The Primal Shake Solution

If you want a super fast, easy and delicious (but super healthy) meal, I can’t think of a better option than a Primal Shake.

What is a Primal Shake?

In a nutshell, a Primal Shake is made with foods that are under the Paleo/Primal umbrella of approved foods. These are whole foods that support health – like fruit, vegetables, seeds and nuts.

However, there is one supplement I use in place of a whole food – All Natural Whey Protein Powder.

Why use Whey Protein?

Well, mainly because it would be disgusting to throw a steak or piece of fish into the blender but also because Whey is a very healthy source of protein.

Why Are Primal Shakes So Great?

1. They take less than 5 minutes to make.

2. They taste great

3. They are super healthy

4. They are super convenient

5. They can be used in place of a meal, as a snack or dessert

6. I have seen tremendous health benefits from Primal Shakes

7. Friends, family and readers of this website have achieved really impressive results by using Primal Shakes.

Here are a couple emails I received from readers of this website….

Hey Tim! Thanks for all the info! We’re doing the shakes each morning and alternating between our two favorites – frozen strawberries and frozen blueberries! Since eliminating bread and high fructose corn syrup as you suggest, I pretty easily dropped the 8 lbs I had put on over the holidays! So your tips definitely work!

– Bill from Washington, DC

Dear Tim,

With a two year old and a new business demanding my attention, it’s been hard to make staying healthy a priority.

But, a while back I found suggestions at Renegade Dad that helped me get the momentum I needed to get started. Your protein shake recipes and whey protein suggestions made the notion of changing my eating habits more fun, especially with the pumpkin pie whey protein shake.

Eating just one of these shakes a day gave me the energy I needed for my two year old daughter and helped me lose 22 pounds in about 7 weeks. This sure beats spending a half hour making a so called slow-carb omelet and bean meal at 5 in the morning!”

– Matthew from Pennsylvania

How do you make Primal Shakes?

Primal Shakes are made with 3 components – a source of healthy fat, healthy carbohydrate and healthy protein. The approved foods for Primal Shakes are Primal foods which are basically Paleo foods plusdairy.

Ingredient 1: Protein

Whey Protein is the only form of protein I use.

However, not any Whey Protein powder will do. It’s really important to select the right Whey Protein. There are thousands of varieties of Whey Protein out there, but many of them have lots of sugar and artificial ingredients.

We want to make sure we are only using “all-natural” whey protein.

To help in deciding which Whey Protein might be best for you, I created a chart which compares the different types, costs etc.

My personal favorite is BodyLogix Natural Whey. It tastes great, it’s high quality and the price is unbeatable.

Ingredient 2: Fat
You are probably wondering why it is so important to have fat in our Primal Shakes right?

Well here’s a few reasons why Fat is important for improving health:

1. Fat is the most efficient source of energy

2. Fat is needed to build healthy cells

3. Fat is important for proper brain function.

4. Fat helps regulate the production of hormones.

5. Fat is important for healthy skin

6. Fat is necessary for the body to be able to absorb vital nutrients like vitamins A, D, E and K

So we want to make sure we always have a “healthy” source of fat in our Primal Shakes.

Below is a list of Healthy Sources of Fat:

Coconut Oil
Coconut Milk
Coconut Butter
Avocado
Avocado Oil
Olive Oil
Macadamia Oil
Grass Fed Butter
Almond Milk

Ingredient 3: Carbohydrate
Fortunately this part is pretty simple. We can use any fruit or vegetable in a Primal Shake.

Here are some examples of the fruits and veggies I like to use in my Primal Shakes:

Strawberries
Blueberries
Raspberries
Banana
Mango
Kale
Spinach
Broccoli
Cauliflower

Spices
Spices can be nice to add as well. I don’t use them much but two that I really like are Cinnamon and Nutmeg.

Sweeteners
I recommend avoiding sweeteners as much as possible. The fruit will make the shake pretty sweet but if you want to sweeten up your Primal Shakes even more, try Stevia, Raw Honey or Xylitol.

Recipes
So lastly I want to give you some of my recipes to help you get started.

I usually use Coconut Milk as the fat in my Primal Shakes because it is a very healthy fat and I love the taste of Coconut.

However, if you don’t like the taste of coconut, you can use Almond Milk or any of the other fats I’ve mentioned above.

Also, I typically use frozen fruit with these so ice isn’t really necessary. But if you use fresh fruit or like your shakes extra cold, feel free to add ice.

Here are the recipes:

Chocolate
¼ Cup Coconut Milk
¼ Cup Raw Cacao Powder
1 Scoop Whey Protein
½ cup Water

Strawberry
¼ Cup Coconut Milk
½ Cup Frozen or Fresh Strawberries
1 Scoop Whey Protein
½ cup Water

Chocolate Banana
¼ Cup Coconut Milk
¼ Cup Raw Cacao Powder
1 Scoop Whey Protein
1 cup Water
1 Banana

Kale, Banana, Strawberry
1 Green Kale Leaf
1 Banana
3 Frozen Strawberries
1Tbsp Coconut Oil
1 Scoop Whey Protein
Water

Kale Pina Colada
1/2 cup Coconut Milk
1/2 cup Frozen Pineapple Chunks
1/2 cup Frozen Kale
1 Scoop Whey Protein
½ cup water

Pumpkin Pie
1 Scoop Whey Protein
1/2 Can Organic Pumpkin
1 Tablespoon of Cinnamon

My suggestion is to find one or two recipes that you like and replace 1 “unhealthy” meal with that primal shake. Try it out for a couple of weeks and I’m sure you will be very happy with the results.