Tuesday 23 February 2016

According to this, wild boars eat worms, insects, eggs and the occasional root. However, the domesticated pig - aka the pork on our plate - is fed a combo of grains and legumes. #brokenfoodsystem #paulssonpaleo


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The two worst FODMAP foods and probably the most commonly used flavour enhancers in our household. New blog about self-study and farts. #fodmap #garlic #onion


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29 Day Reset... Update

OK, so it is only February 23rd today, but I decided to rethink/rejig the 29 day reset thing. My gut told me it wasn't a good idea! After three weeks of strict paleo, my gut should be happy, but it is actually in a worse state than it has been in a long time.

I removed a few things from my diet like paleo "bread", butter, cheese, chia pudding and buckweat porridge. Instead I upped my intake of vegetables, meat, egg and fish. In theory this is a good thing, but without realising, I added in a shedload extra beetroot, which didn't agree with me (everyone could smell the consequences - yuck). So now I have backed off from beetroot and I am instead experimenting with removing high FODMAP foods. I have been thinking about the high FODMAP thing for quite a while, but I haven't had the energy to look into it or implement it properly.
Oh so good breakfast, but sadly the beetroot and avocado are high FODMAP foods. Bye-bye for now.
What is FODMAP? These are foods high in Fermentable Oligo-saccharides, Di-saccharides, Mono-saccharides and Polyols. They are short-chain carbohydrates that are difficult for the gut to absorb. Instead they feed bad bacteria in the gut, which ferment and produce gases. This causes problems for some people and none for others. I think I am in the group, which experiences problems from high FODMAP foods. 

So, my new project is to follow a low FODMAP diet for a while. The diet seems really restrictive, but I have read that a lot of people can reintroduce moderate/higher FODMAP foods after two-six weeks. We'll see how long I last!

These are some of the foods on the completely avoid list (yikes!):
Garlic
Onion
Beetroot
Cauliflower
Cashew nuts
Apple

And these are on the really quite small portions list (maybe more yikes!):
Avocado (1/8)
Coconut milk (100 ml)
Any nuts and seeds (a handful)... one slice of paleo bread???
Cabbage (250 ml)
Celery (5 cm)
Broccoli (75 ml)
Butternut squash (50 ml)

Here is the list that I consulted: Fodmaplife.com

On the bright side, sauerkraut is allowed, as the carbohydrates are consumed during the lacto-fermenting process! Yay!
Frothy, lovely fat coffee
Meanwhile, I am reintroducing moderate amounts of coffee to cheer me up. It is an interesting experiment to remove the coffee (severe grumpiness on days 3-5), so I am looking to only drink coffee 2-3 times a week from now on. Wish me luck!

Friday 19 February 2016

Movement on the Radio

Yesterday, Cecilia and I were on the radio again. For the sixth time! Listen to the show on P4 Halland with Anna Carlsson (only in Swedish). We are on from 1:04.

This time we spoke at about movement and posture, something that we are all passionate about. Modern human spends far too much time sitting down and slouching, which has some seriously adverse consequences for us. Our posture impacts our breathing, digestion and blood circulation, just to name a few things.

It doesn't have to be this way - we are built for movement and we can regain it by getting a bit uncomfortable. For example, sitting or squatting on the floor instead of slouching in the sofa (there is no such thing as a straight back in a sofa) may be uncomfortable at first, but you will slowly build up movement in hips, ankles and knees to regain some of that mobility you are meant to have.

Spending more time walking and standing - getting a bit more uncomfortable compared to escalators, lifts and cars will also improve mobility. Then you can move on from there and take every opportunity you get to move like children do: start crawling, jumping and rolling in the woods, get some rings or bars to play around on. Movement doesn't have to mean working out or going to a yoga class, it can happen whenever and whereever you are. No excuses! Go do it!
Adults are allowed to play too.
After the show, Anna received an email from an 80 year old listener who complained that she would not be able to do any of our suggested movements after two hip operations. Unfortunately, we didn't have a chance to respond this on air. If you are very stiff and are experiencing pain in your joints, then you may not be able to sit down in a full squat or sit cross-legged on the floor straight away. But you can always do something! Where is your limit today? Find that and then slowly push the boundary. Being 80 years old does not mean that you only get stiffer, you can reverse this, so get out there and get moving!

Saturday 13 February 2016

Latest guest visit: David Ayre

Last weekend, my friend Dave came out to visit PaulssonPaleo. I have known Dave for 20 years, so was really keen to show him our place and to quiz him on farming. Dave comes from a farm in Devon in the south-west of England where his parents look after 400 or so sheep.


The weather was pretty rubbish the weekend Dave came, but that didn't stop us getting outside and doing some manual labour (something all our guests are keen to do!). The temperature has risen a little lately, so the snow had disappeared and allowed us to progress with getting the land ready for spring. We are further testing out hugel culture (see blog post 'Everyday is a School Day' - 5th October) so have decided to use our paddock to build a series of hugel beds. It has the perfect orientation and is sheltered from the strong winds, so could be a good area to grow produce. Firstly, we dug out the base of the hugel bed to about a spade depth and then started to collect and drag fallen tree debris to the paddock. Some of the logs we found were pretty big, so it turned out to be a great work out.

Dave was also keen to get in a bit of running as he is training for his first marathon in April, so on the Saturday I took him for a gentle trail run up and around our nearby lake, Simlången, this included the notorious 'Murder Hill'. On the Sunday, Dave nervously agreed to join me for my weekly club run which, this week, turned out to be a hilly 22km road run. So, we amassed a pretty good 36km of running in 2 days, good training for the Brighton Marathon and a bit different from pounding the streets of Basingstoke!

Hanging Tough
Dave also topped the leader board for our 'Hang Tough' competition. He stayed on the rings for 2 minutes and 8 seconds. Thankfully, he did this before he polished off 2 Semlor at a cafe in Halmstad before his flight back to the UK!

'2 Semlor Dave'




Wednesday 10 February 2016

Tuesday 2 February 2016

PaulssonPaleo on Tour: Trondheim

I’m slowly starting to come down from my Norwegian buzz now, easing back on the animal-feeding, big-batch-cooking wagon of PaulssonPaleo HQ. I thought I would share a few memories before moving on. 
Charming Trondheim, even when it's falling apart
I was invited to speak at the Trondheim Paleo Seminar 2016 by my friend Andreas, also known as Paleoterapeuten. He uses his knowledge of the paleo lifestyle in his work as a physiotherapist and nutritional advisor, helping his clients lead healthier and more mobile lives.  


Andreas doing what he does best - feeding his friends
I gave a talk on PaulssonPaleo’s lifestyle on the first evening. I obviously mentioned what we eat, and its incredible impact on our health, but I also talked about the importance of where it comes from (happy animals and veg = happy human). Perhaps more importantly, I tried to convey what paleo means as a lifestyle to us and how it is making us realise that we humans are part of nature, not apart. Part of a community, on so many levels. 


Riveting presentation, obviously. Not an iPhone in sight. 
Other themes of the seminar included why we should eat like our ancestors, why sleep hygiene is important, how meditation can help against stress and how our motivation is key to any lifestyle changes. 

One speaker made an especially strong impression on me. Kathrin explained the causes and expressions of autoimmune disease as well as her own personal experience of it. 
  • Very simply put, autoimmune disease starts with the gut. It gets irritated by the food we eat and starts leaking foreign “stuff” into the blood stream. The immune system reacts by attacking the foreign material, as it should, but sometimes it also starts attacking the body’s own tissue. Result = diabetes, MS, rheumatoid arthritis, Hashimoto’s, etc. 
  • A few years ago, Kathrin found herself with a very rare and very deadly autoimmune disease which was quickly depleting her bone marrow and blood. With no cure in sight, Kathrin took destiny into her own hands and threw out every single food from her cupboard that could possibly aggravate her disease. This is paleo on a different level (The Autoimmune Protocol, AIP). Not only does it omit all grains, dairy and processed and unnatural food, it also shuns all pseudo-grains, seeds, nuts, chocolate, coffee, eggs and nightshades such as tomatoes, potatoes, peppers and aubergine. 
  • Cooking your own food is essential of course, but so does being extremely creative when eating out and travelling. This is the first time I have ever heard of anyone bringing a crockpot on a business trip or smuggling food into a Christmas party. Despite all the hardships, Kathrin approaches her new life in such a no-nonsense way and with complete lack of self-pity. Wow. 
Thanks to Kathrin (and extensive discussions with Andreas), I came home with new motivation to restart a few good paleo habits. Like dropping coffee and chocolate and nuts and seeds and butter and eggs and nightshades for a month. Given my egg habit, I have a feeling that the eggs will be the most challenging… I am hoping to come to terms with my cold fingers and slightly finicky joints by the end of it. I’ll keep you posted!

It was sooooo good to have a few days to myself. Andreas worked during the day, so I had plenty of time to sip bone broth, eat fat fudge, read books and look at the city. Marvellous!
On another note, the “nose-to-tail” eating of fish that I encountered at Andreas made me rethink our fish-eating habits (fillets come with a head and organs, but I rarely encounter them.)… I am looking forward to networking and learning new things from fishmongers in the next few months. 

Fillet, tongue and roe. Making use of the whole fish.
Just the head missing. And some vital organs. 
And I met so many lovely people. Wow. I have rarely met so many young, talented and AWARE people in one sitting. They were mostly 15-20 years my junior, which made me wonder what I was doing when I was 25… Sipping lattes and applying for jobs I didn't believe in… Oh well, my finding a life purpose is better late than never. :-)

This is how hanging out with 25 year-olds make me feel.
Fluffy hair courtesy of the rings in the background. And the bone broth.





Another day, another breakfast. Meatball and kale omelette with a side of salad and sauerkraut. Thank you @nomispohsib for sorting out brekkie this morning! #cleaneating #paleo #yumyum


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