insideKENT Magazine Issue 72 - March 2018 | Page 68

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FOOD+DRINK
SIMPLE STEPS
TO THE PALEO DIET
WE DON’T LIKE THE WORD ‘DIET’ – GENERALLY, IT PROMOTES ABSTINENCE AND TOO
MUCH PROHIBITION, WHICH NATURALLY MOST OF US REBEL AGAINST. OF ALL THE FOODIE
LIFESTYLE FADS THAT HAVE POKED THEIR HEADS ABOVE THE PARAPET IN RECENT YEARS
HOWEVER, THE PALEO DIET – WHICH IS ALL ABOUT EATING FOODS STRAIGHT FROM THE
EARTH AS OUR PREHISTORIC PREDECESSORS WOULD HAVE – SEEMS TO MAKE SENSE. IF YOU
WANT TO JUMP ON THE PALEO BANDWAGON, BUT ARE CONCERNED HOW IT WILL FIT INTO
YOUR LIFESTYLE, WE’VE GATHERED SOME EXPERT TIPS TO EASE YOUR TRANSITION.
Prep your body for going paleo
Switch up your snacks
Prepping your body a few days before you switch from a conventional
diet to paleo will support digestion and detoxification. You need to
prepare your body to receive more proteins and fats and to support
your liver during gluconeogenesis – the process of producing glucose
from non-carb sources. Increase good gut flora by adding herbs like
dandelion, burdock and ginger to herbal teas, and increase your intake
of sulphur-rich foods like asparagus and onions, and fermented foods
like kimchi, which all help to promote good gut flora.
Perk yourself up with a paleo-friendly breakfast
Struggling for ideas on what to snack on that are paleo friendly? Swap
biscuits for a fresh cup of mixed berries and raw unsalted nuts (no
peanuts). Vegetables sticks are another great snack that won’t have a
negative impact on your insulin response – cucumber, fennel, broccoli,
celery and lettuce have the lowest carbohydrate content, but are still
packed full of fibre.
Concerned about ditching dairy?
If you can’t imagine your diet without diary, there are plenty of simple
swaps you can try so that your taste buds don’t feel as though they’re
going without. Dairy can be replaced by almond or other nut
milks; yogurt by coconut or almond yogurt; and butter by coconut oil.
Make sure you read the labels first though, as 90 per cent of nut milks
tend to be full of junk, from plain old sugar and flavourings to thickeners,
preservatives, and other additives.
Take a break from meat
Want a go-to breakfast that won’t cause your paleo diet to be sabotaged
and still fits in easily into your morning routine? Opt for eggs; the
mainstay of a paleo breakfast. Try two scrambled organic eggs with
avocado and smoked salmon, or with wilted spinach and steamed
broccoli.
Batch cook
On a paleo diet, ‘convenience’ foods like bread, cereals and ready
meals are out, so to avoid spending hours in the kitchen every day –
and to make it much easier to stick to your paleo diet – take some time
on a day off to cook up batches of meals that will make several servings
per person. Stews, casseroles, Bolognese, soups and roasted chicken
thighs work well.
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The paleo diet is about much more
than meat, but when you’re starting
out, it can feel like you’re having
meat with every meal. To change
things up and go plant-based, try
making a smoothie with a paleo-
friendly protein powder such as
Natures Plus Organic Paleo Protein
(£33.95, naturesplus.co.uk) – a
combination of proteins from
sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds,
flaxseeds, almonds and coconut. Blend
with unsweetened almond milk, a large
handful of berries, a handful of spinach,
and a third of a ripe avocado.