Mark Sisson's Blog, page 248

10 Things You Shouldn’t Do If You’re Trying to Build Muscle

While it’s important to think positive and focus on all the things you should be doing to achieve your goals, it’s equally important that we focus on those things that interfere with our goals and remind ourselves to avoid doing them. Some call it the “not to do list,” which I like. Many of the behaviors on not-to-do lists are deal breakers, so it’s arguably more crucial that we identify and curtail those that apply to our lives. But that’s hard; these are behaviors we might already be doing. Heck, they might be bad habits we’ve developed, or biases we’ve internalized. And so before adopting good behaviors, we should clear out the bad ones. Otherwise, we’re just pissing in the wind.

What are some things you shouldn’t be doing if your ultimate goal is to build muscle?

1. Skip sleep for a late (or really early) training session.

It feels good to make that late night Facebook post about the weights you just lifted, or brag about your 4:30 AM wakeup for CrossFit class. It looks impressive. That’s true dedication, right? Except that you’re not building muscle in real time as you hoist that bar off the floor. You build muscle by recovering from your training session, and sleep is where we do most of our recovery. Sleep is where everything good happens. Sleep debt actively inhibits muscle recovery and hypertrophy and promotes muscle degradation. Sleep deprivation increases cortisol and reduces testosterone; for optimal muscle building, the former should be lower and the latter higher. One older study found that total sleep deprivation increased urinary excretion of nitrogen, which could be indicative of muscle breakdown and loss of lean mass.

Sleep is (almost) everything.

2. Sacrifice form just to increase weight.

For two reasons. First, poor form will inevitably lead to injury on a long enough timeline, which means you won’t be lifting at all and your muscles won’t be receiving any stimulus. Second, poor form is a shortcut, often curtailing your range of motion and limiting the amount of work your muscles are doing. If it’s easier, you’re not actually exposing your muscles to the work they need — and you think you’re giving — to get stronger. You’ll still gain muscle with bad form, but it won’t be as effective as the weight would indicate and you’ll eventually hurt yourself.

A perfect example of this is the perceived dichotomy between the front squat and the back squat. Although back squats allow you to lift more weight, they’re often harder to do right, and a recent study suggests that doing the front squat, which many find to be a more intuitive lift, with a lower weight can be just as anabolic as doing a back squat with a higher weight.

3. Speed through the eccentric phase (drop the weight).

Everyone focuses on the concentric phase of a lift. The lifting off the bar off the floor in the deadlift. The press upward during the bench and overhead presses. Even the generic term — “lift” — implies the primacy of the concentric phase.

But there’s evidence that the eccentric phase is just as important for hypertrophy and strength gains. A 2014 study showed that training emphasizing the eccentric phase resulted in extremely high post-workout biomarkers of muscle anabolism. This didn’t show actual muscle gain, but that’s because it was a one-shot look at the acute effects of eccentric training. And a 2009 review determined that high-intensity eccentric training can increase muscle mass to a greater degree than concentric training.

You don’t necessarily have to lower the weight as slowly as possible, but lower it with control. Don’t let gravity do the work for you. Resist it.

4. Stick to the ideal routine even if it’s not working.

You’re doing everything everyone says to do. You’re squatting and pressing three times a week, deadlifting once, and learning how to power clean. You’ve got a dog-eared copy of Starting Strength by your bedside. A permacloud of weightlifting chalk dust follows you around like PigPen. For most people, this kind of dedication builds muscle. Barbell training works wonders for most people, provided they do it with the right form and intensity. It allows you to handle the most weight and places dynamic stresses on your musculoskeletal system. But don’t get caught up in barbell dogma if it simply isn’t producing the results you want. 3×5 squats, deadlifts, and presses aren’t the only way, no matter how loudly Internet commenters scream it.

Many people find that higher-volume training in the 8-12 rep range offers a good balance between volume and intensity and produces greater hypertrophy with real strength.

5. Try to lose weight.

I’m not suggesting it’s impossible to lose body fat and build muscle at the same time. Lifting heavy is probably one of the best things you can do to lose body fat and improve body composition. It’s certainly doable, if a bit more difficult than focusing on either alone. But when your primary goal is gaining muscle, losing weight is really, really hard. For one, muscle weighs more than fat, so if you’re successful at gaining muscle you will likely gain weight. Two, gaining muscle requires caloric excess, which makes losing weight is really hard if not downright impossible.

So if you’re successful at losing weight, you won’t gain much muscle. If you’re successful at gaining muscle, you won’t lose weight. The two are not compatible.

6. Train for endurance.

Large muscles aren’t just energetically and kinetically costly for endurance athletes; they’re really difficult to develop on the training schedule required for serious endurance work. The training needed to get really good at endurance work crowds out any chance you’ll have to train the weights. There simply isn’t enough time in the day or week to train for and recover from both muscle hypertrophy and elite endurance performance. And yes, endurance athletes are increasingly integrating strength training into their regimens, but not to bulk up. They’re lifting weights to improve their sport, become more resistant to injury and wear and tear, strengthen their connective tissue, and get stronger overall.

7. Spend hours in the gym doing every exercise.

Building muscle requires dedication, consistency, and getting in there and doing the work even when you don’t really feel like it. But that doesn’t mean you have to spend three hours killing yourself in the gym. You don’t have to hit every muscle group with five different exercises. You don’t have to do donkey calf raises. You don’t have to do pull-ups, chin-ups, and lat pulldowns. In fact, trying to do too much can cause overtraining, which is counterproductive to actually gaining the muscle.

If every training session is an hours-long affair, you’ll start making excuses not to train that day. Before long, you’ll be skipping entire weeks and wondering why you never feel like lifting. You’ve set the bar too high to stick to the routine. Very few people can consistently train for three hours a day without hating their lives. You’re probably not among them.

8. Ignore other forms of physical activity.

If you want to gain muscle then, yes, your focus will need to be strength training. But I caution against strength training to the exclusion of everything else. I don’t have much hard science backing me up here. It’s more of an intuition borne out of years of seeing people fail and succeed. But it’s the folks who do things other than strength train that often have the best physiques. They’re playing frisbee or paddle boarding. They’re hiking and sprinting and slacklining. They’re challenging their bodies (and minds and muscles) in different ways. They’re taking time out of their lives to have fun and simply enjoy the body they’re diligently creating in the gym. Everything in life must have balance; I have yet to see a counter example. Have you?

9. Do high-rep conditioning workouts like P90x.

If you just want to lean out and build stamina and the capacity to withstand great physical discomfort, programs like P90x work well. These are high-rep, low-weight workouts that never seem to end. You’ll do things like air squats into pushups into light dumbbell presses into reverse lunges into tuck jumps, with very little rest. If you ever go down to the local park, you might see hordes of people doing “boot camp” workouts that look very similar. And all these will make you tired and sore the next day, and you’ll get “fitter” and better conditioned. But to build muscle? To gain lean mass? These are not the programs you want to be doing.

10. Do post-workout cold water plunges.

Cold water plunges can help restore performance and reduce recovery times in hard-charging athletes and professional sports teams are beginning to install ice baths in their facilities to take advantage of this. But emerging evidence suggests this may come at a cost: reduced strength and muscle gains. In one recent paper, researchers separated athletes into two 12-week resistance training groups. One group sat in cold water for 10 minutes after training. One group practiced active recovery for 10 minutes. After 12 weeks, the active recovery group enjoyed greater strength and mass gains than the cold immersion group. For the second phase of the study, they measured acute changes in anabolic biomarkers and found that cold water immersion blunted post-workout activation of key proteins in muscle cells for up to two days.

Cold plunges are still useful for trainees. If you need to recover quickly from a game of Ultimate, or you’ve got another event coming up in the CrossFit games, or you’re on a ski trip and intend to make the most of every single day, dunking your body into cold water after a session can help you reach your goals. If you’re an endurance athlete, cold water plunges appear to be beneficial (PDF). If you’re competing, it will probably help you recover. And I’ve had great success using alternating cold/hot plunges at night to improve my sleep. But if your goal is to gain muscle above all else, post-workout cold water plunges may interfere and should be delayed to rest days.

These are probably the most common mistakes I see people making when trying to build muscle, but there are definitely others I’ve left out. What mistakes have you made – or are still making — in your quest to gain lean muscle mass?

Thanks for reading, all. Take care!

What You Need to Know About Foodborne Illness – Part 2: Kitchen Strategies

Last week’s post on foodborne illness might have set a few people’s teeth (or stomachs) on edge. For others, it might have brought up some unfortunate memories of weathering their own bouts of food poisoning. Regardless, reading much about these nasty little pathogens surely makes a person want to know how to steer clear of them. A few readers even noted the tension of “waiting a week” for the follow-up on how to actually help prevent the insidious effects of these common pathogens. Maybe reading about foodborne illness is like hearing that someone in the room has lice. Immediately, you start itching – or in this case, worrying about that last thing you ate.

The big picture, of course, tells us that we’ve lived this long and eaten thousands upon thousands of foods. Sure, maybe we’ve had a few run-ins with food poisoning here or there – perhaps because we took some unnecessary risks and paid the price (“You know, I thought that meatloaf tasted a little funny….”) or been “bitten” with absolutely no sign that anything was wrong.

The idea here isn’t to spread fear or panic – those saboteurs of a good life and, in this instance, a good meal. It’s about how to minimize risk with a measured, reasonable amount of time, effort and thought. I think there’s a sweet spot to be found here, too, as in most areas of Primal living in the modern age.

Next week I’ll cover the issue of food sourcing (e.g. grass-fed versus conventionally raised meat) as well as the factor of personal health (particularly gut health) on the effects and treatment of foodborne illness.

For now, however, let’s talk the nitty gritty of take-home kitchen strategies to minimize foodborne illness risk in your own Primal kitchen.

Food Preparation

Experts stress here that the key is avoiding cross-contamination – using plates, cutting boards and utensils for both raw meat/uncleaned produce and cooked/washed foods. Cleaning and sanitizing kitchen surfaces, tools, cleaning items and of course hands between handling different foods will go a long way toward reducing ultimate risk of infection. Soap and water work fine for hands and for most tools and surfaces. For cutting boards with nicks and grooves, boiling water can be more of an assurance. Many dishwashers have “sanitize” settings for added peace of mind.

As for food itself, let’s talk produce first. Cleaning each individual food item separately with particular attention to nooks and crannies (e.g. around stems) can substantially reduce the presence of pathogens. Use as much “contact” as the food allows because bacteria can cluster into biofilm on the surface or even pores of produce items.

In other words, the hard rind of a melon or peel of an avocado can stand up to a sanitized kitchen brush. Berries, however, will be limited to the delicate touch of fingertips. (Because of mold concerns, berries should only be washed right before serving.) The rougher the surface of an item, the more contact power (scrubbing) is necessary to wash away bacteria and other pathogens.

It’s also important to dry whatever you wash if you aren’t going to eat it right away, since many pathogens thrive in moist environments. Experts also recommend keeping produce that’s meant to be stored cool below 40 °F.

I know there can be an inclination for some to “go nuclear” with various cleaners and solutions. The effectiveness of chlorine washes (diluted bleach solutions often used as industrial solutions for cleaning lettuce leaves and other produce) is mixed based on both the type of produce and the type of pathogen. In some varieties of produce, the effectiveness was no more more than deionized water. In other varieties, it was effective but still left risky pathogen counts. Regardless, the FDA and experts from other fields do not recommend consumers use these bleach or chemical based solutions.

University of Maine researchers tested a commercial produce wash against ozone washing systems and a distilled water soak. (They used blueberries for this test.) The distilled water wash outperformed both ozone systems and came out at roughly the same effectiveness as the Fit spray for removing microbes.

Some experts recommend adding a food-based acid like vinegar to clean water for soaking or heavily spraying and rinsing produce. The folks at the decidedly non-Primal but still enjoyable publication Cook’s Illustrated suggests 1 part vinegar to 3 parts water and shared that the acidic wash eliminated 98% of bacteria compared to 85% with the clean water. Be sure to soak in a clean pot and not the sink itself and rinse with clean water. The acid is believed to loosen bacteria from biofilm clustering and allows it to be more readily washed away.

Also remember that if you’re prepping a produce item (such as melon or avocado) for which the outside is thrown away to resist the temptation to skip washing. If you’re going to cut into the item, however, that’s a mistake. As the knife slices through the outside and into the flesh of the fruit or vegetable, whatever pathogen that was on the surface is now on the inside. The same principle holds for a peeler. Wash well and then cut or peel. Also, be sure to cut away areas around any peel damage, since pathogens can penetrate into the produce through the compromised barrier.

And despite what grandma might have done, there’s no need to rinse or wash meat. Cooking to appropriate temperatures will the best mechanism for killing pathogens, and any attempt to wash or rinse meat will only increase the chance for contamination of sinks, counters and other kitchen areas/tools – not to mention hands!

For eggs, shells generally go through an industrial washing. Consider it more important to avoid cross contamination by getting rid of shells, cleaning up raw egg on tools and countertops and by washing hands.

Finally, it’s impossible to talk about food preparation without the obvious note about preparing food at home versus eating out. As mentioned in Part 1 last week, more Americans now contract identified food poisoning from outside the home than from at-home cooking. Personally, I’m going to continue eating out, but I’ll admit I have my favorite restaurants that I feel comfortable with because I know they offer Primal fare and because I’ve seen that they’re quality establishments that don’t appear to cut corners. Consider it an issue of buyer beware.

Food Cooking and Storage

Although this category garners the most attention, it’s actually the simplest issue. Most foodborne pathogens thrive in the “vulnerable” range of 40°F to 140°F. When storing and thawing food keep this range in mind. It’s best to avoid thawing meat on the countertop and instead thaw in the refrigerator.

The FDA recommends cooking ground poultry to 165 °F and ground beef or lamb to 160 °F. Whole poultry should be cooked to 165 °F according to the FDA. Fresh cuts of beef, veal, lamb, pork and fin fish, on the other hand, can be safely cooked to an internal temperature of 145 °F. It’s best (for flavor and safety) to quickly but fully sear the outside of these meats to a higher temperature.

Ground meats present a higher risk because pathogens are more likely to be found throughout the meat as opposed to primarily the surface in regular “fresh cuts” of meat. A package of ground meat can also be made from the parts of dozens if not hundreds of animals, increasing the chance of contamination. Finally, casseroles should be cooked to an internal temp of 165 °Fand egg dishes to 160 °F.

Vulnerable persons such as pregnant women, young children and older adults or those with compromised immune systems might be particularly cautious about the listeria pathogen, which can thrive below 40° F. If you fit into one of these categories, it’s advisable to heat items like lunch meat or avoid them altogether.

Get precise by using a cooking thermometer rather than relying on color in the inside of meat. (This will also allow you to avoid having to cut through meat and release juices before you’re ready to eat.) Shellfish can be cooked to visual cue, such as clams, oysters and mussels cooked until their shells crack. Shrimp, lobster, crab and scallops should be cooked until their flesh is opaque.

Once food is cooked, keep it at or above 140 °F or cover and cool it quickly (rather than leaving it out to naturally cool to room temperature) in the refrigerator or freezer to minimize the growth of bacteria and other pathogens in that vulnerable temperature window. Avoid leaving food out that needs to be stored cold for more than two hours, and ideally minimize the time food spends between the 40-140 temperature range.

Look for more next week on the question of food sourcing on foodborne pathogen risk as well as the role of personal gut health on food poisoning.

In the meantime, share your tips and comment below. Thanks for reading, everyone, and have a great week.

Dear Mark: Natural Energy Boosters, Designer Fruit, and How to Be Okay

For today’s edition of Dear Mark, I’m answering three of your question, dear readers. First, are there any caffeine-free ways to boost energy during a (really) long workday? Absolutely (but caffeine still might help). Second, what’s the deal with cotton candy grapes, a new designer fruit? Is it just junk food on the vine, or can designer fruits be a healthy part of a Primal eating plan? The last question comes from Shirley, a dedicated weight lifter and macronutrient-counter who’s tired of tracking and planning everything. She just wants to enjoy herself and be content with her body without all the calculation. How can she do it?

Let’s go:

Hello Mark,

I love your website and all of the great advice and ideas you have on here. I wanted to know what your thoughts are on natural energizers for working long days other than coffee. I am currently working two jobs so I usually work from 7:30am until 10pm about 4 days a week, so on those nights I usually only get about six hours of sleep. Is there anything that would be beneficial to help keep my energy levels up? Also would it be ill advised to workout while working that much?

Thank you,

Owen

7:30 to 10 is a tough gig, but you can do it.

Get out in the sunlight at every possible opportunity. Light entrains our circadian rhythm, which in part controls our sleepiness and energy levels. The most powerful form of light is the one coming from the sun, so get out into it.

Keep moving. Get up and take frequent walking breaks. There’s nothing so exhausting as sitting in the same place for hours at a time, slumped over, dissolving into the chair. Movement may expend more energy, but it also perpetuates itself.

Blue light. Get a blue-light emitting device and, well, look deeply into it. Some offices even switch their indoor lighting over to blue wavelengths in order to increase energy, alertness, and reduce sleepiness. As far as smartphone apps go, iOS has Blue Light Therapy and Android has Blue Sleep Therapy. Turn the brightness up.

Breathing. A buddy of mine showed me a nice breathing exercise to do when energy levels drop. Start with deep but soft and slow breaths (in through the nose, out through the nose). Start taking progressively more forceful breaths until you’re really inhaling with all you’ve got. Then, bring it back down to where you began. The whole process takes between a minute or two.

At some point, though, fourteen hour days are just tough for humans to deal with. You’re going to run into issues and you have to accept that special considerations are required. Coffee or some other source of caffeine might really help, as long as you can tolerate it and make sure to avoid it at night (it even goes well with blue light, so that you need less of each).

As for training, keep it short and sweet. Intensity over volume:

Do some low rep, high weight strength training. Keep it in the 5 reps and under range.
Do short sprints, not long ones. Find a short, steep hill and run up it a bunch of times. You don’t want to be sucking wind and hating your life. You want to feel it more in your muscles than your lungs.
Do short sled pushes or car pushes.
Try to install a pullup bar in your office and do a few reps every time you walk past. Collect reps (plus a few pushups and air squats) throughout the day.
Lots of walking whenever you can. It’s not “training” but movement.
Avoid “cardio” unless you find it relaxing.
Try to do as much training in the outdoors as possible to get the “feel good” benefits in addition to the physical response to the training.

Don’t do all those things every week. Don’t sacrifice sleep to train. Keep hard workouts (CrossFit WOD, long run, big weight session) to once a week at the most.

Make sure you get extra sleep on the nights that allow it. Sleep debt is real, but sleep surplus chips away at it.

Dear Mark,

I have recently come across cotton candy flavored grapes and love them! However I was wondering if they are truly safe to eat or if this is just another clever marketing scheme. What is your take on them? Love the site and all the sound nutritional advice.

Hunter

Cotton candy grapes are an example of a designer fruit. Now, “designer” anything has a negative connotation in common parlance. Like those newfangled designer drugs pumped out of Chinese chemical manufacturing facilities who end up coursing through the veins of overdosing London club kids, or designer babies whose physical, mental, and psychological traits are pre-selected to be perfect by the eugenicist parents, or genetically modified foods designed to withstand herbicides. The idea of designing biological systems from the top down is scary to some people. And I’ll admit that the potential for bad decisions with huge consequences exists.

But this may surprise you: I love designer fruits.

See, most fruits are designed for durability and shelf-stability. Producers want their tomatoes to survive being shipped halfway across the world. They want apples to last five months in the storage refrigerator. They want people to enjoy the flavor, I suppose (although I’ve never met a store-bought tomato that had any flavor to enjoy), but it’s not at the forefront. They’re counting on the fact that people have forgotten what good produce really tastes like, if they’ve ever tasted it in their lives to begin with.

David Cain, horticulturalist and creator of the cotton candy grape created it to get back to how grapes used to taste. He wasn’t trying to create cloyingly sweet candy on a vine (the cotton candy grape is only slightly sweeter than the average table grape). He wasn’t inserting fish genes into a table grape. He created a hybrid of two grape strains that minimized the acidity, thus allowing the sweetness to linger on the tongue. Concord grapes, if you’ve ever tasted them, are incredibly sweet, complex and delicious. They’re also fragile, contain seeds, and their skins fall off to reveal the unsightly pulpy interior, so they’re mainly used for juices and jams. The cotton candy grape is a successful attempt to blend the Concord grape with the common table grape, improving upon both.

Other designer fruits include pluots (plum-apricots that are more plum than apricot) and apriums (apricot-plums that are more apricot than plum). When I hit the farmer’s market, I see far more pluots than plums or apricots. And you know what? Good. Pluots are far superior to either parent fruit.

If you’ve ever enjoyed a Meyer lemon, you’ve consumed an unholy abomination, a fusion of the common lemon and the mandarin orange. You monster.

Boysenberries are blackberries mixed with raspberries.

All those delicious apple varieties we enjoy are hybrids. Heck, pretty much every bit of produce we buy at the grocery store or farmer’s market results from selective breeding. That’s a good thing. When you combine a healthy fruit with another healthy fruit, the result is a healthy fruit.

Don’t fear the designer fruits. Eat them.

Hi Mark,

I love your site and have been following your Primal Blueprint plan for a week. I’ve dropped a couple of lbs of fat already.

I just turned 58 and have always been in excellent shape. 5’2 currently 106 lbs. However, I am beyond over counting macros and being obsessed with my meal planning. I have been obsessed with it for many years and I need help in breaking this cycle.

I want to enjoy being 58 and stop comparing myself to fitness models half my age.

I want to be able to eat the primal lifestyle and not calculate everything like I have been the last 10 years of my life.

I’ve already changed my workout routine, instead of 5 days a week of heavy lifting to 3 days a week of moderate workouts.

Do you have any articles or words of wisdom to help someone like me transition out of  the typical weight lifter mentality as the diet goes, with counting every morsel of food in MFP? I’m already sold on the Primal Blueprint diet…so no problem there. My body loves this way of eating. I was carb sensitive and it took this diet to show me that.

My goal is to stay in shape but not be so obsessed. I want to live the way you are living. Older in age, and still in beautiful shape.

I thought maybe I still need to do MFP until I get the hang of it. I appreciate all of your words of wisdom very much.

Thank you so much,

Shirley

You’ve spent decades building a beautiful body. All those hours, days, weeks, months spent working with the iron, counting calories, tracking macros, putting together meals for the week ahead, avoiding junk food.

Now it’s time to enjoy what you’ve built in the gym. Go back thirty, forty years and think about what you loved to do as a kid. When you went out with your friends on a free summer day and you had until the street lights came on to get into trouble and go on adventures, where did you go? What did you do?

It’s time to figure out how you play. It’s time to explore the environment with your body. That’s what I finally discovered a decade or so ago. More and more I’m realizing that the Primal Blueprint is a toolkit for play and pleasure. It gives you the tools to be healthy and vibrant and virile enough to eat great food (and enjoy it), move your body through the environment (and enjoy it). Too many healthy eaters (even in this community) turn food into work. Every meal becomes a dissertation on micronutrients. Every bite is analyzed for trace mineral, protein, polyphenol content, and fatty acid composition. And the fun’s gone.

Likewise, too many serious students of physical culture forget that moving well and being strong isn’t just good for you or your physique; it makes life more fun.

And then, when you get out of your own way and start focusing on what really matters — the taste of the food, the joy of physical play and sport — the other stuff still happens. You’re still healthy, because healthy, nutrient-dense food tastes good. You’re still fit and strong (if not fitter and stronger) because joyful movement perpetuates itself. Heck, you’re healthier and fitter than you were before. And the fact that you’re playing and moving and performing well is proof that your eating and training strategy is working. You no longer need the scale, the calipers, or the nutritional logging to tell you you’re on track.

Does “MFP” refer to MyFitnessPal? Sure, you can use that, but do it a little differently. Instead of entering your food and activity in real time, write them down in a separate document. Then, at week’s end, enter it all into MFP. You’ll get the results after the fact and chances are you’ll discover that your intuitive sense of eating and exercise is sufficient to get you the nutrients you need. After a few rounds of this, you won’t need MFP at all.

Ultimately, I train so I can play. You’ve trained your entire life. It’s time to play.

That’s it for today, folks. Thanks for reading and be sure to help out down below with your own responses to the questions!

Weekend Link Love – Edition 366

Research of the Week

A novel form of resveratrol improved biomarkers and brain volume changes in patients with Alzheimer’s disease.

Nighttime caffeine pushes back the circadian clock.

Yep, air particulates are bad for you.

Your skin biome helps fight skin infections.

One valuable aspect of maintaining close relationships? You all shoulder the burden of stress and trauma.

Low vitamin D levels are associated with greater cognitive degeneration in elderly people.

New Primal Blueprint Podcasts

Episode 85: David Epstein: Host Brad Kearns chats with David Epstein, author of The Sports Gene, about a wide set of topics. Is the “10,000 hour rule” of mastery complete nonsense? Do genetics partially determine one’s ability to master a skill? Are the best sprinters Jamaican because of genetics, culture, or both? Find out in today’s episode.

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

Why These 10 Famous Thinkers Napped
The Primal Laws: 7 More Honorable Mentions
What You Need to Know About Foodborne Illness: Part 1

Also, be sure to check out and subscribe to the (relatively) brand new Primal Endurance Podcast.

Weekly sweepstakes: Write a review for The Primal Blueprint Podcast or The Primal Endurance Podcast on iTunes and submit this form for a chance to win a Primal prize package. One new winner is chosen every week!

Interesting Blog Posts

Maybe parents should bribe their kids to eat their vegetables.

Silly studies.

Media, Schmedia

Archaeologists found a new homo variant in a South African cave. Say hello to Homo naledi.

The Atlantic covers the growing (and welcome) trend of doctors writing nature prescriptions.

Everything Else

Wolves are better problem solvers than dogs.

In 2013, a 23 year old terminal cancer patient had her brain cryogenically frozen with the hope of future resurrection.

Sweden is experimenting with a six-hour workday, and it seems to be working out. Efficiency’s up, turnover’s down.

The best way to cook a frozen steak (without thawing it first).

Calvin, early enthusiast of the quantified self movement.

The A to Z of African dance. Great video.

Aboriginal oral traditions have preserved accurate memories of widespread flooding in Australia for 7000 years.

Computers in the classroom don’t improve student performance.

Recipe Corner

Fantastic deviled eggs recipe (and video).
Orange Glazed Chicken Kebabs. Get some final grilling in before the weather turns.

Time Capsule

One year ago (Sep 22 – Sep 28)

Artificial Sweeteners May Leave You Absolutely Gutted – How Splenda and company affect your gut health.
Why Exercise Feels Like a Drag (and What to Do About It) – Make exercise more rewarding and enjoyable (and self-perpetuating).

Comment of the Week

“gaze at the stars”

needs a disclaimer too:

“Does not apply to the sun”

– Ha!

Espresso-Rubbed Prime Rib Roast

This is a guest post from Autumn Smith, co-founder of PaleoValley.

Do you remember the time you had that amazing meal at your favorite local restaurant? Or, the time you splurged on a sumptuous steak at that 5 star restaurant? Well, you don’t have to break the bank or a sweat. Here’s a recipe you can try that will leave your guests raving.

As someone who has been creating recipes for the past 15 years, I had a slight adjustment transitioning into Paleo, but it was a truly enjoyable experience. I discovered how to take my favorite childhood dishes, and with a few “tweaks” I transformed them into mouth-watering 100% healthy recipes.

The genesis of the dish I am sharing (and one that you definitely need to add to your recipe box) comes from my Paleo Holiday Recipe Book. Last Christmas I really wanted to impress my family with a truly memorable entree that would leave everybody speechless as they savored this delicacy. I knew that my favorite steak recipe would fit the bill. My one caveat was that I wanted to be able to enjoy my family’s company and not feel confined to the kitchen tending sauce pans, sauces, and side dishes.

So here it is…Espresso-Rubbed Prime Rib Roast! It turned out to be the favorite dish of the holiday season, and one which I have had numerous requests to share. Of course, I gave my recipe to them—and now I give it to you!

Servings: 4-6

Cook Time: 2 hours

Ingredients:

4 pounds grass-fed prime rib roast
1/3 cup ground decaf coffee
2 tablespoons sea salt
1 tablespoons fresh ground pepper
1/4 vanilla bean, cut in half and seeds scraped

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450 °F.  Let steak sit at room temperature for 30 minutes.

In a coffee grinder, blend coffee and add to a bowl with sea salt and ground pepper.

Split the vanilla bean and, with your knife, gently scrape the seeds from inside the bean and add it to your bowl. Mix well and liberally coat your steak all over with the seasoning.

Place roast in the oven for 15 minutes then reduce oven temperature to 325 °F and roast for about an 1 1/2 hour longer. For medium-rare the internal temperature should read 125 °F. Add 20 minutes per extra pound.

Remove from oven and let sit for 15 minutes to redistribute juices before carving into thin slices.

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From Hungry and Getting Nowhere to Satisfied and Strong!

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!

Hi, my name is Brooke. I am a 33-year-old stay-at-home mom. I don’t feel like your typical MDA success story. Don’t get me wrong, I love reading how others are changing their life for the better, but I don’t often hear from women that are like me. I’m not sure why that is, but it has motivated me to share my story.

Okay, so let’s start at the beginning. A couple of years ago, I was doing a lot of thinking about my diet. My main concern was my weight. I was definitely overweight but never by a lot. My heaviest was around 155 pounds, and I’m 5’5.” I was just unhappy with how I looked and it felt like no matter what I tried, I just couldn’t lose any more weight. I was following conventional advice for a “healthy” eating plan: low-fat, whole grains. Gosh, I remember I used to bake my own bread all the time. I loved it! But I was always so hungry. I would always need a morning and an afternoon snack, and still I was hungry. I thought I must be doing something wrong, because diet experts on TV would say, “If you are hungry, eat a yogurt, eat some hummus and pita bread, or eat an apple, and you will feel satisfied.” I would feel even hungrier after a snack like that!

I was working out at the gym several times a week: aerobics classes, some weight lifting here and there, but I had never been, and still am not, a committed exerciser.

So, I searched the internet for some solutions. I remembered hearing that an acquaintance of mine was on a paleo diet, so I searched for that. I was ready to try anything. I did some preliminary reading that day, then bought and read The Paleo Diet by Loren Cordain and The Paleo Solution by Robb Wolfe. Soon after, I found MDA. It made so much sense to me. I am a scientist, so I immediately loved the logic behind the Primal lifestyle, and it absolutely tapped into my constant need to know “why” things are the way they are. I mean, I had never really thought about chronic illness as a result of modern living. I figured cancer and arthritis were just inevitable if you have a family history. This is the first point in my transformation. The reasons behind ancestral living absolutely blew my mind. From that day forward, I reframed the way I thought about almost everything in my life, from shampoo to pooping, mostly because of my daily visits to MDA. Not only has it been a great way for me to feel connected to the way of life I am cultivating and other like-minded individuals, it has also been my go-to resource for my ancestral health questions.

That was August 2012 when I went mostly paleo. I didn’t eliminate everything all the time at first, because that would have been too drastic for me, but I still lost weight immediately and got down to 135 lbs. Here are some other things I lost in the process: chronic sinus infections, acne, hypoglycemia, severe recurring depression, hemorrhoids, “pre”-bunions, heartburn and indigestion, and seasonal allergies. In addition, I discovered during the spring of 2013 that I was gluten-intolerant. I mean, I didn’t even know I was sick!

It is so amazing to finally discover what feeling good truly feels like. I eventually reached a kind of homeostasis with my Primal living. I was doing just fine. I would tweak things here and there, but things stayed mostly constant, with me lifting weights 2-3 times a week and walking or taking a cardio class at the gym several times a week as well. I was even doing some sprinting sessions, which is pretty big for a self-described non-athlete like me. I was eating paleo but with some dairy and the occasional serving of rice.

June 2012 (pre-Primal), January 2013 (my wedding, with my husband, niece, and nephew)

Then in the fall of 2013 I became pregnant with my first child, and my body was taken over by the little person growing inside of me! All bets were off during the first trimester, when I had morning sickness. After that, I had a fairly easy pregnancy, except for persistent heartburn, swelling, and spider veins. I gained about 30 pounds overall. I found that all of a sudden I was so much more sensitive to non-paleo foods than I had been before, but that didn’t always stop me from eating things I shouldn’t have, like ice cream and candy. I had an absolutely wonderful labor and delivery experience (thanks to HypnoBirthing…check it out if you want a calm and natural childbirth) and welcomed my daughter, Ljiljana (it’s Croatian), in July 2014. Of course there was some major adjusting to being a mom. I still had the stronger food sensitivities I had acquired during pregnancy, so I set about optimizing my diet, but now I had one more factor to consider: my daughter.

I breastfeed Ljiljana, so of course anything I eat goes to her, too. She was spitting up a lot, at least more than I was comfortable with, and I wondered if there was anything I was eating that could be doing that. I was still eating yogurt, cheese, and butter at the time, so I cut those out. The spitting up decreased but didn’t go away. I tried eliminating a few other possible offenders, and I discovered that almonds were the culprit. Here’s the interesting thing, though. I would have gone on eating those things, even though, if I was completely honest with myself, I got heartburn after eating them. But if it was affecting my daughter, then it was so much easier to live without. It is amazing what a motivating factor she has been in that way. Oh, and through all this, I found out from my mom that my nickname when I was a baby was “Barfy Brookie.” I was formula-fed first, and then started on cereals. Knowing all my food intolerances now, it is no wonder I acquired that nickname!

I am still incredibly sensitive to non-paleo foods, and I have to be very careful about what I eat, otherwise, I will be suffering for days. I’ve cut out all refined sugar. Rice is out of the question because it makes me shaky. I also have to be very careful about how much fruit I eat. I can imagine my body is damaged from so many years of the wrong foods that it just needs a lot of TLC to heal.

My baby girl is 9 months old now. During the last 9 months, my weight went down to 140 but then back up to 145. I would like to lose more weight, but I don’t think that’s really in cards for me right now. You see, exercising is a little tricky. I started lifting weights again once I started getting enough sleep. (It was 6 months before Ljiljana or I slept more than 4 hours at a time.) I was doing it 3 times a week, plus taking daily walks with the baby girl, but I think it was too much. I was getting achy, feeling hungrier (I’m still hungry a lot these days. I blame breastfeeding and not getting enough sleep.), and I was gaining fat. My workouts were not overly intense or anything, I think my body just has so much going on right now that that type of exercise is a stressor and it can’t handle at the moment. So “lift heavy things” is just going to have to be squatting down for, picking up, and holding/wrangling my 21-pounder.

July 2014 (barefoot and 9 months pregnant), and April 2015 (with Ljiljana)

Primal living for me is constantly changing and evolving in response to my needs and the needs of my growing daughter. That’s where I think my story is a little different. Primal living is constantly evolving for most people, I’m sure. We all have our own motivators and reasons. But it’s not every day that I get to hear about the journey of other women like me, who are in a part of our life where our body is not fully our own and we have to adapt in ways others might not. I might not look very different, but I feel so much better, free of all those health problems. Like I said, I never would have gone the extra mile with my diet and finally eliminated the offensive foods I was putting up with if it hadn’t been for my baby. And I’m hoping, because of this, I will avoid the cancer that runs in my family. In addition, I hope, by teaching my cave-baby the same lifestyle lessons I’ve learned, she will avoid the PCOS and other auto-immune disorders that run in my husband’s family, and we’ll both thrive and get to enjoy life together for a long time to come.

Brooke

Why These 10 Famous Thinkers Napped

A few months ago, I wrote a guide to napping that included how, why, and when to flop down for a spell. That wasn’t a random throwaway post. It was the first salvo in a new war. I’m on a mission to legitimize the nap, to destigmatize the siesta for the average working human. And it’s not a selfish thing, because I can already pretty much take a nap whenever I want. I’m concerned about you. In a chronically sleep-deprived population such as ours, a 45 minute foray into the land of dreams can rejuvenate the mind, make up for sleep debt, and make us healthier and happier. Yet those who nap —or simply want to nap — often feel guilty about it, even if they have an hour or two to spare and are falling asleep at their desks. Perhaps it’ll make you feel better to know that some of the world’s greatest thinkers considered naps to be an integral part of their day — and their success.

Let’s look at a few of them:

Salvador Dalí

Dalí didn’t nap to recover lost sleep or fight physical fatigue. He napped for insight and to stimulate his creativity. His naps were briefer than brief, millisecond-long glimpses of dreamspace from which he’d emerge with new ideas, visions, and solutions. Dalí describes his method in 50 Secrets of Magic Craftmanship. To ensure his nap didn’t extend into true slumber, Dalí would sit upright in a chair (“preferably of Spanish style”), head tilted back and resting in “a supineness of complete relaxation,” wrists lubricated in lavender oil to induce further relaxation, a heavy metal key loosely dangling between his fingers and poised above a plate. When sleep fell, the key would drop and strike the plate, waking Dalí before he could progress past a quarter second of sleep. This was the “sleeping without sleeping,” the slumber with a key, the hypnagogic nap, and, according to Dalí, the secret to his success. You can squeeze a quarter second in, can’t you?

Samuel Taylor Coleridge

I’m not sure if Coleridge was a habitual napper, but he took what might be the most famous nap in English literature. After a three-hour snooze that may or may not have been aided and abetted by a significant draught off the opium pipe, Coleridge awoke in a creative frenzy, stumbled over to his writing station, and penned the dreamy “Kubla Khan.” The poem manages to capture the intangible. What Coleridge discovered is that if you can seize the thread of the dream immediately upon waking and hold on, you can produce some interesting material. Naps just work better for this, for a couple reasons. It’s daytime, and you can see what you’re doing (and writing). It’s a lighter sleep, so you’re not stumbling around in a daze wiping sleep from your eyes at 2 in the morning.

If you’re a fan of Kubla Khan, check out Coleridge’s much longer “Rime of the Ancient Mariner.” I love that one.

Thomas Edison

In a kind of ironic foreshadowing of what his most famous invention would do to the sleep hygiene of the industrialized world, Thomas Edison didn’t really sleep much at night. Three or four hours was about all he could manage with his workload and impressive to-do list hanging over him. Besides, he thought sleep was a waste of time, an archaic holdover from the caveman days. But he also couldn’t escape it. So to satisfy the base physiological needs of his unfortunate meat body, he power napped during the day. These “” were a source of guilt for Edison, but they also allowed him to work 18-20 hour days. Edison also used the quarter-second Dalí-esque naps to inspire creativity and overcome ruts, only he used a handful of ball bearings that would clatter to the floor and wake him.

Margaret Thatcher

Much is made of the Iron Lady’s disregard for sleep. During her tenure as Prime Minister of Britain, Margaret Thatcher slept just 4-5 hours a night and transformed British politics. But before you go and try that at home, get your genes sequenced. Thatcher had a rare genetic variant that allowed her to thrive on less sleep than the average person. And even then she needed daily naps. The Iron Lady ordained that she was not to be disturbed between 2:30 and 3:30 every afternoon, so vital was her nap time.

Albert Einstein

Einstein slept 10 hours a night, but he also napped frequently throughout the day. How’d he get anything done? His naps were of the micro variety, lasting mere seconds, and were designed not to replace sleep but to boost creativity. What’s remarkable about Einstein’s use of the hypnagogic nap is that, unlike Dalí and other enthusiasts who used it to offer insight into the artistic process, he spent his quarter second in that in-between state to solve intractable physics problems. We have the misguided notion that scientists aren’t creative, that they follow rote, linear processes to arrive at their destinations. Creativity is creativity, and it seems that Einstein was able to use the irrational half-dream, half-wake mindspace to great effect.

Leonardo da Vinci

If you gave him a couple months to acclimate and the latest iPhone, Leonardo da Vinci would fit right into Silicon Valley biohacking circles. He created the first analog computer, which also happened to be a robot lion. He was obsessed with optimizing his productivity, going so far as to decry those who, rather than “work in such wise as that after death [they] mayst retain a resemblance to perfect life,” instead “art in sleep so like to the hapless dead.” His work-life balance was terrible. And to make it all possible, he was a master sleep hacker, taking a twenty to thirty minute nap every four hours.

John F. Kennedy

John Fitzgerald Kennedy is widely regarded as one of the coolest presidents. He was a war hero and a handsome fashion icon along with his almost-as-famous wife Jackie, and he managed to avoid nuclear war during a tense standoff with the Soviet Union. But he also suffered from crippling back pain and lifelong colitis (I bet going Primal would have done wonders) which, coupled with the already considerable responsibilities inherent to the office and his dependency on strong pain meds, made daily naps a requirement for normal function. For two hours every afternoon, he and Jackie would retire to his suite for a nap, with strict orders that he was not to be disturbed for any reason. JFK preferred silent darkness (blinds drawn, zero disturbances). Between that and the colitis, he totally would have dug the PB.

Winston Churchill

An intense man, Churchill coined the term “power nap.” He regarded a nap between lunch and dinner as absolutely necessary for maintaining the kind of clear thinking he employed during World War 2, and always made certain to get to bed as early as possible after lunch. In The Gathering Storm, Churchill lays out his case for the midday nap: “Nature has not intended mankind to work from eight in the morning until midnight without that refreshment of blessed oblivion which, even if it only lasts twenty minutes, is sufficient to renew all the vital forces.” Yeah, I’d say that a 16-hour workday calls for at least a brief nap in the middle.

Lyndon B. Johnson

LBJ was a dedicated napper. After assuming the presidency and unveiling an ambitious plan that included civil rights, a war on poverty (and on Vietnam, unfortunately), and tax cuts, he enacted double-days. He’d get up at 7, work till 2 PM, nap till 4, have dinner, and work through the night until 1 or 2 in the morning. Without that 2 o’clock nap, he would have been a wreck. During the thick of the Vietnam War, the tormented Johnson often went with no sleep but a nap or two during the day. He napped during (other people’s) speeches, held cabinet meetings in bed and boxer shorts during his naps, and when he had the heart attack that ultimately killed him, he was napping at his Dallas ranch home.

Eleanor Roosevelt

Perhaps the most influential First Lady of all time (until Claire Underwood, of course), Eleanor Roosevelt was no idle housewife. She sat on committees, gave speeches, acted as US diplomat, and even helped form the United Nations. And before every speech or public talk she gave, Roosevelt would try to sneak in a nap to refresh her mind and body, prepare her for the task ahead, and boost energy.

Whether you like or dislike their art, writing, politics, performance in office, or inventions, you’ve got to admit that these 10 people managed to accomplish far more than most people ever do. And they did it while maintaining a consistent, daily napping habit. If these folks managed to do what they did while napping every day, what’s stopping you?

I’m sure I’ve forgotten a few, so let’s hear about it down below. Thanks for reading, everyone!

The Primal Laws: 7 More Honorable Mentions

A couple months back, I gave you a list of Primal Laws that didn’t quite make the cut, either because they weren’t “big” enough or didn’t apply to enough people. Turns out I was probably wrong: the response was huge and many of you were on the same wavelength. You even offered up some of your own ideas for honorable mentions. So today, I’m giving you 7 more honorable mentions that almost deserved a spot on the final list of Primal Laws. Read the post, take what resonates with you and discard what doesn’t. But give the article a fair shake and really consider how adopting these laws could improve your life.

First, here are the 10 main laws from The Primal Blueprint:

Eat lots of animals, insects, and plants.
Move around a lot at a slow pace.
Lift heavy things.
Run really fast once in a while.
Get lots of sleep.
Play.
Get some sunlight every day.
Avoid trauma.
Avoid poisonous things.
Use your mind.

And these are the 8 honorable mentions:

 Hang out with dogs.
 Gaze at the stars whenever you can.
 Go frequently to a green place.
 Consort with natural water.
 Direct your gaze toward distant objects and sights.
 Consume stories.
 Sit around a fire.
 Make yourself useful.

(And just for good measure, here are the 10 Habits of Highly Successful Hunter Gatherers from The Primal Connection.)

What are the next 7?

1. Go barefoot whenever possible.

You’ve probably grown tired of barefooters waxing poetic about the foot having more muscles, nerve endings, and connective tissue than any similarly sized piece of real estate on the human body and about how sticking our feet in overly protective, stiff-soled shoes atrophies those muscles, blunts those nerve endings, and weakens that connective tissue. All that’s true, though, and being barefoot whenever possible is an important part of my primal life. It should also be part of yours.

Notice I didn’t say “training while barefoot.” Training while barefoot isn’t necessary. That can be fun and it makes running healthier and more efficient (so long as you do it correctly), but it’s the walking, the ambling around, the going about your daily life in a barefoot state that really pays off.

Oh, and it’s usually possible. Going barefoot in strange places requires a little gumption. When it’s not, minimalist shoes (zero heel drop, or as close to it as you can handle; minimal padding, so as to feel the ground) do the trick.

When isn’t it possible? When you’ve spent your entire life wearing shoes and your feet have weakened to the point of decrepitude, you can’t just “go barefoot.” You have to pick and choose selectively. You have to work your way up to a barefoot dominant lifestyle.

2. Don’t get too comfortable.

The world has been made comfortable, safe, and sterile. Modern life shields us from the acute stressors — ambient temperature extremes, the shock of cold water on our bodies, the immediate threat of death and dismemberment. That’s great for infant mortality and GDP and other admittedly legitimate and objective markers of progress, but it might be making us weak or even fat. To be healthy, happy, well-adjusted humans I’d argue that we need exposure to acute stressors, particularly if we want to be better equipped to handle the chronic stressors life heaps upon our shoulders.

Don’t be foolish. There’s no need to face death. Some people get their fix by jumping off bridges and rappelling down cliff faces (or climbing them). Others do cold plunges into rivers in the dead of winter, or expose their bodies to extremely high temperatures in saunas. Still others are making themselves uncomfortable by turning the heat off during winter or making a point to walk around outside in cold weather in minimal clothing. Evidence is emerging that these encounters with uncomfortable situations make us stronger, healthier, and happier. They fortify us. They help us appreciate the mundane creature comforts of life. There’s nothing like the hot shower after a week spent backpacking through the tundra.

Whatever you choose, know that you’ll have to choose. Given the nature of the world we’ve constructed, you must willingly submit yourself to intensely unpleasant experiences. They’re too easy to avoid otherwise.

3. Get plenty of leisure time.

Money isn’t the only measure of wealth. Free time — to relax, to read, to play with your kids, to cook a great dinner with friends, to develop a skill, to play — is another one. And though hunter-gatherers weren’t materially wealthy by the standards of this era, they were replete in leisure time. Modern examples of hunter gatherers (who by and large make do with marginal lands) work about three to five hours a day (and their commutes are shorter, more active, and more interesting than ours).

And far more important than simply getting the leisure time is to accept it, enjoy it, and savor it. For if you spend your free time worrying about being productive or mentally going over your to-do list, you’re squandering what should be sacred and inviolable: the grand and proud human tradition of doing absolutely nothing and loving it. Allow yourself to enjoy yourself. Be okay with doing nothing.

4. Go hungry sometimes.

This is a specific example of an acute stressor, perhaps the most stressful of all: going without food. Hunger is a powerful spice and like other spices, this one’s got health benefits. It improves fat oxidation rates. It can burn body fat. It can up-regulate the enzymes responsible for cellular upkeep and pruning of damaged cellular components. And yes, it makes food taste really, really good. Perhaps more importantly, it makes your meals more satisfying when you’re actually hungry and not just bored or tempted by your brain reward circuitry going haywire.

Going hungry doesn’t have to mean intermittent fasting. Not everyone does well with that. It can also mean letting yourself get truly hungry between meals, which you should be able to handle without losing your mind, getting crabby, or fumbling through the pantry for snacks (getting fat-adapted will help with that, of course).

5. Explore new areas on foot.

As I’ve made clear before, our human ancestors were explorers. And for the bulk of human history, they did it atop their own two feet. They ambled, meandered, wandered, walked. Sometimes it was to far off places, like across the Bering Strait or through the Levantine Corridor. Other times it was just over the nearest hill or mountain to just see what’s out there, beyond. But even when modern hunter gatherers are relegated to a fairy limited swath of land, they still walk an average of 15 kilometers a day. That’s a lot of exploration, and it was pretty consistent and constant.

But Sisson, you say, the world’s been conquered (except for the ocean and some remote areas of jungle)! There’s nowhere left to explore. We’ve done it all. We? The species has done it. What about you, yourself? Have you hiked one of the world’s scariest trails? Have you gone backpacking through the wilderness? Have you even walked to the next neighborhood over or explored your own city on foot?

It’s a weird thing to travel around in protected boxes with wheels. That’s why you see so many people picking noses, reading the paper, Tweeting, or shouting obscenities and making inflammatory hand gestures as they drive: they feel insulated and separated from the world around them. So get out of your comfort zone, be willing to move a lot slower than you might be used to moving, and start exploring.

6. Create.

Create anything. A life, a business, a book, a bird feeder, a climbing wall for your toddler, a photograph, a song. Use your mind, your hands, or both.

Humans are at their most alive when they’re creating things out of thin air. When you create something, you become personally invested in it. You have skin in the game. You’re more likely to be engaged with life when one of your own creations is part of it. It’s not even necessary to display it proudly to the world, or at all. A journal that you write solely for yourself, a drum that you bang on in the quiet darkness when no one’s around, a sand castle that high tide erases.

7. Be spiritual.

Before people jump to shout this one down, allow me to explain. Some people talk to God at Sunday service. Some (including many traditional native cultures) use psychedelic plants to transcend everyday reality. Some people spend decades sweeping up around the ashram and sitting in silent meditation in an attempt to reach that place. Modern biohackers attach electrodes to their skulls and track brainwave activity to get there. Still others find spiritual meaning in a sunset, a long hike, doing the dishes, or even a game of pickup basketball. Spirituality doesn’t require religion, drugs, meditation, or anything supernatural. It can be anything as long as it helps you reach that mental sphere where normal everyday experience gives way to transcendence and you perceive the present moment as it actually is — a thing of sublime beauty.

That’s about it for this week, folks. Now let’s hear from you:

Which of these suggestions resonate with you? Which will you start exploring? Which ones do you already live?

Thanks for reading!

What You Need to Know About Foodborne Illness – Part 1

It’s a regular headline: “# of People Sickened by Contaminated Food.” Most recently, it was a case of imported cucumbers with salmonella (one of the most common and serious foodborne pathogens) that resulted in at least 341 people ill and two dead across 30 states. It’s difficult when public service information shifts us toward viewing our food with a nervous eye. The CDC estimates approximately 48 million people get sick from foodborne illness each year. Of those, 128,000 are hospitalized and about 3000 die.

So, what do we do with this information? At best, we decide to learn more about the bigger picture of our modern food supply. At its worst, we go to the place of panic, anxiety-ridden that every single item we bring home must be sanitized or cooked within an inch of its life. Some people even take the news as confirmation that fresh (real) food as “too dangerous” and join the brigade that believes/sells processed, packaged and otherwise adulterated food products as the only “safe options.” Never mind that fast food and processed products have been the subject of these events in the past…

It’s the kind of news that can easily stoke the media fear machine that encourages a perpetual state of anger, anxiety and frenzy. And let’s face it, a contamination event makes for more interesting news fodder than the ongoing, same-old, same-old story about rampant obesity and related lifestyle disease.

Nonetheless, I think rational people could say that part of speaking back to overzealous fear can be taking reasonable precautions that don’t cost much in terms of time or effort for the enhanced safety they afford. Realistic peace of mind isn’t about the eradication of all risk but 1) the understanding of common pathogens’ sources and behaviors and 2) application of sound strategies that minimize it. Let’s take apart that first point in part one today.

I don’t know very many people who haven’t at some point been sick with food poisoning. Most of us recall the misery but ultimately poo-poo the bigger ramifications because we just didn’t experience them personally. While most people get a few days of diarrhea or vomiting, others may deal with the costs of hospitalization or the burden of ongoing complications (not to mention the ultimate price those 3000 people a year pay).

Longer term repercussions of these pathogens include conditions like reactive or chronic arthritis, urinary tract issues and eye damage from salmonella or shigella, Guillain-Barre syndrome or ulcerative colitis from campylobacter, kidney failure or diabetes from Escherichia coli or meningitis, mental retardation, seizures, paralysis, blindness or deafness from Listeria.

Researchers have identified more than 200 pathogens, which include bacteria, viruses, parasites and toxins, responsible for “food poisoning.” Three (salmonella, toxoplasma and listeria) are responsible for 75% of known food pathogen related deaths. Although estimates vary, it’s accepted that not even half of foodborne illness sources are ever found. Most of the identified causes we hear about (like the salmonella case) are bacteria based. Virus caused outbreaks are the least likely to be documented generally because of their often shorter duration and smaller scope (often caused by human food handlers rather than the food itself).

The truth is, food has always been a messy enterprise. Even under the most natural and unadulterated conditions, growing food in dirt is, well, dirty. Animals are creatures that are subject to the wear and tear of their food chain placement (e.g. parasites, diseases of their last carnivorous meal).

Today, however, we’re dealing with a shifted picture. Even just a few decades ago, food illness outbreaks looked considerably different. The infections you heard about more often were Staphylococcus or Clostridium. Illnesses were more likely from home preparation (maybe passed on at church picnics or holiday buffets).

In some regards, we might be safer from the higher risk dealings of bushmeat, but most of us purchase food from an agricultural system that can be its own hotbed of pathogenic disease. From the unnatural diets given to many livestock to the massive crowding of feedlot conditions to the cross-contamination of meat processing plants to the irrigation of produce fields with sewage-laced water, modern conditions – despite industry safety protocols – set us up for issues that can have a much more extended reach (as in 30 states’ worth).

With the uptick in eating out, we’ve also opened up whole new arenas of human handling and mass food processing risks as well. These days, however, 80% of foodborne illnesses come from somewhere other than home.

The next logical question seems to be what foods are the most risky. Oddly, meats are overseen by a different agency (USDA) than most other foods (FDA), but experts have been clear that the majority of food poisoning cases stem from meats – especially beef and poultry. Ground beef, in particular, can be risky because a single burger can contain parts from various parts of various cows, increasing the chance of contamination. Pathogens can originate through everything from livestock feedwater to unclean fields/lots to contaminated processing equipment.

Aside from meat, a consumer group, the Center for Science in the Public Interest has ranked the ten (non-meat) riskiest foods for foodborne pathogens that are regulated by the FDA. (PDF)

Leafy Greens

Greens are responsible for nearly 1/4 of non-meat food poisoning outbreaks. Sources of pathogens can be contaminated water, animal manure contact, industrial washing equipment contamination or other handling problems. E. coli and salmonella are the most common pathogens found in greens.

Eggs

Eggs can be contaminated from chickens themselves, in which case the interior of the egg can harbor a pathogen like salmonella. Pathogens can also enter through microcracks or contaminate shells during processing.

Tuna

Scombroid toxins are the biggest culprit here and is more common is fresh or raw tuna – particularly if left in warm temperatures too long. With these toxins, cooking won’t make a difference unfortunately.

Oysters

Raw oysters can be a source of norovirus or, less often, vibrio (related to cholera). Contamination can be caused by poor handling or unclean water.

Potatoes

Salmonella is the top problem here, but listeria is a common pathogen also associated with potato related food poisoning. Food preparation and cross-contamination are probably the most common sources of pathogens.

Cheese

Again, salmonella and listeria are respectively the most common pathogens implicated in this category. Pathogens can be a result of the multi-step processing of cheeses, although pasteurization has reduced contamination risk.

Ice Cream

Salmonella contamination from eggs or listeria contamination often from unclean equipment are the more common causes here.

Tomatoes

Again, salmonella is the main culprit, but norovirus is another common pathogen found in tomato related outbreaks. Agricultural conditions is a major concern in tomato (as in other plant) contamination.

Sprouts

Sprout seeds themselves may be contaminated, but poor handling is a frequent cause as well. Salmonella and E. coli are the most common pathogens found in sprouts.

Berries

Berries, like other plants that are often eaten raw, can harbor a number of pathogens related to dirty field water or animal manure contact, but handling by infected agricultural workers can be an issue as well.

Now that we’ve looked more closely at the problem of food contamination itself, let me pick up the topic again next week as I look at strategies for avoiding foodborne illness. Thanks for reading, everyone. Let me know your thoughts, and have a great week.

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What You Need to Know About Foodborne Illness: Part 1

It’s a regular headline: “# of People Sickened by Contaminated Food.” Most recently, it was a case of imported cucumbers with salmonella (one of the most common and serious foodborne pathogens) that resulted in at least 341 people ill and two dead across 30 states. It’s difficult when public service information shifts us toward viewing our food with a nervous eye. The CDC estimates approximately 48 million people get sick from foodborne illness each year. Of those, 128,000 are hospitalized and about 3000 die.

So, what do we do with this information? At best, we decide to learn more about the bigger picture of our modern food supply. At its worst, we go to the place of panic, anxiety-ridden that every single item we bring home must be sanitized or cooked within an inch of its life. Some people even take the news as confirmation that fresh (real) food as “too dangerous” and join the brigade that believes/sells processed, packaged and otherwise adulterated food products as the only “safe options.” Never mind that fast food and processed products have been the subject of these events in the past…

It’s the kind of news that can easily stoke the media fear machine that encourages a perpetual state of anger, anxiety and frenzy. And let’s face it, a contamination event makes for more interesting news fodder than the ongoing, same-old, same-old story about rampant obesity and related lifestyle disease.

Nonetheless, I think rational people could say that part of speaking back to overzealous fear can be taking reasonable precautions that don’t cost much in terms of time or effort for the enhanced safety they afford. Realistic peace of mind isn’t about the eradication of all risk but 1) the understanding of common pathogens’ sources and behaviors and 2) application of sound strategies that minimize it. Let’s take apart that first point in part one today.

I don’t know very many people who haven’t at some point been sick with food poisoning. Most of us recall the misery but ultimately poo-poo the bigger ramifications because we just didn’t experience them personally. While most people get a few days of diarrhea or vomiting, others may deal with the costs of hospitalization or the burden of ongoing complications (not to mention the ultimate price those 3000 people a year pay).

Longer term repercussions of these pathogens include conditions like reactive or chronic arthritis, urinary tract issues and eye damage from salmonella or shigella, Guillain-Barre syndrome or ulcerative colitis from campylobacter, kidney failure or diabetes from Escherichia coli or meningitis, mental retardation, seizures, paralysis, blindness or deafness from Listeria.

Researchers have identified more than 200 pathogens, which include bacteria, viruses, parasites and toxins, responsible for “food poisoning.” Three (salmonella, toxoplasma and listeria) are responsible for 75% of known food pathogen related deaths. Although estimates vary, it’s accepted that not even half of foodborne illness sources are ever found. Most of the identified causes we hear about (like the salmonella case) are bacteria based. Virus caused outbreaks are the least likely to be documented generally because of their often shorter duration and smaller scope (often caused by human food handlers rather than the food itself).

The truth is, food has always been a messy enterprise. Even under the most natural and unadulterated conditions, growing food in dirt is, well, dirty. Animals are creatures that are subject to the wear and tear of their food chain placement (e.g. parasites, diseases of their last carnivorous meal).

Today, however, we’re dealing with a shifted picture. Even just a few decades ago, food illness outbreaks looked considerably different. The infections you heard about more often were Staphylococcus or Clostridium. Illnesses were more likely from home preparation (maybe passed on at church picnics or holiday buffets).

In some regards, we might be safer from the higher risk dealings of bushmeat, but most of us purchase food from an agricultural system that can be its own hotbed of pathogenic disease. From the unnatural diets given to many livestock to the massive crowding of feedlot conditions to the cross-contamination of meat processing plants to the irrigation of produce fields with sewage-laced water, modern conditions – despite industry safety protocols – set us up for issues that can have a much more extended reach (as in 30 states’ worth).

With the uptick in eating out, we’ve also opened up whole new arenas of human handling and mass food processing risks as well. These days, however, 80% of foodborne illnesses come from somewhere other than home.

The next logical question seems to be what foods are the most risky. Oddly, meats are overseen by a different agency (USDA) than most other foods (FDA), but experts have been clear that the majority of food poisoning cases stem from meats – especially beef and poultry. Ground beef, in particular, can be risky because a single burger can contain parts from various parts of various cows, increasing the chance of contamination. Pathogens can originate through everything from livestock feedwater to unclean fields/lots to contaminated processing equipment.

Aside from meat, a consumer group, the Center for Science in the Public Interest has ranked the ten (non-meat) riskiest foods for foodborne pathogens that are regulated by the FDA. (PDF)

Leafy Greens

Greens are responsible for nearly 1/4 of non-meat food poisoning outbreaks. Sources of pathogens can be contaminated water, animal manure contact, industrial washing equipment contamination or other handling problems. E. coli and salmonella are the most common pathogens found in greens.

Eggs

Eggs can be contaminated from chickens themselves, in which case the interior of the egg can harbor a pathogen like salmonella. Pathogens can also enter through microcracks or contaminate shells during processing.

Tuna

Scombroid toxins are the biggest culprit here and is more common is fresh or raw tuna – particularly if left in warm temperatures too long. With these toxins, cooking won’t make a difference unfortunately.

Oysters

Raw oysters can be a source of norovirus or, less often, vibrio (related to cholera). Contamination can be caused by poor handling or unclean water.

Potatoes

Salmonella is the top problem here, but listeria is a common pathogen also associated with potato related food poisoning. Food preparation and cross-contamination are probably the most common sources of pathogens.

Cheese

Again, salmonella and listeria are respectively the most common pathogens implicated in this category. Pathogens can be a result of the multi-step processing of cheeses, although pasteurization has reduced contamination risk.

Ice Cream

Salmonella contamination from eggs or listeria contamination often from unclean equipment are the more common causes here.

Tomatoes

Again, salmonella is the main culprit, but norovirus is another common pathogen found in tomato related outbreaks. Agricultural conditions is a major concern in tomato (as in other plant) contamination.

Sprouts

Sprout seeds themselves may be contaminated, but poor handling is a frequent cause as well. Salmonella and E. coli are the most common pathogens found in sprouts.

Berries

Berries, like other plants that are often eaten raw, can harbor a number of pathogens related to dirty field water or animal manure contact, but handling by infected agricultural workers can be an issue as well.

Now that we’ve looked more closely at the problem of food contamination itself, let me pick up the topic again next week as I look at strategies for avoiding foodborne illness. Thanks for reading, everyone. Let me know your thoughts, and have a great 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.