Interview for Sous Style

Last week I did a really fun interview for Sous Style - a New York based lifestyle blog. They followed me around for a few hours on a fairly typical day - working out at the track, riding my beloved fixie, grocery shopping, and cooking them a tasty Paleo salad. In the interview I talk about modeling and Paleo and reveal some pretty funny anecdotes. Please check it out via the link below and share with your mates!

SOUS STYLE MALE MONDAY... CHIN UPS WITH DAVID

Paleo Substitutes

Still new to Paleo and trying to work out some substitutes for your favorite staple foods? Well here is a list of eight Paleo substitutes I frequently use. Some are fairly straight forward and obvious while others are a little more quirky. I'll give some basic 'how to' but for more detailed recipe just go ahead and Google them. 

1. Instead of white rice... try cauliflower rice

If you are going strict Paleo, if you want to restrict carbohydrates or lose weight then you may want to avoid white rice. Cauliflower rice is delicious, easy to make and more nutritious than white rice while being less energy dense and very low carbohydrate and high in soluble fibre.

Recipe

• Dice half a head of raw cauliflower in the food processor or as finely as possible with a knife. 
• Place cauliflower in a big pot with about 1cm (1/2") of (boiling) water
• Add sea salt and a couple of spoons of coconut cream (optional).
• Bring to the boil then turn down the heat and simmer for about 10 minutes depending on how 'al dente' you want it to be. 
• Drain the excess water then add seasoning to taste and maybe some grass-fed butter or olive oil to make it extra awesome.

2. Instead of cooking with canola/sunflower/other vegetable oil... use coconut oil

Refined vegetable oils such as sunflower, safflower, canola, corn, cottonseed and soybean oil are unhealthy and should be avoided as much as humanly possible. They are very high in pro-inflammatory omega-6 (linoleic acid) and have basically zero nutrition. 

Cold pressed extra virgin olive oil is amazing stuff and should be consumed liberally but only when raw. Even though coconut oil and olive oil have a similar smoke point the fact that coconut oil is a saturated fat suggests that it is safer to cook with than the largely monounsaturated fats in olive oil, which tend to denature at temperature and are more prone to oxidation. 

Thus, use coconut oil or ghee (clarified butter) for cooking.

3. Instead of wheat flour... use dried shredded coconut

Wheat = gluten = bad news. Stay clear! You have been warned.

The Paleo diet is so effective because it eschews modern, processed foods. While you can technically make delicious "Paleo" desserts and baked goods using nut flours, dried fruit and honey I really don't think it is a good idea to be regularly eating muffins, cakes, brownies and chocolate mousse just because they are made from "Paleo" ingredients. 

Almonds are very high in omega-6, fat and energy. So if you eat a cake with two cups of almond flour just think about how extreme this is. Imagine if you had to collect that many almonds yourself!

I don't often eat things that require a flour substitute, however I do use dried shredded coconut in my banana coconut pancakes and they are amazing. I also occasionally make carrot muffins using only carrots, eggs, coconut oil, shredded coconut, baking soda, walnuts and a tiny bit of honey if other people will also be eating them. 

4. Instead of toast... try a sweet potato rosti

Image courtesy of www.supideasypaleo.com 

If you really miss your toast and want some carbs with your bacon and eggs once in a while then try making a sweet potato rosti. Sweet potatoes are more nutrient dense than white potatoes and have a lower glycemic load. 

Side note: White potatoes are "not Paleo" because they are a nightshade and therefore contain some potentially harmful anti-nutrients (particularly in the skin). Also the carbohydrate in white potato is readily converted to glucose causing blood sugar control issues in some people. 

Recipe:

• Peel a big sweet potato and then grate it into a bowl 
• Add sea salt and pepper and toss
• Heat coconut oil or butter/ghee in a frying pan
• Take a big handful of the sweet potato and form it into a rough ball shape
• Flatten this out into a patty and cook through, flipping once or twice. This should take about 10 minutes depending on the thickness.

5. Instead of ice cream... try coconut cream with berries

If you can find a nice, thick, delicious coconut cream (thickness and taste varies significantly between brands) then when it is cooled it makes a terrific substitute for cream. 

For a nice dessert add some berries and/or chopped banana to a couple of spoons of chilled coconut cream - and maybe even a little honey if you are desperate for sweetness. I personally don't use honey but I add some nuts, shredded coconut and occasionally shaved dark chocolate. This is my go-to dessert and it's bloody incredible! It all hinges on the quality of the coconut cream though. 

6. Instead of energy drinks... try Bulletproof Coffee

You couldn't get much further from Paleo than Red Bull, Monster or 5-Hour ENERGY. These drinks are simply awful concoctions of sugar and chemicals.

If you really need a Paleo power boost - especially in the morning - then you can't go past Bulletproof Coffee. Check out my post on it for more details but basically it is brewed black coffee blended with grass-fed butter and MCT oil. It is Paleo crack... In a good way!

7. Instead of pasta... try steamed vegetables

This may seem boring but it sure beats the post-meal crashes, bloating and moodiness I used to get after eating pasta. 

Next time you cook up a Paleo bolognese sauce with beautiful grass-fed beef (and bacon) try steaming some broccoli and cauliflower and using that as a pasta substitute. I also really like to use Brussels sprouts. Make sure you add some olive oil or butter to the steamed veggies to maximize nutrient-absorption... and taste. 

8. Instead of sweet snacks... eat 85% cacao dark chocolate

If you haven't noticed I have an (un)healthy addiction to dark chocolate. The stuff is amazing. 85% cacao dark chocolate is rich in polyphenols, magnesium and healthy fats. The mouthfeel is pure decadence and once you get used to the intensity of near pure cocoa it is the perfect balance of bitter and sweet. 

Whenever you have cravings try eating about 15-30g of the stuff and you should be good to go. Try not to eat as much dark chocolate as I do though or you may have to check yourself in to CA (Chocoholics Anonymous).  

Food is like sex - it is enjoyable for reasons that transcend its practical function. So indulge guilt-free in good quality, healthy and enjoyable foods - preferably shared with friends and family - and you'll be better off for it!

PS - Please subscribe by email to receive these posts straight in your inbox. Thanks for reading!

MindBodyGreen Post: '6 Signs of a Good Diet'

Being of a Paleo persuasion, there are many foods I completely avoid that other diets insist are healthy. "High protein tofu," "healthy whole grains," "heart healthy vegetable oils" or "all natural agave nectar" are all foods I steer clear of.

But fear not, my vegan and vegetarian brethren. I have no beef with you! This post is about solidarity. Let's focus on the things that all diets worth their weight in sea salt can agree on. Here are six tenets that all good diets share:

CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE

Baby Steps: Don’t let perfection get in the way of improvement

When in Jamaica... Drink rum!

I write these blog posts for several reasons. Firstly I enjoy writing. I didn’t really appreciate it while I was studying Media and Communications at Melbourne Uni, nor did I enjoy Creative Writing classes. But now that it’s a hobby and no one is forcing me to do it, I love it! 

Secondly, I am absolutely passionate about nutrition. I find it fascinating. I think the word ‘passion’ is thrown around too much these days. It is an idealistic term. It’s like the concept of “love”. Yes you can be “in love” but it’s a bit of a vague notion - an internal reflection. In the movies characters romantically fall crazy, madly, deeply in love, but for most people it’s actually more of a slow burn - a journey. And then one day you’re like, ‘hmm… I think I’m in love”.

Well that is pretty much how it worked for me and my “love/passion” for nutrition. It’s been a thing in my life for a while. I grew up with a Mum who was borderline neurotically obsessed with holistic medicine (in a good way!). Our pantry always smelled like a health food shop and our fridge could wipe the smile off a child’s face in a microsecond upon opening… “Would you like some psyllium husks with your rice milk, Timmy?” 

Miraculously even this borderline-hippy upbringing, years of being called ‘soy boy’ at school and having to smuggle my own yeast-free rye soda bread to Cadet camp didn’t permanently turn me off healthy eating. After a few years of sausage-roll-and-chocolate-milk rebellion in my early teens I was back on the bandwagon, and this time with my own motivations! The rest is history. 

One recent evening I found myself listening to five hours straight of fairly heavy (dull) science on podcasts about autoimmune disease and gluten sensitivity and I’m like, shit, it’s 2am and I should probably go to sleep but this is too damned entertaining! That’s pretty much when I realized that it was ok to officially label this as a 'passion'.

Now the third reason why I write these posts is because I love educating people. I’ve always been a bit of a know-it-all and have a knack for remembering all kinds of odd facts and stats. So it’s pretty easy and fun for me to relate all that I’ve learned over the years to a captive audience... Suckers!

The problem with forming an identity as 'The Paleo Model' is that people tend to think I’m some kind of superhuman diet freak, with a magical cape of self-discipline and an iron will. HA! 

Those of you who know me personally will attest to the fact that I am no saint. Yes I’m fairly disciplined and generally look pretty reasonable with my shirt off but I certainly have my vices. 

Often these days when people catch me eating rice, drinking a beer or sleeping in til midday after a late night they’re like, “WTF. I didn’t know you drank beer/ate rice/partied until 3am!” Well in defense to that, I don’t really have any defense. The truth is I do my fair share of unhealthy shit and I’m totally fine with it. Why? Because perfection is completely overrated. 

What’s your goal? Let me guess. You want to be healthy, happy, and preferably look good naked. Well trying to be perfect 100 percent of the time and then beating yourself up whenever you waver - which you will, often - is definitely not going to help you achieve those goals. 

Perfection is NOT the aim. Improvement is. 

I worked incredibly hard for years and years at my physique. I went through periods of straight up masochism - six or seven days a week in the gym for an an hour and a half a day, smashing through ridiculous workouts like the imbecilic Aries ram that I am! In hindsight the kind of training I was doing, paired with a fairly hectic travel, work and party lifestyle was quite stupid, completely unsustainable and probably bad for my health. 

I’m a lot smarter these days. I’m happy to trade off one or two percent more body fat to avoid getting colds every few months. I'm happy to be good at many different forms of movement than great at just one. I’m happy to have some corn chips and a couple of Coronas at a birthday party at a great Mexican restaurant. And trust me, I’ve done my fair share of crazy, unhealthy binge drinking and partying over the years. But I don’t regret that for a second. 

I honestly live what I preach for the most part. My diet is clean and my workout routine is well balanced and consistent. I make smart choices the majority of the time and practice willpower when I need to. 

Having said that, I still have room for improvement. We all do. My sleep could be better and I could lay off the caffeine and alcohol a bit more. But as I keep saying, having a few vices is what makes us human. And there's no reason why you can't be healthy, happy, look good naked and have some fun once in a while. 

As the psychiatrist explains to Bill Murray’s nervous character in ‘What About Bob?’ it’s all about baby steps - "setting small, reasonable goals one at a time. One tiny step at a time.”

This is such an apt analogy. 

If you want to try Paleo but you are daunted by the seemingly momentous dietary changes it would entail just think 'baby steps'. Maybe give up sugar in your coffee at first. Then switch to black coffee. Then give up wheat. Then ditch the cereal in the mornings and switch to eggs for breakfast. Eat less packaged food and more veggies. Trade in your weekend beer for a weekend vodka/soda. 

Focus on the small improvements. There is no need to be perfect, just try to improve. Before you know it you’ll be full blown Paleo and feeling a million bucks. Hell, Paleo may even become a passion! 

"Form a habit. Forge a lifestyle."

David Sciola.

PS - If you liked this post please take a second to share it on Facebook or Twitter. I take note of the popularity of these posts and it helps me decide what to write about in the future. Suggestions welcome. Cheers!

My Guest post on MindBodyGreen

I was totally pumped to get published on the massive health website MindBodyGreen this past weekend. It was so exciting to see my Twitter blow-up and to reach such a large audience and I can't wait to write another article for them. You can see the article here:

7 Common Misconceptions About The Paleo Diet

5 Little-Known Health Facts And What We Can Learn From Them

1. Vitamin D is not a vitamin 

Vitamin D is a hormone produced in the body when cholesterol is converted into a secosteroid via UV exposure. Vitamin D can be assimilated through dietary sources but since it’s a hormone it sure makes sense to me that it’s better to naturally synthesize it from sunlight than to rely on supplements or fortified food to get this crucial hormone. 

Vitamin D deficiency is rife in the Western world, thanks to our indoor lifestyles and our dispersion to the more northerly and southerly latitudes. Our fear of the sun has become so extreme that it is negatively affecting our health. I wholeheartedly disagree with the latest skin-cancer scare campaign in Australia, “There’s nothing healthy about a tan”. 

Lesson: Be smart, enjoy the outdoors, get some sun early and late in the day when you don’t need sunscreen... and don’t get burnt! 

2. Peanuts are not nuts

Peanuts are legumes. They grow in the ground just below the surface and have fairly soft shells. Compare peanuts to tree nuts, which typically have strong shells and grow high above the ground out of reach of most animals. 

The fact that peanuts have relatively poor external self-defences tends to support the fact that their internal defenses are so potent and why peanuts are so allergenic. Because they aren’t protected by hard shells or elevation they have particularly strong lectins (anti-nutrients) that cause havoc to digestion and even a strong immune response in susceptible individuals. 

Lesson: Beware of peanuts. They are nothing but shady beans hiding underground posing as nuts. Eat almonds and macadamias instead.

3. Dietary cholesterol is not bad for you

For about 80% of people, dietary cholesterol does not affect their serum (blood) cholesterol. That means four out of five people could eat animal fats all day long and their cholesterol won’t go up. Furthermore, 75% of the cholesterol in our blood is actually internally produced by our liver so this whole hoo-ha about avoiding dietary cholesterol is nonsense. 

Furthermore, while high serum cholesterol has some correlation to heart disease the link is tenuous at best. It is becoming increasingly apparent that when it comes to artherosclerosis the number and size of lipoproteins (the proteins that carry the cholesterol around our bloodstream) are far more important variables than the absolute amount of cholesterol contained inside of these lipoproteins. 

That is, it is far more risky to have a lot of small, dense LDL particles charging around your arteries carrying not much cholesterol within them than a few giant, fluffy LDL particles with a bunch of cholesterol in each one. 

Not only this but cholesterol does not CAUSE artheroscleorsis, inflammation does. Blaming LDL for heart disease is like blaming firemen for fires. Yes they are always present during a fire, but they didn’t necessarily cause it!

Lesson: Eat the whole damn egg.

4. Terrestrial animals have more protein than sea animals

Gravity-bearing (land) animals have eight grams of protein per ounce of body weight. Fish have only five grams per ounce. Clearly load-bearing activity promotes lean muscle mass. 

Studies have shown that astronauts experience up to a 20 percent loss of muscle mass on spaceflights lasting just five to 11 days.

Lesson:  Lift weights! 

5. Red meat does not cause cancer

I am so sick of seeing these epidemiological studies linking meat consumption to cancer. They are so full of scientific holes, confounding variables and bias that they couldn’t hold a gallon of water for two seconds. 

Unfortunately the media love to sensationalize the latest bad research - which they don’t actually read (or understand) - with headlines such as:

“RED MEAT CONSUMPTION WORSE THAN SMOKING, DRINK-DRIVING AND BASE JUMPING… AT THE SAME TIME!!!”

Ok not quite that extreme but not far off! 

The China Study is a great example of this. This massive epidemiological study, which famously linked animal protein consumption to cancer was grossly flawed and misleading. Yet it still remains the vegan bible for many.

T. Colin Campbell couldn’t find any direct correlation between meat consumption and cancer so he threw in a confounding variable - cholesterol - to try and force some kind of correlation. Then he cherry-picked the data points that supported his hypothesis so he could sketch out a nice linear correlation in graph which more accurately resembled the Milky Way. 

Unfortunately a lot of nutrition research is misleading. Why? Because people have big egos, need the funding, and want to prove themselves right at any cost. 

Until someone shows me a controlled, double-blind, clinical trial using grass-fed meat against a vegetarian control group I will not be concerned about my meat consumption. 

Lesson: Enjoy your grass-fed beef and don’t worry about it negatively affecting your health. It’s good stuff.

As always thanks for reading. I've been told by some social media expert mates to start ramping up my Instagram with lots of half-naked pictures, recipes and workouts so if you're into that kind of thing please follow www.instagram.com/thepaleomodel 

Cheers!

---

References:

http://chriskresser.com/the-diet-heart-myth-cholesterol-and-saturated-fat-are-not-the-enemy

http://www.nasa.gov/pdf/64249main_ffs_factsheets_hbp_atrophy.pdf

http://www.westonaprice.org/vegetarianism-and-plant-foods/the-china-study-myth

My Paleo Staples

Here is a list of eight staple food items I buy every time I go to the supermarket (usually Trader Joe's or Whole Foods) and what I use them for:

1. Grass-fed butter ($3.19/227g)

Grass-fed butter is a great source of fat, contrary to all the 'saturated fat is bad for you' nonsense that has grossly slandered this incredible food. Trust me, butter is far healthier for you that "heart healthy" vegetable oils such as sunflower or canola and especially margarine. And as butter is almost pure fat there is basically zero milk protein (whey and casein) or lactose in it, which is why pretty much everyone can tolerate it. 

I put Kerrygold Irish grass-fed butter in my coffee, use it to cook (at lower temperatures), dowse my steamed vegetables in it to help absorb all those fat-soluble vitamins, which require molecules of fat to shuttle them into the cells. So make sure you include at least some fat with your veggies or green smoothie or you will miss out on much of the nutrition. 

2. Grass-fed (New Zealand) frozen ground beef ($5.99/lb)

I would love to buy beautiful steaks of fresh grass-fed beef from the farmers' market but unfortunately I can't quite afford it as a Paleo staple so instead I rely on a good quality frozen grass-fed ground beef from NZ. I use it to make chili con carne (sans beans), bolognese (which I have on steamed veggies) or burgers (on a big salad with a side of baked sweet potato). So good.  

3. Organic spring salad mix ($2.49/140g)

I eat a lot of salads and this is always my base. Kale and spinach contain a high level of oxalates, which are oxidants (they cause free radicals) that can be problematic to those susceptible to kidney stones, those with autism or inflammatory bowl issues such as IBS.

Oxalates are only generally an issue if you consume huge amounts of raw kale or spinach. Since I eat so much salad I've decided not to use kale or spinach as a base. It's better to lightly steam or sauté most greens anyway as mild cooking improves nutrient absorption and makes it easier to consume more. I still eat some raw spinach and kale but not as a Paleo staple. 

4. Unsweetened shredded dried coconut ($3.99/lb)

I love this stuff. I add it to my salads, use it as a flour substitute for my coconut crusted fish and banana pancakes, or sprinkle it on berries and coconut cream to add some texture to my dessert. 

5. 85% cacao dark chocolate ($1.49/100g)

Dark chocolate really is a superfood. It is a great source of magnesium and polyphenols. The polyphenols in cacao also act to block iron absorption though, which is great for me as I have mild iron-overload. If you are iron deficient though I wouldn't eat it (or tea or coffee which also contain polyphenols) within an hour of consuming iron-rich foods if you are trying to increase your ferritin levels. In contrast, alcohol and Vitamin C both increases the absorption of iron so keep that in mind. 85% dark chocolate is a huge Paleo staple of mine but beware, it is energy-dense so if you're trying to lose weight stick to no more than 30g a day.

6. Organic frozen raspberries ($2.99/340g)

Frozen raspberries are cheaper and more convenient than fresh ones. Of course I love fresh berries but I'd rather buy organic frozen ones than conventionally grown fresh ones given the choice. Berries are part of the dirty dozen so definitely something you want to go organic on if you can afford it.  

7. 100% pure coconut water ($3.49/L)

I try not to drink this by itself (unless I'm hungover or need some electrolytes post sweatier-than-usual workouts) but I do put about 100mL of it in my smoothies. I only buy 100% pure coconut water not from concentrate. Coconut water has about 8g carbohydrate (sugar) per 100ml so if you are trying to lose weight I wouldn't be sculling this stuff. 

8. Organic carrots ($1.29/lb)

I eat a lot of carrots. Hence my orange tint which I swear is not from fake tan! I probably eat too many carrots given my propensity to accumulate beta-carotene in my blood (a condition known as carotenemia) but they are such a great snack and I love them so I put up with my orange palms! 

Organic carrots are not much more expensive than conventionally grown ones so I always opt for organic. Don't listen to the "carrots are high on the glycemic index" nonsense. When you consider calories by weight they are extremely low in glycemic load and very high in soluble fiber so eat as many as you want... unless you fear getting accused of fake tanning!

If you haven't already make sure you read my most popular post, My Ideal Paleo Eating Day

Once again thanks for reading and a special shout out to those (Nick, Pete, Hobbs) who have been sharing my posts on Facebook and Twitter!

I've just started an Instagram too... @ThePaleoModel