April 08, 2014

803: Guest Hosts Sarah Ballantyne and Stacy Toth Offer Up 'The Paleo Approach'

52 minutes

Former research scientist, blogger, podcaster, and author Dr. Sarah Ballantyne, PhD and blogger, podcaster, and author Stacy Toth are our special guest co-hosts in Episode 803 of "The Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb Show."

We've got an outstanding pair of guest hosts who know their way around a health podcast as the co-hosts of their very own successful iTunes health podcast called "The Paleo View." They are Dr. Sarah Ballantyne from "The Paleo Mom" blog and Stacy Toth from "Paleo Parents" and they are both self-professed nutrient-seekers. These two lovely ladies share their inspirational stories, both of them losing and maintaining over 100-pound weight loss, battling with autoimmune diseases, and arriving at the realization that the key to their health was a focus on eating the most nutrient-dense foods possible.

Listen in as Sarah and Stacy discuss the extensive research Sarah did for her brand new Victory Belt Publishing book The Paleo Approach: Reverse Autoimmune Disease and Heal Your Body that helped her realize the key role that nutrient-deficiency plays in all chronic disease, what micronutrients are most deficient in theAmerican diet, how a standard Paleo, low-carb, or primal diet might be deficient in these key nutrients, especially vitamin A, vitamin D, vitamin K2, vitamin E, zinc, magnesium and folate, and why it's better to seek whole food sources of nutrients instead of supplements. You won't want to miss what Sarah and Stacy have to share to help you become a nutrient-seeker, too.

0:00 - Welcome to Livin' La Vida Low Carb with your guest hosts Stacy and Sarah!

This is Stacy and Sarah's second time guest hosting on The Livin' La Vida Low-Carb Show podcast - check out the first episode here

More on Sarah

She has a PhD in Medical Biophysics and use to do medical research before becoming a stay-at-home mom

Her decision to become a stay-at-home mom was largely influenced by her health, as she was struggling with obesity

She has also lost and maintained and an over 100 pound weight-loss

Previously, Sarah also was struggling with a number of autoimmune diseases, which led her to the paleo diet and to start blogging

Her first book The Paleo Approach was released in January - it is a science and guidebook that explains the principles of a paleo diet and the extra mile that someone with an immune or autoimmune issue needs to go to regulate their immune system with diet

The companion cookbook, The Paleo Approach Cookbook, will be released in August

Stacy notes that Sarah is also a Canadian

4:33 - Stacy and Sarah's Stance on Paleo

Both Stacy and Sarah define themselves as nutrient seekers, which is how they define what they are interested in consuming without putting a specific label on it

Overtime both of their diets have evolved into this model, and they have each gained an interest in consuming the foods that are the most nutrient dense in an enjoyable way

3 Phase Paleo was the first of the Paleo Parent books where they talked about their three phase approach to not only removing certain foods, but on replacing the foods you are removing with nutrient dense ones instead

The Paleo Approach is another excellent resource that focuses on the 'adding in' and how beneficial this approach is to your health and wellbeing

Stacy reflected on how her diet and lifestyle evolved over time, and what happened that led her to her current food philosophy

Sarah shared her health journey and what led her to seek out a nutrient dense approach to living, specifically what inspired her to think about her diet differently

Stacy and Sarah chatted about organ meat and their recommendation for consuming organ meat at least twice a week

Sarah points out that many people have mental blocks around organ meat, and both Stacy and Sarah had to learn to like organ meat (check out both The Paleo Mom's recipe index and Paleo Parent's index for recipes that disguise organ meats)

21:48 - Nutrient Deficiencies and How to Counteract

A Paleo or primal diet may be deficient in a number of minerals, vitamins and fat-soluble vitamins

Sarah points out that she looks at her nutrient goals over the course of the week, and why zinc intake is one of her main focuses, which she likes to incorporate through canned oysters, but shellfish in general will provide you with zinc

Red meat, like organ meat, leafy greens, especially spinach, and some nuts and seeds are also high in zinc

Sarah shared on why zinc is such an important mineral and how it impacts functions within the body

Stacy's boys really like clams and they go with the canned kind, which makes it an affordable option

Specifically for Stacy, she focuses on incorporating bone broth, which is rich in glycine and many others minerals

Offal and shellfish are both synergistically rich in vitamins A, D and K2

Liver is so rich in nutrients that you could consume it once a week and meet your vitamin A needs

Consuming A, D and K2 are absolutely critical for bone health, dental health, and connective tissue and joint health

Vitamin E is another nutrient that many are deficient in, which comes primarily from green vegetables and nuts and seeds

Folic acid is a synthetic form of folate, and folate is a B vitamin

Folic acid is not efficiently absorbed and it is better for our bodies to simply have folate instead

Folate is high in green vegetables, tropical fruits and citrus fruits - citrus is overall a rockstar food because of how nutrient it is

Magnesium is not the easiest nutrient to get, as we primarily get it through large portions of dark leafy greens, which doesn't happen to be a prominent food in most folks diets

However, Stacy points out that chocolate has magnesium

Bananas, plantains, citrus fruits, figs and a lot of dried fruits are high in magnesium

Eat your vegetables, and your liver, and your citrus fruit, and your bone broth, and render your own lard from pasture raised pigs when you feel ready (Beyond Bacon can teach you how to easily do this)

41:00 - Closing Thoughts

If there is one thing you should do from what you learned on this week's show, Sarah suggests that folks work on adding micronutrient mindfulness to their actions

Simply have the topic of nutrient density on your radar and start to think through your choices from that standpoint

And don't worry right now about whether or not it is tasty, there are many ways to hide these foods and to trick your palate so that you can warm up to it slowly

Stacy's tip is to be prepared - it is when you will eat your best and with mindful decisions

What do I need to do this week to make sure I am getting seafood?

Green vegetables?

Broth, organ meat, or whatever you are looking to try?

48:11 - Closing

It has been awesome joining this week's show as guest hosts!

If you enjoyed Sarah and Stacy's guest show - be sure to find them at The Paleo View, The Paleo Mom, and the Paleo Parents

Thank you everyone!

Check out these recipes that were shared during today's episode:
- Paleo Parents' "Linguini" with Clam Sauce
- Paleo Parents' Spaghetti Squash with Meat and Offal Sauce
- Paleo Parents' Stacy's Soup
- The Paleo Mom's Offal Recipes

Get Sarah's new book The Paleo Approach:
INTRODUCING LOW-CARB WHEAT-FREE MARKET FOODS:

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LINKS MENTIONED IN EPISODE 803
- SUPPORT OUR SPONSOR: Get Wheat Belly and low-carb friendly foods from the "Wheat-Free Market"
- SUPPORT OUR SPONSOR: Glycosolve with berberine and banaba leaf
- Dr. Sarah Ballantyne bio
- Sarah's "The Paleo Mom" blog
- The Paleo Approach: Reverse Autoimmune Disease and Heal Your Body
- Sarah on Twitter
- Stacy Toth bio
- Stacy's "Paleo Parents" blog
- Sarah and Stacy's "The Paleo View" iTunes podcast
- RELATED PODCAST: The LLVLC Show #672: Guest Hosts Sarah Ballantyne And Stacy Toth From The Paleo View Podcast
- RELATED PODCAST: The LLVLC Show #699: Paleo Parents Matthew McCarry And Stacy Toth Help Us Move ‘Beyond Bacon’
- RELATED PODCAST: The LLVLC Show #589: Scientist-Turned-Stay-At-Home ‘Paleo Mom’ Sarah Ballantyne