Update: the giveaway is closed! Thanks to everyone who entered. I’ll announce the winners soon and get in touch with Tom to have some DVDs shipped out post-haste.
Let’s dial it back to 2009.
Long before I’d discovered The Primal Blueprint
I’m not sure why it took me so long to find it, but I’m glad I did. And I’m especially glad, now, to have the opportunity to share it with you, in the form of both a giveaway and an interview with Tom himself. Read on for a discussion of some of the key points of the documentary and a chance to win a copy of your own!
Matt: Let’s start with Fat Head. How would you describe it to someone not already familiar with the documentary?
Tom: I’d say it’s a comedy documentary that exposes the super-sized serving of nonsense presented in the movie “Super Size Me,” while also demonstrating that much of what we’ve been told about health and nutrition is flat-out wrong.
Matt: What drove you to create it in the first place? A desire to challenge conventional wisdom about health and nutrition, or the need to prove SuperSize Me as a factually ‘loose’ documentary?
Tom: It started out as a reply to Super Size Me. But since I intended go on a fast-food diet for a month, I wanted to do some research into what’s actually good for us and what isn’t. The more research I did, the more outraged I became, because it was soon clear to me that so much of what we’ve been told is wrong. By the time I was halfway through making the film, I was more motivated by the desire to show what’s wrong with the Food Pyramid and the misguided campaigns to scare people away from saturated fat. Morgan Spurlock played fast and loose with his facts, but he doesn’t tell schools what to serve kids for lunch. The USDA does.
Matt: One of my favorite parts of the documentary is the historical leanings: you take us back through time and analyze just why we accepted such faulty science as ”conventional wisdom” regarding health and nutrition. There seems to be a movement now, however, towards rejecting the lipid hypothesis and similar ideas. Fat Head is clearly part of that. What has been the response to the film? Have you seen any indication that the ideas in Fat Head are reaching mainstream appeal, or is a high-fat, low-carb lifestyle still primarily talked about on the Internet?
Tom: Fat Head is a small part of a growing movement. As Dr. Mike Eades explains in the film, lots of careers and businesses were built on the Lipid Hypothesis, and those people aren’t going to give up without a fight. But the great thing about the digital age is that information has been democratized. A badly designed, biased study is published, and dozens of bloggers tear it apart. And I know the bad researchers pay attention to the blogs, because I’ve heard from a couple of them who were offended by my critiques. Funny thing is, they never did answer the criticisms, except to more or less tell me I had no business disputing the work of someone with a PhD. Thanks to blogs, YouTube, Twitter and Facebook, the truth about diet and health is getting out there, but it’s bubbling up from the bottom. The people at the top are mostly still stuck in their old way of thinking. As Max Planck said, science often progresses one funeral at a time.
Matt: Near the end of the documentary, you mention dramatically upping your intake of saturated fat. Your doctor — and this might be my favorite scene — seems floored when you lose even more weight as you do. The documentary doesn’t mention, however, just how much more weight you lost. Mind spilling the beans?
Tom: After the fast-food diet, I spent another month on a diet that was very high in saturated fat, but nearly devoid of sugar and starch. The idea was to see, as Dr. Mike Eades predicted, if my cholesterol profile would actually improve, which of course it did. I ate a lot of food and wasn’t trying to lose any weight that month, but I still dropped another two pounds.
Matt: Likewise, do you think upping your saturated fat intake had health benefits because your body had already adapted to the lower intake of carbs, or do you think anyone can benefit from working more coconut products and fried cheese into their diet? I’ve read in a few places that high saturated fat intake, when combined with high carbohydrate, can cause health problems, but I’m not sure what to believe. Have you done any research of your own into this, and if you have, what did you find?
Tom: Saturated fat and cholesterol are good for you. Your body needs those nutrients, and humans thrived on diets high in fat and cholesterol for hundreds of thousands of years, but there’s one huge caveat: You cannot eat a high-fat diet if it’s also a diet high in refined carbohydrates. For reasons no one has been able to explain to me clearly, that particular combination appears to be the worst of all. Blood sugar goes way up, insulin goes way up, lipid profiles go out of whack. So while I tell people to enjoy their saturated fats, they need to cut out the refined carbohydrates at the same time.
Matt: You interview the Eades, as I recall, and a higher-up from the Weston A. Price foundation. I tend to associate those names with a more “Paleo” style of health and nutrition, though I don’t think that label comes up at any point in the documentary. Were you aware of it when you were filming, and would you say that it’s the style of eating you now follow?
Tom: I became aware of the paleo movement after the film was in the can. Had I known about it, I would’ve featured it in the film, because I think paleo diets are probably the best. I live on an almost-paleo diet now. No grains, no sugars, not much fruit and only if it’s low-sugar fruit. I’m not totally paleo because I still like cream in my coffee and cheese on my burgers.
Matt: Let’s talk about the family aspect. What does your wife think about how you eat? Did you have to convince her that the conventional way to eat healthy (low fat, high-carb, etc.) is nonsense, and if so, how’d you do it?
Tom: She was fascinated with the research I was digging up and made pretty much the same dietary changes I did. She’s naturally lean and has no need or desire to lose any weight, but she soon noticed how much healthier she felt. Eventually she read Dr. Weston A. Price’s book “Nutrition and Physical Degeneration” and became a bit of a whole-foods fanatic, especially since we have two growing girls. She cooks pretty much everything from scratch now and uses only natural fats. She even puts marrow bones in her stews to get the extra fat from the from the marrow. She buys Kerry Gold butter, which comes from grass-fed cows. She buys cream from a local dairy where they only feed the cows grass. She saves bacon grease for frying. We were just saying today — after eating a few of her awesome sweet-potato fries — that we can’t believe we used to throw out bacon grease and then fry foods in Crisco. What a waste.
Matt: How does the way you eat work with kids? I’ve been asked how I’d raise my own children in a more “Paleo” style of nutrition, to which I just cleared my throat and awkwardly tried to change the subject. Frankly, I’m not sure how easy that would be. What difficulties have you had in keeping your kids off the whole grains (if you try and do that at all)? Especially when school lunches seem like the stuff of nightmares?
Tom: You know, it’s not as hard as you’d think. Our girls love natural fats, which I think is true for most humans. So they’re perfectly happy eating fatty meats, eggs, vegetables with lots of butter, sweet potatoes fried in bacon grease, things like that. We don’t keep cereal in the house, so that’s not a problem. If they really and truly want a sandwich — which they usually don’t — we’ll make one with sprouted bread. Now and then my wife makes a baked dessert for them with apples, nuts, cream and barley that’s been soaked to minimize the lectins. Schools of course are another issue. They pack a lunch instead of eating the cafeteria food, but it seems like at least once a week, it’s some kid’s birthday and the teacher serves cupcakes. We don’t want to be food Nazis, so we just let those go. We know they’re eating well most of the time, and while they like a treat now and then, both girls are very aware that sugar is basically a garbage food.
Matt: What do you do now, health-wise? You clearly learned a lot while you were filming the documentary, so what does Tom Naughton do now in regards to eating, exercising, etc.? What are some typical meals, as an example, and how do you exercise?
Tom: My diet is pretty close to paleo, as I described. Breakfast this morning was bacon and eggs. Lunch was a handful of nuts. Dinner was meatloaf, a few sweet-potato fries, and spinach mixed with butter, spices, cream and some parmesan cheese. For exercise, I lift weights at a gym once per week, then do fairly intense calesthenics once or twice during the week. I also take long walks and listen to podcasts and audio books.
Matt: You counted calories during the fast food month, but clearly as part of the experiment. What are your thoughts on calorie counting now? Do you still do it? If not, do you count macronutrients instead?
Tom: That’s a tough one to explain. When we become fatter, we’re consuming more calories than we’re expending, but that’s not really why we become fat. We start accumulating fat first. Then we eat more because we’re storing too many calories as fat and run short of fuel. So no, I don’t count calories. I eat whole foods that are low in carbohydrates, so my insulin stays down and I’m satisfied on normal portions. That of course means I consume fewer calories than when I was fat, but I’m consuming fewer calories because I don’t want them, not because I’m counting them and limiting them.
Matt: I’m of the opinion that eating whole foods (and minimizing grains) negates the need for any kind of counting at all. Any thoughts on this?
Tom: Absolutely. When you’re nourished, when you avoid processed carbohydrates, when your insulin stays down at the level Mother Nature intended, your appetite is naturally regulated and you don’t need to count.
Matt: What about fast food? I’m sure you avoided it like the plague after one straight month of eating it, but what’s your take on fast food as a regular addition to the diet? Any concerns about weird ingredients or the consumption of highly-processed food?
Tom: I wouldn’t suggest anyone live on fast food. I was trying to make a point by eating fast-food items containing lots of saturated fat, which is one of the reasons fast food is supposed to be bad for us. I lost weight and my health was fine. But I made it clear in the film that I was limiting my starches and avoiding sugar almost entirely. If people are out and about and want to grab a fast-food meal, fine. Avoid the sugar and the starch, and it won’t hurt you. But of course we get way more quality nutrition from whole foods we cook at home.
Matt: I saw on your blog that you’ve been experimenting with Intermittent Fasting. That’s a popular subject here on Three New Leaves (and by popular, of course, I mean that I like to blab on about it while everyone sighs and looks away), so please forgive the next few rapid-fire questions: how do you like it? What has been your experience with fasting so far? Have you lost weight doing it too?
Tom: Intermittent fasting was much easier than I would’ve predicted. My concept of what it would be like was based on the times I had to fast before, say, a colonoscopy. I was hungry and foggy-brained back then. But that was before I cut the carbohydrates from my diet, so I’d conditioned my body to run on short-term fuel. Now I run mostly on fat, which is a long-term fuel. So I can go 24 hours without eating and barely notice it. So far, I’ve lost six pounds in three weeks. Not bad, since I eat until I’m full when I’m not fasting.
Matt: Last question, then. Let’s say someone just watched Fat Head and is looking to change their diet in a way to reflect the new knowledge. What’s one thing you would recommend as a great first step?
Tom: I’d say cut all sugar and white flour from your diet. That’s half the battle right there. Then pick up a good book such as The Primal Blueprint
Matt: Thanks, Tom!
An Equally Fat Giveaway
I’ll just establish this now: Tom’s a great guy.
When I contacted him to discuss an interview and see how I could help spread the word about Fat Head, he readily agreed to offer five — five! — copies of his documentary for use in a contest on Three New Leaves. That kind of generosity is rarely matched, so let me take just a moment to extend big thanks in Tom’s direction for being a stand-up kind of guy (let alone comedian!).
Tom tells me, additionally, that these copies are from the international release of the film, which includes his “Big Fat Fiasco” speech you’d normally have to order separately. I haven’t seen it myself, but I have high hopes for both the quality and the humor of it given his previous work.
But what about this contest, you say?
It’s simple!
Leave a comment below with a link to your favorite Primal/Paleo-approved recipe. You can just include the recipe, if you want, and feel free to drop a link to your blog if you’ve discussed the recipe there too.
That’s it! Just one comment necessary to enter the contest. I’ll leave it open until midnight on Sunday, February 20th, at which point I’ll pick five recipes at random to win a copy each of the documentary.
What are you waiting for, then? Get commenting! And remember: all you need to do is link to a Paleo/Primal recipe of your choosing!
–
Thanks so much for reading!
If you like what’s going on around here, then why not have free updates sent directly to your inbox or to your RSS reader?
If you want to spread the good word about this post, however, please consider one of the following:
- Click the retweet or stumble button down below!
- Like this post on Facebook and share it with your friends!
It all helps, in any case, to share these ideas. I really appreciate it! And you can follow me on Twitter, too. That always makes me smile. 
48 Comments
I'm a writer, minimalist, and health dork with three goals in mind: to teach you how to lose weight, move more, and be happier by living a simple, natural life. It works. Like what you read here? Get 3NL delivered straight to your inbox!
Very interesting… I started a moderate primal diet before the holidays, and am now 9 lb lighter. I’ve never had a “normal” cholesterol, and that is one of my worries when it comes to fats. Up to now, I’ve kept to mostly non-saturated so called “healthier” fats. I want to see if my cholesterol has improved before testing the effect of saturated fat on it.
Thanks for sharing this interview, but please do not include me in the giveaway… I’m in the process of downsizing my stuff, and will simply borrow a copy.
My favorite paleo,lowcarb, recipe is: PANCAKES
1-3/4 CUP ALMOND MEAL (Trader Joe’s is cheapest)
1 can whole fat coconut milk
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla
6 eggs
pinch of salt
Mix wet and dry ingredients separately and then mix together.
Fry these in coconut oil.
I also heat up frozen mixed berries to reduce the liquid, add chia seeds to thicken and then put that on the pancakes with some whip cream on top.
I want to give credit to where I got this but I just know I got this recipe from a low carb blog and copied it down. So thanks to whoever made it up because it’s great!
Great blog – thanks.
I got this recipe from a low carb diet book called ‘The Idiot Proof Diet’ here in the UK
Butternut squash, feta and pine nut salad.
Peel and cube a thick slice of butternut squash and roast in olive oil in a hot oven until cooked and just browned. Toast pinenuts until just browned, Make a salad with rocket and watercress leaves, dressed with olive oil. Add cubed feta cheese and olives and then add the squash and pine nuts.
Paleo Meatloaf.
http://everydaypaleo.com/2010/01/14/meatloaf-and-baked-brussel-sprouts/
I find this great for when I’m in work. Couple of slices with a salad and olive oil and I’m sorted!
I like to keep things simple and go for a nice simple gtilled steak with some kosher salt and fresh grounded pepper:
http://www.goinghomemade.com/2010/05/how-to-grill-steak.html
Loved Fathead on hulu!!
My favorite paleo meal is grass fed burgers on the grill with a vegi mix of broccoli, cauliflower and sliced onions spiced up with coconut oil and tumeric. Yummy!!
Great stuff! My favorite has to be chicharrón en salsa verde. It’s basically pork rinds (real ones – not the ones that come in bags on the chip aisle) boiled in salsa – I prefer my homemade green salsa, but red works well too.
I would say a grilled rib eye with sautéed mushroom and a salad.
Great interview!
Here’s a recipe I made recently: braised oxtail prepared in a pressure cooker. Of course, if I were being strictly paleo, I’d cook the mushrooms in coconut or olive oil instead of butter.
http://relievemypain.blogspot.com/2010/12/braised-oxtail-deliciousness.html
Honestly, my favorite paleo-ish meal is roast chicken. I really like this recipe that is basically from Julia Child: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-live/roast-chicken-recipe/index.html
My favorite paleo recipe recently has been “Primal Thai Beef” as seen here: http://thisprimallife.com/2010/10/primal-thai-beef-recipe/
I love this one: http://www.marksdailyapple.com/bacon-egg-avocado-and-tomato-salad/
Nice interview. I have been following Tom’s blog for a while and will now follow yours too.
I have enjoyed using the “Spice Rubs” from Mark’s Daily Apple. Don’t wait for a Holiday – they are good for everyday use. Most rubs and sauces have sugar. I can mix these in my kitchen and no sugar needed. http://www.marksdailyapple.com/spice-rubs-for-your-holiday-roast/
Love Tom Naughton’s Fat Head. Would love to get a video with the new speech included.
My favorite Paleo recipe at the moment is:
Sausage, Egg & Vegie Frittata
1 lb Italian sausage, casing removed
(1 ½ T olive oil)
2 zucchini, thinly slices
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 small red onion, thinly sliced
(Salt & pepper to taste)
7 large eggs, at room temperature
(½ c milk, at room temperature)
(¼ c grated parmesan cheese)
Preheat oven to 350°. Coat 8×8” baking dish
with cooking spray. Cook sausage in large
skillet over med-hi heat until half-cooked, 6-8
min, stirring to break up sausage. Spread over
bottom of baking dish. Clean skillet; add oil,
zucchini, bell pepper, onion, salt & pepper.
Cook over med heat until vegetables are
tender, 8-10 min. Let cool 10 min; arrange over
sausage. In large bowl, combine eggs, milk &
cheese. Pour over vegetables. Bake 40-45 min
or until eggs are set.
This comes from E-mealz low carb plan. I hate menu planning and this makes it easier. We’ve liked most of the meals and it’s cheap enough.
http://e-mealz.com/amember/go.php?r=132308&i=l0
(This is my affiliate link. If you’re interested please use it. Cost is same to you and helps me a little. Thanks.)
The Primal Blueprint is a great start for educating yourself. After that, check out the books by Gary Taubes.
Recipe – Primal Butt – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avMyJwJ-Y5Y
Hot Chocolate, Natural, No Sugar, No Milk (Splenda)
By: Ron Boyd
Recipe grams: 263.00g/9.3oz
Serves 1
INGREDIENTS
1 cup Water, Municipal (PFI 28)
2 tbsp Cocoa, Natural (PFI 273)
1 tbsp Oil, Peanut, enriched gold (PFI 224)
2 tsp Sugar Substitute, Splenda (PFI 197)
DIRECTIONS
Heat water to desired temperature (boiling is good). Put Oil, Cocoa & Sweetner in Large
(8 oz) Coffee Cup/Mug. Pour Water in while stirring. Stir until blended.
(Splenda seems to be the only Sugar Substitute that doesn’t affect the taste of Chocolate in a negative way.)
Nutrition Facts
Serving Size: 1 serving (263.0g)
Servings: 1
Amount Per Serving
Calories 160 Calories from Fat 140
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 15g 23%
Saturated Fat 2g 10%
Trans Fat 0g
Cholesterol 0mg 0%
Sodium 0mg 0%
Total Carbohydrate 8g 3%
Dietary Fiber 4g 16%
Sugars 0g
(Net Carbs = 2g)
Protein 2g
Vitamin A 0% Vitamin C 0%
Calcium 0% Iron 8%
*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.
I really love this: http://paleodietlifestyle.com/zucchini-and-sweet-potato-frittata/
I also add to it onions, green pepper, mushrooms, jalapeno, spinach, tomatoes, bacon, anything lying around the house really!
Great interview Matt. I have been following Tom for almost a year and he has been a great influence on my success. We live much like he does – primal except for limited dairy. Don’t count me for a free video – we own about a half dozen so we can give them to friends and converts! Since we are advocates for Tom we prefer you to pass them on to future advocates!
BTW for some great recipes, visit http://www.JansSushiBar.com (my better half).
One of my favorite’s is not only delicious but its FAST – salmon steaks and steamed beets & asparagus: http://paleodietlifestyle.com/quick-paleo-meals/
I change it up just a bit as I don’t care for the taste of dill, so I brush garlic butter and LOTS of cracked black pepper on my salmon steaks.
I watched the movie a couple weeks ago and really enjoyed it, so I’m not here for the contest. I just wanted to say that I really enjoyed this interview. One thing I’d be curious to see is his food diaries from the movie experiment.
The food diaries are posted on his website, here is the link
http://fathead-movie.com/content/MyFoodLog.htm
No recipe, but our favorite veggie recipe is just to cut a spaghetti squash in half, brush butter along cut surface, sprinkle with salt and pepper, then bake for 15 min. at 350 (or wrap loosely with plastic wrap and microwave on high for 5 min.), add hot sauce or salsa.
Personally, I’d love to see you “blab” some more on Intermittent Fasting!
Love your blog! Glad that Tom shared it with us.
Favorite paleo recipe, our own version of low carb meat loaf: http://oflabratsandmen.blogspot.com/2011/02/low-carb-meat-loaf.html
As for fasting, I gotta say I always wondered how people did it for religious reasons. I never realized that you might not be hungry if you weren’t eating a bunch of junk food! It’s really an amazing thing. I can skip dinner now and not be that hungry.
Here’s my recipe:
KALE CHIPS
1 bunch organic kale
Olive Oil
Sea Salt
Remove kale leaves from stems and tear into bite size pieces. Toss with olive oil, enough to lightly coat leaves, and add sea salt. Place leaves on cookie sheet, then toast under broiler (stirring occasionally) until crisp.
http://robbwolf.com/2011/01/05/gluten-free-sausage-gravy-paleo-biscuits/
mmm.. biscuits and gravy
Really simple and delicious…
http://paleodietlifestyle.com/zucchini-and-sweet-potato-frittata/
I just wanted to extend my gratitude for asking the question about children eating primally that I asked you. It helps to know of others who are living this way with families and doing so successfully!
Oh, and don’t include me in the giveaway-though I am highly interested-as I’ll just flip through Netflix. I saw it there the other day and thought it seemed intriguing but didn’t have the time for it. Now that I know more about it I’ll definately watch it!! With husband in tow…
My favorite paleo meal would be a grilled ribeye with roasted brussels sprouts, bacon and onion.
I’ve been a fan of Tom’s for a couple of years and I’m going to start some decluttering my life now too!
There’s a whole ton of recipes here but this is one I cook a lot, with variations too!
http://www.lowcarbcooking.co.nz/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=91:scallops-or-prawns-with-nutty-cauli-rice&catid=37:main-courses-fish-a-seafood&Itemid=59
I, myself, lost ~60 lbs going Paleo/Low-Carb. Most of my recipes include dairy, especially grassfed/pastured dairy, but if I had to choose a pure paleo recipe it would be this:
Chicken with Crispy Skin
Chicken leg Quarters (1 per person)
Poultry seasoning
Lemon pepper
Garlic powder
Olive Oil (sprayed if possible)
Pat leg quarters dry and lightly sprinkle on both sides with spices. A spray of olive oil can help the spices stick better. Place on a baking sheet with raised sides with skin side up and put in the oven at 250 degrees F for ~4 hours. The meat will be tender and juicy and the skin will be crispy with the consistency of a potato chip.
Cream of Cauliflower Soup
————————-
a large head of cauliflower
2-3 stalks celery
1 carrot
2 cloves garlic
1-2 onions
1-2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp pepper
a few sprigs of parsley
1/4 tsp sage (or your favourite blend of herbs; spices)
Chop head of cauliflower (save a handful of tiny flowerets for a raw
garnish) and put in a soup pot. Chop; add stalks celery, carrot, garlic
and onions. Add spices. Barely cover with water, bring to boil and simmer
until veggies are tender. Blend the contents of the pot and adjust
seasonings to taste. Add a little hot water if the soup is too thick. Serve
garnished with raw flowerets.
Serving suggestion: Serve with a steak, plus a spinach/lettuce and mushroom
salad garnished with grated carrot and parsley. You can use the same basic
recipe for Cream of Broccoli or Cream of Asparagus Soup. You won’t miss the
fact that is no actual cream in the soup, given the thick consistency and
rich flavour of the main veggie.
You can also add chopped, cooked meat for a quick lunch.
Vegetable Cabbage Soup
———————-
soup bone
1/2 pound stewing beef
3 quarts water
1-2 bay leaves
1 small head of cabbage
4 medium to large carrots
4-6 stalks of celery
1 medium-large onion
1 can tomatoes, cut up
6 oz. tomato juice
Put a soup bone and 1/2 lb. stewing beef in a large pot and fill with 3
qts. water. Add bay leaves. Simmer 2-3 hours, Skim top from time to time.
Chop coarsely the cabbage, carrots, celery and onion. Remove bone from
soup and add vegetables. Cook 30 minutes. Add tomatoes and tomato juice.
Bring to a boil again and serve.
Hi from Spain!
I’ve been following Tom’s blog for some time now. Thank you very much for the time and effort you put into it.
At home I make a Chicken liver and heart pâté. We all love it and I find it a good way for the kids (and all of us) to eat organ meats, so here it goes:
Chicken liver and heart pâté:
8 servings
Ingredients:
1 generous pound chicken livers and hearts
half a pound bacon, diced
half a stick of butter
2 oz. onion, chopped
2 oz. peeled pistachio nuts
a dash thyme
a dash rosemary
a dash pepper
one bay leaf
1,6 oz. brandy
3,5 oz heavy cream (optional, I know, it’s not very paleo… but we love cream)
Method:
Clean and cut in pieces livers and hearts. Put 3/4 of the butter in a large pan. Heat it to medium heat. Sauté the onions until they become glassy, without color. Add bacon, livers, hearts and bay leaf. Let gently cook until the organ meats are done. Add brandy and the spices and let cook for two more minutes. Discard the bay leaf. Pour mixture in a blender or food processor and blend until smooth. Add some heavy cream if the mixture is too dry. I don’t like to add salt, since the bacon is quite salty but that’s up to you. Put the pâté in a dish. Melt the remaining butter and pour it carefully over the mixture. Let it cool in the fridge until it sets.
Enjoy.
I forgot the pistachios! Add them right after blending. Mix well.
You can add any kind of nuts, or some mushrooms instead. You can choose sherry instead of brandy, or leave it out alltogheter.
SPAGHETTI! Sauce made by frying onions and garlic, adding beef mince and tomatoes and heaps of herbs. Then spaghetti made by boiling thin slices of carrot or zucchini for about 3 minutes in water.
Most of my cooking doesn’t follow a recipe. Usually I just just follow a simple pattern:
heated in pan on medium; cook/brown with optional garlic and/or onion; when nearly done add until tender; serve. Often we use frozen bags of veggies which we stock up on when they go on sale which is a huge time saver.
Fathead approved (I would believe) biscuits and gravy:
http://stuffimakemyhusband.blogspot.com/2010/10/biscuits-and-gravy.html
Her site is amazing and she puts up new recipes every couple of days. I have shied away from the biscuits and gravy for the last 15 years because of the mix of fats and carbs. Now I eat this about 3 or 4 times per week when I am not fasting. It is *perfect*
http://www.livingpaleo.com/roast-pumpkin-red-onion-with-rosemary/
Paleo is virtually unheard of here in New Zealand.
Chicken thighs in garlic cream sauce.
Heat a pan of ghee, bacon grease or olive oil over medium high heat.
Place boneless skinless chicken thighs in pan. Cook about 4-5 min per side, until cooked through.
Deglaze pan with a little white wine. Add a pressed garlic clove and some cream. Stir a little, and it’s done. Delicious and easy!!! My picky kids even love it. Had it last night with roasted asparagus.
Thanks to you & Tom for the interview! I’m not one to follow exact recipes, but my favorite primal foods are “big ass” salads (I was even known for making them long before going primal). Mine generally include mixed baby greens & herbs, assorted grilled veggies (eggplant, zucchini, peppers), avocado, almonds, a touch of raw cheese. I drizzle a small amount of EVOO & balsamic over everything, then mix up the ingredients with tongs, being sure to mash up the avocado so it starts to coat the lettuce.
I really like this guacamole beef recipe from Son of Grok:
http://www.sonofgrok.com/2009/08/recipe-sog-guacamole-beef/
We don’t use as much chili or peppers as he does, but that’s my personal choice. And I prefer my garlic and onions all cooked with the beef instead of some of it raw in the guac, but, like he says, this recipe is great for variations.
Don’t know how I missed this! Awesome job scoring such a great interview subject. And awesome guy for donating 5 copies. I am addicted to documentaries so my jaws are slavering over this as they would over the roasted haunch of a large herbivorous wild beast.
So I will share my most mind-blowing recipe:
Cook one pound of ground elk in skillet. Tastes like beef, but manlier.
Deposit burnt animal flesh in appropriately sized bowl.
Consume.
http://www.food.com/recipe/alton-browns-buffalo-wings-287616
Make nice crispy chicken wings in the oven… which means no frying in questionable oils. This has butter in the sauce, but I bet you could use a different fat (lard? coconut oil?) if you don’t do dairy.
Hi Matt,
Great site that you have put together, nice to see people making positive changes in their lives. This is an amazingly generous off that you and Tom have put together. As I am from New Zealand I would imagine I am not eligible for the competition, how ever I have place a link to a very nice recipe that I hope you will enjoy.
I wish you all the best with your web site and I look forward to reading more form you.
German Meatballs
http://genaw.com/lowcarb/german_meatballs.html
Regards,
Neil…
Hey Neil! I’ll have to check with Tom, but he did say that he’s shipping globally, so you’re still probably in the running.
Thanks for a great interview. I’m just becoming familiar with the paleo diet and am excited to learn more and give it a try. This interview definitely helped me out! Don’t have a favorite recipe yet but I love carrots and hope to try this delicious sounding salad in the next day or two!
Gujerati Carrot Salad
———————
5 carrots, medium
1 tbs. whole black mustard seeds
1/4 tsp. salt
2 tsp. lemon juice
2 tbs. olive oil
Trim and peel and grate carrots. In a bowl, toss with salt and set aside.
In a small heavy pan over medium heat, heat oil. When very hot, add
mustard seeds. As soon as the seeds begin to pop, in a few seconds, pour
oil and seeds over carrots. Add lemon juice and toss. Serve at room
temperature or cold. Yield: 4 servings.
Recipe by Madhur Jaffray, publ. in The Toronto Sun
From: Mrarchway via Amanda
I lean heavily toward low carb/paleo and think the “conventional wisdom” is full of holes, but I don’t think “Fat Head” does a good job (at all) of advancing the argument to the uninitiated.
The attack on Morgan Spurlock is misguided, and Naughton’s counter-experiment proves nothing. Spurlock went on an extreme binge which everyone, including Spurlock, expected in advance to cause weight gain and other negative effects (“duh”), which he wanted to document on film. It was more of an exercise in “performance art” than in science, and meant to simply to provoke the viewer into the thinking a bit about the possible consequences of regularly ingesting the same kind of food over a lifetime.
Naughton, on the other hand, takes in an actual caloric deficit, with restricted carbs, and regular exercise, and then experiences a weight loss. How does Naughton’s experiment in any way “rebut” Spurlock’s? And, given the fact that Naughton goes on to argue that restricting carbs is more important than lowering calorie intake, his own experiment is useless to prove either strategy, since he cut both calories AND carbs.
The film is poorly organized and produced, and is undermined at every turn by the injection of sophomoric humor. In a typically tedious sequence, the snarky Naughton asks people on the street if they have ever collapsed with a heart attack immediately after eating fettuccine alfredo. Tres dumb. Especially when you consider that a plate-full of pasta smothered in cream, butter, and cheese is a food that both low carb and low fat eaters would want to avoid eating often. In one of his failed attempts at humor (in a scene showing his own wife in bed), she asks if he is a moron, and in that moment she seems to speak on behalf of the viewer.
Worst of all is the ongoing anti-government Libertarian ideology that underscores Naughton’s narrative. He argues that anyone “with a functioning brain” can make proper food choices, but at the same time argues that the public has been deluged with mountains of false information and bad advice for decades. The film is littered with such logical inconsistencies. Naughton’s political agenda shows up in some bizarre assertions, like when he argues that higher tendency toward obesity among the poor is merely the result of a predisposition among non-whites toward “thicker” bodies, and the assertion that court-mandated busing to achieve racial desegregation contributed to overweight school children. These theories simply detract from the credibility of the diet and health science he eventually discusses.
At his blog and in interviews like the one above, Naughton comes off much better than in the amateurish film that he made. If you know anyone “with a functioning brain” that is still clinging to the conventional wisdom, showing them “Fat Head” may not be the best way to get them to become more open-minded, thanks to the many mis-guided and unhelpful aspects of the film.