Simple Paleo: Roasted Chicken

By Suzanne

I was drawn to the October 2012 issue of Cook's Illustrated containing the article "The Whole Chicken Story" by Lisa McManus. This enlightening expose´ on chicken quality, manufacturing techniques, and statistics gives one food for thought. Over 8 billion chickens are produced for US consumption annually; however, producers use various techniques to bring their product to market that may include the use of antibiotics, poor quality feed to bulk the chicks, and less than humane processing techniques. McManus recommends a chicken labeled USDA organic and if possible processed using air chilling. If your chicken label has an ingredient list including more than "chicken" you may not be completely satisfied with the end product and consuming higher levels of sodium if the chicken is brined or injected.

Following is a simple recipe that I prepare weekly for my family. I serve this whole roasted chicken as a main course for dinner or stored in the refrigerator and chilled for protein snacks. Enjoy!

Roasted Chicken

1 3-4 pounds USDA organic chicken (I have not found an air chilled chicken)
1 TBSP favorite dry rub ( I use Mt. Evan's Butcher's Rub from my local spice store- Savory Spice in Denver, Colorado)

Rinse the chicken and pat dry. Place breast side up in roasting pan and rub skin with dry rub. Fill the bottom of the roasting with water. Cook in 350 degree oven covered for 1-1 1/4 hours or until meat thermometer registers 190 degrees measured at the chicken's breast. Remove from oven, cover with lid or foil, and allow to rest for 15 minutes.

I use a Cuisinart Programmable Multi-Cooker for my roasted chickens and the birds come out tender and moist with the meat falling from the bones.

Terra: The formation of Iceland & its first parliament

In August, we traveled to Iceland via a one-way flight from Denver. This, and a few future posts, will cover various aspects of this wonderful trip.

Iceland formed as an elevation of the ocean floor 20-24 million years ago and rises to 7,000 feet above sea level. The island was lifted by two forces: the separation of North American and Eurasian tectonic plates at the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, and a “hot spot” in the Earth’s mantel lying underneath Iceland.

According to Living Earth - Outline of the Geology of Iceland, the Mid-Atlantic Ridge “runs the length of the sea floor from the Arctic Ocean southwards past Africa.” Formed from the North American Plate and Eurasian plates, Iceland is slowly spreading, or “rifting”, along the Ridge.

The drifting or rifting rate is approximately 2 cm per year on average, but in reality the spreading is localized and a long time usually elapses between periods of drifting in a particular plate.

During rifting, magna normally rises to shallow depths within the crust to form intrusions, or less frequently reaches the surface in a single eruption or several eruptions during the rifting episode.

The mantel “hot spot” was crucial in Iceland's formation:

Only in certain locations are there hot spots underneath the oceans where magma production is sufficient to allow islands to form, among the most significant being Iceland, the Galapagos islands and the Hawaiian islands. 

Þingvellir

As important as the rifting zone is to world geology, it is also important in Iceland’s history. Following the age of Settlement, the Commonwealth began in 930 AD with the establishment of an assembly, the Alþingi, said to be the world’s longest continuously active parliament. Each summer, the country’s chieftains met at Þingvellir, located in the rift valley, to adjudicate and create new laws.

According to Karlsson’s A Brief History of Iceland, each chieftain (historically numbering from 36-48) “could require every ninth farmer subject to their authority to attend the session with them.” With about 4,500 farmers on the Iceland during the Commonwealth, at least 500 men would be present, often accompanied by their immediate families.

The chieftains would selected two advisers and together would sit in a circle of benches. At the center, “the Lawspeaker" would "presided over the proceedings.” Appointed for a 3-year term, the Lawspeaker “was to memorize and recite the laws of the land.”

At Þingvellir, Iceland’s influence on Tolkien's during the writing of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings was coming into view. A sense of Middle Earth pervades this dramatic supramarine island.

References

Living Earth - Outline of the Geology of Iceland
Ari Trausti Guomundsson, Halldor Kjartansson, George Douglas
Publisher: Reykjavík : Mál og menning, 2007. 

A Brief History of Iceland
Gunnar Karlsson (Author), Anna Yates (Translator)

THE WEIGHT OF THE NATION

By Suzanne

My first entry covers America’s number one public health problem - the obesity epidemic. It is an honor to contribute to PaleoTerran and I welcome your comments.

I was fortunate to be invited and attend a local community screening of  THE WEIGHT OF THE NATION.  This four-part presentation showcases the multi-factorial causes of the obesity epidemic in the United States and features prevention efforts that can be implemented by individuals, families, and communities at large as they combat this major public health threat.   

The film includes a discussion of human DNA and how it remains little changed from that of our hunter-gatherer ancestors.  As a species, humans are adapted for low calorie intake, increase energy expenditure, and the challenge of finding food.  Agriculture changed human social structure and created greater food security. The early 20th century witnessed an increase in food research and government subsidies resulting in increasing crop yields and surpluses.  A food economy developed with goal of maintaining a surplus.  The same technological advances that brought food surpluses created an environment favoring the development of the obesity epidemic.

The resulting impact on health and cost to our society is tremendous.  The CDC reports that 68.8% of the current population in the U.S. is either obese or overweight; obesity is essentially becoming the new norm. This new norm causes a proliferation of chronic diseases, such as diabetes, that decrease American’s life expectancies. Over $150 Billion is spent annually on the health consequences associated with obesity in the U.S.  Furthermore, the financial consequences of the obesity epidemic impact businesses by increasing health care costs, decreasing employee productivity, and increasing absenteeism.  Ultimately, in one-way or another, everyone in society is affected.

The Institute of Medicine (IOM) reviewed past success that improved national health including tobacco cessation, air quality, and water pollution and decided that action is necessary to address obesity.

You may ask: “What can I do to protect myself, my family, and my community?"  With 68.8% of our population affected, we all may know a family member, a friend, or a loved one who is either obese or over-weight.

Help spread the facts about the obesity epidemic, its impact, and how everyone can participate as change agents to promote the health of society.

Although not specifically promoting Paleo, the presentation does validate the benefits of Paleolithic nutrition. As we continue to become educated consumers, we can share the message with our families and communities. The presentation and multiple resources are freely available on the HBO web site found here.

Throughout September, I will critique each of the four sections and showcase the steps we can all take to benefit our families, friends, and communities. Paleolithic nutrition can play a role in reducing the weight of the nation.

THE WEIGHT OF THE NATION is a presentation by HBO and the Institute of Medicine (IOM), in association with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and in partnership with the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation and Kaiser Permanente.

CitiesAlive conference, October 17-20, Chicago, Illinois

Join Green Roofs for Healthy Cities (GRHC) and the City of Chicago as we celebrate a decade of living architecture at the 10th Anniversary of CitiesAlive from October 17 to October 20, 2012. A living example of legacy urban planning, Chicago was the site of the first CitiesAlive conference in 2003 and has been North America’s green roof leader for the past decade.

CitiesAlive

Intermittent Euphoria

Image: CyberMed, LLC

"Euphoria, of course, isn’t something you can summon at will. It doesn’t lend itself to a handy checklist. In fact, it most often catches us unaware. Nonetheless, we can cultivate a mindset and lifestyle conducive to euphoria – one that seeks adventure, values awe, and relishes discovery."

Mark Sisson

Learn more here. 

Americans waste $165 billion of food each year

Americans are throwing away 40 percent of food in the U.S., the equivalent of $165 billion in uneaten food each year, according to a new analysis by the Natural Resources Defense Council. In a time of drought and skyrocketing food NRDprices, NRDC outlines opportunities to reduce wasted food and money on the farm, in the grocery store and at home.

Learn more at NRDC

Anthropologist Herman Pontzer on Paleolithic energetics

In a recent post, I commented on the multi-institutional research study, published in the July 25 of Plos ONE, that challenges conventional wisdom on the role of an active lifestyle in preventing obesity. Anthropologist and the lead author Herman Pontzer discuss the study in The New York Times article Debunking the Hunter-Gatherer Workout:

The World Health Organization, in discussing the root causes of obesity, has cited a “decrease in physical activity due to the increasingly sedentary nature of many forms of work, changing modes of transportation and increasing urbanization.”

This is a nice theory. But is it true? To find out, my colleagues and I recently measured daily energy expenditure among the Hadza people of Tanzania, one of the few remaining populations of traditional hunter-gatherers. Would the Hadza, whose basic way of life is so similar to that of our distant ancestors, expend more energy than we do?

The short answer: no. The study, while adding some subtle complexity to the role of physical activity, strongly points to the nutritionaly deficient Western diet as the primary cause of the obesity epidemic:

All of this means that if we want to end obesity, we need to focus on our diet and reduce the number of calories we eat, particularly the sugars our primate brains have evolved to love. We’re getting fat because we eat too much, not because we’re sedentary. 

I would add: we eat too much of the wrong things. It is much harder to overeat when the diet consists of lean meats, fish, vegetables, fruits, nuts and berries, and contains, minimal, if any, grains, refined sugars, or dairy. While physical activity is important to great health, its major role is improving cardiovascular, neurological, and musculoskeletal health rather than reducing weight.

Physical activity is very important for maintaining physical and mental health, but we aren’t going to Jazzercise our way out of the obesity epidemic. 

Related Posts

• Do hunter-gatherers really burn more calories per day?

Video: Mark Sisson on the Primal Diet

Paleo Food Truck - Indianapolis, Indiana

Shelby Malterr does a nice job on the Paleo rationale.
Via Indy Style TV: Paleo Food Truck

Brent's primal success story

I no longer use my C-PAP machine, and I feel like a teenager again. All of my health issues are gone! I feel like I have a new lease on life. I look forward to every morning and cherish every day. Because honestly, when I was at my worst I didn’t know how many days I had left. We now have a second child, and I am able to play with them as much as I want, roll on the floor with them, and just be there for them. I truly have a life I never thought possible. I went from feeling like I was dying every minute of every day, to living the life I have always dreamed! It is truly a gift that I cherish every day.

Mark's Daily Apple

Extreme weather: Climate on steroids

"Picture a baseball player on steroids," Meehl goes on. "This baseball player steps up to the plates and hits a home run. It's impossible to say if he hit that home run because of the steroids, or whether he would have hit it anyway. The drugs just made it more likely."

It's the same with the weather, Meehl says. Greenhouse gasses are the steroids of the climate system. "By adding just a little bit more carbon dioxide to the climate, it makes things a little bit warmer and shifts the odds toward these more extreme events," he says. "What was once a rare event will become less rare.

Peter Miller
 quoting Gerald Meehl from the National Center for Atmospheric Research
Weather Gone Wild 

National Geographic, September 2012, print edition 

Outdoors: Mt. Bierstadt, August 2012

Intermittent foot paths allow passage through the "dreaded willows." Bierstadt's peak, in the upper right, as seen in the morning light. 

On Saturday August 21, my wife and two of my sons and I hiked 14,060 ft. Mt. Bierstadt. For my wife and my youngest son, the goal was their first 14er. For my oldest son, his third ascent up Bierstadt, it was to support us while enjoying the outdoors and physical activity. My first climb of Bierstadt (also with my oldest son) was in August 2010, just one month before a cycling crash down Squaw Pass. Thus, my prime motivation was to see if I was back to baseline and could climb it again. 

Nearby lake on left side of trail. 

Hiking together at the higher altitudes. 

View from the other side of the mountain. 

Taking a break before the final push. People on the summit are barely seen as faint linear images on crest in the right upper corner.

At the summit. 

The path down. The parking lot is beyond the lake seen in the left upper quadrant.

There may be another reason for the adults to climb, recently expressed nicely by Mark Sisson:

The comfortable plateau we’ve achieved – with all good intention – can seem less satisfying. Where did the peaks of life go? Do we make space for exuberance or adventure anymore? In seeking to live vitally, we inherently value more than the necessities of survival, more than the elements of comfort. It’s a mark of thriving, I think, to test the scale and dimension of existence – in whatever way fulfills us personally. We can choose to prioritize the role of awe, adventure, and uncertainty in our lives. The fact is, the power of intermittent euphoria (IE) can fill a deep – and deeply human – well.

Mark's Daily Apple