10 Healthy Snacks For Weight Loss and Wellness

Paleo Diet To Lose Weight :

Contrary to popular belief, snacking is actually very beneficial. It helps to refuel your body, maintain blood sugar and energy levels and control your appetite.

10 Healthy Snacks For Weight Loss and Wellness

Healthy snacking will help your body get the nutrients it needs and help you avoid overeating at meal times.

Indulge in these guilt-free snacks. Remember we encourage an anti-inflammatory, low-glycemic, paleo-style diet for weight loss and wellness. A body must get healthy before it can lose weight.

1. Fruit and Yogurt Parfait.Organic plain yogurt is best. Yogurts with added flavors are higher in sugar. Instead, flavor your yogurt with fruit. Blueberries are an excellent choice as they have a lower glycemic content that will help balance blood glucose and insulin levels.

2. Romaine Lettuce Wrap With Organic Turkey and a Slice of Raw-Milk or Skim Mozzarella Cheese.

Romaine lettuce contains the highest nutritional and fiber content of all lettuce. Turkey is 94% protein which helps you to lose weight by boosting your metabolism and decreasing hunger. Adding raw milk grass-fed cheese not only adds flavor but also adds calcium without any harmful hormones or preservatives. A great source for grass-fed wild meat, game and poultry is at U.S. Wellness Meats.

3. Veggie Sticks With Cottage Cheese Dip. Non-starchy vegetables contain almost eight times the amount of fiber found in whole grains. Fiber is essential for a healthy digestive system. Fat-free organic cottage cheese makes an excellent low calorie snack.

4. Shrimp Cocktail Shrimp is 90% protein. Try dipping it in some cocktail sauce for a low calorie, high protein snack.

5. A Handful of Nuts. Walnuts are the best choice as they're rich in protein and fiber but they also contain a high dose of omega 3 fatty acids (good fats) as compared to other nuts. Healthy fats help lower your risk of disease. Omega-3s are anti-inflammatory, meaning they help prevent inflammatory diseases such as stroke or heart disease. People who are overweight are actually suffering from an inflammatory condition.

6. Celery Sticks and Almond Butter. This is a great combination of protein, monounsaturated fat and energy. Almond butter is a healthier alternative to peanut butter as it contains no added ingredients or preservatives and better fats. (peanuts are a legume not a nut)

7. Deviled Eggs. Eggs are very high in protein which makes them a great snack. My Guacamole Deviled Eggs are a great high-protein healthy snack with good fats.

8. Herring Wraps. Buy a few tinned containers in a few different flavored sauces such as tomato or tangy mustard, herring fillets are high in omega 3 fish oils. Don't but if they are in soybean oil. Try wrapping them in a few leaves of romaine lettuce.

9. Banana Nut Pop. Dip a banana in plain organic yogurt and roll in walnuts or coconut. Freeze. Yummy!

Bananas are a great source of fiber and potassium. They do have a high sugar content so eat in moderation. Coconuts have anti-microbial, anti-viral and anti-bacterial properties and are one of the best sources in the world for MCFA (medium-chain triglyceride fatty acids)

10. Lemon Tuna Avocado Snack. Halve an avocado and scoop out the flesh. Mix with lemon juice and tuna. Serve in the shells. Good protein, good fat.

Avocado's are high in monounsaturated fat and potassium. Tuna is a great source of protein, omega-3 fatty acid and is very nutrient-dense. Protein builds muscle which in turn burns more calories to help you lose weight.

And here's your BONUS snack idea....

***Smoked salmon.

Don't get salmon that's been smothered in brown sugar. Salmon is one of the best sources of protein and healthy fats on earth. Always try to buy wild-caught and not farmed raised (fed grains).

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Food Lectins in Health and Disease: An Introduction

Paleo Diet To Lose Weight :

In recent years it appears there is a rising epidemic of people suffering from chronic digestive and autoimmune conditions. Food intolerance or sensitivities may lie at the root of the problem. Most people, including doctors, have little clue how foods they eat may be contributing to their chronic illness, fatigue and digestive symptoms.

Food Lectins in Health and Disease: An Introduction

There are, however, a lot of clues in the medical literature and the lay public's experience about how foods are causing and/or contributing to the current epidemic of chronic illness and autoimmune disease. There are several diets being used by many people with varying success to improve their health despite a general lack of iron clad scientific proof for their effectiveness. One of the clues to the cause and relief of food induced illness may lie in proteins known as lectins that are present in all foods.

Animal and plant sources of food both contain complex proteins known as lectins. These proteins typically have the ability to attach to sugars or carbohydrates on the surface of human cells. Some of these proteins can cause clumping of human red blood cells, a process that is called agglutination. The process of agglutination occurs when someone receives the wrong blood type during a blood transfusion. In fact, red blood cell agglutination specific to each person or groups of people is the basis for testing for blood types. There is some data that blood types may influence how people respond to certain foods though a blood type specific diet appears to have been disproven. The attachment or binding of certain food lectins can initiate a variety of cell specific effects. These reactions may mimic hormones or cause changes in cells. This is termed molecular mimicry.

Most plants contain lectins, some of which are toxic, inflammatory, or both. Many of these plant and dairy lectin are resistant to cooking and digestive enzymes. Grain lectins, for example, are quite resistant to human digestion but well suited for ruminants like cattle who have multi-chambered stomachs. Therefore, lectins are present in our food and are often resistant to our digestion and some have been scientifically shown to have significant GI toxicity in humans. Others have been shown to be beneficial and maybe even cancer protecting. Either way plant and animal proteins are foreign proteins to the body and are dealt with by digestion and our immune system in a positive or negative manner.

The human digestive system was created to handle a variety of plant and animal proteins through the process of digestion and elimination. Some plant and animal proteins or lectins are severely toxic to humans and cannot be eaten without causing death like those in Castor beans and some mushrooms. Other foods must be prepared before they are safe to be eaten. Preparations may include pealing, prolonged soaking and cooking like kidney beans. Other foods may be poorly tolerated because of a genetic predisposition or underlying pre-existing food allergy or intolerance. Others are tolerated to some degree or quantity but not in large amounts or on a frequent basis. People who are intolerant to the milk sugar lactose, because of inherited or acquired deficiency in lactase enzyme, may tolerate small amounts but may have severe bloating, gas, abdominal pain and cramps with explosive diarrhea when a large amount of lactose containing foods are eaten. Foods can become intolerable to some people after their immune system changes or gut is injured from another cause.

Of the food lectins, grain/cereal lectins; dairy lectins; and legume lectins (especially peanut lectin and soybean lectin) are the most common ones associated with reports of aggravation of inflammatory and digestive diseases in the body and improvement of those diseases and/or symptoms when avoided. Recent research by Loren Cordain PhD., has suggested that these lectins may effectively serve as a "Trojan horse" allowing intact or nearly intact foreign proteins to invade our natural gut defenses and enter behind the lines to cause damage well beyond the gut, commonly in joints, brain, and skin of affected individuals. Once damage occurs to the gut and the defense system is breached the result is what some refer to as a "leaky gut". Moreover, many people who develop a "leaky gut" not only have gut symptoms such as bloating, gas, diarrhea, and abdominal pain but also other symptoms beyond the gut, or extra-intestinal symptoms. Commonly affected areas are the brain or peripheral nerves, skin, joints, and various body glands. With continued exposure of the gut by these toxic food lectins a persistent stimulation of the body's defense mechanism in a dysfunctional manner, occurs, i.e. autoimmune disease.

Wrong types or levels of good and bad bacteria in the gut, or intestinal dysbiosis, may contribute to this process of abnormal stimulation of the immune system. Research supports the strong possibility that such stimulation may be accentuated by interaction of the bacteria with food lectins. It is believed by some that this may further worsen gut injury and autoimmune disease. This latter concept is gaining acceptance and recognition by doctors in one form as the hygiene theory. It is speculated that our gut bacteria have become altered by increased hygiene and over use of antibiotics and that this phenomenon may be playing a significant role in the rising incidence of autoimmune diseases such as diabetes, arthritis, and chronic intestinal diseases like Crohn's disease and irritable bowel syndrome.

Lectins as a cause however are largely being ignored in the U.S. though the field of lectinology and lectins role in disease is more accepted internationally. Avoidance of certain food lectins may be helpful in achieving health and healing of chronic gut injury. Healing of a "leaky gut" and avoidance of ongoing abnormal stimulation of the immune system by toxic food lectins and bacteria in the gut is the basis for ongoing research and probable success of several popular diets such as the paleo diet, carbohydrate specific diet and gluten-free/casein-free diet. More research is needed in this exciting but often neglected area. The Food Doc, LLC features a website http://www.thefooddoc.com that will provide physician authored information on food intolerance, sensitivity and allergy such as lectin, gluten, casein, and lactose intolerance with dietary guidance that will feature in the near future an online symptom assessment and diet-diary.

Copyright 2006, The Food Doc, LLC. All rights reserved. http://www.thefooddoc.com

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Eating the Paleo Way

Paleo Diet To Lose Weight :

The Paleo diet follows the basic principles of the eating habits in the Stone Age; following the lead of our ancestors. It focuses on the basic food groups, which are meat, fruit, vegetables, seafood, nuts and seeds. The foods on this meal plan are natural and healthy; eliminating all processed foods, dairy, wheat and sugar. It provides a variety of health benefits and it can be followed by anyone. The diet is also naturally low in saturated fat and carbohydrates; focusing on lean animal proteins.

Eating the Paleo Way

The main focus of the Paleo diet is on healthy food groups; basically eliminating any food group that was not available to the cavemen in the Paleolithic era. Our ancestors did not have access to any dairy products; and the same goes for cereal grains. These items were only introduced to us less than 10,000 years ago. Since research has proven that the human genome has changed about 0.02% during the last 40,000 years, our bodies still carry the genetic memory of our ancestors' digestive systems. The aim of the diet is to follow their dietary patterns; eating only when you are hungry and staying within the basic natural food groups.

As mentioned above, there are certain food groups to avoid on this diet. Processed foods are on top of this list. Anything that has been packaged or processed should be avoided. The same goes for grains; even if the label says "wheat free" you should still avoid them completely. Avoiding these items will mean that you would need to avoid foods such as bread, pasta, pizza, cookies and rice. Dairy products are also on the avoid list; so try to steer clear of milk, cheese, yoghurt, butter and ice cream. Syrups and sweeteners should also be avoided on this program; they have a negative influence on your blood sugar levels. When you are looking for something sweet, rather try to snack on a piece of fruit, or a handful of nuts and seeds.

The Paleo offers a lot of health benefits; including a reduced risk of cancer and heart disease; as well as increased energy levels. Your metabolism will also increase over time; meaning that you will lose excess weight when following the Paleo diet. Research has shown that you can lose as much as fifteen pounds in six months on the Paleo plan; and even more when you incorporate a sound exercise plan as well. It will improve your digestive system too; providing you with essential fatty acids and fiber in your meals.

You will find a lot of Paleo diet information online; including recipes, articles, success stories and books. It is a good idea to read up on other individuals' experience on this diet, and the way that their lives improved. The Paleo book from Dr. Loren Cordain is also jam-packed with essential information, tips and guidance for anyone considering following the Paleo diet. The diet is ideal for anyone; increasing your energy levels, reducing your risk of heart disease and improving your digestive system.

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