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Digestive enzymes are one of the best natural secrets to complete nutrition – naturally occurring chemicals that are vitally important for the digestion of proteins, fats, carbs, and toxins in your diet. Digestive enzymes are some of the most popular nutritional supplements. They may be helpful for diabetics, allergy sufferers, and those looking for a natural and healthy way to improve their metabolism or lose weight. Enzymes are also an essential aspect of the raw food movement.

What is an Enzyme?

Enzymes are proteins that catalyze chemical reactions – that is, they make reactions happen or make them more accessible and faster than they would have been without an enzyme.

Enzymes are the key that makes the digestive process happen. Without enzymes, our bodies would be unable to break down food to make use of the nutrition in the food we eat.

Enzymes and Digestion

Enzymes are found in …

The paleo diet is really a template for what eating should look like for a hypothetical human being. Paleo is about not putting things in your body that evolutionarily your body wouldn’t have anticipated. We evolved over a long period of time with the foods available to us in our environment. The more we change away from that the less our body is going to seamlessly tolerate those foods – leading to gut health issues that can contribute to other health conditions. 

Despite this, paleo is not a one size fits all diet. There’s lots of variation within it because everyone is different and their bodies tolerate foods differently. Some people thrive on a plant-based diet, other people thrive on a carnivorous diet and most people are somewhere in between. One of the things you need to be mindful of when you’re instituting a diet like paleo is how …

Anti-inflammatory spices that I’ve found helpful for my athletic wear and tear have become some of my most precious remedies for my own arthritis relief. For some of these, it takes a while to build up enough of their components in your system to actually decrease your inflammation, but after experiencing the relief from them, I have to impress upon you that is definitely worth the wait. I have found that using the bulk powder versions of some of these is by far the most effective.

Turmeric      

I refer to this precious spice as “powdered gold”, and that’s precisely how I feel about it. I proved the effectiveness of this spice to myself a couple of times over by stopping it’s daily use. The difference is remarkable, so the last time I put myself through that will be just that….the last time. It’s not worth the pain involved to …

We might be experiencing an economic calm at the moment, but if politicians keep pursuing the course we’re on then undoubtedly another crisis will arise, this one perhaps amounting to a full-blown collapse. Of course, we don’t have to go this way, and maybe there’s still a slight chance we could stop it before it happens, but the crisis is so probable we might as well consider it a certainty and start preparing. Among the possibilities could be food and electricity shortages, chains of businesses folding, violence, and more.

Yes, it’s a depressing subject to think about, but we should talk about it. I hypothesize that America is in the process of questioning the ideas that led us up to this point, and there is evidence a better future could be beyond the horizon within most of our lifetimes, so let’s contemplate how to most comfortably endure the bad times …

I am taking my brother into the Tetons in August, and he recently began the paleo diet. Knowing that you like to enjoy the outdoors, I am wondering if you have some good recommendations for any particular brands or specific meals for him so that he isn’t trying to live on jerky for five days. I have seen some dehydrated packs that are gluten free, but I’m guessing that this is something you have had to research. I would really appreciate any insight you might have on this, and I thank you for your time.

We want to hear your answer in the comments! You’re also welcome to post a comment or question on any other paleo-related topic.

If you’d like to submit a question for an upcoming …

I’m delighted to announce the launch of three new Modern Paleo E-mail Lists: PaleoCooks, PaleoFitness, and PaleoParents. These new lists are just gathering subscriptions this week. They’ll open for discussion on Monday, September 19th.

• PaleoCooks: PaleoCooks is an informal private mailing list for people who eat a broadly paleo diet to discuss paleo-friendly cookery. Its basic purpose is to facilitate communication about cooking and eating paleo — such as favorite recipes, better and worse ingredients, good suppliers, useful techniques, and more. Its broader purpose is to help paleo-eaters eat more a healthy, varied, and delicious diet. PaleoCooks is managed by Julie Campbell of the crankin’ kitchen. For more information and to subscribe, click here.
• PaleoFitness: PaleoFitness is an informal private mailing list for people who eat a broadly a broadly paleo diet to discuss paleo-friendly fitness. Its basic purpose is to facilitate communication about fitness from a paleo

Some weeks ago, Monica Hughes pointed me some Christians discussing the proper response to paleo-diet advocate Mark Sisson’s Definitive Guide to Grains. Here’s the best, from “Barlow”:

As a Christian, I have further trouble with this kind of advice. Think of the eucharist. How are we to know what kind of bread to use in the eucharist if we do not become skilled at baking bread, bake better and better bread, pass on the art of baking bread, etc? Are Christians only supposed to think that the world was set up so that grain will only be grown for the eucharist, and bread only be baked for the eucharist? That all the loaves of bread to be baked should be tasted, notes should be made about what worked or didn’t, and then the loaves cast away? It makes no sense. The eucharistic meal is a real meal. It shouldn’t be

A recent Canadian study has found certain BMI ranges to be more or less correlated with mortality, and quite counter-intuitively the study found that being overweight to mildly obese is the least risky – even somewhat less risky than having a normal BMI.

Have you had problems staying paleo? If not, why not? If so, what’s your weakness, and what have you done to overcome it?

We want to hear your answer in the comments! You’re also welcome to post a comment or question on any other paleo-related topic.

If you’d like to submit a question for an upcoming question of the week, please e-mail me.

Modern Paleo…

What are your favorite paleo-friendly gift ideas?

We want to hear your answer in the comments! You’re also welcome to post a comment or question on any other paleo-related topic.

If you’d like to submit a question for an upcoming question of the week, please e-mail me.

Modern Paleo…