I recently sought an alternative healthcare solution for intractable high blood pressure that wasn’t responding to mainstream medical intervention. At least, it hadn’t yet. Since March.

And as I’d rather do just about anything than lie in an emergency room bed with an IV in my arm, why not give alternative a try?

I came away from my first visit to the ‘integrative medicine’ professional with an armload of supplements and a specific recommendation to follow a ‘plant-based Paleo’ eating plan.

Now I haven’t been asleep for the past 50 years, so yes, I’ve heard of Paleo and even plant-based Paleo. In fact, about four years ago, I gave a popular doctor’s version a go and ended up sicker than I’d ever felt before. I have some concerns about the Paleo eating plan logic, mostly having to do with what cave-people might really have been eating. Maybe not coconut oil. Or coconut flour. Or coconut sugar. All of which seem to be okay Paleo foods.

Anyway. I was given a specific book recommendation and obediently downloaded it to my Kindle.

Paleo breakfasts frustrate me. Bacon or sausage and eggs? Really? I mean, I know the ban on fat has been lifted. But that particular breakfast just seems a bit–well–fat saturated. As I flipped through the pages of the recommended book (no, I’m not saying which book) the first recipe that caught my eye was one for breakfast. Zucchini pancakes. Huh. I like pancakes.

It called for:

• 2 cups zucchini, grated and water squeezed out in cheesecloth
• 3 eggs lightly beaten
• 1 TBSP coconut flour
• Salt and pepper to taste

Basically, a latke (potato pancake) made with zucchini. The kicker was to fry it (yes, FRY) in an inch of coconut oil. But okay, I’m game.

OMG. So nasty. Greasy, oily, uncooked eggs, crunchy zucchini. Yes, of course, I didn’t cook them long enough, but any longer in the pan and the outside would’ve burned to a crisp. So hmm… What would I do differently?

Based on my latke cooking experience, which granted is minimal, I’d substitute 1 cup of zucchini for 1 cup of sweet potato–still Paleo approved–use only 1 egg and increase to 3 TBSP coconut flour. Although I wonder if einkorn flour is okay Paleo–I’ll have to do some research–and fry it in a small amount of olive oil and butter mixed together.

Or better yet, I’ll find some Paleo friendly toast.

Oh and yes, I’m just as sick on this plant-based Paleo as I was last time.

But not to worry–look in next Saturday for more adventures with other people’s recipes.