Losing My Religion

No, I'm not stuffing myself with pizza. In fact, it's pretty clear to me now that I will be paleo for the rest of my life. I see and feel very profoundly the benefits of my current diet, and I truly enjoy what I eat. I don't feel like I'm missing out on anything, and really, I'm exploring new foods that I had barely even considered until now. That said, I am very cautious of having this become a religion. Raw foodists, vegans, and paleo people alike all feel the need to proselytize when they first fully switch over to their way of living. However, what has drawn me to paleo in the first place is the overall lack of ideology. Everything I originally read aimed to be rooted primarily in the latest science rather than some philosophical, ethical debate. There is a weird, disconcerting crossover between primal living and libertarian/Objectivist thought, but I would say that's a small sub-sect of paleo.

Overall, paleo is a pretty diverse and flexible clan - some avoid white potatoes, some don't, some avoid olive oil, some don't, and there is a constant re-tinkering and re-evaluating based on science and anthropology. I do not believe how I eat is morally or ideologically superior to the way anyone else eats. In fact, I think on the most part, veganism is 100% an intellectual choice whereas paleo, at least for me, is 100% a physiological, biological choice.

I try to eat locally and I try to eat well-raised grass-fed animals because I think that's the best way to get the best quality and most dense sources of nutrients possible. I don't deceive myself into thinking I'm saving the world. I don't deceive myself that all those animals march happily into the family-run abattoir and offer up their throats to be cut in return for the farmers' kindness. But I also don't have a moral objection to killing for food. I'm saving myself, pure and simple, and I'm making choices according to my biology. This is not to say that I don't want our food system to be as ethical as possible, I just don't think that denying our biology in favor of subjective ethics is ultimately sustainable. As I progress and learn more, I'm continuing to tinker with my diet to make sure that I stay healthy for as long as possible, and eating meat is a huge part of that process. I am not seeking moral purity. I'm not trying to tell other people how to live. However, if you have questions for me, I can relay information as I come across it.

The indisputable facts for me are that humans are evolved to be omnivores, grains and legumes are relatively new to the human diet evolutionarily speaking, and that sugar and gluten are bad for us. I believe that processed foods, including industrial seed oils such as canola and corn, are unhealthy, especially in the amounts that we consume them. I think there is a lot of wisdom in our ancient traditions, and I try to learn from them. There's really nothing revolutionary or radical about my approach to food. I'm just trying to be healthy, and I would like to help the people I love be healthy.

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

BEFORE


AFTER

Ok, I hope this isn't TMI for you folks, but I wanted to show you a before and after of my body since I started eating paleo. The first picture was from around the time I moved to Baltimore. I already wasn't eating grains every day and I was avoiding sugar, but I was drinking beer and eating beans. I was still feeling a lot of brain fog at the time, and I often felt hungover for entire days even after only drinking just a couple of beers.

Recently, I've noticed some weird physiological changes. On tour, I had no choice but to wear the same pair of socks for a few days at a time, yet my feet never got stinky. They started smelling strongly of the rubber my shoes are made of, but not that yeasty smell. I used to be pretty prone to athletes foot, particularly if I didn't change my socks every day. I went all of tour with about 5 pairs of socks, and I never had a problem. Another thing I noticed just today is that I am sweating much less than I usually do despite the heat, even after I've run a couple blocks to catch a bus. My heart rate also doesn't increase too much with a short sprint. It used to be that any sudden movement would make my heart pound.

The heat in Baltimore has gotten me feeling pretty fatigued, but not in the same way I used to feel every day, which is to say no concentration and a desperate desire to dip my brain in bleach because it felt like there was a greasy film covering it. The old fatigue also made me feel like I didn't want to lift a finger, but right now my tiredness just makes me want to take things slightly slower. I feel pretty alert, even when I'm exhausted, and all of tour I felt more energetic than I ever have. I think it's heat and dehydration that is getting to me right now.

Anyway, I'm not sharing this out of a sense of vanity. I've just been experimenting with my body for the past couple of years, and I think these changes are pretty interesting. I think it's noteworthy that I've been able to change my body composition with no concerted effort to establish an exercise routine - I lost fat (keep in mind that I have significantly increased the amount of fat I eat), and while I haven't really gained any muscle, I think I'm somewhat stronger. I wound up lifting a lot of heavy stuff on tour, but that was out of obligation more than anything else, and I only lifted one or two heavy things a day. I did notice that it was remarkably easier to lift my bandmate's keyboard than it was two years ago.

Paleo Breakfast

Paleo breakfast. Three-egg omelet with spring onions (eggs were from the egg guy at the Waverly farmers market and the spring onions were from the downtown market), apple salad, and sweet potato, served with mustard/cider vinegar dressing, chipotle salsa, and salsa verde with avocado. I used ghee to cook the omelet, and I melted extra butter and a touch of ghee into the sweet potatoes. I didn't put any cheese in the omelet. For those of you still getting acne or gaining weight, or generally still feeling a bit bloated and gross, please try eliminating dairy from your diet for a while. Ghee is ok because the milk solids have been removed, it's just pure fat, which is good for you. It's the casein and the lactose in milk that are particularly growth-inducing. Chill on that shit. The irony of that ashtray in the picture is not lost on me.

Also, another note, when doing scrambled eggs or omelets, scramble the eggs in a bowl before you cook them - really whisk them to get them to froth up a little. Once you pour it into a hot pan, turn the heat down and stir very gently once every 30 seconds or so just to get them to cook evenly. Don't scramble in the pan. You need to be gentle with eggs when you cook them, otherwise they stick to the pan or become mealy and gross.

Lamb Stew

I made lamb stew.

Ingredients:
Chunks of bone-in lamb (the bone is important if you don't have stock on hand because that's where the flavor comes from)
Onions
Carrots
Bay leaf
Water
Tomato (optional)
Garlic
Salt
Pepper
Cumin
Lemon zest

I rubbed the chunks of meat with salt, pepper, and cumin. I then heated some ghee (I'm trying to use more saturated fats to cook, and ghee has a very high smoking point and tastes awesome) and browned the meat in it. The important thing here is to use a heavy pan (I used a cast-iron pot) and use pretty high heat. You want to get a nice sear on it, which should be a rusty copper color. Too many people are afraid to use high heat, so they wind up with grey, unappetizing meat. Ok, so once the meat was seared, I added chopped up onions, bay leaf, a little more salt, and gave it a stir. When the onions were transluscent, I added carrots and a tomato. I let that cook down a little, then I added a few cloves of garlic, a little lemon zest, and enough water to just barely cover everything. I covered the pot, and put the whole thing in the oven (sort of like with my Fuck You Texas Chili, except covered this time). I intended to leave it in there for at least 2 hours, but when I checked on it after a little over an hour and a half, it was already done. I then chopped up some parsley I got at the farmers market and threw it in. I ate the stew with roasted sweet potatoes, sauteed zucchini, and sauteed turnip greens. Again, I used ghee for everything. There was no vegetable oil at all in this dish.

Fuck You Texas Chili

Tonight, I got bored and went up to Waverly to wander around. Of course I had to stop at Punjab. I got a pound of ground beef. I can't afford grass-fed most of the time, and at least Punjab is halal and they grind the meat for you in front of you, so you can be reasonably sure there's minimal weird crap in it. Also, the fatty acid profile of ruminants is less adversely affected by grain feeding than poultry is, plus the beef at Punjab is very lean, so the fatty acid thing is pretty much a non-issue.

I went home and made chili. I decided I needed to put veggies in it, which is very un-Texan, which is why this is my Fuck You Texas Chili. Chili purists forbid the use of all veggies except garlic and onions (the red color should come from the chili and spices, not tomato). Beans are verboten as well, and the proper thickening agent is corn meal. Since I'm doing a paleo chili, I didn't even intend to use beans or cornmeal, but I definitely felt the need to eat some vegetable matter. Even though they're not seasonal, I used zucchini because that's what they had at Punjab, and they go rather well in chili.

Ingredients:

Ground beef
Onion
Bay leaves
As many cloves of garlic as you can handle
Chili powder
Cumin
Chopped tomatoes (fuck you Texas! Also, anyone allergic to nightshades can omit these.)
Lemon zest/some juice
Salt
Pepper
Cinnamon
Nutmeg
Zucchini
Stock (beef, chicken, veggie, whatever)

Ok, so I didn't list these in the ingredients because most of you probably won't have these on hand, but I used rendered duck fat (you can use bacon fat or light olive oil) and duck stock despite my previous warning about fatty acid profiles of poultry. Duck is delicious, and the fatty acid ratio is better than that of chicken, so whatever. I first heated the duck fat in a dutch oven, then I threw the spices in to let them "open" to use Indian terminology to mean that they become fragrant. I browned the meat in the spice/oil mixture, letting all the exuding liquid evaporate. Then I threw in the chopped onions and tomatoes, stirred it, let the veggies exude their liquid, then I squeezed some lemon juice into it and zested the peel into it as well, threw in a couple bay leaves, a dash of cinnamon and nuteg, a couple cloves of garlic, and enough stock to cover the rest of the stuff by about half an inch. I then put the whole pot, uncovered, into a 350-degree oven for about an hour. Then I chopped up some zucchini and threw them in the pot, and let the whole thing cook for another 20 minutes or so. And that's my Fuck You Texas Chili.

Eating Solo

One thing I've been thinking about a lot during the course of doing the paleo thing is how culture can reflect something evolutionary. Sharing food seems so natural to me that I have to believe it's built in somehow to our genetic code. Indeed bonobos, who we often look to for insight into human behavior, have very complex systems of gathering, hunting, and sharing food. This is why I feel the modern habit of each person getting his or her own plate of food, restaurant style, is not only wasteful and inefficient, it also flies in the face of our intense need to connect to each other via the meals that we prepare and eat together. For the same reason, I also abhor convenience food and food designed to eat on the go. I much prefer cooking and eating family style.

Recent changes in my daily routine have resulted in me cooking mainly for myself most days. This is very awkward for me. Beyond affecting my cooking times and quantities, by the nature in which fresh produce is sold, it's hard for me to use everything fast enough. I also really hate putting so much effort into cooking when no one else is around to appreciate it. I do indeed enjoy cooking, and it's a meditative process for me, but it's just a little less rewarding when I can't share the fruits of my labor with people I care about.

I think sharing food helps us prepare healthier food. We feel free to buy produce and meat and good ingredients when we feel that we are doing so to take care of the people we love. When we're solitary in our eating and cooking habits, it's too easy to slip into convenience foods. Sandwiches, ramen, and microwave dinners are for lonely eating. Real food is to be eaten and shared with your tribe. What I mean is that I miss you guys on nights when I'm eating alone.

I Scream!

It's warm and sunny out, which means the ice cream and icey stands are opening! But alas, if you are sticking with the paleo diet you will have a hard time finding an icey treat to eat out there that's not packed with tons of sugar.

Look no further.

Make your own one-ingredient ice cream at home. It's literally BANANAS. Apparently this is a recipe that is very popular with the vegans but I'm just now discovering it. I found it here. All you need to do is freeze chopped up bananas for a couple of hours. Then put them in a blender or food processor until you've made a creamy consistency. You can add whatever you like (peanut butter, vanilla, honey, cocoa powder, etc.) I put a spoon full of almond butter, vanilla extract, and walnuts in mine and it was so delicious. The picture above (not mine) is the result of re-freezing the blended frozen bananas and then taking a scooper to it to make it look even more like ice cream. This is something that you should enjoy fast because if you let it melt it will just become gooey bananas, which is delicious but no longer ice creamy.

Apparently this process also works with fruits like mamey and mango. I bet it would also work with avocado too. The key is the fat content in these fruits that make it that creamy consistency. To make it local, maybe you could use paw paw from the forest!

Try this. You will like it.