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Is There a Paleo Alcohol? 10 Tips to Drink Alcohol and Avoid the Hangover Without Ruining Your Paleo Diet [+Infographic and Video]
You don’t want to destroy all the hard work you’ve put into your diet and lifestyle. You really don’t.
On the other hand, you have a life. You need to hang out with friends and family. And who could possibly do that without having an alcoholic drink or 5?
I’m not going to sugar-coat the facts – alcohol isn’t really Paleo. And – more importantly – alcohol is not helping you reach whatever health goals you want to achieve. (Here’s an article on 7 huge reasons to ditch alcohol.)
But! There are ways to make alcohol less toxic, to keep your Paleo diet more intact, and…gasp…to reduce hangovers.
10 Ways to Ensure that Drinking Doesn’t Derail Your Diet and Leave You Hungover
What is Paleo? – A Comprehensive Guide To The Paleo Lifestyle
Ok, so you’re here to learn more about a Paleo diet…
But perhaps you already know more about Paleo than you think. So how about we start with a quick quiz to see what you know.
QUIZ – TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE ABOUT PALEO
Question 1 – Paleo foods:
What do people eat on a Paleo diet?
A) Raw meat only
B) Fruits and vegetables only
C) Bacon and eggs only
D) A mix of meats, fish, seafood, fruits, vegetables, nuts.
Question 2 – Paleo cooking:
Are you allowed to cook your food on a Paleo diet?
A) Yes
B) No
C) Yes, but only on a fire you built yourself.
Question 3 – Benefits of Paleo:
What are the benefits of a Paleo diet?
A) Weight loss
B) Healing Digestive Issues
C) Healing Blood sugar issues
D) Healing of Autoimmune Conditions
E) All of the above
F) Nothing – it’s just a fad diet
Question 4 – Paleo celebrities:
Which of these celebrities are on a Paleo diet?
A) Jessica Biel
B) Megan Fox
C) Tim Mcgraw
D) Matthew Mcconaughey
E) Kobe Bryant
F) All of the above
G) None of the above
Now, for the actual article. I’ll fill you in on ALL the details about what is a Paleo diet and then at the end of the article, you can check your answers!
PALEO DIET BASICS
For those of you with short attention spans, this section is especially for you.
But don’t worry, there’s a ton more detail (including links to research papers and additional resources to read) if you enjoy delving deep into the Paleo diet.
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Simple but Proven Stress Management Techniques for Coping with the Causes and Effects of Stress
Stress is my Nemesis.
Seriously. I don’t know pretty much anyone who isn’t more stressed than they would like to be.
I really just want to be happy and unstressed. All the time.
Lately, I feel like I’ve been doing a pretty good job of it. I tend to wake up in the morning pretty grateful for everything in my life, and I’m excited about most of the things I’m doing during the day.
I may not have mentioned it on the blog before, but I’m getting married soon, and then we’re traveling for quite a while. So, all in all, things are pretty good.
But at least once a week, I get pretty overwhelmed by all the things I need to do (marketing, phone calls, website maintenance), all the things I’ve failed to do (call back friends, start a podcast, read more fiction), and all the things that I could do (play basketball, walk outside, play with the cat). It’s inevitable.
We All Need to Exercise a Bit More – It PREVENTS Stress
The Scientifically Proven Way to Slow Aging
The fountain of youth has been written about and sought out for over 2,500 years. It’s unlikely that we’re going to stumble upon the mythological fountain any day soon now.
However, modern technology is rapidly approaching the ability to slow down or even reverse aging. And until we get there, modern science is already pretty clear on exactly what causes aging and what we can do immediately to slow it down.
For instance, here’s a recent study (conducted on blackbirds) that deals directly with this question and comes to the same answer that pretty much all other studies are getting:
Repeated stressors in adulthood increase the rate of biological aging.
Why am I Tired, and Why are My Feet Sore When Eating Paleo?
I recently got the following question from a reader…
A couple months ago my husband & I decided to join the Paleo lifestyle, and my body loved it! We both felt better, healthier, etc. But all of a sudden my husband started not feeling so well – every evening his stomach would hurt him, the bottoms of his feet also were hurting very bad & he was exhausted.
Every day, he was eating one non-Paleo meal, except for those 3 days when he started feeling bad. Some people told me that Paleo may not be right for him. He works in a physically demanding job. I got some dairy just for him & some gluten that is readily available when he needs. Why do you think his body is not taking well to Paleo?
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Do Saunas Actually Make You Healthier? (A Science-Backed Look)
In the US, saunas really aren’t all that popular. During the early part of the 20th century, there was an increase in popularity, but recently, interest has waned.
On the other hand, saunas have been a mainstay among those living in Scandinavia for thousands of years, and they’re particularly common and popular in Finland.
So it’s no surprise that a group of Finnish researchers conducted the following (very interesting and telling) study:
Association Between Sauna Bathing and Fatal Cardiovascular and All-Cause Mortality Events
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Pastured Eggs from Free-Range Chickens: Are They Healthier?
Eggs are a huge part of modern diets, but the ways we raise chickens has changed a lot over the past 100 years.
To be fair, egg consumption has probably been a big part of our diets as long as humans have been…well…human. Imagine carrying home a whopping 19-inch egg from the prehistoric dinosaur segnosaurus, who laid the biggest eggs we’ve ever seen! (Just kidding, of course – humans never existed anywhere near the same time as any yummy dinosaur eggs.)
Nowadays, egg consumption around the world is unfortunately dinosaur-free, so we’re left with what makes up the bulk of the world’s modern egg diet—quail eggs in Asia, ostrich eggs in Africa, and of course, chicken eggs pretty much everywhere else.
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Late to Bed…Doubles Inflammation and Insulin Resistance
I’ve always been a night owl. I don’t think it’s inevitable for me, by any means, but I always tend to stay up later and later.
Lately, however, I’ve really begun to realize just how much I love waking up with the sunrise and going to bed on time. I feel better all day, and most importantly for me, I have a better attitude and perspective during the day.
Plus, there’s new evidence that it’s not just about how much we sleep but about maintaining a consistent sleep cycle.
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Are Sweet Potatoes Paleo?
I don’t remember ever eating a sweet potato as a kid. And that makes me a little bit sad.
Since I’ve gone Paleo – and particularly if I’m doing any sort of intense exercise or training (Muay Thai, CrossFit, etc.), I’ve fallen in love with sweet potatoes.
I used to get adventurous and make all sorts of different sweet potato dishes, but recently, boiling or baking and then eating seems much simpler and just as yummy.
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Is Luo Han Guo Paleo?
Luo Han Guo (aka Monk Fruit) has been all the rage lately as a low calorie “natural” sweetener.
Fantastic!
But…is Luo Han Guo Paleo?
What is Luo Han Guo?
Luo Han Guo, also sometimes known as monk fruit, is the fruit of Siraitiagrosvenorii, a plant native to China and some other parts of Asia. Its odd name comes from the phonetic Chinese name for the fruit, which in turncomes from the Buddhist Luo Han monks, who were some of the first to cultivate the fruit hundreds of years ago.
What’s so special about this fruit is the fact that its extract is highly sweet and yet low in calories.
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Do Reishi (Ling Zhi) Mushrooms have Medicinal Benefits?
I recently got asked this question by a reader:
Do Reishi Mushrooms (also known as Ling Zhi Mushrooms) have Medicinal Benefits?
Chinese practitioners have used these mushrooms for centuries (at least), and the supposed health benefits include treating prostrate cancer, boosting the immune system, and treating insomnia.
Should You Take Calcium Supplements?
I don’t like using studies or research to scare anyone into doing anything, although the study below should probably worry you just a little bit.
I’m already of the opinion that we should get as many of our nutrients (vitamins and minerals) from our foods as possible. However, I’m not opposed to supplementing where necessary or beneficial.
Is Coffee Paleo?
For many people, the morning isn’t fueled by the excitement of a great day—it’s fueled by coffee.
And when the 3pm blues comes around, guess who’s up for coffee round 2 (or round 5 or 6)? With coffee houses popping up everywhere and coffee pots just getting easier (and cheaper) to use, it’s no wonder that this energizing drink has quickly risen to claim a spot as one of the most-consumed beverages in the world.
But should you run off and pour yourself another mug, or is it time to shut the kitchen coffeemaker down for good?
Is Coffee Healthy?
Perhaps not surprisingly, a good bit of research has been done into how coffee affects the human body.
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Poor Diet Plus Poor Sleep Leads to Gut Dysbiosis
Want to know how to REALLY screw up your gut bacteria?
Don’t just go to bed late and get too little sleep. And don’t just eat processed foods that are high in both fat and sugar.
Do it all at once.
Are Whole Grains Paleo?
If there’s one characteristic that most modern diets share, it’s the push for whole grains.
Major organizations like Mayo Clinic and the American Diabetes Association insist that opting for whole grains is a more nutritious, heart-healthy option for managing weight and insulin resistance.
However, we know that most diets have gotten a few things wrong…
What is a Whole Grain?
When a cereal grain (wheat, corn, barley, rye, etc.) is growing in the field, it already counts as a “whole grain”—that is, it has all of its parts intact. The parts of a grain—the bran (skin), germ (seed embryo), and endosperm (the germ’s food source)—are all kept together when they are harvested and turned into food.
This is different from refined grains, where only the endosperm is kept. If you think about refined grains, then, you’ll notice that we’re not actually eating the actual grain (the germ) at all!