Ana Castilla is a senior biology major who is a certified sports nutritionist through the International Society of Sport Nutrition. She gives Paleo nutrition lectures at different Crossfit affiliates such as 911 Crossfit and City Crossfit and is a Bootcamp and Zumba fitness instructor at 911 Crossfit. She enjoys being a coach and working face to face with people. Her favorite quote is, “Nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution” by Dobzhansky.
Allergies and sensitivities — I bet you can’t name one person who doesn’t suffer from them. If you can, my guess is that they probably haven’t gotten tested yet. I’m going to share my allergy experience because it’s one you don’t hear often. I am allergic to cold. In fancy terms, conditions of stress and/or cold temperatures cause an ischemic (lack of blood flow) attack to my extremities. This means my fingers get ghostly white and numb. It’s called Raynaud’s Phenomenon and it can be scary.
I, like most of us, blindly followed the doctors’ advice after my diagnosis. I chowed down the meds! One aspirin a day keeps the doctor away — my poor liver! My blood work was mostly under control and attacks were rare, but present from time to time. However, Reynaud’s is heavily linked to a series of autoimmune disorders such as rheumatoid arthritis and lupus (yikes!). I then “spoke with” Dr. Google, the most helpful tool of all. From blogosphere wisdom, I learned that no one knew what caused Reynaud’s and that there is no cure for it. The best you can do is pop a Xanex and move to Florida. I did move to Florida, but that’s not why I’ve been attack-free for two years.
Now, I bet you want to know how it got better. I’ll tell you, my “Aha!” moment was entirely due to being a big science nerd. It also helps that I happen to be obsessed with fitness and nutrition. It shouldn’t be surprising at all, then, that I stumbled upon the Paleo Diet. Yes, those crazy meat eaters who think they are modern cavemen and talk smack about your beloved Special-K cereal. You may think cutting out healthy whole grains is such a fad, especially if you have never heard about evolution or taken a chemistry class.
Well, it just so happens that this “fad” diet has only been around for 10,000 years. Here’s the gist of the Paleo Diet: Eat minimally processed, nutritionally dense foods. If you can hunt it or gather it with your bare hands, you can throw it in the pie hole (simple, right?). The major concern is with food quality. This means there are no overarching macronutrient ratios in your food and you’re not starving all the time because you’re actually nurturing your body. People who have tried this style of eating tend to become extremely dogmatic about the principles. I don’t blame them because, for the vast majority of people, it can bring forth quite a magical transformation, everything from drastically improving body composition to putting a halt to various degenerative diseases.
For me, Paleo means taking a closer look at evolutionary clues that can help us lead a healthier lifestyle. I have always been pretty lean and relatively healthy, as well as a solid performer at most sports. On this diet I am symptom free and leaner than ever. Note, I am not saying I lost weight, but my body fat plummeted. I also went from riding the sugar roller coaster daily to having complete control over my blood sugar. Want a breakdown? Basically, all I did was eliminate grains and stopped being afraid of fat — I now eat REAL food, like grass-fed beef and organ meats, pasture-raised chickens, eggs and pork (deviating towards lean meats so I won’t break the bank), no dairy, fermented foods, lots of vegetables, some nuts, little starch (depending on my energy needs) and, most importantly, no sugar. For all you athletes, I am not advocating a low carb diet here. Stock up on the starchier veggies like yams and sweet potatoes if you feel like you are not recovering well from your workouts. The take home message here is: do whatever is in your power, and budget, to eat nutritionally dense food sources. Get the most out of those calories and go for unprocessed foods!
To Paleo or not to Paleo? That is the question. Genetically, we are not that much different than our caveman ancestors, yet we have an app for Dominos delivery on our iPhones. For all you Sharks out there, that means you need to think about how you can become a strong, lean and healthy caveman or cavewoman. My advice is to learn where your food comes from, learn how to cook, and learn to make time for the preparation of your meals.
You will find time for what matters to you most, so prioritize your health! This might sound harsh, time consuming and boring, but consider this: you can choose to eat like everyone else and look like everyone else, or try something different and do your body a favor — it will give you a lot back in return for sure. Give it a shot. Amaze your mirror!
