Industrially produced polyunsaturated fats (“PUFAs”) have been all the rage for cooking in recent decades because they are “vegetable oils” that don’t contain cholesterol. Examples: corn oil, vegetable oil, canola oil, Crisco. Paleo-diet researchers point out that these are undesirable because they contain too much omega-6 fat (which we get too much of today) and/or because they’re manufactured in processes that completely remove them from any semblance of the whole food they may have come from.

Omega-6 and omega-3 (a/k/a N-6 and N-3) fatty acids are PUFAs. Some of the omega-3 fatty acids can’t be produced in the body from other fats, so it is essential to have them in the diet. (The word “essential” with regard to nutrition, by the way, means specifically that the body can’t make it, so we have to eat it to live.) The “3″ in omega-3 refers to the structure of the carbon chain in the molecule. Paleo diet experts believe preagricultural man–hunter-gatherers–ate about twice as much N-6 as N-3 fats. Today, we eat 6 to 22 times as much N-6 as N-3. Both are necessary, but the fact that we get too much N-6 is one of the dietary problems that exacerbates inflammation in our system. We need to get more N-3 through eating fatty fish, including salmon and canned sardines, and by taking fish oil. And we need to reduce the amount of N-6 that we eat. On a paleo diet, we can do that by not using the “vegetable oils” mentioned above and by not eating a lot of nuts. A paleo diet eliminates the processed foods that are made with loads of N-6 fats.

Monounsaturated fats: “monounsaturated” refers to the molecular structure of the carbon chain. Wikipedia says: “Monounsaturated fats are found in natural foods such as red meat, whole milk products, nuts and high fat fruits such as olives and avocados. Olive oil is about 75% monounsaturated fat. Canola oiland Cashews are both about 58% monounsaturated fat. Tallow (beef fat) is about 50% monounsaturated fat and lard is about 40% monounsaturated fat.” It’s good to remember that most foods contain a combination of types of fats. (Even lard isn’t 100% saturated fat!) Monounsaturated fats are good on salads and low temperature usages. They break down and become rancid more quickly at high temperatures than saturated fats. (So do PUFAs.)

Saturated fats are solid at room temperature. They are stable, meaning it takes a lot more heat to oxidize them (make them rancid), so they’re great for stir-frying. They don’t oxidize in the body. They are also delicious! Saturated fats have had a bad reputation, and the phrase “artery-clogging” always seems to precede “saturated fats.” But in the absence of inflammation, saturated fats do not cling to arteries or flake off to cause problems. An anti-inflammatory, whole foods diet like a paleo or primal diet is currently believed by paleo diet researchers to safely include saturated fats such as coconut oil, pastured lard, tallow, and butter (if you tolerate dairy).

Ideally, when starting a paleo diet, you should have your cholesterol checked and determine the ratio of HDL to total cholesterol (total divided by HDL — you want high HDL for a lower ratio); you should also find out your fasting blood glucose; triglycerides; and blood pressure. On a high-fat paleo diet plus CrossFit, you typically might have a bit higher total cholesterol but an excellent ratio of HDL to total. And your triglycerides will likely plummet.

This is not medical advice. At CrossFit 206 we are trying to communicate with you about our direct, personal experience and about the research sources we trust.

Sources:
Wikipedia

http://thepaleodiet.com/published-research

Loren Cordain: The Paleo Diet; The Paleo Answer
Robb Wolf: The Paleo Solution

1. I will avoid all gluten containing foods when eating at home, for the next 6 weeks.

2. I am going to allow myself 2 alcoholic beverages per week during the 6 week challenge.

3. I am going to eat at least 3 meals per day for the next 6 weeks.

Our goal is to help you to be successful in reaching your goals. Take advantage of the Yahoo Nutrition group or talking to your trainers in class about any questions or challenges you face. There are so many wonderful Paleo resources online. Today I mentioned my new nutrition blog, Primarily Paleo . I hope that you visit the blog to read in greater detail about any questions you have about a Paleo lifestyle and that you get inspired by some of the family friendly recipes. We look forward to hearing about how great you feel during the next challenge and can’t wait to see the transformations in the after photos.

Since I and lots of others can walk to the gym, we haven’t yet classes because of weather, though that is up to each trainer on a case by case basis. Any cancelled class will be crossed out in MindBody and will be announced on Facebook and here on the blog.

To participate in the Paleo Body Challenge, the rules in a nutshell are:

• Put $10 into a pool
• Eat a paleo-style diet and read our handouts
• Keep a food diary of everything you eat, and email it in once a week to the Yahoo! Group (if you don’t send in your food diary, you’re eliminated)
• Allow us to take before and after photos so that we can determine the winner of the money in the pool: the person who changes the appearance of their body the most. The photos will be kept private, stored in one place and viewed on paper by the trainers.

The challenge lasts six weeks. The winner gets the money in the pool and a free month at their membership level. To win the pool contributed by our clients, you have to be a current client or have been at some time since Sept. 1, 2011.

Food diaries, emails with questions, ideas and recipes, and PDF resources are all to be sent to the Yahoo! Group, which you can join here.

The challenge will begin on Sunday, January 29, after you’ve had a week to clean out your kitchen and go shopping. First food diary is due February 5. The challenge ends on Saturday, March 10 with the final food diary due on the 11th.

“Before” photos will be taken in the gym starting during the potluck and over the following week. (Yes, this means you can get an early start!) All “After” photos will be taken in the gym by the end of the day on Monday, March 12–no exceptions. (Can’t make the potluck? You can still participate in the challenge by getting your picture taken and contributing to the pool.)

Event schedule:
10:30-10:45 AM: What is CrossFit and could it be for you? A short talk and then Q and A. Bring all your fitness questions. See if you can stump the trainers! Learn to exercise better, whether you’re doing CrossFit or not.
10:45-11:15 AM: Exercise demonstrations and a chance to try out some fitness fundamentals you may not have used before. Try a mini CrossFit workout along with some of our clients.
11:15 AM – Noon: Nutrition talk and nutrition Q and A; learn what we eat for health, and why, and see some of our favorite books on the topic for laypeople.

Some questions that will be answered in the talk at 10:30 AM:

• What is fitness?
• How can I get as fit as I want to be?
• How important is my diet when I’m exercising?
• What exercises can I do at home to start getting stronger?
• What’s the most important thing to do when you are new to a fitness program?
• How do you add money into the “bank account” of your health?
• What’s the top ingredient in an exercise program to increase fitness in a healthy person?

Come and meet owners Fran Mason and Tom Whalen and the trainers who have been working with your neighbors and friends for the past two years. Meet some local CrossFitters. Find out everything you wanted to know but didn’t know who to ask about physical fitness. We are looking forward to meeting you!

People love CrossFit for lots of reasons. Besides being a healthy outlet for the competitive drive, plenty of people like it purely for the changes they see in their own bodies; for the new strength that turbo-charges their other sports; or for the joy and courage in exploring what the body can do.

You can take the six CrossFit Start-up classes at 8:30 AM on Saturdays and/or at 6:30 PM on Thursdays. (Thursday classes begin on Jan. 26.) Mix and match as needed and start any time. Purchase the series ($114) by clicking here, and then click here or use our Sign Up for a Class button on the home page to schedule your classes.

At CrossFit 206 we say that strength and muscle are money in the bank. We’re always trying to make you stronger. Still, Scott’s words provide a valuable reminder that we should work every day to combine strength and mobility. Deconditioned people often can sink down into a rock-bottom squat but then are unable to stand up. That mobility is an advantage because, as the person gets stronger, they won’t have a mobility limitation preventing them from going deep in a squat. But it requires patience. It’s easier to build strength in a partial squat, but what we want is a strong AND deep squat. Despite our efforts, we sometimes find ourselves and our trainees going deep in their squats at a certain weight and then shorting the depth at a heavier weight. It’s hard to resist the urge to go heavier, even though we really, really don’t want to do it at the expense of full range of motion.

The right thing to do in that case is to move up in weight more gradually, maybe even a couple of pounds at a time, always insisting on full depth. Remember that we’re doing this for health and fitness and not to prove something via a number on a barbell. If a person can squat at full depth with 105 pounds on their back, they’re much stronger, fitter, and healthier than the person who can’t stand up out of a full squat with no load. This is a desirable combination of strength and mobility. We always hope (and train) to keep increasing the load a person can handle, but a plateau at a vastly improved level of strength can be a perfectly healthy place to be. For health and fitness, it’s better to full-squat 105 than to half-squat much more and walk around looking stiff and sore.

Scott Hagnas goes on to describe his five pillars of an optimal mobility practice: Joint mobility, soft tissue work, stretching, professional support, and integration/flow work. To read the details, see Performance Menu Issue 79, August 2011.

Fran and Tom and Sabrina will be at Mark Rippetoe’s barbell training seminar in late February in Redmond, Wash.

Event schedule:

10:30-10:45 AM: What is CrossFit and could it be for you? A short talk and then Q and A. Bring all your fitness questions. See if you can stump the trainers! Learn to exercise better, whether you’re doing CrossFit or not.

10:45-11:15 AM: Exercise demonstrations and a chance to try out some fitness fundamentals you may not have used before. Try a mini CrossFit workout along with some of our clients.

11:15 AM – Noon: Nutrition talk and nutrition Q and A; learn what we eat for health, and why, and see some of our favorite books on the topic for laypeople.

Some questions that will be answered in the talk at 10:30 AM:

• What is fitness?
• How can I get as fit as I want to be?
• How important is my diet when I’m exercising?
• What exercises can I do at home to start getting stronger?
• What’s the most important thing to do when you are new to a fitness program?
• How do you add money into the “bank account” of your health?
• What’s the top ingredient in an exercise program to increase fitness in a healthy person?

Come and meet owners Fran Mason and Tom Whalen and the rest of the trainers who have been working with your neighbors and friends for the past two years. Meet some local CrossFitters. Find out everything you wanted to know but didn’t know who to ask about physical fitness. We are looking forward to meeting you!