Guide to eating Paleo

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Spaghetti Bolognaise - Paleo Style Part II

I'm not one for trying to imitate neolithic foods that I miss on the Paleo diet, I love the paleo diet for what it is; clean eating of meat and veggies. But after Gav started eating Paleo and asked me what he could eat instead of spaghetti I did a bit of research into alternatives. Then after realising they sell shirataki noodles in any shop in Japan I decided to give them a go and made some spag-bol paleo style. The shirataki was tasteless so I'll not be doing that again. Good to know though.

I was cycling back to the office at lunch time in the sweltering heat and noticed they had 金糸瓜 (kinshi uri) on display in the local fruit shop. I know the guy from when I kept buying his apples out when I was doing the 3 day apple detox. After a quick chat I found out that he'll have them in that shop up until the end of August. They're 380 yen a pop, and are about the size of a honeydew melon.

There are lots of ways to cook a spaghetti squash, most western websites recommend either pricking it with a skewer and cooking it for an hour in the oven, or cutting it in half and cooking it for 28-35 minutes in the oven. Japanese recipe websites recommend boiling it, and you can also quickly microwave it, or crock pot it for 10 hours. Spag-bol recipes on the net go for the oven option, so I decided to go for two halves on a baking tray.

I got the bugger home and went at it with a knife, SOLID AS A ROCK!  Vegetable knife was no good so I had to saw along the equator with a bread knife.









Finally got it cut into two halves and scooped out the seeds and crap. You can roast the seeds and eat them but I couldn't be bothered with that. It's summer and it's hot.







After scooping out I laid it out on the baking paper on an oven dish.








Checked up on it after 25 minutes and I could pull strands of spaghetti off the flesh so it didn't need the full 35 minutes recommended.











Let the two halves stand for a while.









Pulled out all the spaghetti from one of them, and served it on a plate with bolognaise.









The other one got bolognaise poured over the top of it.






The flavour is not very strong, but I like it. Fills you up, is a good vehicle for eating meat, contains folic acid, potassium, vitamin A, and beta carotene. It is low in calories, averaging 42 calories per 155 grams and it makes a great cold bento!

Folic acid is known to prevent anemia.

Yakult and Kimchi Experiment

Introduction
After the discovery that the Ginseng shop is actually a kimchi emporium I decided to embark on an experiment. Drinking Yakult every morning and eating kimchi with every meal.

Timescale
All of July 2011

Why Yakult every morning?
I've looked at and sampled all the other alternatives to get lactobaccilus into my body and yakult looks like the best.

Meiji LG21 comes in a delicious Aloe flavour but LG21 is for fighting stomach ulcers and gut cancer. I am looking to strengthen my gut and have no symptoms of ulcers or cancer. Don't think I need Lactobacillus Gasseri OLL 2716.






Bulgarian yoghurt and its double whammy of Lactobacillus Bulgari 2038 and Streptococcus
Thermophilus sounds like it fits the bill, but the way it is sold in sugary yoghurts or with a little packet of sweet-and-lo stuck to the top, it's sending out the wrong message and I don't trust it.

Caspian Sea Bacteria Yoghurt is the gloopy one, contains Streptococcus cremoris and Gluconobacter, but is it getting through my stomach acid to the gut?

Kagome "Rabure" no idea what's in this which is why it didn't make the cut.

Takahashi Dairy Keffir Yoghurt contains all sorts of stuff. When I found it I went out and knecked a 400g tub and straight away had to rush to the bog. Saving this one for another experiment involving a kefir starter kit.

Morinaga "Bihidasu" is too sweet. The recipe must be related to Activa and Danone. Although the blurb sounds good: "It helps in the production and absorption of B complex vitamins, blocks the growth of harmful bacteria by lowering pH in the intestine through production of acetic and lactic acids and boosts the immune system".
It also is from the Bifidobacterium family of gut bacteria and lives in the large intestine. A place where the Yakult and kimchi Lactobacillus strain does not live.

Acidophilus yogurt-R1 1073 contains Lactobacillus bulgaricus 1073R which is supposed to protect you from influenza. Well I haven't had a cold for 3 years so I'll pass on that.

Koiwa Farm "100% raw yoghurt" or "Jersey Yoghurt" is just yoghurt, come on, is that going to beat Yakult? A product specifically designed to beat stomach acid and get into the gut?












Yakult
Contains less sugar than yoghurt.
Is the biggest selling probiotic drink in Japan and in the world
Has more bacteria in it:

"Probiotic products are required to contain at least 1 million beneficial bacteria per gram. Few yoghurts contain  this  much  bacteria  but  Yakult contains  100 times  more  than  the  minimum  amount.  That’s an impressive 6.5  billion, live  beneficial  bacteria in one tiny bottle" - still, it doesn't matter how many live bacteria are in the bottle if they all die in the gut right?
Contains Lactobacillus casei Shirota which is exclusive to yakult.
Survives through the stomach into the gut:

Here's more from the same yakult FAQ page.

So that's why Yakult is chosen to try first.

Why Kimchi with every meal?
Other probiotic foods that I can get my hands on either come in jars or are not Paleo.

Sauerkraut comes in jars, I tried making it myself and failed.
Natto is a legume, shame cos I love it.
Kefir is not in my possession right now, and the supermarket kefir infused yoghurt is not Paleo.
The ginseng man on my street sells over fermented kimchi, brimming with life, 100 times stronger than the supermarket.
Contains Lactobacillus kimchii which is good for you and that.
"Lactobacillus family exist happily in the small intestine, whilst some such as the Bifidobacterium family prefer the large intestine. Others can be found in the mouth and other areas."


How did it go?
Farts
Straight away I noticed more farts. A neolithic diet means lots of smelly farts. When I changed to a Paleo diet last year one of the first things I noticed was the farting had gone. No more "easing one out" at my desk and hoping it's an SBD that people will politely ignore. No more filling lifts with gas, gambling on nobody getting in and knowing for sure that I was the one who "cut the cheese". One of the godsends of the Paleo diet: no more farting. Leave ginseng man kimchi in the fridge in a tupperware box overnight, and in the morning the Lactobacillus kimchii has fermented more increasing the amount of gas in the container causing it to bulge. Same thing happens in my body. Kimchi for breakfast, lunch and dinner puts kimchi all through my intestines filling it with great Lactobacillus kimchii. This is alive and releases gases as part of it's lifecycle causing the need to "pump". It's not like a Neolithic pump though, oh no. For starters they are few and far between; a good string of pumps in the morning and you're mostly good for the rest of the day. And Lactobacillus kimchii is so clean and good they don't stink. The change from no pumps to some pumps is also good feedback, it let's me know that something is going on in there.

Poo
The odd spicy brown trout gets chucked downstream every now and again because kimchi is spicy.
I noticed that poo went up a grade. Poo is made up of bacteria, and when you have more in your system you can make up a better poo. Strict low fiber Paleo makes smaller dense ones at about type 1 or 2 on the bristol stool scale. This can lead a Paleo dieter to resort to more fiber intake and become an addict to fiber. One thing I have noticed from drinking yakult every morning and eating kimchi with meals is a transition towards the middle of the bristol stool scale without having to resort to the evil menace that is fiber.

Appreciation for a New Food Group
I was never bothered about these fermented foods before, and there are so many here in Japan. It's great to try different kimchi, kateki, and other fermented foods.

Conclusion after 10 days
Advantages
Better poo.
Didn't really notice an increase in energy, or any other good effects. I was expecting a bit more to be honest, but I won't give up on probiotics! I have plenty more experiments lined up in this department.


Disadvantages
Both Yakult and Kimchi contain a strain of Lactobacillus that only lives in the small instestine.
Some farting.

Last Night's Discovery: The Local Kimchi Man

After a failed attempt at creating sauerkraut, and my research on probiotics was leading me to believe that all "probiotic" labelled yoghurt is a trick to make us drink low fat sugar laced yoghurt containing man made bacteria strains that die as soon as they hit the acid in the stomach,  I was at a loss last night for a way to get my gut bacteria up to speed. Then I went out to check if they had any raw dairy type products in the overpriced organic supermarket that I live opposite and they had closed early as usual. It was a long shot anyway, whenever I go in that place I realise why I never go in there; it's a white elephant of expensive brown rice, pointlessly low concentrated servings of supplements I don't need, and silly macrobiotic diet stuff. I've only ever bought a can of coconut milk in there, and now I buy coconut cream for a quarter of their price online. So I went back across the road to grab a few baked sweet potatoes off the cart outside maruetsu and took a detour to see what actually goes on at the weird ginseng shop.

The Weird Ginseng Shop

Nobody is ever in there, it seems to sell only ginseng, how is this guy making any money?
Those are the thoughts that have always gone through my mind when walking past the weird ginseng shop on the way to the station. Beef stew was on a low heat upstairs so I had hours of time to kill before dinner - let's check out the produce that the weird ginseng man is peddling I thought to myself.

Got through the shop's broken door and was SHOCKED. The bottles containing ginseng in the window are only put there to keep people away! The inside of the shop is full of fridges at different temperatures containing cylinders full of rotting vegetables. Ginseng man was watching telly in the back room and came in to say hello. I know that all the "kimuchi" that the japanese supermarkets carry is just spicy cabbage so I asked the weird ginseng man if his wares were "発酵" (fermented) or what. I said "mate, is all this stuff hakkou or what like?" and he said "whay aye man, it's totally kosher. I've got fermented garlic, fermented, daikon, fermented squid, fermented potato, you name it lad, I've fermented it." I looked around and he's got some hot pot liquid in bags on the top shelf there, a tall fridge with fermented wares in circular plastic tubs already to go in case there's a rush (which there never is), the chest fridges full of stuff on the go, and a central display of different types of dried korean seaweed. Putting two an two together I reckon he might be one of those "hangul" fellas, but his face wasn't flat and box shaped, it looked more contoured like a japanese bloke.
He spoke the Emporer's pretty well, so the jury is still out on him. We had a bit chat about his affliction, I mean, who could be so obsessed with fermentation that they open up a whole shop dedicated to rotting vegetables? The guy is obviously addicted to rotten stuff. Then he talked me through the levels of spicyness of his rotten veg. The level starts with the 'only slightly hakkou' cucumbers, all the way up to the inedible 'tougarashi' kimchi. I darted for a regular container of kimchi in his tall fridge and he stopped me in my tracks. "Nah nah mate, I'll do you a fresh bowl straight from the cylinder" he gans. "That'll be a fiver". Not bad I thought so I handed over 5 sheets and he started off back to watch the telly. I couldn't believe the lack of sales ability in the ginseng man. Gullible foreigner comes in off the street, obviously fascinated by the wares being peddled, asking questions, picking up everything and that, he could have taken me to the cleaners. "Hang on mister ginseng sir, can I have some more" I piped up. And I took him for a couple of kimchi stuffed cucumbers at 100 yen a pop an all. Thought I'd start off down on the low end of the spice spectrum, with two of his least spicy offerings. With that I was out of the shop, and gave a sigh of relief that I had found a local probiotic dealer who will be able to grace my table every dinner time with all different kinds of bacteria from a plethora of different rotten vegetables.

Are these yoghurts the japanese
equivalent of the crap Activa and
Danone peddle in England? Or do they
have some kind of use? 

Now, rather than being fooled into throwing money straight down the drain by buying dairy products from Danone and Activa that have been stripped of healthy natural bacteria during the pasteurisation process, then are infused with laboratory created strains of bacteria that die on stomach acid contact, I will safely be able to transport good probiotic bacteria through my duodenum into my small and large intestine via the delicious vehicle of authentic, natural korean kimchi.

This one is so sweet, more like cramola
foam than yoghurt.

Thank you weird ginseng man, I will see you again tonight.

Spaghetti Bolognaise - Paleo Style

Ingredients:
Paleo bolognaise
Avocado
Shirataki noodles

Shirataki noodles are cheap, can be bought anywhere in Japan, are made from konyaku, have no calories and taste of nothing. Seems like a waste of time putting these into my body.

I like eating Paleo for what it is, not to try and copy existing Neolithic dishes. Shirataki bolognaise was an interesting experiment, but can't compete with a roast lamb, mint sauce and baked sweet potatoes.

Avocado, Olive Oil, Balsamic

this picture is stolen,
will have to upload my own pic :-o

Great rest day snack to make the day a bit more fat biased:
Avocado, Olive Oil, Balsamic vinegar

Avocados have more carbs and fiber than you think.

Eating Raw Beef

They were out of roast beef in the supermarket at lunchtime today and I really wanted some BEEF. Recently been reading a few blogs about these people who only eat raw food and swear by it. They individually all say that among a whole host of other reasons to eat all your food raw, one is that you have the physique of an Adonis without ever working out. I find that very hard to believe.

I was in a pinch and though "f*ck it, let's try eating some raw stuff". Japanese supermarkets package everything so nice and have lots of high grade beef already cut very thinly ready to sukiyaki. I wasn't about to chew into a raw steak like. So I got some good quality meat and a baked sweet potato in for lunch. The woman at the checkout gave me a funny look when I asked for chopsticks with my raw meat, but apart from that it was a tasty experience. The meat was a bit marbley so the cold fat was a bit weird, with a bit of salt though I liked it. There was one moment where I remembered the woman in the film "Food Inc." who's son had died from E-Coli from eating a beefburger and she had since spent the rest of her life fighting for higher standards of meat in the U.S. Japanese meat is a higher standard than the U.S. though, and apart from those people dying last month from eating harami served up wrongly as yukke in a korean restaurant in Toyama last month, nobody in Japan dies from eating raw stuff.

It's 3 hours since I had lunch and I feel fine so I think when the deli counter is out of roast beef again I'll be switching to raw.

Is it Possible To Eat Too Much Coconut?

You get all you can, give nothing back!

The coconut water is not that high in calories, about 50 calories for a cup. The meat is loaded though.

Another young coconut delivery
arrives in the Drea household

Last night I used a can of coconut cream, some baby scallops, braised grass fed beef and a ton of veggies and made a creamy stew.
Easy to eat loads of it and must have been well over 1,200 calories. Got the leftovers in my bento with 3 avocados on the side.
The only reason to cap daily consumption of coconuts would be if your calorie intake was going off the chart and you start putting on weight.

Normal consumption of coconut products is said to burn fat though.
I think in Robb Wolf's book he explains about the thermogenic properties of food, 1 calorie of carbohydrate takes 0.1 calories to process, 1 calorie of fat takes 0.3 calories to process and 1 calorie of protein takes 0.4 calories to process etc. I don't remember the numbers but one of the reasons for taking a lot of your calories from protein is because it protein takes more energy to use, thereby increasing metabolism and makes your body run "hotter" burning more calories as you watch DVDs after dinner.

they sell mega tins of the watered down
chaokoh coconut milk in Nissin WD

The medium chain fatty acids in coconuts mean that coconuts are unique and are the only source of fat that is actually MORE thermogenic than the best of the best protein.
Get a chunk of your daily calories from coconuts and your body is going to be more of a calorie processing machine.
Another great affect of coconut's processing power is their knock on affect to process other long chain fatty acids.
If coconuts are taking care of some of your long chain fatty acids then its much better than using fish oil to just counter balance them.
better to reduce the omega6 problem rather than balance it out with omega3 right? much more efficient!

**UPDATE**


My friend told me that there has been a disease in Thailand and half of the young coconut crop has failed. Thailand supplied 50% of the world coconut market. Sure enough, Thai Food Market where I got my last batch of coconuts from has upped their price from 3,000 2 weeks ago to 4,000 for 6 young coconuts. http://thaifoodmarket.jp/SHOP/TS000D1.html

Their delivery is 750 yen so it works out at 4,750 now for 6. That's a big jump in price. They still do free delivery for orders over 10,000. I was going to order in 12 young coconuts and the rest on cans of coconut cream. But they only sell coconut milk! So I was going to go back to the first place I ordered from: Mekon Foods: http://www.mekonfoods.jp/shopdetail/017000000004/brandname/
They sell at 600 yen per "nut" and have a much quicker delivery than Thai Food Market, plus free shipping over 5250円. AND they sell coconut cream at 180 per can! 6 young coconuts and 10 tins of cream puts you into free delivery territory, and is a great coconut packed parcel! I just ordered that today.

My order at www.mekonfoods.jp

Or, another one I haven;t tried yet is "Ai Thailand". They do them at 550円 each with 500円 delivery in the Kanto area: http://www.ai-thailand.com/SHOP/3066.html

Is Ouzo Paleo?

To make ouzo you get almost pure alcohol from yeast, then bring it down to 40% by adding star anise, coriander, cloves, and cinnamon depending on the brand.

From Epikoria.com
"Traditionally, quality Ouzo is distilled (at least two times and often three) in copper stills containing pure ethyl alcohol derived from pomace, and anise. Other flavorings, such as cloves, coriander or cinnamon, may also be added. (The composition of flavoring ingredients are often closely-guarded company secrets and serve to distinguish one Ouzo from another.) "

Pomace is the remains of grapes.
Ouzo sounds like it's as paleo as tequila :-)

Paleo Spaghetti

Kelp Noodles

Kelp Noodles are a sea vegetable in the form of an easy to eat raw noodle.
Made of only kelp (a sea vegetable), sodium alginate (sodium salt extracted from a brown seaweed), and water, Kelp Noodles are fat-free, gluten-free, and very low in carbohydrates and calories.

Their noodle form and neutral taste allow for a variety of uses including salads, stir-fries, hot broths, and casseroles, while their healthful content provides a rich source of trace minerals including iodine. Their unique texture completes the package, making Kelp Noodles a one-of-a-kind healthful and tasty alternative to pasta and rice noodles. Best of all, no cooking is required. Just rinse and add the noodles to any dish and they are ready to eat!

A good source of iodine

Q: Where can I get it?
A: Overpriced if you buy on amazon

Q: Is Sodium Alginate cool?
A: It's a fairly common food additive....used to thicken foods without adding much caloric load

10 calories per 50 grams....comes in a 300 gram bag. Looks like it's 100% fiber (all soluble).
Q: Is this the same as Konjac (Shirataki) noodles?
A: No

A Kelp Noodle Company: Sea Tangle

Devil's Tongue Plant

Shirataki Noodles

Shirataki noodles in a Japanese hot pot

Not sure if you can get Kelp noodles in Japan, but you can get Shirataki (しらたき).
They're made from Konyaku which is made from the "Devil's Tongue" plant.

jelly konyaku with bits in

Jappers bang 'em in sukiyaki. I've always steered clear of them and filled up on the meat and veg but they seem to be Paleo.

Harusame

Rice Vermicelli

Not to be confused with Harusame that get banged into Shabu-Shabu or Rice Vermicelli in chinese take-aways. Rice Vermicelli is made from rice so obviously that's out, you can get harusame that is made from potato starch, but most I've seen are made from mung bean starch which off the menu.
The black bits in konyaku are hijiki seaweed, so the hard tasteless jelly stuff found in oden is cool too. But what about the dashi it floats in? That's got soy sauce in it.

Q: Where can I get it?

Spaghetti Marrow

A: Any supermarket/conbini in Japan.


Spaghetti Marrow (or Squash if you're a yank)

"Kinshi Uri Somen"

It's called "kinshi uri" (錦糸瓜) in Japanese.

Or the noodles are called "kinshi uri soumen"

Q: Where can I get it?
A: You can buy it online here and here.

Q: When are they in season?
A: June to August, harvest info in Japanese here (thanks Ben)

Gluten free, Lactose free, Egg Free Spaghetti


Maize Starch (68%), Potato Starch, Soya flour, Rice Starch and Emulsifier E471


Made from corn. Not Paleo.

Potatoes in Japan

At Maruetsu, the sweet potato cart
awaits my arrival

I love the way Japanese supermarkets have different kinds of potatoes baking on hot stones outside. Also van's crying out "Ya-ki-mo---" going around the neighbourhood selling hot baked sweet potatoes.

If you're lucky the prices of
the sweet potatoes are halved
"close to midnight"

sweet potatoes on the cart

sweet potatoes safely in the basket

My local supermarket does the purple sweet potato "satsumaimo" and the kagoshima "annouimo" on it's baking cart. Potatoes are baking from 5pm to midnight.


Satsumaimo (薩摩芋)
The classic, took 4 potatoes chopped up and in 4-lock tupperware to Tohoku when doing volunteer work. Lasted me all the way through a weekend of hard labour. Packed with good carbs.

Annoimo (安納芋)

I'd been dodging this one on the bake stand going for sweet potatoes because I thought it was just a baked potato. What a treat I was missing! These things really hold their heat and you can scold your mouth when you bite into them. The outer skin is tough and makes it like a rice ball. The inside is super sweet like a dessert. My colleague says I should try them semi-frozen cos they're like ice-cream. 安納芋 doesn't show up in a dictionary because they are rare and only native to Kagoshima. I'll keep eating them on training days.

Heikiri Hoshiimo (平切りほしいも)

They sell these dried sweet potatoes in the "sweets" section of the supermarket. I had been looking for them in the "tsukemono" section until I noticed some for half price in a bargain bin. I asked the bint at the checkout and she told me where to get them in future. Since then I keep them around for post workout extra carbs. Each pack is the same price as a whole sweet potato at 180円 and packs in 293kcal! 4.5g of たんぱく質 (protein), 0.6g of "脂質" (fat), 64.5g of "糖質" or saccharine, but it doesn't say how much "炭水化物" (carbs)!! Are they confusing saccharine with carbs? Or am I confusing saccharine with carbs?

White Potato

I don't eat these but don't have a grudge on them or anything.
Would probably eat them if I lived in the UK and couldn't get sweet potatoes like here in Japan.
In fact I'd be more inclined to eat something with only one ingredient like a white potato than something containing "natural preservatives", "natural colouring", or "natural stabilisers".