Coconut water is the clear fluid in a freshly opened coconut. The most festive way to drink it is through a straw inserted into a fresh, young coconut purchased at an Asian market. Otherwise, it can be purchased pre-bottled from almost any store.

Coconut water contains the same electrolyte balance as our blood and has no added sugar. These electrolytes support our muscular, cardiovascular, and nervous systems. It has been shown to improve immunity, increase metabolism, and detoxify the body.

Coconut water just tastes good! Try some today.

More Coconut Water Facts:

Coconut water contains more potassium (at about 294 mg) than most sports drinks (117 mg) and most energy drinks.

Coconut water has less sodium (25mg) where sports drinks have around 41mg and energy drinks have about 200 mg!

Coconut water has 5mg of Natural Sugars where sports and energy drinks range from 10-25mg of Altered Sugars.

Coconut water is very high in Chloride at 118mg, compared to sports drinks at about 39mg.

If we take a look at our DNA, you may be shocked to know that it is 99.99% the same as our paleolithic ancestors. It takes at least 40,000 years for our DNA to adapt to an environmental change. The environmental change I am referring to is the agricultural revolution. About 10,000 years ago man started to cultivate grains as a reliable food source when mass extinction of the game we hunted became an issue. It was the first time our bodies were tested to see if they could run efficiently on something other than fuel from animal fats and protein. At this same time, health issues began to unfold including more birth defects, rise of infectious disease, narrower jaws, and dental decay.

Modern diseases like obesity, irritable bowel, type 2 diabetes, and autoimmune disorders like fibromyalgia can all be linked to flaws in the standard American diet otherwise called SAD. Our  bodies (remember using the same DNA from our Paleo ancestors) have trouble identifying what we ingest because it is radically different than the "food" we were designed to eat. It may seem like a lot of effort to improve your diet from where you are today. However, with the proper support and planning it is an investment in your health and well being. It is not something you can afford to NOT do.

Ingredients:

Any chopped raw veggie. Change the texture by chopping them up in big chunks or finely diced. Add herbs and freshly sliced  avocado before serving. Eat as is or use as an addition to a lettuce salad.

Dress the chopped veggies with raw apple cider vinegar, walnut oil, and unrefined sea salt.

My favorite vegetables to put in the salad:

tomato

cucumber

fennel

carrot

bell pepper

Ones you may want to try:

jicama

zucchini

red cabbage

I hope they inspire you to think of ways you can improve your food choices and maybe you'll be convinced to  try a new recipe today.

Jen's Paleo Mini Muffins

1 cup almond meal
1 cup shredded coconut
2/3 cup roasted unsalted sunflower seeds
1/2 cup roasted flax seeds
1/2 cup currants
2/3 cup sliced almonds
pinch of sea salt
some fraction of a teaspoon of cinnamon, maybe a quarter

3 eggs
1/2 cup hazelnut butter
1/2 cup honey

Whisk last three in a kitchen-aid, spoon in pre-mixed dry ingredients, mix until mixed, spoon into buttered minimuffin tins,  bake 14-18 minutes at 325º or til a knife comes out clean. Makes 4 dozen.

Jen's note: with this version of the recipe the muffins didn't poof up in the pan so it was hard to tell when they were done. It's worth checking with a knife once you see a little browning. And then you can eat that one. Quality control is very important.  The recipe is surprisingly tolerant of substitutions so long as you watch the muffins baking and take them out before they get too dry. Between Trader Joe's and PCC you can find all the ingredients and most will be organic to boot. The hazelnut butter is cheaper at Freddy's and it's the same kind that PCC carries.

Sabrina's Blueberry Salad

Ingredients:

2 pints blueberries (the big box)
3 cooked strips bacon chopped up
arugula (but she used cress)
basil (but she used lemon balm)

Combine above ingredients in a bowl. Mix with a vinaigrette made with: olive oil, a little leftover bacon fat, and lemon juice to taste.

Sabrina  recommends serving on a bed of butter lettuce.

Ingredients:

1 can WHOLE coconut milk

1 3/4 c. water

2 tbsp. maple syrup

1 tsp. vanilla extract

Mix ingredients together over a low heat until well incorporated. Serve warm or cool.

Try them for yourself and see what you think:

Ingredients:
1 cup almond butter
¾ cup mashed pumpkin or other squash, canned or steamed
1 egg
1/3 cup honey
1 tsp baking soda

Combine all ingredients in a bowl.  Mix well.  Pour into a greased 8 x 8 in pan.  Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.  Serves 8.

Variations:

Try different nut butters or squashes. Add different chopped nuts. Add spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, and or ginger.

A good place to start is improving and alternating your breakfast options. Not eating breakfast at all, fueling your body only on caffeine, or eating bagels and cold cereal can cause a major drop in your blood sugar levels. Remember that carbohydrates are like kindling in your body- you will burn through them quickly! And fat combined with protein are like solid logs that burn over a longer period of time. Breakfast doesn't have to be boring.

Are you willing to try something new and see how you feel?

Here's a week worth of grain free/ high protein ideas:

"The Classic"- Eggs any style you chose with Bacon or Sausage

"On the Go"- Hardboiled Eggs, a handful of nuts, some dried fruit or jerky
"The New York"- Smoked Salmon with sliced cucumber and tomato

"Quickie"- A blend of chopped nuts, pieces of dried coconut, some dried fruit with unsweetened almond milk or coconut milk

"The Cobb"- An arugula salad with bacon, tomatoes, avocado with or without hard boiled eggs

"Lazy Sunday"- Almond meal pancakes slathered with warm nut butter

"Liquid Courage"- A coconut milk smoothie with almonds and or nut butter and frozen berries

Please contact me at stephanie@crossfit206.com if you would like more ideas on reaching your health goals!

Stephanie is interested in helping CrossFitters and others feel and perform better through knowledgeable use of whole foods and (if needed) smart supplementation to help your body absorb and use all of the nutrients in the food you eat. She has an array of practical tools to narrow down the sources of problems and plan your nutrition to address them. This lets her help with goals that include, among others, weight loss, low energy, cravings, poor sleep, and weight gain. She will be posting more details here in the next week or so. You can congratulate Stephanie or seek her help at stephanie@crossfit206.com.

Do low-carb diets / Paleo-style diets cause depression? No.

Read more about both of these notions here, in a post by nutritional therapist and author Nora Gedgaudas. She's another author we like for her whole-foods, grain-free approach to nutrition. It's pretty compatible with the Paleo Diet or the Primal Blueprint diet, except for a few things, such as her opinion that we should not eat too much protein (and she talks in her book about what that means).

If you'd like to read her book, buy it on Amazon via our Amazon page and we will get a little kickback. I have linked there to several books we like, and I have more in mind to add soon.

Longtime professional triathlete Jonas Colting says he eats "some carefully chosen processed carbs," though not at the high loads recommended by mainstream nutritionists. And he steers "way clear" of sports bars, powders, gels, and drinks.

Seattle ultrarunner Jess Mullen talked with me last fall about what she ate before and during a 100-mile run that took place shortly after she "went Paleo" with her diet, and how this was different from what she would have eaten months earlier for a race. (Before paleo, prerace: cereal or muffin and a banana. After paleo, prerace: turkey, nuts, and a banana.)