On Fertility

My wonderful sister in-law is a fabulous information gatherer. Bonus for me because what would take me 20 minutes to find she could pull up in about 5! Today she provided these awesome articles from Mark's Daily Apple about fertility. I just had to share.

• Male Fertility's Two-Front War, Plus Sneaky HFCS

"For years, the average male sperm count had been decreasing, especially in Western industrialized nations, by about 1% to 2% per year."

"So, we all like to throw around the 55/45 fructose/glucose number as proof that HFCS isn't that much worse than plain white sugar, but a study from late last year examining various HFCS-sweetened commercial products arrived at a different number. The mean fructose content for all the HFCS tested was 59%, with several popular products from major brands coming in at 65% fructose!"

• Primal Nutrition and Fertility

"Trans fats are paramount in fertility impairment. One study showed that a 2% increase in trans fat intake resulted in a 75% increase in fertility risk. Full fat dairy showed a positive effect, but go for clean organic sources."

Roasted Yams

This is as easy as a recipe can possibly get!

Ingredients:
Yams, peeled and cut in 1/4 inch slices
Olive Oil
Salt & Pepper

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350. Toss yam slices in a generous amount of olive oil. Arrange slices on a cookie sheet. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake until tender, about 30 minutes.

Double Chocolate Chip Cookies

Play around with this recipe. It's not perfect. Yet :)


Ingedrients:
1 ¼ cup almond flour
1/8 tsp baking soda
2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
few shakes of salt
5 tbsp melted butter
3 tbsp maple syrup
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg
1/3 cup dark chocolate chips

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix dry ingredients in a bowl, set aside. Mix wet ingredients in a separate bowl, add to dry ingredients and mix until well combined. Fold in chocolate chips. Spoon batter onto parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake for 10-13 minutes until set and slightly toasty. These will firm up as they cool.

Collard Greens

Now I've never cooked collard greens before or even tried them. I'm really not sure how the tradition southern kind taste, but these were mighty good!

Ingredients:
1 bunch collard greens
half an onion, diced
2 cloves of garlic, minced (add more if you love it like I do)
1/2 cup chicken stock
olive oil
pinch salt & pepper

Directions:
Drizzle olive oil in the bottom of a large pot and add garlic. Heat over medium. Once olive oil is infused with garlic add the diced onion. Cook for about 5 minutes on medium. Add washed collard green to pot, let them sit in the pot loosely, you don't need press them to the bottom. Poor chicken stock over the top of the greens. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cover and cook greens over medium for 45 minutes.

Play with the recipe and add whatever you think sounds good.

Potato Pancakes

Potatoes are starchy tubers. They are allowed on Primal in moderation.

Ingredients:
2 medium potatoes, peeled (I used Australian fingerlings and didn't peel them)
1 egg
1/3 cup chopped onion
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
butter

Directions:
Finely grate potatoes; drain any liquid. A food process makes this job really easy! Place potatoes in a bowl. Add egg, onion, salt, pepper and garlic powder; mix well. In a large skillet, heat some butter over medium to medium/low heat. Squeeze 1/4 cup batter between hands and press into a pancake shape. Drop into pan and press lightly to flatten. Fry until golden brown on both sides. Serve immediately.

Getting Started

Here I sit with a primal friendly glass of red wine in hand contemplating. Every little piece of information I have read thus far about this way of life has completely resonated with me. How could it not? I'm changed for the better. I always thought I knew what eating healthy was; whole grains, meat, veggies, low fat dairy, limiting calorie intake, avoiding saturated fat, etc. I was so wrong.

It's honestly so difficult to explain in one post. To get the full down low on the Primal "diet" (I hate that word since this is more a lifestyle) you should check out http://www.marksdailyapple.com. However, I will touch base on grains. Agriculture was not developed until about 10,000 years ago. Humans and our ancestors have been around for much longer. Our bodies have not adapted to eating grain. Grain 'has an array of chemical defenses, including various lectins, gluten, and phytic acid, that disrupts your digestion, cause inflammation, and prevent you from absorbing vital nutrients and minerals.' - How Agriculture Ruined Your Health by Mark Sisson. In addition to it messing with our insides it has no nutritional value at all except fiber. But get this, we don't need much fiber! And what we do need we can get from vegetables. So, I ask you why waste calories on something that has no nutritional value? Why? There's no reason.

I stress that you read these articles:
          How Agriculture Ruined Your Health (and What You Can Do About It).
          Why Eating Animals Makes Everything Easier

Coffee Creamer

I was going over somethings with my dear husband that he and I are going to be cutting out of our diets. Tommy just couldn't give up his morning cup of coffee with flavored creamer. Have you ever read the ingredients list in that stuff?? The closest thing to actual milk in it is a "milk derivative."

This is the ingredients list from Coffee Mate French Vanilla flavor. INGREDIENTS: WATER, SUGAR, PARTIALLY HYDROGENATED SOYBEAN AND/OR COTTONSEED OIL, AND LESS THAN 2% OF SODIUM CASEINATE (A MILK DERIVATIVE)**, DIPOTASSIUM PHOSPHATE, DISODIUM PHOSPHATE, MONO- AND DIGLYCERIDES, NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL FLAVORS, CELLULOSE GEL, CELLULOSE GUM, COLOR ADDED, CARRAGEENAN.  Nasty!!

So, I started googling. Now, primal allows for coffee and dairy in moderation. I figured if he can't give up the flavored creamer I'd figure something else out. Something that's not full of a bunch of stuff I've never heard of. 

Ta da! Let me just tell you this creamer is pretty freaking yummy and you can add all sorts of stuff to make different flavors. Next time I'll probably do cinnamon or peppermint.

Vanilla Coffee Creamer
1 cup whole milk
1 cup heavy cream
4 tbsp maple syrup
1 vanilla bean

Add milk, heavy cream, and maple syrup to a cool sauce pan. Slice vanilla bean with a knife down one side and scrape the seeds. Whisk in seeds and bean pod to the milk mixture. Heat on medium low, stirring frequently, until steaming. Remove from heat and let cool. Store in a glass container in refrigerator.