Mark Sisson's Blog, page 134

CrossFit vs. Bodybuilding

Both CrossFit and bodybuilding involve lifting weights and putting them back down, repeatedly, several times each week. Both are forms of exercise.  The similarities stop there. The real meat lies in the differences.

What’s different about CrossFit and bodybuilding? What can we learn from those differences? What can they learn from each other?

CrossFit Explained

First of all, defining CrossFit by real world examples is difficult; there are tons. There’s so-called “homepage CrossFit,” where you go to CrossFit.com and do the Workout of the Day (WOD) as prescribed. That’s become less and less popular as more CF boxes open up and employ their own programming. These days, those doing main page CF are mostly individuals following along at home or at regular gyms.

It’s better to look at the overarching intent of the CrossFit philosophy.

CrossFit is all about function. Rather than emphasizing aesthetics, it focuses on increasing work capacity. It’s trying to make people better at producing a given amount of work in less time than before. If you can go from doing 10 pullups in two minutes to doing 20 pullups in two minutes, you’ve just increased your work capacity. CrossFit wants its athletes to not only lift heavy things, but lift heavy things repeatedly with less rest.

It also wants to increase your work capacity across “broad modal domains.” What does that mean? Rather than increase only pullup work capacity, it wants you to improve your work capacity across every mode of movement humans engage in: running, rowing, jumping, squatting, deadlifting, throwing, climbing, carrying, pushing, pressing, clean-and-jerking. CrossFitters are training for “the sport of fitness”—for overall adaptive fitness.

And actually, what most people imagine when they think of CrossFit isn’t too far off from the reality:

High-intensity full-body movements performed for time.
“As many reps as possible” (AMRAP) workouts.
Olympic lifts for reps.
Endless pullups and ring dips.
Rowing, sprinting, climbing.
Varied modes of movement.

Bodybuilding Explained

Bodybuilding is all about form. At its highest levels, bodybuilders are trying to cultivate aesthetic perfection in the human physique. In other words, bodybuilding is about getting jacked. Bodybuilding is primarily concerned with looks, big muscles, low body fat. It aims to realize the potential of every single muscle in the human body to grow while maintaining balance and cohesion. No big quads and small glutes, or big biceps and small triceps. Bodybuilders want everything to grow not for extra functionality, but because they look better that way.

People use all sorts of different methods to bodybuild. What makes bodybuilding bodybuilding isn’t so much the methods—although there are definite trends. There are keto bodybuilders doing medium rep sets and basic “balanced diet” bodybuilders doing high rep sets. It’s the intent.

Bodybuilders want to look strong and impressive. They’re judged based on how they look, not what they can lift. CrossFitters want to be strong and impressive. They’re judged based on what they can do.

The top bodybuilders are usually quite strong, and the top CrossFitters tend to be fairly aesthetic. Check out CF athletes Samantha Briggs and Rich Froning.

Benefits Of Each

What can bodybuilders expect to get from bodybuilding?

Better body composition—more lean mass, less body fat
Strength—big muscles usually increase strength, though not necessarily functional strength
Better insulin sensitivity—bigger muscles mean bigger glycogen sinks, and strength training increases insulin sensitivity
Increased bone density and all the wonderful adaptive benefits of lifting heavy things

What can CrossFitters expect to get out of CrossFit?

Improvements in both strength, anaerobic, and aerobic capacity
Better functional movement patterns
Better insulin sensitivity
Increased bone density
Better cardio vascular health

Pervasive Myths About Both

“Bodybuilders are dumb meatheads.”

For one thing, successful bodybuilding requires planning, careful attention to technique, and a strong mind-body awareness and presence of mind to “feel” the muscle working. Research confirms that rather than use “extreme, non-evidence-based regimens,” bodybuilders use “evidence-based” nutrition strategies to achieve their desired physiques. Brain and brawn are the opposite of mutually exclusive. In addition, strength training (and exercise in general) supports brain health and triggers brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), which promotes neuronal growth and protects against neurodegenerative disease. The idea of the “dumb bodybuilder” is total nonsense. Every piece of evidence we have contradicts it.

“Bodybuilders never do compound exercises.”

The notion that bodybuilders are only using machines and doing isolation exercises is simply wrong. Arnold started with squats. Ronnie Coleman squatted and deadlifted. Tom Platz definitely squatted. A bodybuilder might do a lot of curls, but never in the squat rack.

“CrossFitters get injured all the time.”

Contrary to popular belief, CrossFit has never been shown to be more dangerous than other types of training. Recent studies show that CrossFitters experience no more shoulder injuries than other athletes, for example. If anything, CrossFitters get fewer injuries than athletes on other programs. Of course, any time you push yourself hard enough to elicit a training adaptation, you risk injury. It comes with the territory.

“The CrossFit Games are representative of how CFers train every day.”

The Games are a big event, a competition, a way to test the mettle and competence of the best of the best. Three days of almost non-stop lifting, running, pulling, throwing, flipping, climbing, and pushing is an aberration; it’d be like an endurance athlete training by doing Ironman Triathlons three times a week.

What Can CrossFitters and Bodybuilders Learn From Each Other?
CrossFitters can learn:

The importance of discipline. To be a successful bodybuilder, you can’t “just eat whatever” and “train here and there.” You don’t just bang out a quick 20-minute session. You’re in the gym for 1-2 hours, spending half your time on the triceps. You’re meal planning a week in advance. It requires dedication and extreme discipline to really influence body composition to the degree body builders do, develop a balanced physique, and maintain low-enough body fat that you can see all your hard work. There’s a constant dance between eating enough to gain muscle and keeping body fat low. The cut and bulk. That isn’t easy.

The importance of quality of movement. Since a big concern is work performed across time, CrossFitters will often look for short cuts to improve performance without building the appropriate foundation. A good example of this is launching into kipping pullups (which use explosive momentum and demand a lot of shoulder mobility and strength) before you can do more than one strict pull up on your own.

The benefits of isolation exercises. Many folks in the online fitness/health community—not just CrossFitters—neglect the benefits of isolation exercises, often gleefully. “Those are for the beach,” they’ll say, or “pullups are enough, no need for curls.” Yet, sometimes isolation exercises can actually translate to real life capability by strengthening a weak link. If you’re doing nothing but pullups and rows without any direct bicep work, consider doing some. Another example is the pistol squat; it’s not hard because of inadequate quad or hamstring strength, but because the hip flexors and ankles are weak and lack mobility. An isolated focus on those relatively “minor” muscles can make a huge difference.

Bodybuilders can learn:

The benefits of overall fitness rather than just weight training. Looking big and strong is great. No arguments there. But it’s fun to be able to move through time and space with fluidity and grace—and explosiveness. There’s no reason to avoid improving your cardiovascular and anaerobic fitness, or put those big muscles to work. If anything, doing so will improve your physique and make your bodybuilding more effective.

The importance of compound barbell movements. While I know the big names pay their dues with squats, deadlifts, and other compound lifts, many of the beginners stumbling around the globo-gym neglect the big lifts in favor of exclusively doing isolation exercises.

Final Takeaways…

The two approaches and philosophies are about as different as you can get… and yet, the differences are far from irreconcilable.

Every human wants to look good, to appear strong and competent and aesthetic.

Every human wants to be strong and competent, with the ability to impose his or her will on the world.

Every CrossFitter has a little bodybuilder in them (or else there wouldn’t be so many CF Instagrams accounts full of black and white photos of chalked up hands attached to glistening bodies in the midst of cleans and thrusters and muscle-ups). Every bodybuilder has a little CrossFitter in them (because when they get down to it, every bodybuilder gets intrinsic joy from lifting some heavy ass weight).

I say it’s time they reconciled. What about you?

Any CrossFitters or bodybuilders out there who want to give their thoughts and suggestions on bridging the divide?

Thanks for reading, everyone. Take care!

The post CrossFit vs. Bodybuilding appeared first on Mark's Daily Apple.

Dear Mark: Marine Fat Sources, Not Gaining/Losing, Keto Breastfeeding

For today’s edition of Dear Mark, I’m answering three questions. First, what are some less expensive sources of marine fat high in omega-3s? Is canned salmon a good, safe, effective option? Second, a reader is training hard, eating low-carb/keto, doing IF, and feels pretty good despite not losing or gaining any weight? What should she do? What could she be doing wrong? And third, should you go keto while nursing?

Let’s go:

Marine fat. Good examples? I have tried to eat sardines, I really have. I don’t know why they repulse me so. Where else can I turn? Safe salmon is just so expensive unless you get canned, and even then, can you trust it? If it’s true satiety I’m going for, a supplement (cod liver oil?) is probably not going to give me that.

I hear you on the canned salmon. When I was first looking into this years ago, I worried that canned fish would be damaged by heat and perform worse than supplements. Turns out it’s very useful. In one study, researchers gave women with a high risk of breast cancer omega-3 fats via fish oil caps or canned salmon. Both “supplements” worked at increasing levels of DHA and EPA. Fish oil increased the EPA content of red blood cells and plasma four-fold; canned salmon increased it two-fold. The change in DHA was similar in both groups, as was the overall change in breast tissue fatty acids. Fish oil may be more potent, but it’s unclear if quadrupling your RBC EPA is necessarily more desirable than doubling. You also have to consider the two things the fish eaters got that the fish oil quaffers didn’t: all the micronutrients (selenium, iodine, astaxanthin, etc) and macronutrients (protein) salmon provides.

Canned salmon is a good option, and most of it is BPA-free these days (but verify). If you enjoy it (some do not), look for salmon that includes the bones and skin. Tons of benefits there—calcium, collagen, extra oil. Trader Joe’s used to carry one like that. They still might.

Fresh mackerel is good. Here’s a buying and cooking guide to mackerel I did awhile back. It’s affordable and full of omega-3s.

If you can find them, fresh sardines are a totally different animal. Just make sure the fish smells clean, has clear eyes, is firm, and resists sagging when held parallel to the floor by the tail.

Canned cod liver exists. It’s tastier and milder than you’d expect, canned in its own oil, and Northern Europeans have been eating it for years. Here’s smoked cod liver. Here’s regular.

Jennifer asked:

#6 is me right now. I am eating low carb (maybe even Keto), and I’m IF’ing every day (allowing only coffee w/ a splash of cream in the morning). My appetite is finally feeling quite suppressed. The nice thing is that I’m not counting. I am eating intuitively; and at the end of the day, I log what I ate as best as I know how (since I didn’t measure), to just check, and everything seems to be on point with my calories and macros. I train brazilian jiu jitsu several times a week, as well as do HITT style workouts, with strength training on my off days. I usually have a couple days a week that I don’t train.

My question is, I’m not losing and I’m not gaining – so do I keep doing what I’m doing? Or do I change things up? I feel fine – plenty of energy, and I’m not hungry. If I were hungry, I’d eat. My goal is to lose another 15 lbs, and I love the keto/IF style for me because it works well with my lifestyle.

First, make sure you actually need to lose another 15 pounds. 15 pounds of what? Fat, lean? Rather than thinking in terms of bodyweight, it’s often more helpful to have concrete goals. Is there an article of clothing you want to be able to fit into?

You’re training a ton. That’s great, it can be incredibly rewarding—I know the feeling. But that, paired with “my appetite is finally feeling quite suppressed” is a bit of a warning sign. When I trained daily, my appetite was through the roof. I couldn’t get enough food. You’re hitting it really hard. BJJ, extremely demanding, glucose-intensive. HIIT, extremely demanding, glucose-intensive. Weights, extremely demanding. You should be hungrier, not less.

All in all, the message your training and restricted eating may be sending to your body is one of scarcity. It’s good that you’re neither gaining nor losing and have plenty of energy, but that could change quickly. Try giving your body a few more signals of abundance; it may be exactly what you need, and it could help you avoid problems in the future.

Try eating breakfast, a real breakfast. Have some eggs, bacon, half a cantaloupe. If you insist on IFing, try doing a lighter/no dinner instead of no breakfast.

Try eating a few more carbs and calories on your training days, timed after your workouts. You’re burning through a lot of glycogen, and if you’re eating keto with IF you’re probably not replenishing it.

Good luck and keep us posted.

Akrol asked:

Is it safe to do a moderate keto diet while breast feeding?

If you recall from previous posts, oxaloacetate is necessary for finishing the Krebs’ cycle and producing ATP from fat and glucose. Running out of oxaloacetate means we can’t make ATP from fat and glucose and need an alternate energy source: Ketones. Lactating women also use it to produce lactose, the milk sugar that provides much of the nursing baby’s energy needs. That means that lactating women can eat more carbs and protein and still remain in ketosis. It also means that eating a strict ketogenic diet extremely low in carbs and protein is likely to impair milk production.

While many women report remaining ketogenic while nursing without issue, there are a few case studies of breastfeeding women suffering lactation ketoacidosis, a dangerous condition where chronically low insulin prevents the cells from accessing blood glucose and promotes unchecked ketone production that make the body overly acidic. This can be life threatening. Triggers of lactation ketoacidosis have included starvation (don’t starve yourself or even fast while breastfeeding), twin lactation (feeding two increases the amount of lactation substrate you need to consume), and a low-calorie/low-carb/high-fat diet (bad combo).

Had I a set of breasts from which an infant would be suckling, I’d just opt for a regular old low-carb diet, Primal style. I wouldn’t worry about ketone production so much as eating enough calories.

That’s it for today, folks. Thanks for reading, take care, and chime in down below with your own input!

The post Dear Mark: Marine Fat Sources, Not Gaining/Losing, Keto Breastfeeding appeared first on Mark's Daily Apple.

Weekend Link Love — Edition 512

The Keto Reset Instant Pot Cookbook is getting a big discount, a full day before the rest of Prime Day kicks in: $3.99 for the Kindle book, 20% off the physical book. If you haven’t picked it up yet, you’re missing out. Sale starts at 8:35 a.m. PDT and ends at 2:35 p.m. PDT. Later this afternoon from 4:10 p.m. to 10:10 p.m. PDT, 12-pack PRIMAL KITCHEN® Bars (all flavors) will be discounted 35%, too.
Research of the Week

Dog food with legumes tied to heart disease.

Advanced glycation end products have no relationship to inflammation or obesity in healthy teens.

Air pollution may be responsible for a lot of diabetes.

The more cushioned the running shoe, the harder the impact.

Smiley scientists achieve more.

Having a black doctor reduces black cardiovascular mortality.

Wearing a tie cuts brain circulation.

New Primal Blueprint Podcasts

Episode 261: Tania Teschke: The Book Launch: Host Elle Russ chats with Tania Teschke about the journey to get her latest and greatest book—The Bordeaux Kitchen—published and launched.

Each week, select Mark’s Daily Apple blog posts are prepared as Primal Blueprint Podcasts. Need to catch up on reading, but don’t have the time? Prefer to listen to articles while on the go? Check out the new blog post podcasts below, and subscribe to the Primal Blueprint Podcast here so you never miss an episode.

Interesting Blog Posts

Finger strength tips from a Spanish climber.

Foggy brain? Blame adenosine (and consider coffee).

Media, Schmedia

Human prehistory is far more complicated than we ever imagined.

The US trade war with China may hit soy hard.

It’s the lifestyle, not the calories.

Everything Else

In case herring ice cream isn’t enough for you, they’ve also got raw herring ice cream.

The mayor of Lancaster, CA read that necktie paper too.

Otzi the Iceman had goat fat, deer meat, ferns, and ancient wheat in his belly when he died.

The world is far more urban than we thought.

Would you try this?

Things I’m Up to and Interested In

I feel like I’ve seen this study a dozen times, but I’m still happy to welcome it: Full-fat dairy appears to be healthy.

N=1 experiment I enjoyed: The great Vitamin K2 experiment.

Glad to see this misconception targeted: Plenty of people lived to an old age in ancient times.

Amazing new medical technique: Injecting new mitochondria revives dying organs.

Great op-ed with whose op I agree: It’s the carbs, not the fat.

Recipe Corner

Peaches are in, so make watercress with seared prosciutto and peaches.
Keto chipotle lime tacos. I can think of a chipotle mayo that would make a nice topping… Just make sure you use meat, not the vegan replacement.

Time Capsule

One year ago (Jul 8– Jul 14)

CrossFit’s Criticism: How Do I Eat Enough Calories on Primal? – Is it possible to support CrossFit energy needs on a Primal way of eating?
Need to Know Factors for Bone Health – Get better bones.

Comment of the Week

“Please tell me you were joking when you wrote ‘everyday staple foods like whale blubber and Angle fish liver.’?”

– I’m not sure what you’re implying, Jenny. I just took a trip to Costco and now have half a ton of bowhead whale blubber hanging in my curing room and a few boxes of canned angle fish liver (was on sale) in my pantry. About half the folks in checkout had the same in their carts.

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Egg Tacos With Avocado and Lime

These aren’t fried eggs, nor are they scrambled. The eggs in these tacos are just slightly set, with a warm, runny yolk that is barely scrambled into the whites. Slide one of these gently cooked eggs into a warm tortilla, top with cool avocado and lime and slices of jalapeno and you’ve got the perfect breakfast taco. Although these egg tacos are delicious for dinner, too.

The main reason to gently scramble an egg is that it tastes delicious. The whites are fully cooked, but the yolk is runny, which gives the egg a soft and creamy texture. The second reason to gently scramble an egg, rather than whisk it all together and cook it over high heat, is that the cholesterol stays intact. Meaning it’s not oxidized, which is a healthier way to enjoy eggs.

These egg tacos are a delicious alternative to meat tacos. They’re perfect with a simple topping of avocado, cilantro and jalapeno, but feel free to pile on fresh tomatoes or salsa, too.

Servings: 4 tacos

Time in the Kitchen: 20 minutes, plus time to make tortillas

Ingredients

3 avocados, cut into small chunks
2 teaspoons fresh lime juice (10 ml)
½ cup finely chopped red onion, divided (120 ml)
4 eggs
½ cup finely chopped cilantro (120 ml)
2 jalapeno peppers, sliced
Salt, to taste
Tortillas of your choice*

*About the tortillas… Three choices include Primal Tortillas, Cassava Flour Tortillas, or (in the spirit of a Primal compromise or for non-Primal family members) a Corn Tortilla.

Instructions

In a medium bowl, gently mix together the avocado and lime. Add salt to taste. Set aside.

Add a little avocado oil or butter to a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Add about a tablespoon of red onion, and cook for 2 to 3 minutes until the onion softens slightly.

Crack one egg into the hot pan with the onion. Use a spatula to break the yolk and gently stir it once or twice into the white, but don’t scramble the yolk fully into the egg white. Let the egg cook for 1 to 2 minutes until the bottom and white of the egg begins to set but the yolk is still soft.

*Another way to gently scramble eggs is to separate the whites and yolks. Add the egg white to the pan first and cook it for several minutes, then add the yolk for the last minute of cooking.

Slide the egg and red onion into a warm tortilla. Sprinkle cilantro on top. Top with avocado and a few slices of jalapeno.

Macros (without tortilla):

Calories: 331
Fat: 27.5 grams
Protein: 10 grams
Carb: 5.5 grams

The post Egg Tacos With Avocado and Lime appeared first on Mark's Daily Apple.

I Became a Fat Burner and Feel Awesome

It’s Friday, everyone! And that means another Primal Blueprint Real Life Story from a Mark’s Daily Apple reader. If you have your own success story and would like to share it with me and the Mark’s Daily Apple community please contact me here. I’ll continue to publish these each Friday as long as they keep coming in. Thank you for reading!

My name is Matthew Gruttadauria, I am 22-years-old and live in Las Vegas, Nevada. For most of my life I have been a rather fit and active individual. I played sports throughout high school and college. Once I got out of college and began to work I started to gain a lot of weight and was always fatigued.

My typical eating day before I discovered The Primal Blueprint was fast food (mickey d’s, burger king, panda express, wendy’s) for all 3 meals of the day. All I ate was garbage and would eat candy and drink soda, and sports drinks (powerade, gatorade, coke). My diet was extremely poor and I was just starting to feel horrible all the time.

Then one day, one of my employees, Clark, started to talk to me about nutrition and exercise to try and help me lose weight and get some energy. Clark told me to purchase The Primal Blueprint 21-Day Total Body Transformation. So I went home that day went on Amazon and ordered it. I then proceeded to read the book and took on the 21-Day Challenge.

I immediately started to see results and felt better. I was shedding the pounds away and not even working out. Once I finished the 21-Day Challenge I was shifted from depending on carbs and sugar for fuel, and I became a fat burner and felt awesome.

I have been Primal/Keto for about 1 year now and have lost a total of 60 pounds and feel absolutely stellar. I love and enjoy every bite of food I eat and have endless amounts of energy without having to constantly be eating. It feels so free to be on this diet, even though it’s not really a diet. It is a lifestyle and it completely changed my life, and I want to say thank you to Mark Sisson for guiding me to a new healthy lifestyle.

The post I Became a Fat Burner and Feel Awesome appeared first on Mark's Daily Apple.

Keto for Women: 7 Tips to Make it Work

Keto is exploding. No longer solely the province of cutting edge bodybuilders or longevity enthusiasts and neurodegenerative disease warriors, keto has invaded every walk of life. I hear about it in grocery stores, coffee shops, spin classes, business meetings, dinner parties, morning talk shows. Judging from our blog and sales metrics, women make up the largest group of recent entries into the diet. This is great, but it also comes with a small wrinkle: Just like they should do with fasting, most women need to take special precautions when implementing a ketogenic diet.

To begin with, one of keto’s main benefits is also its biggest stumbling block for women: The inadvertent reduction in calorie intake and massive increase in satiety.

It’s the quality that makes ketogenic diets so effective for weight loss, particularly in the obese and severely overweight. And that satiety, that provides a psychological boost. You’re not just not hungry. You’re not hungry because you’re consuming your own body fat. You eat fewer calories than you were because all the food is coming from inside the house. That’s powerful, and it perpetuates itself, leading to even more weight loss and making keto that much more sustainable.

But it’s a double-edged sword. Premenopausal women have a greater sensitivity to reduced calories than other human variants. As I said previously…

Biology cares most about your fertility. Can you reproduce? Can you produce healthy offspring that survive to do the same? It’s not fashionable to say it, but it’s the truth: Physiologically, ancestrally, evolutionarily, these things come first.

And from that perspective, a woman’s situation is more precarious than a man’s.

You have a finite number of eggs, or “chances.” Men have an almost infinite supply of sperm.

When you are preparing to get pregnant, your body needs extra nutrients to build up a reserve and “prime the pump.”

When you are pregnant, the growing baby needs a reliable and constant stream of nutrients for almost a year. After a man gets someone pregnant, his biological involvement with the growing baby is done. What he eats has no impact on the survival of the growing baby.

After you’ve given birth, the growing newborn needs breastmilk. To make that milk requires additional calories and extra doses of specific nutrients. Modern technology allows us to skip nursing and go straight to the bottle, but your body doesn’t “know” that.

It all points to women being more finely attuned to caloric deficits. For example, women’s levels of ghrelin, the hunger hormone, are quicker to rise after meals. They get hungry quicker.

This isn’t just relevant for parents or parents-to-be. Even if you’re not interesting in getting pregnant and having kids, or you have children and aren’t planning on any more, the ability to do so is strongly connected to your health. Reproductive health is health. As far as your body’s concerned, having kids is the primary goal and you need to be ready to do it as long as you’re able.

With that in mind, how can we avoid the common pitfalls women face on keto?

Luckily for you, I have a team of brilliant women with a ton of keto experience. We put our heads together and came up with some suggestions:

1. Eat Extra Fat For the First Week…Or So

This has three effects:

First, it upregulates construction of your fat burning machinery. It hastens the adaptation of your mitochondria to the new fuel source by boosting AMPK.

Second, it helps ensure you aren’t working from a caloric deficit. This sends your body a signal of abundance, which means it won’t dive into metabolic conservation mode and hang onto fat stores for dear life.

Third, it gives you a psychological boost. It’s a nice way to realize that you can eat more fat than you thought useful and still lose weight and experience health benefits. It also helps break through the psychological barrier many of us have with eating fat, thanks to growing up in the “low-fat-everything” era. Giving yourself permission to eat a lot (maybe even “too much”) fat at the beginning swings the pendulum strongly in the other direction so it can settle comfortably in the middle where it belongs.

This big increase in fat shouldn’t stay unless you’re trying to gain weight. As you get better at generating and burning ketones and, later, body fat, you can start chipping away at your own adipose tissue and reducing the amount of dietary fat. Continuing the extra fat intake, however, may be important for those who are underweight or who are using keto therapeutically. This may go for any of us though: if you’ve been eating a low-fat diet up until now, a seeming “big increase” in fat intake might just help you attain what would be considered normal keto levels.

Make sure you’re eating the particular fats that boost AMPK (which builds fat-burning mitochondria):

Marine fat high in the long chained omega-3s EPA and DHA.
Extra virgin olive oil rich in polyphenols.
Palmitoleic acid, an omega-7 monounsaturated fat. Best sources are the everyday staple foods like whale blubber, sea buckthorn berries, and anglerfish liver. Oh, and mac nuts.

2. Don’t Try To Restrict Calories

Remember how a a major benefit of keto is inadvertent calorie restriction? Don’t try to double up by restricting them further.

Look. If you’re not buying this, give me three weeks. Three weeks of ad-libitum eating. Don’t gorge yourself. Don’t put a stick of butter in your coffee just because. But don’t calorie count. Don’t weigh and measure.

Eat to satiety. Eat until you’re not hungry anymore.

Don’t eat until you’re bursting.

It’s not a fine line I’m talking about here. You have a lot of wiggle room between “undereating” and “gorging.” It’s closer to a wide walkway. Most people eating a basic whole foods Primal keto diet won’t have trouble staying between the lines. Trust that your subconscious systems will regulate calorie intake for you.

Don’t try to override the system. Give it a chance to work.

3. Fasting Or Keto: Choose One

Even many men, who tend to be more impervious to metabolic insults, suffer when combining extremely low carbohydrate diets with intense fasting or constantly compressed eating windows. Their calories get too low, too quickly, for too long.

The point of keto is to boost fat burning. The point of fasting is to boost fat burning. When you boil down to it, they’re shooting for very similar things. Combining the two seems like it would supercharge the benefits, and it often can, but that’s not always the case—particularly for women, particularly right when you’re starting.

Besides, if you throw both of them in at once, it becomes hard to disentangle the various inputs to determine what’s causing the harm (or benefit). Introduce one major shift at a time—fasting or keto—and give yourself a clearer view of the situation.

4. Avoid Nutrient-Poor Fat Bombs

Fat bombs can be helpful allies for hard-charging keto athletes who need as many calories as possible just to maintain homeostasis. Those folks usually achieve adequate micronutrition due to the sheer volume of food they take in, so there’s “room” for spoonfuls of coconut oil and shot glasses of olive oil. If that doesn’t describe you, don’t do what they do.

If you’re going to do a “fat bomb,” make it as nutrient-dense as possible.

Egg yolks, soft boiled eggs, egg salad (2-3 hard boiled eggs chopped up with mustard and mayo)
Avocados, avocados chopped up with sardines and topped with Green Goddess dressing
Veggie-loaded guacamole: avocados, salt, lime, peppers, herbs, tomatoes, garlic
Primal Fuel and Collagen Fuel smoothies
Big Ass Salad
Seaweed tuna wrap: make tuna salad, wrap with nori sheets
Nut butter on celery sticks—add salt if unsalted
Olives
Couple ounces of cheese
Pork rinds (Why aren’t there ever beef rinds? Big Rawhide hogging all the supply?)

5. Don’t Be So Strict

There’s an argument for super strictness at the outset. Sticking with keto for the first 3 or 4 weeks as closely as possible does wonders for fat-adaptation. But once you’re there, you’re good. The fat-burning machinery is built. Your mitochondria are good at switching between fat and glucose. Eating a homemade gluten-free cookie your kid surprised you with isn’t going to derail your entire keto journey. You will bounce back. You will be fine.

After all, the reason we all got into this keto thing is to improve our metabolic resilience. To be able to go off the rails and find our way back without an issue. This is the keto zone I talk about so much (and spend so much time in).

If you’re trying to stave off epileptic seizures, enhance the effect of cancer drugs, treat dementia, or need high ketone readings for any other medical reason, stay strict. Otherwise, don’t be so strict.

6. Sometimes the Best Advice Is the Worst

When the diet “isn’t working,” which of course usually means the person isn’t losing weight, there are three things you hear:

Lower carbs to 20g
Too much protein
Too many calories

However, for a body that is under stress, less isn’t necessarily the answer. Sometimes your body needs more food period, perhaps even more carbs or protein specifically. This is why I cringe when I see people going straight from the Standard American Diet, or even from higher-carb paleo/Primal or the like, straight into hardcore keto plus IF and extreme calorie restriction all in one fell swoop. Your body needs time to learn how to power itself on ketones, so taking away all the food security at the same time can be incredibly counterproductive. And because women are inherently more sensitive to metabolic disturbances or signals of “famine” than men, they need to heed this warning in particular.

7. Beware the Low-Protein Slippery Slope

They say the slippery slope is a fallacy. Maybe in some cases, but I see one example that’s valid: the low-protein slippery slope. A lady goes keto, has poor results. She goes online, asks around, others suggest, “How much protein are you eating?” She drops protein. Gets worse. Drops protein a bit more. Suffers more. Soon she’s eating nothing but Primal Kitchen mayo, mac nuts, romaine lettuce, and a single egg. She’s so ketotic she’s peeing purple drink, yet her symptoms are only getting progressively worse.

Yes, protein is an oxaloacetate donor, which means too much of it can impair ketogenesis. Yes, people whose health requires high levels of circulating ketone bodies must limit protein, often more than they think. Yes, the classic epilepsy diets are very low in protein. But there is such a thing as too low a protein intake, especially for women who tend to eat less protein than men in the first place. Getting high ketone readings isn’t worth much if you’re losing muscle mass, lagging in the gym, and experiencing worse body composition shifts. I mean, what are we doing keto for, anyway?

Finally, going keto can pay huge dividends, but it must be done correctly—and women have less room for error. Hopefully, today’s post offers some helpful tips for making it work. This said, I’ll also offer the reminder that there’s no one version of keto that’s right for everyone (or every woman)—the same with Primal or any other way of eating. Just because your neighbor is drowning everything in sour cream and eating 4000 kcal/day in a 4-hour eating window and calling it keto doesn’t mean that’s what you have to do. Get comfortable with the fact that finding the way of eating that works for you is going to be a learning process. Hone your keto lifestyle with this guidance above—and a healthy dose of patience.

Thanks, everybody. Let me know your thoughts and any questions that come up for you. Take care.

The post Keto for Women: 7 Tips to Make it Work appeared first on Mark's Daily Apple.

Ultimate Guide to Allulose Sweetener

A few months back, I put Swerve under the proverbial microscope. This time I’m looking at a relative newcomer in the alternative sweetener field. Allulose is quickly growing in popularity, since it’s both naturally occurring and virtually identical to table sugar in taste and texture. Then there’s the claim of sidestepping many of the ill-health effects associated with many other sweeteners.

I know many of you are with me when I bring a sizable dose of skepticism to these kinds of bold proclamations. So, I did my own research, asking whether it’s truly the full-flavor, guilt-free choice many suggest it is. And, if it is (or if it comes close), I wondered, what are its best uses in the kitchen?

What is Allulose?

When it comes down to it, allulose isn’t all that unlike glucose or fructose. The three are all monosaccharides, the simplest form of carbohydrate. Like glucose and fructose, allulose is also naturally occurring—unlike the vast array of artificial sweeteners on the market today. Still, as we know, “natural” doesn’t always mean “healthy.”

Fructose, for example, is synonymous with fruit. Conventional wisdom teaches us that fruit is healthy, but Primal folks are well aware that increasing consumption of fructose is associated with a plethora of health risks from diabetes to cardiovascular disease. And considering allulose has virtually the same chemical makeup as fructose, that might raise some eyebrows.

But chemical legacies aside, there appear to be some key differences between allulose and its monosaccharide cousins. Unlike fructose and glucose, which are found in abundance in the foods we eat, allulose is a very rare sugar that’s hard to find in nature—popping up in only a few foods like wheat, figs, raisins and jackfruit.

Next, allulose (aka psicose) is an epimer of fructose. In essence, this means that while allulose has the same atomic makeup as fructose, it has a minor structural variation. This miniscule difference supposedly has far-reaching effects, however, with preliminary trials showing that around 70% of allulose is excreted in urine and that it has very low fermentability in the gut—meaning you’re less likely to experience gas, bloating, and digestive upset after eating it. (Those who react to other natural alternative sweeteners probably know what I’m talking about here.)

Because so little allulose is utilized by our bodies for energy, the caloric implications from consuming it are supposedly quite minor. While it has 70% the relative sweetness of sucrose (table sugar), it has only 0.3% of the energy. Marketers are calling allulose a “zero calorie” sweetener, and in this case they’re not stretching the truth too much in saying so.

In terms of manufacturing, however, allulose does share another similarity to fructose: it’s primarily produced from corn, along with several other plants. These days, much of the science surrounding allulose is focused on the most efficient enzymatic catalyst for converting fructose into psicose, in order to maximize extraction (and therefore profits).

What Are the Benefits of Allulose?

The notion that a sweetener might have benefits beyond, well, sweetness is nothing new. Xylitol, for example, is a prebiotic that has been shown to balance blood sugar and lower cholesterol, while erythritol (the main sweetener in blends like Swerve) promotes healthy vascular function and good oral health.

Several studies show that allulose is beneficial for those suffering from type 2 diabetes. In a 2015 study, researchers fed diabetic rats with either water containing 5% allulose, or straight water as a control. Sixty weeks into the study, the diabetic rats fed allulose demonstrated “maintenance of blood glucose levels, decrease in body weight gain, and the control of postprandial hyperglycemia” compared to the control group. Significantly, insulin levels were also maintained in the allulose group, while pancreatic cells were preserved.

Other animal studies have produced similarly promising results, with trials showing that allulose administration helps to lower blood sugar levels and minimize insulin secretion following a sugary meal. It also appears to inhibit the tendency to overfeed on sugary foods and to improve insulin resistance over time.

Research in humans is a little thinner on the ground, but those conducted indicate that moderate doses (5 g or more) of allulose have the potential to prevent blood glucose and insulin spikes after eating other sugars. Interestingly, allulose taken by itself, without any other sugars or foods, doesn’t appear to have any effect at all on blood glucose or insulin concentrations.

Interestingly, beyond the hypoglycemic abilities of allulose, there are also reports that it can directly aid in fat loss. In a 2015 study published in the Journal of Food Science, obese mice fed allulose for 15 weeks experienced a reduction in body and liver weights, total fat mass and abdominal visceral fat without any reduction in muscle mass. Another study published in 2016 found that mice on a high fat diet who were fed allulose for 16 weeks experienced significant reductions in body weight and body fat, to the point where there was virtually no difference to the “healthy” control group.

And this year, a study was published showing that high doses of allulose (7g twice daily) resulted in significant reductions in BMI, abdominal fat and subcutaneous fat in overweight humans. This study aside, the jury’s still out on body composition benefits in humans. We’ll see if further studies demonstrate these kinds of results.

Other potential health benefits of allulose include oxidative stress protection, enhanced energy expenditure, and reduced inflammation. While the overall picture looks pretty good, I’ll be watching the continuing research. As always, manufacturers have an interest in encouraging studies that report favorable health benefits. I’m optimistic, but I’m not sold…just yet.

Is It Safe?

For the most part, there’s nothing to indicate that allulose is anything less than safe for humans. For what it’s worth, the FDA considers allulose to be Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS), and most studies have noted no significant adverse side effects beyond the usual responses to excessive doses.

A 2015 study that looked at the safety of long-term allulose consumption in rats concluded that it exhibited no dietary toxicity, while a strangely large number of studies in dogs showed that both single dose and long term consumption of allulose caused no harmful effects. At extremely high doses (4g/kg), dogs did exhibit vomiting and diarrhea, but it’d be difficult to consume that level of sweetness for any period of time.

In humans, toxicity tests are once again few and far between, but the general consensus is that allulose is perfectly safe. Longer term study (and longer term consumption of allulose by consumers) will show whether it’s truly side effect free.

What’s the Best Way To Use Allulose?

As an epimer of fructose, allulose tastes virtually the same as the sugars you’ll find in an apple or banana. With the exception of sugar syrups, most allulose is sold in granulated form, meaning you can use it much the same as you would granulated sugar.

Keep in mind, however, that it’s around 70% less sweet than sucrose (table sugar), so you’ll likely need a little more to achieve the same level of sweetness. But, then again, if you’re Primal, you probably don’t crave as much sweetness anyway…so why not start with the same dosage as regular sugar and see how it works for you?

Thanks for reading, everyone. Have you used allulose? I’d love to hear your thoughts on it.

The post Ultimate Guide to Allulose Sweetener appeared first on Mark's Daily Apple.

Primal Guide to Allulose Sweetener

A few months back, I put Swerve under the proverbial microscope. This time I’m looking at a relative newcomer in the alternative sweetener field. Allulose is quickly growing in popularity, since it’s both naturally occurring and virtually identical to table sugar in taste and texture. Then there’s the claim of sidestepping many of the ill-health effects associated with many other sweeteners.

I know many of you are with me when I bring a sizable dose of skepticism to these kinds of bold proclamations. So, I did my own research, asking whether it’s truly the full-flavor, guilt-free choice many suggest it is. And, if it is (or if it comes close), I wondered, what are its best uses in the kitchen?

What is Allulose?

When it comes down to it, allulose isn’t all that unlike glucose or fructose. The three are all monosaccharides, the simplest form of carbohydrate. Like glucose and fructose, allulose is also naturally occurring—unlike the vast array of artificial sweeteners on the market today. Still, as we know, “natural” doesn’t always mean “healthy.”

Fructose, for example, is synonymous with fruit. Conventional wisdom teaches us that fruit is healthy, but Primal folks are well aware that increasing consumption of fructose is associated with a plethora of health risks from diabetes to cardiovascular disease. And considering allulose has virtually the same chemical makeup as fructose, that might raise some eyebrows.

But chemical legacies aside, there appear to be some key differences between allulose and its monosaccharide cousins. Unlike fructose and glucose, which are found in abundance in the foods we eat, allulose is a very rare sugar that’s hard to find in nature—popping up in only a few foods like wheat, figs, raisins and jackfruit.

Next, allulose (aka psicose) is an epimer of fructose. In essence, this means that while allulose has the same atomic makeup as fructose, it has a minor structural variation. This miniscule difference supposedly has far-reaching effects, however, with preliminary trials showing that around 70% of allulose is excreted in urine and that it has very low fermentability in the gut—meaning you’re less likely to experience gas, bloating, and digestive upset after eating it. (Those who react to other natural alternative sweeteners probably know what I’m talking about here.)

Because so little allulose is utilized by our bodies for energy, the caloric implications from consuming it are supposedly quite minor. While it has 70% the relative sweetness of sucrose (table sugar), it has only 0.3% of the energy. Marketers are calling allulose a “zero calorie” sweetener, and in this case they’re not stretching the truth too much in saying so.

In terms of manufacturing, however, allulose does share another similarity to fructose: it’s primarily produced from corn, along with several other plants. These days, much of the science surrounding allulose is focused on the most efficient enzymatic catalyst for converting fructose into psicose, in order to maximize extraction (and therefore profits).

What Are the Benefits of Allulose?

The notion that a sweetener might have benefits beyond, well, sweetness is nothing new. Xylitol, for example, is a prebiotic that has been shown to balance blood sugar and lower cholesterol, while erythritol (the main sweetener in blends like Swerve) promotes healthy vascular function and good oral health.

Several studies show that allulose is beneficial for those suffering from type 2 diabetes. In a 2015 study, researchers fed diabetic rats with either water containing 5% allulose, or straight water as a control. Sixty weeks into the study, the diabetic rats fed allulose demonstrated “maintenance of blood glucose levels, decrease in body weight gain, and the control of postprandial hyperglycemia” compared to the control group. Significantly, insulin levels were also maintained in the allulose group, while pancreatic cells were preserved.

Other animal studies have produced similarly promising results, with trials showing that allulose administration helps to lower blood sugar levels and minimize insulin secretion following a sugary meal. It also appears to inhibit the tendency to overfeed on sugary foods and to improve insulin resistance over time.

Research in humans is a little thinner on the ground, but those conducted indicate that moderate doses (5 g or more) of allulose have the potential to prevent blood glucose and insulin spikes after eating other sugars. Interestingly, allulose taken by itself, without any other sugars or foods, doesn’t appear to have any effect at all on blood glucose or insulin concentrations.

Interestingly, beyond the hypoglycemic abilities of allulose, there are also reports that it can directly aid in fat loss. In a 2015 study published in the Journal of Food Science, obese mice fed allulose for 15 weeks experienced a reduction in body and liver weights, total fat mass and abdominal visceral fat without any reduction in muscle mass. Another study published in 2016 found that mice on a high fat diet who were fed allulose for 16 weeks experienced significant reductions in body weight and body fat, to the point where there was virtually no difference to the “healthy” control group.

And this year, a study was published showing that high doses of allulose (7g twice daily) resulted in significant reductions in BMI, abdominal fat and subcutaneous fat in overweight humans. This study aside, the jury’s still out on body composition benefits in humans. We’ll see if further studies demonstrate these kinds of results.

Other potential health benefits of allulose include oxidative stress protection, enhanced energy expenditure, and reduced inflammation. While the overall picture looks pretty good, I’ll be watching the continuing research. As always, manufacturers have an interest in encouraging studies that report favorable health benefits. I’m optimistic, but I’m not sold…just yet.

Is It Safe?

For the most part, there’s nothing to indicate that allulose is anything less than safe for humans. For what it’s worth, the FDA considers allulose to be Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS), and most studies have noted no significant adverse side effects beyond the usual responses to excessive doses.

A 2015 study that looked at the safety of long-term allulose consumption in rats concluded that it exhibited no dietary toxicity, while a strangely large number of studies in dogs showed that both single dose and long term consumption of allulose caused no harmful effects. At extremely high doses (4g/kg), dogs did exhibit vomiting and diarrhea, but it’d be difficult to consume that level of sweetness for any period of time.

In humans, toxicity tests are once again few and far between, but the general consensus is that allulose is perfectly safe. Longer term study (and longer term consumption of allulose by consumers) will show whether it’s truly side effect free.

What’s the Best Way To Use Allulose?

As an epimer of fructose, allulose tastes virtually the same as the sugars you’ll find in an apple or banana. With the exception of sugar syrups, most allulose is sold in granulated form, meaning you can use it much the same as you would granulated sugar.

Keep in mind, however, that it’s around 70% less sweet than sucrose (table sugar), so you’ll likely need a little more to achieve the same level of sweetness. But, then again, if you’re Primal, you probably don’t crave as much sweetness anyway…so why not start with the same dosage as regular sugar and see how it works for you?

Thanks for reading, everyone. Have you used allulose? I’d love to hear your thoughts on it.

The post Primal Guide to Allulose Sweetener appeared first on Mark's Daily Apple.

Dear Mark: Japan and Meat, Circadian-Friendly Nightlights, Barefoot Hiking Tips

For today’s edition of Dear Mark, I’m answering three questions from readers. First up, what was my main takeaway from the “Japan and meat” video posted last week? Second, are there any circadian-friendly nightlights—ones that don’t negatively affect our natural secretion of melatonin or disrupt our circadian rhythm? And finally, what are my tips for barefoot hiking? How can someone get their feet acquainted with the natural ground, deal with sharp rocks and gravel, and learn to enjoy their barefoot experience in nature?

Let’s go:

Sharperhawk wrote:

That video on Japan was incredibly misleading. If you are determined to be a carnivore in Japan, I’m sure you could do it. But the Japanese eat a lot more carbs in the form of rice and noodles than Western people do. They eat meat and fish with meals, but typically in much smaller portions than Westerners do. In endorsing that video, Mark really jumped the tofu shark. I guess he has never been to Japan.

That’s a fair comment. As I’ve written in the past and never denied, Japan and other Asian countries definitely eat their share of rice.

First of all, I want to confirm that Asia eats a lot of rice. It may be a “side dish” or not the main course, but there’s no dancing around the fact that a lot of rice gets eaten – the stats (PDF) are pretty clear on Asian rice consumption.

What struck me most in the video was the total lack of hesitation in the interviewees proclaiming the healthfulness of meat. That’s something you don’t see in most Western countries. We dilly, we dally, we hem and haw. Even when we do eat meat, it’s a sinful pleasure, an extravagance that we assume our hearts and lifespans will pay for down the line.

And yes, I’m sure you could find some Japanese vegans willing to say the opposite, but you’d really have to dig—vegans are a rare breed in the country.

Even the official dietary guidelines for Japan reflect this casual relationship with meat. Rather than obsess over individual nutrients, they suggest 5-7 servings of grains, 4-6 of meat, 4-6 of vegetables, and spend the rest of the time emphasizing the importance of how we eat:

Eating as many meals as possible with friends and family.
Eating local foods.
Getting involved with farming and fishing.
Learning how to chew and savor food.
Eat at regular times (to establish circadian rhythms).

It’s quite refreshing.

All that said, meat consumption in Japan is growing by leaps and bounds.

Jennifer L asked:

Any thoughts on how to use night-lights effectively? My older kids no longer get up at night to use the bathroom, but my 2-year-old does wake up and having night lights is handy when we’re trying to navigate our way around the bathroom. All of ours are motion sensitive, so they turn on at random times when the cats are meandering about in our upstairs hallways.

These are pretty good, albeit fairly dim. The red light doesn’t negatively impact your circadian rhythm—it actually improves sleep quality—and it gives the room a nice ambience.

Another option is to use camping headlamps with the red light option. If you use the red light setting, you’re good to go. I’ve actually been experimenting with using a red camping headlamp at night in bed for reading. It definitely works, and I’ve noticed an improvement in sleep quality. I fall asleep much faster and wake up feeling more refreshed, possibly because half the time I fall asleep with the red light on, so I’m bathing my body in red light all night.

Spider asked:

We are also hikers. What was the transition like to bare feet and what kind of surfaces do you hike?

You asked Liver King, but I’ll offer a response. First, some tips for dealing with natural surfaces.

Maintain a strong, stable torso. When I’m trying to ingratiate my feet to a rough surface—gravel, rocks, etc—I find that keeping everything strong and stable up top takes the strain off the feet. Sometimes I’ll even tighten up my torso like I’m preparing to deadlift. What this does is eliminate unpredictable swaying and weight shifting up top that alter the amount of pressure placed down below. It’s the unpredictable shifts that catch you off balance and hurt.

Smile. If you grimace, your nervous system assumes you’re dealing with some painful stuff. Every step becomes perilous on a physiological level. The sensation of every rock and root underfoot is magnified. If you smile, your nervous system eases up, assumes you’re in a good place. You’ll be more relaxed. Those rocks underfoot won’t hurt so much; they’re just sensations, data, information for dealing with the environment.

Step lightly. Some folks heel strike. Some land on the forefoot. Some do whole foot landing. What matters is that you step lightly, however you land. Keep your lower legs “soft.”

Pay attention to the ground. Walking along manicured sidewalks in bulky shoes fosters a false sense of security. There’s nothing dangerous on the grounds most of us tread, and even if there were our shoes would protect us. It’s perfectly normal in such a walking environment to stare at our phones rather than our surroundings. When you’re walking barefoot through nature, you need to watch the ground. Just like reading subtitles seems intrusive and conspicuous for the first ten minutes of a foreign film only to become second nature, you’ll start out consciously observing sharp rocks and thorns and coyote poop and soon graduate to subconscious perception and avoidance.

Forest paths are the best. Soft shreds of bark, loamy earth, spongy forest compost. There’s nothing better to walk, hike, or run on. Start there.

Fire roads are the toughest. Manmade. Hard-packed dirt usually strewn with rocks and gravel. Work up to these.

There’s no real need to “tough it out.” If walking barefoot on fire roads makes you miserable and hate nature, don’t do it. If you prefer soft forest paths, no need to progress past that. The point is to get outside and—when tolerated—get your feet dirty and connect with the earth.

That’s it for this week. Thanks for reading, all, and be sure to chime in with any of your questions or answers down below.

Take care and Grok on!

The post Dear Mark: Japan and Meat, Circadian-Friendly Nightlights, Barefoot Hiking Tips appeared first on Mark's Daily Apple.

Weekend Link Love — Edition 511

Research of the Week

Open workspaces impair collaboration, cause workers to “withdraw” from face-to-face social contact (PDF).

Skinny-fat isn’t just a bad look. It presages Alzheimer’s.

Speaking of which, melatonin shows promise at staving off Alzheimer’s.

Aspirin, too.

If you want to be insulin-resistant, use a night light.

Yet another study shows the benefits of green spaces, including lower risks of disease and early death, less stress and anxiety, and better sleep.

New Primal Blueprint Podcasts

Episode 259: Dr. Erin Fall Haskell: Host Elle Russ chats with Dr. Erin, creator and host of Good Morning LaLa Land and author of the new Awakening: A 40-Day Guide to Unleashing Your Spiritual Powers, Life’s Purpose, and Manifesting Your Dreams.

Each week, select Mark’s Daily Apple blog posts are prepared as Primal Blueprint Podcasts. Need to catch up on reading, but don’t have the time? Prefer to listen to articles while on the go? Check out the new blog post podcasts below, and subscribe to the Primal Blueprint Podcast here so you never miss an episode.

Interesting Blog Posts

Sometimes it pays to be anti-social.

One author’s experience giving up AC. Would you?

Media, Schmedia

How bad is the tick situation, really?

The rise of woodfire cooking.

Everything Else

“While stroking an octopus, it is easy to fall into reverie.”

What are the effects of total light deprivation?

Keep drinking coffee, keep living.

Things I’m Up to and Interested In

List I agree with: Healthy condiments. The ketchup they mention is particularly good, I hear.

Movie I’m interested in: Leave No Trace.

Article that makes me realize the tide is turning: NY Times admits that juice isn’t healthy.

I’d love to see this study repeated in older folks: Weight training stops muscle aging in 22-year-olds.

Research results I can’t wait to see: Does keto make cancer drugs more effective?

Recipe Corner

Bhuna curry sauce (just swap in avocado oil).
More mofongo, please.

Time Capsule

One year ago (Jul 1– Jul 7)

Are CrossFit and Primal Compatible? – Well, are they?
CrossFit’s Criticism: How Do I Eat Enough Carbs on Primal? – Let me count the ways.

Comment of the Week

“Ha ha ha. I have always enjoyed Mark’s “typical day”. For the 90% of us who unfortunately don’t live in Malibu and write columns at home for a living before having an afternoon surf, these are funny. I will let my boss know in the middle of our morning group meeting that I have to nip out for a quick kettleball workout.”

– It’s actually Miami now.