Mark Sisson's Blog, page 169

What Primal Types Can Learn from Plant-Based Diets (and Dieters)

I joke around a lot and give them hell, but I have love and respect for plant-based diets and the people who eat them. These folks come at health from an entirely different place, and, it’s true, I don’t think their diets are optimal. I think they get a lot wrong. They often misconstrue what Primal is all about. I’ve even received threats from some of the less grounded members of the community, though I know that these are the outliers, the extremists, and I never took them seriously.

But…I’d also suggest plant-based dieters get a lot right. More than you’d think.

I’m not talking about the pastatarians, of course, or the junk food vegans, or the vegetarians who subsist entirely on pizza and Tofurkey. I’m talking about the ones eating loads of veggies. Actual vegetarians and vegans who eat actual plants.

They can learn a ton from us. That’s true. We can learn a lot from them, too. Today, I wanted to discuss just what I’ve learned and what we can learn from plant-based diets.

How to Maximize Nutrition from Subpar Sources

Being a vegan is hard work. Being a healthy vegan is even harder. We Primal types have it easy. We can really let the nutrient-density fall by the wayside because we can always fall back on a few pastured eggs, a quarter pound of beef liver, some wild salmon, a good steak, some oysters and mussels. Someone on a plant-based diet doesn’t have that luxury. They can’t rely on whey protein or ground beef for high-quality bioavailable protein; they have to combine legumes and grains to get the right mix of amino acids. They can’t get all the zinc and iron they’ll ever need from a half dozen oysters.

They have to comb the literature for nuts and seeds high in each and make sure not to eat too much iron-binding calcium or zinc-interfering copper at the same meal. They can’t eat long-chain omega-3s directly (unless they eat algae); they must make it out of ALA.

Imagine if you ate both high-quality animal foods and maximized the nutrition from plant sources. You’d be unstoppable.

Which Esoteric Leafy Greens You Should Try

There’s a clearly-vegan woman I often see at the farmer’s market. We’ve never spoken about our respective diets (contrary to popular belief, not all vegans immediately announce their dietary ideology), but it’s obvious from the dreadlocks, piercings, waif’s physique, blue/purple/green hair, and (more to the point) basket bulging with green things.

We do talk about what she’s got in that basket though. She’s always digging up the most interesting leafy greens, and I’m quick to ask for recommendations. Without her, I wouldn’t know about star spinach, or purslane (I figured it was just a weed; turns out it’s high in omega-3s, magnesium, and calcium), or sweet potato leaves (I’ve read about their use in Africa while researching for the blog but never actually had them), or the multitude of Asian greens. If you want to move past spinach, kale, chard, and lettuce, ask the only hominids who put down several pounds of leafy greens daily.

Why Low-Carb, High-Fat Didn’t Work For You

I’m on record as claiming that low-carb, high-fat Primal ways of eating are the simplest, most effective way to lose body fat for the most people. Hell, I’m about to release a book predicated on the notion that becoming fat-adapted is great for your health, performance, and longevity. But I’ll also admit that it’s not for everyone. Some people just don’t do well on this type of macronutrient ratio. And that’s fine.

In her excellent presentation at AHS14, entitled “Lessons from the Vegans,” Denise Minger explained how some people who don’t thrive on low-carb, high-fat can actually prosper on low-fat, high-carb diets. But here’s the catch: They should be truly low-fat, as in sub-10% of calories from fat. Anything more, Denise cautions, and you run the risk of entering no man’s land where both fat and glucose metabolism are dysfunctional. The best example of this is the standard American diet, which contains moderate amounts of both (unhealthy) fat and carbs and fails miserably on all fronts.

It’s definitely not for me, and it won’t work for everyone or most, and you’d probably need to include animal foods, but you could put together a decent low-fat diet by sticking to Primal sources.

How Cruel Industrial Animal Agriculture Is

Animal well-being matters to us, but we often couch our distaste for CAFOs (concentrated animal feeding operations) in the substandard nutrient content of their products. Makes sense that we’d worry about the nutrition, since we’re eating so many animal foods. But there’s another reason that we shouldn’t forget.

And your average plant-based dieter certainly won’t let you forget that some of the industrial animal operations are truly repugnant. Chickens crammed in cages, beakless and miserable. Cows standing knee deep in their own manure. The actual killing is probably the most humane part, as the vast majority of animals are stunned or otherwise rendered unconscious before being killed and butchered. But the life of a CAFO animal is quite miserable. If anything, it’ll bolster your resolve to seek out sustainably-raised, pastured/grass-fed animal products whenever you can.

Pretty Much Everything to Do with Poop

This is one of the more perplexing habits of most plant-based dieters I’ve encountered. They love waxing poetic on defecation and exploring the day-to-day variations in consistency, frequency, texture, odor, and volume. It’s really something to behold. I almost suggest spending a day in the local vegan cafe just to eavesdrop.

But if you can bear with it, you might indirectly learn about the importance of gut health. A large percentage of poop, after all, is made up of gut bacteria. And if plant-based dieters are proud of the prominence of their feces, they may be doing something right on the gut bacteria front.

Several years back, the media made a huge fuss over a study that claimed to show plant-based diets lead to better gut health and gut biome diversity than diets containing meat. The “meat diet” was a bit of a strawman in that it contained nothing but cheese and cured meats—no fiber at all—but the fact remains that the plant-based diet resulted in a diverse, apparently healthy gut biome.

Take that to heart, and eat some fibrous plant matter. Nothing’s stopping you from enhancing your omnivorous diet with loads of plant matter and fermentable fiber.

How to Prepare Legumes

Legumes are kinda back on the Primal menu. Go read the post, but here’s the gist:

They’re full of fermentable fiber.

They’re quite nutrient-dense, containing lots of folate and minerals.

They’re low in “net carbs,” especially compared to grains.

The lectins they contain are usually deactivated by soaking and/or cooking.

But you’ve been away so long that you probably don’t know how to prepare them. I’ll admit that I don’t really know either.

Check out some vegan blogs for tips and recipes. They rely so much on legumes for the protein content that they’re far more likely to understand the ins and outs of legume preparation and cooking.

You can easily modify the recipes to make them meatier. Add a ham hock or some salt pork (basically, just add pig parts). Use bone broth instead of activated Nepalese rainwater (or make bone broth using the rainwater).

That Humans are Incredible

Take most other animals and put them on a weirdo diet that strays from their biological foundation, and you’ll have a whole bunch of dead animals in a few weeks. They’re fragile. They’re rigid. Dogs could do all right, but that’s because they co-evolved with humans for tens of thousands of years. And the omnivores like bears would do okay on a range of diets. But gorillas? Pandas? Tigers? No way.

Humans can eat just about anything. From Inuit to tropical hunter-gatherers to Swiss dairy farmers to ketogenic dieters to Pacific Islanders to Incan potato farmers to kale-eating highlanders, the range of viable human dietary practices boggles the mind.

No diet is more evolutionarily novel than the vegan diet. There are no known records of successful or even factual vegan groups living before last century. Vegetarian, sure. Vegan for a short period of time due to food shortages, of course. But full-time elective vegans? Nope. It just didn’t happen.

Yet, there are successful vegans living today. Healthy ones. I might think they can all benefit from an oyster or an egg or a piece of liver or two every now and again, but they’re out there and they exemplify the stunning adaptability of the human animal.

So, head down to the local vegan cafe and grab a salad or a bowl (most vegan places hate industrial seed oils as much as we do). I can honestly say I’ve had some genuinely fantastic meals at vegan restaurants.

Talk to the vegan clerk at the health food store for some tips on new veggies to try and how to prepare them.

Pick the brain of the ripped vegan lifter at your gym. What’s his or her secret?

Above all else, don’t ignore good advice and wisdom because of the source. The Primal Blueprint is an opportunist’s way of eating and living. We take what works from ancestral traditions, present-day populations, and modern science to form the best possible lifestyle. That list of influences has to include plant-based dieters—because every group with any kind of success (well, almost every group) has something to offer.

That’s it for me, folks. I think those are some very important lessons, but I’m sure there are more I missed. What have you learned from plant-based diets and dieters?

Thanks for reading and take care!

The post What Primal Types Can Learn from Plant-Based Diets (and Dieters) appeared first on Mark's Daily Apple.

Dear Mark: Ketosis and Methylglyoxal, Microwaving Vegetables, the Role of Salt in Cooking, and More Veggie Ideas

For today’s edition of Dear Mark, I’m answering three questions. First, what’s the deal with the relationship between ketosis and methylglyoxal? Second, why did I recommend using the microwave to cook vegetables in the post from last week? Third, why do chefs use so much salt in their cooking? After all the questions, I throw in a couple more vegetable cooking tips I missed last week.

Let’s go:

Hey Mark,

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases...

Did you see this study? Ketosis unlocks a “new” antioxidant system. Pretty cool stuff, just thought I’d pass it along.

Noel

Thanks, Noel. That was totally new to me. I knew that ketogenic diets had antioxidant effects, but I didn’t know the ketone bodies themselves were directly involved in detoxification of otherwise toxic compounds. Very cool. I agree.

What’s going on?

Methylglyoxal is one of the most reactive agents our bodies encounter. Many of the basic diseases of civilization, like diabetes, hypertension, and heart disease, feature elevated methylglyoxal levels. Causation is likely. Heck, it even possesses the ability to corrupt HDL.

What makes this newest study so interesting is that ketogenic diets have gotten a bad rap for their supposed effects on methylglyoxal levels in the past. Detractors commonly cite a 2005 study of the Atkin’s diet, which found that dieters who reached ketosis doubled their methylglyxoal levels. Sounds bad, but is it?

According to this latest study, maybe not. One of the main ketones, acetoacetate, gloms on to methylglyoxal and converts it to a harmless metabolite. Elevated methylglyoxal might mean very different things depending on what kind of a diet produces it.

Other studies have found methylglyoxal to be a potent anti-cancer agent whose users “benefited greatly,” some even becoming “free of the disease.” Methylglyoxal has a hormetic effect, too. That means it can provoke a beneficial response in the right dose, making us stronger and healthier than if we’d never encountered it at all.

I’m kind of shocked you include microwaving anything as an option.

Prin

I hear you. I’ve always been on the fence about microwaves.

The purist in me feels guilty whenever I microwave something. Cooking over fire or on the stove is intimate. You’re close to the food. You’re touching it. You’re putting yourself into the dish. Cooking in the microwave is putting food in a box, closing it, pressing some buttons, and walking away. It’s very clinical.

The “suspicious of modern food processing” part of me tingles when I think about microwaving. Maybe, just maybe it is destroying the integrity of the food, forever altering the molecular structure of the water within, and creating carcinogenic compounds. Sure, the studies don’t really show it, but couldn’t they be industry-funded?

But another part of me realizes that microwaves save a ton of time. They’re very convenient. And that studies seem to vindicate microwaves. Some even show that microwaving is the most gentle way to cook certain foods and preserves the most nutrients. I can’t come up with a good, evidence-backed reason not to use the microwave.

I wouldn’t microwave breast milk. But I would microwave my bone broth.

Some additional thoughts regarding salt… Processed foods, fast foods, and restaurant foods can contain considerably more salt than what most of us would cook with from scratch at home. This is because salt covers up the fact that shortcuts have been taken in the preparation, sometimes to the point that such foods have little flavor of their own.

Shary

While I agree salt is often used in lieu of quality and creativity, I’d also suggest that ultimately salt isn’t there to make food taste salty or cover up imperfections and mistakes. It enhances flavors. It highlights them. Try turmeric by itself—a dash of powder on your tongue. Virtually tasteless. Now, add some salt. It’s a totally different experience. You can actually taste the turmeric more when you pair it with salt than when it’s by itself.

One reason is that salt suppresses unpalatable flavors (like bitterness) more than palatable flavors (like sweetness), thereby tipping the balance toward the enjoyable flavors.

Another reason is that sodium enhances sensitivity of sweet receptors. You actually taste more sweetness when you add salt. That explains the sudden and meteoric rise of salted caramel-flavored foods.

Even macaques know this. Given access to both salt water and fresh water, they dip their food in the former to enhance the taste.

And now for the vegetable cooking tips I promised up above….

Treat whole garlic cloves like vegetables.

Unless you enjoy peeling dozens of cloves, get yourself a sack of peeled garlic. I like the big bag sold at Costco.

You have to really love garlic for this to work. But if that doesn’t describe you, I’m not sure we can be friends anymore.

Whole garlic cloves go really well with roasted cauliflower. For whatever reason, they both cook to perfection in a cast iron pan at 425° in about 30 minutes, tossed in EVOO or avocado oil.

Got a stir fry going? Throw in some garlic cloves. Smash half and leave the rest whole. Mix up the textures and flavors (smashed, garlic cloves become more pungent and display more potent polyphenols).

Want to get crazy? Roast an entire pan of garlic cloves. Nothing but garlic, fat, and some salt. Try not to eat them all in one sitting.

Fair warning: Garlic is extremely high in inulin, a potent prebiotic fiber. You will fart. Prepare for that. Most people aren’t eating garlic in volume, but those who embark on this challenge will.

Torch your veggies.

Get yourself a little butane torch, read the instructions, make sure you know what you’re doing. Avoid open gas lines. Start exploring.

I find almost everything takes to the torch. In fact, I haven’t had any bad experiences. Of course, don’t try torching cucumbers or anything silly like that.

Torch it dry, then dip in oil and sprinkle with salt. This retains the crispness and the sweetness without causing conflagrations (fat is flammable).

Learn the fine line between blackened and burnt. Traverse that line as often as you can, for it is where flavor lies.

That’s it for today, folks. I hope you enjoyed today’s set of questions and answers. If you have anything to add or ask, do so down below. Thanks for reading!

The post Dear Mark: Ketosis and Methylglyoxal, Microwaving Vegetables, the Role of Salt in Cooking, and More Veggie Ideas appeared first on Mark's Daily Apple.

Weekend Link Love – Edition 469

Research of the Week

After applying testosterone gel, men make quicker decisions based on intuition rather than deliberation.

Time slows down when you’re running hard.

Kids are more engaged at school when they’re barefoot.

I don’t think you can deny it any longer: Sitting is bad for you. So don’t just sit there, maybe?

New Primal Blueprint Podcasts

Episode 186: Craig Ballantyne: Host Elle Russ chats with Craig Ballantyne, health and fitness author, Men’s Health contributor, and creator of the revolutionary Turbulence Training program.

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.

Why Am I Getting Low Ketone Readings on a Ketogenic Diet?
9 Factors That Influence Testosterone Levels
8 Tips for Cooking Vegetables

Interesting Blog Posts

How reading is essential for our souls, and we’re not doing enough of it.

What doctors can learn from Nassim Taleb.

Health screenings aren’t just mostly ineffective. They might actively harm.

Media, Schmedia

What was so special about grains? The answer will make sense to anyone who has ever filled out a Form 1040: grain, unlike other crops, is easy to tax… Only grains are, in Scott’s words, “visible, divisible, assessable, storable, transportable, and ‘rationable.’ ”

Everything Else

The word of the day is “solastalgia.”

Being in nature feels so right because we are nature.

This is mastery.

There’s a class action lawsuit against Costco for labeling its Kirkland Extra Virgin Coconut Oil as “healthy.”

No class action suit against this stuff, though.

Things I’m Up to and Interested In

I wish I had it together like this guy: Steve Kalin.

I love hearing what Primal Health Coaches are doing with their clients.

Article I found interesting: How rising carbon dioxide levels may be creating fast-growing “junk food” plants.

I’m not even a big Star Wars guy, but I kinda want that Death Star medicine ball: Onnit releases Star Wars-themed workout gear.

Recipe Corner

Bet you haven’t had cabbage like this: roasted cabbage roses.
If you do dairy (and nuts), try Greek yogurt fluffy waffles.

Time Capsule

One year ago (Sep 17– Sep 23)

4 Surprising Ways Other People Affect Your Health – No one is an island.
Where Do Legumes Belong in the Primal Eating Plan? – How bad are they, really?

Comment of the Week

“Wait, my grass-fed ribeyes, sautéed kale, roasted asparagus and caramelized onions are unpalatable? I guess I’m heading to Burger King, then.”

– Sorry to break the bad news, Ed in ketosis.

Want to make fat loss easier?

Try the Definitive Guide for Troubleshooting Weight Loss for free here.

The post Weekend Link Love – Edition 469 appeared first on Mark's Daily Apple.

Grilled Chicken Livers with Herb Butter

Liver is one of the most nutrient dense foods on the planet. A little bit is all you need to get a healthy dose of the vitamin A, copper, folate and zinc that liver offers. So, serving liver as an appetizer, instead of a main course, makes plenty of sense.

If you never eat liver because you’re not entirely confident about how to cook it, try this: skewer it and grill it. It really is that easy. Use chicken livers, which are naturally small and easy to skewer. Grill for about 6 minutes, then pour on the butter and fresh herbs. It’s hard to find an appetizer that is both easier to make and healthier than this one.

Time in the Kitchen: 20 minutes

Servings: 2 to 4

Ingredients

1 pound chicken livers, trimmed and cut into pieces 1 ½ inches/3.8 cm long (450 g)
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil or avocado oil (30 ml)
¼ teaspoon salt (1.2 ml)
2 grinds black pepper
¼ cup butter (60 g)
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice, plus lemon zest for garnish (15 ml)
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley (30 ml)
1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh rosemary (5 ml)

Instructions

Heat grill to high heat (first clean the grates and brush with oil)

In a bowl, toss the chicken livers with oil, salt and pepper. Thread the chicken livers on skewers, leaving a little space between each piece of liver.

Grill the skewers, about 3 minutes per side, turning once. The livers should be lightly charred and cooked through, just slightly pink in the middle.

Melt the butter. Whisk in lemon juice, parsley and rosemary. Pour herb butter over the chicken livers. Top the grilled chicken livers with a little lemon zest.

The post Grilled Chicken Livers with Herb Butter appeared first on Mark's Daily Apple.

From MS Diagnosis To TEDx Speaker Miracle

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!

When I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) at the age of 24, the only people I knew personally with this dreaded disease spent their young lives bedridden. I also feared this would be my life. Within 13 years of being diagnosed I became legally disabled due to the devastation MS caused to my body, and it appeared what I knew to be true would be my path.

Needless to say, I was scared and for most of my adult life lived a fear driven existence.

The highest form of disability a human can have is bilateral loss of their hands. By the age of 48, I was unable to use my hands to maintain daily life. I could no longer drive, lift, carry, turn, rotate or use my arms or hands beyond a single act. On a good day I could dress, feed and bath myself and that would be all. I had full-time help and people living with me.

My life was becoming unmanageable and fear increasing every day.

My neck became a huge issue, and I could not turn it left to right or look up or down. I lived in traction several times a week simply to stop the horrific pain of feeling like my head was being pushed into my neck. I used to pray for traction like an addict for a drug. It was the only way I could get any relief even if only for a few hours.

I also had a rib girdle that felt like a truck was sitting on my chest making each breath a challenge. To make life even more exciting I lost the ability to feel my bladder and the left side of my body from head to toe.

My body was failing. I was alone. I was going bankrupt due to healthcare costs.

By this point I was taking 24 pills a day and injecting with an MS disease-modifying drug every other day. My out-of-pocket healthcare costs averaging $37,000 year, not counting the cost of full-time help and having others live with me.

By 2008 when the market crashed in America I was now in a very dark place. I lost my home and feared being homeless, institutionalized, and I considered taking my own life.

Needless to say my life was desperate while living in constant pain and fear for each day.

I decided my life, as I knew it, was toxic.

It was at this time I decided to give up gluten. Within a few weeks my body started to love not having gluten so much that it presented a strong message for me to look at all the foods I ate.

As luck would have it Mark’s, Daily Apple was one of the 1st places I found online to help me navigate the idea of using food as medicine. Almost every time I asked Dr. Google a question the answer was found on a blog posted on the MDA. All of which felt like a lifeline because I was navigating this transition feeling very alone. Mark’s Daily Apple was part of a very small community of like-minded thinkers who took time to share his experience, which helped to inform my journey toward miracle status.

Literally, I was fighting with my doctors about using food as medicine.

My Western medicine healthcare teams were drug pushers and nothing else. They discounted diet and lifestyle from the word go, and each appointment only reinforced that my disease process had become the most debilitating form. They wanted me to accept where I was and make plans for where I was going, which was to be bedridden.

Mark’s Daily Apple gave me hope, purpose and direction to navigate the unknown road before me using food as medicine.

Within months of giving up gluten I decided to remove all processed foods, grains, refined sugar and dairy except grass-fed butter and goat/sheep milks based cheeses. These choices were inspired by Mark’s blog, which offered not only insight into the ‘why’, but also the ‘how’ and ‘what to expect.’

I remember my 1st labs after about 6 months of following my primal inspired way of eating and my doctor calling me very upset. I needed to go on cholesterol medication and that my numbers were high. She used this blood work to once again reinforce her lack of support food could be medicine.

I was shocked my blood work was not better since I started my conscious journey. Immediately, I chose to go to Mark’s blog to find out more about cholesterol and, as luck would have it, I found exactly what I was looking for. Western medicine does not have the same lens regarding fat and cholesterol, so educating my healthcare team was going to be an ongoing practice.

This was the 1st time I brought my doctor a blog post explaining ‘my health care lens,’ and it was from Mark’s Daily Apple.

I hope by sharing my story it inspires others to know they are not alone and deserve health and happiness. I believe in all of us to live our dreams, and I am grateful for the community of like minds like Mark’s Daily Apple that continue to support this journey. I could never do it alone and am truly grateful. Namaste.

V Capaldi

TEDx Speaker, Influencer, Miracle

Top 50 Wellness Warriors Changing Healthcare in America

http://www.paleobosslady.com

Want to make fat loss easier?

Try the Definitive Guide for Troubleshooting Weight Loss for free here.

The post From MS Diagnosis To TEDx Speaker Miracle appeared first on Mark's Daily Apple.

14 Super Probiotic Recipes to Realign Your Gut

Today’s awesome post is offered up by Aimee McNew of PaleoHacks.com. Enjoy, everyone!

Bacteria outnumber cells in our body at a ratio of ten to one! Since the average human body has about 37 trillion cells, we literally carry around an astounding number of bacteria. Probiotics are the “good” bacteria that keep digestion working, skin healthy, and the immune system in check; they even benefit mood and mental health in positive ways. Bad bacteria will proliferate unchecked when good bacteria isn’t there to counter it, so eating a diet rich in probiotic foods is vital for gut health and overall wellness.

These 14 recipes all contain good bacteria. They’re so tasty—you won’t even feel like you’re eating a gut-boosting, therapeutic food!

#1 Detoxinista | Raw Sauerkraut

Perhaps the most obvious answer for probiotic-rich food, sauerkraut is about as simple as it gets. Just a few ingredients and some time to ferment will yield a deliciously sour side dish that can be paired with just about anything. Bonus: it’s an excellent topper for salads.

#2 Fermented Food Lab | Nutrient Dense Apple Cider Vinegar Dressing

Eating salads filled with leafy greens and a rainbow of vegetables and fruits is a fabulous way to take in plenty of vitamins and minerals. Adding a dressing that feeds the good bacteria in the gut can take your superfood salads to the next level.

#3 Isa Chandra | Sauerkraut Mushroom Soup

If you’re not into eating plain sauerkraut, then adding it to a soup is the perfect way to tone down its distinctive flavor while getting other nutrients, too!

#4 PaleoHacks | Kombucha

This fermented beverage uses green tea combined with other flavors of choice to produce a fizzy, probiotic-rich drink that for many is as pleasant as sipping on a favorite brew or ice cold tea. The best part about this recipe is that you can customize it to taste preferences, or change it up each time you make it!

#5 Mark’s Daily Apple | Naturally Fermented Dill Pickles

Dill pickles are one of those ubiquitous foods that pair well with main dishes, side dishes, or as finger foods on their own. I’ve personally been known to snack on them year-round, and totally ate a jar a day while pregnant.

#6 The Roasted Root | Lavender Kombucha

Want to take your kombucha to the next level? Lavender, often used in aromatherapy, is totally edible too. The flavor is sweet but not overpowering, and the soothing aroma can double as a vacation in a cup.

 

#7 Fermented Food Lab | Coconut Water Kefir

Water kefir is a great way to integrate probiotics into beverages with a less pungent flavor than kombucha.

#8 Paleo Leap | Lacto-Fermented Salsa

Fermenting your salsa is a creative way to get probiotics into your diet by replacing it with fresh salsa. Plus, you can mix up the flavors, add more or less spice, and otherwise customize this tangy, gut-friendly salsa.

#9 Detox DIY | Probiotic Beet and Red Cabbage Sauerkraut

A colorful twist on this gut-friendly dish, this one also throws in beets for an earthier ‘kraut that also has extra fiber.

#10 Hip Girls Home | Fermented Peach Vinegar Tonic

Apple cider vinegar feeds the good bacteria in the gut, and this is a flavorful twist on drinking the stuff plain. You can use other fruits, too!

#11 The Kitchn | Beet Kvass

Another fermented beverage, kvass has similar benefits to kombucha and kefir, but is a great way to use beets. You can flavor this beverage with other herbs or spices.

#12 Paleo Leap | Lacto-Fermented Vegetable Medley

Not into cabbage? You can pretty much ferment any vegetable—and even some fruits—and it’s just as easy to eat the rainbow when they’re loaded up with probiotics as it is when they’re fresh.

#13 Simple Veganista | Kimchi

This spicy, classic fermented dish has some crunch to it, and might be more pleasing to palates of people who find sauerkraut difficult to get down.

#14 One Green Planet | Probiotic Cashew Yogurt

While this recipe does use probiotic powder as the source of good bacteria, this is an easily accessible, gut-healthy recipe for people who don’t want to ferment their own vegetables but who still want the benefits of homemade, probiotic goodness.

Thanks again to Aimee McNew of PaleoHacks.com for today’s post. Comments, questions about ab workouts or any other facet of Primal fitness? Share your thoughts below, and have a great week, everyone.

The post 14 Super Probiotic Recipes to Realign Your Gut appeared first on Mark's Daily Apple.

Have You Joined the Keto Reset Facebook Group?

I’ve got more coming this morning, but I wanted to make sure folks knew about the private (and totally free) Facebook group I have going devoted to keto living. It’s taking off in big ways, and I don’t want you to miss this discussion!

My vision with the Keto Reset book and the Facebook community is to guide you through an evidence-based approach to keto, one that focuses on achieving maximum health, fitness, and longevity by combining a ketogenic eating pattern with the Primal lifestyle practices I have written about for years on Mark’s Daily Apple and in The Primal Blueprint.

Being fat- and keto-adapted (meaning you can efficiently burn fat and ketones for energy) is humans’ default factory setting, freeing you from carbohydrate dependency and the negative health effects that come with it. If you’re looking for an active online support community and expert guidance on how to harness the power of the ketogenic lifestyle without any dogma, gimmicks, or “bro-science,” join us on Facebook, and be part of the Primal quest to #liveawesome!

The post Have You Joined the Keto Reset Facebook Group? appeared first on Mark's Daily Apple.

Why Am I Getting Low Ketone Readings on a Ketogenic Diet?

Even having finished and printed The Keto Reset, the quest for deeper understanding continues. I keep researching, thinking, revisiting, and discussing the science and practice of ketosis. My writing partner, Brad Kearns, and I maintain a running dialogue on all things keto. The latest conversation revolved around two very common questions or “problems” that keep coming up in the ketogenic community.

Why do some people on a keto diet blow high numbers of ketones while others eating the same way blow low numbers?

and this one…

Is ketosis glycogen-sparing or glycogen-inhibiting?

I won’t offer definitive answers fit to etch into stone. I will offer my exploration of the research, some educated speculation, and actionable advice you can ruminate on. And by all means get back to me with your take on the questions and my explorations, please. Dialogue is essential to understanding.

Why do some people on ketogenic diets produce low ketone readings when they test?

One theory is that some keto-adapted people are so adapted to producing and burning ketones that they don’t leave any extra to spill into the urine and breath. They make only as many as they can use and their cells gobble up almost every ketone they produce. Under this argument, low ketone numbers on a ketogenic diet are a reliable sign of full ketone adaptation.

This sounds plausible, but I haven’t seen any empirical evidence that it’s the case.

Another theory is that the keto-adapted have built so much fat-burning metabolic machinery in their muscles that they can burn free fatty acids directly and don’t require much additional fuel from ketones. They make enough ketones to fuel the brain, since our brain can’t run on fatty acids directly, but your muscles no longer require as many. Many people who have been in long term ketosis can get by quite nicely on 20-30 net grams of carbs a day and might only show .4 or .7 millimolar ketones on a blood test, but they have plenty of energy from burning free fatty acids and maintain muscle mass on relatively fewer calories than when they were dependent on carbs.

Keto pioneers Stephen Phinney and Jeff Volek found that keto dieters blew higher readings early on in the diet when they were still burning ketones in the muscle. As they grew adapted to free fatty acids as a source of fuel and produced ketones primarily for the brain, ketone levels dropped. It was totally normal. If anything, they were more fat/keto-adapted at lower ketone readings.

Consider the energy requirements of the brain. Whether it’s running on glucose (most of the population) or mostly on ketones, the absolute energy requirements are quite modest. You don’t need a ton of ketones or glucose in absolute terms to power your brain. That’s why people can “get away” with lower ketone production and still reap the benefits we expect from eating this way.

There’s almost certainly a genetic component to ketone production, too. Take the Inuit, who were rarely in ketosis despite traditionally eating a very low-carb diet. It takes several days of deep fasting for them to produce measurable ketones. Yet, they are adept at burning free fatty acids, almost as if they “skip” keto-adaptation and proceed directly to burning fat. Other variants that affect ketone production have yet to be discovered, but they’re out there.

What about people on long term ketogenic diets who still get astronomical readings? What’s going on?

A major factor not often mentioned in whether someone on a keto diet blows high or low ketones is overall calorie intake. How much food are you eating?

Ketones are generated when the amount of dietary fat available to be burned exceeds the supply of oxaloacetate (provided by protein or carbohydrates). It’s not that the body thinks, “This woman needs some ketones, stat.” It’s more like, “I’ve got too much acetyl-COA from all this fat, and I can’t find any oxaloacetate. Guess it’s ketones!”  If you’re the type to use keto to justify chugging olive oil, you’ll generate lots of ketones simply because your fat intake is outpacing the supply of oxaloacetate. Keto athletes eating tons of calories will probably produce more ketones simply because they’re eating so much fat.

If you’ve attained the much-desired “caloric efficiency” I espouse and eating fewer calories overall, you’ll generate fewer ketones but still be “keto.”

Another factor is the use of exogenous ketones. Dean Ornish could take keto esters and blow big numbers.

Above all else, focus on the symptoms.

Can you go without a meal and maintain steady, even energy and concentration?

Are you losing body fat or happy with your body composition?

Are you thinking more clearly?

Has the keto flu come and gone?

Are aerobic activities easier than ever?

If any of those are happening to you, there’s no need to fret over some numbers on a device. The numbers can’t negate your real world experience.

How does ketosis affect glycogen? Does it spare it? Impair our ability to utilize it?

A 1983 study by Steven Phinney gives us a few hints.  He put people on a typical high-carb diet for 4 days, ran a 65% VO2 max endurance test, then switched them over to a ketogenic diet with 20 grams of carbs and about 80-85% of calories from fat for 3 weeks and ran the test again. There was no difference in time to exhaustion after either dietary arm, but glycogen storage and usage changed a ton. During the high-carb arm, the group began the workout with 150 grams of glycogen and ended it with 50 grams. While eating ketogenic, the group began the workout with 75 grams and also ended it with 50 grams.

In a modern setting, the high-carb guy could just squeeze some glucose goo in his mouth, replenish the lost glycogen, and be ready for the next race. But in a setting where glucose goo isn’t available, the keto guy has the advantage. He’s still got 50 grams of glycogen left in the tank—enough for two more races—while the high-carb guy’s 50 grams of carbs will only last him half a race. And the low-carb guy doesn’t have to eat. That’s pretty cool.

It is the modern world. You can grab some glucose goo and win the race. But there’s something special about utilizing the metabolic machinery developed over hundreds of thousands of grueling, blood-and-sweat soaked years.

Sparing glycogen is one thing. Does keto inhibit our ability to utilize the muscle glycogen we’ve spared?

Free fatty acids sure don’t, according to this study. Healthy young males spent a couple hours depleting their muscle glycogen through exercise, after which they were split into two groups. One group got a high-fat breakfast, giving them elevated free fatty acids. One group got a low-fat breakfast, giving them low free fatty acids. They measured glycogen before and after exercise in both groups, as well as markers of the pathway responsible for burning glycogen. Normally, free fatty acids impair glycogen burning. Not this time. Exercise was sufficient to overcome the inhibitory effects of FFA on glycogen-burning.

Semantics enters the fray here. One man’s spared glycogen is another’s inhibited glycogen. We spare glycogen by using less of it—by inhibiting its metabolism. That doesn’t mean the ketogenic athlete can’t burn glycogen when required. It means there’s less to go around, and that’s probably okay because, once again, the ketogenic athlete can do more with fat and ketones and doesn’t need as much glycogen.

Confusing, isn’t it? That’s biology for you.

Still, we know a fair bit. The sparing/inhibiting effect keto has on glycogen metabolism doesn’t impair endurance performance and probably even bolsters it. Long-term elite keto athletes can burn up to 2.3 times more fat at peak oxidation and 59% more fat overall than non-keto athletes, and they do it at higher intensities.

We know fat-adapted athletes beat sugar-burning athletes at high-intensity intervals due to their increased ability to burn fat and retain glycogen. These aren’t 100 m sprints—they’re 4-minute intervals on an incline treadmill—but they’re still glycogen-intensive.

We know low volume, high intensity strength training doesn’t suffer on keto.

What we don’t know is how the delicate balance between glycogen sparing and inhibiting affects high volume, high intensity glycolytic work. I suspect you’re going to lose some performance at the upper echelons of intensity. I also suspect you can regain most, if not all of it by incorporating well-placed carb refeeds.

Anyway, folks, that’s what’s been on my mind these past few days. I wanted to get it out there on the blog so you folks can mull it over and kick it around, and hopefully come back with some good feedback and insight of your own.

Thanks for reading, everybody!

The post Why Am I Getting Low Ketone Readings on a Ketogenic Diet? appeared first on Mark's Daily Apple.

8 Tips for Cooking Vegetables

This spring when I asked what nutrition topics folks would be interested in reading about on the blog, the subject of vegetables came up repeatedly. Specifically, several readers wanted more ideas for how to cook them—with a mind to preserving (or enhancing) both nutrition and taste. As much as I love my big-ass salads, I get it. Sometimes you need to mix it up, and moving toward the cooler seasons only underscores the point.

With that in mind, let me offer a few points that help folks have their vegetables and a hot meal, too. See what you think and if it might offer some ideas for this week’s Primal dinners.

Don’t Overcrowd the Skillet

Almost any vegetable can be prepared by slicing the vegetable thinly, heating oil in a pan over medium-high heat, and then sautéing it until tender. Add a little garlic if you like, and finish with sea salt. Easy, right? However, if you want the sautéed vegetables to be genuinely tasty instead of mediocre, here’s the trick you need to know: Don’t overcrowd the skillet.

Use a wide skillet and only sauté a single layer of vegetables at a time. Vegetables release water as they cook, especially softer vegetables like zucchini and mushrooms. If you put too many veggies in a pan at once, they’ll steam and turn to mush in their own liquid instead of sautéing to golden brown.

The same goes for roasting vegetables. Don’t pile vegetables on a sheet pan. Spread them out evenly in a single layer. Take the plunge and buy another sheet pan so you can make more at a time.

Try Roasting

If you’re not in the mood for a big pot of “clean out the fridge soup” then the easiest way to use up vegetables is roasting. Make a habit of roasting a sheet pan’s worth every week, using any vegetables that are past their salad prime. Roasted vegetables are a delicious side dish for any meal, and they’re great added to any Big-Ass Salad you pack for lunch the next day.

Here’s the best way I’ve found to roast veggies:

Peel if needed, then cut all the vegetables into pieces that are basically the same size so they’ll cook at the same rate. Group the vegetables by texture and/or type, so that shorter cooking veggies are on one sheet pan and longer cooking veggies are on another. (For example, root vegetables, squash and potatoes can be grouped together, and cauliflower, broccoli and Brussels sprouts can be grouped together, and onions, zucchini and bell peppers can be grouped together.)

Coat the veggies generously with avocado oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper (or your favorite spice blend). I like fresh rosemary, but I use a lot of herbs depending on my mood.

Spread the vegetables out evenly in one layer on a sheet pan, with a little room to spare. Don’t overcrowd the sheet pan. (For easier cleanup, line the sheet pan with parchment paper first.)

Roast in the oven at 425º F for 20 to 45 minutes, depending on the type of vegetable. Veggies are done when they can be easily pierced with a fork and are lightly browned on the edges.

Mix the vegetables only once or twice while they roast. Use a rimmed baking sheet, so the veggies don’t fall off the pan when you mix them.

Better Steaming

Simple and quick, steaming vegetables is perfect for busy weeknights. The great risk with steaming is sogginess (unfortunately how most of us think of steamed vegetables), so always set a timer. Stop steaming the veggies before they’re completely soft; they’re done when still slightly firm in the center. Most veggies take 5 to 10 minutes. Harder ones like sweet potatoes, carrots and squash steam in 10 to 20 minutes. For the best results, steam different types of vegetables separately.

A collapsible steamer basket is an inexpensive kitchen investment, and most rice cookers and Instant Pots have a steamer tray. Or, if you have one, use the microwave. Put cut-up vegetables in a bowl, add about 3 tablespoons water, and cover the bowl with a plate. Cook 2 ½ minutes, then check for doneness. Be careful of hot steam when removing the plate. Or, try this method of microwave steaming with wet paper towels.

Hands down, the most delicious way to flavor piping hot steamed vegetables is a generous pat of salted pastured butter. Once chilled, steamed veggies are a convenient add-in for salads, and also great dipped in Primal Kitchen® Mayo or dressings.

Grilling Isn’t Just for Meat

If you’re firing up the grill for meat, it makes sense to cook the entire meal on the grill. From zucchini to sweet potatoes (and even kale), vegetables are amazing with the smoky flavor and charred edges that only a grill can impart. It’s true that some vegetables are easier to grill than others, but with a few tips, you can expertly grill almost anything non-animal.

Heat-stable oil and salt should always be used, lightly coating the vegetables before grilling, then pouring on more oil and salt when the veggies are done. For even more flavor, marinate veggies in vinaigrette before grilling, or drizzle vinaigrette over warm, grilled vegetables.

Softer vegetables, like mushrooms, zucchini, onions and bell peppers are easy: Cut into smallish chunks and skewer, or cut into long, wide pieces that won’t fall through the grates. Grill until tender and lightly charred.

The easiest way to grill hard vegetables is to give them a head start. Firm vegetables can be brined before grilling. Or, simply parboil the vegetables before grilling. Potatoes (regular and sweet), carrots, beets and other root vegetables can be cut into medium bite-sized pieces and boiled in water until just barely tender. Drain the vegetables, toss with oil and salt, then finish on the grill to char the veggies and cook to full tenderness.

Stalks of kale and Swiss chard, even wedges of Romaine lettuce, can be transformed on the grill into smoky, charred versions of their raw selves. Coat lightly in oil and salt, and grill the leaves 4 to 6 minutes (leaves can be ripped from the stalks before or after grilling)

For the least amount of fuss, place single layers of thinly sliced vegetables on a large, lightly oiled piece of foil, then fold the foil around the vegetables like a loose packet. Grill the packet 8 to 12 minutes for quicker cooking vegetables, and 12 to 15 minutes for things like potatoes and onions.

Cooking Dark, Leafy Greens

This doesn’t just mean kale, Swiss chard, and collards. Radish leaves, beet greens, turnip leaves…they’re all edible. As mentioned above, greens can be grilled, but sautéing is the most common cooking method.

Sautéing is easy. Greens + oil + garlic is all you need. The challenge is coaxing greens into tenderness so you don’t end up with a pile of chewy leaves.

Try this technique: Tear the leaves off the stems. Stack the raw leaves in a pile, roll the pile up, and use a large knife to slice the leaves into thin ribbons. Heat olive oil and garlic over medium, then add the sliced greens by the handful, until it all fits in the skillet. Add 1/3 cup stock, water, or coconut milk. Turn heat up to medium-high and cover. Cook 3 to 5 minutes. Remove the lid and cook 2 to 3 minutes more until the liquid has evaporated.

Frozen Greens and Flavor Cubes

Despite good intentions to eat more greens, who among us hasn’t thrown away a limp bunch of kale after ignoring it all week? What about a soggy bag of baby spinach?

Instead of wasting greens, blend them. Put handfuls of greens in the blender. Add a little water or coconut milk if necessary (to keep the blender moving) until the greens are pureed into a smooth consistency. Pour into an ice cube tray. Freeze, then remove and store cubes in a sealed plastic bag. Throw frozen green cubes into smoothies, soups, stews, and chili.

For savory flavor cubes try this:

3 handfuls loosely packed herb leaves (mix herbs like basil, cilantro and parsley, or just choose one herb)
3 handfuls baby spinach or other chopped green
3 garlic cloves
1 tablespoon grated ginger (optional)

Combine herbs, greens, garlic and ginger in a blender until smooth, adding a little water or chicken stock as necessary, again, to keep the blender moving. Pour the puree into an ice cube tray. Freeze, then remove flavor cubes and store in a sealed plastic bag. Instantly add flavor to your meal by melting frozen flavor cubes in a hot skillet of sautéed vegetables or meat, or melt a flavor cube into a bowl of hot cauliflower rice or soup.

Using Frozen Vegetables

Fresh, seasonal produce is best, but when it comes to convenience, frozen vegetables are a part of modern life, especially if you’re looking to do Primal on a budget. They don’t need to be washed, sliced, or prepped, and they cook in a matter of minutes. The importance of convenience can’t be underestimated. If keeping frozen veggies on hand means you eat more veggies, then stock up the freezer.

Frozen vegetables are usually picked at peak ripeness and flash frozen, preserving all the nutrients. The best way to cook frozen vegetables is to steam, microwave, or simmer them for just a few minutes. For soups and stews, add frozen vegetables straight from the freezer in the last minutes of cooking.

Making Vegetable Stock

Dedicated makers of vegetable stock keep a gallon Ziploc bag in the freezer and fill it throughout the month with veggie scraps from cooking (stems from greens, nubs of carrot, celery, onion, etc.) The rest of us can simply scavenge the crisper drawer for veggies about to turn bad.

Throw veggie odds and ends into a stock pot. Any mix of veggies will do, just make sure you’ve included 1 onion (quartered), 6 garlic cloves, a few stalks of carrot and/or celery, and a handful of fresh herbs (leaves and stems). Cover with water, sprinkle in salt, bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer, and partially cover. Simmer 1 to 2 hours. Drain and discard solids. Add salt to taste. There you go….

Now let me turn it over to you all. Got some cooking tips or favorite vegetable recipes to share? Let’s hear ’em! Thanks for stopping by, everybody.

Want more Primal recipes?

Try the Primal Blueprint Slow Cooker Cookbook for free here.

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Dear Mark: Really High HDL, More Heart Disease; Low-Salt For Grandpa?

For today’s edition of Dear Mark, I’m answering two questions from readers. They were excellent this week. The first one comes from Sarah, who’s a bit puzzled by the recent paper in which people with the highest HDL levels died earlier than those with lower levels. What’s going on, and is more HDL actually bad? Last but not least, how should a reader approach a doctor who wants to put Grandpa on a low-salt diet? Is there any literature or information he can present?

Let’s go:

Hi Mark,

I just read this article in the NY Times about how really high HDL levels are linked to greater risk of heart attacks. What’s going on here? Isn’t HDL supposed to be good?

Sarah

Very interesting study.

Before we tackle your question, let’s establish what HDL particles actually do:

They intercept and neutralize oxidative stressors in the blood.

They regulate coagulation.

They reduce inflammation.

They inhibit platelet aggregation.

They deliver cholesterol to the liver for processing and to organs like the testicles and ovaries for conversion into steroid hormones.

These are established mechanisms, by the way. And they’re all “good things.” Avoiding clots, lowering inflammation, limiting oxidative damage to the endothelium, making sex hormones? What’s not to love? More HDL, please.

If that’s true, how can higher HDL be linked to more cardiovascular mortality?

Remember that production of HDL is a dynamic process. The body doesn’t just make HDL for the hell of it, nor does it make a set number of HDL particles irrespective of what’s going on in and outside the body. HDL has a very specific set of skills. When HDL’s services are required, the body makes more.

This means that very high HDL could indicate a need for high HDL. What does HDL do, again?

It could mean elevated platelet aggregation. Maybe you’re boosting HDL production to prevent a clot.

It could mean you’re in danger of atherosclerosis. A major role of HDL is to protect LDL from oxidative damage and prevent the atherosclerosis that would otherwise result. In one study, putting mice on a high omega-6/omega-3 ratio diet increased HDL—probably because the lopsided O6/O3 ratio was making the LDL more vulnerable to oxidative damage—but failed to prevent atherosclerosis.

HDL doesn’t have superpowers. It doesn’t always finish the job or prevent the malady from befalling you. Sometimes the clot happens, the atherosclerosis proceeds, the LDL particle oxidizes.

HDL is both an indicator of risk and an agent of protection against risk. Firemen put out fires, but that doesn’t mean you want a fire truck showing up in front of your house at 3 AM. That would be bad news, even though the guys manning it are fine, upstanding, invaluable members of the community.

In the original study, HDL followed a U-shaped mortality curve. Low HDL and extra-high HDL were both associated with more all-cause mortality (dying from any cause). Plain old “high” HDL was associated with the lowest risk, as you’d expect. High is enough to handle incoming threats. You can respond quickly and upregulate production when needed.

Next, John asks:

Hey Mark, My grandpa’s doctor wants him on a low-sodium diet. He can’t add salt to any food. He can eat food that already has salt though. I know you can’t give medical advice but maybe you could give me some suggestions for how to talk to the doc about it.

Thanks, John

Humans have a real craving for salt. It’s one of the few specific appetites we have. The craving doesn’t disappear. He’s going to seek out salt, and he’ll get it. Restricting adding his own salt to food and allowing “pre-salted” food will only drive him into the corpulent embrace of processed junk. That wouldn’t be so bad if it weren’t loaded with sugar, grains, and industrial seed oils. But it is, so it is. What would doc rather have Grandpa eat—a salted-and-peppered ribeye or a pack of low-sodium cupcakes?

It crazy that it’s even a debate.

Most adults are forced into low-salt diets to improve their blood pressure. Those lab markers—already fraught with major reliability issues—must tick down. They’re everything.

Yet they don’t work well in most people. Some people with salt-sensitive hypertension definitely can benefit from salt reduction. Asian and African Americans see bigger benefits to blood pressure than other groups. Others are lucky to get a few points in the other direction. Better than nothing, but nothing to write home about. And that’s without taking into account the other hints that salt restriction may have other, unwanted effects.

In healthy men and women, a low-salt diet increased insulin resistance compared to a higher-salt diet.

In hypertensive patients, low-salt reduced blood pressure by a few points while worsening triglycerides, LDL, and stress hormones.

In adults, eating under 3 grams of sodium (just over a teaspoon of salt) or between 6-7 grams of sodium (more than 2 teaspoons) led to more strokes and heart attacks than eating between 4-6 grams of sodium.

Sodium restriction may also increase stress hormones.

One study even established the important role of chloride (from such famous works as “sodium chloride”) in host immunity. Our white blood cells use chloride to produce a chlorine-based microbicide—bleach, essentially—that targets infectious microbes. Infections become really dangerous the older you get. Chloride-based microbicide is invaluable, and so is the salt which carries its precursor.

Maybe Grandpa needs the low-salt diet. Maybe the supposed benefits outweigh the ignored deficits. Talk to the doc, come prepared, and find out for sure. Oh, and ask what he or she thinks about sugar as the primary driver of hypertension.

That’s it for today, folks. Thanks for reading! Be well and leave some thoughts down below!

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