The other day I watched a documentary on Netflix called “The Magic Pill” that inspired me to get back into paleo cooking. The documentary showed how the ketogenic diet magically healed three different people with a wide array of health problems. According to the Bulletproof blog:
“The Magic Pill” follows people in America and Australia suffering from different ailments to explore what effect, if any, the ketogenic diet has on their symptoms. The ketogenic, or keto diet, is a high-fat, low-carb diet that encourages your body to use fat for fuel instead of carbs.
The film tracks the subjects for 10 weeks, then looks at whether the keto diet improved each person’s particular condition.
In the film, Abigail, a young girl with autism — who ate processed chicken fingers, goldfish crackers, and apple juice previously — appeared to make significant gains after five weeks of restricting carbs. Though she struggled to adjust to the diet initially, her parents were convinced it was working. Her father noted her belly was less bloated, she had more regular bowel movements (she took a laxative every day prior to the keto diet), and she communicated better.
“She’s able to concentrate, and she’s able to progress, because she’s not running all over the place and she’s not seizing,” her doctor says in the film. “Her seizures are going down, and we have tangible data from the school. We are actually starting to wean her off of the anti-convulsory narcotic that she’s on.”
The people profiled followed a diet based on keto principles. These include:
- Eat whole and organic foods
- Eliminate processed foods, dairy, grains, and legumes
- Edge out bad fats (vegetable oils) with healthy fats (olive and coconut oils, animal fats, eggs, and avocados)
- Aim to consume free-range animals and wild caught seafood
- Introduce bone broths, organ meats, fermented foods, and intermittent fasting into your diet
(Bullet Proof Blog)
This documentary was incredible and reminded me that real food is amazing medicine. I feel inspired to cut out sugar, processed food, alcohol, grains, soy, dairy and legumes right now to see where it takes me.
Last time I attempted a whole30 in March, I threw in the towel at the end of week two because I got so bored with what I was cooking! I wasn’t mixing it up or trying fun new recipes and that was my down fall. So if you’re reading this, and you’re trying paleo or simply just trying to be healthier, here’s my advice:
a) spice it up and try one new recipe a week
b) be prepared–always have yummy meals ready to go in the fridge. Like this one:
- 8 medium zucchinis spiralized (see instructions)
- 3-4 teaspoons kosher salt
- 6 strips bacon finely diced
- 1 yellow onion diced
- 3 celery ribs diced
- 4 carrots diced
- 8 garlic cloves minced
- 2 pounds grass-fed beef
- 1 cup canned coconut milk
- 1 cup bone broth- Find Here!
- 12 ounces tomato paste
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- sea salt and black pepper to taste
-
Spiralize the zucchinis first. Feel free to spiralize it as thick or as thin as you’d like! Add the spiralized zucchini to a large colander and place it over the sink. Add the kosher salt and massage it well into the zucchini. Let it sit for about 20 minutes, as this process will release a lot of moisture. Rinse the zucchini well with cold water and let it drain for another 10-15 minutes. Pat it as dry as you can with a kitchen towel and set aside. Not gonna lie guys I didn’t do this whole salt thing and mine turned out fine
-
Cook the bacon cubes in a large cooking pot on medium. Transfer the bacon to a plate for later use.
-
Cook the onion, celery and carrots until the onions appear translucent. Add in the garlic cloves and cook for another minute or so, until fragrant. I used minced garlic from Trader Joe’s instead of cloves
-
Add in the beef and cook until brown. Add in the coconut milk, bone broth, tomato paste and cooked bacon cubes. Let it simmer for 7-10 minutes, until everything is well combined and appears thick. I couldn’t find grass fed beef at the store so I used lamb instead. I also forgot to buy bone broth lol so I used extra coconut milk.
-
Stir in the garlic powder, sea salt and black pepper, to taste. I also didn’t do this part…lol
-
Stir in the zucchini noodles and let everything cook together for 4-5 minutes. Serve warm.I found this recipe on Pinterest and it’s from this blog. Let me know if you guys have any questions! I’m happy to help. Have a happy & healthy week my friends 🙂