Mark Sisson's Blog, page 142

Can a Vegan Go Keto?

Absolutely! Anyone can go keto, including vegans. They might not be able to stay vegan, but they can certainly go keto. Nothing stopping them. The more the merrier.

Jokes aside. Can someone go keto while remaining vegan?

That’s a tougher problem. Not intractable. But real tough.

Why is it so hard?

For one, the most protein-rich vegan foods also happen to be relatively high in carbohydrates—the very macronutrient you need to limit on keto. You could load up on a complex blend of legumes and rice to obtain adequate protein containing all the essential amino acids, but you’d end up overdoing it on carbohydrates and knocking yourself out of ketosis. Protein is extremely important and hard to obtain on a normal vegan diet. It’s even harder on a keto vegan diet.

Two, the easiest vegan sources of fat and protein—nuts and seeds—aren’t meant to be staple foods. No one should base their diet on nuts for a few reasons.

Excessive omega-6. Most nuts are very high in linoleic acid, the omega-6 fat that most modern people consume too much of already. This will throw your omega-3:omega-6 ratio out of whack.
Excessive calories. Nuts can just disappear down your gullet. The ability to consume entire sackfuls of nuts in a single sitting without having to remove the shells is a modern aberration, one we’re not really prepared as an organism to regulate.
Carbs. When you start getting into the “several handful” range, the carb content of nuts adds up. It’s not enough carbs to disrupt a normal eater, but it can ruin ketosis.
Anti-nutrients. Nuts and seeds can’t run from predators, so they employ biological warfare to dissuade animals from eating them, manufacturing anti-nutrient compounds that impair nutrient absorption. This isn’t a deal breaker. We’ve adapted to many of these compounds, and I even think it’s likely that some of these anti-nutrients, like phytate, offer hormetic benefits in smaller doses. But if you’re eating enough almonds to satisfy your protein requirements, you’re overdoing it.

(And yes, in certain parts of the year, the Hadza of East Africa consume the bulk of their calories from the mongongo nut, but you’re not Hadza. It’s a different genetic situation, a different lifestyle, a different microbiome. The Hadza also eat thousands of calories of wild honey each day when it’s available. You lining up to do that, too?)

Successfully implementing a vegan keto diet requires the resolution of those two main problems. You need complete protein without all the carbs that beans entail, and you need a reliable source of fat without all the omega-6 fatty acids nuts and seeds entail.

For the protein, you have a few options.

Consider some concessions. Compare the spirit of your commitment to the “letter of the law” approach. The following will make your journey far more enjoyable, nutrient-dense, and sustainable.

1.Consider eating eggs from a trusted source (even yourself).

You can usually go on Craigslist and find a local source of pastured chicken eggs. Simply introduce yourself and ask to see their operation. I mean, it’s not like the hobby farmer who considers her hens members of the family is going to give those birds a bad life. Go see for yourself, then eat the eggs.

Heck, why not take the plunge and raise your own chickens? If you have the space, do it. You know yourself. You know you’ll do it without cruelty. You’ll give them a good, happy life. You won’t “cull” the non-producers.

A regular intake of pastured eggs will give you most of the nutrients you’re missing out on as a keto vegan—like choline, omega-3s, iron, and zinc, not to mention high quality animal protein.

If you’re worried about the whole eggs/heart disease myth, know that it’s exactly that—a myth. The most recent evidence suggests that any relationship between egg consumption and health issues stems from “a dietary pattern often accompanying high egg intake and/or the cluster of other risk factors in people with high egg consumption,” not the eggs themselves.

2. Still not willing to eat eggs? Consider eating bivalves.

Most evidence suggests that bivalves—oysters and mussels—have no central nervous system capable of registering pain and are not mobile, and  that the farming practices used to grow them are environmentally friendly.

They’re incredibly nutrient-dense with many of the nutrients vegans miss out on. Oysters in particular will give you all the zinc and iron you need, plus a good amount of omega-3. Mussels are loaded with protein, omega-3s, and micronutrients.

3. If bivalves are out, you’ll need some protein powders.

Low-carb plant foods dense with protein just don’t really exist. And no, broccoli doesn’t actually have more protein than steak. Protein powders that extract the protein from plant sources and leave behind most of the fat and carbohydrates, however, do exist.

The obvious animal-based choices like whey or egg are out. The best bet seems to be a mix of rice, pea, and hemp protein powders.

Rice protein powder is almost complete with all the essential amino acids (those we can’t manufacture in our bodies and must get from outside sources), but it’s low in lysine. Rice protein powder did perform admirably compared to whey protein in one study among weight lifting adults, but they weren’t on vegan diets, and the rest of their diets probably contained plenty of animal protein to make up for any missing amino acids. Here’s one to try.

Pea protein powder has plenty of lysine to make up for what’s missing in rice protein. Here’s a good one.

Hemp protein is complete and usually comes with a nice dose of micronutrients, including magnesium, prebiotic fiber, and omega-3s, but it’s lower in protein than rice and pea protein powder, so I wouldn’t rely exclusively on it. Try this one.

For the fat, you have many options that aren’t excessively high in omega-6 fats.

Eat lots of avocado and avocado oil. These are mostly monounsaturated fat. I hear there’s a pretty great vegan ranch dressing made with avocado oil on the market.

Eat coconut. An excellent source of healthy saturated fat, coconut and its constituents like coconut oil and coconut butter are essentials for the vegan-keto pantry. A spoonful of coconut butter is one of my go-to snacks, and it’s totally keto-friendly.

Eat olives and olive oil. This is mostly monounsaturated fat. Just make sure you’re buying actual olive oil.

Eat macadamia nuts. Again, mostly monounsaturated. Great for snacks.

Eat hemp seeds. Fairly high in omega-6, but it’s balanced with a large dose of omega-3 and some of the omega-6 is anti-inflammatory GLA. The complete protein, prebiotic fiber, and loads of magnesium don’t hurt either.

Eat red palm oil. Palm oil gets a bad rap, as most Southeast Asian palm production impedes on dwindling orangutan habitats. The majority of red palm oil—the unrefined version higher in micronutrients—comes from sustainable palm farms that don’t impact orangutan populations. Mostly saturated fat.

I’m not saying you shouldn’t eat almonds, cashews, pecans, walnuts, and all the other ones higher in omega-6. Eat nuts (and seeds) of all kinds, just not to the exclusion of everything else. There is such a thing as too many nuts, as I explained earlier.

No matter what you eat, you’ll need to take supplements.

Choline: The higher your fat intake, the more choline your liver needs to process it all. Choline is most abundant in animal foods that you aren’t eating, like liver and egg yolks. A good vegan source of choline is sunflower lecithin.

Creatine: Creatine monohydrate is cheap, safe, and effective. You should take it, because you’re not getting it from your food; the best sources of creatine are red meat and fish. Far more than a “weight lifting supplement,” creatine has been shown to improve both muscular and cognitive function in vegetarians.

Carnosine: Not many know about carnosine. It’s another meat-based nutrient that improves mood, enhances endurance, and serves as a brain antioxidant. Though we can make it in our bodies, studies show that vegans and vegetarians have fairly low levels and supplementation can help.

Taurine: Taurine is similar to carnosine—though it’s not essential (we make it, just probably not enough), it appears only in animal foods and plays a major yet under-appreciated role in preventing death and disease. Easy supplement.

B12: You just need B12. There’s no way around it, unless you don’t mind your central nervous system going haywire.

Don’t assume you’re replete in B12 unless you’ve taken the latest assays, which are more sensitive than normal serum B12 tests. According to normal serum tests, 52% of vegans and 7% of vegetarians are deficient. According to the newer, more sensitive tests, 92% of vegans and 77% of vegetarians have low levels of the active form of vitamin B12. Don’t take a chance with this stuff; it’s critical. Here’s a good one.

Algal oil: Since you can’t take fish oil, and you don’t want to rely on inefficient elongation of ALA into the more effective omega-3s DHA and EPA, you should take algal oil. Algae is where most marine life gets its DHA and EPA. It’s totally vegan-friendly, and studies show it improves blood lipids and increases blood levels of EPA. Here’s one.

Those are the big things to worry about. Once you’ve them all squared away, the rest is easy: just eat delicious whole plant foods.

You’d better like avocados and coconut.

You’d better eat tons of non-starchy vegetables: leafy greens, cruciferous vegetables, and other above-ground vegetables.

Eat mushrooms. They aren’t vegetables, but you can treat them like it.

You can even eat fruit, so long as you choose the lower-sugar ones and moderate your intake. Berries are perfect. Watermelon and cantaloupe are surprisingly low in sugar.

Incorporate seaweed into your life. Kelp in your soups, nori sheets as snacks. Great source of minerals like iodine.

Oh, and grab a copy of Accidental Paleo, a paleo vegetarian cookbook with a good number of vegan recipes.

Can you be a perfectly healthy whole-foods vegan keto dieter? Probably not. There are just too many limitations. But if you make a few concessions, include a few supplements, and accept that vegan purity is neither necessary nor desirable (particularly for keto eating), you can get very good results.

If you have any questions about any of this, don’t hesitate to ask down below in the comment section. I’ll do my best to address them in a later post.

Thanks for reading, everyone!

The post Can a Vegan Go Keto? appeared first on Mark's Daily Apple.

Recipes From The Keto Reset Instant Pot Cookbook—and a Giveaway!

Folks, I’m excited today. The Keto Reset Instant Pot Cookbook was just released this morning. It’s been a labor of love the same way The Keto Reset Diet book was. I literally threw myself into that project (with my own ongoing keto experiment), and this recipe collection was no different.

With help from co-authors and fellow chefs, Brad Kearns, Lindsay Taylor and Layla McGowen, I wanted to put together the perfect tool for keto eating. In short, a tool that would allow anyone to get all the benefits of a keto diet—with the least amount of time, strain and effort in the kitchen. (I’m all about that.) And now it’s here: 75 low-carb, hassle-free, and delicious recipes to get you started (or reinvigorated) in your keto journey.

To celebrate, I thought I’d serve up a sneak peek with two of my favorite recipes from the collection—along with a giveaway.

Butter Herbed Mushrooms

This dish makes a fantastic accompaniment to a nice juicy steak on any given night, but also think about doubling the recipe and serving it at your next holiday meal. Since it doesn’t require the already crowded stove or oven to prepare, it’s perfect for gatherings. It looks nice on the holiday table, too!

Ingredients

4 tablespoons unsalted butter or ghee
3 cloves garlic, minced
4 cups small cremini or white mushrooms (see note), stems removed
½ cup loosely packed fresh parsley leaves
4 sprigs fresh oregano, leaves picked
4 sprigs fresh thyme, leaves picked
1 cup bone broth (or vegetable broth)
1 teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
¼ teaspoon dried marjoram (optional)

Set the Instant Pot to Sauté. Add the butter and when it starts to foam add the garlic and mushrooms. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, set aside 2 tablespoons of the parsley. Place the remaining parsley, oregano leaves, and thyme leaves on a cutting board. Run a sharp knife several times through the herbs to chop them together. Push them into a pile and roughly chop them once more.

Add the chopped herbs to the mushrooms and stir well. In a small bowl, whisk together the broth, salt, pepper, and marjoram (if using). Pour the broth mixture over the mushrooms. Press Cancel.

Secure the lid and turn the steam release valve to Sealing. Press the Pressure Cook or Manual button and set the cook time to 5 minutes.

When the Instant Pot beeps, carefully switch the steam release valve to Venting to quick-release the pressure. When fully released, open the lid. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the mushrooms to a serving bowl.

Press Cancel and then Sauté. Taste the cooking liquid and adjust the salt and pepper. Bring the liquid to a boil and cook, stirring frequently, for 3 to 5 minutes to slightly thicken the liquid. Press Cancel.

Very carefully pour or ladle the hot liquid over the mushrooms. Garnish with the reserved parsley. Serve hot or at room temperature.

Note : If possible, choose mushrooms that are about the same size. If you can only find bigger mushrooms, cut them in half, or even quarters if they are quite large.

Macronutrients Per Serving:

Calories 140
Fat: 12 grams
Protein: 7 grams
Carbs: 4 grams

Beef Pho (Pho Bo)

This popular Vietnamese soup is pronounced “fuh,” with an upward inflection. Traditional cooking methods call for a broth that has been simmered for several hours, but cooking under pressure allows for a full-flavored broth in a fraction of the time. The high cartilage content of the oxtails lends a velvety mouthfeel. The heat from the broth cooks the raw beef slices to a perfect medium-rare in the time it takes to add your toppings.

FOR THE BROTH

1½ pounds oxtails
½ pound beef brisket or chuck roast
1 cinnamon stick
5 whole cloves
¹?8 teaspoon ground coriander
2 star anise pods
½ medium onion, thickly sliced
2-inch piece fresh ginger, thickly sliced and bruised
10 cups filtered water
½ medium Fuji apple (see Note), peeled and cut into chunks
2 teaspoons sea salt
2 teaspoons fish sauce, or more to taste
Keto-friendly sweetener (optional)

TO ASSEMBLE

6 ounces sirloin steak
2 large zucchini, spiralized into thin noodles
¼ red onion, thinly sliced
2 scallions, thinly sliced on a diagonal
Lime wedges, for serving

TOPPINGS (OPTIONAL)

1 cup mung bean sprouts or other sprouted greens
Few sprigs each of fresh Thai basil, cilantro, and/or mint
Thai chiles or jalapeños, thinly sliced

Instructions:

For the broth: Rinse the oxtails and brisket well under cold running water. Place the oxtails and brisket in a large stockpot and cover with water. Bring the water to a rolling boil over high heat, then reduce to a low boil and cook for 15 minutes. You will see a beige colored raft of foam form on the surface of the water. Remove the pot from the heat, discard the water, and rinse the oxtails and brisket with warm water when they are cool enough to handle. Set the beef aside.

Set the Instant Pot to Sauté. Once heated, place the cinnamon, cloves, coriander, and star anise in the bottom of the dry pot insert and toast for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring constantly. Add the onion and ginger and continue to stir for an additional minute or two. The aromatics will begin to smell very fragrant during this time, and it is desirable if they begin to char slightly. Press Cancel.

Carefully pour in the water, then add the oxtails, brisket, apple, and salt. Secure the lid and set the steam release valve to Sealing. Press the Pressure Cook or Manual button and set the cook time to 15 minutes. Meanwhile, place the sirloin in the freezer for 20 to 30 minutes (this makes it easier to slice later). Place the optional toppings in small bowls to prepare for serving later.

When the Instant Pot beeps, allow the pressure to release naturally for 20 minutes, then carefully switch the steam release valve to Venting. When fully released, open the lid. Very carefully strain the hot broth from the pot through a fine-mesh sieve. Set the brisket aside and discard the ginger, onion, apple, and spices. Leftover bones and cartilaginous bone caps from the oxtails can be saved and used again later to make bone broth. Season the strained broth with fish sauce to taste. Adjust the flavor by adding sweetener to taste, if desired.

Remove the sirloin from the freezer and slice thinly across the grain. Likewise slice the cooked brisket. Divide the spiralized zucchini noodles evenly among four large soup bowls. Arrange slices of both raw and cooked beef atop the zucchini noodles, along with slices of red onion and scallion. Gently pour a generous serving of piping hot broth into each bowl directly over top of the raw beef slices and zucchini noodles. Serve immediately with the optional toppings on the side for diners to add themselves, along with lime wedges.

Note: Keto folks might be tempted to omit the apple from this recipe, but don’t! You discard it after cooking, and it adds minimal carbs per serving.

Macronutrients Per Serving (with Mung Bean Sprouts):

Calories 356
Fat: 12 grams
Protein: 46 grams
Carbs: 11 grams

Now For the Giveaway…

I’m giving away 10 copies of the Keto Reset Instant Pot Cookbook to share my excitement for release day. Just ENTER HERE for a chance to win a copy for yourself (or a friend).

But hurry—this giveaway ends on May 15, 2018 at 11:59 p.m. EDT.

*U.S. residents only. *Must be 18+ to enter.

But Wait…There’s More!

When you order your copy of the  The Keto Reset Instant Pot Cookbook, for a limited time, we have an awesome kit of all-digital bonus items:

$10 gift certificate at PrimalBlueprint.com
Exclusive video in the kitchen with Dr. Lindsay Taylor, getting you informed and excited about using your Instant Pot
Free copy of The Paleo Cooking Bootcamp , the centerpiece of our comprehensive online multimedia course on intentional cooking
PDF recipe sampler from the book, for easy printing and pasting on the fridge door

Just visit the Keto Reset Instant Pot Cookbook homepage to take advantage of the offer, and learn more about the book as well as our online Keto Reset Mastery Course, one of the most comprehensive educational experiences you can obtain anywhere to learn how to go keto the right way.

And to get you going keto the right way, take 20% off your enrollment in the Keto Reset Mastery Course. Just enter this code at checkout: MDA20. This course discount offer expires on May 31st, so take the plunge and get educated on keto—and pick up your Keto Reset Instant Pot Cookbook to make it easier than ever to stay aligned with your keto goals!

Thanks, everybody. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on the book. My team and I had a great time putting it together for you!

The post Recipes From The Keto Reset Instant Pot Cookbook—and a Giveaway! appeared first on Mark's Daily Apple.

Dear Mark: Fitness (and Keto) Benefits of Baking Soda

For this week’s edition of Dear Mark, I’m answering a couple questions from the comment section of last week’s Weekend Link Love. First, what’s the effective dose of baking soda used in the autoimmune study? And is it safe for general use in doses of 1 tsp a day? In addition to the dose, I also discuss the many benefits of baking soda shown in the literature. Second, do sodium biocarbonate containing mineral waters offer the same benefits?

Let’s find out:

Mark, I did not catch the daily dose on that baking soda study–any way to find that out? Think there’s any harm in drinking a tsp/day of the aluminum-free stuff?

The human dose was 2 grams of baking soda, or a little under 1/2 teaspoon.

Baking soda is legit. The autoimmune connection is a more recent finding, because up until now the vast majority of scientific literature has focused on baking soda as an ergogenic aid in physical performance.

It can hit your gut pretty hard and clear things out. Some years back, I read a few studies about baking soda as an ergogenic aid for training. A cheap supplement that everyone has in their kitchen that actually works as advertised? Great! I usually just go for these types of things. Little seems to bother me. So I drank a teaspoon in some water about half hour before my workout. It was gross, very salty and bitter, but I got it down okay.

Just as I’m about to start, I feel my gut rumble and realize I’ll need a rain check on the workout. Luckily, I was training at home that day. Needed that home base.

Still, the benefits are numerous and impressive….

Fitness Performance Benefits of Baking Soda

It increases time to exhaustion. In adults doing 6 weeks of 3x weekly HIIT training on a stationary bike, those who took  baking soda (0.2g/kg bodyweight for first three weeks, 0.1g/kg for last three) increased time to exhaustion by 34% compared to 10% in the placebo group. They also increased lean mass and total work output.

It improves maximal running performance during prolonged exercise.

It suppresses endorphin release during exercise. If this sounds negative, hold on. Training raises acidity. It’s the boost to blood acidity that triggers the release of endorphins, which are at least partially responsible for the feeling of “runner’s high.” That runner’s high is a hack your body throws together to get you to keep pushing through the pain and maintain your effort. What baking soda does is suppress the acidosis and obviate the need for endorphins in the first place.

It improves recovery by reducing post-exercise acidosis. After an exhaustive training session, acidosis is high. Suppressing that acidosis with 0.3 g/kg bodyweight of baking soda speeds up recovery and increases performance in a subsequent workout.

It improves high intensity cycling capacity.

It helps you hit more reps when doing high volume resistance training. It improves max reps to failure in the back squat, but not bench press (in this study at least). It didn’t help with leg press, either. My guess is that the more demanding and full-body a movement—all out cycling and back squats as opposed to leg presses and bench press, which are comparatively more isolated—the more likely baking soda will help.

It seems to work for anything physical. Heck, even judokas improve their throwing capacity—they can successfully perform more throws in a given amount of time—after taking 0.3 grams/kg bodyweight of baking soda.

Besides a boost in training capacity, power output, and all the other training-related benefits, does baking soda do anything else that’s helpful?

Baking Soda and Ketone Production

It increases ketone production. In one study, patients who’d fasted overnight and then taken baking soda saw their pH and ketone production increase. Another study found that obese women on a protein sparing modified fast (high protein, low-fat, low-carb, low-calorie) who took a teaspoon of baking soda had increased ketone production and reduced acidosis. It should be said that the increase in ketones didn’t augment fat loss in either study.

Chris Masterjohn has an interesting post from last year describing how he boosted mental and physical performance and energy levels by testing his urine on a daily basis, then supplementing with a little baking soda if his urine was too acidic. Before the urine testing and baking soda supplementing, he was having trouble mustering the will to train. After testing and supplementing, he couldn’t wait to hit the gym. That’s definitely a single case study, but it’s very interesting and I suspect the results would apply to others as well.

Baking soda has great potential and a teaspoon per day should be okay. Many of the studies I detailed above use doses of 1-3 teaspoons per day. You might start smaller because the gastrointestinal issues are real. Many of the studies showing benefits for physical performance admit that the side effects can be a problem.

How To Deal With Side Effects

Take it in smaller doses throughout the day, rather than all at once. Big doses have a bigger chance of causing gastrointestinal distress. Smaller doses taken more frequently are better tolerated and, according to the literature, about as effective.

Take it away from meals. Reducing acidity can impair digestion.

You might take Chris Masterjohn’s advice and test your urine pH before taking a bunch of baking soda. Make sure you’re acidic enough to actually benefit from it.

Our bodies have ways of suppressing acidosis using the endogenous tools at their disposal, and baking soda is a helpful exogenous tool to take the load off the body.

I wonder if drinking sparkling mineral water would have the same effect as the sodium bicarbonate. Does anyone know?

Mineral water can be a good source of sodium bicarbonate, but it’s less concentrated than taking a half teaspoon or teaspoon of baking soda. One of my favorites—Gerolsteiner—has 1.8 grams of sodium bicarbonate per liter. That’s about a third of a teaspoon if you drink an entire liter bottle.

Definitely helpful. And there are other goodies in mineral water, like the minerals.

The fizzier the water, the more sodium bicarbonate it has.

Thanks for reading and writing, folks. Take care, and be sure to follow up with any additional questions, comments, or input down below!

The post Dear Mark: Fitness (and Keto) Benefits of Baking Soda appeared first on Mark's Daily Apple.

Join Me This Week At the Keto Edge Summit!

The Keto Edge Summit starts today! (.) Tens of thousands will learn from the expert wisdom so important to leveraging the mighty power of KETONES to first return to health, then thrive in life!

Will you be there? You should be. “Keto” is one of the MOST SEARCHED words on the internet today, and for good reason….

Ketones help you burn fat for energy, reduce inflammation, and show promise in preventing and eradicating diabetes, cancer, autoimmune and neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s—and many, many other health concerns!

1. immediately to make sure you’ll see the free talks!

2. Support the mission to help the world heal when you  for your personal keto resource collection.

I’ll be speaking on Day 7, but you won’t want to miss any of the dozens of researchers and experts share on the medical power (and practical implementation) of the keto diet.

This event will be epic! The Keto Edge Summit will teach you about ketosis (and how it works), common myths (and how to separate fact from fiction), how to overcome being “keto adapted,” whether you should start a keto diet (or not), how to shop, live and eat on a ketogenic lifestyle and more.

Don’t miss out! , and join today.

The post Join Me This Week At the Keto Edge Summit! appeared first on Mark's Daily Apple.

Weekend Link Love — Edition 502

Research of the Week

Someone was butchering rhinoceros in the Philippines 700,000 years ago.

A study finds that Koreans tend to prefer harder rice and Americans prefer softer rice. It’d be interesting to gauge the nature/nurture influence by looking at the preferences of Korean-Americans and biracial children of Korean and American parents.

Compared to those raised in rural settings with animals around, young healthy adults raised in urban settings without animals exhibit an exaggerated immune response to social stress and take longer to quell to resultant inflammation.

Among a group of 104 patients admitted to a mental health facility in the UK, just 8.7% were vitamin D-sufficient.

Type 2 diabetics who went keto for a year enjoyed lower inflammation, higher HDL, fewer small-dense LDL particles, and an improved HDL:triglyceride ratio.

New Primal Blueprint Podcasts

Episode 241: Max Lugavere: Max is an expert on the interplay between nutrition and cognitive health.

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

Carnivore Shawn Baker explores his “elevated” blood sugar numbers.

Sugar, not salt, is a likely cause of kidney stones.

Media, Schmedia

An incredibly rare form of eye cancer strikes two groups in two states.

Wrestler faces.

Everything Else

Have you seen a worse attempt at intermittent fasting?

Roundup is in just about every food.

The dystopian sci-fi future we’ve all read about is slowly unfolding before our very eyes.

Things I’m Up to and Interested In

Article I’m pondering: Is depression a physical illness?

Reality we’ll have to grapple with in the near future: Lab-grown meat is getting cheap enough to make economic sense.

I’m always impressed when I read about this stuff: Why medieval antibiotics worked (and still work).

I can notice a difference among peers who train and don’t: Aging brain correlates with aging brawn.

I think I know one reason why obesity was so rare in China: “Prior to the last decade, there was essentially no snacking in China except for hot water or green tea.”

Recipe Corner

I never miss any Nom Nom Paleo recipes, and ginger scallion chicken is no exception.
Real simple, real good: slow cooker oxtail stew. And if you use a pressure cooker, it’s real fast.

Time Capsule

One year ago (Apr 29 – May 5)

The Language of Microbial Culture: Explaining Probiotics, Prebiotics, Synbiotics, and Postbiotics – A good overview.
Popular Blood Tests—the Facts, Ranges, and Alternatives You Should Know – All the basics.

Comment of the Week

“I’m trying to imagine what a hyperbolic chamber would look and sound like.

I think you meant “hyperbaric “. ?”

– Stop exaggerating, His Dudeness.

The post Weekend Link Love — Edition 502 appeared first on Mark's Daily Apple.

Salmon Steak Salad with Primal Kitchen® Lemon Turmeric Vinaigrette

This recipe keeps it simple, without sacrificing flavor. Broiled salmon steaks are served over seared tomatoes and peppery arugula for a warm main course salad. The salad is dressed with invigorating Primal Kitchen Lemon-Turmeric Vinaigrette, adding bright citrus flavor and turmeric’s revitalizing health benefits.

There’s a reason this cut of salmon is a called “steak” and it’s not only the shape. Salmon steaks are thick and meaty and can be just as satisfying as a regular steak. The middle bone and surrounding skin keep the fish from drying out while cooking, ensuring that your salmon will be juicy and flavorful.

Time in the Kitchen: 20 minutes

Servings: 4

Ingredients

5 to 6 ounces arugula (several big handfuls) (170 g)
2 to 4 salmon steaks, depending on the size (plan on about 8 ounces/226 g per person)
½ cup Primal Kitchen Lemon Turmeric Vinaigrette & Marinade (120 ml)
2 tablespoons Primal Kitchen Avocado Oil or extra virgin olive oil (30 ml)
16 ounces cherry tomatoes, halved (450 g)

Instructions

Scatter the arugula evenly on a large platter. Set aside.

Heat broiler to high. Place steaks on a rimmed baking sheet lined with foil. Brush a thin layer of Primal Kitchen Lemon Turmeric Vinaigrette on the top of the salmon steaks (reserve the rest of the vinaigrette to dress the salad). Season the salmon lightly with salt and pepper. Broil for 5 to 7 minutes, until the top of the salmon is nicely browned – keep an eye on it so the edges don’t burn. Flip the steaks over, and broil 3 to 5 minutes more, depending on the thickness of the steaks

While the salmon cooks, heat the oil in a skillet until hot and shimmering. Add cherry tomatoes. Be careful – oil will splatter. Cook the tomatoes, untouched, for 3 minutes, then stir once and cook another few minutes until the tomatoes are collapsed and blackened in places. Sprinkle a little sea salt on the tomatoes as they cook. Remove the tomatoes from the pan and scatter over the arugula.

Place the cooked salmon steaks on top of the arugula and tomatoes. Drizzle Primal Kitchen Lemon Turmeric Vinaigrette over the platter.

The post Salmon Steak Salad with Primal Kitchen® Lemon Turmeric Vinaigrette appeared first on Mark's Daily Apple.

This Was My Aha Moment!

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!

Cancer sucks! Not that I ever personally endured cancer. I did however watch my father die of lung cancer when I was nine. Why would I start there? Only because I think it was the biggest factor in my descent into both substance and food addiction, not to mention the interspersed bouts of chronic cardio and caloric restriction that defined the next four decades of my life.

So if my fathers demise fueled the need to bury my feelings, the Standard American Diet (SAD) provided the vehicle. Processed and fast food was a large part of my diet as a child. In hindsight processed carbohydrates became my drug of choice. I literally buried my emotions in overeating crap food. Eventually this led to unhealthy weight gain.

This transpired between my 7th and 8th grade years. Fat shaming is real. Between my 9th and 10th grade year I decided to do something about it. Enter chronic cardio and calorie restriction. Coupled with the fact I had entered puberty and the benefits of the hormones that come with that I was able to slim down. I was able to control my weight for the most part till my early twenties.

By then I was doing a stint in the US Marines and that kept me fairly fit. Soon after I got out at the age of 24 I started to have weight creep. Enter my one and only attempt at a plant based diet. I was able to lose weight eating that way, but it came at the expense of muscle loss and in the end it really wasn’t sustainable for me long term. I was still fairly active and was able to rebuild the lost muscle and continue to maintain my weight.

At 29 I changed careers and became an outside sales rep for a flooring distributor. Eating and exercise became less of a priority and I woke up one day in my early thirties at a hefty (for me ) 225 lbs. By the age of 33 I was going thru a divorce and doing what all single guys do, I decided I needed to get in shape. The only thing I knew that worked was chronic cardio and caloric restriction. That once again worked. I was able to drop the weight and get back in shape.

Back in a relationship (that I’m still in 23 years later and happily married) at the age of 36, I could no longer maintain the calorie in calorie out life style and once again my weight crept up, this time to 245 lbs. For some guys this doesn’t seem like a lot, but with my build, I was at least half body fat. Over the next decade I tried half hearted attempts at chronic cardio and caloric restriction with very limited success. In the end I would always default back to my set point in the 240s. At this point I was starting to show signs of metabolic disease. My fasted blood glucose was squarely in the pre-diabetic range and I was starting to show signs of sleep apnea. I had to have a hip replaced.

After another career change that involved less stress and travel I decided it was time to start dealing with it, but other than the calorie in and calorie out method I had no idea how. I had just turned 50 and was determined to make my 50s better then my 40s. About this time a friend convinced me to get a road bike. I did and fell in love with it. Coupled with a diet that consisted of weighing everything I was able to get under 200 lbs!

During this time I was reading a British cycling magazine called “Cycling Fitness” (no longer in publication) and it had an article about this crazy caveman diet. A few Google searches later and I landed on a website called “Mark’s Daily Apple.” That lead me to the Primal Blueprint. That was my aha moment. It all made sense! Being slightly (which may be a modest description) obsessive compulsive I devoured the Primal Blueprint and a myriad of books on the subject.

I wish I could report it was all smooth sailing from that point forward. Unfortunately I only took away part of the message. I continued to ride my bike way too hard, way to often and after a period of fantastic fitness I completely crashed and burned. Over training is for real. Along with it comes sleep issues, digestive issues and general fatigue. It’s not a simple hole to dig out of. I had managed to get my weight down to 160 lbs, but felt both weak and burnt out. I actually had friends do an intervention. They wanted to know if I was “all right.”

This all lead to a SAD food binge and before I knew it I was up to 195 lbs and climbing. I also was battling a really bad case of psoriasis. The medical industry was no help. About this time I had a bad alcohol moment. No legal trouble or abuse or anything, but I managed to totally freak my wife out and myself. That was July 1st of 2017. I decided then and there to retire from drinking and get my health back. Enter the New Revised Primal Blueprint. Once again I devoured it. This time I decided to really embrace the whole concept.

Shortly after I signed up for the Primal Health Coach certification program. Partly out of a desire to help other people to overcome their weight and health challenges and partly to keep myself on the right path. Since then I have completed the certification and have continued to embrace the lifestyle. I currently weigh 162 lbs but feel much stronger both physically and emotionally than I did when I had dropped to 160 lbs. My skin issues have resolved. Existing joint pain has diminished. My last A1c was at 5.2.

So what have I learned:

• Diets don’t work, lifestyle changes do.

• Food can be very addictive, treat it accordingly. If you crave it, it might be a problem.

• You can’t exercise your way out of a bad diet.

• Find a way to let go of old hurts, they can hold you back.

• Be willing to experiment and do your own N=1. You need to find the best way of eating for you (preferably within the Primal framework).

• Yes, sleep and recovery are important!

I still enjoy my time on the bike but with more of a focus on enjoying the ride. I also have had luck experimenting with the carnivore diet and although I recognize this is not the best approach for all it seems to work well for me and is a valid tool for some. I can also see a diet that leans more towards plant based working well for others. N=1 baby! A special thanks to Mark Sisson for his influence and resources.

Grok on Friends!

Jim Tipton

Certified Primal Health Coach

The post This Was My Aha Moment! appeared first on Mark's Daily Apple.

A Primal Primer: Lymphatic Health

I get more questions these days about lymphatic health—particularly lymphedema. Sometimes it’s an issue related to a reader’s cancer recovery or a co-occurring symptom seen with a loved one’s other health concerns. While I might take up specific conditions in future posts (let me know if you have suggestions there), I thought I’d spend today taking apart the basics of lymphatic health. As with many of the body’s core operating functions, the real story often gets camouflaged within vague, consumer-based terms that end up being only medically tangential. Consider today’s post a trip into the weeds and (maybe) the beginning of an ongoing conversation on the topic.

In essence, the lymphatic system is the body’s filtration system, helping to sample incoming substances, filter out waste products from cells, regulate fluid homeostasis, and prime the immune system for action when a threat is located. Central to the entire system is the transportation of lymph, a clear fluid that stores and transports white blood cells, proteins, salts, glucose, bacteria and certain waste products.

Lymphatic vessels perform a similar role to the blood circulatory system, carrying lymph to virtually all areas of the body other than bone marrow.  Unlike the blood system, however, a series of valves force lymph to travel in just one direction, taking it ever-upward towards the neck, whereupon it re-enters the venous circulatory system. New lymph is formed when specialized lymphatic capillaries allow soluble materials and cells to court their way back into the lymphatic vessels.

Lymphatic vessels are connected to lymph organs. These organs are where the lymph is filtered and lymphocyte is created—arguably where most of the exciting action happens.

Red bone marrow and the thymus gland are considered the primary lymphoid organs and act as incubators for maturation of lymphocytes—a type of white blood cell. As these lymphocytes get older, they’re sent into the lymphatic vessels to hunt down and attacking infected or cancerous cells.

Secondary lymphoid organs, which include the lymph nodes, tonsils and spleen, act as traps for incoming pathogens, whereupon foreign bodies are set upon by mature lymphocytes.

Your Lymphatic System In Action

Up until quite recently, the lymphatic system was considered secondary to the blood circulatory system. A series of groundbreaking discoveries in the 90s changed all this, and we’ve been learning since.

For one, the lymphatic system plays a key part in our adaptive immunity. Antigens that make their way into the body or develop within our cells are recognized primarily by the lymphocytes produced by the thymus and bone marrow, or picked up as they pass through the secondary lymphatic organs. Upon detection of the antigen, the lymphatic system initiates a immunological cascade that activates or produces more and more lymphocytes to wipe out the threat. Lymph nodes and other secondary lymphatic organs are strategically located around the body where they are well placed to sample incoming materials and intercept potential threats.

Beyond immunity, there’s the equally important fluid homeostasis role that the lymphatic system plays. Lymphatic vessels act as conduits, allowing surrounding tissues to expel or absorb fluid in order to maintain homeostasis and prevent excess swelling. Recent research has even discovered an element of the lymphatic system devoted to draining interstitial fluid from in and around the brain, thereby exhibiting a critical function in alleviating pressure in the CNS.

Add to that the lymphatic system’s roles in lipid absorption and transportation from the digestive system, and the efficient removal of metabolic wastes from tissue, organs and the central nervous system, and it’s not hard to see why the lymphatic system is so nuanced (not to mention critical).

Lymphatic Dysfunction

It’s all well and good when the lymphatic system is doing what it ought to, but lymphatic disruption can portend unfortunate news for your health: compromised immune function and lymphedema for starters. 

Like any system within the body, factors like chronic inflammation, lifestyle choices, and toxin exposure can all place stress on the lymphatic system. Problems often occur when the flow of lymph is disrupted, whether with systemic inflammation or localized swelling at the nodes and vessels, whereby the entire system can become compromised as it relies on that constant movement of lymph to do its job.

And then there’s the fact that the lymphatic system acts as a sort of microbiological conveyor belt—fundamentally useful when antibodies can be released in a timely and efficient fashion to dispatch any antigens, but highly problematic when the system is overwhelmed or overrun. In these scenarios, the lymphatic system can quickly become a means by which infection can rapidly disseminate throughout the body.

Common diseases associated with the lymphatic system include:

Lymphedema—pooling of lymph fluid in the surrounding tissue, typically in the feet or lower legs.
Lymphadenitis—inflammation of a lymph node or nodes due to an infection of the tissue, usually in the neck.
Lymphoma—a group of cancers that develop in the lymphatic system, involving multiplication of lymphocytes eventually forming a malignant tumor in the lymph nodes and other parts of the body.
Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma—another subset of lymphatic cancers that can involve either B cells or T cells.
Splenomegaly—more conveniently known as an enlarged spleen. This is caused by several possible factors, including infection or cancer.
Tonsillitis—recurrent infection of the lymphoid tissues in the back of the mouth and top of the throat, which together form the tonsils.

There’s plenty more where that came from, but it’s fair to say that if your lymphatic system is ailing, your health in general will be lacking.

Factors That Help or Hinder Lymphatic Health
Inflammation (or Lack Thereof)

While the lymphatic system plays a key role in regulating inflammatory response within the body, it’s also susceptible to inflammation-driven dysfunction. As with every other angle of health, keeping inflammatory foods to a minimum, and anti-inflammatory foods on the regular, is definitely a plus for supporting lymphatic health. 

I’ve periodically shared my thoughts on the most anti-inflammatory foods, so be sure to check out the likes of this post if you’re not already familiar. Foods like wild fish oil/fat, berries, turmeric and pastured animal fat have all been shown to significantly lower chronic inflammation patterns. One interesting case study showed that MCT oil along with fat soluble vitamins helped to improve symptoms of intestinal lymphangiectasia.

Aside from anti-inflammatory foods, there’s the usual lifestyle choices that can make or break an anti-inflammatory way of life: getting plenty of sleep, regular (but not excessive) exercise, and avoiding chronic stress wherever possible.

Movement

Whereas the blood circulatory system is propelled by the pump-like workings of the heart, our lymphatic system relies on the contraction and relaxation of a complex series of smaller muscles to keep lymph continually flowing. While lymphatic vessels are equipped with their very own smooth muscle cells, research shows that “outer” forces such as skeletal muscle motion help to maintain healthy lymphatic flow.

Logically-speaking, the more movement you get, the better off your lymphatic system should be—and the literature seems to support this notion. A 2012 literature review concluded that exercise is an effective therapy for the treatment of lymphedema, while a considerable number of other studies indicate that water exercise in particular is a proven, safe way to treat swelling associated with secondary lymphedema.

Rebounding (e.g. jumping up and down on a trampoline), for one, has attained something of akin to cult status, and anecdotal evidence at least suggests there might be something in it. According to its proponents, rebounding helps to stimulate and maintain the flow of lymph by the dual action of weightlessness and “double gravity,” in addition to providing passive lymphatic muscular stimulation throughout many of the major muscle groups.

From a theoretical standpoint, it makes a lot of sense. While there are plenty of enthusiasts, I haven’t been able to dig up direct (confirmed) links between rebounding and lymphatic health. That being said, there’s no doubt that rebounding is good for our general health, so I see no reason not to give it a go.

Stress

Stress, as it happens, can exhibit a direct negative effect on the lymphatic system. A study published a couple of years ago, for example, showed that “chronic stress restructures lymphatic networks within and around tumours to provide pathways for tumour cell escape.” Not an ideal scenario…

Consciously pursuing a limited stress lifestyle (and taking advantage of stress reduction strategies) is critical for promoting a robust lymphatic system that’s still capable of fighting infection, regulating fluid, and removing waste. As always, daily meditation is a big step in the right direction, along with regular movement (somehow we keep coming back to that), plenty of social interaction, and getting out into nature as much as possible.

Lymphatic Massage

Lymphatic massage, otherwise known as lymphatic drainage, was developed in Germany specifically for the treatment of lymphedema. While the massage technique varies depending on the location and nature of the lymphedema (lymphatic blockage leading to painful swelling), it generally involves a practitioner gently rubbing, stroking and manipulating the skin in directions that follow the structure of lymphatic pathways. In this way, accumulated lymph fluid is forced to drain from the area of swelling.

And as far as the literature is concerned, lymphatic massage produces tangible results. A 2015 review of six applicable trials found that lymphatic massage was at least moderately effective across the board, particularly when combined with compression bandaging or sleeves. A recent Chinese study also showed that a combination of lymphatic drainage massage and exercise were beneficial in the treatment of axillary web syndrome, a common lymphatic condition in post-op breast cancer patients.

Far-Infrared Saunas

An alternative therapy for lymphatic conditions like lymphedema that shows some promise (although peer-reviewed research is thus far lacking) is far-infrared treatment. 

Disclaimer aside, the premise of infrared sauna treatment is thus: it purportedly stimulates mitochondrial function directly beneath the skin, which just so happens to be where some of the lymphatic system (and action) resides. In theory, more red light means more cellular energy, thereby encouraging more efficient flow of lymph and the possible treatment of conditions like lymphedema. With the cell-repairing, wound-healing, and other probable/confirmed benefits of far-infrared, it’s probably a therapy worth considering if lymph dysfunction is an issue.

Thanks for stopping by. Have you or anyone you know suffered from lymphatic issues? What treatments and/or lifestyle changes have been pivotal? Share your thoughts and questions below, and have a great end to your week, everyone.

The post A Primal Primer: Lymphatic Health appeared first on Mark's Daily Apple.

The (Maybe Not So) Definitive Guide to Cold Therapy

Cold is really catching these days. Aubrey Marcus, whom I recently filmed a nice podcast with, was asked about his winning daily behaviors on another show. The very first thing he mentioned was “exposure to cold.” His practice is finishing his morning shower with a three-minute stint at full cold setting. He mentioned the hormonal benefits but also the mental edge he gets from psyching up and accepting the challenge instead of wimping out. He also cited research that people who engage in therapeutic cold exposure catch fewer upper respiratory infections. Hence, like many other elements of conventional wisdom, the old wives tale is backwards. Of course, we are talking about acute and optimal duration cold exposure, not prolonged exposure to elements that weaken your resistance and contribute to immune disturbances.

As with keto, there’s much more to be learned in this burgeoning field before we can operate in definitive (hence today’s title). Today, however, I’ll expose you (the first of more double entendrés to be on the lookout for) to important concepts and best practices so that you may enjoy the vaunted benefits and avoid some of the negative effects of going about cold exposure wrong.

Cold therapy has been around forever as in the athletic world—a central element of injury treatment and post-workout recovery. Ice packs wrapped on aching joints are a staple of every high school, college and professional team locker room. The iconic stainless steel cold whirlpool has been a post-workout destination of professional ballers for decades, and Olympic distance runners have inspired millions of recreational runners to dutifully wade into a cold stream, lake or pool after long runs to soothe and revitalize inflamed muscles. In recent years, whole body cryotherapy clinics have exploded in popularity, making grand promises in return for $45-$90 (the latter in NYC) for a three-minute session in a chamber blowing air at 190-255 degrees below zero Fahrenheit. I haven’t tried cryo, but let’s just say I’ve heard it stings.

In writing Primal Endurance, my co-author Brad Kearns and I studied the cold therapy subject extensively to convey some best practices in the recovery chapter of the book. For this article, we also consulted with Dr. Kelly “K-Starr” Starrett—thought leader on all things mobility, rehab, prevention, and performance (check MobilityWOD.com or Becoming A Supple Leopard for cutting edge strategies that will keep you moving optimally and avoiding breakdown and injury) and reviewed numerous articles, which you will find linked or at the end of the post.

It appears that while cold therapy can offer some proven benefits for inflammation control, enhanced cellular, immune, and cognitive function, and recovery from exercise, numerous elements of cold therapy claims seem to be hype, notably the expensive cryochambers (cold water is better) and the potential of cold exposure to reduce body fat (cut grains and sugars instead!) Worse, the prominent cold therapy practice of post-exercise immersion into cold water or application of ice appears to be counterproductive, compromising potential fitness gains generated by hard workouts.

What NOT To Do…

The most emphatic suggestion made by K-Starr is that cold exposure should happen far away from the stimulus of workouts. While it feels soothing to wade into the icy river right after a run or to relax with an ice pack on your back after a pickup basketball game or CrossFit session, blunting post-exercise inflammation can compromise the adaptive response to workouts, of which inflammation is a critical component. Your muscles becoming inflamed during exercise—and remaining that way for hours afterward are part of how they become stronger and more resilient for future performances. In the hours after workouts, your muscles and other body systems are challenged to naturally repair exercise-induced damage, recalibrate to homeostasis, and replenish depleted cellular energy. Cold exposure also inhibits the function of the lymphatic system in clearing inflammatory toxins from the bloodstream. The takeaway: while cold feels great after workouts, don’t do it.

Furthering this concept about letting inflammation run its course, I know world ranked pro triathletes are experimenting with a complete avoidance of not just cold therapy, but also stretching, massage, and myofascial release (foam rolling.) The thinking here is that when those lower back muscles stiffen after 80 miles of hilly cycling, or hamstrings tighten up after a set of 800s on the track, loosening them up with massage strokes or foam rolling will weaken them and counteract the training stimulus. Again, these unwinding therapies might feel great, but you are teaching the central nervous system to relax the muscles that you just asked to contract with great force and duration for the workout. Andrew MacNaughton, former elite pro triathlete and current coach of both top professionals and recreational endurance athletes, says succinctly: “Don’t help your body, otherwise you lose some of the adaptation you’re seeking through your challenging workouts.”

The stuff is so counterintuitive that it becomes intuitive. Are you with me? Consider how it’s now widely understood that static stretching weakens muscles for up to 30 minutes and that you should not static stretch before workouts. This seems like a related principle applied to post workout. Keep in mind that we are isolating this “leave it be” concept to the topic of fitness adaptation. If you are trying to recover from (or prevent) injuries, massage, stretching, and foam rolling can make a valuable contribution—even in and around workouts as directed by an expert. Good old ice is still a recommended treatment in the immediate aftermath of an acute injury to help contain the swelling to the injured ankle (e.g., pickup basketball game) or eye (e.g., parking lot fight after pickup basketball game.)

However, the now dated RICE (Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation) protocol for injury healing after the ~24-hour acute phase has been replaced by ECM (Elevate, Compress, and Move). Starrett is a leading advocate for ECM, with the emphasis on Move as the top priority for those sprained ankles or stiff calves. Look at some of K-Starr’s stuff on YouTube (like the amazing Voodoo Floss treatment), or read Becoming a Supple Leopard, and you’ll realize that many of today’s soothing therapies and gadgets can be bested by flexibility/mobility drills to help you move with more efficiency and less injury risk in the first place.

Back to cold therapy—it appears the greatest benefits accrue to the central nervous system, cardiovascular system, and immune system rather than the muscles. It’s difficult if not impossible for cold exposure to speed the healing of muscle damage incurred during training. Patience and increased general everyday movement are the big ticket items here.

In recent years, I’ve made a concerted effort to take frequent short walks or perform very light calisthenics or mobility sequences in the hours after a high intensity sprint workout or Ultimate Frisbee match, and it really seems to help me wake up the following day with less stiffness. My Primal Collagen Fuel regimen deserves tons of credit here too; it’s been an absolute game changer, particularly as I continue to insist on doing explosive jumps, burst and lateral movement against fit 20- and 30-somethings on the Ultimate field (yes, I’ve discovered that there are some big time gamers in Miami too!)

So, Should I Shell Out Like Cristiano Ronaldo For Cyrotherapy?

I was suspicious of the cryotherapy craze from the start, and Starrett concurs. Research is building that cryotherapy doesn’t deliver the same level of benefit that water exposure does. Starrett even observes that folks following a devoted cryo regimen don’t seem to tolerate cold water very well! Instead, for the price of only a handful of cryo sessions, I suggest you instead go to the cutting edge of cold therapy with an inexpensive and easily-accessible chest freezer regimen—details shortly.

When Is The Best Time For Cold Therapy?

Allow for a minimum of a couple hours, preferably more, after workouts before introducing cold exposure. Perhaps the best time for cold exposure is first thing in the morning for a cellular and central nervous system energizer, and also right before bed in order to help lower body temperature—a key element of transitioning into a good night’s sleep.

Chest Freezers: Not Just For Grass-Fed Beef Anymore

If you’re in Finland or in the Colorado rockies and have a year-round cold lake or river nearby (shout out to body hacking guru Ben Greenfield, author of Beyond Training and host of Ben Greenfield Podcast, who indeed has a cold river running through his property outside Spokane, WA), hey—you’re good to go! For the rest of us who don’t have a readily available natural source of cold water that’s reliably under 60 degrees (a good upper limit to observe for therapeutic practices, down to a lower limit of just above freezing), it’s time to talk about the wonder world of the chest freezer. Yep, the same item previously recommended on MDA for storing big orders of Internet-sourced grass-fed beef and other bulk-order treasures.

The idea here is to repurpose a chest freezer into a readily available, any time, any place cold plunge (even Miami, although I don’t think my high rise would allow me to sneak one into the first floor fitness center.). My Primal Endurance and Keto Reset Diet co-author Brad Kearns has plunged deep into the cold therapy scene (that’s #3 double-e if you’re keeping score) with a deluxe chest freezer setup and twice-a-day regimen of brief immersion into near-freezing water.

What you do here is take a 12-15 cubic foot, top opening chest freezer, fill it with water, and then run the motor on a timer for only around 1.5-4 hours per day—depending on the power of your unit, your ambient temperatures, and your desired exposure temperature. For a moderate investment of perhaps $200 on Craigslist or $400 for an ample-sized new unit (Brad grabbed this one with free home delivery), you are in the cold therapy business.

Brad’s preferred water temperature is 33 ºF (icicle alert!), maintained through continual tweaking of the 24-hour timer. Other enthusiasts like to keep water anywhere from 45-60 degrees, with exposure times ranging from 4 minutes at 44 degrees (easy to remember, per Dave Kobrine in Newport Coast, CA—Brad’s initial inspiration for cold therapy) to nearly 10 minutes at 60 degrees. Starrett, who keeps his water in the forties and has twice-weekly gatherings of friends for what he calls “church services” consisting of contrast therapy between chest freezer and hot sauna, confirms that there are no strict protocols to tout as superior to others, and surely significant individual variation in cold tolerance. “Get out before you start shivering!,” Starrett exclaims. “Never stay in to the extent that you suffer or experience pain or burning. Gabby and Laird suggest that if you’re in there long enough to shiver, you’re just showing off.”

Brad describes how he used to set a timer for three minutes at 33 ºF and tried to last that long but then realized that this could compromise the intended purpose of enjoying a Zenlike, mood-elevating start to the day. Instead, he prefers to start with a full submerging, then move hands and head out of water to complete a cycle of 20 slow, deep, diaphragmatic breaths while otherwise fully immersed—which ends up taking around three minutes. As cold water master Wim Hof has popularized lately, pairing a breathing regimen with your cold water immersion will enhance the circulation and oxygen delivery benefits.

Check out Brad’s video (completed in only one take), in which he describes (coherently, while sitting in freezing water) the benefits and setup logistics—everything you need to get started:

Benefits of Cold Exposure

The shock of cold exposure stimulates assorted fight or flight hormonal processes, which deliver an adaptive benefit because the stressor is brief. Contrast the prolonged fight or flight stimulation of hectic modern life (or exposing yourself to cold for too long and catching a cold—duh), which leads to breakdown and burnout.

Optimally brief cold exposure is a hormetic stressor—a natural stressor that delivers a net positive effect. Your heart rate and respiration increase as a way to try and keep warm, increasing blood flow and oxygen delivery throughout the body. Norepinephrine floods your brain, boosting vigilance, focus, attention and mood, and reducing pain and inflammation. The norepinephrine spike from cold exposure delivers what we often call an endorphin rush—natural pain relief and an enhanced sense of well-being.

Dr. Rhonda Patrick, one of the absolute best communicators of cutting edge health and longevity science anywhere, cites research that norepinephrine can rise 200-300 percent with just a 20-second immersion into freezing water a couple times a week (imagine going three minutes, twice a day like Brad—no wonder he was such a big help with this article). Patrick explains that norepinephrine also helps reduce inflammation by inhibiting inflammatory cytokines like the noted bad guy TNF-alpha, a known accomplice in many modern disease patterns.

Quelling inflammatory cytokines is also believed to help battle anxiety and depression. A researcher named Nikolai Shevchuk was quoted in a Fast Company article by Chris Gayomali, speculating about the mechanisms by which cold exposure can boost mood: “probably the stimulation of the dopaminergic transmission in the mesocorticolimbic and nigrostriatal pathway. These dopaminergic pathways are known to be involved in the regulation of emotions. There is a lot of research linking these brain areas to depression.” Indeed, it’s been chronicled that VanGogh was treated in an asylum for depression with two-hour cold baths, twice a week, to combat his well-known condition of depression.

Further tidbits were offered in the Fast Company article from Australian cold water researcher Ned Brophy-Williams on the anti-inflammatory benefits of cold water immersion: “It moves blood from the peripheral to deep blood vessels, thereby limiting inflammation and swelling and improving venous return. Metabolites and waste products built up during exercise can be efficiently removed by the body and nutrients quickly replenished to fatigued muscles.”

Carrying on if you’re still not convinced… Your lymphatic system is activated by cold exposure, helping speed the clearance of toxins from tissues throughout the body. You also elicit an enhanced anti-oxidative defense with increased T cell activity to improve your immune function.

Finally, you may have heard Dr. Patrick promoting the hot topic of heat shock proteins, and how sauna/heat exposure can deliver assorted health benefits. Patrick also informs us that cold exposure releases so-called cold shock proteins such as RNA binding motif 3 (RBM3) that are linked to the regeneration of synapses in the same manner as heat shock proteins. As the Finns have known for centuries, it seems like temperature alterations—deliberate exposure to both cold and hot—deliver phenomenal health benefits.

Cold Exposure—The Right Way—To Boost Recovery

For fitness enthusiasts looking to speed recovery with cold therapy, it’s now clear that the immediate post-exercise inflammation reduction is potentially harmful, and that implementing a simple daily regimen of morning and/or evening exposure can deliver the aforementioned benefits without compromising fitness adaptations. In recent years during the winter months in Malibu, Carrie and I would end our evenings with some 104F spa time, interspersed by quick visits to the sub-60F pool and back to the spa. I’d always end with a few minutes in the pool, leaving me wonderfully relaxed, cool, and ready for sleep. Brad’s morning chest freezer ritual looks as good or better than a morning caffeine blast to get going on a busy, productive day.

Beyond the exciting emerging science, anecdotal evidence from enthusiasts also suggests that toughing out a cold shower or committing to a focused cold therapy regimen has profound mood elevating effects. Primal Blueprint’s own Brian McAndrew (yeah, check out what our guy behind the camera looks like!), who produces our podcasts and fabulous videos on both our YouTube Channel and our comprehensive online multimedia educational courses, has dabbled in cold exposure, using contrast therapy at his health club (going back and forth between the ~50F cold plunge and the sauna at his Portland, OR health club), or just lingering up to his torso in a wintertime cold swimming pool. Brian relates, “All I know is that the worse I made myself feel in the moment [by staying longer in the cold], the better I felt afterwards in regards to mood. This was true for both cold and hot. Having the cold plunge and sauna together lets you go to further extremes, because you know you can get immediate relief at any moment with contrasting cold or warmth.”

Cold Exposure Gives Meaning And Richness To Life—Really!

I believe there are other profound cold therapy benefits that are hard-to-quantify. Starrett contends that your cold exposure practice can serve as a good barometer for your state of recovery and desire to train. He asserts that sore, stiff, or poorly functioning muscles seem to be more sensitive to cold exposure, and that if you’re in a fatigue/overtraining rut, your tolerance to cold diminishes accordingly. K-Starr notices that when he’s fried from big workouts or stressful travel, the cold water stings and he wants out quickly. When he’s less stressed and more rested, he has no problem relaxing in there for up to eight minutes. Remember, he’s jumping right into a dry sauna. As Brian described, your exposure times can increase when you have access to a sweet contrast setup.

Starrett’s “desire to train” concept deserves further appreciation. In his set of exclusive video interviews in the Primal Endurance Mastery Course and the Keto Reset Mastery Course, he references studies with athletes suggesting that a subjective “desire to train” score is a more accurate indicator than any of the modern high tech biofeedback metrics like Heart Rate Variability, pulse oximeters, blood lactate meters, sleep cycle apps and all the rest. As an old timer whose endurance exploits predate even heart rate monitors, I strongly agree that your intuition, mood and motivation level should take center stage for making workout decisions, especially when it’s time to downsize grand ambitions. I know that when I take a few moments to sit quietly and reflect on my planned workout, sometimes profound insights occur, and I roll over and go back to sleep. Ditto for when I hesitate to jump into a routine cold shower or pool plunge (or get out earlier than usual)—it’s a reliable indicator that I’m overstressed or overtired.

Furthering Brian’s comments about the mood elevating effects of cold therapy, I’d also suggest that cold exposure helps improve your focus, confidence, and mental resilience—particularly since you will improve your tolerance and appreciation over time—and that these benefits will carry over into all other areas of life. Lift heavy things, sprint once in a while, get adequate sun exposure, plunge into cold water—these are all hormetic stressors that help you bring your A-game to everything you do. I’m not saying sitting in a chest freezer every morning will help you muster the courage to ask for a promotion, commit to enter an adventure race, or ask for a date with that certain person in the office, but it might help….

If you’re content to spend almost all 24 daily hours in a climate controlled home, car, and office, enjoy the wholly modern luxury of a hot shower a couple times a day, and never voluntarily subject yourself to the beautiful moments of discomfort like a cold plunge, the final few reps of a tough set in the gym, or the final few miles of a tough session on the roads, that’s fine. We can still be friends. But as many of us living Primally can attest, there are benefits to challenging the perceived limits of mind and body in order to stimulate peak performance and happiness. Sir Roger Bannister, the legendary first sub-four minute miler who passed in March at age 88, offered up a memorable quote in his 1954 biography, The Four Minute Mile: “Struggle gives meaning and richness to life.” One thing’s for sure after you try it out: you will appreciate a warm shower or a warm bed like never before.

Does Cold Exposure Stimulate Fat Reduction? Mehhh…

You may have heard exciting news about something called Brown Adipose Tissue (aka BAT, or brown fat), a special type of adipose tissue that has a different role in the body than the fat that accumulates across the body when you store more calories than you burn; this stuff is known as white adipose tissue. Instead of just storing calories like white fat, brown fat is also able to generate heat to help maintain the body’s ideal core temperature. Infants have lots of brown fat for extra protection. Brown fat levels dwindle as we age, and interestingly, obese people have lower than normal levels of brown fat.

The excitement about brown fat emanates from research showing that cold exposure spurs a fifteen-fold increase in brown fat activation. It’s theorized that this increase in cellular activity in brown adipose tissue can help stimulate the burning of additional white fat, making cold exposure an effective weight loss catalyst. The idea here is that the caloric energy your brown fat generates for rewarming will be burned instead of otherwise stored as white fat.

Research is not conclusive in the brown fat area, and scientists assert that it’s very difficult to measure the effect of environmental temperature on metabolism. It’s virtually certain that getting cold and then forcing yourself to warm naturally (no saunas or hot showers allowed!) will boost metabolic rate. However, I’d hesitate to put this in the forefront of fat reduction techniques. Even as drug companies are spending millions to unlock the power of brown fat (via cold exposure or drug-related means) to burn white fat, I’ll argue that ditching grains, sugars and refined vegetable oils to minimize insulin and boost fat metabolism might be a much better area of focus. What’s more, there is a logical counterargument that cold exposure might stimulate a corresponding increase in appetite that would counteract any potential fat reduction benefits. This makes sense along the lines of the compensation theory of exercise, detailed in a recent post about Rest and Recovery.

Ray Cronise, a former NASA materials scientist who oversaw Space Shuttle experiments and has been a prominent voice in progressive health circles for the past decade, has performed some increasingly sophisticated experiments that suggest the potential of cold exposure to boost fat loss. Cronise lost a remarkable 27 pounds in six weeks with a regimen of cold showers, talking neighborhood walks while purposely way underdressed, and sleeping with open windows and/or little or no covering. Cronise’s experiment was inspired by that infamous viral news story about Olympic swimming legend Michael Phelps eating 12,000 calorie per day that I discussed in the recent Sami Inkinen post. Doing some basic metabolic calculations, Cronise speculated that Phelps was eating vastly more calories than he burned during his intense workouts, and that hence a significant portion of his caloric expenditure must be going toward maintaining his core temperature while spending hours in the water.

Tim Ferriss brought more attention to Cronise’s work and the concept of burning off brown fat through cold exposure when he covered the matter in his bestseller, The Four Hour Body. Google brown fat and you will find assorted chatter jumping to the conclusion that brown fat stimulation promotes weight loss, but the hard science is just not there—yet anyway. For now, I wouldn’t put much emphasis on cold exposure for fat loss, and instead be content to enjoy the many other benefits of cold therapy.

Nothing left to say but get yourself a chest freezer (another chest freezer?) and get started! Let me know what you think, and thanks for stopping by today.

A Few More Links For Your Enjoyment:

Tapping the Power Of Cold To Lose Weight

Scientific Case For Cold Showers

Top 7 Reasons You Should Take Cold Showers

Brown Fat Burns White Fat Studies

Surprising Benefits Of Cold Showers

Dr. Rhonda Patrick on health benefits of cold and sauna

The post The (Maybe Not So) Definitive Guide to Cold Therapy appeared first on Mark's Daily Apple.

Periodizing Nutrition: The High Fat Approach

I’m excited to introduce a guest post from an elite athlete in the midst of an incredible ultrarunning career. Believe me, not many athletes can write—or do much of anything except perform and veg out on the couch recovering before the next workout. Zach Bitter, record setting ultramarathon runner, is different, as readers of his popular blog already know. Zach holds the American record for the 100-mile run of 11 hours, 47 minutes. That’s running all day—400 laps around a regulation track—at seven-minute per mile pace. Go try to run a single mile in seven minutes to gain a full appreciation for his supreme effort.

Zach has achieved some notoriety in the ultra scene as a dedicated fat-fueled athlete. (You can read his story here.) He dabbles in keto during his base building training cycles, believing that it speeds recovery and reduces the stress impact of his workouts. His fueling strategy for competition is more nuanced, and he has a lot of important things to say on the matter. His post offers insightful commentary about periodization of nutrition. Here is a quick sound bite from Zach about his big picture goals with becoming highly fat- and keto-adapted: “I strongly believe that the less you have to fuel during a race, the better.” Enjoy this message from Zach, and we hope to check in with him again in the future.

Nutrition has continued to come closer to the forefront of conversations everywhere in recent years. Certainly, this is in part due to the ease of access to information, and the seeming growth of all kinds of approaches—which all boast success stories in which the reader can place their faith. It is a fascinating crossroads for many people. When we look at things in black and white it can become quite easy to get confused. How can one nutrition approach work so well for one person, but fail for another? I am a big advocate for starting with some simple principles, and ultimately building from what you find in order to fine-tune things specific to you as an individual. People lead drastically different lifestyles. This makes following someone else’s approach difficult without some fine-tuning to your own personal lifestyle.

It is for this reason my first piece of advice for someone starting their journey into health and nutrition is to turn to whole food options. If not already done, removing fake processed food is a big first step. From there, I see a blank canvas to build from in a way that matches what your goals and lifestyle require.

With that all said, I want to zoom in for the purposes of this article. Fast forward along the journey where you have eliminated all the fake processed garbage, and move into fine-tuning things within a high fat or Primal approach to nutrition.

When you dive into the world of high fat, or keto, nutrition you often find no shortage of people advocating for nearly if not entirely eliminating carbohydrates. I don’t see anything inherently wrong with this approach, at least to start, but do think there is some wiggle room here for those of us who follow a periodized training approach that makes your lifestyle look drastically different at various points of the year. For example; my personal training plan for ultra-marathon races has me at times training for upwards to 20 hours a week when in peak training. These peak training weeks also often include speed and strength work. During these phases of training I am a bit more liberal with the amount of Primal approved carbohydrates I eat. On the other hand, there are weeks of the year when my number one goal in regards to training is to simply rest and recover. During these times of year I do not have a need for carbohydrates, and in fact, have found reason to believe they can even be counterproductive. For me, these phases of the year are met with a more clinical definition of a ketogenic diet (30-50 grams of carbohydrate per day).

This “fuel your lifestyle approach” presents a greater need to be a bit more flexible with nutrition than a typical “plug and play” approach you might find that would have you eating basically the same things all the time. I find this exciting and motivating, as I can always look forward to some change or variance in food groups when I am going in and out of different phases of training.

Where to begin? In a perfect world everyone I work with would come to me at the onset of their training plan, or priority goal—whether that be a race, event, or simply to improve their fitness and health. For purposes here I will start from the beginning. If you find yourself part way, you can look where you are, and find a logical jump-in point. The beauty of this approach is you can always revisit it from the beginning when you finish your current goal, hit the reset button, and plan your next adventure or fitness goal.

Jump-Starting Your Fat-Burning Engine

My goal with this program is not necessarily to get you to be as fat-adapted as possible, but to get you fat-adapted enough to maximize performance, and avoid the pitfalls that being a “sugar burner” can bring. If you are already following a ketogenic diet, you might not recognize much change during this phase, which is intended to flip the metabolic switch towards burning fat as the primary fuel source. This switch is most quickly done by cutting the carbs so low that your body has no choice but to burn fat. Those coming from a ketogenic background will find this phase to be smooth sailing as you have already flipped the metabolic switch. For those folks, you can see this as matching your lifestyle intensities with your nutrition.

For those on this journey for the first time patience is key. My number one piece of advice is to avoid looking at all things you cannot have, but rather take advantage of the luxury we have in modern times by focusing on the vast array of options you can have that are a grocery store trip away. If you are looking for some great recipes that fit nicely within this phase’s framework I encourage you to check out the recipes in, The Primal Blueprint Cookbook, by Mark Sisson and Jennifer Meier, and/or The Art and Science of Low Carbohydrate Performance, by Dr. Jeff Volek and Dr. Stephen Phinney.

Regardless of whether this is your first attempt at strict keto, or a continuation of what you have done, this phase is coupled with recovery from your previous training cycle, and a gradual reintroduction of building a strong aerobic base. This is good practice for athletes of all disciplines as even building strength and power is better accomplished when a strong aerobic base is in place. The short and simple way of describing this phase is to match slow burn activities with slow burn fuel sources. Rest assured, you are providing your body with the framework to build from as you continue to progress.

Putting In the Time

As you find yourself developing along the aerobic framework and your training volume is beginning to reach its peak, you’ll find yourself with less time between workouts. Workouts are longer in duration, and in some cases with highly trained athletes, you are doing more than just one workout per day. Essentially, you are shortening the window of rest between efforts as your body becomes adapted and more resilient to the lower volume phase. This shorter window marks the time when you may find it useful to introduce a few more Primal approved carbohydrate sources. Relatively speaking, this is still quite low when compared to a high(er) carbohydrate approach. You will still gather a vast majority of your nutrition from fat.

Letting your body be your guide is very useful as you move into this phase. It is during this phase where I look for some telltale signs from my clients and myself. It’s okay to enter this phase following your strict ketogenic approach, but don’t be too bull-headed if you notice feeling flat or sluggish during workouts. When you start to notice that you are feeling a little flat, it’s a good sign that a small increase in Primal approved carbohydrates is wise. I recommend starting with small increments of reintroduction as a way to avoid going overboard.

A good rule of thumb is to start by shifting up your carbohydrate intake by five percent. If you notice that you feel stronger and more energetic during your workouts, you found the sweet spot. A little bit goes a long way during this phase, because a strong fat-burning engine has been built, and the addition of a small increase in carbohydrate will provide more bang for your buck when compared to a nutritional approach that is already heavily based in carbohydrates. Rest assured, you are not sabotaging the developed fat burning engine. A heavy reliance on fat is still in place here as the great majority of fuel you are giving your body is still coming from fat. Consider it optimizing.

Bringing In the Bang

With a very strong aerobic base thoroughly established, and the fat engine burning hot, it is time to sharpen the spear. Sharpening the spear is a phase in training I call, “unsustainable year round.” The reason for this is not because it is bad. It is simply a phase that will eventually require a mental and physical break to be able to do it again, and to continue to improve. It is a fun, but challenging phase of training, and I personally keep it enjoyable by stepping away from it at the end of a training cycle.

During this phase, since peak work is done to reach a goal, it also marks the phase of the cycle where the highest ratio of Primal approved carbohydrate sources is optimal. Similar to the last phase, it is not a drastic change, or a change that will sabotage the ability to turn to high reliance on fat as fuel, but rather taking advantage of the phase of the cycle where benefits from a fuel source that burns hot is present. I like to describe the carbohydrates in this phase as rocket fuel. A little bit goes a long way, and gives you a big punch, but going overboard can burn you up.

Similar to the previous phase, letting the body be the guide is a great starting point. If you notice a missing gear during intensity sessions, that’s the spot where a small increase of Primal approved carbohydrates is in order. Focusing on things like berries, melons, tubers, and raw honey are some “go to” options during this phase. Enjoying this phase as a way to broaden the range of food choices, or practice a couple different cooking recipes, is a good mindset during this phase.

Individual experiences will vary, but generally speaking, this phase can benefit from around twenty percent of your nutrition coming from Primal approved carbohydrates. Training volume can play a significant role, so if you’re following a program on the lower end of volume, less carbohydrates can be brought back. If this is the case (or prior experience would indicate adhering to a strict ketogenic approach has worked well), starting with small increments of carbohydrate reintroduction is the best plan of action. If that last gear isn’t coming back with small increments, continuing to add small amounts back is the next step.

A question or fear often expressed during this phase is losing fat burning potential. Remembering the goal here is important. This is not a phase that will be in place year round. A return to a stricter ketogenic approach is on the horizon. Even with the increase in carbohydrate, a high level of fat-burning is still necessary to meet your metabolic needs, because even at twenty percent carbohydrate the majority (60-70 percent) of nutrition is coming from fat.

Coupled with this, during this phase, being mindful of rest and recovery are important aspects. Challenging efforts need to be matched with proper rest and recovery. When programming training during this phase, it is routine to build in what is called de-load weeks. This is where approximately a week of reduced volume and intensity will give the body and mind a break—and the opportunity to grow and improve from all the hard work. This also provides the opportunity to scale back on carbohydrates for a week and return to the highest of fat burning states. During this phase when a de-load week is in session, dropping back to a more strict ketogenic nutrition plan is appropriate.

The Hay Is In the Barn

Once adequately peaked for an event, adventure, or fitness goal it is time to redirect priority from some of the hardest work to resting. This does not mean shutting things down altogether, but rather a reduction in the frequency of intensity sessions and volume. Similar to the de-load weeks, this affords the opportunity to scale down on carbohydrates. This also allows you to once again remind the body that fat is the primary fuel source.

This is the phase at which high carbohydrate folks will begin chatting about “carbo loading.” I find it fascinating how carbo loading has come to be defined in recent years. For many, this means a high carbohydrate diet is coupled with a barrage of even more carbohydrates the day or two before an event. For the fat-burning athlete, it looks different. The carbo loading practice is a week long process as opposed to a final excuse for gluttony. The first four to five days is met with strict ketogenic nutrition. Again, we are programming the body to burn high levels of fat.

One final nudge or reminder… When two days out from the event or adventure, a small reintroduction of carbohydrates will be adequate for your metabolic needs. The way to view these days is similar to the intensity phase of training. It is not full-fledged high carbohydrate, but rather more along the lines of approximately twenty percent of intake; similar to the intensity phase.

Final Notes

What you can expect within this framework is a much lower reliance of carbohydrates to fuel activities. In an event or adventure, this means the need to constantly bombard the digestive tract with frequent refeeds and engineered fuel will be minimized. My personal experience has been a reduction of at least fifty percent in competition fueling along with a much more stable flow of energy. The peaks and valleys experienced on a high carbohydrate approach are no longer a concern.

Thanks again to Zach Bitter for sharing his experience and expertise in today’s post. You can follow Zach on his blog as well as his social media channels (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube). 

The post Periodizing Nutrition: The High Fat Approach appeared first on Mark's Daily Apple.