Cavewomen Don't Get Fat by Esther Blum

home-delivery company Vital Choice ( www.vitalchoice.com ) for wild-caught salmon and seafood that is remarkably clean and pristine. Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods also offer wild Alaskan salmon; frozen at Trader’s and fresh at WholeFoods. If you can’t buy fresh fish, purchase frozen fish to get the powerful nutritional benefits of seafood.
    I can’t stress enough how important it is to commit to eating a high-protein diet if you want to be as Paleo Chic as you can be. As with the other dietary changes I suggest throughout the book, give protein a chance—for at least a week or two—and you’ll feel a remarkable shift in your energy and overall sense of well-being.

CHAPTER 7
The Skinny on Fat
    I am a big believer in fat. I love chewing the fat with my girlfriends, and I definitely believe in the nutritional, healing value in healthy dietary fats. That’s because I know how great good fats can make me look and feel.
    I, too, was a longtime victim of the low-fat-food crazes that swept the land for so many years. In my late teens and early twenties, I literally starved myself of these healthful nutrients, and I found myself with wicked PMS and menstrual cramps. My skin had more spots than a leopard, and I toggled between Accutane and antibiotics to clear up the situation. If this way of eating was meant to make me healthier, I realized quickly that I was doomed.
    Eating healthy saturated animal fats—those found in butter and lean, grass-fed meats, for example—is one of the best things you can do for your body. You don’t even have to reach back to Paleo times for evidence of this. In the 1920s, Americans ate a high-fat diet loaded with meat, butter, and whole milk—and still had lower levels of coronary artery disease than we do now. Right around the time the Roaring Twenties gave way to the Great Depression, our kitchens became infiltrated by factory-produced, highly-processed foods. These “innovations” caused a raft of illnesses—including a bump in heart ailments. Since the 1950s, there has been a tremendousspike in the diagnoses of heart disease. All of a sudden, fat became the bad guy, and we lost sight of the healthy fats that our bodies need to function well.
    Saturated fats help regulate our hormones, which you now know is at the heart of losing weight, building lean muscle mass, a glowing complexion, keeping our brains firing on all cylinders, protecting our vital organs, and making sure that our cells are replenished and toxin-free. It’s time to wrestle to the ground the great American myth about dietary fat. Don’t you ever wonder, If fat-free is the way to go, why are we so fat?
    We can lose unwanted body fat only if we eat an adequate amount of healthful dietary fats. But how much is enough? You should be eating some dietary fat with every meal, which is why most of the recipes listed in this book have about 15 grams of fat (just over 1 tablespoon) per meal; this includes both the fat found within the protein source and the fat it’s cooked in. And, you can also toss in another 10 grams per snack to allow for that 1 / 4 cup of nuts or some coconut oil in your protein shake. Depending on your weight and body fat, you may need to go up or decrease accordingly, but I’m willing to bet that the starches you eat will have a far more detrimental impact on your body composition than the fats you are consuming.
    It’s important to learn the differences between good and bad fats so that you can eat the ones that are going to help you slim down. Here’s what you need to know:
    1. High-fat, high-protein, low-carb diets regulate blood sugar and insulin levels better than low-fat, high-carb diets can. Low-carb diets also raise levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL, the “good” cholesterol), and decrease blood pressure.
    2. Become knowledgeable about the fats you consume. Good fats are just that: good, not evil. Steer clear