Is Wheatgrass Paleo?

I remember when I first started working after graduate school.

I wasn’t eating very healthy at the time, and my friends and I would go downstairs to get a fruit smoothie pretty much every day.  I loved those things.

The place we got our smoothies from also sold wheatgrass shots.  I was initially confused why anyone would want to eat (or, in this case, drink) grass, but several of my friends told me that it was really healthy.

So I tried it.  Several times.

And it always made my stomach feel terrible.

Is it Grass Or Is it Wheat?

Not everybody has the same reaction as I did, obviously.  But you can understand why I’m not breaking down the door to eat or drink more wheatgrass.
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How Sitting on the Beach Made Me Smarter. (A Complete Guide to Vitamin D)

You don’t want to be sick, fat, or dead. Nobody does.

So you try to do everything right. You try to eat better. You try to exercise. You take supplements. Everything.

And it’s hard. It’s hard to stay so good. I know because I’ve been trying for the past 15 years to be as healthy as possible. I always watch what I eat. I go to the gym 4 times per week. And I sleep. Boy, do I love to sleep.

But after years of trying so hard, I’ve learned that some things are more important than others.

No one thing will make you invincible, but there are some things you must do, and one of those really important things is getting enough Vitamin D.

I just got my own blood results back, and my Vitamin D level is right where I want it to be. In this article, I’ll explain exactly why you should make sure that you’re getting enough Vitamin D and how best to do it. And, at the end of this article, I’ll explain how sitting on the beach is making me a little bit smarter and healthier right now.

What the Heck is Vitamin D?

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Are Cashews Paleo? 2 Huge Concerns + 15 Recipes and Downloadable List

Nuts are a favorite snack of Paleo folks everywhere, so what about cashews?

What are Cashews?

Cashews are the seeds of the cashew apple.  So it’s not technically a nut, but rather a seed.

Many people mistakenly believe that cashews are a legume, which is not the case.

Click To Download Our Free Paleo Diet Food List

Potential Concerns

The 2 concerns about cashews are the same as every other nut and seed:
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One Simple, Daily Trick to Become More Productive. Leave It Up to Harvard.

Most of us feel like we don’t have enough hours in the day for everything that we want or need to do.

And exercise is typically near the bottom of the list.  When we’re feeling pressured for time, it’s the first thing to go.

But we might have yet another good reason for not skipping exercise, especially when we’re busy.

Making Time for Exercise Leads to Higher Productivity

Here is the research finding, this time from the Harvard Business Review, of all places:
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7 Huge Reasons to Ditch Alcohol (Is Alcohol Paleo?)

I’m on a mission to become the most unpopular person in the history of the world. And I’m going to do it by telling you something that you already know.

Alcohol is not healthy and not Paleo.

I can feel the hatred already…

7 Reasons Alcohol is Not Nearly as Healthy as You Think

You really want alcohol to be healthy. I do too. Alcohol is fun and relaxing. It’s a social lubricant and all that jazz.

And you can feel free to call me a hypocrite, because I still drink alcohol, albeit much less often than I used to.

But be honest with yourself. When you try to justify that glass of red wine, do it for the real reasons (being social, relaxing, enjoying life, etc.) and not the ones you just wish were true (health/nutrition).

Without further ado, here are 7 reasons that you should avoid alcohol if you really want to be healthy:
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Is Chocolate Paleo?

Smoking, Almonds, and Cancer: The Missing Link

I hope you’re wondering what these 3 things (smoking, almonds, and cancer) all have in common with each other?

Interestingly, these 3 things have about 100 trillion things in common. In other words, they’re all linked by the bacteria in your gut.

Here are 3 recent studies:
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4 Ways to Make Breakfast Easier, Healthier, and Yummier (While Staying Paleo)

Recent question from a reader:

I’m relatively new to Paleo, and it’s really hard for me to find time to cook in the morning. What are good Paleo breakfasts that I can eat?

Finding Healthy Breakfast Foods is HARD

This is a very common and popular question.

When I speak to major corporations, it’s one of the most common questions I hear at the end of my talks.

But as you can guess, there isn’t a secret. There aren’t certain foods that some of us secretly know about and keep to ourselves.

However, there are several tips and tricks that make the first meal of the day easier:
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Are Flax Seeds Paleo?

Have you ever tried to do something that you thought would take 5 minutes, only to realize 2 hours later that it would probably take 5 days to do properly?

Well, let’s just say that analyzing flax seeds in detail would probably take that long, and neither you nor I would be particularly better off for it.

There Has Been a Ton of Research on Flax

I’m not 100% sure why this is the case, but researchers have done a lot of studies on flax seeds, flax meal, and flax oil.

Worst of all, the results are all over the place and are generally inconclusive.

What that means is that flax probably isn’t as bad as some people think, but there are definitely reasons to not consume too much (at the least).

The Potential Problems with Flax

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How Much Sleep Do I Need to Get Every Night?

This must be a question as old as…

Well, probably just the light bulb. After all, staying up in the dark really isn’t that tempting.

But with Netflix, Hulu, Instagram, Snapchat, and everything else at our fingertips, it’s quite tempting to get less and less sleep.

How Much Sleep Do You Need Every Night?

Nobody has an exact answer.
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How Bad is Sugar for You? Do You REALLY Want to Know?

Some questions just shouldn’t be answered.

It’s not because they’re bad questions.

But nobody is going to like the answer.

And that’s very true of sugar. Because, after all, who doesn’t like sugar. Writing about sugar is sort of like kicking kittens. It’s not a popular thing to do.

Sugar is Complicated

Like most health and nutrition questions, the answer isn’t particularly simple.

A lot depends on what your goals are, how broken your body is, and what type of sugar we’re talking about.
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Is Club Soda Paleo?

Club soda is absolutely, 100% Paleo.

Sodas are generally off-limits because they’re toxic in one way or another. Whether it’s chemicals, additives, or just the excess sugar, they wreak havoc on your body.

Club soda is simply water that has been carbonated.

And there is no research that I’m aware of showing that carbonation is toxic in any way to humans. (I imagine fish wouldn’t do so well…)
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How to Increase Your Gut Fermentation and Be Less Hungry

Fiber.

What a boring topic.

I mean, really – we can’t even digest it. So why read about it?

Perhaps – just perhaps – because it might be the key to your hunger, energy, and fat loss?

Fermentable Fiber and Its Role In Your Gut

Regardless of all the myth and misinformation out there about fiber, the science behind fiber has repeatedly shown that whole-food sources of fiber are consistently associated with reduced risks of obesity, diabetes, and several other chronic diseases.

However, the reasons behind the protective effects of fiber have not always been clear. After all, fiber (by definition) is something that our bodies can’t digest.
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Reinventing the Wheel: From Food Truck to Paleo Wagon

This is a guest post by Julie Arnan, who is a freelance writer and journalist who lives in Seattle, Washington. Julie also loves photography and food.

Donuts, waffles, fries, and sliders.

Sugar, grains…and more sugar and grains. These are the common staples of food trucks all over the US.

In the trenches, though, a few food-truck cooks and owners are starting to push back.

The Paleo Food Truck Renaissance

In Indianapolis, Shelby Malaterre worked in the food industry for almost 10 years before going Paleo himself and then starting the Caveman Truck.

In Portland, Heather and Joe’s Cultured Caveman food truck got so popular that they opened a second one.

And that’s just the beginning.
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Is Soy Lecithin Paleo?

As a by-product of soy oil extraction, soy lecithin is used as an emulsifier in hundreds of processed foods and is even sold over the counter as a nutritional supplement. It keeps water and fats from separating in foods like margarine, peanut butter, chocolate, ice cream, coffee creamers and infant formulas.  It also helps prevent spoilage and extends product shelf life.

The words “by-product of soy” and the lengthy list of processed foods that contain it might lead you to guess the answer to whether (or not) soy lecithin has a Paleo-friendly profile, but let’s take a closer look.

Potential Health Concerns with Soy Lecithin

Anything containing the word “soy” is a food that most Paleo enthusiasts have been taught to stay away from.

The estrogenic activity of soy-based products is one of reasons they’re so undesirable from an evolutionary dietary perspective.  The estrogen dominance they can trigger can interfere with the body’s normal hormonal and metabolic processes.
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