Stress and adrenal fatigue

It all starts with stress. All kinds of stress influence our body and our lives every single day. We're busy, worry about things, make decisions, have different relationships with many people, have deadlines to make, suffer from illness, exercise long and hard; they all form sources of stress to our bodies. When we were still cavemen, stress would be being attacked by an animal; we could either fight or flight and stress wouldn't last long. These days we're not attacked by animals anymore, but we still have to deal with stress all day long; we want to have a successful career, live up to a certain image and enjoy cardio exercise. Our bodies, however, haven't exactly adapted to this. It still treats stress like something that could kill us and therefore acts accordingly; we're constantly ready to fight or flight; all day. That doesn't really sound healthy, and it isn't.

In times of stress, our adrenal glands produce adrenaline; our heartbeat rises, we're alert and all kinds of processes are put into action in our bodies. One of those processes is the production of a number of different hormones by the adrenal cortex, mainly cortisol. Cortisol slows our digestion and shuts our immune system down, just to make our bodies able to deal with the 'threat'; our instincts take over and all we want is survive. It also affects many other hormonal processes, and the more cortisol is produced, the stronger this reaction gets.

Our adrenal glands are very important when it comes to turning carbs, protein and fats into glucose and therefore keeping our blood sugar levels balanced. They also keep the amount of fluids and blood pressure under control, plus they influence the amount of fat is stored on our bodies.

So, when we experience stress all day long, there will constantly be heightened levels of cortisol in our bodies. Meaning our immune system is weakened, our digestion is slowed down, our blood sugar levels go up and down and all kinds of hormonal processes get disrupted. All day, every day.
As you will probably get, this won't make you any healthier. It even leads to adrenal fatigue; after all, they're made to work short and hard, not 24 hours a day. The adrenals will weaken en we end up with too little cortisol to battle all the stress we're experiencing, causing a number of symptoms:

- Disruped blood sugar levels
- Slow thyroid (hypothyroidism)
- Slow digestion
- Weakened immune system; more prones to becoming ill
- Fatigue, mostly in the morning and halfway through the afternoon
- Difficulty sleeping, not waking up rested
- Low blood pressure; dizziness when changing positions
- Inflammation throughout the body
- PMS symptoms worsen
- Depression
- Muscle weakness
- Allergies get worse
- Bad concentration
- Sensitive to cold
- Easily agitated / annoyed
- Sensitive to light
- Craving salty and/or sweet foods

How can you prevent all of this? Try to avoid stress; don't worry about little things, try not to be perfect all the time and take things with a grain of salt. Take some time to relax or to do something you enjoy. Work out, it'll cause endorfin release; a hormone that causes you to feel happy and affects hormone regulation in your brain.
Healthy eating habits are very important as well; avoid sugars, grains and other foods that raise your blood sugar levels. Besides the fact that they're unhealthy. (they cause insulin resistance and inflammation) They will also heighten your blood sugar at first, causing it to plummet shortly afterwards. This causes the adrenals to produce more cortisol, which simply stresses them out even more.
Make sure to eat lots of fruits and vegetables that are rich in antioxidants, along with some healthy fats (salmon and other fatty fish, avocado, nuts, etc) to make sure your body can effectively use all minerals, vitamins and enzymes in your food.

Also make sure to get sufficient sleep; it helps balancing your hormones.

Sources:
http://www.marksdailyapple.com/cortisol/#axzz1iWCmU5Yf
http://www.naturalnews.com/019339.htmlhttp://selfadjustingtechnique.com/30-symptoms-of-adrenal-fatigue/

New year's motivation and Bacon-wrapped meatballs with dates

Are you going for a Whole30 or other paleo challenge this month?
I must say, doing a Whole30 is a really good way to give yourself a healthy start to the new year, especially when you haven't exactly been paleo all through December. I did a Whole30 in December, with day 30 being December 24th; Christmas eve.
I didn't eat any nuts, no bacon and hardly any fruit and got my carb cravings under control once again. This month, I'm going to continue eating healthy and paleo, like I always did. But I am going to try a different approach when it comes to food choices though. Meaning I will limit my fruit and nut intake; they make me crave for carbs more and more and mess up my blood sugar. Not exactly how I want to feel.
I won't be eating bacon every single day either, simply because I could eat healthier foods. Don't get me wrong: I will be eating bacon. (just like I did in the recipe below) I'm not going to put myself on any strict diet/challenge rules anymore. It doesn't work for me. I do have a little fat I would like to lose, but a strict diet is exactly what stresses me out. And stress means: no fat loss.


Therefore, I'm going to do my best. Because happiness is what I want to achieve. I'm not going to do that with just food, I'm going to do so by doing my best in life. In every choice I'm going to make, I'm going to ask myself what would make me happy.
A bar of chocolate won't make me happy, nor will not working out or going to bed really late every night. If most decisions I make will make me happy, I believe I will actually become happy. I won't be perfect, but I will be happy and that's what counts.


Here's a recipe to give you a good start to the new year ahead, I'm not telling you to eat this every day, but it does taste good. And the fact that I made this and I liked how it turned out, surely made me happy today. Enjoy!

Bacon-wrapped meatballs with dates (serves 2)


Ingredients:
- 3oog ground beef
- 1/2 tsp beef seasoning
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- freshly ground black pepper
- 2 tbsp cilantro, chopped
- 8 dates, pitted
- 8 strips of bacon
- 1 tsp coconut oil


1. Mix the ground beef and spices well, using your hands. Divide into 8 equal balls.
2. Flatten the balls, put a date in the center and fold to close. Gently knead the ends together to create solid meatballs.
3. Wrap each ball with a strip of bacon.
4. Heat coconut oil in a skillet or frying pan and fry the meatballs over medium heat until browned and cooked through. This takes approx. 10 - 12 minutes. Turn regularly.
5. Serve with veggies of your choice or as a snack. Enjoy!

I'm back!!

Hey everyone!


First of all, Happy New Year! Let's make 2012 a good year.
I hope you all enjoyed your holidays.


And I'm sorry for taking such a long break from blogging over here.
Let me explain.
I started a new blog, a Dutch blog about the paleo lifestyle: http://www.eetpaleo.nl
So, I'd like to invite my Dutch readers to follow me there.
I've been posting some recipes and articles last month and love my new blog. The layout isn't what I want it to be yet but I'll get there.


It would still be a shame to let this blog go to waste though. I've loved my Paleo Foodie blog ever since I started and don't want it to disappear. Therefore, I've decided I'm going to 'synchronize' my blogs. The articles will be the same except for the language they're written in. With some exceptions of course, some will only be suited for the Dutch blog, some only for this one, but you get the idea.


Why, you ask?
Well, I noticed that a lot of Dutch readers like to read their recipes in Dutch. While they don't have any trouble reading and understanding my posts, they do find it hard to translate the ingredients. (and I must admit, I often need to use a dictionary to translate those from Dutch to English myself) So why would I first make the effort to translate something Dutch into English, so Dutch people can translate it back to Dutch? That doesn't make sense, even though I do encourage everyone to practice their language skills. Plus it makes going paleo just a little easier for someone who's Dutch when he/she doesn't have to translate everything first.


Since I love writing in English and I don't mind translating; that's why I'm going for two blogs. They'll always be equal and I love them both. I hope you will keep reading my posts, and most of all, enjoy them.


Thanks!!

Roast Beef, attempt #1

For a while now, I had been looking for a nice big chunk of meat that I could prepare in my oven. Why? Let's just say the buffets in Las Vegas back in August got me to appreciate the bigger cuts of meat.
However, cooking a big cut of meat has always scared me a little. After all, it would be a huge shame if I were to ruin it while cooking.. My first attempt at roasting a chicken had been liberating already, next up was cooking up some real meat.
Here's how I did it:


The best cut to find would be prime rib, but I was already more than happy to be able to get my hands on a 2kg piece of roast beef. 2 minutes waiting in line and 34 euros lighter (yes that's quite expensive, but those cuts of meat are hard to find over here), I walked out of the butcher shop, trying to think of ways to prepare it.
After some googling I found an easy recipe that stated that I should bake this for 20 minutes per pound, so I was going to put my roast in the oven for 80 minutes in total.


I preheated my oven to 240 degrees Celsius, then chopped up some carrots and onions and threw them in a roasting pan. I rubbed my roast with Penzey's BBQ 3000 and put it on top of the veggies. I also seasoned the veggies with some dried thyme and ground peppercorns. I then drizzled the whole pan with olive oil and stuck it into the oven. I immediately lowered the heat to 200 degrees Celsius.


After 40 minutes, I basted the roast (at first I didn't know what basting meant, but apparently it's simply scooping some of the meat's juices from the pan over the meat) and after another 40 minutes I took it out. The recipe said I had to let it sit for another 15 minutes or so, so I patiently waited before digging in.


Let me first say, that I really liked the meat. It was very tender, nice and pink on the inside, not overcooked, but you couldn't call it 'medium done' by any means either. (the recipe I followed told me it would be medium for this roasting time..) Plus, the BBQ 3000 alone wasn't enough.
So, next time, I'm going to add bulbs of garlic to the roasting pan, and fresh sprigs of thyme. And I'm going to roast it for 70 minutes in total for a cut the same size I used now. Perhaps a good idea would be to use my meat thermometer, which should give a better indication of the level of doneness. And I need to experiment by using my Dutch oven instead of my roasting pan, I think the Dutch oven would keep it even more moist.
Does anyone have any tips for making roast beef? I'd love to hear them!

Survivalrun and Banana pistachio bread

Wow, it's been quite a while since my last post, so I figured it's about time for another recipe! This is one I made last week, and it turned out pretty well. These days I'm into anything with banana...



Let me first tell you what I did yesterday; something completely new for me; a survivalrun! 10 km running and about 28 'obstacles' to tackle along the way. I was really nervous about it because I wasn't sure I could do it, but I ended up loving it. It was hard though and I'm really glad my bf helped me (he was my 'buddy' during the run) because I couldn't have done it on my own.
It took us almost 2 hours and 20 minutes to complete everything, but it actually felt much shorter. I do need to practice a whole lot more to be able to do one of these runs on my own in the future, but I'd definitely love to do one of these runs again!

Here's me doing a swing-over, bf helping me out a little. 

 Umm, yeah, our board flipped over, causing us to get completely soaked.. (I guess the water was around 10 degrees Celsius)

 But we did make it to the other side eventually!

Happy faces right after crossing the finish line :)

It's very different from CrossFit.. You do need a lot of strength, but being able to do some strict pull-ups won't get you there. There's so much more to it.

My next event will be an 'operator WOD' on December 4th. I did one of those back in July and loved it, so I'm already looking forward to this one.


Now, here's the recipe you've been waiting for!

Banana pistachio bread


Ingredients:
- 2 cups almond flour
- 1/2 cup desiccated coconut
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 3 ripe bananas
- 3 eggs
- 1/4 cup coconut oil
- 1/2 cup shelled pistachios
- 1/2 cup raisins -> or cranberries??


1. Preheat oven to 175 degrees Celsius and grease a loaf pan with some coconut oil.
2. In a bowl, combine almond flour, coconut and baking powder and set aside.
3. Add the bananas, eggs and coconut oil to a blender or food processor and process until smooth.
4. Stir the banana mixture into the flour mixture until well-combined, then stir in the pistachios and raisins.
5. Scoop the mixture into the prepared loaf pan and bake for approx. 45-50 minutes until golden brown or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
6. Allow to cool for at least 30 minutes, then carefully remove the loaf from the pan, cut it up (or eat it as is, I don't care) and enjoy!

Paleo Chocolate pudding

After getting a request for a paleofied 'chocolate dessert' I started thinking what to make. I came up with a number of ideas, but the most obvious thing that came to my mind was chocolate pudding.
The easiest way to make this is by using avocado, which I had already tried a number of times, but it never really tasted the way I wanted it to. Since I'm pretty much stuck at home with my cold (my appetite has already returned by the way!), I figured this was the perfect opportunity to do a 'taste test': I made 2 versions of chocolate pudding and tried them both. (I made 1/2 portions so I wouldn't be completely stuffed and feeling nauseous afterwards..)


My biggest problem was finding the perfect way to sweeten it without ruining the chocolate taste. I made one version with banana, which wasn't that good as the banana kind of overruled the chocolate, and another one with dates, which was perfect!
Here's my final recipe:


Paleo Chocolate pudding (serves 1)
- 1 ripe avocado
- 50g (or 3 tbsp) coconut butter
- 1/4 cup cocoa
- 5 dates, pitted (or 2-3 medjool dates)


1. Cut the avocado in half and remove the seed.
2. Scoop out the avocado flesh and combine it with the other ingredients in a food processor.
3. Process on high for approx. 1-2 minutes until smooth.
4. Serve with topping of your choice and enjoy!

Carb binging

First of all, I recommend everyone to read this article:
http://www.marksdailyapple.com/what-happens-to-your-body-when-you-carb-binge/

What if you already knew this? Good for you. And if this knowledge doesn't make you carb binge anymore, that's even better.
I, for once, didn't know exactly what happened to my body after a carb binge. I did experience all the symptoms that go with it: nausea, sweating, racing heartbeat. And yes, I knew that those were caused by eating more carbs than I was used to in a short amount of time. Still I didn't know the exact mechanism behind it, until I read the article mentioned above.


And I didn't find out what else it could cause until I ate quite the amount of carbs last Monday and now find myself all sniffy and shaky at home on the couch. All in all, under 30 minutes of eating something I shouldn't, has contributed to this:
- calling in sick at work (which I do not like to do..)
- having a cold (+ headache and tiredness and just a lousy feeling)
- having to cancel a few fun workouts I'd planned
- food not even tasting good anymore
So, was that tub of cashews worth it? Definitely not.
I hear people saying 'but it's just cashews' and 'weren't you on a Whole30?'. Yes, it's just cashews, but I don't digest those properly, and I was on a Whole30 but decided treating myself to (paleo) desserts isn't part of a Whole30 so I better quit and shouldn't start another one until I'm 100% motivated to stick to it.
For now, my goal is to eat when hungry. I'm not consuming any grains, dairy, soy or sugar/sweeteners anyway.


What's your experience with carb binging? Do you often have so-called 'cheat days'? Why do you have them and how do you feel afterwards?
I'd love to hear your opinion about them.