by Melissa Diane Smith, author of Going Against the Grain

Even if you don’t smoke cigarettes, take notice: If you’re having a hard time giving up bread, pasta, and other refined grain products, you’re putting yourself at increased risk of developing lung cancer, according to a recent study published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.

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by Melissa Diane Smith, author of Going Against GMOs

So many people have misunderstandings and questions about genetically modified foods, their risks, and how to avoid them that I’m offering a special promotion through March 13, 2016: Buy a copy of Going Against GMOs (either as an eBook, paperback, or special edition paperback), forward your receipt to me at email hidden; JavaScript is required, and win a FREE 20-minute phone consultation with me! This offer was originally valid only for the first five people who took advantage of it, but I was late advertising the special to my newsletter subscribers, so I have decided to extend the offer to any readers who email me their receipts before March 13^th.

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Ask The Nutritionist

by Melissa Diane Smith

What you need to know to keep following the Paleo diet from Thanksgiving through New Year’s.

Q: My husband and I have experienced amazing health transformations since we began eating a Paleolithic diet about six months ago. We have lost weight, have more energy and improved digestion, and have normalized our previously high blood sugar levels. We want to keep that good health going during the holidays, but we know there will be many temptations. Are there any tips you can give for going through the holidays the Paleo way?

– Amy T., Chicago, IL

The Paleo diet, often referred to as the “caveman diet,” advocates eating unprocessed foods that our ancestors would have eaten during the Paleolithic era – i.e., meat, vegetables, fruits, and nuts. Olive oil, coconut oil, and avocado oil – and on some versions of the diet, organic grass-fed butter – may also be included.

As you and your husband found out, eating Paleo food provides the body the foods it needs to thrive, stay healthy, and normalize weight. The key to continuing both the diet and the health benefits you’re experiencing is to plan ahead. Doing so is extra important during the holiday season when there are many more activities, food temptations, and social pressures than normal. It takes a little effort, but if you keep the following tips in mind, you can have healthy holidays the Paleo way:
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by Melissa Diane Smith

Eat sugar comes with bitter health consequences – see my article A Reminder about The Bitter Truth About Sugar – and just this week a new study came out that estimates that sugary drinks alone kill 184,000 a year through diabetes, heart disease and cancer (see story). Even knowing the risks of sugar, many people are addicted to sugar and have a hard time eliminating it from their diet.

So, how do you kick the habit and adopt a sugar-free diet when the sweet stuff is so hard to resist? Here are three plans.

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by Melissa Diane Smith

Amidst the noise, crowdedness, and sheer size of the 35th annual Natural Products Expo West – the world’s largest event devoted to natural and specialty food and beverages, organics, supplements, health and beauty, natural living and pet products – the trends that stood out to me were:

• A growing emphasis on non-GMO and organic foods and products
• Gluten-free, while still big, seems to be narrowing in favor of many more grain-free and Paleo food product offerings
• More options of minimally sweetened products made with simple, whole food ingredients and sweetened with just fruit or small amounts of better-for-you sweeteners such as organic coconut sugar.

These are all positive developments for me, my clients and readers, and the growing number of people who shop and eat against the grain and against GMOs.

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by Melissa Diane Smith

If you eat a Paleolithic, gluten-free, grain-free, or sugar-free diet—or if you’re looking for easy-to-grab prepared foods free of most genetically modified organisms (GMOs)—I have some great news for you: Whole Foods Market now offers Paleo Specials of the Week every day in its deli case and at least one day a week in its hot food bar. Though specifics may vary in areas around the country, the Northern California region of Whole Foods started the Paleo items first, and several other regions, including Southern Pacific, have begun to carry the options. In Arizona where I live, there are Paleo offerings in both the hot bar and cold bar all day every Thursday.

“Whole Foods Market wanted to better serve our Paleo lifestyle customers, which is why we have added these unique items to our Prepared Foods Department,” says Laura Kruszewski, marketing team leader for the River Road Whole Foods Market in Tucson, Arizona.

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by Melissa Diane Smith

A key part of my message for more than a decade has been to encourage people to eat further against the grain than they are accustomed to or even than they think they should. If you stop and think about it, reducing or avoiding grains in one’s diet and eating more vegetables in their place is really eating more of a Paleolithic (or Stone Age hunter/gatherer) diet. A good portion of the clients I counsel gradually adopts this diet or goes more and more that way as time goes on, especially when dealing with serious health conditions.

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