Linkology: The Best of the Internet for 8/5/11
It’s Friday, and that means I get to answer the hundreds of reader emails I don’t get. From anyone. Ever. So what I do is sit around on Thursday night and send emails to myself from ancient, forgotten email accounts, then I answer them. Sad and pathetic? Yes. Sociopathic? Probably. But how many well-written, inquisitive emails are you getting from yourself, big shot? Exactly.
That aside, I do get asked about what I eat for breakfast by people who know I’m into the primal/paleo thing that’s going around right now. As someone who tries to eat as close to paleo/primal as he can and who is almost always in a fevered rush, smoothies are a blenderful of awesomeness that even I can prepare without messing anything up. Honestly, I have them five or six days a week for breakfast, and they’re fantastic. Today, because you asked nicely last night, I’m going to share my recipe with you.
You have to be careful with smoothies, even though they’re universally marketed as healthy. Done wrong, smoothies are a sugar bomb, and the calories climb very quickly if you don’t keep an eye on what you toss into your blender.
Regardless if you’re a primal/paleo nerd or not, just about any modern diet will tell you that it’s all about controlling your insulin response, i.e. how much sugar you ingest. Fearing fat is the stinky potatoes of yesteryear. In the smoothie world, watching insulin response means traditional standbys like orange juice or apple juice are things you’re going to want to avoid. You’ll also want to avoid milk, as it’s horrendously over-processed and highly insulinogenic. Don’t get me started on milk, because I have a ton of things to say and you probably don’t have the attention span to listen to a food nerd go on and on about homogenization.
(I don’t blame you, either.)
Oh I can’t help myself, sorry: If you must do milk in your smoothies, please make the effort to go and find full-fat, raw milk from a farm or similar source. If you can’t do that, the next best milk I’ve found is Farmer’s Creamery, which is vat pasteurized and non-homogenized. Don’t opt for skim, because it lacks the fat that helps slow insulin response.
So anyway.
I have been making almost the same smoothie for a year now, and as far as primal/paleo goes, it’s pretty solid. It’s also full of deliciousness. Here it is.
Primal/Paleo Smoothie
- 1 scoop protein or meal replacement. I use PaleoMeal, Whey Cool (both made by Designs for Health, one of the best supplement brands on the planet) or Optimum Nutrition Natural Gold Standard if I’m out of the other two. If I’m coming off a workout day or I’m tired, I might use two scoops.
- 1/2 cup So Delicious unsweetened coconut milk.
- 1/2 cup Lifeway organic, unsweetened, plain lowfat kefir.
- 1 scoop of Green Vibrance.
- 1/2 banana
- 1/2 cup frozen blueberries
- 1/2 tablespoon fine-milled flax meal
- 1/2 tablespoon Alive and Aware chia seeds
- Ice
If you like your smoothies a bit thinner, add water to taste. Also, if you want more calories, add some heavy cream (I sometimes add one tablespoon).
Making this with the PaleoMeal product, it’s a very reasonable 352 calories. Usually, the carbs are higher than any other meal I eat during the day, and this is because 4-5 days a week I am in the gym doing stupid stuff to make my body hate me and break itself so I don’t keep doing it. Every human body needs some glycogen if it’s going to voluntarily injure itself in a gym.
Here’s the smoothie macronutrient breakdown: 9.9g of fat (4.4 saturated), 48g of carbohydrates (only 12g of sugar and 15g of fiber), and 28.3g of protein. If I’m feeling tired or think I need more help with recovery, I’ll add a half scoop of Optimum Nutrition Natural Gold Standard protein, which adds 65 calories and 12g of protein.
If you happen to be a DailyBurn user, I’ve created the recipe for you here. You’re welcome.
Give it a shot and let me know what you think. Once you get the hang of it, it’s the healthiest and best quick breakfast going. The major flaw is a distinct lack of bacon, which is why on the weekends I go insane and eat all the bacon I can cook before I get dehydrated and someone needs to hook me up to an IV.
In addition to the smoothie trick, I have some links for you. Yay? Yes, yay.
What is this crazy primal thing, anyway? If you’re interested, you should head over to Mark Sisson’s site and spend, oh, ten hours there. I know I have.
A great collection of significant historical and cultural Creative Commons or No Rights Reserved audio clips.
This is one stubborn bird.
Have a good weekend, everyone.
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More links:
MIPRO Consulting main website.
