Mark Sisson's Blog, page 172

How to Take the Weight of the World Off Your Shoulders (One Move at a Time)

Today’s awesome guest post is offered up by a good friend to MDA—Ryan Hurst, Co-founder and Head Coach at GMB Fitness. I hope it helps you during your work week. Enjoy, everyone!

Our shoulders carry a lot of our stress. We hunch forward at our desks trying to get work done, tensing up over issues we thought we’d fixed already. And it doesn’t help that we often have to stay in the same position, even if we are lucky enough to have standing desks, typing or doing some other repetitive tasks.

As a result, a lot of us have issues with tight shoulders, and we know we really should move and stretch them, but stiffness and aches can make this even more difficult and uncomfortable. And that dreaded vicious cycle sets in. Your shoulders are tight because you don’t move like you should, but when you start moving it starts to hurt. And that stops you from moving….

The solution isn’t to quit working and do yoga all day. Instead, I’ll show you some simple movements to add to your daily routine. These exercises can be done in very little space and don’t take very long at all.

Below, I’ll share a simple and effective shoulder mobility routine that will help you get your shoulders back in gear. But before you start putting these movements into action, it’s a good idea to understand why you’re having these issues and why it’s so important to get your shoulders moving well.

What’s Tightening You Up?

There are a lot of different things that could be going on in your shoulders. For many people, sitting hunched over a computer or phone all day is the culprit, but for others, it could be something entirely different.

The way you exercise might be a factor. If you spend a lot of time in the gym doing bench presses or working your chest fly, that could encourage the shoulders to rotate forward.

I won’t go into too much detail here about how the shoulders work, but what I will say is this: the shoulder girdle is a complex area made up of at least 16 major muscles.

The innate complexity of this region means there’s a lot that can potentially go wrong, but there’s also a lot of tissue to support the shoulders through some pretty rough episodes.

Of course, our shoulders aren’t sealed off from the rest of our bodies. Shoulder issues very often come with neck and upper back issues, and vice versa.

The good news is the following routine will help you address your shoulder restrictions, which will often do a good job of clearing up some of those related issues as well.

Efficient and Effective Work is the Name of the Game

Before I get into the routine, I want to address the elephant in the room: stretching sucks.

…or, at least it can the way most people do it and teach it.

A lot of trainers or fitness companies will throw a bunch of random stretches at you, and when you don’t arbitrarily get “more flexible,” they tell you to just “stretch more.” That’s not very useful, and if that’s the way you’ve always stretched, then yeah, it’s probably sucked. No one likes to put in effort without any payoff.

What makes this routine different is that it’s not random at all.

While there can be so many different things going on in the shoulders, the exercises in this routine were carefully chosen to target the most common motion restrictions.

When your shoulders are tight, they keep you from moving freely throughout your daily life, as well as in your training. For people with particularly bad levels of tightness, something as simple as reaching to grab something from a high shelf can feel impossible.

Even if your issues aren’t quite that severe, you’re here reading this article, which probably means you are dealing with some level of restriction in your shoulders.

So let’s get into it!

Daily Shoulder Mobility Routine — Six Stretches to Help You Loosen Your Tight Shoulders

The following routine is made up of six shoulder stretches, some of which you may have seen before, but all of which work together to address the most common issues we’ve seen in clients.

Work through these slowly and do not move into any painful positions. Stay within a range that is comfortable for you.

Quadruped Shoulder Circles

You’ve probably done standard shoulder circles before from a standing position. The benefit of doing these on your hands and knees is the floor gives you some feedback so you can adjust the pressure easily.

Start on your hands and knees with your knees just beneath your hips and your hands just beneath your shoulders.

Press into the ground and keep your elbows straight as you shrug your shoulders up toward your ears, back toward your hips, down away from your ears, and then forward toward your head, creating a nice circle.

Do these circles in both directions, and then you can try doing the circles with alternating shoulders.

Do 5 circles in each direction with both shoulders, then do 5 in each direction with one shoulder at a time.

L-Arm Stretch

This is one of my favorite stretches because it’s very effective at stretching the rotator cuff and the back of the shoulder. It can feel a bit awkward at first, but just play around with finding a position that feels relatively comfortable for you.

Start by lying on your stomach with one arm by your side. Stretch your other arm across your chest with your palm facing up and without letting your shoulder shrug up toward your ear too much.

Use your shoulder muscles to pull your chest down toward the floor, creating a nice stretch in the shoulder capsule. Move in and out of the stretched position, and then hold the stretch.

Once you find a comfortable position, move in and out of the stretch 10 times, then hold for 30 seconds. Repeat this sequence a total of three times.

Prone Bent Arm Chest Stretch

Here’s a stretch that targets the chest and front of the shoulder. You’ll work on one side at a time with this one.

Start in a prone position (on your stomach) with one hand on the floor and your elbow bent.

Shift your weight toward your hand to feel a stretch in your chest. Move in and out of the stretched position, and then hold the stretch.

Once you find a comfortable position, move in and out of the stretch 10 times, then hold for 30 seconds. Repeat this sequence a total of three times.

Tall Kneeling Arm Raises

This one engages the hips as well as the shoulders, and will really help with opening up your tight shoulder muscles.

Start in a kneeling position, sitting with your feet under your butt.

Lift your hips as you raise your arms straight up overhead.

At the top, you will be in a “tall kneeling” position with your arms straight up. Make sure to really open up the shoulders in that top position, but don’t arch the back.

Move in and out of the stretch 5 times and then hold for 15-30 seconds.

Tall Kneeling Arm Raise to the Side

This stretch starts in the same position as the last one, but you’ll feel this one more in the lats and the back of the shoulder.

Begin in the same tall kneeling position, where you have your feet under your butt, and then drive your hips forward until you are kneeling on your shins.

Now, instead of reaching straight up overhead, keep one arm down by your side and reach the other arm up and over to the opposite side.

Really focus on reaching through the shoulder, so you feel a nice stretch through your lats and back of the shoulder.

Move in and out of the stretch 5 times and then hold for 15-30 seconds. Repeat on the opposite side.

Clasped Hands Extension

The last stretch in this sequence will help you work on shoulder extension, combating that rounded posture so many of us find ourselves in.

Start in a seated position. In the video, you’ll see that Jeff is sitting cross-legged, but sit however feels comfortable for you. If sitting on the floor is uncomfortable, you can sit on a chair or bench as long as it does not have a back.

Clasp your hands behind your back and straighten your elbows. Sit up with a tall posture as you pull your arms up and back. Focus on squeezing your shoulder blades together as you move into the stretch.

Move in and out of the stretch 5 times and then hold for 15-30 seconds.

Take Some Time to Take Care of Your Shoulders, and Your Physical and Mental Health Will Be Better off…

Don’t let tension and stress build up so much in your shoulders that it stops you from doing what you want to do. Whether you are dealing with shoulder problems now or if you want to know how to prevent that from happening, the movements I’ve shared above are a great investment of your time. A few minutes now can save months of trouble later on if you let things go too far.

Shoulders are definitely not the only areas that can stand more of your attention. If you find yourself moving more stiffly than you’d like, have a look at our head-to-toes body maintenance guide and get moving better today!

After a training accident ended his competitive gymnastics career, Ryan moved to Japan and competed in various martial arts until another injury made him reevaluate his priorities in life. As Head Coach at GMB Fitness, his mission is to show everyone that you can define your own fitness as a sustainable and enjoyable part of your life. You can follow him and GMB Fitness on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.

Thanks to Ryan for sharing this awesome routine today. I highly recommend his head-to-toes body maintenance guide for overall mobility and fitness. Do you have questions or comments regarding shoulder mobility or other related issues? Share them on the comment board below. Thanks for reading, everyone.

The post How to Take the Weight of the World Off Your Shoulders (One Move at a Time) appeared first on Mark's Daily Apple.

How to Take the Weight of the World off Your Shoulders (One Move at a Time)

Today’s awesome guest post is offered up by a good friend to MDA—Ryan Hurst, Co-founder and Head Coach at GMB Fitness. I hope it helps you during your work week. Enjoy, everyone!

Our shoulders carry a lot of our stress. We hunch forward at our desks trying to get work done, tensing up over issues we thought we’d fixed already. And it doesn’t help that we often have to stay in the same position, even if we are lucky enough to have standing desks, typing or doing some other repetitive tasks.

As a result, a lot of us have issues with tight shoulders, and we know we really should move and stretch them, but stiffness and aches can make this even more difficult and uncomfortable. And that dreaded vicious cycle sets in. Your shoulders are tight because you don’t move like you should, but when you start moving it starts to hurt. And that stops you from moving….

The solution isn’t to quit working and do yoga all day. Instead, I’ll show you some simple movements to add to your daily routine. These exercises can be done in very little space and don’t take very long at all.

Below, I’ll share a simple and effective shoulder mobility routine that will help you get your shoulders back in gear. But before you start putting these movements into action, it’s a good idea to understand why you’re having these issues and why it’s so important to get your shoulders moving well.

What’s Tightening You Up?

There are a lot of different things that could be going on in your shoulders. For many people, sitting hunched over a computer or phone all day is the culprit, but for others, it could be something entirely different.

The way you exercise might be a factor. If you spend a lot of time in the gym doing bench presses or working your chest fly, that could encourage the shoulders to rotate forward.

I won’t go into too much detail here about how the shoulders work, but what I will say is this: the shoulder girdle is a complex area made up of at least 16 major muscles.

The innate complexity of this region means there’s a lot that can potentially go wrong, but there’s also a lot of tissue to support the shoulders through some pretty rough episodes.

Of course, our shoulders aren’t sealed off from the rest of our bodies. Shoulder issues very often come with neck and upper back issues, and vice versa.

The good news is the following routine will help you address your shoulder restrictions, which will often do a good job of clearing up some of those related issues as well.

Efficient and Effective Work is the Name of the Game

Before I get into the routine, I want to address the elephant in the room: stretching sucks.

…or, at least it can the way most people do it and teach it.

A lot of trainers or fitness companies will throw a bunch of random stretches at you, and when you don’t arbitrarily get “more flexible,” they tell you to just “stretch more.” That’s not very useful, and if that’s the way you’ve always stretched, then yeah, it’s probably sucked. No one likes to put in effort without any payoff.

What makes this routine different is that it’s not random at all.

While there can be so many different things going on in the shoulders, the exercises in this routine were carefully chosen to target the most common motion restrictions.

When your shoulders are tight, they keep you from moving freely throughout your daily life, as well as in your training. For people with particularly bad levels of tightness, something as simple as reaching to grab something from a high shelf can feel impossible.

Even if your issues aren’t quite that severe, you’re here reading this article, which probably means you are dealing with some level of restriction in your shoulders.

So let’s get into it!

Daily Shoulder Mobility Routine — Six Stretches to Help You Loosen Your Tight Shoulders

The following routine is made up of six shoulder stretches, some of which you may have seen before, but all of which work together to address the most common issues we’ve seen in clients.

Work through these slowly and do not move into any painful positions. Stay within a range that is comfortable for you.

Quadruped Shoulder Circles

You’ve probably done standard shoulder circles before from a standing position. The benefit of doing these on your hands and knees is the floor gives you some feedback so you can adjust the pressure easily.

Start on your hands and knees with your knees just beneath your hips and your hands just beneath your shoulders.

Press into the ground and keep your elbows straight as you shrug your shoulders up toward your ears, back toward your hips, down away from your ears, and then forward toward your head, creating a nice circle.

Do these circles in both directions, and then you can try doing the circles with alternating shoulders.

Do 5 circles in each direction with both shoulders, then do 5 in each direction with one shoulder at a time.

L-Arm Stretch

This is one of my favorite stretches because it’s very effective at stretching the rotator cuff and the back of the shoulder. It can feel a bit awkward at first, but just play around with finding a position that feels relatively comfortable for you.

Start by lying on your stomach with one arm by your side. Stretch your other arm across your chest with your palm facing up and without letting your shoulder shrug up toward your ear too much.

Use your shoulder muscles to pull your chest down toward the floor, creating a nice stretch in the shoulder capsule. Move in and out of the stretched position, and then hold the stretch.

Once you find a comfortable position, move in and out of the stretch 10 times, then hold for 30 seconds. Repeat this sequence a total of three times.

Prone Bent Arm Chest Stretch

Here’s a stretch that targets the chest and front of the shoulder. You’ll work on one side at a time with this one.

Start in a prone position (on your stomach) with one hand on the floor and your elbow bent.

Shift your weight toward your hand to feel a stretch in your chest. Move in and out of the stretched position, and then hold the stretch.

Once you find a comfortable position, move in and out of the stretch 10 times, then hold for 30 seconds. Repeat this sequence a total of three times.

Tall Kneeling Arm Raises

This one engages the hips as well as the shoulders, and will really help with opening up your tight shoulder muscles.

Start in a kneeling position, sitting with your feet under your butt.

Lift your hips as you raise your arms straight up overhead.

At the top, you will be in a “tall kneeling” position with your arms straight up. Make sure to really open up the shoulders in that top position, but don’t arch the back.

Move in and out of the stretch 5 times and then hold for 15-30 seconds.

Tall Kneeling Arm Raise to the Side

This stretch starts in the same position as the last one, but you’ll feel this one more in the lats and the back of the shoulder.

Begin in the same tall kneeling position, where you have your feet under your butt, and then drive your hips forward until you are kneeling on your shins.

Now, instead of reaching straight up overhead, keep one arm down by your side and reach the other arm up and over to the opposite side.

Really focus on reaching through the shoulder, so you feel a nice stretch through your lats and back of the shoulder.

Move in and out of the stretch 5 times and then hold for 15-30 seconds. Repeat on the opposite side.

Clasped Hands Extension

The last stretch in this sequence will help you work on shoulder extension, combating that rounded posture so many of us find ourselves in.

Start in a seated position. In the video, you’ll see that Jeff is sitting cross-legged, but sit however feels comfortable for you. If sitting on the floor is uncomfortable, you can sit on a chair or bench as long as it does not have a back.

Clasp your hands behind your back and straighten your elbows. Sit up with a tall posture as you pull your arms up and back. Focus on squeezing your shoulder blades together as you move into the stretch.

Move in and out of the stretch 5 times and then hold for 15-30 seconds.

Take Some Time to Take Care of Your Shoulders, and Your Physical and Mental Health Will Be Better off…

Don’t let tension and stress build up so much in your shoulders that it stops you from doing what you want to do. Whether you are dealing with shoulder problems now or if you want to know how to prevent that from happening, the movements I’ve shared above are a great investment of your time. A few minutes now can save months of trouble later on if you let things go too far.

Shoulders are definitely not the only areas that can stand more of your attention. If you find yourself moving more stiffly than you’d like, have a look at our head-to-toes body maintenance guide and get moving better today!

After a training accident ended his competitive gymnastics career, Ryan moved to Japan and competed in various martial arts until another injury made him reevaluate his priorities in life. As Head Coach at GMB Fitness, his mission is to show everyone that you can define your own fitness as a sustainable and enjoyable part of your life. You can follow him and GMB Fitness on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.

Thanks to Ryan for sharing this awesome routine today. I highly recommend his head-to-toes body maintenance guide for overall mobility and fitness. Do you have questions or comments regarding shoulder mobility or other related issues? Share them on the comment board below. Thanks for reading, everyone.

Want to make fat loss easier?

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

The post How to Take the Weight of the World off Your Shoulders (One Move at a Time) appeared first on Mark's Daily Apple.

Just a Reminder about the FREE Interpreting Your Genetics Summit

Hey, everybody. There’s a regular post coming this morning, but I wanted to remind everyone about the Interpreting Your Genetics Summit. I’ve talked about various genetic tests on the blog before and the ways I’ve used them to understand my own health. That said, this field is exploding these days, and I’m excited to hear from the 31 experts offering the latest in genetic/genomic information.

The Interpreting Your Genetics Summit is online and free from August 21-28. You’ll learn:

Your predisposition for diseases and how to minimize manifestation.
Genetic health traits your children are likely to inherit.
Whether your medications and supplements are right for you.
How to unlock previously unsolved health challenges.

This event is totally free to anyone who signs up. You can listen live or catch the talks later the same day, since each day is available for the full 24-hour period.

Just so you know, today’s talks include Genetics and Autoimmune Diseases, Understanding Methylation, and Epigenetic Mastery for Everyone among others.

Whether you’ve taken a genetic test or plan to, these experts will teach you the best practices for using this information to alter your lifestyle, guide treatment and create better health! Your genes can unlock a new era of personalized medicine that will help you evolve into a healthier, happier life. Register for FREE now!

Would you rather purchase the talks and watch on your own time? The organizers of the event have extended the pre-event price of $59 for full online access to all talks. They’ll be yours to own and enjoy whenever you want. But hurry, because this pre-event price ends today and will go up to $79! And, yup, I’m happy to disclose that I’m an affiliate and receive compensation from the event, but what I love about these summits is the chance for anyone to take advantage—for free. Don’t miss out!

More to come this morning. Catch you soon, everyone.

Want to make fat loss easier?

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

The post Just a Reminder about the FREE Interpreting Your Genetics Summit appeared first on Mark's Daily Apple.

Dear Mark: Obesity as “First World Problem”?

For today’s edition of Dear Mark, I’m not so much answering a direct question as I am riffing on an offhand comment. In the comments from last week’s post on weight loss culture, someone mentioned obesity being a “first world problem.” It made me think more deeply about the issue.

In a literal sense, yes. Obesity is often a first-world problem. If your primary concern is figuring out how to stop yourself from eating too much food, you’ve got the kind of problems starving kids in developing countries would love to have.

Yet, industrial food has a long reach. The island nations of Nauru, Micronesia, Tonga, Cook Islands, and Niue are the top 5 fattest countries in the world—even though they aren’t “first world”—because they rely almost entirely on imported, industrial food.

And if you take a look at the global fat rankings, the picture gets even murkier. The top 7 are island nations in the South Pacific. After that it’s Kuwait, whose Kuwaiti dinar is the highest valued currency in the world. Next is the United States, then Kiribati (another island nation). Dominica, Barbados, Argentina, Egypt, Malta, Greece, New Zealand, the UAE, Mexico, and Trinidad and Tobago round out the top 20. 

It isn’t clear to me that obesity is a first-world problem. It used to be, before industrial food wriggled its way into every corner of the world. Now it doesn’t discriminate.

People also use “first-world problem” another way: to shut down an argument. No one in the comment board was using it like this, mind you. It’s just been on my mind lately, so I’m going to explore it.

It’s tempting to use it that way during an argument or debate. You feel you “win,” and it’s kinda clever, and you’ll get a few chuckles. It has the veneer of valid criticism—yes, famine is objectively worse than too many fast food joints in your neighborhood—but nothing more.

Problems are problems. You can’t expect an obese man to prioritize addressing starving kids halfway across the world and feel guilty for the money and focus on eating healthy to lose 60 pounds. That’s not how people work. We care about what’s close. We care about what hits home, what affects us and ours directly.

Some would characterize this as a flaw that humans must evolve past. I disagree. I think it’s a feature.

Carrying around 60 pounds of extraneous tissue is a big deal. Fearing a single flight of stairs because you’re too heavy is not okay. Having sore knees from added stress each time you take a step is a major material consequence. These are not trifles. This is serious stuff.

And so is famine, and war, and the latest terrorist attack. But which can you actually change?

Caring about atrocities in the world feels like you’re doing something. You can even post to Facebook and help your peers feel like they’re helping. But just being aware has little to no chance of causing material benefits to those suffering. What are you going to do about them? How will you proclaim to the world how mad you are at the injustice of it all help?

There are ways to contribute to the solution, and I’m not in any way denouncing or minimizing those, but caring about larger issues still doesn’t change the truth that we inevitably have more influence on what’s closest to us.

Meanwhile, caring about those extra 60 pounds you personally carry has a higher chance of leading to meaningful change. Those changes can reverberate through your immediate circle of friends, family, and coworkers. They’ll see you lose the weight, or at least give it your all, and perhaps feel inspired to try something similar.

As you lose your weight, you can still care about bad stuff happening to other people. The two concerns can coexist.

Again, I’m not accusing any of my readers or commenters of making this argument. It does seem to happen elsewhere, though, and I don’t want people feeling like their personal concerns are “wrong” or unworthy compared to what else is going on in the world. None of us need that, and it helps no one.

I’d love to hear your take on the “first-world problem” question. Do you agree, disagree with my stance?

Thanks for reading, everyone. Take care. Be well.

The post Dear Mark: Obesity as “First World Problem”? appeared first on Mark's Daily Apple.

Weekend Link Love – Edition 465

Research of the Week

Martial arts training reduces aggression in kids and teens.

Men and women respond differently—on average—to competitive challenges.

Eating more than the RDA in protein is good for bone health.

Eating at regular times of the day improves circadian skin resistance to UV damage.

Arthritis isn’t an inevitable component of aging.

Diabetes is bad for heart health, even if you manage your blood sugar.

New Primal Blueprint Podcasts

Episode 182: Ben Greenfield: Host Elle Russ chats with Ben Greenfield, a walking lab experiment who also does triathlons, writes books, coaches, and gives talks. He’s a real trove of information and insight.

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.

CrossFit Training: How to Support Overall Wellness and Longevity with Primal
Is There a Problem with Weight Loss Culture?
Adaptogens: Maca Root, Sea Buckthorn Oil, and Schisandra

Interesting Blog Posts

Exercises for stronger feet.

Sex isn’t just about reproduction—or pleasure. It also clears out deleterious mutations.

The science behind the latest vegan screed on Netflix is lacking.

Media, Schmedia

How one man dealt with chronic pain.

Cooks who care about (and often serve) food “waste.”

Docs who prescribe recipes.

Everything Else

Animals really like to roam.

We’ve got “emotional intelligence” all wrong.

When morbidity doesn’t compress.

Things I’m Up to and Interested In

Podcast I just appeared on: The Aubrey Marcus Podcast, where I talked about curing hangovers, doing keto the right way, and shying away from biohacking.

Study I found interesting (but not surprising): How exercise can help you learn a new language.

Article I’m pondering: “We are nowhere close to the limits of physical performance.”

Quote that struck me: “The Chinese word for eugenics, yousheng, is used explicitly as a positive…”

I found this incredibly powerful: Running giraffes.

Recipe Corner

Whore’s sauce (trust me).
Waldorf salad.

Time Capsule

One year ago (Aug 20– Aug 26)

How Caring Less Can Help You Accomplish More – Sounds counterintuitive, but it’s true.
Should You Wear a Fitness Tracker? – It depends.

Comment of the Week

“That bit about polyester underwear damaging dspermatogenesis in dogs was an eye-opener!”

– Yep, Timothy. Back when Buddha (my old lab) was still around, his thongs were exclusively made of merino wool.

Want to make fat loss easier?

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

The post Weekend Link Love – Edition 465 appeared first on Mark's Daily Apple.

Fish Pie

Fish Pie is a classic English dish, probably one of those originally invented to use up fish that was less than fresh. Slathered in mashed potatoes, cheese, and a creamy white sauce, the idea was to cover up the fish, not make it the main focus.

This recipe for Primal fish pie takes a completely different approach. The dish is still covered in a buttery mashed potato crust, but underneath is a light and flavorful filling. Fresh salmon and cod are layered with leeks, zucchini and fresh herbs, and flavored with lemon and Dijon.

The potatoes are flavored with nothing more than creamy, salty, delicious butter. Just keep adding it until the potatoes taste like, well, butter. If you can, use salted grass-fed butter, which has incredible flavor plus a healthier fatty acid composition and higher vitamin content than regular butter.

Servings: 4 to 6

Time in the Kitchen: 1.5 hour

Ingredients

1.5 pounds (about 4) russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch/25 mm chunks (680 g)
6 tablespoons salted butter, divided (plus more to taste) (90 g)
1 small leek, white and pale green parts only, thinly sliced into rounds
1 medium zucchini, grated (about 1 cup grated)
1 stalk celery, thinly sliced
1.5 pounds fish, skin-off, bones removed cut into 1-inch/25 mm pieces (try half salmon, half cod) (680 g)
Zest of one small lemon
¼ cup chopped parsley (60 ml)
2 tablespoons lemon juice (30 ml)
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (30 ml)
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard (15 ml)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400 Fº/205 Cº.

Cover potatoes with salted water in a pot and boil until soft, 12 to 15 minutes. Drain. Mash the drained potatoes with 4 tablespoons butter, or more if you like. Season with salt if needed. Set aside.

In a large saucepan, melt remaining 2 tablespoons/30 g butter over medium heat. Add the leek and celery. Cook until soft, 5 minutes. Add zucchini and cook until the zucchini is soft, 5 minutes.

In a 2 or 3 quart baking dish (or deep pie plate) layer vegetables and fish, and sprinkle lemon zest and parsley on top. Season lightly with salt and pepper.

In a small bowl, whisk together lemon juice, olive oil and Dijon mustard. Pour on top of the fish.

Smooth the mashed potatoes on top of the fish. Dot with small pieces of butter.

Bake for 40 minutes, or until lightly golden and crispy around the edges.

Fish pie can be served warm or at room temperature.

The post Fish Pie appeared first on Mark's Daily Apple.

I Simply Could Not Accept the “You’re Just Getting Old” Excuse

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!

In the summer of 2012, I was like the vast majority of people (and doctors, for that matter)—entirely ignorant of the role nutrition plays on health. Little did I know how absorbed I’d become in the burgeoning ancestral health movement. In fact, if someone were to have told me then that I’d be a health coach by 2016, I would’ve laughed in their face and rolled my eyes, slowly backing away.

However, I’ve always had a passion for science and how it should shape spirituality. This passion led me to obtaining my Bachelor Degree in Geology—the rationale being that if I understood how the earth works, then I could gain a better understanding of how life (and thus mankind) propagated and succeeded on this beautiful planet. From there, I would have a strong base upon which to build a logical, spiritual relationship with the universe.

Part of my coursework included historical paleontology, which details how life grew and changed through time. I found this subject particularly fascinating, and throughout my career in the environmental field I continually enjoyed learning more and more about it, though it played a very minimal role in my profession and I was unsure about how I would ever utilize that sort of information. Enter the ancestral health movement. However, let’s backtrack a bit first…

Years ago I went to the doctor complaining of occasional severe pains in my right foot. The pain would occur instantaneously, and disappear equally as fast, like a bolt of lightning. An X-ray revealed bone spurs, and when I asked the doctor why I was apparently susceptible to them, he replied that it was likely due to arthritis setting in at my age. I was in my mid-30s at the time, and this was an entirely unacceptable explanation to me, having been an athlete and in good shape throughout my years.

Not long afterwards, during an annual physical exam, my doctor told me that my cholesterol was borderline high. Since both of my parents died relatively young due to cardiovascular problems, he prescribed a precautionary statin drug for me. When I asked why my cholesterol was high, he responded that it’s typical with increasing age. I was around 40 at the time, and this was another entirely unacceptable explanation. Not knowing any better, I began a daily statin regimen.

In May of 2009, I met a particularly intelligent and beautiful woman, Camille, who would eventually become my wife. She was finishing up med school at the time, and was experiencing inexplicable digestive issues severe enough that she could hardly eat even a small portion of a meal. Since standard doctors could not determine the cause, she was prescribed proton pump inhibitors and given the designation of an IBS sufferer with chronic reflux.

Being a scientist, I was certain that there were completely logical explanations for both of our health conditions. I simply could not accept the ubiquitous “You’re just getting old” excuse with its subsequent prescription drug regimens. However, not being versed in health or nutrition at the time, I found myself at a loss for adequate and accurate alternative explanations.

Then, in August of 2012, I heard an interview with Robb Wolf on one of my favorite podcasts. During the interview, he rattled off virtually every single symptom that both Camille and I had been experiencing for the last few years, and mentioned that improper nutrition was likely the root cause. We immediately implemented the Paleo Diet and, at the risk of sounding like a zealot or cheesy infomercial salesman, we experienced miraculous results virtually overnight. Camille no longer uses prescription PPIs, and I no longer take the statin or experience the crippling pains of arthritis. In fact, 3 months after going Paleo, having reviewed my expanded blood lipid panel, my doctor stated, “You have the blood of an 18-year old.” I sure wish I would’ve kept that voicemail.

Little did I realize that this new diet would quickly become my passion in the years to come. I became obsessed and absorbed with all things Paleo, and began advising friends and acquaintances on their nutrition, to incredible effect. Through the people I helped, I had an epiphany – I would absolutely LOVE to do this as a profession! But, of course, I was missing something – legitimacy. I scoured the interwebs for any sort of ancestral health certification program, to no avail. All I could find were weekend life- or fitness coaching certs that looked like they were more interested in getting my credit card number than actually providing knowledge or benefits of their program. Then, as if the universe had heard my frustrated cries for help, Mark Sisson came out with his Primal Blueprint Expert Certification (so named at the time). It was PRECISELY what I wanted – what I NEEDED – and I signed up as quickly as I could.

Alas, I didn’t have to go through a traditional school and labor through years of now-thoroughly-debunked pseudoscience proclaiming grains as an essential source of nutrition and other such nonsense. I could learn from the most distinguished people in the cutting-edge ancestral health movement, widening my knowledge not only of what works health-wise, but most importantly WHY it works. To top it all off, while the certification would require hard work in understanding the core health principles, it could be done from the comfort of my own home in a time frame of my own choosing – which was extremely important given the fact that I already had a full-time job. Within about 6 months, I became Primal Blueprint Certified Expert #239.

In the meantime, Camille finished med school but had become frustrated that modern medical practices had essentially become nothing but compartmentalized pill dispensaries, focusing little (if at all) on giving patients the knowledge needed for good preventative care and building natural health. So she turned her attention to learning more about alternative health modalities in an effort to help people construct a strong, natural foundation of health. With her degrees and certifications in these various alternative practices, and with my becoming a Certified Primal Blueprint Expert (again, so named at the time), we decided to combine our passions and start our own company—McClellan Natural Health, Wellness & Nutrition.

However, we had absolutely ZERO entrepreneurial experience. We had NO idea where to start! We quickly found that you can’t just create a website and expect clients to come stampeding through your doors. It takes a plan—and we didn’t have one. We struggled, not knowing where to turn or whom to turn to. There were plenty of people out there who were more than willing to take our money and offer generic entrepreneurial advice, but no one had expertise in the field of our passion—natural health – which is a much different niche than just selling a product. We suffered and barely scraped by, wondering and doubting if we’d really get to help people as much as we KNEW we could.

And then, once again, as if the universe (or at least Mark Sisson) had heard my frustrated cries for help, the Primal Health Coaching (PHC) modules came out, supplementing the Primal Blueprint Expert Certification program! The coaching modules provided lessons on everything we needed, from starting a business to gaining clients, coaching them, and marketing/growing your business, not to mention the fantastic PHC resource library. And it works! We started gaining clients!

The PHC resource library is an absolute must-have for our business. It has all of the information to provide to clients and/or market our company. Some days I just surf the PHC resource pages to explore the new materials and incorporate them into our business and health programs! I even find material that helps me with my own personal health issues! We simply cannot express enough gratitude to the PHC team for basically providing us with everything we need to succeed!

Camille and I have seen such incredible results from our clients that we’ve made it our mission to positively affect the health and lives of as many people as possible in the time we have left on this planet. Hats off and a tremendous THANK YOU to Mark Sisson and the PHC team for providing the knowledge and resources that allow us to not only live an optimally healthy lifestyle, but also pursue our passion and truly live the American dream! You’re the best!

Bret McClellan, McClellan Natural Health, Wellness & Nutrition, LLC

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CrossFit Training: How to Support Overall Wellness and Longevity with Primal

There are some who hold the view that at birth, each of us is allotted a finite supply of energy which exercise depletes, thus hastening our demise. An intense regimen like CrossFit, in this paradigm, would hasten a person’s demise.

That’s wrong, of course. Those who remain sedentary their entire lives often have short, miserable ones, while regular exercisers enjoy better health throughout their time on earth. Exercise has real potential to prolong life and compress morbidity. But it is a major stressor that, if applied incorrectly or excessively, can reduce health and overall wellness.

Here’s the good news for CrossFitters and anyone else engaged in similar combinations of aerobic, strength, and anaerobic training:

Strength training promotes healthy longevity, even in people with hip fractures.

The stronger your grip, the longer you live (even if you’re overweight).

The more lean mass you carry, the better you’ll survive injuries and disease.

The more briskly you walk, the lower your mortality risk.

The more functionally capable you are, the longer you’ll stick around on this rock.

In heart failure patients, a combo of endurance and resistance training is better for long term outlook than just endurance training.

Sound familiar? Between all the deadlifts, the squats, the box jumps, the multi-modal development of fitness across multiple energy pathways, the muscle endurance, and the strength, CrossFit appears to support all the pro-longevity factors listed above.

But there are some things to watch out for that could derail your health and longevity—and going Primal can help.

Injuries

Injuries are a fact of life. Anyone who pushes their body to the limits will eventually overstep them. That’s okay, but you can increase your body’s resistance to injury with a few Primal interventions. Namely:

The increase in collagen intake, which supports connective tissue health.
The regular consumption of omega-3-rich seafood and reduction in omega-6-rich seed oil consumption, which improves inflammatory status.
The elimination of gut irritating-foods like gluten grains, which reduces gut inflammation and prevents excessive intestinal permeability.
The consumption of full-fat dairy, which provides vital calcium and anti-inflammatory fatty acids.
The promotion of barefoot living, which, provided you go slowly and gradually, increases foot strength, ankle stability, and proprioception.
The forays into ketosis, which increase anti-inflammatory ketone bodies.
Add these uniquely-Primal interventions to a CrossFitter’s rock-solid technique, ample mobility training, good sleep, and mind-body intuition and you’ll have a better shot at staying injury-free.

Fat Adaptation

Any CrossFit athlete interested in living a long, healthy life should devote at least three or four weeks to getting fat-adapted. Going full-on ketogenic is the quickest way to do it, and easier and more congruent with your training schedule than you might think, but you can go basic low-carb, too. And you don’t have to stay there.

Hit the point where the low-carb/keto flu stops. Where you start feeling good (consistent energy throughout the day, no more headaches or irritability, no more carb cravings, steady appetite, lucid thoughts). That’s the signal that fat-burning mitochondria are ramping up.

Stay there for 2-3 more weeks. Really get settled, get those fat-burning systems established.

Then, try the cyclical low-carb approach I described in a previous post. High-carb on training days, lower-carb on rest days. That should be enough to maintain your fat-burning machinery while replenishing your glycogen for future endeavors.

Excess Carbs

All else being equal, it’s a good idea to burn as much fat as you can and as little glucose. Burn the glucose you’ve earned, of course. I’ve always said that. But don’t eat extra if you don’t have to. Insulin you don’t really need will only hurt longevity.

CrossFit is carb-intensive, as I’ve covered before and anyone who’s actually attended a box for more than a month can attest. So while you’re not going to go low-carb, go as low as you can while still maintaining your performance or hitting your performance goals. If you want to improve your performance, you’ll probably eat more. If you want to maintain, you’ll probably need less. But the point is that most of us are eating more than we need and can probably drop the carbs and, thus, the insulin, a bit without compromising our performance.

Excess Protein

CrossFit compels a high protein intake. You come home from lugging around heavy iron and manipulating your own bodyweight and a large steak starts sounding very, very good for a very good reason: Your muscles require the protein it contains. But is excess protein a problem?

The link between protein and longevity is a tricky one. In short to medium-term studies, high protein intakes are great. They’re safe (as long as you don’t have pre-existing kidney trouble), they help people lose body fat and retain lean mass, they promote satiety and reduce hunger, and they improve body composition, especially if you’re lifting heavy things.

I’m not exactly sure where I come down on this. We don’t have any strong direct evidence that high protein intakes reduce longevity in humans. If anything, older folks need more protein to derive the same effects because they’re less efficient at processing it. Some research suggests higher meat intakes are linked to better longevity in the elderly.

That said, protein does elevate mTOR, a pathway that, if activated to excess or without respite, does reduce lifespan in animal models and may promote the growth of tumors. When mTOR is activated, autophagy—cellular cleanup of damage, necessary for health aging—shuts off. Yet mTOR also increases muscle protein synthesis. In short, it’s the “growth” pathway.

A nice middle ground is intermittent protein fasting. Every once in awhile, eat less meat than you normally would. Or fast outright. This allows you to take advantage of the benefits of mTOR (muscle building) while giving you the benefits of mTOR restriction (autophagy).

Overtraining

Overtraining is a constant concern for any elite athlete. CrossFit is particularly demanding.

You have your training schedule, and I’m not trying to change that. Adopting any of the Primal lifestyle laws (and honorable mentions) will improve your resistance to stress of all kinds, make you more robust in the face of your demanding training schedule.

Lack of Collagen

Skinless chicken breasts, whey protein isolate, egg whites, and other similar foods are staples in many CrossFitters’ diets because they’re extremely high in protein. They’re also extremely high in methionine, an essential amino acid. The thing about methionine is that it increases our need for glycine, an inessential amino acid found in collagen.

The more methionine-rich meat we eat, the more glycine our bodies utilize. In rat studies, high methionine diets reduce lifespan. If you add glycine to the high-methionine diet, however, the rats live longer. For a CrossFitter slamming protein and lean chicken breasts, balancing the methionine with glycine could mean throwing in some oxtail stew, bone broth, and collagen powder. Pretty simple (and delicious).

Glycine may also impact your risk for various degenerative diseases often linked to “meat consumption.” In one study, controlling for glycine status abolished the link between red meat and diabetes. In another, low levels of glycine in the blood predicted the risk of diabetes. While it’s not as if the average CrossFitter is at risk for diabetes, this data is compelling evidence that muscle meat intake should be balanced with collagen intake for healthy longevity.

Performance and health are often cast as opposites. I reject that. I’m convinced that, using Primal principles, a CrossFitter can maintain and improve performance without sacrificing his or her short-term or long-term health.

What about you?

Thanks for reading today, everybody. Have a great end to your week.

The post CrossFit Training: How to Support Overall Wellness and Longevity with Primal appeared first on Mark's Daily Apple.

Is There a Problem with Weight Loss Culture?

I recently read a piece from the New York Times in which the author, Taffy Brodesser-Akner, recounts her lifelong struggle with dieting and body acceptance and her relationship to food. She tackles the failure of most “diets,” the fat acceptance movement, the Weight Watchers-as-support-group phenomenon, the Oprah Winfrey body weight yo-yoing. What makes it an effective article is that, rather than cast herself as dispassionate journalist reporting the facts, Akner is elbows deep. She herself is the subject as much as anything else. It’s a powerful article. Go read it.

The article doesn’t come to a neat conclusion. There’s no prescription at the end. It meanders. It explores. It’s messy. I think that’s exactly how most people feel when trying to tackle this diet/health/bodyweight/eating thing: confused, lost, conflicted, overwhelmed. Go look at the comment section from the article, and you’ll see that pretty much everyone got something different from it.

Some were outraged that the writer would argue that being fat is perfectly healthy (she wasn’t).

Some chimed in with their preferred diet, the one that worked for them. I saw a few mentions of paleo, even.

Some recounted their weight loss journeys and struggles and failures.

Some admonished her for not mentioning exercise.

Some gave her diet advice.

It ran the gamut. The comment section was all over the place. Everyone had completely different reactions to the same material.

The article wasn’t about what works, what doesn’t. It was about the insanity of living in the diet-mindset, where every bite of food is analyzed, every calorie label scrutinized, as the people around you drink regular soda “as if it were nothing, as if it were just a drink.” It was the author wanting to accept her body but realizing she couldn’t—and the agony and insanity that results.

I get why we have convoluted things like hypnotic lap bands (hypnosis so good it replaces bariatric surgery) and food relationship classes where you learn how to eat and appreciate raisins. Because people are flailing around inside an obesogenic food system trying to find something, anything that works. But since they’re searching within the confines of the modern food environment, nothing works. Nothing sticks.

It’s also why I think finding a baseline is so helpful, a fundamental starting place that transcends the boundaries we’ve erected. Whatever your life story, you’re still a human. Your ancestors were hunter-gatherers at some point, and the modern industrial food system is novel to your physiology. Eliminating the major offenders—excess carbs and sugar, refined vegetable oils and grains—and restoring the attitudes that used to be normal—fat and meat are perfectly healthy—are suitable for everyone. You can tinker with macronutrient ratios, recent ancestry, “to keto or not to keto,” and all the minutiae on your own time. But those basics work as a starting place for everyone I’ve ever encountered.

You just have to step outside the obesogenic food system that’s been constructed for you.

But look at me: I’m just giving diet advice all over again….

I think my takeaway, however, has to be this: You should never accept your mutable limitations. It’s true that some characteristics can’t be changed. You can’t make yourself taller or shorter. You can’t force yourself to be an introvert or extrovert. But a large portion of what we consider to be shortcomings to our health, happiness and well-being can be improved upon. Like the amount of body fat you carry.

And let me be clear. It’s not about sinking into despair because change can’t happen in a day. It’s essential to accept the process and yourself in it. As for body acceptance, a “goal weight” isn’t necessary. In some cases, it’s counterproductive. You don’t need to turn success and failure into binary options. Better is good enough. Movement is enough.

As much as I sympathize with the author of the piece—and it’s a gut-wrenching, powerful piece, hard to read in parts—I can’t budge on even the mere entertaining of the notion that maybe being overweight or obese isn’t so bad for your health. Those are dangerous waters to tread.

The science is settled. Excess body fat is harmful (not to be conflated with “extra” fat in the right places, which—depending on gender and pregnancy status—can actually be healthy). It secretes inflammatory cytokines and directly causes insulin resistance. It weighs you down, increases the stress placed on your joints. It makes free and full movement more difficult. No one should labor up and down stairs or be unable to hang from a bar or grunt with exertion when they get up from the ground if they can avoid it. And most people can avoid it simply by losing excess body fat.

Even if the fat itself is neutral (it’s not) and merely indicates deeper health problems, losing the fat tends to resolve those problems (or go a long way toward it).

What I found most interesting is that I think the author understands this, too. If not explicitly (she discusses the evidence both for and against the idea of fat as intrinsically harmful), certainly implicitly.

Her inability to accept her overweight body despite wanting to and thinking it’s the “right” thing to do maybe suggests a deeper, subconscious acknowledgement that being fat is unhealthy.

But couldn’t it be social pressures at fault? Many of the commenters, and the author herself, default to the idea that acceptance is “good” and imply that “society” is to blame for our inability to accept our overweight bodies. This argument falls flat for me. Society is made of humans, who are biological beings. Society is therefore a product of biology. Society’s norms and mores don’t emerge out of nothingness. They develop for real reasons. They may be bad reasons, or good ones that become corrupted, but they are real things that arise out of human biology. It wasn’t as if a council of elders long ago decreed that being obese is bad because it’s “ugly” or “unseemly,” and it just stuck. Far more likely is that society has (by and large) deemed excess body fat undesirable because, the fact is, it’s a net negative for human health.

Something in me thinks that people who claim to love their body despite being obese are ignoring or drowning out that inner voice spurring them toward change. Loving who they are as people is of course something else. Nor is anyone talking about physical perfection here. But if they truly do love their excess body fat, they do so at the peril of their health. Self-love doesn’t erase the physiological ramifications of being obese. That’s my central concern.

This weight loss business is hard. I’m not suggesting it’s easy. But hard things are often worthwhile things. In fact, difficulty can be an indicator of worthiness. It’s true that our culture and its food system don’t encourage choices that help us build and sustain our best health. Fortunately, however, we get to decide for ourselves.

Thanks for reading today, everybody. I’d love to hear your thoughts on  weight loss culture—for all its truth and shortcomings. Take care.

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Adaptogens: Maca Root, Sea Buckthorn Oil, and Schisandra

I’ve covered a number of adaptogens over the past few months including American and Asian ginseng, ashwagandha, astragalus, and holy basil—and for good reason. They offer an effective means to combat stress as well as boost health and performance from a number of angles. I’ve enjoyed experimenting with many of them and even use some on a regular basis. 

I thought I’d continue the series with a look at 3 additional adaptogens: maca, sea buckthorn, and schisandra. See what you think.

From Dirt to Dispensary: The Life Cycle of Your Adaptogen
Maca Root (Lepidium Meyenii)

Maca is a cruciferous biennial herb that hails from the high Andean peaks of Peru. Grown primarily for its fleshy root, maca is similar in growing habit and size to turnips and radishes. Its green, fragrant tops grow above ground, but most of the action takes place below the surface, with the root varying considerably in shape, size and color depending on the subspecies.

Most maca cultivation happens at high elevations—think 14,000 feet in Peru, Bolivia, and some of the higher spots of Brazil. Chances are, however, your supplement was grown in Peru.

Maca (sometimes called Peruvian ginseng) takes about 7 months to produce small flowers and go to seed. It’s harvested at this point, washed, and left in covered tents to dry out. Traditional Peruvian custom is to then put the plants in large sacks and give them a good rustle up—with the seeds falling onto tarps below and subsequently collected for the next round of cultivation. The root itself is then either sold locally as a whole root (they eat the stuff like potatoes in the Andean villages of Peru), ground to a powder for supplemental purposes, or sent off for processing into beverages, wine, liqueurs, and even jams. I’ll admit I’m intrigued by the jam. 

Because it’s grown at such high altitudes in remote areas, it’s unlikely that any herbicides or chemical applications are used during cultivation. The only real task for the farmers is to keep wild vicunas and sheep from eating their crop.

Sea Buckthorn (Hippophae Rhamnoides)

The curiously named sea buckthorn hails from an entirely different part of the world, and can be found growing wild on the coastlines of Atlantic Europe (hence the same), or as a subalpine shrub on European or Asian mountain ranges. It’s a tough little tree, able to withstand excesses of wind, cold, heat and salt, and for this reason was once distributed free of charge to Canadian prairie farmers to be used as shelter belts.

The form of sea buckthorn shrubs match their temperament, with small leaves, alarmingly large thorns, and a tendency to spread vegetatively almost to the point of invasiveness. Sea buckthorn of the rhamnoides variety typically grows to between half a meter and 6 meters in height, and as a nitrogen fixer it’s great for rebuilding impoverished soils.

Trees take around 3-4 years to start producing the flavonoid-rich berries, which is what most sea buckthorn supplements and oils are comprised of. That being said, don’t be surprised to see extracts of sea buckthorn leaves in your adaptogenic supplement, as these also contain considerable concentrations of therapeutic compounds.

Schisandra (Schisandra Chinensis)

Schisandra (sometimes called Schizandra) is a woody vine with a similar growing habit and form to that of grapes. All schisandra supplements are derived from the bright red berry of this vine, which is native to the northeast of China and parts of eastern Russia.

In Chinese, Schisandra is referred to as “Wu Wei Zi,” which essentially translates to “five flavored fruit.” Word has it that those five flavors are sweet, sour, salty, bitter and spicy. As I’m sure you can imagine, this makes for a fairly intense culinary experience.

Most of the Schisandra berries are sun-dried, crushed, and used in supplemental formulas. Some, however, are eaten fresh in traditional Chinese dishes. Others are used to make health juices, tinctures and tonics.

But What Do They Do?

By now you know the drill: adaptogens, by their very definition, lower forms of stress within the body. This means that, regardless of which adaptogenic herb you choose, you should expect to see some relief from certain key symptoms of chronic stress—reduced inflammation, better sleep, boosted immunity, that kind of thing. (Of course, each person’s response varies based on a large number of factors. As always, consult your physician before beginning any adaptogen or other supplement, particularly if you have a known health condition.)

Nonetheless, beyond those broad-spectrum benefits, there’s plenty of extras that each adaptogen offers that set it apart from the rest. In this way, choosing the right adaptogen for your situation means knowing what those unique therapeutic attributes are. Here are some of them.

Maca Research

Records show that maca root was already being utilized by the Incas, whose warriors were known to chomp down on it to increase their stamina and strength. At this point in its history, maca was something of a sought-after plant: only the ruling classes (and presumably their armies) were permitted to consume it.

It turns out they were onto something. Maca contains impressive amounts of catechins, amino acids, fatty acids, calcium, phosphorus, zinc, magnesium, iron, vitamin E and a whole host of B-vitamins. It’s also got a good dose of alkaloids, bioavailable proteins and fiber.

And the best part? Any lowly peasant can get their hands on it these days.

Sexual Prowess

It might seem crude, but “sexual prowess” about sums it up. Easily the most popular use for maca is for improving libido, staying power, sperm quality and quantity, and essentially anything reproductive-related. Unsurprisingly, the lion’s share of maca research has focused on this area.

In one bout of lab tests, 60 “sexually experienced” rats (feel free to laugh) were treated with varying dosages of maca and their responses observed. They found that those rats on the maca were more motivated to initiate intercourse and more likely to return for multiple, uh, interactions. Slightly less awkward tests in humans have shown similar results from maca supplementation, along with significant improvements in stamina outside of the bedroom.

Interestingly, maca appears to significantly elevate sexual desire without actually instigating any hormonal changes in the body. A 2002 study that sought to demonstrate whether this boost in desire was due to changes in mood or testosterone levels gave a group of 1500 mg or 3000 mg of maca extract over the course of 12 weeks. They observed sexual desire improvements 8 weeks in, with no corresponding changes in testosterone or estradiol levels. Scratching their heads, they had witnessed the boost in libido but were no closer to working out why this happens. Another study found the exact same thing, concluding that “treatment with maca does not affect serum reproductive hormone levels.”

Studies on bulls have demonstrated that maca can improve sperm quantity and quality without compromising character, while it may also promote prostate health by regulating serum zinc concentrations.

Menopause

Maca shows promise as a means of easing the symptoms of menopause. A 2005 study involving 20 early-postmenopausal women found that maca acted as a hormonal toner by lowering follicle-stimulating hormone and increasing luteinizing hormone secretion, which in turn stimulated production of estrogen and progesterone. As a result, the women reported substantial reductions in menopausal discomfort.

Other studies have examined the action of maca on specific symptoms associated with menopause. Research shows that maca administration prevents or lowers menopause-induced weight gains, elevated blood pressure, depression, and osteoporosis.

Energy and Physical Endurance

As with most of it’s adaptogenic peers, maca has been the subject of considerable speculation regarding its potential stamina and endurance-promoting properties. Interestingly, I couldn’t actually find a lot of research to confirm or deny these claims, but what I did find suggested that maca might show some promise in this area.

A 2012 study used the usual trick of forcing weighted rats to swim for prolonged periods in order to induce a state of stress. Swimming times to exhaustion of rats supplemented for 3 weeks with 30 and 100 mg/kg of maca extract increased by 25% and 41%, respectively. Certain markers of muscle fatigue in the maca-consuming mice were lowered, and muscular glutathione production increased.

Sea Buckthorn Research

It’s the nutritional composition of sea buckthorn oil that interests me. It contains solid concentrations of omega-3 fatty acids, amino acids, vitamin E and carotenoids, and phenolic compounds (flavonoids) such as quercetin and catechin. It’s fair to say that there are few other fruits on the planet that can offer this kind of mix.

Skin Conditions

Sea buckthorn oil (derived from either the pulp or seed of the berries) has long been used by Eastern cultures as a therapeutic aid for disorders of the skin. Current research validates this, with a 2011 study (PDF) using sea buckthorn cream to significantly reduce erythema (redness) and another using both sea buckthorn seed and pulp oil to encourage marked improvement in atopic dermatitis.

The beneficial effects of sea buckthorn also extend to wound healing. This study used sea buckthorn seed oil to significantly speed burn wound healing, while a flavone extract from sea buckthorn was used in another clinical trial to heal deep cuts an average of 8 days faster than the control group.

Cardiovascular Health

There’s a limited but growing body of evidence suggesting that sea buckthorn oil and juice may have a part to play in supporting healthy cardiovascular function. Research has found that sea buckthorn supplementation may indeed lower risk of cardiovascular disease by protecting against precursors like elevated total cholesterol and triglycerides. Another study noted that sea buckthorn juice lowered susceptibility of male participants to LDL oxidation. However, it appears that isolated flavonols extracted from sea buckthorn may not work so well on their own.

Ulcers

There’s actually a surprising amount of research documenting the impressive therapeutic effects of sea buckthorn oil on gastric ulcers. Experiments on rats with sea buckthorn seed and pulp oils indicated both preventative and curative effects against gastric ulcers. Likewise, slipping some sea buckthorn berries into the feed of horses with gastric ulcers offers benefits…provided the horse is hungry enough to eat the berries.

Schisandra Research

In Korea, it’s a kind of potent five-flavored tea. The ancient Ainu people of Japan apparently used it as a remedy for colds and sea-sickness. The Russians thought so highly of schisandra that they immortalized it on one of their (admittedly temporary) postage stamps. Perhaps there’s something for everyone in schisandra.

Stress

Adaptogens by nature act on stress. But Schisandra takes it to the next level. A plethora of studies on animals has shown schisandra to provide stress-protective effects against a wide range of stressors.

Supplementing with schisandra promoted greater egg production, boosted immune function and heightened antioxidant status of hens subjected to heat stress. Rats given schisandra extract showed lowered symptoms of stress during a bout of extended water-floating followed by an intense treadmill workout. Mice who were immobilized and (cover your eyes) had their feet electrocuted showed significantly lower signs of stress when treated with a combination of schisandra and Scutellaria baicalensis. And in a study that compared the effects of 5 different adaptogens on rabbits subjected to restraint stress, Schisandra tied for first place in preventing cortisol spikes and regulating production of inflammatory cytokines.

You get the idea.

Depression

Many of the above studies agreed that it was, at least in part, the anti-depressive abilities of schisandra that contributed to its stress-alleviating effects. This correlates to limited research focusing on schisandra’s antidepressant effect. One study showed that a tincture of schisandra resulted in a significant antidepressant effect in rats, while another concluded that schisandra’s positive effects on production of dopamine, serotonin, and other “feel-good” hormones may contribute to this lowering of depression.

Cancer

As with many of the other adaptogens, schisandra shows great potential for the treatment and prevention of cancer. Studies have indicated the ability of certain active compounds in schisandra to inhibit development of human lung cancer cells, inhibit proliferation of human breast cancer cells, improve immune response and exhibit anti-tumor properties, and slow the spread of human colorectal cancer cells.

Adaptogenic Cautions

To qualify as an adaptogen, an herb must be safe and non-toxic. This tells us a lot about the potential side effects and contraindications of maca, sea buckthorn and schisandra—they’re few and far between.

If maca doesn’t sit well with your constitution, you could see development of acne, digestive issues like diarrhea or bloating, and a bout of the shakes if maca’s energy-boosting abilities go a little too far. As usual, pregnant women should stay away from the stuff. That goes for most supplements, however.

Studies that examined the effect of excessive sea buckthorn consumption have found that even at doses above the “safe” recommended level for a month, no toxic effects are apparent. However, the blood-flow promoting effects of sea buckthorn mean you might want to consult your doctor, particularly if you’re on vasodilator medication.

Excess schisandra consumption may result in heartburn, upset stomach, and rashes. For some reason, epileptics are discouraged from using this adaptogen, and those suffering from gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) may have trouble with it.

As always, practice moderation and work with a trusted physician.

Finally, not all supplements are created equal, and this is definitely true for adaptogenic products. While all maca varieties generally have similar therapeutic abilities, certain colors or types may be more appropriate for treating different conditions—so do your homework. Some studies, for example, indicated that hexanic maca extract has the most pronounced effect on sexual parameters.

As for sea buckthorn, seeking out supercritical CO2-extracted oil supplements may ensure the highest nutrient profile, but cold pressed is still a decent choice. When shopping around for schisandra products, look for those that are standardized to schizandrins, one of it’s most therapeutic active compounds.

Thanks for reading, everyone. Have you tried any of these adaptogens, and observed any notable results? Any other comments or questions? Take care.

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The post Adaptogens: Maca Root, Sea Buckthorn Oil, and Schisandra appeared first on Mark's Daily Apple.