Mark Sisson's Blog, page 214

What It’s Like to Be Grok at 40

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!

First of all, I would like to thank you and your team for making Mark’s Daily Apple so easy to navigate, read and dive into on a daily basis. The introduction that I have received to The Primal Blueprint over the past few months has been extremely rewarding and I am very proud to call myself a member of the primal community.

My story is nowhere near as exciting as some of the members who have overcome health problems, debilitating injuries, illnesses and extreme weight loss results. My story is one of an average citizen, stuck in the rut of a society overloaded with convenience food, stagnant lifestyle choices and a government that has convinced the masses that their food guide is the final word on health.

My name is Carey and I am a 39 year old father of two and a husband to the most supportive woman a man could ask for. My motivation for changing my lifestyle came from two places: A 40th birthday that I did not want to have with the mental and physical condition that I was in, and from a close family member who designed their own ketogenic lifestyle plan.

Last year my wife and I were introduced to the paleo way of life. We gave it a shot, we kicked the tires, we test drove it, and inevitably we crashed into the ditch of “everyday life.” We gave it a good go. We definitely saw results. But the daily grind of alarm clocks and kids and commitments to the television/couch combo did us in. We didn’t exactly quit all together. We did try to make smart choices for ourselves and our kids. My brother in-law was a very good mentor with the gains and goals he made with his keto program. I did want those results, deep down. But unfortunately my tendency to give into bad habits took over most days. Toast and cereal for breakfast, sandwiches for lunches, rice and pasta for dinners. These became more of a routine than a choice. It was just too easy. But I finally decided that easy wasn’t what I wanted anymore.

When the clock struck 2016, the person that I saw in the mirror gave me a long hard stare and said, “Hey, are you ready for 40?” And I said, “Hell no!!” It was definitely time for me to light a fire under my feet. I honestly had the best intentions, just like every other resolution maker at New Years. January and February came and went, and so did a lot carbs from my diet. I was making better choices and trying my darnedest to stick to a paleo diet for myself and my family. The one thing I couldn’t overcome was my love of craft beer and late night television. I have been a admirer/junkie of craft brews for many years, I even started from scratch brewing my own at home. It was a rewarding hobby and still is for me. Even though today I am healthier and happier than I have been in years, I will never cut out my love for a cold, local, fresh beer. I feel no guilt working off those carbs.

In February I was browsing our local book store for paleo cookbooks and craft beer magazines, I stumbled upon The Primal Blueprint. I had heard Mark’s name come up a few times while discussing paleo topics and recipes I had found online, but nothing really clicked. After doing some more research, I came to find that this guy had a heck of a lot to say, and a way of getting his idea across like no one else I had heard before. I began watching his videos and subscribed to MDA. The real kicker for me was listening to Joe Rogan’s podcast that Mark did earlier in the year. I have since listened to it numerous times. Needless to say, The Primal Blueprint was the quickest read for me, and I am not a big book person. Eye opening is an understatement to describe how informative it was for me when I sat down to take it all in.

On March 1st, I walked into a gym and signed up for a membership. I weighed in at 232 lbs (now 200). With everything that I had learned in the past weeks, I was armed with an intense focus. It may have come across as arrogance at the time, but it was what I needed to fight hard against life’s push-backs. When people asked me what my plan was, I told them I was going Primal. People said that it’s not normal, you need all those carbs, how can you eat all that fat? I did not want to be normal. Normal was now extinct to me. I wanted to be a fat burner, not a carb-loader. I wanted to get my energy from what was inside me. Not from putting sugar and starches into my body. I was done getting my energy from wheat and grains and high fructose corn syrup.

I had already been doing a weekly bootcamp with a close friend of mine, but although I enjoyed it, I found myself loading up on carbs and sugars before class and just felt sluggish halfway through. Now when I go, I feel great! My diet is now on track. I eat lots of proteins, fats, and fruits and vegetables. My carb intake is under a 100 a day. No more cardboard for breakfast. No more late night bags of chips. Well, I do still cheat sometimes. I go to bed earlier at night and I am up at 5 am ready to go. A bullet proof coffee and I’m banging on the door at the gym at 5:30 am.

I am now fitter, happier and getting healthier day by day. I have my wife and family to thank, I have a great bootcamp family, I have a great gym family. And now I have a Primal community family. I talk to people on a daily basis that are still stuck in the conventional perception of what is healthy. I try not to get frustrated speaking to the naysayers. And I try to spend more time talking with people who are seriously interested in what I have done to turn my lifestyle Primal. No one is going to tell me that my choices are wrong. I now have the knowledge and wisdom to actually back up my choices, and I have Mark to thank for that.

Grok at 40

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How Language Affects Your Fitness and Weight Loss Practice

Every day we’re barraged by “good ideas”—all the things we should be doing with our lives and could start doing today if we really cared enough. Too much advice can overwhelm us, and, more importantly, it can inflate the power of “should.” It can cement an insidious (and, in my experience, ineffective) framework in our minds. We risk framing every choice—from work to pleasure—as an obligation. Doing so burdens life with a constant sense of onus, constraint and deprivation—not exactly the stuff of grand motivation. In my experience, we aren’t in for much fun or long-term success with that brand of approach. Luckily, there’s a better way to talk to ourselves.

I’m not oblivious to the apparent irony here. Here I am offering a blog all about living a healthy life, and each day I offer information and strategies to that end. But there’s something to my very nature that still resists the authority of “should” (or authority in general) and prefers a framework of option and example. It makes for some interesting creative tension every day.

I guess you could say it’s why I often write more casually than authors of other health blogs and why I’m so blunt about self-interest. It’s maybe why I prioritize publishing others’ stories that highlight their appropriation of Primal and why I couch my whole interpretation and experience of health within a loose blueprint that I flagrantly encourage people to make their own. And it’s perhaps why I spend ample time here deliberately ferreting out the slippery psychological forces and individual nuances at work behind any endeavor to change one’s life or lifestyle. At the end of the day, I don’t ever want to be a dictator of “shoulds.”

And here’s why.

In all my years, I’ve never found “should” to be a very effective way to talk myself (or anyone else) into much of anything. When we say “should,” we’ve immediately sidestepped ownership of our own motivation. “Should” declares that outside influences are more important than our own desires. As logical as this assertion might be at times, at others it can set up a conflicting division between what we want for ourselves and what we’ll do instead. While we may be willing to do what we feel is expected of us by that external code or logic, we retain the excuse to hold it at arm’s length like yesterday’s forgotten lunch—an unappetizing serving of pressure with a side of guilt and resentment.

Just how does this inspire or incentivize?

For my part, I prefer to frame my choices through self-determination rather than external prescription. I prefer to enlarge my understanding of and commitment to healthy self-interest rather than abdicate my personal will. Because the language we use with ourselves (like the stories we tell ourselves) matters. How we frame our health-related intentions (e.g. weight loss, fitness, stress reduction, etc.) can—and likely will—affect our follow through.

Shifting the language we use to describe our behavioral goals and healthy visions can reinstate that sense of ownership. When we let go of the “I should” and instead stake the claim of “I choose,” something happens. We’re no longer playing in the vague grounds of consideration and critique. We’re saying yes—or no. There’s no chasm to get lost or procrastinate in. We do it or we don’t.

Even better, we can further frame the choice not as avoidance of an unwanted result but within a concrete desire we’re aiming for. For example, instead of “I should do X because [insert negative blah, blah, blah],” we entrain our brain toward personal commitment by saying “I choose to do X because I want [this, that and the other awesome thing] for myself.”

Let’s do some more comparing and contrasting.

On Primal Eating

“I should eat better because I’ll continue exacerbating my thyroid issues/diabetes/autoimmune issues/etc.”

versus

“I choose to eat better because I want to feel vibrant and energetic.”

“I should stop eating now, or it will just make me fatter.”

versus

“I’m choosing to stop eating now because I’m full and satisfied.”

“I should stop being so careless with what I grab for lunch.”

versus

“I choose to pack healthy lunches because being mindful of my food selection will help me reach my fat loss goal more quickly.”

On Getting Fit

“I should stop being so physically lazy.”

versus

“I choose to fit in some kind of exercise each day because my mood is so much lighter/I sleep better/I have more energy when I do.”

“I should start lifting weights. I know I’m weaker than I should be.”

versus

“I choose to lift heavy things three times a week because I enjoy challenging my limits and because I like feeling strong.”

On Embracing Other Elements of Primal Wellness

“I should take more breaks at work so I don’t screw up as much.”

versus

“I choose to take regular breaks at work because I’m more productive when I do.”

“I should get outside more because I know I’m missing out on vitamin D.”

versus

“I choose to spend an hour or more outside each day because I appreciate how it makes me feel relaxed and creative.”

“I should get myself to bed earlier and not deal with the chaotic mornings.”

versus

“I choose to go to bed at 10:00pm because I enjoy being rested and focused the next day.”

Do any of these examples ring true? How do they compare with the way you talk to yourself about your Primal intentions?

Whatever the area you’re working on enhancing in your life (e.g. Primal eating, fitness, weight loss, healing a health condition, stress management, etc.), the takeaway here is this: there’s force in the language we use with ourselves. Our words can determine the real mindset we bring to our goals. Do we simply agree that a good idea is another “should” that we guilt ourselves over, or do we make a personal claim for our health and well-being by saying we choose to pursue what we want for ourselves today? Our words direct our thinking, which in subtle or dramatic ways influences the action we take—not to mention the attitude we bring to that effort. In the end, we do better for ourselves and our goals by empowering our intentions.

How can you take a concern or goal you have for your health, let go of the obligation, and frame it as a positive, purposeful intention? Consider it today’s Primal challenge, and share your newly fashioned aim with folks in the comments below.

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

Prefer listening to reading? Get an audio recording of this blog post, and subscribe to the Primal Blueprint Podcast on iTunes for instant access to all past, present and future episodes here.

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The Definitive Guide to Coffee

Coffee is serious business. We Americans drink about 400 million cups of it per day and spend several billion dollars on it each year. It’s the most popular drug on earth, and certainly the most socially acceptable. In many ways, coffee’s the closest thing we’ve got to a universal, daily ritual, as just about every morning, billions of people across the planet prostrate themselves before the holy, energy-giving legume. It also hails from the same place the earliest members of our species do: East Africa (Ethiopia, to be exact). That the most industrious animal ever to walk the planet and the psychoactive legume that fuels said industry both hail from the same place on earth is pure poetry.

Coffee’s also delicious. I’d say you’d have to pry my coffee from my cold, dead fingers, only the ensuing struggle would slosh it all onto the floor, and that would be such a waste.

Yet it’s also considered to be a vice, one of those substances that “everyone knows” is bad for you.

Is it?

Before I get into the evidence, let’s give the ending away early: it’s (probably) good for (most of) you. And yeah, I’m biased as hell. So what? It’s based on considerable evidence, and you likely share the same pro-coffee bias.

The majority of the evidence in favor of coffee consists of epidemiological studies—making observations of and gathering data from large populations. These cannot establish causation, but the trend is clear: it seems to be good for us.

Breast cancer: Consumption of caffeinated coffee, but not decaf, has a protective effect on postmenopausal breast cancer risk.

Cancer: Coffee consumption is associated with a modest reduction in cancer “at any site.”

Cognitive decline: Coffee consumption is consistently associated with lower rates of age-related cognitive decline.

Colorectal cancer: Most research shows an inverse relationship between coffee drinking and colorectal cancer. Some research suggests a positive link, but the results are muddied by the fact that coffee drinkers were more likely to be smokers.

Diabetes: Increasing your coffee intake results in a lower risk of type 2 diabetes, even if it’s decaf.

Endothelial function: Coffee polyphenols improve endothelial function after glucose loading in men, ameliorate the endothelial dysfunction that normally follows a meal, and prevent the hyperglycemia associated with endothelial dysfunction and oxidative stress.

Gallstones: Among American men, coffee intake protects against symptomatic gallstone disease.

Inflammation: After abstaining from coffee for a month, habitual coffee drinkers were given 4 cups a day for the second month and 8 cups a day for the third. Markers of subclinical inflammation all dropped and HDL cholesterol increased with coffee consumption.

Liver cancer: Coffee has a protective relationship with liver cancer mediated by markers of liver damage and inflammation.

Mortality: Coffee consumption has an inverse relationship to all-cause mortality. Early mortality, that is; it doesn’t make you immortal. Though nurses who drink the most coffee do have longer telomeres.

Oxidative stress: Women with higher caffeine intakes (via coffee and tea) show evidence of lower oxidative stress, less DNA damage, and a greater capacity for DNA repair.

Parkinson’s disease: Higher coffee intakes predict slightly lower rates of Parkinson’s disease.

Prostate cancer: Coffee consumption reduces risk of prostate cancer.

Stroke: Moderate coffee consumption is associated with a reduced risk of stroke. Even high coffee consumption (8 cups a day) appears slightly protective.

Sun damage: Coffee and its polyphenols are associated with protection against photoaging.

It becomes even more convincing when you realize that coffee isn’t a conventionally “healthy” beverage. There’s very little room to make the “healthy user bias” argument.

Potential disease and death avoidance is an important feature of coffee, to be sure, but what about the shorter-term benefits? Most people don’t drink coffee to “improve their postprandial hyperglycemic response.” They drink it because it makes them feel good and improves their performance.

Coffee improves cognitive function

It boosts executive functioning and working memory (so long as the task isn’t highly dependent on working memory). Coffee also improves your mood and makes you think you’re drawing from a bottomless well of mental energy, an effect that may be even more important than the actual physiological effects on cognition. I call it productive optimism, and I rely on it for quick bursts of creation and idea generation in the morning. Even decaf works, as the chlorogenic acid present in both decaf and caffeinated coffee have been shown to improve mood.

Coffee is great for workouts

Whether it’s endurance, HIIT, sprint, badminton, resistance training, or almost any athletic pursuit you can name, a cup or two of coffee before your workout can improve performance.

And contrary to popular belief, coffee does not dehydrate you. Studies show no difference in hydration status between people drinking coffee, water, or other beverages. One measured fluid, electrolyte, and renal indices of hydration over eleven days of caffeine consumption in human subjects, finding that doses of up to 6 mg caffeine per kilogram of body weight had no effect on body mass, urine osmolality (urine concentration), urine specific gravity (concentration of excreted materials in urine), urine color, urine volume, sodium excretion, potassium secretion, creatinine content, blood urea nitrogen (forms when protein breaks down), and serum levels of sodium and potassium.

Coffee is the biggest dietary source of polyphenols

Maybe if goji berry tea shops were on every corner, every man, woman, and child ate acai bowls for breakfast, coffee wouldn’t be the biggest source of phytonutrients. Gram for gram, coffee ranks behind most berries. But in the real world, where most people drink several large cups of coffee each day, coffee is the the primary way we get our antioxidants. That’s true for Japan, Spain, Poland, and many other countries.

You Primal folks reading this over your Big Ass Salads full of colorful veggies and typing away with your turmeric-dusted fingers get the best of both worlds: the big load of coffee polyphenols plus the antioxidants found in all the other colorful produce the world has to offer.

True, there are some negative studies. Animal studies in particular are more likely to show negative results. But it’s important to realize that animals are not habitual coffee drinkers. Giving a group of lab mice a bunch of caffeinated coffee isn’t the same as giving it to humans who’ve been drinking it for years. Caffeine, like so many other plant compounds we hold in high regard, is a natural plant pesticide that certain plants (like coffee and tea) employ to ward off and even kill small predators. The bulk of the evidence suggests that humans have co-opted this “toxin” and made it healthy, hormetic input that, in the right doses, improves our health and well-being.

That said, not everyone should start a pot-a-day habit. Depending on several variables, coffee consumption has its downsides.

Coffee and sleep

Coffee has an obvious relationship with sleep: it counters it. The most common use of coffee is to stay awake. It can’t replace sleep over the long term, but in the short term it can mitigate the cognitive deficits.  And studies indicate it can have a bad effect on sleep if consumed at the wrong time:

Drinking coffee at night impairs melatonin secretion and reduces sleep quality and quantity.
Drinking coffee all day maintains alertness and cognitive performance, but detracts from sleep quality and quantity.
Having a double espresso three hours before bed phase-delays your circadian rhythm by 40 minutes, effectively pushing back the regular bed time.

No surprises here: don’t drink caffeinated coffee at night and hope to sleep normally.

Coffee and pregnancy

Caffeine crosses the placenta, and numerous studies indicate it has a deleterious effect on the unborn. Some possible effects:

Low birth weight.
Reduced fetal leptin.
Increased childhood obesity.

Moms-to-be, stick to decaf.

Coffee and cortisol

Studies show that coffee induces a modest but noticeable spike in cortisol that levels off as you become habituated to coffee. However, it may inhibit your ability to modulate existing cortisol levels. If you’re already stressed out, turning to the bean may make things worse and keep cortisol elevated.

Folks who drink coffee regularly probably don’t need to worry about cortisol, since their bodies have acclimated to it and no longer register coffee as a “stressor.”

Slow versus fast caffeine metabolizers

Caffeine is metabolized by a liver enzyme encoded by the CYP1A2 gene. If you have the CC variant of CYP1A2, you are a slow caffeine metabolizer. If you have the AC variant, you are a moderate metabolizer. And if you have the AA variant, you are a fast metabolizer of caffeine.

In slow and medium metabolizers, caffeine lasts longer in the blood and has a stronger effect. They’re the ones who get cracked out after a half cup of coffee, or can’t have caffeine after noon if they want to sleep that night. Fast metabolizers are the opposite. They process caffeine very efficiently, and it affects them less. These are the types who can have a quad espresso before bed and sleep like babies.

Is stronger, longer caffeine a good thing?

Caffeine isn’t an upper in the classical sense. Instead, caffeine acts by mimicking a compound called adenosine and binding to its receptors before the real thing can. Adenosine is a byproduct of neuronal activity. The more active your brain is, the more adenosine it produces. When adenosine levels get high enough, they bind to adenosine receptors and trigger sleepiness. By blocking adenosine, caffeine counters sleepiness and increases cognitive function, but it also inhibits another, more helpful effect of adenosine: vasodilation, or widening of blood vessels.

Consequently, slow caffeine metabolizers who drink a lot of coffee appear to have higher rates of diseases linked to poor vasodilation:

Hypertension.
Glucose intolerance (if hypertensive).
Non-fatal myocardial infarction (a garden-variety heart attack).

These aren’t good. Research shows that slow metabolizers can get away with about a cup or two of coffee a day, but not 3+.

Women taking hormonal contraceptives also have reduced caffeine metabolism.

Nicotine increases caffeine metabolism, so smokers, snuff-users, and nootropic fans exploring the cognitive effects of isolated nicotine can handle more coffee.

How to do it right.

Try different brewing methods until you find one you love and don’t mind doing

I won’t debate the various brewing techniques. No one way is best, and everyone has their favorite method. But a new method that’s been taking the world by storm is cold brew. Try 12 ounces of coarsely-ground light roast beans (one of the “third wave” single origin fancy types featuring “laced with toasted cacao nibs” and “ribbons of nougat and hints of boysenberry” on the label) to 60 ounces of filtered water with a few splashes of Trace Mineral Drops. Sit at room temperature for at least 12 hours and filter through a French press. The result is an intense coffee concentrate, sort of a “cold espresso.” You can drink it straight up in small amounts with a dash of cream. But personally, if it’s colder out, I’m still a sucker for my dark roast brewed in a French press with a bit of pastured heavy cream and a teaspoon of sugar.

Don’t drink it first thing in the morning

Cortisol follows a circadian pattern. Right before you wake up, cortisol spikes to prepare you for the day. Right after you wake up, it spikes again, pushing you to the highest levels of the day. Drinking coffee when cortisol is high is somewhat redundant. Since you’re getting less of an effect from the coffee, you’re more likely to double up the dosage and therefore spike your tolerance. A better way is to wait about an hour after you wake up to have your first cup.

Drink coffee when you don’t need it

This seems counterintuitive, but bear with me.

Coffee works much better when you’re well-rested and those adenosine receptors are clean as a whistle. That’s when coffee truly shines. Rather than waking you up, it propels you forward to productivity, optimism, and greatness.

Coffee does help counter fatigue and sleep deprivation in a pinch, but it’s more of an equalizer than a booster. And it’s not a good long-term solution for lack of sleep. Nothing is, really, except more sleep.

Don’t worry too much about organic

Studies show that coffee processing destroys the vast majority of coffee pesticides. In one extremely reassuring study, washing the green coffee beans eliminated 15-58% of pesticides and roasting eliminated up to 99.8%. By the time they got around to brewing, none of the 12 studied pesticides were detectable.

Some people under certain contexts, or with certain genetic variants, shouldn’t drink as much coffee as the rest of us. And you probably shouldn’t drink coffee at night, or count on it to replace sleep. But all in all, coffee has some very cool effects.

It’s great for training.

It’s good for productivity and mood.

It contains a whopping dose of antioxidants.

It’s consistently associated with protection against a host of diseases and conditions.

Drink up!

What do you think, folks? Do you drink coffee? Is it nectar from the gods or bile from the underworld? Maybe both, depending on the day?

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Take It Easy, Increase Progress: How to Make Your Training More Primal

I recently had the pleasure of interviewing my friend and business and training partner Brad Kearns for the upcoming Primal Endurance Online digital course (more about that later). It was more of a discussion, really, and we kept coming back to the same three elements for constructing any successful training program. I’m going to present them as they came to me—as bullet points, as tangentially related thoughts. Then I’ll expand on them from there.

Without further ado…

You don’t really need to train the heart to beat faster. The heart easily responds to exercise stress by elevating rate and stroke volume, even in an unfit person walking up the staircase! Anyone who’s ever had to speak in public knows that your heart rate jumps up to 150 BPM 10 minutes before its your turn without you doing anything overtly physical. The heart knows.

Of course, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do hard stuff. You can train the heart to withstand greater demands and you can increase lung volume as well by doing very specific, strategically placed high intensity workouts (sprints, intervals, tempo runs). But when you train the heart “hard” you do it sporadically, not every day, not even more than once or twice a week. We used to think you trained the heart at high heart rates every day, or several days in a row, to get the cardio part dialed in. We know now what’s more important is focusing on the biochemistry and energy production at the level of the muscle cell. And to dial that in, we must engage in copious amounts of low-level aerobic activity at or below the 180-minus-age fat-burning heart rate zone to build more mitochondria. The more mitochondria you build at the muscle site, the more efficiently you produce energy, and the less you have to rely on your heart pumping faster and harder and in so doing risking all the fallout (high stress hormones, decreased immunity, burnout, injury, etc). With more available mitochondria turning fuel into energy, each pump is more efficient.

You don’t need to train the brain to suffer. The brain will be ready to suffer when it’s asked to. This is the fight or flight response after all. 

Suffering is overrated.

We’re set up to respond to stressful situations with a flood of hormones that support and enable a suitable response. Those responses are hard wired in us, which is why you hear about the 130 pound mother lifting the back end of a station wagon off her kid, the man rushing into the burning building to save someone without thinking, the newbie conscript performing medal-worthy acts of bravery on the battlefield. They didn’t train for those specific situations. They rose to the occasion. Those responses don’t go away because we don’t train them three times a week.

And if you’re not competing, why suffer?

I get climbing Mt. Shasta with your pals on a long weekend. I understand running the ultra, or going for a deadlift PR, or doing a Spartan Race, or slipping on your own sweat on the final rep of the CrossFit WOD. Those quiet feats of elective heroism are important in a safe, sterile world that no longer demands we place ourselves in mortal danger just to survive. To feel human, to feel alive, we need to overcome obstacles, even if we have to erect them ourselves.

Just save the suffering for those heroic efforts. Save it for the race. Training shouldn’t cause suffering, only discomfort. Training shouldn’t simulate competition.

After you build the aerobic base, all that’s left is to train the muscles to perform the desired activity: run a fast 5k, a slower marathon, or perform well at the Crossfit Games.

First you build the aerobic base—or actively pursue it—and then you train your muscles for the desired activity.

As it turns out, skeletal muscle fiber physiology dictates this training approach. There are two primary types of muscle fibers: slow twitch and fast twitch. Slow twitch muscles aren’t very exciting. They contract slowly, making them perfect for aerobic, everyday activities like walking, controlling your posture, standing up from a chair, gardening, shopping. Anything you do without being out of breath utilizes slow twitch fibers. Fast twitch muscles contract quickly and are used to perform high-intensity, explosive movements like sprinting, jumping, throwing, and lifting. Some of us have more fast twitch muscle fibers than others, while others trend toward slow twitch dominance, but the fact remains that everyone has and needs both types.

Slow twitch fibers recover faster than fast twitch fibers, which is why we should walk but not sprint every day, garden but not squat heavy every morning, and do housework but not run a 5k daily. This physiological reality—that sans external aids slow twitch fibers can handle more frequent utilization—underpins Primal Blueprint Fitness and Primal Endurance. A ton of slow easy movement (walks, hikes, light runs) interspersed with infrequent bursts of intense activity (strength training sessions, sprinting, CrossFit workouts, race-pace runs) really does get you stronger, fitter, and faster while allowing ample recovery for the muscle fibers used in each session.

Training those slow twitch fibers through aerobic base-building isn’t only for endurance athletes. When you build a base, your cardiovascular system will grow and adapt and become more efficient at shuttling blood and oxygen to your tissues, aiding in recovery and performance. Your muscle fibers will have more mitochondria willing and able to do their bidding, and any type of training becomes more fruitful, more productive, and easier with more cellular power plants at your disposal.

That’s why the aerobic base is so crucial: it builds those mitochondria that power your efforts and turn fat into fuel.

Sprinters need an aerobic base.

Lifters need an aerobic base.

CrossFitters need an aerobic base.

To get the aerobic base, you need to take it easy. Go slow and go long. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again because people never believe me: make your long workouts longer and easier.

I can already sense the emails coming in: what about breakthrough workouts? According to the post I wrote on breakthrough workouts, there’s real value in pushing past the sticking point, in going harder, farther, and faster than you ever have before. Breakthrough workouts are extraordinary efforts that produce psychological and physical training effects, building mental and muscular toughness with lasting benefits for your performance.

But breakthrough workouts are few and far between by design. They only work when laid atop a foundation of regular, consistent training sessions.

But the pros, Sisson! The professionals aren’t taking it easy! They’re leaving it out on the track/in the weight room/on the court/etc every single day. Right? The pros do a lot of things wrong. They get away with it because they’re the pros. They often have superior genetics that allow quicker recovery and resistance to injury. They “know” their way is correct because it’s how everyone who came before them have always done it. They’ve also got their egos to contend with—the need to be tougher and put in more miles every week than the other guys. Doesn’t mean it’s optimal. There’s little doubt in my mind that the ultra-marathoners I know who insist on doing all-day hard runs every weekend in preparation for the Western States 100 (a 100 mile ultra run through the Sierras at the end of June that draws the best of the best) would be better off sleeping in and doing an easy longish jog 3/4 of the time.

Besides, the professionals are coming around to smarter, more sensible training.

I agree with Phil Maffetone, who thinks that the path to a 1:59 marathon will be a counterintuitive one: once the elites start training less and going easier, they’ll break the record. Ego is a mighty dragon.

It’s time to slay it.

So I’ll end with an ask. I want everyone to try something new and a little counterintuitive the next time they have a hard workout session:

Quit while you’re ahead. Cut it in half. Drop the weights. Don’t finish the WOD.

Keep up the intensity. Go hard. Just not for so long.

If you’re running hill sprints, don’t go till you puke. Leave a little in the tank.

If you’re mentally preparing for a CF WOD after you get off work, maybe Fran, maybe AMRAP clean-and-jerks of varying weights in 20 minutes, plan to cut the session in half.

If you’re doing a tempo run in preparation for a race, maintain the pace but cut the distance in half. Don’t run a facsimile of the race.

What you notice is that cutting your hard workouts short end up making them harder, more intense, and—wait for it—more effective. You lift heavier weights, and the reps feel more smooth. You run at race pace for thirty minutes instead of the hour you’d do otherwise, and you get the training effect without the cortisol cascade that impairs you for days afterward.

Try that and let me know what you think.

Thanks for reading, everyone. Take care!

Dear Mark: Muscle Cramps and Parasympathetic Overtraining

For today’s edition of Dear Mark, I’m answering two questions from readers. First one comes from Debbie, a prolific hiker and backpacker who can’t seem to shake terrible thigh muscle cramps during steep climbs. She’s tried all the conventional advice. She’s taking electrolyte tabs. She’s staying hydrated. Nothing works. What does? And then, Brad wonders about parasympathetic overtraining, a type of overtraining you don’t hear much about. What does it mean and how should he respond?

Let’s go:

Hi Mark,

I do a lot of hiking and backpacking in Southern California and the Sierras. I’ve recently begun to experience excruciating thigh cramps on steeper hikes, especially on the step-ups. I always carry electrolyte supplements and take them before the hike, during the cramp, and afterwards, so I don’t think it’s an electrolyte problem. I stay hydrated throughout the hike. I read recently that cramps are really caused by a nerve dysfunction and that spicy or intense foods like ginger, cayenne or cinnamon (there is at least one product on the market) taken before or during a cramping episode can relieve the symptoms. I was hoping you could comment.

Thank you!

Debbie

Ah, man, muscle cramps during exercise are the absolute worst. And so frustrating: the literal loss of control over your usually trusted movement allies when you need them most. Yet according to the best research we’ve got, neither electrolyte replenishment nor hydration status actually affects cramping. It’s weird and unexpected, I know, but that’s what the research says:

In one study of Ironman triathletes, running speed and previous history of cramping predicted muscle cramps, not electrolyte balance or hydration status.

Another study in distance runners also found that neither electrolyte status nor hydration could predict cramping.

What does seem to cause cramps?

Altered neuromuscular control.

The more you use a muscle (and the harder you push it), the more fatigue sets in. Fatigue disrupts the balance between excitation of the muscle and inhibition of the muscle; it increases the former and decreases the latter. Tired muscles are more likely to go into excitation mode—to rapidly and repeatedly contract. That’s a cramp.

Pickle juice works against cramps, but not because of electrolyte repletion. It actually has no real impact on hydration or electrolyte status, and drinking it resolves muscle cramps faster than the gut can absorb it. TRP ion channels in the oropharyngeal region (tongue/mouth/throat) react to something in the pickle juice—probably the vinegar—and short-circuit the excitation of the muscle. Pretty cool.

Other TRP ion channel activators are found in cayenne pepper, ginger, and cinnamon, and researchers have created a blend of extracts from all three plants that shows efficacy against muscle cramps. It’s called Hot Shot.

That’s not to suggest electrolytes and hydration aren’t important. They are, especially when you’re hiking or training or otherwise exerting yourself physically. Adding salt to your water before a session does improve performance, particularly in warm climates. You could make my blackstrap molasses electrolyte drink mix. It’s not exactly delicious, but it does the trick. Salted OJ is also good. Tastes like Sunny-D, only with actual fruit. But electrolytes and hydration clearly have little to do with muscle cramps.

If you have access, try salgam. It’s a Turkish drink made of fermented black carrot juice, sometimes with added pepper juice. I only know about it because one of my training partners from way back in the day was always into obscure ferments from other cultures. Beet kvass, kombucha, coconut water kefir. These are relatively common today, but back then they were totally new and very weird. One day on a run he was toting this bottle of black liquid around, touting its benefits. Feeling parched, I asked for a swig of what turned out to be salgam. It was salty, briny, vinegary, and incredibly refreshing. It revitalized me.

You may not be able to find it. You might have to make it. And it’s not quite Primal: traditionally, bulgur wheat is added to aid in the fermentation, though likely not in significant enough proportions to impart serious amounts of residual gluten (celiacs and the gluten sensitive should avoid). But I bet it would really work well against cramps, due to the acidity triggering the TRP ion channels.

Some other tips:

Stretch out the muscle currently cramping. If your feet cramp, pull your toes toward yourself. If your quad cramps, grab your ankle and pull your feet toward your butt.

Stay hydrated and keep using electrolytes. They can’t hurt and may provide a base layer of support against cramps, but aren’t any type of cure.

If you’re consistently getting muscle cramps, you might be hiking too hard and your muscles are protesting. Consider shortening the distance and/or the difficulty.

Good luck!

Hi Mark,

I’ve been monitoring my HRV every morning for a little over 2 months, mainly out of a curiosity to see if there are any trends I can use to my advantage. After paddleboarding the last 3 days in the heat (90+ in the northeast), my HRV indicated I was in an overtrained state with abnormally high parasympathetic activity. My hunger in the heat is usually less, however today I feel ravenous.

My questions are: 1) is there any research you’ve come across looking at the connection between parasympathetic activity and hunger levels? And 2) should I look at this as an opportunity to eat more today than usual and see some good results in terms of muscle growth and recovery?

Thanks for everything.

Brad

When most people discuss overtraining, they’re talking about sympathetic overtraining. That’s where stress hormones are high, resting heart rate is elevated, heart rate variability is low, sleep is awful (“tired but wired”), performance is bad, appetite is down, blood pressure goes up, and bodyweight (usually lean mass) drops. If you remain in that state long enough without doing anything differently, you progress to parasympathetic overtraining. That’s what happens when your sympathetic nervous system exhausts itself, when the adrenal gland just can’t pump out any more adrenaline and cortisol, when you’ve made your sympathetic nervous system so weak that the neglected parasympathetic pathway dominates.

It’s characterized by fatigue, a low resting heart rate (which can make people think their fitness has improved), increased appetite and weight gain, low libido, low blood pressure, and excessive sleep.

Parasympathetic is the “rest and digest” pathway, so it makes sense that you’d be hungry. Consider it your body’s way of telling you to chill the hell out, put your feet up, and eat some real food. Stay with healthy, Primal fare. Go lowish carb, as you won’t be doing much in the way of training and don’t need much glucose.

For exercise, don’t. Take a few days off from any real training. Instead, just walk. Hang out at the beach. Maybe go for a lazy paddle. Stay hydrated. Get some shade.

That’s it for today, everyone. Thanks for reading and take care!

Weekend Link Love – Edition 410

Research of the Week

Too much TV as a kid promotes bone loss (or inadequate bone formation).

Alphabetic discrimination is a scourge on humanity.

Keto and CrossFit go well together (PDF).

If you’ve got the bacteria to ferment it, resistant starch in the form of raw potato starch really increases butyrate production in the colon.

Elephants don’t mind living in tiny studios on the wrong side of town as long as they’ve got other elephants to hang out with and lots of great restaurants and museums nearby.

Sauté fish with olive oil, not sunflower oil.

New Primal Blueprint Podcasts

Episode 127: Matt Riemann: Matt Riemann is a health entrepreneur in the business of optimizing epigenetic inputs using family history, anthropometry, and current lifestyle and environment information to tailor specific diet and exercise habits to individuals.

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.

The Fat-Burning Brain: What Are the Cognitive Effects of Ketosis?
Don’t Be So Sure: Why Doubt is an Essential Tool for Reaching Health Goals
12 Common Causes of Bloating (and How to Eliminate Them)

Interesting Blog Posts

Will we all be techno-nomadic hunter-gatherers in the future?

If you’re interested in a quick bite of awe, consider gazing six billion years into the past.

Media, Schmedia

Wallabies have high pet potential.

The next step in human evolution.

Everything Else

How government subsidies make us unhealthy.

A new (and better) way to map the human brain.

Eating only fermented foods for a year is good for your writing career but bad for your relationship.

I’m all for this.

How the immune system may determine social behavior.

Recipe Corner

Lamb, tarragon, and mint kofta kebabs.
Make this Brazilian shrimp stew in 15 minutes.

Time Capsule

One year ago (Jul 24 – Jul 30)

The Best Kind of Health Insurance – It’s way cheaper, too.
Great Expectations: Why Good Health is Awesome (but Not a Panacea) – Necessary but not sufficient.

Comment of the Week

“This gives me some ideas for the office.”

Could your staff really give up their Primal Chocolate bars for 36 hours?

Zucchini Crepes

Is it a crepe? A wrap? A tortilla? You can call them anything you want and wrap them around whatever you’d like. The result is always the same: delicious.

Zucchini and thyme flavor these light but durable wrappers that can hold an array of savory fillings. In this version, a combination of fluffy scrambled eggs, lox, and chives make a winning breakfast crepe.

Other tasty fillings include sautéed mushrooms, grilled shrimp, bacon, and ground meat. Or, skip the fillings and stack up a few zucchini crepes on your plate, top with crème fraiche, and think of them as savory pancakes.

Servings: 4 6-inch crepes

Time in the Kitchen: 45 minutes

Ingredients:

4 cups/950 ml grated zucchini (about 1 pound/453 g whole zucchini)
1 egg, whisked
2 teaspoons avocado oil or extra virgin olive oil (10 ml)
1 clove garlic clove, put through a garlic press or finely chopped
2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves (10 ml)
1 tablespoon coconut flour (15 ml)
2 teaspoons tapioca flour (10 ml)
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt (a pinch)
3 grinds black pepper (a pinch)

Filling: Scrambled eggs, lox (or smoked salmon), chives

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 450 °F/232 °C. Cover a large sheet pan with parchment paper.

Wrap handfuls or grated zucchini in a thin towel and squeeze repeatedly to remove as much moisture as possible.

In a medium bowl, use a fork to mix together the egg, oil, garlic, thyme, coconut flour, tapioca flour, salt, and pepper. Mix until smooth, with no lumps.

In a large bowl, mix together the zucchini and the wet ingredients. Mix well, until completely combined.

Scoop 1/3 cup of the zucchini mixture onto the baking sheet. Use your fingers to press the zucchini into a circle 6 inches/152 mm wide. (The zucchini will be wet, and won’t appear to stick together well)

Repeat, making a total of 4 crepes evenly spaced out on the baking sheet until all the batter is used.

Bake 18 to 20 minutes, until nicely browned around the edges. Let sit until cool enough to touch, then carefully peel the crepes off the parchment paper. Fill the crepes with scrambled eggs, lox, and chives, or any filling of your liking.

Zucchini crepes taste best if eaten soon after they are made.

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How I Achieved My Best Body by Following the Primal Basics

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!

I remember back in 2010 I was looking into changing my health and lifestyle. I had been working out consistently, but still lacked the basics regarding how to eat. I remember at that point, beginning to question everything I ate. I stumbled upon some YouTube channels and blogs regarding grains and the benefits of cutting out grains. While this was a good start, it wasn’t until I walked into a Barnes & Nobel in Rochester, Minnesota that I discovered The Primal Blueprint. I remember going through several pages and telling my wife I wanted to look like the guy in the book, Mark Sisson. After that, I just started visiting Mark’s Daily Apple to answer questions regarding, exercise, sleep, eating, and anything else health related.

I Love Cutting out the Grains:

When I started changing my lifestyle, I began to question everything I had been taught about nutrition, exercise, and health. One of the biggest changes I made was after Googling “Is oatmeal good for you?” While I found a lot of responses stating the so-called benefits of grains and oats, I also found a lot of resources talking about how people needed to cut out oatmeal due to high blood sugar concerns and diabetes. That led me to consciously cut out the oatmeal and grains altogether.

I only Eat Paleo, Run Sprints, Lift Heavy:

I kept things simple. One of the first things I learned from The Primal Blueprint was the simple concept of cutting out the grains, eat fruits, veggies, meats, and drink water. I lift heavy things and run sprints. So I have always focused on those fundamentals into whatever I do with regard to my health. One of the most important was RUN SPRINTS!!! When I first started the Paleo lifestyle I was not running sprints. I think it’s safe to say that I still thought the conventional cardio exercises were going to be enough to keep me fit. I am now very much into sprinting. So in 2013 I started sprinting every week. The first year I did a set of eight sprints a week, the next year I did two sets of eight a week, and now in 2016 I am doing 10 sprints a day(on average). I have noticed muscle growth, definition, greater heart health, and the list of benefits goes on. So I think running sprints religiously every week should be a priority for every Human on Earth.

I Don’t Spend Money on Fitness Memberships:

Since I started on the Paleo lifestyle I have not paid a penny on Gym memberships. The only money I spend on working out is to buy weights, sneakers, or athletic clothing. So I work out on as little to no financial budget as possible. I have weights at home.

So lifting heavy things are a must. I have become creative about it finding heavy weights to lift. My son is 10 years old and weighs a little under 100 or so. I have him get on my back and I run sprints, do push ups, squats, and calf raises.

I Do Not Count Calories:

I eat until I feel full. I make sure I am eating healthy portions of meats, veggies, and fruits. I only drink water. I eat the healthy fats, like paleo friendly mayo, olive oil, and animal fats. I noticed that I was becoming a bit over-indulgent with nuts, so I have since cut out nuts entirely. On occasion, I will eat almonds.

Regulating Glucose Intake:

I remember Mark Sission mentioning on a YouTube video that the less glucose you take in during a lifetime, the better. I try to keep that in perspective. I try to have an omelet or grilled chicken with mayonnaise on hand for any time I need to eat a quick meal. That way I can avoid just munching away on bananas and apples.

Cut Out the Lights at 9:00 PM:

I remember Mark saying that developing a sleep routine is crucial to healthy sleep. This is something that I was not practicing when I first started the Paleo diet. I was working out, eating Paleo, but not cutting out the lights at bedtime. Since 2014 I have started to cut out the electronics after 9:00 PM. I also start reducing lighting at home. I will take a cool shower and just relax in bed with a blindfold over my eyes. So I prioritize darkness and sleep after 9:00 PM, even on the weekends.

The differences are amazing. I have more energy. I don’t feel ashamed of taking off my shirt anymore at the pool. I eat food in order to live, and not live life to eat food. My meals take me to the place I need to go to. Exercise is more about enjoyment, not torture. I see exercise as a stress relieving, fun activity. Exercise is an opportunity to go outdoors, even during the winter. I sleep a lot better. I think that’s one of the best benefits at this point. I always tell people that Paleo can give you a great body, energy, and strength, but best of all is the quality sleep. I wouldn’t trade the quality sleep over anything. I also like to stand up a lot and move now. I cringe at the thought of just sitting all day long. It’s like I feel like my heart is telling me to get up and move, every day.

The last thing I want to share with readers is that I started this journey five years ago. I look back and see that with every passing year I gain more benefits from practicing a Paleo lifestyle. I view life as a chance to give 100% of myself to everything I do. I think the Paleo diet, lifestyle, or whatever you want to call it is part of something bigger than myself. Inside of all of us, we hold the inheritance of our ancestors. These ancestors are flowing in our veins, and they survived massive obstacles. It was with this ability to adapt and overcome challenges that our hunter-gather ancestors gave us the ability to do intermittent fasting, lift heavy things and run sprints. By living a low stress, happy, healthy life, we honor them. They drew a blueprint for us a very long time ago, but that blueprint is still encoded inside of us. As a species, we have deviated from that blueprint, but we can now realign ourselves with it again. It’s what being Human is all about.

Keith

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Boring May Be Better: Why Routine May Be Best for Certain Health Goals

Let me first point out that I’m not arguing for a routine life. This isn’t about settling for spending the rest of your days without variability. Going Primal should never mean checking your sense of adventure or love of novelty at the door. If anything, it calls for us to grow our lives beyond the socially drawn scope of all things work, big commute, and must-see T.V. It encourages us to branch out of our comfort zones and conventional limits. Intermittent euphoria, flow, thrill, abundance, and even a certain amount of risk boost the heights of Primal vitality. As success story after success story show, people often discover they’ve not only invested in health, but learned to expand their horizons. Life takes on greater dimension as they venture into new activities, leave behind old identities, and make unimagined changes for the better. All that change and newness is good. But today I want to put in a good word for routine as a critical tool, particularly for certain health goals.

There’s a Flaubert quote I stumbled on once: “Be regular and orderly in your life, so that you may be violent and original in your work.” I’ve always been more of a science man than an artist of course (and I don’t know that carbohydrate curves or sprint intervals could ever be creatively “violent” anyway). Nonetheless, something about the underlying concept always stayed with me. It begs a fundamental, even pivotal question: where do you want the freedom to be bold and impulsive (or at least spontaneous) in your life, and where do you want the security of being fixed and (relatively speaking) unyielding?

Take a moment to think about that one.

It’s interesting to me because as a society, I think we have it entirely turned around. We keep ourselves locked in rigid work schedules and long commutes. We eschew the exertion and stress of activities that would keep us fit. We deny ourselves our own vacation time or the energy to get out and experience adventure. Yet we seek constant novelty and stimulation from our food and drinks. We accept unrelenting stress from our jobs and commutes, not to mention the endless tasks and errands our lifestyles assign us.

Sure, some people spend an enormous amount of energy into nailing down life as if getting it all in a row and making it stay there will keep them secure. But this isn’t using routine in service of the good life. It’s mistaking routine for life.

On the opposite side of the spectrum are those who resist any structure, claiming it insults their freedom to live the moment at whim. There’s not necessarily anything wrong with this idea itself, but I don’t know too many people who would (or should) be ruled by whim.

I think there’s a clear and useful insight underlying this core discussion. We only have so much mental energy, and it behooves us to be mindful about where and how we apply it. The more methodical we are about some things, the less thought we need to invest in them. That means less mulling, teeth gnashing and hand wringing. (And the more energy we’ll have for other things.)

I’ll let you consider all the potential uses that extra time and conserved energy can serve for your career, parenting, housekeeping, and other life minutiae. For my part (no surprise here), I’m going to focus on health goals.

It’s not a big secret that many people want to get healthy but aren’t exactly excited about the actual process of doing it. The results are sexy. The work just isn’t—or not yet anyway. Getting in shape seems like a great idea. Losing weight has been a dream for years, maybe decades for a lot of folks. And, yet, the actualization of these goals can feel insurmountable. They assume that they’re going to have to harness some supernatural force of self-discipline to get the job done.

Here’s a bold truth: it doesn’t have to be that way. And here’s where evolutionary logic shows us something we can apply today.

Self-discipline matters much less when you limit the options.

Long ago before the advent of food markets or even agriculture, our ancestors were limited to the menus they could put together with the plants and animal meats of their immediate surroundings. Although many groups may have enjoyed relative nutritional diversity in their diet depending on climate and time of year, what they ate might seem largely the same to our modern palates—some kind of meat and an array of vegetables with a bit of fruit now and then. Some choices were undoubtedly more plentiful or easily caught or prepared. These likely became the foundation of their diet. A few options changed only with the seasonal rotation. The end result was a relatively fixed diet with every option being healthy (unless it was poisonous).

These days we could have everything under the sun, most of it unhealthy. But why not cut out the static and make it simple? One study comparing the results of eating a given food daily as opposed to weekly suggests that the more often people eat a food, the less they’ll eat of it. Barring actual addiction, a food loses its appeal over time.

Moreover, a substantial research review of both human and animal studies determined that variety, with its sensory stimulation, was time and again a leading catalyst for overeating and adiposity—with the notable exception of fruits and vegetables, a greater variety of which was associated with lower adiposity. In other words, the more varied the tastes we have from one meal to the next, the more we’ll want to eat. Low sensory variety (e.g. the same foods daily) reins in that impulse. Having a standard, repeatable set of meals makes it easier to moderate food intake and manage weight.

When it comes to fitness, there’s likewise a logic to establishing routine. Not only will we get better results faster with consistency, but we’ll stay more motivated. The key here is human psychology. Research suggests that we’re largely motivated not by big goals but by the positive effects we recently experienced and the anticipated regret we assume we’ll feel if we skip working out. The message is clear: don’t squander the mental capital of motivation by letting too much time pass or letting the timing of the next benefits get too vague.

Beyond the specifics of any study, however, I think the underlying truth is this: routine releases us from the work and willpower required for choice. (Again, here we return to where we want to exercise full, unabashed freedom in life and where we value simple consistency.) It puts food back in the “eat to live and not live to eat.” It situates and cements workouts into our consciousness. We’re harnessing our own human proclivity toward secure sameness, our own system of cognitive defaults where it most benefits us.

Convinced? Let me throw out a few suggestions:

Give real thought to how much routine you can embrace and where in your life you’re willing to compromise your latitude. Note where you feel resistance, and prioritize where you’ll create structure and what you’ll let remain flexible.
Make one meal the same every day—ideally the one that is most likely to trip you up. For some people this may be lunch because of the temptation of work gatherings. Others might choose breakfast given it’s often a last minute, out-the-door choice. Change this up as needed to keep boredom from becoming full-on avoidance.
Go by a standard weekly meal plan. (Again, change it before you get too tired of it.)
Buy your food in bulk to keep your core foods consistently available. I have my favorites that I build my diet around.
Limit social eating events, or eat before you leave.
Learn to bring your own food wherever you go throughout the day. This may not be necessary for everyone, but for some people it makes a significant difference.
Establish an IF schedule if you choose to fast.
Work out the same time of day. This is worth rearranging your schedule for.
Go by a regular weekly fitness plan. Do sprints on a certain day, devote specific other days for strength training, do a regular weekend outdoor hike or bike ride. Keep this schedule no matter what. On vacations, do shorter versions of these if need be, but keep to the overall outline.

Finally, don’t obsess. Employ routine as a tool, a means to an end rather than an end in itself. Routine can be an organizing steadying principle, but don’t surrender commonsense or the need for a rest day to any “letter of the law” principle.

Thanks for reading, everyone. How do you use routine in your Primal living? Share your thoughts, and have a great end to the week.




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3 Common Types of Headache (and How to Treat Them Naturally)

One major downside to having these big prominent heads stuffed with consciousness-spawning brain matter is that they sometimes ache. Nobody likes a headache. You can find fetishists who enjoy pinching, slapping, biting, burning and any matter of objectively painful stimuli. But there aren’t “headache fetishists.” No one’s chugging a 32 ounce Slurpee in search of brain freeze, or getting drunk for the hangover.

The difficult thing about headaches is figuring out why they’re occurring. Pain in other areas is different. You can look at your hand if it’s hurting and figure out why. You can see the cut on your knee and know what’s going on. But you are your head, and the headache is inside. Your consciousness sits behind your eyes observing reality and directing your role in it. It’s all a big mystery. Or so it feels.

That doesn’t mean we’re helpless. There are many effective ways to manage, treat, and even blunt the painful effects of headaches.

There are different types of headaches. To fix them, you’ll need to first understand which type of headache currently affects you.

The three main ones are migraines, cluster headaches, and tension headaches.

Migraines

These guys are serious business. I’ve been lucky enough not to suffer from them, but I have several friends who do.

Some migraines come with “auras.” In aura migraines, sufferers are struck with alterations to consciousness that serve as a “warning” of the impending migraine: an odd smell in the air, swirling colors, bright lights, confusing thought patterns. Auras can occur a few seconds to a couple hours in advance. They usually but not always subside once the actual migraine hits.

Migraines affect more boys than girls, and more women than men. They also run in families, suggesting a hereditary component.

Migraine Treatments

B Vitamins:

Vitamin B12: B12 deficiency is more common than many people think and may play a large role in migraine vulnerability.
Folate: In women migraine sufferers, increasing dietary folate reduces the severity of the attacks. Higher doses may be better; 1 mg folate was ineffective, while 2 mg folate was an effective prophylactic.
Riboflavin: Riboflavin deficiency is common among migraine patients, and researchers have spent a considerable amount of time exploring its supplementation for migraine prevention. A 2004 study found that giving riboflavin to migraine patients reduced their frequency and resulted in fewer uses of anti-migraine abortive meds. Riboflavin decreased migraines in kids and teens in one study, but others have had mixed results. All in all, it appears safe and effective for adults, and perhaps worth a shot in kids (just don’t get your hopes up).

Magnesium: The evidence is quite clear in 2016. Magnesium matters for (many) migraine sufferers.

Migraine patients have lower magnesium levels than controls. Same goes for red blood cell magnesium levels. In juveniles, magnesium levels actually drop after a migraine.
Low magnesium levels are a significant and independent predictor of one’s migraine risk. In the “acute attack phase,” a migraine patient’s odds of having a migraine go up by 35 times if magnesium levels drop below recommended bottom limits. In migraine patients not in the acute phase, their odds go up by 6.5 times if magnesium levels are low.
Oral magnesium trials are mixed, but there’s some effect. Magnesium appears to be effective as migraine prophylaxis—as a preventive measure. You probably can’t take magnesium once a migraine hits and expect an effect. In that same study, L-carnitine and L-carnitine combined with magnesium also worked better than placebo. Magnesium citrate (600 mg/day) was very helpful for non-aura migraines and may be a better choice than magnesium oxide, the type used in most other migraine studies.

Red meat: Red meat is the best source of both L-carnitine, riboflavin, and vitamin B12. Throw some sauteéd spinach in there and you’ve got a big dose of L-carnitine, riboflavin, and magnesium. Make it beef heart and you’ll get some CoQ10 as well. Make it liver and you’ve got yourself some folate.

Just don’t forget the dual nature of red meat. Red meat may help your migraine, improve your body composition, boost your performance in the gym, increase bone mineral density, and help your grandma’s brain work better, but it’s going to kill you!

Triggers: Every migraine sufferer I know has a food, smell, or chemical compound that triggers them. For some, it’s bad Chinese food (maybe the MSG?). For others, it’s red wine, or aged cheeses, dairy in general, gluten, fast food, or even red meat (in which case disregard the previous section). According to Chris Kresser, the most common triggers are foods containing histamine, tyramine, or arginine. They’re not all foods and drinks, either. They can be common household chemicals and perfumes. Some people report EMF as a trigger. Even particularly powerful emotions, stressful situations, and other non-corporeal phenomena can be triggers for some people.

Supplementation: It is a must-try. The previously-mentioned are all important nutrients with a high safety profile; there’s no reason not to give them a shot, and they’ll probably help. A recent study gave a proprietary magnesium, riboflavin, and CoQ10 supplement to migraine sufferers. The supplement was a huge success, reducing symptom severity and duration.

Meditation: Mindfulness meditation seems to work.

Cluster Headaches

Cluster headaches are probably the most painful type of headache, but they don’t last as long as a typical migraine. They hit one side of the head, usually centralized around the eye, and come in waves or “clusters.”

Cluster headaches affect more men than women.

Cluster Headache Treatments

Psychedelics: Although rigorous trials are lacking. a number of surveys and case studies indicate that the classical psychedelics psilocybin (found in magic mushrooms) and LSD (AKA acid) may alleviate and reduce the severity of cluster headaches. In one, authors interviewed people who had treated their own cluster headaches with either LSD or psilocybin, finding the vast majority had derived major benefits from their experimentation. In a more recent survey of cluster headache sufferers, psilocybin, LSD, and LSA (a close relative of LSD with similar effects and mechanisms) appeared to be just as efficacious as conventional medicines, and often more so. That said, going on a trip (of the non-plane, train or automobile variety) to cure cluster headaches probably isn’t for most folks. So read on.

Sex hormone replacement: Cluster headaches frequently appear in people with low testosterone levels. When you give testosterone to male cluster headache sufferers with low testosterone, symptoms improve. Half experience total remission.

Circadian hygiene: For decades, researchers have found many examples of circadian misalignment in patients suffering from cluster headaches.

Headaches in general have a consistent relationship to sleep problems.
In non-sufferers, melatonin and cortisol secretion are synchronized; as one goes up, the other goes down. In cluster headache patients, there is no synchronization. Almost half show no evidence of melatonin or cortisol rhythm at all.
People with cluster headaches are more likely to sleep poorly. Headache frequency correlates with daylight hours, increasing during winter and late autumn and decreasing during spring, summer, and early fall.

Melatonin supplementation (10mg in the evening in one study) seems to help. I’d imagine that getting more natural light during the day and less artificial light at night will also help.

Tension Headaches

Tension headaches are the most common type and have many different causes, some physical, some psychological. Women are more likely than men to get tension headaches.

Tension Headache Treatments

Vitamin D/Sun: There’s a fairly consistent relationship between latitude and headache occurrence. The further away you are from the equator, the less sun and the more headache. This probably holds true for migraine as well.

Massage: Effective massage for headaches can be as simple as rubbing your own temples until the headache diminishes. It can be more complicated, employing trigger point therapy. Maybe it’s Thai massage. Maybe it’s just your significant other rubbing your neck and head while you watch Netflix together. Perhaps the most reliable way to alleviate a tension headache with massage is to focus on the suboccipital muscles along the base of your skull.

You don’t necessarily need a massage therapist every time. Touch heals, and healers needn’t be experts.

Chiropractic: Spinal manipulation may help some tension headaches, particularly combined with massage. It improves range of motion along the cervical spine, which should also help prevent future headaches.

Exercise: Getting your neck stronger can reduce headaches.

Address posture: People with chronic tension headaches tend to show more forward head posture and have more active (read: painful/tender) trigger points along the neck and upper shoulders. Avoid text neck. Break up sitting time and especially staring-at-a-device time.

Trigger point therapy: Mentioned earlier, tension headache sufferers tend to have tender trigger points along the trapezius (“shrugging muscles”), sternocleidomastoid (muscles running from the breastbone past the collarbone to the back of your head; controls head turning), and temporalis (big muscles alongside the head that control chewing) muscles.

Relax: Whatever relaxes you, go do it; stress is a consistent factor in the development of tension headaches. Fight it. Rethink it. Redirect it.

That’s all I’ve got, folks. What about you? How do you deal with headaches? What’s worked? What hasn’t?