This is a guest post by my mom Pamela Schoenfeld, MS RD.

Sometimes I feel like throwing in the towel.  We are boxing with a bunch of misinformed “experts” on so many levels.  Just today, in response to my suggestion on an RD listserv that a good quality cod liver oil be given to a child who was having health problems including some GI issues, a few of the so called “Integrative Registered Dietitians” on this same listserv recommended against using cod liver oil because of its high vitamin A content, citing the warnings of the vitamin D council against the use of CLO.  “Only use vitamin D alone” is their advice, supplemental vitamin A is dangerous at any level. Outnumbered once again and don’t really care to go into a lengthy back and forth with them.

I lost that type of battle once before when I offered that I did not think it was a good idea for a woman who was pregnant to follow a strict vegan diet.  That time a couple of RDs said I could be violating my professional ethics by taking this position.  Oh, and just last week my daughter Laura (this blog owner) responded to an RD that wrote, regarding the Paleolithic diet: “any diet that eliminates a food group is not a healthy diet.”  So Laura simply replied:  “I guess you believe a vegetarian diet is unhealthy then too?”  Hmmm…

Now to the real subject of this blog post: to discuss what so many of us knew was the next inevitable step after banning soda, candy, bake sales, etc. at public schools, along with trying to follow the reduced sodium, fat, cholesterol, and calorie guidelines of the USDA.  The authorities have now targeted butter as the bad guy.  No more butter in the food served by New York City public schools.  If one of their kitchen managers orders butter, he or she will face disciplinary action. (For the original news story click here.) Kitchen managers are now instructed to use “low-fat salad oil” instead of butter in recipes. Butter has now joined whole milk in the foods officially “off the menu.”  This makes perfect sense, because as we know, highly processed vegetable oils are sooo much better for our children.

Sorry for the sarcasm, but who at the school board/City of New York is reading the research?  (But then our esteemed USDA doesn’t seem to read the research either!)  Can anyone point to any evidence that butter increases either the risk of obesity or heart disease in children?  Do they know that whole milk consumption is associated with lower abdominal adiposity in kids and that higher blood levels of a fat pretty much only found in dairy is associated with a lower risk of diabetes in adults?  Do they know that an excess of omega-6 fats, largely in the diet due to processed vegetable oils, is associated with a greater risk for heart disease in adults?

Although I doubt the butter they used to purchase came from grass-fed cows, there is still a certain amount of vitamin A and K2 in it no doubt, which we know is essential to bone development along with vitamin D (thanks to Chris Masterjohn and others), and of course butter contains other nutrients like CLA and butyric acid.  Not to mention the other essential roles for vitamin A such as cell replication and immunity.  Do they know that the USDA began recommending homogenized whole milk in the 1930s to ensure that every school child got the same amount of the highly-valued cream, because in their words “the vitamin A is in the cream.”  I don’t have time to cite the studies, but you are probably familiar with these ideas if you aren’t altogether new to the traditional diet.

Maybe you don’t feel dairy is a necessary food, but for children who tolerate it, dairy fat can be one of the only sources of vitamin A and K2 in their diet.  Sure, there are a few other rich sources, but who is eating liver nowadays?  Who eats egg yolks?  Does anyone regularly eat fish eggs or other offal from sea or land animals?   Some of you reading this blog might, but I see people daily that never think to serve these foods to their children, in fact, they are avoiding even the already-exonerated egg yolk in their pursuit of good health.

In the news article linked above, one 6-year old child was quoted saying, “They don’t have butter at my school.  They said it makes you fat.  I don’t like butter anyway.  They have cream cheese for our bagels.  I love cream cheese.”   Well, how long do you think they will have cream cheese?  I bet it goes off the menu long before bagels are removed.  Bagels removed?  That must be wishful thinking on my part.

Next week I will discuss my feelings on an innovative elementary school in Queens, NYC, now ONLY serving vegetarian meals to their students.  Another great move.

Oh, and I won’t throw the towel in yet, I am speaking in Morristown on May 22^nd at 10:00 a.m. on Children’s Nutrition.  This is free to the public and sponsored by NOFA-NJ and the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation.  Check it out here.

The author, Pam Schoenfeld, MS RD, has a private practice in central New Jersey.  She focuses on the needs of families and families-to-be.  She has three grown children including Laura.  She radically changed the family diet when they were young teenagers/adolescents after learning about traditional diets from the Weston A. Price Foundation, so she knows some of the challenges parents face in trying to raise healthy eaters.  It’s not always easy, but it is worth the effort!

This is a guest post by Ivy Hauser on her experience with using ancestral nutrition to manage her autoimmune condition.

During my college years, I have been incredibly blessed to be able to experience the positive impacts that food can have on one’s health.  In the past four years, I’ve had two autoimmune diseases go into remission, alleviated Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome and related symptoms, and reversed insulin resistance.  The 65 pound weight loss and acne clearing up aren’t too bad either.

I hope that my story will be encouraging to others, especially those living with chronic diseases.

I was diagnosed with Lupus and Sjogren’s Syndrome in high school.   The fatigue, hair loss, rashes, joint pain, and general achiness came on so gradually that I never really noticed myself getting worse.  Eventually, I woke up every morning feeling like I had gotten hit by a train and looked forward to the end of the school day when I could come home and go back to sleep.  After I was diagnosed my doctor put me on an immune suppressant for Lupus symptoms and I felt a decent bit better.  By the time I went to college I was able to act like a normal person.  I still had a good number of flare ups and painful days but at least I didn’t have to take four hour naps every day.  My body still reminded me that I was not totally healthy though.  If I stayed up late (by Lupus standards this would be past 11pm), my general tiredness and achiness multiplied and it took several days to really recover.

Spring of my first year in college I was diagnosed with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome which explained why I had a hard time losing weight (insulin resistance), and a series of other hormonal issues.  I went on a diabetes medication for insulin resistance and got some dietary recommendations: no sugar, low fat, and lots of whole grains.  After this I became completely preoccupied counting sugar grams and scouring labels for “100% whole wheat” items only.  I also ate sugar free candy like it was going out of style.

But my stomach had other things to say about this.  My doctor explained that the medicine would cause stomach pain any time I ate carbs (the whole grain recommendation was clearly helpful here).  So I started to eat a low carb diet.  Partly to avoid stomach aches and partly because I had been doing enough reading to know that an insulin resistant person should not be eating lots of carbs anyways.  In about a year I was able to reverse my insulin resistance.  My stomach started feeling better and I didn’t complain about the extra weight that came off.

I initially came across information about Ancestral eating by running a Google search for “grain free sugar free desserts.”  I thought I was the only person that would ever Google such a thing, but I came across a number of websites mentioning the Paleo diet.  I thought it sounded kind of silly and didn’t pay much attention at first, especially when they said you shouldn’t eat legumes (but they’re like the pinnacle of health, right?).  I liked learning about nutrition so I kept researching for fun and I found a lot of information on gluten and auto-immune disease.  I had already given up bread, pasta, cakes, and the like so why not just ditch gluten all together?  After winter break of 2011 I decided to get serious about cutting gluten and Ancestral eating. I was near 100% gluten free and probably 90% legume/dairy/sugar free.

Just like my symptoms came on gradually, they went away so gradually that I hardly noticed.  It wasn’t until a specific night that I actually realized all my symptoms were gone.  I was never able to stay up late without awful pain and fatigue for the next few days, so when I stayed out until three in the morning dancing near the end of spring semester I was mentally kicking myself before going to bed. I’ll never forget when I woke up the next morning, anticipating that “hit by a train” feeling then moving my limbs to realize they actually didn’t hurt.  I literally leaped out of bed, started jumping around, and realized – you know, I have been waking up without pain for some time now, I think.  This is what it feels like to be a normal, healthy person! 

Now I do basically anything that I want to without fear of having a flare.  I feel my best when I’m not eating any grains, sugar, legumes or dairy (except cheese and butter, they like me pretty well).  But now I’m healthy enough to where the occasional (non-gluten) deviation doesn’t wreck me.  If I eat gluten, the next morning I wake up with joint pain again.  If I eat too much dairy, my acne comes back.  And if I eat too much sugar or grains, my stomach hurts.  I’ve been able to find out exactly what works for me and I’ve been amazed at how much my body has changed because of what I eat.  By the end of my first year in college I was on five prescription medications. I am happy to say that through giving my body whole, nourishing foods I no longer need any of them. 

Ivy is enjoying life with her autoimmune disease in remission!

Wearing blue and yellow for Boston. <3

I’m sitting on the couch on Sunday morning, finishing up this post, as my hamstrings are on vacation for a few days. I don’t know how people do this type of distance running on a regular basis! Kudos to my marathon running readers.

Saturday was the Tar Heel 10 Miler, the first race I’d ever signed up for, and the longest distance I’ve ever run. I’m not a runner by any means, and mainly signed up for this race to 1) challenge myself and 2) have an excuse to keep exercising when school got really crazy over the last few months. Not everyone celebrates the end of their intensely difficult and stressful grad school program by running their longest race ever, but hey, I obviously know how to torture treat myself.

The race started at the UNC Football stadium, which was actually pretty cool. We stood in a huge line around the perimeter of the field waiting to get to the starting gate. Once out of the gate, I tried to keep pace with my two friends who were somewhat seasoned marathon runners, but I gave up after about 2 miles of running 9 minute miles… I couldn’t keep that up for 10 miles!

The course itself was a nice tour around Chapel Hill, and included a great deal of my normal training runs, so I was lucky to have been able to do most of my training on the same types of hills that we had to tackle during the course. They don’t call it Chapel Hill for nothing, and there were some doozies. But for every uphill, there’s a downhill (for the most part), and I made the best use of those downhills by allowing gravity to work its magic. I think I made up a lot of time by practically tumbling down the long downhill stretches without a significant increase in effort. Maybe that’s not a good strategy for knee longevity, but who knows – I’m a complete amateur for distance running.

Oh, but the last hill… who puts a mile-long 200 ft vertical climb in the last mile of a 10-mile race, anyway?? That was brutal. I made it my goal to not stop running the whole race, which was a challenge since I often take walking breaks in my training runs. And ooooh was I tempted to walk up that last hill, but I made myself keep going. I climbed that hill in 9:34, a time I’m proud of considering I was exhausted!

Towards the end, I was lucky to have a friend from college (a fellow Gettysburg and UNC alum who was cheering on the race) come up and jog with me at the end. It really helped motivate me to push it out for the last few hundred yards of the race. In fact, I credit her with helping me reach the ~10 minute mile mark for my race, which I was not expecting at all! (Thanks Becca!)

Overall I finished the race in 1:41:54 and had an average mile time of 10:11. I’m pretty happy with those results for a few reasons. One is that I didn’t think I’d come anywhere near a 10 minute mile, since my average mile time in training runs was closer to 11 minutes. Also, I’m really proud of myself for running the whole thing and finishing almost under 100 minutes, which was my lofty goal that I didn’t expect to accomplish. Perhaps I’ll try again next year and see if I can get under that 100 minute mark. Not a bad goal to work towards, and I bet if I did it next year I’d be way more well-rested and ready to run, considering this semester in school has really beaten me down and left me exhausted.

All in all I had a great time and really was glad to have pushed myself to accomplish something I really didn’t think I’d be able to do. I may train for another race in the future but for now I’m pretty happy with how this one went. Maybe I’ll go for a half marathon someday, who knows! I don’t typically enjoy running much more than 3-5 miles in any given day but it is fun to try to push yourself physically. And running as part of an event is way more fun than running alone.

I’m considering signing up for the Bull City Race Fest half marathon if I end up staying in North Carolina in the fall. Besides being another good goal to work towards, this race has a food truck rodeo and an Octoberfest beer garden at the end, which sounds awesome and delicious. (The food trucks in Durham are freakin’ amazing!) I’ll keep y’all updated on my plans for my next athletic event.

Have any of you ever competed in a race before? What distance(s) have you run?

One question that people in the ancestral health community frequently ask is what kind of exercise they should do to optimize their health and fitness. A lot of people new to the Paleo/Primal lifestyle assume that high intensity exercise like CrossFit is the best type of workout, no matter what your current health state is. But is this true? And if CrossFit isn’t the best exercise for you, what is?

There are a lot of variables that should be taken into account when deciding on what kind of exercise routine to follow. Chris Kresser wrote a great article about the dangers of overtraining, which is something I think is under-recognized in the Paleo community. Chris explains that while short, intense workouts can be great for inducing fat loss, increasing aerobic capacity, and reducing risk for cardiovascular disease, excessively intense exercise can cause a variety of health problems, especially for those dealing with other concurrent stressors such as autoimmune disease, gut dysbiosis, or adrenal fatigue.

The problem with excessive or overly intense training is that these workouts stimulate markedly acute cortisol responses, which can be a serious problem for people who are already under a lot of stress, or have high inflammation from another disease process. Chronically high levels of cortisol can increase your risk for a variety of health issues, such as sleep disturbances, digestive issues, depression, weight gain, and memory impairment. Excess cortisol also encourages fat gain, particularly around the abdomen.In addition, high cortisol is bad news for people with hypothyroidism, since cortisol reduces the conversion of T4 to T3 and increases the conversion to inactive reverse T3, which makes hypothyroid symptoms worse. Excessive training with inadequate rest leads to too much muscle breakdown without time to fully recover, increasing inflammation and fat storage due to high levels of stress hormones. So all that training can actually be counter productive for people trying to lose fat.

Another thing that’s important to point out is that a workout like CrossFit should really be adapted to the person’s current fitness and lifestyle. I’ve noticed before that poorly run gyms do not always pay attention to a person’s limitations, and try to push everyone to go harder than many of them should be pushing. There are exceptions to this, and a good Crossfit gym will tailor the workout to the client’s needs and abilities, and will not coerce their members to work out more often or more intensely than they should be. Some of this is the client’s responsibility to know their own circumstances and not allow the intense environment to push them into going past their limits, but it’s important to find a good coach who will recognize each individual’s unique circumstances.

I don’t think strength training has to be high intensity. You can go to the gym and do squats, deadlifts, overhead presses, and other strength moves without doing the reps as quickly as possible. I’m not an exercise physiologist but from what I’ve read, controlled strength training can be even more beneficial for strength gains, muscle building, and fat loss. I think it’s good to throw in some sprint intervals into walks or runs, and an interval can even be a fast walk, as long as you’re pushing yourself. And doing exercises that work your balance and flexibility are important too, I think everyone should be doing yoga at least once a week if not more!

The most important thing is finding an exercise you enjoy. If you love CrossFit, but are dealing with a stressful life situation or illness that makes it challenging for you to handle the workouts, talk to your coach and explain your situation to them. Any good coach will understand that you’ll need modifications to the workout, and they’ll make appropriate changes to your WOD. If you don’t enjoy Crossfit, don’t do it! There’s no reason to get involved in an exercise routine that you don’t enjoy since you won’t maintain it over time.

Personally, I generally try to do some type of cardio 2-3 times per week, yoga 1-2 times per week, and strength training 1-2 times per week. This changes based on the climate, since I really only like running outside. I’ve been enjoying training for the Tarheel 10 miler coming up in a few weeks, but running more than 5-6 miles per day is pretty unusual for me. I usually base my workout routine on how I’m feeling, since lately I’ve been pretty stressed with the end of my program approaching, and I don’t want to overdo the training while I’m in this high-stress state. But I’m hoping once my program ends in May that I can get back into a more consistent training schedule. I really enjoyed training at FitBootCamp in Randolph, New Jersey, because the coaches were always making sure that people were using proper form and not sacrificing safety for speed. I also enjoyed getting my Level 1 certification last year, so I do hope to get back into CrossFit eventually. I’m just aware that my current level of stress and grad-student exhaustion is not conducive to adding a high intensity workout on top of it all, whether I enjoy it or not.

In conclusion, the most important thing is to find exercise you like that improves both your cardiovascular fitness and your overall strength. If that’s Crossfit, then great, but if not, there’s plenty of other types of exercise available to meet your fitness needs! Try a few different activities and stick with the ones you enjoy and will continue doing throughout your life.

What’s your favorite way to stay fit? Share in the comments below!

I got an email recently from Neely Quinn, author at PaleoPlan.com, explaining an amazing bundle sale she put together, called the Primal Life Kit. This incredible bundle consists of eBooks, product discounts, meal plans, magazine subscriptions, and more – valued at $485 – and the whole thing is only $39! That’s more than 90% off the retail value! And the bundle is only available from April 2 through April 9, so if you want to take advantage of this sweet deal, make sure to do it soon!

I mean, 15% off a squatty potty? What more could you ask for?!

I know I’ll be purchasing the Primal Life Kit to add to my arsenal of Primal and Paleo nutrition information, and here’s why I think you should too:

What’s The Primal Life Kit?

When you purchase the $39 Primal Life Kit, you get $485 worth of the most popular and life-changing Primal and Paleo products:

• 22 ebooks
• 2 meal plans
• 3 magazine subscriptions
• 2 fitness programs
• 1 short audio book
• and 8 discount codes

These educational and potentially life-changing Primal and Paleo products are being sold at more than 90% off their original retail value for one week only – April 2 through April 9. Included in this Primal Life Kit are a meal plan made by Primal Blueprint, a recipe ebook by Bill and Hayley over at primalpalate.com, a fitness program by Sarah Fragoso of Everyday Paleo, and a subscription to Paleo Magazine, among many other popular products. All the ebooks are in pdf format, so you can read them on your computer or the e-reader of your choice.

Please see the full list of what you’ll get when you purchase this bundle below.

This $39 kit will give you all the tools you need to eat, cook, work out, and live Primally.

12 Recipe and Meal Planning eBooks

• Paleo Crock Pot: 25+ Beef, Pork, & Chicken Recipes by George Bryant and Abel James of CivilizedCavemanCooking.com ($2.99)

• 30-Day Intro to Paleo by Hayley Mason and Bill Staley of PrimalPalate.com (authors of Make It Paleo) ($15)

• Well Fed: Paleo Recipes for People Who Love to Eat by Melissa Joulwan of TheClothesMakeTheGirl.com ($14.95)

• Fast Paleo Top 100: The Top 100 Paleo and Primal Recipes Shared with FastPaleo in 2012 + 4 bonus ebooks (below) by James Gregory and Ute Mitchell of FastPaleo.com ($14.97)

• Fast Paleo Top 100: The Top 10 Muffins of 2012 by James Gregory and Ute Mitchell of FastPaleo.com (free bonus ebook)

• Fast Paleo Top 100: The Top 10 Beverages and Smoothies of 2012 + 4 bonus ebooks by James Gregory and Ute Mitchell of FastPaleo.com (free bonus ebook)

• Fast Paleo Top 100: The Top 10 Cookies of 2012 by James Gregory and Ute Mitchell of FastPaleo.com (free bonus ebook)

• Fast Paleo Top 100: The Top 10 Ice Creams of 2012 by James Gregory and Ute Mitchell of FastPaleo.com (free bonus ebook)

• Toadally Primal Smoothies by Primal Toad of PrimalToad.com ($5)

• Paleo Power Lunch: Easy, Filling, & Delicious Workday Meal Strategies by Stormy Sweitzer of maoomba.com ($27.50)

• The Paleo Breakfast Recipe Book: Over 100 Pages of Recipes by Suzanne Crawt of paleo.com.au ($17)

• Sow: Planting the Seeds for Health, Well Being, and a Superhero Life! by Joe Rignola of wellnesspunks.com

4 Autoimmune and PCOS eBooks

• 21-Day Paleo Cleanse: 3 Week Autoimmune Protocol Meal Plan by Neely Quinn of PaleoPlan.com ($25)

• Awaken: 30+ Egg-Free and Grain-Free Breakfasts by Karen Sorenson of lowcarboneday.com ($9.99)

• The Autoimmune Paleo Plan: A Revolutionary Protocol to Rapidly Decrease Inflammation and Balance Your Immune System by Anne Angelone of expandingqi.com ($4.99)

• PCOS Unlocked: The Manual by Stefani Ruper of paleoforwomen.com (special abridged 53 pages for this sale includes discount on remainder of her ebook) ($19)

5 Informational and How-To eBooks

• The Wild Diet by Abel James of FatBurningMan.com ($17)

• 21 Life Lessons from Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb by Jimmy Moore of livinlavidalowcarb.com ($15)

• Primal Deliverance: How Paleo Saved My Life From Addiction by James Gregory of fastpaleo.com ($14.97)

• Primal Tightwad: Maximizing Your Health on a Minimal Budget by Carolyn Rush of PrimalTightwad.com ($14.95)

• Free The Animal: How to Lose Weight and Fat on the Paleo Diet by Richard Nikoley of FreeTheAnimal.com ($7.95)

2 Meal Plans

• Primal Blueprint Primal Meal Plan - 1 month subscription to weekly Primal meal plans, grocery shopping lists, and the accompanying recipes for just $.01 from Mark Sisson and primalblueprint.com ($9.99)

• 6-week Paleo Meal Plan - 1 free 6-Week Paleo Meal Plan from Paleoista, by Nell Stephenson (author of Paleoista: Gain Energy, Get Lean and Feel Fabulous with the Diet You Were Born to Eat and co-author of The Paleo Diet Cookbook) at paleoista.com ($59)

2 Fitness Programs

• Sarah Fragoso’s Everyday Paleo LifeFit fitness and nutrition training program – 1 month for $.01 from the author of Everyday Paleo and everydaypaleo.com ($20)

• The Obstacle Course Race Training Program ebook by Stew Smith, CSCS and former Navy SEAL at stewsmith.com ($16.99)

3 Magazines (Online Subscriptions)

• The Performance Menu: Journal of Health & Athletic Excellence - Free 1 year subscription (12 issues) and 1 year of back issues from catalystathletics.com ($70)

• Paleo Magazine - Free 6-month online subscription (3 issues) and access to all back issues ($29)

• Paleo Living Magazine - Free 3-month (4 issues) iPad subscription (no expiration) ($15.96)

2 Bonuses

• Paleo Moms Look Good Naked by Peggy Emch (theprimalparent.com) - Audio recording of a portion of this new paperback book spoken by the author (Free)

• The Modern No-Nonsense Guide to Paleo ebook by Alison Golden of (paleononpaleo.com) - Three ebook chapters on Paleo shopping, kitchens, & lunches from her new book (Free)

8 Discounts

• Kasandrinos Extra Virgin Olive Oil - 30% off Greek extra virgin olive oil from Tony Kasandrinos’ family farm until December 31st, 2013

• Bulletproof Coffee Kit - 20% off Monthly Bulletproof Coffee Kit (24 oz. of coffee and a 32-ounce bottle of MCT oil) from BulletProofExec.com (no expiration date) ($9.80 value)

• Primal Life Organics - 20% off organic, Paleo, gluten-free, vegan skincare products, hair care products, and deodorant until May 1st, 2013

• Amrap Nutrition Refuel Bars - Buy one 8-Count box of Refuel Bars on Amazon and get 1 box free until April 30, 2013 ($23.95 value)

• Optimum Performance Training - 15% off apparel, supplements, and online fitness training course until Dec 31, 2013

• Paleo On The Go - 10% off Paleo food delivered to your home from paleoonthego.com until May 1

• Squatty Potty – 15% off all products through April and 10% for the rest of 2013.

• Sport Journals – 20% off WODbooks (for recording your workouts) until May 11, 2013

Get all of this (retail value $485) for just $39.

Seriously.

That’s normally the price of just one or two of these products! After you purchase the kit, you’ll be sent an email with a link to all of the downloadable products, as well as the coupon codes for all of the discounted products.

NOTE: Due to the short duration of this sale, there will be no refunds. These products are downloadable ebooks, online magazine subscriptions, and discount codes. You will not be shipped any physical goods with your purchase of the Primal Life Kit.  Please contact neely@paleoplan.com with any questions about the Primal Life Kit.

 Laura’s Note: I earn a commission from any sales that link from this page. By purchasing the Primal Life Bundle through my website, you’ll be helping to support my blogging efforts, as well as my ability to attend conferences. Thanks in advance for your support!

Check out my first guest post as a contributor to the new blog called “With Strength” – a blog which started as a vision to love and serve women who are on the journey to health and wellness using nutrition, fitness and reminding them who they are in Jesus. I’m really excited to be a featured author, and I hope anyone who is interested will continue to follow my work, as well as the other authors’ work, on the blog!

Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. Luke 9:23

In our twenty-first century American culture, we place high value on being able to pursue our goals and having the freedom to do whatever we want. After all, our Constitution itself gives us the right to the “Pursuit of Happiness.” And often times, we equate happiness with wealth, success, admiration, and achievement. Often times in the health-conscious nutrition and fitness communities, this idea of “happiness” includes optimum health, a fit, attractive body, and the ability to perform athletically. In fact, the pursuit of “perfect health” is what drives many people to make major lifestyle changes that greatly improve those factors that we expect to bring us happiness. Yet as many Christ-followers realize, the only thing that can ever truly bring us happiness is a relationship with God through His Son.

CLICK HERE to continue reading!

Like any other normal girl in her mid-twenties, I spent what may be my last ever spring break studying for my looming comprehensive exams, helping my boss Chris Kresser get ready to launch a new product, training for my 10 mile race, and traveling to beautiful Pinehurst, North Carolina for a local dietetics conference with my friend and classmate Courtney. (What, did you think I’d be getting drunk in Mexico or something?)

I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect from the NCDA conference. I’d never been to a conventional nutrition and dietetics conference, but I was pretty sure it was going to be wildly different than the Weston Price Conference, PaleoFX, and the Ancestral Health Symposium. But what I wasn’t sure about was whether or not the conference would be educational, a good networking opportunity, both, or neither.

I was pleased to see that blatant sponsorship by food companies, which is apparently a major problem at national events like FNCE, was not an issue at the NCDA conference. The conference itself was pretty bare bones, with only a view vendors and only a few meals served over the course of the weekend. I suppose that’s a good thing for a small scale, professional conference. I wouldn’t want my membership money being wasted on useless freebies and extravagant meal services.

One thing that did bother me was the quality of the food. I designated myself as gluten-free, and I think the powers that be decided to combine the gluten-free with the vegetarian options. The one meal I ate was literally mashed potatoes with sauteed vegetables on top. So… a couple side dishes, basically. Fortunately, I had brought along a few packs of Steve’s PaleoStix, so I managed to have a complete meal – protein and all! (You should have seen the looks on the other girls’ faces when Courtney and I whipped out meat sticks at a dietetics conference… priceless!)

Aside from the food, I was pretty content with the information I learned over the weekend, and I did take home some important new knowledge. I attended the sessions that seemed most interesting to me, and here’s what I took away from each one:

Licensure in North Carolina

This was an interesting way to kick off the conference, especially considering the hoopla that happened with Steve Cooksey a while back. Obviously that lawsuit has been a thorn in the NCDA’s side, and the speaker, who was an RD and a lawyer, explained the North Carolina licensure laws in detail. She described what it meant to “practice dietetics and nutrition counseling”, which is a service that provides assessment and provision of a personal care plan based on an individual’s health needs. She emphasized that blogging, writing books, giving presentations, and distributing general nutrition information does not require a dietetics license in North Carolina. I think this is important to point out, since a lot of people wrongly assumed that Cooksey was prosecuted by the NCDA for simply writing a blog. It was way more complicated than that.

Something that really shocked me was learning the many different professions that are exempt from the licensure law under NC General Statute 90. This means that a whole variety of professionals that don’t have nutrition degrees are outside of the NCDA’s jurisdiction when it comes to prosecution. Some examples of exempt professionals: acupuncturists, psychologists, athletic trainers, massage therapists, and nurses. What was even more shocking was that there were non-health related professions exempt as well, such as funeral directors, pastoral counselors, and government employees. They may have their own licensure board that can reprimand them, but the NCDA can’t stop them from practicing nutrition counseling. Weird.

Another interesting point was that only 2 people in the past twenty years of licensure laws have ever been brought to prosecution, and this is because their cases involved insurance fraud and malpractice. So I think we all need to cut the NCDA a little slack – it’s not like they’re hunting down non-licensed nutritionists and sending them to jail.

Lights, Camera, Call to Action

This talk was mostly about activism in the public sphere. Registered Dietitians have been fighting to improve their reimbursement rates from insurance companies for a long time. The fact that nutrition services are often not covered by insurance demonstrates how little emphasis preventative care is given in reimbursement policy making. While I understand that many people believe RDs are ineffective due to their use of inaccurate dietary guidelines, I do think that nutrition counseling in and of itself, regardless of the nutrition information provided, can be a good impetus for people to improve their diets and exercise routines. So I think reimbursing RDs is important, provided they are giving effective counseling to their patients and demonstrating their ability to change health outcomes in their clients. Obviously this is difficult but we don’t want to be wasting healthcare money on ineffective services.

Current Evidence for Diet Therapies in the Treatment and Management of Autism Spectrum Disorder

I was really excited to hear this talk since I used to work as a therapist for autistic children, and I’ve heard autism discussed countless numbers of times in the Weston Price community. The speaker explained the presentation of the Autism spectrum disorder, and described the risk factors and prevalence. I was shocked to hear that the prevalence is now 1 in 88 children – back when I worked at the clinic, it was around 1 in 120. That’s insane!

The speaker then briefly described the many different diet therapies that are used to treat autism, including: gluten/casein free, food rotation, the Specific Carbohydrate Diet, the GAPS diet, the Body Ecology diet, the Feingold and Failsafe diets, the Raw Food diet, the Antioxidant diet, the Ketogenic diet, and the Weston A. Price/Traditional diet. I was so excited to see the traditional diets like SCD, GAPS, and WAPF on her list, but unfortunately she suggested that the diets at the end of the list had less evidence to support them than those in the beginning of the list, and that the Weston A. Price diet was “very controversial”.

Additionally, the speaker’s list of resources provided references for all the diets – and yet her reference for the WAPF diet was a Wikipedia article! Not so scientific, I must say. Nonetheless, I was pumped to see that WAPF had snuck its way into mainstream nutrition awareness! In the end, the speaker said that a whole foods, nutrient-dense diet with plenty of gut healing and probiotic foods was ideal for children with autism. (Now why she didn’t recommend the traditional diets in that case, I’ll never know!)

The remainder of the talk described the different behavioral therapy approaches to improving food intake in autistic children, particularly those with sensory issues and picky or disordered eating. Apparently 60% of autistic children have feeding problems, and many food sensitivities are due to G.I. inflammation and immune hyperreactivity. I hope to work with special needs children as an RD in the future, so I was glad to learn some new strategies to recommend to parents of autistic children.

Success with MNT – Behavior Therapy is Key

This was a really inspiring talk given by a woman who is a health coach. She had a crazy life experience story to share in the beginning, which explained how she became a health coach after her own life essentially fell apart. It was amazing to hear how she pulled herself together and began a new career in the midst of pretty terrible circumstances. She explained that people want to be acknowledged, loved, and to have a meaningful life, and part of our job as RDs is to provide those feelings to our clients so that they are motivated to make life changes. It’s also important to emphasize that our clients have everything they need to be successful in lifestyle changes, and that they are capable of changing their health for the better.

A funny term she mentioned was “paralysis by analysis”, which described how people tend to give up on their goals because they over-think about all the different ways things might go wrong. I’m personally guilty of this, so it’s definitely an issue I need to address in my own life. It’s better to make little goals along the way that are achievable rather than setting one massive goal without having any clue how to get there. I really enjoyed this talk and hope to use her guidelines in my future practice as an RD.

Scope of Practice

This talk was interesting to me mainly because the speaker discussed issues with dietitians going outside their scope of practice, and explained how to improve your knowledge and skills set to broaden your scope. I want to be able to do nutrition for integrative and functional medicine, including ordering and reading complicated lab tests for clients. I didn’t realize that there were credentials that needed to be earned to include this in an RD’s career, so I’ll definitely be looking into that after I become an RD and start counseling clients. Fortunately, I’m working at an integrative medicine clinic in the fall for my advanced placement internship, so hopefully my preceptor will be able to point me in the right direction.

Wheat, Gluten, and Health: The Science Behind Gut Health and Food Intolerances

My friend Courtney and I were both looking forward to this talk, mainly because we thought it was going to be ridiculous, considering it was sponsored by the Wheat Foods Council. We expected propaganda and a lot of avoidance of the scientific evidence. Fortunately, our expectations were way off, and this turned out to be the most informative and science-heavy talk of the whole conference.

The first speaker, a PhD level researcher, started off her talk with a quote by Jean-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin: “Digestion, of all the bodily functions, is the one which exercises the greatest influence on the mental state of an individual.” She then dove into the different areas of research on the cause of “gluten sensitvity”, including the health of the microbiome, acid suppression in the stomach, consumption of fermentable fibers, increasing rates of autoimmune disease, and zonulin regulation of the tight junctions in the gut. She even mentioned the American Gut project! If I didn’t know any better, I’d think she was summarizing the views of the Paleo and Ancestral health community on the reasons why gluten should be avoided! Here are some interesting takeaway points that I learned:

• There are 27 different proteins in wheat that people could be allergic to
  • Glutenins are most frequent, gliadins most severe
  • Gliadin can cause wheat dependent exercise induced anaphylaxis
• Antacids like Tums and PPIs may lead to dietary allergies by impairing protein digestion and allowing larger peptides to get into the bloodstream
  • May also increase risk of SIBO, which further increases allergy risk
  • Low stomach allows pathogenic bacteria to survive, causing dysbiosis, contributing to weak tight junctions (AKA leaky gut)
  • In tact proteins cross the gut and trigger immune reactions
• Gluten triggers zonulin increase, leading to intestinal permeability
  • Gut permeability allows certain molecules to cross and intestinal cells to produce reactive proteins:
    • Dietary proteins, antibodies, drugs, xenobiotics, infectious agents, cytokines, neurotransmitters, enzymes
• Fermentable fibers changed into short chain fatty acids like butyrate by gut bacteria, produce folate and biotin to aid in normal colonic cell development, reducing the risk of colon cancer
• Some theories about the increasing prevalence of celiac and gluten sensitivity include:
  • Increased bacterial overgrowth
  • Higher salt intake (not sure why this is a theory though!)
  • Shorter fermentation of bread leading to more availability of peptides like gluten and gliadin in bread products
  • Foodborne infections causing stress in the gut and increasing its permeability
• Following a FODMAP diet can help with IBS and requires the elimination of wheat
• About 6% of the population should avoid gluten and wheat (according to the information provided by this presentation)
  • One third of adults are claiming to cut down or avoid gluten completely
• There is no reliable test for gluten sensitivity
• The average cost of gluten free products is around 250% higher than similar gluten containing products (though I would argue that you shouldn’t buy gluten free versions of grain products on a regular basis)

So all in all, this presentation was actually quite scientifically accurate and up-to-date. One thing that confused me was that the PhD presenter suggested there is data that suggests to reduce risk of developing wheat allergy, babies should have wheat introduced DURING breastfeeding, between 4-7 months old. I’m not sure how I feel about this. In some ways I understand why this would be the case, since if you introduce a food later, the baby’s immune system may not recognize it and provoke an allergic reaction. However, I can’t imagine that not introducing wheat to an infant should put the child at a substantially higher risk for a true wheat allergy. I’d really like to see the data that the speaker was referencing. This article suggests that some evidence shows that four to six months may be the optimal time to promote tolerance of gluten in babies with a family history of type 1 diabetes or Celiac disease. (Where is this study??) But I was really happy to see that the nutrition experts on the Wheat Council are at least staying on top of the same science we in the Ancestral health community are studying… though how they came to entirely different conclusions is beyond me! Ironically, the RD who presented the second half of the talk referred to the Paleo diet as a fad diet. Big surprise there, right?

Sports Nutrition – It’s not just sports drinks

This presentation mainly dealt with myths and truths about dietary strategies for athletes to maximize their muscle growth, strength, and performance. I learned that protein consumption before, during, and after training could show marked increase in muscle synthesis as compared to no protein. I also learned that protein consumption should be at least 15 grams, and that intake above 30 grams shows depreciating returns on muscle growth, so a good pre- or post-workout protein amount is between 15-30 grams of complete protein. Another important point the speaker made was that it’s important to consume carbohydrates with this protein, since insulin is required to deliver amino acids to the muscles, and proteins only raise insulin a small amount. Consuming carbohydrates with the protein will help improve amino acid absorption by the muscle cells.

The speaker also discussed how protein consumption during training can increase insulin and testosterone, reduce cortisol, and lead to greater muscle anabolism and less catabolism. This makes sense, and I think it demonstrates the importance of refueling after a hard workout. While some people may be worried about “canceling out” the calories they burned, I think it’s way more important to avoid the catabolic stress response that will arise from a hard training session with no glycogen and amino acid replenishment. But I don’t know a whole lot about sports nutrition (yet) so this could be inaccurate.

The speaker pointed out that animal proteins lead to greater muscle fiber anabolism and growth than soy proteins, so hopefully this will encourage anyone still eating soy protein to switch to animal protein like whey. Another interesting fact was that amino acids from whole milk are greater utilized in anabolic processes than those from skim milk; while there is no known mechanism to explain this, my theory is that fat soluble vitamins are higher in whole milk and are important for increasing muscle growth.

The presenter also recommended spreading protein intake out throughout the day for more complete digestion and assimilation of the amino acids. This is probably a good recommendation for anyone, including those not looking to gain weight. It can be challenging to eat around 30 grams of protein at breakfast for some people, but it’s important to try to keep your protein intake consistent across meals and not “protein-load” at night when it’s easier to do so.

Well, that about covers everything I learned. I hope you enjoyed reading about my experience, and possibly even learned something yourself! If you have comments or questions, please share them below – I’d love to hear from you!

Last May, I was happy to review a product called Nosh Bars, Paleo-friendly high protein snack bars that were ideal post workout snacks and pretty darn tasty. Fast forward to 2013, and the company has a new name, OU81, and a new-and-improved product on the market. They sent me a new sample pack to try out, containing three different flavors of bars: Coconut Cranberry, Chocolate Coffee, and Chocolate Cherry.

The OU81 bar is a primal all-natural, gluten-free, grain-free nutritional bar composed primarily with the following ingredients; pumpkin seeds, almonds, dates, dried fruit, organic virgin coconut oil, grass fed whey protein powder, raw honey, pure vanilla extract and sea salt. (Click here for all the nutrition facts of each bar.)

As I mentioned in my last review, these bars were designed by Brian Peña, a CrossFit-ing foodie who wanted a Paleo-friendly treat, and decided to create one himself. (As an aside – Brian is also a Christian and we’ve had a few nice chats about what it means to be a Christian in the Paleo community! )

New flavors, great taste!

I tried all three new flavors over the course of the week, and they were as good as the last batch, if not better! They have a nice chewy texture, with a hint of sweetness and a great balance of flavors from fruit, chocolate, coconut, or coffee, depending on the flavor.

My favorite had to be the Chocolate Coffee – I am a coffee fanatic, for better or worse, and anything that mixes chocolate and coffee is a winner in my book. Chocolate Cherry was a nice new addition as well, and it wasn’t excessively sweet or fruity. The Coconut Cranberry was much like the original Nosh Bar. They all remind me of ice cream, which must be due to the grass fed whey protein used in the ingredients!

I was happy to see that the new formulas have replaced agave with raw honey. I had made this suggestion to the owner the first time he sent me the bars, so I’m excited to see that he took my advice! The Coconut Cranberry bar still has a little bit of sunflower oil, but I’m positive the small amount won’t cause any harm in the context of a low omega-6 diet. If you’re a PUFA-phobe, the other two flavors are completely seed oil-free.

One small issue I had with the new bars is that they were a bit oily. This is probably due to the use of coconut oil as one of the ingredients. They didn’t taste oily, but they left a little oil in my hands after I ate them. I think this could be solved by storing the bars in the fridge before you eat them, but it’s just something to be aware of if you plan to bring the bars with you on the go – you might want to pack a napkin!

If you’d like to order a tasty bar from OU81, check out their website here!

Guest post by Rich Coffman.

I have made many improvements in my nutrition over the last year. Like most health oriented people, my goal is simple: to eat the best quality food possible. This article dives into the reasons why grass-fed beef is a healthier choice that is worth the premium price.

I had heard many times that grass-fed beef is better than conventional grain-fed beef. Initially, despite being told that it was more nutritious, I was not willing to fork up and pay more. I thought to myself, “meat is meat, it all tastes delicious to me.”

When I began fine tuning which foods I put in my body to optimize my diet, I decided to take another look at grass-fed and did a little research.

Why is Grass-fed More Expensive?

Price is a big factor when considering grass-fed beef. I think it’s important to understand why grass-fed is more expensive to get a better understanding of its true quality. Is grass-fed more pricey because it is more nutrient rich?

I’ve found that grass-fed meat’s added value is derived from the extra time and space. The life of modern day, conventional grain-fed cattle is different on all fronts from grass-fed cattle. The only similarity is that they both end up on the dinner plate.

Big Beef

Conventional feedlot operations are designed to put weight on cattle as fast as possible. The cattle are fed a dense mix of grains and… other things, which packs the pounds on faster than normal pasture grazing. Grass-fed ranchers choose to let the cattle grow and put on weight naturally. After all, good things come to those who wait.

The rapid weight gain that is standard operating procedure for feedlot cattle is good for revenue, but not good for the animals’ health or quality of life. The lifespan of a feedlot cow is much shorter, with operations regularly slaughtering animals just after their first year. Factory cattle operations generate revenue based on quantity, not quality. Large volumes of cattle are the only way to make a profit. In general, the principle of quality gets shelved.

Grass-fed cattle, on the other hand, have more time and space to fatten up naturally, commonly up to an extra year. This time and care plays into the price of grass-fed beef, as the ranchers of grass-fed cattle have higher expenses in maintaining the land, paying the mortgage and taxes on their vast grasslands which are required for a healthy and vibrant herd to graze.

Better Nutrients

If you’ve ever done any research for yourself you’ve likely discovered that grass-fed is more nutritious. While there are many benefits, I’ve highlighted those that I feel are most important.

Vitamins and Minerals

Grass-fed beef is rich in vitamins and minerals, more so than feedlot beef. This has been proven by a number of studies including one by the USDA and Clemson University and published in the Journal of Animal Science in 2009. Briefly, this is what they found:

• Grass-fed beef usually has up to 7 or 8 mcg/gram of Vitamin E compared to 1 to 2 mcg/gram in grain-fed beef
• Grass-fed beef is higher in beta-carotene. It is also higher in riboflavin and thiamine, common B Vitamins
• Grass-fed beef shows a higher content of potassium, magnesium and calcium

CLA

Grass-fed beef is an excellent protein source for Conjugated Lineolic Acid (CLA). CLA has been proven to improve the body’s immune system. The presence of CLA has also been correlated with the reduction in risk of obesity, cancer and diabetes.

Omega-3 Fats

Beef from pasture raised cattle is also rich in unbroken long-chain omega-3 fatty acids. These fats are vital for proper cholesterol levels and maintaining good blood pressure. Omega-3s are also essential for proper brain function and optimal mental and physical health.

Studies show that depending on conditions, grass-fed beef can contain between 2 and 7 times the amount of omega-3s compared to commodity beef. Grass-fed offers a better ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acids as well.

Throughout history, man’s intake of omega-6 and omega-3 was naturally at a ratio of 2:1. Since the Industrial Revolution, the ratio has been skewed upwards to approximately 15:1. The consumption of grass-fed beef offers a rebalance with a better ratio of these bioactive fats.

Bacteria

When cattle eat grass and other plants (as they were meant to), their immune systems stay strong. With a stronger immune system, grass-fed cattle have less E. coli in their system compared to their grain-fed counterparts, meaning people eating grass-fed beef are less likely to cause bacterial infection from E. coli

A study at Cornell University by Francisco Diez-Gonzalez and James Russell noted that our digestive systems’ naturally occurring acids can kill E. coli from grass-fed beef far easier than beef from grain-fed cattle. Due an unnatural diet of grain, cattle for commodity beef  have an abnormally high level of acidity, which E. coli become accustomed to. On occasions when that resistant E coli is passed into our body, the acid present in our system is not strong enough to kill it, increasing the likelihood for infection.

Antibiotics

There is no need for antibiotics among herds of cattle naturally grazing in open pastures. In large feedlots common with many factory farming corporations, the cattle are confined to small spaces with cattle given enough room to eat and possibly turn around. In some operations, hundreds and even thousands of cattle can be condensed to just a few acres.

Disease spreads easily in tight spaces such as this, and when conditions are unsanitary, disease can devastate a herd. To protect against the problems caused by these poor conditions, antibiotics are overused on the cattle. This overuse helps generate antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria that can cause severe illness upon consumption by humans.

It works like this: an introduced antibiotic will kill 99% of bacteria, but the strongest 1% of bacteria that remains has newly open real estate to multiply and spread to with no competition. The process is repeated–new antibiotics are introduced, killing most of the bacteria–and each time only the strongest of the strong survive. Drug resistant “super bugs” evolve out of this process.

Hormones

Many people might not know what exactly is in their beef, but if given the choice, most people would likely prefer meat free of synthetic growth hormones. Ranchers of grass-fed cattle typically do not use growth hormones because of their commitment to quality beef; many choose an all natural approach instead. While it’s not essential, you would be hard pressed to find grass-fed beef that is not proudly hormone free.

GMOs

The majority of grain feed for commercial cattle is now grown from GMO (genetically modified organism) crops. GMO food can be eaten directly or it can be consumed indirectly through eating GMO grain-fed beef. Despite their current popularity and overwhelming use, there have been no studies done on the long-term side effects of GMOs on the human body. There are many people against GMO use for many reasons, but that is another story altogether.

Research from France’s Caen University which was published in 2012 demonstrates that rats which were fed a lifetime of genetically modified corn had a dramatically higher rate of cancer and tumors, and their lives were much shorter. Because of the unknowns and research like this, it is best to avoid ingesting anything that is genetically modified.

Safe to Say…

I’m thinking grass-fed beef is worthy of its price tag. Money can be saved if it’s purchased in bulk or if purchased on-site to avoid shipping expenses. In the last handful of years people have begun to wake up and understand food on a deeper level. Connections are again being drawn between the earth and the plate.

The choice was easy for me when I discovered the pitfalls of our modern day factory farms and feedlots that dominate the food industry. I support my local grass-fed beef rancher with my stomach and encourage others to do the same with theirs. From the pasture to the plate, grass-fed beef is better on all levels–it’s a full spectrum of goodness.

Rich Coffman eats and writes from the front range of Colorado. If you would like to learn more about grass fed beef please visit Teton Waters Ranch.

I am not a runner.

Sure, I occasionally go for 3 to 5 mile jogs when the weather is nice and I’m feeling spunky, but over the last few weeks, my workout routine has fallen into a literal pit of despair. (Ok I’m being melodramatic.) I got really sick at the beginning of the month and have barely gotten over the lingering congestion and fatigue that went along with what might have been the most horrific cold I’ve ever had. I hate to even call it a cold because it makes it sound less awful. Let’s just say I had bird flu. That sounds more accurate to me.

Combining that illness with a general sense of exhaustion and near constant grad student “performance anxiety” over the past few months has sent my level of physical fitness into a downward spiral that I’m going to attempt to pull myself out of before I graduate. I will not let my graduate program completely derail my health and fitness, so help me!

Enter the Tarheel 10 Miler.  

I had some friends run this race last year and they had a lot of fun. I’ve never competed participated in a road race, but I’ve been thinking about doing one for a while. Since I’m fairly comfortable running 5 miles, I always thought a 5K would be somewhat boring and a 10K would be a little bit of a challenge, but nothing too serious. That’s why the 10 mile distance is a perfect goal for me to set, and I have 7 weeks to train for it.

My training plan is to run on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays, with my longer runs (progressively increasing in distance) happening on Saturday when I have the most time to devote to exercise. Tuesday and Thursday is about 45 minutes of crosstraining, which will be spent in the gym doing various total body strength exercises. I might throw in a day of yoga once a week, since stretching is important and I really enjoy the classes I take at Franklin Street Yoga.

I’ll let you all know how the training is going, and how I end up doing in the “race”. I’m not going to be aiming for any particular time goal, since I’ll just be happy to finish. I’ve never run 10 miles before – the most I’ve ever gotten to was around 8-9 and I was pretty darn sore the next day – so hopefully my training plan will get me in the shape I need to be to finish this 10-miler.

Have you ever competed in a road race? Got any tips for how to train?