pie crust dough. Well. 

That's not entirely true.

I have even less patience for the fear-spiking sensationalism media corporations serve up as news when it is anything but. It's enough to give any sensitive soul severe schpilkis.

Which is why I disconnected my cable TV. One hundred dollars a month to get heartburn? I don't think so.

Read more + get the recipe >>

Karina's Enchiladas Win the Whole Foods Budget Recipe Challenge

Enchiladas photo courtesy Whole Foods Market © 2008

I am very excited to announce that my recipe for Sweet Potato Black Bean Enchiladas has won the Whole Foods Market Budget Recipe Challenge. Thank you all who voted for the recipe- and highlighted this gluten-free vegetarian entry. I am overwhelmed by the support. Over 1,300 of you took the time to vote! And I appreciate it with all my heart.

Congrats to the other talented finalists who participated with their mouthwatering array of unique dishes- Jaden of Steamy Kitchen, Rachel of Coconut & Lime, Hannah of Bittersweet, Michael of Cooking for Engineers and of Katy of Sugar Laws. Your recipes rocked.

To celebrate I am going to give away:

Five $25 Whole Foods Market Gift Cards!

To participate in this random drawing leave a comment below.


Five lucky winners will be picked out of hat
by my favorite little burro, Sparky
on Friday October 31st.


Good luck!

Contest is closed- Sparky picked the winners-

see the winners here.

Here is the winning recipe on Gluten-Free Goddess:

Sweet Potato Black Bean Enchiladas

Visit the Whole Foods Market Blog

DART: Many Lessons Learned

The Diet and Reinfarction Trial (DART), published in 1989, is one of the most interesting clinical trials I've had the pleasure to read about recently. It included 2,033 British men who had already suffered from an acute myocardial infarction (MI; heart attack), and tested three different strategies to prevent further MIs. Subjects were divided into six groups:

• One group was instructed to reduce total fat to 30% of calories (from about 35%) and replace saturated fat (SFA) with polyunsaturated fat (PUFA).


• The second group was told to double grain fiber intake.


• The third group was instructed to eat more fatty fish or take fish oil if they didn't like fish.


• The remaining three were control groups that were not advised to change diet; one for each of the first three.
  

Researchers followed the six groups for two years, recording deaths and MIs. The fat group reduced their total fat intake from 35.0 to 32.3% of calories, while doubling the ratio of PUFA to SFA (to 0.78). After two years, there was no change in all-cause or cardiac mortality. This is totally consistent with the numerous other controlled trials that have been done on the subject. Here's the mortality curve:

Here's what the authors have to say about it:

Five randomised trials have been published in which a diet low in fat or with a high P/S [polyunsaturated/saturated fat] ratio was given to subjects who had recovered from MI. All these trials contained less than 500 subjects and none showed any reduction in deaths; indeed, one showed an increase in total mortality in the subjects who took the diet.

So... why do we keep banging our heads against the wall if clinical trials have already shown repeatedly that total fat and saturated fat consumption are irrelevant to heart disease and overall risk of dying? Are we going to keep doing these trials until we get a statistical fluke that confirms our favorite theory? This DART paper was published in 1989, and we have not stopped banging our heads against the wall since. The fact is, there has never been a properly controlled clinical trial that has shown an all-cause mortality benefit for reducing total or saturated fat in the diet (without changing other variables at the same time). More than a dozen have been conducted to date.

On to fish. The fish group tripled their omega-3 intake, going from 0.6 grams per week of EPA to 2.4 g (EPA was their proxy for fish intake). This group saw a significant reduction in MI and all-cause deaths, 9.3% vs 12.8% total deaths over two years (a 27% relative risk reduction). Here's the survival chart:

Balancing omega-6 intake with omega-3 has consistently improved cardiac risk in clinical trials. I've discussed that here.

The thing that makes the DART trial really unique is it's the only controlled trial I'm aware of that examined the effect of grain fiber on mortality (without simultaneously changing other factors). The fiber group doubled their grain fiber intake, going from 9 to 17 grams by eating more whole grains. This group saw a non-significant trend toward increased mortality and MI compared to its control group. Deaths went up from 9.9% to 12.1%, a relative risk increase of 18%. I suspect this result was right on the cusp of statistical significance, judging by the numbers and the look of the survival curve:

You can see that the effect is consistent and increases over time. At this rate, it probably would have been statistically significant at 2.5 years.

I think the problem with whole grains is that the bran and germ contain a disproportionate amount of toxins, such as the mineral-binding phytic acid.  The bran and germ also contain a disproportionate amount of nutrients. To have your cake and eat it too, soak, sprout or ferment grains. This reduces the toxin load but preserves or enhances nutritional value. Wheat may be a problem whether it's treated this way or not.

Subjects in the studies above were eating grain fiber that was not treated properly, and so they were increasing their intake of some pretty nasty toxins while decreasing their nutrient absorption. Healthy non-industrial cultures would never have made this mistake. Grains must be treated with respect, and whole grains in particular.

Gluten-Free Crock-Pot Recipes

It appears you have encountered an old link from years ago. I apologize for the inconvenience.

Please use this link to get to where you need to go...

Crock-Pot recipe-wise, that is.

The new stews and slow cooker recipe index is:

Gluten-Free Slow Cooker Stews and Crock-Pot Recipes

***

Easy Cider Roasted Vegetables - Vegan and Gluten-Free

Roasted vegetables are an easy, fit for company favorite.

Roasted vegetables. As you may have guessed from my last recipe, they are a favorite staple at our house. And beyond easy. We make them at least twice a week- a convivial ritual. Steve and I join forces in the kitchen at dinner hour and cut up heaps of vegetables and talking politics. Or religion. Human behavior. Projection. Affect and temperament. All those spiky topics your grandmother warned you not to talk about at dinner parties (or at least in mixed company). We talk, all right. And talk.

After all, we're simpatico.

We're on the same ethical and moral page. We share the same values (muy importante in a marriage, let me tell you). And we're on safe ground here in our tiny desert kitchen- at least as long as the bank holding the mortgage doesn't go belly up (but money is another topic a "polite" woman doesn't discuss).

Steve and I are as fearless and hopeful with another as we were on our very first date- a cup of coffee (make that three) at Jack's Out Back in Yarmouthport. When he asked me where I saw myself in ten years- and told me he wasn't looking for a mother- I knew I'd found the man for me.

And last night- the one year mark of the unfortunate hip incident- as we stood in the very spot of my Charlie Brown smack down, rustling up passionate discourse and tossing veggies left and right into a waiting roasting pan and punctuating Mamet style pauses with. Glugs. Of olive oil. And. Pinches of sea salt. My husband slid the pan into the hot oven. And kissed me.

Dinner is done, he said.

May this election soon be, I murmured.

And I raised my glass to the future.

Easy Cider Roasted Vegetables Recipe

While the veggies are roasting their earthy little hearts out, getting all golden and tender and sweet, put on a pot of your favorite brown rice or quinoa seasoned with a little olive oil and a sprinkle of curry, cumin, or Old Bay Seasoning.

Preheat the oven to 375ºF.

Wash and cut your favorite mix of vegetables and toss them into a large baking pan. Mix and match. Some folks worry about pairing the wrong vegetables but honestly, I've never had a problem combining. Just make sure you cut the assorted veggies in an evenhanded manner, keeping the sizes relatively close. Denser vegetables like carrots I usually slice thinner, knowing they'll take a bit longer to cook through.

Ingredients:

1 sweet or red onion, cut into wedges

2 carrots, sliced

6 baby gold, purple or red potatoes, cut up

1 1/2 cups butternut squash or pumpkin, peeled, cubed

Half a cabbage- green or purple- sliced

1 1/2 cups broccoli florets

1 cup cauliflower florets

1 yellow squash, cut into half moons

A few green beans, whole, trimmed

A portobello mushroom or two, sliced or cut up

Lots of garlic, several whole or minced cloves

Instructions:

Toss the vegetables into a large roasting pan. Season the veggies with sea salt and fresh ground pepper. Make your sauce.

Cider Roasting Sauce:

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

1 cup natural apple cider or apple juice

1 tablespoon agave, honey or brown sugar

Instructions:

Stir to blend. Pour the sauce over the veggies, toss well to coat.

Sprinkle with warming spices, if you like. Curry, nutmeg, a touch of cinnamon, some thyme. Roast for 30 to 45 minutes- or until the veggies are tender, to your liking.

Serve over cooked brown rice or quinoa. Add a condiment for more protein- hummus is especially delicious with roasted vegetables. Add crumbles of goat cheese, if you like.

More Options:

Add a can of drained white beans or chick peas for added protein; stir them into the vegetables during the last 15-20 minutes of roasting, to heat through.

Leftover roasted veggies can be baked into yummy quiches and frittatas or tossed into soups.

Omnivores can add in sliced cooked sausage or pieces of cooked chicken during the last 20 minutes of roasting; heat through.

Recipe Source: glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com

All images & content are copyright protected, all rights reserved. Please do not use our images or content without prior permission. Thank you.

 

Simpatico Recipes:

Roasted Red Pepper Hummus
Jalapeño Lime Hummus
Maple-Apple Sausage Patties
Pinon Rice Bake
Maple-Apricot Glazed Meatloaf

The Time of Our Lives

The Time of Our Lives

Science meets hope in this episode of Catalyst, as some of the world’s leading minds take us on their race for the ageing “cure.” Can we really stay young through diet, or is the way we get old all in the mind? Science is chasing a longevity pill - but should we be tampering with the cycle of life and death? In this, the second part of Catalyst’s special on ageing, we’ll see how close we are to living healthier, longer lives. We also ask whether the human brain and its ability to extend our life expectancy could achieve more than is good for us.

PART 1

PART 2

We're Starting to Get It

I just read an interesting post on the Food is Love blog.

According to the USDA (admittedly not always the most reliable source of accurate information, but we’ll go with it for the moment), the number of farmers markets in the US has risen significantly in the last ten years, from 2,746 in 1998 to 4,685 in 2008. If we get another 580 markets, an increase possible in the next year or two if trends continue, we’ll have tripled the number of recorded markets since 1994.

Furthermore,

Plenty of farmers markets don’t get tallied in official lists, of course. Valereee, over at Cincinnati Locavore, points out that the USDA database only lists a quarter of the markets in her hometown. I see a few missing on the Seattle list as well.

People are slowly starting to get it. We're realizing that the processed food industry does not look out for our best interests. We're realizing that the frailty of modern children as well as our own health problems are due to the outsourcing of agriculture and food preparation. We're realizing that local farms and markets build strong communities.

We're realizing that a return to traditional, wholesome food is the only path to whole health and well-being.


Further reading:
My Real Food manifesto.

Gluten-Free Pumpkin Bundt Cake

A warm and spicy pumpkin cake recipe for autumn.

Fall is my favorite season- for more reasons than I can count. Clear cool mornings that reinvigorate my affection for walking- not to mention- turning on the oven to bake. The freshened sense of new beginnings- yes, I know, I'm weird this way. Rather than the greening of spring, it's the winged migration of fall that kindles my creative spirit.

Fall feels like a fresh start, the smell of sharpened pencils, crisp white sheets of paper and a new box of crayons. Time to stack unread books by the bed, recycle old clothes, worn out paradigms and old ideas.

Time to get the broom and make a clean sweep of things.

Read more + get the recipe >>

One Last Thought

In Dr. Lindeberg's paleolithic diet trial, subjects began with ischemic heart disease, and glucose intolerance or type II diabetes. By the end of the 12-week study, on average their glucose control was approaching normal and every subject had normal fasting glucose. Glucose control and fasting glucose in subjects following the "Mediterranean diet" did not change significantly. He didn't report changes in cardiovascular risk factors.

Why was the paleolithic diet so effective at restoring glucose control, while the Mediterranean diet was not? I believe the reason is that the Mediterranean diet did not eliminate the foods that were causing the problem to begin with: processed grains, particularly wheat. The paleolithic diet was lower in carbohydrate than the Mediterranean diet (40% vs 52%), although not exceptionally so. The absolute difference was larger since the paleolithic dieters were eating fewer calories overall (134 g vs 231 g). When they analyzed the data, they found that "the effect of the paleolithic diet on glucose tolerance was independent of carbohydrate intake". In other words, paleolithic dieters saw an improvement in glucose tolerance even if they ate as much carbohydrate as the average for the Mediterranean group.

This study population is not representative of the general public. These are people who suffered from an extreme version of the "disease of civilization". But they are examples of a process that I believe applies to nearly all of us to some extent. This paper adds to the evidence that the modern diet is behind these diseases.

A quick note about grains. Some of you may have noticed a contradiction in how I bash grains and at the same time praise Nutrition and Physical Degeneration. I'm actually not against grains. I think they can be part of a healthy diet, but they have to be prepared correctly and used in moderation. Healthy non-industrial cultures almost invariably soaked, sprouted or sourdough-fermented their grains. These processes make grains much more nutritious and less irritating to the digestive tract, because they allow the seeds to naturally break down their own toxins such as phytic acid, trypsin inhibitors and lectins.

Gluten grains are a special case. 12% of the US public is though to be gluten sensitive, as judged by anti-gliadin antibodies in the bloodstream. Nearly a third have anti-gliadin antibodies in their feces [update- these two markers may or may not indicate gluten sensitivity. SJG 2011]. Roughly 1% have outright celiac disease, in which the gut lining degenerates in response to gluten. All forms of gluten sensitivity increase the risk of a staggering array of health problems. There's preliminary evidence that gluten may activate the innate immune system in many people even in the absence of antibodies. From an anthropological perspective, wherever wheat flour goes, so does the disease of civilization. Rice doesn't have the same effect. It's possible that properly prepared wheat, such as sourdough, might not cause the same problems, but I'm not taking my chances. I certainly don't recommend quick-rise bread, and that includes whole wheat. Whole wheat seemed to be enough to preserve glucose intolerance in Lindeberg's study...

60 Minutes - Forever Young

Video with a small section on CR. Paul and Meredith are in it once again, also a small part on Okinawans too. The 110 year old okinawa is looking very good for her age. Also Meredith and Paul are in the video, they mention their ages and Paul is 60 and Meredith is 62! A lot of the video is looking at Resveratrol.

SEE VIDEO HERE


Forever Young

Paleolithic Diet Clinical Trials Part II

There were a number of remarkable changes in both trials. I'll focus mostly on Dr. Lindeberg's trial because it was longer and better designed. The first thing I noticed is that caloric intake dropped dramatically in both trials, -36% in the first trial and a large but undetermined amount in Dr Lindeberg's. The Mediterranean diet group ended up eating 1,795 calories per day, while the paleolithic dieters ate 1,344. In both studies, participants were allowed to eat as much as they wanted, so those reductions were purely voluntary.

This again agrees with the theory that certain neolithic or industrial foods promote hyperphagia, or excessive eating. It's the same thing you see in low-carbohydrate diet trials, such as this one, which also reduce grain intake. The participants in Lindeberg's study were borderline obese. When you're overweight and your body resets its fat mass set-point due to an improved diet, fatty acids come pouring out of fat tissue and you don't need as many calories to feel satisfied. Your diet is supplemented by generous quantities of lard. Your brain decreases your calorie intake until you approach your new set-point.

That's what I believe happened here. The paleolithic group supplemented their diet with 3.9 kg of their own rump fat over the course of 12 weeks, coming out to 30,000 additional calories, or 357 calories a day. Not quite so spartan when you think about it like that.

The most remarkable thing about Lindeberg's trial was the fact that the 14 people in the paleolithic group, 2 of which had moderately elevated fasting blood glucose and 10 of which had diabetic fasting glucose, all ended up with normal fasting glucose after 12 weeks. That is truly amazing. The mediterranean diet worked also, but only in half as many participants.

If you look at their glucose tolerance by an oral glocose tolerance test (OGTT), the paleolithic diet group improved dramatically. Their rise in blood sugar after the OGTT (fasting BG subtracted out) was 76% less at 2 hours. If you look at the graph, they were basically back to fasting glucose levels at 2 hours, whereas before the trial they had only dropped slightly from the peak at that timepoint. The mediterranean diet group saw no significant improvement in fasting blood glucose or the OGTT. Lindeberg is pretty modest about this finding, but he essentially cured type II diabetes and glucose intolerance in 100% of the paleolithic group.

Fasting insulin, the insulin response to the OGTT and insulin sensitivity improved in the paleolithic diet whereas only insulin sensitivity improved significantly in the Mediterranean diet. Fasting insulin didn't decrease as much as I would have thought, only 16% in the paleolithic group.

Another interesting thing is that the paleolithic group lost more belly fat than the Mediterranean group, as judged by waist circumference. This is the most dangerous type of fat, which is associated with, and contributes to, insulin resistance and the metabolic syndrome. Guess what food belly fat was associated with when they analyzed the data? The strongest association was with grain consumption (probably mostly wheat), and the association remained even after adjusting for carbohydrate intake. In other words, the carbohydrate content of grains does not explain their association with belly fat because "paleo carbs" didn't associate with it. The effect of the paleolithic diet on glucose tolerance was also not related to carbohydrate intake.

So in summary, the "Mediterranean diet" may be healthier than a typical Swedish diet, while a diet loosely modeled after a paleolithic diet kicks both of their butts around the block. My opinion is that it's probably due to eliminating wheat, substantially reducing refined vegetable oils and dumping the processed junk in favor of real, whole foods. Here's a zinger from the end of the paper that sums it up nicely (emphasis mine):

The larger improvement of glucose tolerance in the Paleolithic group was independent of energy intake and macronutrient composition, which suggests that avoiding Western foods is more important than counting calories, fat, carbohydrate or protein. The study adds to the notion that healthy diets based on whole-grain cereals and low-fat dairy products are only the second best choice in the prevention and treatment of type 2 diabetes.

The CR Way on MyFox

Paul shared with me the link to this video so I uploaded it on my youtube channel. To see all the other videos check out the link on the website links.

Paleolithic Diet Clinical Trials

If Dr. Ancel Keys (of diet-heart hypothesis fame) had been a proponent of "paleolithic nutrition", we would have numerous large intervention trials by now either confirming or denying its ability to prevent health problems. In this alternate reality, public health would probably be a lot better than it is today. Sadly, we have to settle for our current reality where the paleolithic diet has only been evaluated in two small trials, and medical research spends its (our) money repeatedly conducting failed attempts to link saturated fat to every ill you can think of. But let's at least take a look at what we have.

Both trials were conducted in Sweden. In the first one, lead by Dr. Per Wändell, 14 healthy participants (5 men, 9 women) completed a 3-week dietary intervention in which they were counseled to eat a "paleolithic diet". Calories were not restricted, only food categories were. Participants were told to eat as much as they wanted of fruit, vegetables, fish, lean meats, nuts, flax and canola oil, coffe and tea (without dairy). They were allowed restricted quantities of dried fruit, potatoes (2 medium/day) salted meat and fish, fat meat and honey. They were told not to eat dairy, grain products, canned food, sugar and salt.

After three weeks, the participants had:

• Decreased their caloric intake from 2,478 to 1,584 kcal
• Increased their percentage protein and fat, while decreasing carbohydrate
• Decreased saturated fat, increased dietary cholesterol, decreased sodium intake, increased potassium
• Lost 2.3 kg (5 lb)
• Decreased waist circumference, blood pressure and PAI-1

Not bad for a 3-week intervention on healthy subjects. This study suffered from some serious problems, however. #1 is the lack of a control group as a means for comparison. Ouch. #2 is the small study size and resulting lack of statistical power. I consider this one encouraging but by no means conclusive.

The second study was conducted by the author of the Kitava study, Dr. Staffan Lindeberg. The study design was very interesting. He randomly assigned 29 men with ischemic heart disease, plus type II diabetes or glucose intolerance, to either a "Mediterranean diet" or a "paleolithic diet". Neither diet was calorie-restricted. Here's the beauty of the study design: the Mediterranean diet was the control for the paleo diet. The reason that's so great is it completely eliminates the placebo effect. Both groups were told they were being assigned to a healthy diet to try to improve their health. Each group was educated on the health benefits of their diet but not the other one. It would have been nice to see a regular non-intervention control group as well, but this design was adequate to see some differences.

Participants eating the Mediterranean diet were counseled to focus on whole grains, low-fat dairy, potatoes, legumes, vegetables, fruit, fatty fish and vegetable oils rich in monounsaturated fats and alpha-linolenic acid (omega-3). I'm going to go on a little tangent here. This is truly a bizarre concept of what people eat in the Mediterranean region. It's a fantasy invented in the US to justify the mainstream concept of a healthy diet. My father is French and I spent many summers with my family in southern France. They ate white bread, full-fat dairy at every meal, legumes with fatty pork, sausages and lamb chops. In fact, full-fat dairy wasn't fat enough sometimes. Many of the yogurts and cheeses we ate were made from milk with extra cream added. 

The paleolithic group was counseled to eat lean meat, fish, fruit, leafy and cruciferous vegetables, root vegetables (including moderate amounts of potatoes), eggs and nuts. They were told to avoid dairy, grain products, processed food, sugar and beer.

Both groups were bordering on obese at the beginning of the study. All participants had cardiovascular disease and moderate to severe glucose intolerance (i.e. type II diabetes). After 12 weeks, both groups improved on several parameters. That includes fat mass and waist circumference. But the paleolithic diet trumped the Mediterranean diet in many ways:

• Greater fat loss in the the midsection and a trend toward greater weight loss
• Greater voluntary reduction in caloric intake (total intake paleo= 1,344 kcal; Med= 1,795)
• A remarkable improvement in glucose tolerance that did not occur significantly in the Mediterranean group
• A decrease in fasting glucose
• An increase in insulin sensitivity (HOMA-IR)

Overall, the paleolithic diet came out looking very good. But I haven't even gotten to the best part yet. At the beginning of the trial, 12 out of the 14 people in the paleo group had elevated fasting glucose. At the end, every single one had normal fasting glucose. In the Mediterranean group, 13 out of 15 began with elevated glucose and 8 out of 15 ended with it. This clearly shows that a paleolithic diet is an excellent way to restore glucose control to a person who still has beta cells in their pancreas.

This post is getting long, so I think I'll save the interpretation for the next post.

Age reversal with CR

Is it possible? Yes I absolutely think so. I found this photo that I forgot about, because well quite frankly I didn't like how I looked in it so didn't need reminding. What is interesting is that most people think I look younger now at almost age 24, than I did when I was 19 years of age. Another reason to go on CR, you can look so much younger and get quick results. You'll age more slowly than your peers as the years go by. I have other photos if I can find them and I look younger now than I did even when I was 17.

Did you know that SIRT1 blocks NF Kappa B activation? Which is involved in inflammation... Calorie Restriction up regulates SIRT1, and probably reverses aging of the skin. Here is a bbc news article explaining what happened when they blocked NFKappaB in skin

By blocking the protein in older mice for two weeks, they found the skin was thicker and more cells appeared to be dividing, much like the skin of a younger mouse.

Skin age reversal in mice

CLICK PHOTO TO ENLARGE

Gluten-Free Mexican Recipes: The Flavors of Santa Fe

The Land of Enchantment

I lived in rural northern New Mexico for three years. During that time I loved cooking with fresh roasted green chiles. Harvest season in New Mexico smells like roasting green chiles. Everywhere. It's true. And it's seductive. Some might even say, magical.

But beyond the smoky sweetness that tugs at your suddenly empty and ravenous belly there is something else in the cool dry air, some intoxicating, invigorating whiff of the impossible, the extraordinary, the stuff of dreams. Barely there. Unless you pay attention to it. A shape shift at the corner of your eye. A rainbow over the mesa. A wing. The yelp of a coyote. The sudden purple of autumn asters in the rain carved arroyo.

New Mexico enchants her visitors.

It’s a feast of color and tastes spiked with the scents of juniper, chile and sage. To celebrate its flavors I have gathered my New Mexican inspired recipes for you- a reference to tempt you. Until you visit New Mexico. And find your own rainbow, waiting.

Fresh fire roasted green and red chiles.

My Santa Fe + Mexican Recipes

Acorn Squash with Green Chiles

Big Easy Chili

Blue Corn Muffins with Green Chiles

Brown Rice Tortilla Chips

Buffalo Sausage Stew with Gold Potatoes

Butternut Chili

Calabasitas- Zucchini, Corn, Green Chiles, Lime and Black Beans

Chicken and Artichoke Enchilada Casserole (New Mexican Style)

Cilantro Pesto de Esteban

Cranberry Buffalo Roast Stew with Sweet Potatoes

Easy Spinach and Cheddar Quesadilla

Enchiladas Griegos for Two with Spinach and Feta Cheese

Holiday Turkey Enchiladas

How to Make Roasted Green Chile Sauce

Jalapeño Lime Hummus

Joey's Kicked Up Rockin' Guac with Tomatillos

Lime Chicken (Soft) Tacos

Lime Quinoa Salad with Mint

Mexican Pumpkin Soup with Black Beans and Lime

Maple Roasted Acorn Squash with Cornbread Stuffing

Mexican Black Bean Soup

Pumpkin Polenta with Avocado-Tomatillo Salsa

Quickie Enchilada Sauce- Gluten-Free

Quinoa: How to Cook It- the easy way

Quinoa Taco Salad

Nachos Fabuloso

New Mexican Green Chile Stew with Turkey

Parmesan Crisps & Roasted Tomato Salsa

Pineapple Salsa Chicken Enchiladas

Pinon Rice Bake with Corn, Green Chile, Artichokes and Goat Cheese

Red Quinoa with Butternut Squash and Cranberries

Roasted Corn Chowder with Chicken & Cilantro

Roasted Green Chile Tortilla Bake with Cream Cheese

Roasted Tomato Salsa

Roasted Yellow Tomato Salsa

Roasted Vegetable Salsa

Santa Fe Chicken Chili

Santa Fe Pumpkin Chowder

Slow Cooker Roasted Hatch Chile Stew

Spaghetti Squash New Mexican with Black Beans and Lime

Spanish Rice Bake

Sour Cream Chicken Enchiladas

Southwestern Stuffed Peppers

Sweet Potato Black Bean Enchiladas

Sweet Potato Soup

Tequilla Lime Salmon

Tostada Nueva- a Southwestern Twist on the BLT

Two Artists Chili

Turkey + Sweet Potato Enchiladas

Vegetarian New Mexican Green Chile

Bakery and Bread

Pear Polenta Muffins

Pueblo Bread- with green chiles

Pumpkin Corn Muffins

Skillet Cornbread with Green Chiles

Sweet Banana Polenta Cake

Sweet Potato Cornbread

Yeasted Quinoa Cornbread

Dessert

Banana Polenta Cake

Mexican Chocolate Cake

New Mexican Hot Fudge Sundae

Pumpkin Raisin Cake

Quinoa Pumpkin Cookies

Rustic Strawberry Cobbler Cake

Strawberries Citronge

More Tex-Mex and New Mexican Recipes from Food Bloggers:

Green Chili Sauce - Salsa Verde from Kitchen Parade

Chile Rellenos Bake from Kalyn's Kitchen

Tangerine and Jicama Salad with Garlic and Cilantro from Pinch My Salt

Turkey Green Chile Chili from Perfect Pantry

Carnitasfrom Simply Recipes

Roasted Green Tomatillo Salsafrom Andrea's Recipes

How To Roast Your Own Green Chiles from Elise at Simply Recipes

Chipotle Chili from Cooking with Amy

Creamy Mexican Chayote Soup from FatFree Vegan Kitchen

Homesick Texan's Carnitas Houston Style

Mexican Grilled Corn from Food Blogga

Three No-Cook Summer Recipes from Farmgirl Fare

Guacamole Deviled Eggs from Coconut and Lime

Calorie Restriction and Protein

Recent articles have been showing up lately about the protein IGF results in CRONies from the WUSTL study by DR Fontana. It seems most are coming up with the conclusion that calorie restriction does not work in humans, because this data disagrees with rodent sutdies. They are completely ignoring all the positive findings in humans showing that it's very likely that humans are responding to CR with more youthful health biomarkers and probably a longer life expectancy. No one can give a true answer to whether or not CR works until there is a study spanning across 100 years or so, and by then we'll have, I think, much more effective ways than calorie restriction at reversing aging.

If you refer back to some old studies done on rodents you will find that increasing protein intake, in the context of a CR diet, leads to 'longer life' in the CR group in rodents, and less disease. Michael from the CR Society actually replied with a few links on imminst which are worth the read. See them HERE
I'm unsure whether the protein increase (upto 50% of the diet) attenuates the reduction of IGF-1 normally seen in CR mice, but I assume it does to some extent. This is not evidence against CR at all, pretty much all previous results on humans have been beneficial. To name a findings; Virtually no risk of heart disease, diabetes or stroke. Little risk of autoimmune disease, no inflammation, less DNA damage, up regulation of genes involved in longevity (SIRT1) (but this is still under question), biomarkers that correlate with longevity such as very low fasting insulin and glucose, low body temperature, and overtime we expect less decline in DHEA. We see the same hormonal, metabolic changes as are seen in rodents, dogs, rhesus monkeys. Doctor Fontana even found that those on CR have hearts that function 15-20 years younger than their ages! This is big news. Interestingly I came across an article one day that showed in centenarians their heart function as measured in CRONies measure about 20 years younger than their age. It will be hard to find this article but it's out there somewhere. We hypothesis why centenarians become 'centenarians', why they make it to that big number of 100. Well if anything is going to give you that chance it HAS to be CR right? The common characteristics that are thought to enable people to reach 100 are being found in those that go on a CRON diet.

Most deaths in humans is caused by cardiovascular disease, IGF-1 plays a big role in cancers and rodents DO die of cancer much more frequently than humans. Higher IGF 1 in humans is actually found to PROTECT against degenerative diseases. Sure having IGF 1 might incrase ones risk of cancer, but in the general population we see that higher protein diets are actually better and have less mortality not more. A lot of cancer deaths can be prevented by not smoking and just eating a healthy diet. Age is the biggest risk factor, and the ability of CR to preserve immune function, to up regulate DNA repair, maintain lower glucose levels and less inflammation... even with IGF levels similar to the ad lib group in Fontanas study, we should actually fare better off. I believe that this is not a negative finding at all, and people on a CR diet should really think carefully before reducing their protein intake to such low levels while on CR.

If you want to live long enough to see real anti aging therapies. Be smart and practice some form of CR, whether it be just cutting out snacks or being on a more moderate diet. CR, not supplements or anything else is going to give the biggest chance of staying alive.

Acne Anecdotes

Thanks for all the interesting comments on the last post. Here are some highlights:

Methuselah:

I had bad acne as a teenager and although the worst of it did clear up for as I got older (this seems to be the pattern, so presumably there are hormones other than insulin involved,) I still had spotty skin into my 20s and 30s. When I went onto a Paleo diet my skin cleared up totally.

Neil:

I am lucky enough to have reasonable skin already, but reducing carbs and vegetable oils has at the least coincided with a notable improvement

Jeff:

I used to get... 2-3 pimples most months. Since I have gone Paleo I have had not a single pimple in 8 months.

Itsthewoo:

I had terrible acne that lasted from 9 yrs right up until 20 years - the same week I started the atkins diet. Then it stopped.

I see the skin as a barometer of health. A truly healthy person's skin is smooth, free of acne and has a gentle blush in the cheeks. Unhealthy skin is pale, puffy, pasty, dry, oily, or excessively red in the cheeks and face. It's no coincidence that what we perceive as attractive also happens to indicate health.

I'll add one more anecdote, from myself. In high school, my friends called me "the ghost" because my skin was so pale. I had mild but persistent acne and difficulty tanning. Over the past few years, as I've improved my diet, my skin has smoothed, I've regained the color in my cheeks, I've regained my ability to tan well and my acne has disappeared.