EATING WELL IN KANSAS CITY - August 2019 
 

Paleo, Keto, Whole30:

What’s the Best Plan for Eating Well?

 

By Sandra Silva, J.D.

 

Let’s begin on a positive note! 

 

1.  Good for you if you rarely (or never) eat food delivered through your car window.

2.  Double-good for you if you usually (or always) eat real food.

3.  Good for you again if you look at the labels on your fruits and vegetables to see if the PLU begins with a “9.”  (Organic produce PLUs begin with “9.”  Example:  organic celery “94070” and conventional celery “4070.”)  

4.   Good for you, yet again, if you support local farmers who offer fresh produce and adhere to organic practices.   

     
While these points are only a few of the basics, we all know we need a plan if any of us wants to eat well consistently. Luckily, there are several plans that can help us not only eat well, they may also support bringing our bodies into balance while helping us achieve specific health goals, i.e weight loss, lowering cholesterol, etc. Let’s take a look at three plans folks are implementing to meet their personal “eating well” goals.  (Read:   BUZZZZZZ!)
 

KETO

Concept: The Ketogenic Diet is a high fat, moderate protein, low carbohydrate diet. Ketosis results in your body burning fat, rather than carbs for fuel and energy. Research indicates a keto diet may help with weight loss, increase neurological functions, improve heart health and assist with insulin resistance.  
 

Which foods to eat: Diet should consist of 70 percent fat, 25 percent protein, and 5 percent carbohydrates. Recommended foods include: avocado, macadamia nuts, oils, seafood, meat, low-carb vegetables, eggs, berries, butter, ghee, mct oil, and cheese. 

Which foods to avoid: Most grains and flour products, including pasta, bread and sweets, root vegetables, many fruits, processed meats, low-fat dairy, candy and alcohol. 

 

PALEO

Concept: In its purest form, the paleo diet allows you to eat only those foods that humans ate when they first roamed the planet millions of years ago. The diet can improve your health by eliminating high-fat and processed foods that have little nutritional value an too many calories. This plan emphasizes loading up on fruits and vegetables that are bursting with healthy vitamins, minerals, and fiber, which fills you up faster so you eat less, helping burb weight gain. 

Which foods to eat: Ask yourself, could I hunt or gather this food?  Meat, seafood, eggs, fresh fruits & vegetables, nuts, seeds and healthy oils.  

Which foods to avoid: Refined sugar, pastries, grains, legumes, dairy, vegetable oil and processed food.  

 

WHOLE30 

Concept: The Whole30 is designed to change your life in 30 days. Think of it as a short-term nutrition reset, designed to help you put an end to unhealthy cravings and habits, restore a healthy metabolism, heal your digestive tract, and balance your immune system. 

Which foods to eat: Fruits, vegetables, meat, seafood, eggs, nuts, seeds, and healthy fats. 

Which foods to avoid: Sugars, grains, dairy, legumes, starches and processed foods.  

     
Keto, Paleo and Whole30 are great plans in that each has an underlying concept that can help us organize around meeting our health goals by eating well. Then we have to implement. I don’t know about anyone else; however, I do know for myself that sustained, rigorous, disciplined implementation is a challenge.  

     
As I’ve reviewed these plans, I’ve thought wistfully to myself, “If only I could hire a chef, this would be so much easier.”  

     
Turns out there IS a chef in the greater Kansas City area dedicated to offering options to support Keto, Paleo and Whole30 eating plans.  Chef Caleb Fetcher is the owner of Evolve Juicery & Kitchen and leads an organization staffed by a physician, an on-site trainer and numerous classically trained chefs. The business has itself “evolved” since its inception as a small home personal chef service. There are now nine stores and a common kitchen serving thousands of customers.  

     
Evolve Juicery & Kitchen (eattoevolve.com) makes it not only easy to maintain your Keto or Paleo lifestyle (or your Whole30 re-set) it saves you time. How does it work? As one would expect there are options. One option is to stop by an Evolve store (my fav is on Southwest Blvd. in the Crossroads district), pick-up lunch or dinner to eat-in or take home. Another option is to order online and pick-up your planned meals on Sunday at locations throughout the metro. The menu changes weekly and rotates through an eight-week cycle that gets tweaked in response to customer feedback and the creative urges of the chefs. Enjoy breakfast items, soups, salads, entrees, and desserts.  Order ala carte or explore one of the meal plans (small, medium and large) dependent on your lifestyle.
 

The best part of exploring the Evolve website is that every item is clearly marked as supporting Keto, Paleo or Whole30 and offers complete nutritional information.

     
Can it get any better or easier than this? Yes. Not only can you plan what you what to eat based on the weekly offerings, many of the entrees can be modified to respond to personal dietary restrictions.  Does that Summer Blueberry Salad sound delicious but you have a nut allergy? No problem; a couple of clicks and Evolve makes that salad for you without the almonds. And did I mention your planned meals can be delivered to your home or office? Definitely does not get any easier or better than this.  

     
We have lots of options to eat well (and plan well) in Kansas City. Let’s do this!  

 

 

Sandra Silva, J.D. is the Store Manager of GreenAcres Market in the Village at Briarcliff.  Sandra has a deep commitment to healing and healthy eating.  She and her staff are available to speak at community gatherings, small or large. Contact Sandra at the Market, 816-746-0010 or sandras@greenacres.com.  

Good health!  www.greenacres.com