Mark Sisson's Blog, page 251

How to Create a String of Success

It’s always interesting to be in this business and read the health headlines. So often, they seek to hook us with the promise of ultimate clarity: “Rehabing Health: Diet or Fitness First?” or “Should I Sleep or Exercise?” The underlying assumption is that there’s a conclusive rule to this – that we all conform to the same pattern, a universal law that will remake the game for everyone.

Sure, I believe our physiology conforms to some pretty standard principles. The Primal Blueprint is based on them. As such, I incorporate these direct-route, often multi-functional strategies whenever and wherever I can. But my work and life experience have taught me something important about these laws and “hacks”. The mental versions of these, when properly and personally applied, tend to have the biggest and broadest impact.

It’s not that we can’t maximize physical gains with certain tactical approaches, but our most dramatic improvements will always come from living out the Primal basics. These aren’t hard in and of themselves but do require a degree of motivation to put in place. Hence, the most significant ploys will always be those that work on the distance between intention and action.

A few months ago I wrote a post about fitness related non-negotiables – the choices we make daily (or at least regularly) that we consider least common denominators for our well-being. For whatever reason, we’ve assigned to them “required” status. Maybe we consider them easy wins. Or maybe we just have some random mental or social association tied to them – conscious or unconscious. Regardless of our specific reasoning, we view them as standards for our daily overall health commitment. No matter what else falls apart that day, we’re going to follow through on the non-negotiable point – to know we accomplished something, to stay on track with one element of progress. This is good.

What I want to talk about today, however, is something more discerning – and focus more on the how-to element. I’ll call them hinge habits, and they will vary considerably from person to person. They’re choices we make that – for our individual mentality – set the board for the rest of our day. The relative success and sanity of the day literally hinge on these simple practices. When we do them, the rest of the day seems to fall into place. We at least have an easier time staying on a solid, healthy path. Skip them, however, and everything else feels “off.” We flounder. Some days we can nonetheless steady ourselves, but it requires more effort.

Identifying our hinge habit necessitates knowing ourselves pretty well (and being able to be honest about our tendencies). It might even entail a bit of self-experimentation. If you’re unsure what habit has the most pre-emptive impact, try out some ideas – particularly toward the beginning of your day.

Maybe if you can just avoid the carb dump at breakfast, you stay on a good track. Maybe it’s getting up early (or going to bed early). Maybe time doesn’t matter but having a solid eight hours does. It might be working out before you head to the office or before the kids wake up. Perhaps it’s a meditation practice or a walk in the middle of the day. Perhaps it’s taking a nap mid afternoon.

Journal about your practices and what effects they seem to have. Make different choices and see how you respond. What decisions seem to play a fulcrum-style role, tipping your day one way or the other?

Alternatively, you might believe a new practice would be a better game changer. How about 50 burpees each day? Maybe a walk after dinner instead of television. Perhaps it’s a big a$$ salad for lunch every day instead of what you usually have. Whatever experience has taught you or intuition tells you will make a substantial difference – that’s what you can latch onto.

Got it? Hone it or define it a little if need be.

So, here’s the next step. Ask yourself if you’re willing to commit to that hinge habit for the next ten days. Forget signing onto a whole plan for ten days. Just imagine applying yourself to one habit each day – your hinge habit. There’s no need to worry about the rest.

The idea here is to establish a string of successes – accomplishing one single, strategic task each day for ten full days. I’ll even post a handy PDF here that you can print off and stick on the fridge. (But you can always use a notebook or make a quick Excel spreadsheet.) Each day all you have to do is literally check off whether you performed that one task.

Consider the list an easy way you can keep yourself accountable and motivated. Sure, it’s not groundbreaking, but sometimes the simplest things just work. Who’s with me on that?

We’re going for only task here. Push yourself to make that goal every day but don’t beat yourself up if you miss a day. That said, take the string concept to heart. Aim for perfection on this choice as much as you reasonably can. See how much your life and choices change in this ten day period. What do you think will shift? Are you willing to be surprised?

Thanks for reading, everyone. I’m curious to know: what’s your hinge habit? Share your commitment on the board and your support for others’ string of success.

Dear Mark: Anti-Paleo Guardian Column (Plus, Did Big Brains Need Carbs?)

For today’s edition of Dear Mark, I’m answering one question. First up is the latest anti-paleo piece of clickbait, this time from the Guardian. Apparently the ancestral health movement has had a really bad year or something, and we’re barely hanging on after being dealt a series of devastating blows from the scientific community. Will we make it? Find out below. I also use the original question to springboard into a larger discussion on the new study claiming that carbs were necessary for the evolution of the enormous human brain. The media is selling it as a total refutation of the Primal way of eating, but I’m not so sure. It turns out we have way more in common than you might think from reading the headlines.

Let’s go:

I would just so love you and your team to tear this pile of rubbish to shreds…..

What Paleo diet experts think – and why they’re wrong

I am tempted to do it myself but I fear I would use the words ‘uninformed’, ‘cherry picking’ and ‘moron’ too frequently….

All the best,

(Primal Blueprint certified) Jess x

It’s difficult to know where to start. I don’t want to tear into it too hard because that’d be like beating a six-year old in a game of pick-up basketball, so I’ll just go down the line and gently address each piece of evidence for paleo’s “bad year.”

Let’s start with the beginning. The author’s first piece of evidence is Jamie Scott’s retirement of the That Paleo Guy moniker late last year. Does that hold up?

Well, ask Jamie. The link provided by the Guardian sends readers to Jamie’s response to the Guardian column. How meta.

As it turns out, Jamie Scott didn’t leave paleo because of a sudden realization that the tenets of paleo eating and living weren’t supported by the scientific literature. He still finds value in the ancestral perspective as an effective framework for human health, fitness, and nutrition. Instead, Jamie viewed his departure from the movement as a disavowal of the paleofication of processed junk food — treats, cakes, cookies, and other things that are only nominally paleo because they contain almond flour instead of wheat flour — and a step forward, not back, for the  movement as a whole. Jamie felt his “disavowal” of paleo was being taken out of context and used to support a false argument, so he asked the Guardian author (James Bry) to remove his name from the article. Bry declined, and I’m actually glad he declined because anyone who follows the provided link will get the true story from the blogger formerly-known-as-That Paleo Guy himself.

Next, Bry mentions the low-fat/moderate-carb study that just came out. The implication is that the study threw the entire community into disarray, but the reality is that we took it pretty well. In my coverage last week, I didn’t trash it, get defensive, or discard its conclusions. I admitted it succeeded in doing what it set out to do but also that it wasn’t the nail in the coffin for the efficacy of low-carb diets for a few reasons:

Metabolic chamber studies, while helpful for elucidating mechanisms, aren’t representative of real life dieting — and the author of the study agrees.
The low-carb group had to burn through their glycogen before they could really turn up the fat burning.
Results weren’t homogenous, with insulin sensitive subjects burning more fat on low-fat than insulin resistant subjects.
It was only six days long.

Oh and of course, paleo is “meat-forward,” even though we eat more vegetables than most vegetarians, our plates are dominated by mounds of leafy green things, our idea of dessert is a bowl of colorful berries, and I’ve argued for the essentiality of plant foods.

Bry’s diatribe isn’t really worth much more space, but he does bring up (and continually refer to as a refutation of our entire movement) an interesting new paper about the importance of starch in human brain evolution. Contrary to the media coverage of it, the actual Hardy paper is a hypothesis. Does the hypothesis set us back?

Of course not. First of all, the importance of starchy tubers in early human diets isn’t some huge blow to ancestral health. We’ve been talking tubers for years, and it’s well known that tubers are fallback foods for many extant hunter-gatherers (who, again, aren’t perfect corollaries for paleolithic hunter-gatherers, but they’re important pieces of the puzzle). For my money, tubers are the best source of concentrated carbohydrate a human can eat (provided that human needs a dense source of carbs).

Second, the Primal eating plan isn’t necessarily low-carb. I’m not sure how many times I need to say it for it to sink in. I regularly recommend upwards of 150 grams of carbs per day, and even more for highly active individuals who can actually use the carbs. 150 grams of carbs is more potatoes than you think.

Third, although the media coverage tended to present human brain evolution as dependent on either carbs or meat, it’s not a binary choice. Hardy’s hypothesis suggests that starch made a vital contribution to human brain size — not the only contribution. It isn’t one or the other. Hardy merely presents starch as a contributing factor, albeit a necessary one, of human brain evolution. I don’t disagree.

Fourth, Hardy’s hypothesis appears to rest on the correlation between the invention of cooking and the increase in copies of genes coding for salivary amylase. That is, as humans began cooking their starchy, fibrous tubers, the amount of salivary amylase humans produced increased to allow greater utilization of preformed glucose formed by cooking, and this prompted an acceleration in human brain growth beginning 800 thousand years ago (kya). This is compelling, but I’m not sure it all lines up. According to a recent paper, salivary amylase gene duplications arose in humans sometime after our divergence from Neanderthals 600 kya and before our adoption of agriculture 10 kya. If that’s true, our brain size began accelerating before we started making more copies of the salivary amylase gene. Though cooked starches still could have (and likely did) played a role, it appears that salivary amylase gene duplication wasn’t involved, at least from the start.

Overall, the likelier hypothesis is that cooking of food in general allowed greater calorie intake and a bigger brain. There’s nothing special about preformed glucose. Whether we ate glucose directly, made it from protein or fat, or ate enough fat to reduce our glucose needs throughout the body and reserve it for truly essential organs and physiological processes, the important thing is that we had access to concentrated sources of calories. Cooking made that possible. I think starches were necessary but not sufficient (both meat, fat, seafood, and marine fat (PDF) would have something to say about that), and Hardy would likely agree.

Heck, my favorite sequence in the article occurs when Bry criticizes me for recommending 100-150 grams of carbs per day, only to reference Hardy’s 150 g/day recommendations as a refutation of mine. We’re not so different after all.

Back to the Guardian: C’mon, journalists. I understand the draw of spending a couple hours writing a quick and easy clickbait article that you know will get the views, but spend a little more time. You can do a lot better. Or maybe not. There was that professor who wrote an entire book arguing against ancestral health, presumably spending more than an afternoon on it. She ended up agreeing with most of what we actually say in this community, arguing against anonymous internet commenters rather than actual thought leaders, and recommending a closer look into evolutionary mismatches between our genes and our environment (which sounds awfully familiar to me). I guess the problem isn’t your arguments, or the amount of time you spend on them. It’s that you’re arguing against a way of living, eating, and moving that just works. You’re arguing against a moving target, a health movement that follows the evidence and reevaluates old tenets when necessary.

That’s tough to beat. Good luck to you.

What do you think, folks? Did the Guardian article land a serious blow to the movement? Are we having a bad year? And what about the carb/big brain paper — does that change how you approach diet?

Thanks for reading, all.

Weekend Link Love – Edition 362

I’m giving away three full-ride scholarships to the Primal Blueprint Expert Certification program to deserving individuals. If you’d like to be one of them, learn all the details here and submit your application by August 25.

Research of the Week

According to fMRI, stress makes junk food harder to resist.

New safety guidelines for water drinking during exercise: “Using the innate thirst mechanism to guide fluid consumption is a strategy that should limit drinking in excess and developing hyponatremia while providing sufficient fluid to prevent excessive dehydration.”

Social participation in religious organizations is associated with a decline in depressive symptoms, while participation in political organizations is associated with an increase.

Personal pedaling workstations increase worker physical activity, reduce sedentism, improve resting heart rate, and lower body fat.

Poor sleep disrupts our relationships.

New Primal Blueprint Podcasts

Episode 81: Chuck Hixson: Host Brad Kearns sits down with Chuck Hixson, CEO of a company making a revolutionary new recovery device. The Rapid Thermal Exchange cooling glove applies cold water and a vacuum effect to the network of veins in the palm of your hand that regulates body temperature. By wearing the glove, athletes can quickly lower body temperature, increase performance, and make rapid recoveries from intense workouts. In today’s podcast, you’ll learn all about the glove and what it can do for you.

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.

7 Childhood Activities That Can Make You Healthier and Happier
Seize the Day: Win a Primal Scholarship
Introducing PrimalBeat HRV

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

We are artists and our lives are the medium.

A nice essay on the solace and simple pleasures found in the forest.

Media, Schmedia

As a kind of Stone Age-Ren Faire experiment, three Neolithic-enthusiasts are hiking across Germany, wearing rough linen tunics and animal skins, eating peas, barley, and lentils, and sleeping under the stars with sacks of straw as bedding.

The FDA approves pretty much every drug it reviews.

A letter to the New England Journal of Medicine warns against the effects GMO-enabled herbicide overuse may have on public health.

Everything Else

Those darn kids and their grass-fed beef.

Rock throwing may have helped make us human.

How an 87-year old former dentist with deteriorating health used weights and intervals to become a 96-year old sprinting champion.

A long read, but worth it for prospective parents: Gut Health in Early Life: Significance of the Gut Microbiota and Nutrition for Development and Future Health.

What happens when you stare into another person’s eyes for ten minutes straight?

The Onion is running articles sponsored by the dairy industry. Still, you can’t deny the greatness of their content.

How to use the surprisingly versatile wok.

Tips and insights from a grass-fed rancher.

Paleo restaurant goes vegan, loyal customers balk, original investors sue.

Recipe Corner

Want something crispy? Butternut squash chips do the trick.
Sometimes, you just want some ice cream. Make it very berry paleo ice cream.

Time Capsule

One year ago (Aug 25 – Aug 31)

Why We Eat: Cravings – Why cravings happen.
The High Cost of Commuting – The cost of commuting is measured in more than dollars (but dollars count, too).

Comment of the Week

The one and only time I ate at Chipotle, I got a foil-wrapped burrito that was so dry and starchy (wheat, rice, beans) that it practically had to be scraped off the roof of my mouth with a putty knife. I don’t know how people can eat those things.

– It’s only a matter of time: Buy a large burrito, get a free putty knife!

Sesame Teriyaki Chicken Wings

This is a guest post from Juli Bauer of PaleOMG.

Well hello you beautiful person, you. Juli Bauer here from PaleOMG. I’m a girl who loves the simple things in life: food, fashion and fitness. I can’t get enough of any of those things. So every week I’m sharing my Weekly Workouts, my many paleo recipes AND my Fashion Fridays all in hopes of getting you inspired in and outside of the kitchen.

I’ve been doing this paleo thing for about 5 years now and can’t get enough of it. But I know that sometimes meals can get a little boring and even daunting at times. That’s where I come in to help your kitchen come alive. Since I’ve become so comfortable with paleo and I have really found a paleo lifestyle that works for me, I’m passing that knowledge onto you in my new cookbook Juli Bauer’s Paleo Cookbook. My third and best cookbook yet is all about figuring out a paleo that works for you and your lifestyle. Whether you eat paleo, primal or maybe just use the 80/20 rule, I want to help you find a way of eating that makes you feel the best you’ve ever felt.

And with Juli Bauer’s Paleo Cookbook, it all starts with delicious, simple food that uses easy-to-find ingredients so you can create easy-to-make recipes. In my new cookbook, you’ll find over 100 recipes that range from sweet or savory breakfasts, to entrees, to side dishes, and then some decadent desserts. Recipes range from some Asian inspired recipes such as Moo Shu Pork, to Italian recipes like homemade pizza and Meatballs in a Red Sauce, to just simple American inspired recipes such as my crazy easy, fall off the bone Slow Cooker Ribs. No matter what recipe you try in Juli Bauer’s Paleo Cookbook, you’ll soon see that delicious recipes can be incredibly easy to make and even better to devour.

Here’s a sneak peek recipe inside my cookbook that released August 18th, 2015, to help you get excited about cooking again! Believe me, these are so crazy easy that you’re going to want to eat wings every night!

Serves: 4

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 50 minutes

Ingredients:

2 pounds chicken wings and/or drumsticks
1 teaspoon coarse sea salt 1⁄2 teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoons melted coconut oil, butter, or ghee
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
1⁄2 cup coconut aminos
3 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon chili sauce
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1⁄2 teaspoon fish sauce
1⁄2 cup raw cashews, roughly chopped
2 tablespoons sesame seeds 1 scallion, sliced, for garnish

Directions:

Place an oven rack in the top position and preheat the oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with foil and place a wire rack on top.
Place the chicken wings on the wire rack and sprinkle with the salt and pepper. Bake for 50 minutes or until crispy.
While the wings are cooking, heat the coconut oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the garlic and ginger and cook until fragrant, about 2 minutes.
Reduce the heat to medium-low and add the coconut aminos, honey, chili sauce, sesame oil, and fish sauce. Bring to a slow boil, reduce the heat, and let the sauce reduce, whisking a couple times to keep it from burning. Once the sauce has reduced by about one- third and coats the back of a spoon, pour it into a large mixing bowl.
In a small sauté pan over medium heat, toast the cashews until browned, tossing them for less than 10 minutes to keep them from burning.
Add the crispy wings to the bowl with the sauce and toss to coat. Place the wings on a large serving plate and pour any remaining sauce over the wings. Sprinkle with the sesame seeds, then garnish with the toasted cashews and sliced scallion.

Goodbye Conventional Wisdom and Chronic Pain

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!

Before I get into my success story, I just wanted to thank you for all that you do!! You’ve been an incredible resource and inspiration for me as I’ve gone through this Primal adventure. I look forward to checking your blog and knowing that I will be given quality information backed by sources I can read through as well. I absolutely love it!

Now a tiny bit of background: my name is Angela Smith, I’m 25 and live in the great city of Minneapolis, MN. I grew up in Fargo, ND – not the greatest place to grow up considering the winters are long and harsh. My parents were both meat-and-potatoes type of people, so I grew up on a fairly decent diet of meats, saturated fats, and minimally processed carbs. That is, until my preteen years. As a fairly active child, the winters were long and boring. I turned to the comfort of sweets, baked goods, movies, and books. Once I was hooked on sugar, I began emotionally eating as well. As my addiction progressed, the turmoil intensified and I became depressed. I soon began to battle anorexia and bulimia, though I would never admit it at the time. When I binged, it was sleeves of cookies, bags of chips; needless to say I was unhappy and feeding my unhappiness. I dropped to a startling 135 at 5’8,” and was concerned I was still too large; all the while people became concerned I was too thin. By then my hunger had all but waned and I didn’t binge as frequently.

In about a year’s time, I was peer pressured into joining track; I was very thankful. I began running with the distance team and running made me happy. Immediately, I remembered the active child from years back and began eating to run. An elective in high school regarding sports nutrition piqued my interest in knowing what to put in my body and I began researching. I read and read and read about eating clean -minimizing bad fats, eating good fats, minimizing the simple sugars and eating more whole grains – it all resonated with me except for their hatred of saturated fats. I couldn’t part with my milk and would never part with butter. It didn’t make sense to me that butter could be bad!

Shortly after discovering the bliss of running, I tore my ACL and a cycle of injuries began. It had been a clean tear and it was an easy reconstruction and recovery. I was given the green light after physical therapy to begin running but sustained stress fractures in the opposite tibia and fibula. Following the recovery of those fractures, I began experiencing shooting and debilitating back pain that would cut my running short. Exams showed degeneration in my lumbar spine and a bulging disc at S1/L5. I was 16 and didn’t know what any of that meant. There was no rehabilitation offered, no physical therapy offered. Any strenuous activity would leave me locked up for a week, prone to back spasms that put me on the floor afraid to move. I had long been a patient of chiropractic for neck pain and headaches, but was given the unsatisfactory prognosis that I may be one of those people that just aren’t made for running.

I found a new doctor and she helped eliminate my back spasms; I could work out again but running still gave me pain in my hips. I began dabbling in barefoot movement after reading Born to Run by Christopher McDougall. I took barefoot walking slow, but as I got stronger, I noticed I had less pain in my lower back and could go longer in between my chiropractic visits.

Shortly after I was married, I ruptured that bulging disc and was in horrific pain. The best that I can remember, I ruptured that disc shortly after being introduced to your blog. My husband and I decided to try The Primal Blueprint for 30 days. We planned to have one cheat day a week but the rest of the week we were strict with ourselves. I was astounded by how quickly I noticed the difference. I didn’t notice it on the days I ate well as much as I noticed it on my cheat days. Within a half hour of eating my cheat meal, I’d become sick to my stomach, sometimes my heart would begin racing, and every part of my body that had been injured became tight and sore. It hit me like a ton of bricks that this was something I needed to understand. I poured my time into your blog and began to understand what was happening and how I could eliminate my chronic pain. As I continued with the challenge, I’d feed the sugar cravings with berries and the cravings lessened over time.

I was real with myself when I read through your blog. I knew that I could only change a little at a time, but I was excited for the changes. It was difficult to let go of some of the conventional wisdom, mostly the habitual aspect of food. I still ate three meals a day whether I thought I needed the energy or not. I didn’t see any weight loss, but the dwindling of inflammation and pain was thrilling. There were still bad days but I began to see how easy it was to influence my day with my food, I began to feel the energy associated with feeding my body correctly. I gave myself considerable leniency and continued drinking, continued dairy, but focused on exploring vegetables, meats, and fats. I was sedentary, at a desk job, but I began exercising again with considerably less pain.

Then my husband and I moved to Minneapolis. It was the change that was needed to shake up my habits. When we moved, I was a squishy 180 lbs – it was the largest I had ever been but it was the happiest I had ever been. I understood exactly how I could lose that fat; I was armed with knowledge. My part time jobs in the city were both within walking distance and I began experimenting with intermittent fasting since I already vehemently hated breakfast. The walk to my morning job was only 20 minutes. I drank coffee with heavy cream for breakfast and was on my feet until lunch, when I’d take another 20 minute walk home. Most of the time I was not hungry, but knew I needed to eat then because my other job went late into the evening and didn’t provide an opportunity to eat. I had a few hours between jobs and only exercised when I felt like it; sprints on a stationary bike or elliptical machine, and lifting weights. If I worked out, I was fasted and pushed lunch as late as I could. The walk to my second job was 30 minutes, where I sat for about five hours. Minneapolis has a fantastic bike rental company; sometimes I’d walk to that job but sometimes I’d ride.

I wish I could say that I wasn’t really shocked when the fat began to melt away, effortlessly. But I was astounded. I wasn’t really doing anything difficult. It was all so easy and it was all habitual too – I’m now a slim 160 and lift weights quite regularly. I’d say that the hardest part about it is the varied reactions you receive when you explain it to people. Some argue and push it away; some don’t want to take the time to educate themselves to understand. But now the information is all second nature to me and most conventional wisdom is all but forgotten. A coworker recently told me she was starving and I was startled and asked “Why?!” Silly question right? She gave me the funniest look and said, “Um, it’s lunch time.” I didn’t know how to tell her that I had forgotten what it was like to be addicted and dependent on sugar. But it’s moments like those that I am incredibly thankful for you. Keep the information coming, I’m always looking for ways to make changes and improve.

Angela

What Screen Time Does to Our Kids (and What We Can Do about It)

For many parents I know, it’s one of those prime examples of “what I thought I’d never do before I had kids” versus “what I ended up doing after I actually had them.” After all, most of us were children of those pre-tech boom years. (Some of us were even pre-T.V.) We never had all the gadgets when we were growing up. Instead, we spent hours of childhood being bored and finding creative solutions that had no connection to a power outlet. Our tech toys were the likes of Lite-Brite or walkie-talkies (if we were lucky), not $600 app-loaded tablets. Summer road trip? That’s what Mad Libs were for.

What a different landscape today. Computers, laptops, tablets, phones, iWhatever, big screen T.V.s, portable players – not to mention the infinite libraries of apps, Netflix, Hulu and (of course) the Internets. Let’s face it. All those Baby Einstein DVDs seem quaint compared to everything a kid could do on a smart phone these days.

With their phones, computers, T.V.s and other gadgets, teenagers’ tech use might be well over eleven hours a day of screen time, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation report. The average 8-year-old isn’t far behind with eight hours of screen usage. (PDF)

Eight hours – that’s a full-time job….

How are these hours being used? A Nielsen study showed that 55% of kids 12 and under who used their parents’ tablets played with them during travel – whether to/from school or on longer treks. Forty percent of the kids used them while at restaurants or other events. As for teenagers, over 75% of them have their own phones. Consider the rather striking statistic that the average teen with a cell phone sends nearly 3400 text messages each month. Add to that all the music, video, social media, gaming and other entertainment applications.

And what a price our kids are paying…

Other than an head-scratching study here or there citing some slight advantage of electronically-based “academic” learning, the vast body of research indicates that heavy – and early – use of electronic media impairs a child’s socio-emotional development and can even lead to mental health issues. Consider that early screen time (at ages one and three) has correlated with a higher risk for attentional issues by age seven.

Children 8-18 who showed heavy technology use reported lower grades, more disciplinary issues and increased sadness and boredom. (PDF) Other research confirms these connections, with kids responding “true” or “somewhat true” more often to study questions such as “I am often unhappy, down-hearted or tearful” or “I generally play alone or keep to myself.” Even significant physical activity wasn’t enough to shift these impediments.

Perhaps the scariest statistics are those that reveal the impact of technology on social skills. One study showed that preteens who went without access to technology for six days (as part of a camping trip) had significantly better recognition of facial expressions and nonverbal emotional cues than those who had regular access to their gadgets. (Both groups took pre- and post-tests.)

Finally, we all can guess the most obvious effect of screen (i.e. sedentary time). Kids with heavy tech usage or who have T.V.s in their bedrooms are at a much higher risk for obesity – a risk that lingers well into adulthood.

This is a drop in the bucket as far as impact.

Let me back up for a minute and say I’m not an absolutist who believes screens have no place in a child’s home or education. I don’t think this discussion can be reduced to the “big, bad iPad.” It amazes me what can be illustrated through video or interactive demonstration on a classroom tablet. I’m amazed at some of the things my kids can do as a result of their experience with technology and with what’s available to them (photos of Pluto, anyone?). I just don’t ever want them to lose sight of the fact that the virtual world is a lesser reflection of (and simple tool) for the pretty awesome real world.

Nor do I have interest in joining the angry fervor that gets pinned on some random stranger who suddenly becomes the social media effigy of bad parenting just because someone saw her at the park when she was on her phone and decided to write an article about how she was all that’s wrong about American parenting today. Call me stubborn, but I question the benefit of pinning a society-wide problem on a single individual. With this in mind, I don’t automatically judge the person who allows his/her child to play on the phone in the grocery store line or in a barber shop chair. How do I know what kind of day it’s been for that family? And who am I to know what kind of emotional or sensory experience sitting in a raised chair with scissors in his face might be for that 4-year-old kid? It’s not about judging someone’s strategic use of technology.

All that said, I don’t think this precludes anyone from suggesting it’s time to deal with the broader trends here. Assuming we start with ourselves, what does a solution look like? Let me throw out some ideas….

Ration – but don’t treat screen time like a reward.

Why is it we blame kids when they whine and cajole for extra time with their devices, but then we turn around and “gift” them added tech hours when they get good grades or clean their room. Resist their ploys to “earn” more time in front of a screen, and set your own limits – no apologies necessary.

Figure out a limit you’re comfortable with, being sure in most cases to lump all entertainment screen time together (it all has more or less the same effect). The American Academy of Pediatrics suggests no more than two hours daily for children above two-years-old. (They also offer some wise tips for assessing your family’s media diet and for making a family pledge with rules for safe media use.)

Make dates with the real world.

One of the reasons I think kids are so hooked into the virtual world is their disconnect from the more charming aspects of the real one. When technology becomes the window on the world in the educational sector (guess we don’t need field trips anymore!) and the entertainment source at home, there’s not much incentive to go anywhere else.

Make a priority of taking your kids to live concerts, live performances, town festivals, parades, fairs and active entertainment venues (e.g. corn mazes, trampoline parks, etc.) – and most of all natural settings. Sure, we need to consciously reduce the time kids spend with screens, but the best way to do this is to give them something to say yes to – a better alternative of fun, social and enriching experience.

Rein yourself in.

Too often our admonishing diatribes reflect a “Do as I say, not as I do” reality. We cut our kids off from their devices but are on our own gadgets during all hours of the day – including family time like meals, conversation or bedtime.

Be the change you want to see in them. Give them a model – and the gift of your full presence. It’s heart-wrenching, quite honestly, to read kids’ opinions about their parents’ phones and devices – responses (according to research) that revolved around language like “sad, mad, angry and lonely.” Is this really the relationship you want your kids to remember?

Sure, there will be times when it’s been that kind of day, and spending a bit of time on Facebook while they play at the park really does offer you a strategic (and maybe mentally necessary) means of temporary withdrawal. Except how many of us apply this excuse throughout every day? Employ a different, low-tech prop for the days you really need one. Better yet, get up and let you kids see you doing an actual activity that refuels you – doing your own exploration of a park (with them still in full sight), working on some art or coloring (yup, not just for kids anymore), or exercising.

Become a social hub.

If one of the most disconcerting effects of heavy media use is reduced social skills and nonverbal cue reading, steep your kids in social opportunities. Invite their friends for play dates and sleepovers (just be sure to collect the devices at the beginning and/or ration the tech use). Yes, the onus will likely be on you to host. Give them space and freedom throughout the house with their friends, and they’ll soon find some way to otherwise occupy their time.

Consider becoming a low-tech household (at least for regular but temporary stints).

Here’s where I get a little radical. (This is the fun part in my mind, but others may disagree.) I want people to believe that they can truly upend certain elements of their lives that society treats as givens.

What would it really be like to put all your devices in storage for a weekend…or a week…or a month? How about donating the televisions, dumping cable and/or cutting back the data plans? Would you consider a no-tech vacation? Or how about an intentional power outage?

Come up with a family “experiment” – even better if the kids can help you plan it. Commit to something that stretches everyone’s comfort zone, and make a tradition out of whatever you decided – maybe challenging everyone to “up the ante” a little each time. Talk about how you’ll fill the time with projects, games, outings and other adventures. Your kids might be won over in ways you wouldn’t anticipate.

Thanks for reading today, everyone. How do you deal with screen time in your household? What’s worked for you and those you know. Share your thoughts, and enjoy the end of your week.

7 Childhood Activities that Can Make You Healthier and Happier

Both my kids are grown now, but I still enjoy thinking back on the days when they were little. I can still see them covered in sand while digging on the beach, waiting enthusiastically for the next wave to knock them over, lost in whatever games their eager minds had come up with that day. While they definitely had their share of irritable days (mostly when tired or hungry), most of the time they were pure exuberance and unbridled energy – alternating between a wide-lens, darting awe of what was around them and a laser focus on whatever new treasure they had fixated on.

Likewise, they hadn’t yet absorbed conventional answers or expectations. Other than a few basic rules Carrie and I prioritized, they moved through their days with pure instinct. They let us know what they wanted (e.g. hugs, food) and were likely in much better touch with their needs than we were with our own as tired, busy parents.

As adults we adopt so many “filters” that in various ways sift or dilute or distort our experience of ourselves – let alone our apprehension of the people and events around us. We put down enjoyments to make room for additional responsibilities. We deny ourselves even basic needs (like sleep) in the name of abstract obligations or societal values. Over time, we buy into this skewed definition of what constitutes the “real world” – and end up diminishing our real well-being as a result. Maybe adulthood – and health – don’t need to be so straight-laced and confining as we too often characterize them.

I recently linked to a couple of articles on this general subject that caught my eye – research that linked typical childhood activities (for adults) with health benefits. (Just when our parents thought we were wasting time or getting into trouble…) As we head into the final weeks of summer, I thought it was a good opportunity to talk about how acting like we did all those years (or decades ago) can take our Primal living and inclusive health to a new level.

1. Break out the coloring books.

This one ended up making for good office talk. Turns out some of the bees were already onto this secret with stashes of their own. Apparently, Carl Jung, the founder of analytical psychology, gave his patients mandala pages to work on and color, but he isn’t the only one who’s suggested picking up the colored pencils. Other experts recommend coloring for the stress reducing, even meditative effects. One psychologist notes coloring’s effect on the decreased activity in the amygdala portion of the brain, which helps process emotional responses.

My sources tell me you can find these adult coloring books (get your mind out of the gutter there) online or in most crafting and art stores. On Amazon alone, four of the top ten best-selling books are, you guessed, it, coloring books aimed at adult shoppers.

2. Climb trees – or really anything.

For likely hundreds of thousands of years, our hominid precursors climbed trees for hunting and various other survival purposes. Apparently, it (like many other essential physical practices) left its imprint on human brain functioning. Funny how that works in the evolutionary scheme of things…

Researchers compared groups who did a specific yoga routine, listened to a lecture or performed proprioceptively intensive training activities such as tree climbing and then gave each a number recall test.

The results showed the tree climbers far outperformed the others in working memory – that element of cognition that helps us hold and manipulate multiple pieces of information simultaneously. The proprioceptive benefit – a whopping 50% improvement – applies to dynamic exercises that engages both a sense of physical balance with either movement or navigation, such as “balancing on a beam, carrying awkward weights and navigating around obstacles.”

Moral of this story? Treat the world as your playground. Climb whatever you can. Jump off what you can (without becoming a Darwin Award). Balance along the curb like you did when you were seven. Carry large rocks around the yard, or just volunteer to help your friends move. From a more formal workout perspective, MovNat, Parkour and CrossFit all have elements that fit this dynamic proprioceptive model. Consider it the ideal brain break at work – even if your boss doesn’t know what to make of you.

3. Find a swing.

Anyone who’s taken a few minutes on an outdoor run to stop and swing at a park understands the release a few minutes on the swing set can offer. A key tool of physical therapists, swings engage the proprioceptive system (yup, just like the tree climbing). Another function of swinging is the sensory integration element, which figures in significantly for children with certain disabilities; however, it can also help those of us who have simply been bombarded with too much stimulation (e.g. running around all day in crowds or traffic) or too little (e.g. sitting at a desk all day). Activities that promote sensory integration have also been shown to be particularly helpful for those with post-traumatic syndrome. (PDF)

4. Daydream.

It’s one of the quintessential childhood experiences (well, except for all the over scheduled kids out there) – getting lost in random, undirected thoughts for extended spells. Maybe it’s sitting in class or watching out the living room picture window. No matter. The act itself allows the mind to roam off-leash for a while – much to our distinct benefit.

Daydreaming has been shown to significantly enhance creative thinking and problem solving abilities (with improvement measures in one study topping 40%). Likewise, those space cadet moments allow us to synthesize learning and experience – honing both the cognitive and emotional integration needed for socio-emotional well-being.

How about giving yourself the gift of nothing – that is, doing nothing. Shirk off the obligatory nagging about all the things you “should” be doing to be a productive member of society. Sit or sprawl out somewhere comfortable or inspiring (maybe under that tree you just climbed), and let your mind wander as it will.

5. Create something – anything.

At what point did we move from being inventors of our worlds to consumers of others’ ideas for it? When did we surrender the power behind creation?

As kids, it seemed innate – the desire to design and formulate, build and fashion. Some days we painted and did paper mache. Other days we made mudpies, stick forts and bike ramps. The point was never the product but the sense of excitement and ingenuity that went into it.

As adults, we can still key into this instinct, and the play of artistic creation offers more for the small investment than we imagine. There’s no need to make high-end art here. It’s the act of flow more than anything, experts believe, that elicits the dopamine release and emotional regulatory benefits. Crafting as well as art in some respects mimics the stress-relieving and cognitive preservation effects of meditation.

There’s the benefit of mental resilience but also of personal joy. One study, for example, showed that over 80% of knitters who suffered from depression reported happier moods when they had had the chance to knit. Over 50% claimed they felt “very happy.”

Consider it an excuse to pick up an old hobby – or to explore a new one. Take a community art class or become an apprentice for a craft you’re interested in learning. Let go of the perfectionistic expectation that keeps us from indulging our artistic sides past elementary school. Your well-being will benefit from doing things however “badly.”

6. Hug more.

File this under obvious. Sure, I recall that my kids’ hugs ranged from a gentle cuddling to an all-out mauling. For them, however, they were simply gestures of love and exuberance. Unless repressed by rigid or otherwise unhealthy dictates, children naturally seek out what feels good – and is good for them (okay, minus the candy). Hugs might be the pinnacle here.

Embraces from people we trust can elicit all the feel-good hormones ranging from serotonin to dopamine to oxytocin – with a protective effect that can last throughout much of our day. Our blood pressure drops as do our cortisol levels. To boot, our immune systems gets a boost, and we’re less likely to get sick. No wonder kids seek out those cuddles when they’re under the weather.

Make sure you hug the people in your life more, and take advantage of the effects simply petting your animals have as well. Being an adult doesn’t mean being the stalwart, independent (isolated) figures we sometimes conjure. It means being in mature relationships with others and in honest engagement with our needs and inclinations. Serve the instincts that serve you.

7. Take a nap.

Finally, if all this play tires you out, don’t forget the play hard, sleep hard condition of childhood.

This one is self-explanatory, I think. (But here’s some Primal perspective on these restful indulgences if you’re so inclined.) I believe I might take advantage of this one today.

Thanks for reading today. What childhood activities do you still practice – or would like to do more of based for the sake of your physical and mental health? Share your thoughts on the board, and enjoy the end of the week.

Seize the Day: Win a Primal Scholarship

If you follow Mark’s Daily Apple even semi-regularly, you’ve definitely heard me use the adage, “Invest in yourself.” Why do I use it so much? For starters, it applies to a massive variety of topics that we cover here at Mark’s Daily Apple. Whether it’s losing weight, gaining lean muscle mass, making more time for play, finding your path, or creating a benefit to others, it all starts with putting the work in where you have the most control: you. So I have a big announcement and opportunity to talk about. Just follow along with me for a bit.

Big accomplishments don’t come into the world through sheer luck and happenstance. There are well-trained, well-adapted and, maybe most importantly, well-learned individuals out there who put in the time and effort it takes to start something great. And those individuals don’t just pop out of the womb with all the skills and resources it takes to make greatness happen.

Sure, Einstein and Mozart had a leg up on the competition because nature endowed them with some innate advantages over the rest of us (although I have a deep appreciation for music and a knack for crunching numbers when it counts, I’m not exactly primed for composing the next great symphony or solving the mystery of dark matter.) And that’s okay. Because here’s the secret to self-determination:

It’s the resources we take advantage of during our lifetime that make all the difference in the paths we take and the kinds of lives we lead.

If Mozart never had an instrument to play or a teacher with music theory to guide him, the world would be a little less, well, beautiful to listen to. And if Einstein didn’t take advantage of the intellectual giants before him by investing his time in formal education, he’d never make the contributions that he did. And we’d still be scratching our heads over the fabric of space-time (granted many of us in the lay population still do).

The point is this: greatness comes at a price. Whether it’s time, effort, or money, getting good at something and transforming the world takes an investment in yourself. It took me decades to figure out what it was that I wanted to do. But I always set goals and took whatever measures I saw necessary to achieve them. And whenever I took a shortcut, you better believe I felt it. So the trick to leveraging your own innate skills—your own path to living for your passion—is seeking out the resources that give you that golden key to realizing them. When people ask what’s the most common characteristic of all those kinds of resources, I’d say it’s one thing: education.

An informed person is a capable person. The more you know, the better you can navigate around and over life’s obstacles to what makes you fulfilled, happy and successful (in whatever way you measure success). That’s what inspired me to start Mark’s Daily Apple in the first place: to level the playing field with Conventional Wisdom by educating as many people as possible about all the things that I learned to be true in my research and experience. I knew that knowledge was power, and by sharing my knowledge, I could empower millions of people to take control of their lives for the better.

And here’s the thing. Once a few people catch on to something novel that bares out positive results in common experience, it spreads. Generally, this seems like a good thing. And why not? More people will know more and get to reap the benefits of that knowledge. But one particular problem can crop up as a result. Sometimes, when new knowledge spreads, the conversation becomes so large that there can be a lot of miscommunication—like a giant game of telephone. We’ve all seen this, from sensationalist headlines about doom and gloom, to the junk science headlines you’re bombarded with on a daily basis.

What’s needed in these situations is an authority—an expert. Somebody who can filter fact from fiction with precision. In an age of growing information, the need for experts has never been bigger. Being a jack-of-all-trades is necessary in one sense (there’s an advantage to being proficient in a variety of things), but the value of someone with a specialty, or series of core specialties, is invaluable in another.

And that’s why I made it my mission several years ago to create a program that would provide a way for more people to become experts in all the things I’ve learned over the years. No one person can possibly field all the questions and needs that are floating around the primal health sphere. I, like everyone else, can’t be omnipresent to do it. So I wanted to create an extensive, unparalleled program that could stand as THE authority in primal living—one that gives the opportunity for others to go forth and prosper with complete confidence in their expertise on the subject. And that’s what I did: I created The Primal Blueprint Expert Certification.

I know you’ve probably heard about the program by now. But the reviews me and my team have received from students and graduates have been nothing short of amazing—and a complete affirmation of why we worked so hard over the last several years. Given the program’s growth, from a few humble participants to hundreds of enthusiasts all over the world from every walk of primal life—including doctors, nurses, health coaches, entrepreneurs, students, stay at home moms, and more—I wanted to celebrate by doing something that I’ve never done:

I’m announcing the opportunity for three passionate and deserving individuals to receive a FULL SCHOLARSHIP to the program.

Other educational programs typically offer limited, selective opportunities to honor passionate, driven, eager-to-learn individuals with a chance to join their ranks by offering a subsidy. Additionally, not everyone has the means to afford higher education. So I thought it was time to do the same.

Do you want to join the program? Write up a 250 word or less essay on how you think The Primal Blueprint Expert Certification would change your life and why you are deserving of a scholarship. Submit it by August 25th by using this form. We’ll look over all the submissions and reach out to our picks to grant them their full scholarship access to the program.

And even if you don’t get the scholarship, we’ve made it easier than ever to join, with only $1 down and $89 a month for 12 months.

So now’s the time. I know our program, both from my own experience and the feedback I’ve consistently received from graduates, offers that next level of education and expertise that has the ability to change lives. It’s been humbling to know that we’ve made such a huge impact so far—and there’s still so much farther we will continue to go. So take a leap, and invest in yourself; whether by changing habits, learning a new skill, taking up a new hobby, or, like in the case of The Primal Blueprint Expert Certification, taking your education to the next level.

That’s all for now!

Dear Mark: Low-Fat Versus Low-Carb Study and Plain Ol’ Olive Oil

For today’s edition of Dear Mark, I’m answering two questions from readers. First, I field one of the dozens of emails I received concerning the latest low-carb versus low-fat study making the media rounds. The reports have ranged from declarations of low-carb dieting’s imminent death to more reasonable discussions of the actual paper. The Time article actually keeps things closer to the latter, which was nice. For the final question, I discuss the merits of regular old olive oil. Is extra virgin olive oil the only one worth entertaining?

Let’s go:

Hi Mark,

Apparently low fat trumps low carb. Here’s the time magazine link.

Here’s the full study.

Now the authors DID say not to jump to conclusions. I still am not sure their “fats” were not crisco, margarine, or any other trans fats.

Look forward to the post :).

Best wishes,

Anand

Thanks for the link, Anand. Yeah, this is a popular one. It’s all over the media and yours was one of dozens of emails asking for my take on it. So I decided to take a look at the full text (PDF).

Here’s how it went down:

A group of 19 overweight adults (10 men, 9 women) went on a “starter diet” consisting of 50% carbs, 35% fat, 15% protein for 5 days. After the starter diet, they reduced calories by 30% for six days. The low-carb arm dropped calories by reducing carbs and keeping fat and protein constant. The low-fat arm dropped calories by reducing fat and keeping carbs and protein constant. Everyone tried both low-fat and low-carb diets with several weeks in between to “reset.” Researchers tracked biomarkers, body composition, body weight, energy expenditure, and the composition of that expenditure throughout the various arms. What did they report?

During the low-carb arm, subjects lost more weight and burned less fat. The low-fat arm lost slightly less weight but burned more fat. This was determined by measuring something called “cumulative fat imbalance,” calculated using fat intake and the amount of fat metabolites in participants’ breath.

Should we ditch low-carb and adopt low-fat diets? I’ll give a few random thoughts on the paper in no particular order and you can decide:

Six days isn’t very long. Fat adaptation takes upwards of several weeks to really get going in some folks, especially if they’re coming off the carb-heavy “starting diet” of 50% carbs, 35% fat, and 15% protein. I realize that doing a full-on metabolic ward study with humans is expensive, and they did a great job with this one, but I would like to see the same study extended for several weeks or even months to allow for full fat adaptation. Fat chance of that happening, though.

Free-living people don’t reside in metabolic wards where the caloric content of their meals is objectively determined by an outside party. This study wasn’t trying to determine which diet works best for fat loss, and the lead author even admits that the results don’t mean much for people trying to lose weight. But beware of the media breathlessly reporting the death of low-carb fad diets based on this study. Free-living studies, where people spontaneously determine their own caloric intake, usually find that low-carb diets work better and tend to cause greater reductions in calories than low-fat diets. Low-fat diets work if you’re really committed and/or there’s someone making your meals and preventing you from eating anything else. Also helps if you’re insulin sensitive.

These were pretty healthy overweight people. They had great lipid numbers, low triglycerides (for their weight), good TG/HDL ratios, and relatively low fasting insulin levels, indicative of good metabolic health and insulin sensitivity. What about when the subjects are obese and hyperinsulinemic? Low-carb diets lead to greater weight loss in those folks.

Sure enough, the men were more insulin sensitive and experienced greater weight loss than the women, who tended toward insulin resistance. It’s well known that insulin resistant patients lose more weight on restricted carb diets, while insulin sensitive patients can get away with higher carb intakes and often lose more weight on low-fat diets.

The low-fat arm of the study was very low-fat: 8% of calories from fat. The low-carb arm was rather moderate: 29% of calories from carbs. Moderate carb diets seem to work really well for weight maintenance, but not so great for the kind of rapid fat loss people expect from low-carb diets. Indeed, in the discussion section of the paper, the authors speculate that fat loss during the low-carb arm would have outpaced the low-fat arm were the former more severe in its reduction of carbohydrate. I—and many others—find that severe carbohydrate restriction is easier to achieve than severe fat restriction in free-living situations, AKA real life.

This was not a ketogenic or VLC diet study, nor was it trying to be. And that’s okay. As the authors say:

Given the composition of the baseline diet, it was not possible to design an isocaloric very low-carbohydrate diet without also adding fat or protein. We decided against such an approach due to the difficulty in attributing any observed effects of the diet to the reduction in carbohydrate as opposed to the addition of fat or protein.

Low-carb diets deplete glycogen first, then fat. The low-fat arm burned 2000 more fat calories than the low-carb arm, yet the difference in energy expenditure was only 300 calories. What gives? Since the researchers speculated the low-carb arm lost a ton of water weight, this indicates that they were tapping into and burning their glycogen stores (glycogen comes bound with water so burning the former depletes the latter, too) for energy before utilizing the fat stores. Why burn body fat when there’s quick burning glycogen available, you’ve just come off a high-carb starter diet, and your body “expects” glucose? Had the study been extended, I suspect the low-carbers would have burned through their glycogen stores and increased the rate of fat burning.

Despite the claims to the contrary, the researchers only showed increased body fat loss via measurement of breath metabolites. They weren’t actually able to confirm a significant difference in body fat between the two arms. They even used DXA, the gold standard for detecting shifts in body composition, and came up empty.

All that said, this is an interesting and well-done study — just not enough to justify dismissing low-carb.

Dear Mark,

I recently bought a bottle of Extra Virgin Olive Oil for about $8.99, and yes I know it’s too good to be true. But after tasting, and then researching (insert brand name here), I realised that the olive oil I purchased wasn’t extra virgin BUT it was still 100% olive oil. So my question is; is cooking with a blend of different grades of olive oil (rather then just extra virgin) still primal?

Luke

Yep, it’s still a pretty good oil. The omega-6 content remains low and the MUFA content remains high.

All that’s missing is the flavor and the unique olive polyphenols. Those are big misses, to be sure, as the polyphenols found in extra virgin olive oil imbue it with antioxidant effects, make the oil more resistant to heat damage, and offer cardio-protective health effects. But refined olive oil is probably better than most other oils for heating. In one study, the authors heated various oils to “deep-frying conditions” and checked oxidative markers every three hours. The olive oils made it 24-27 hours of constant high heating before reaching the maximum legal value of heat damage. Not bad, and it’s not like you’re going to use the same pot of olive oil to deep fry for a full day anyway.

As for in vivo oxidation? Whereas EVOO consumption reduces LDL oxidation, consuming refined olive oil has no effect in either direction. It’s not “bad.” It’s just not all that great, either. “Neutral” is a better description.

Keep it around for sautéing or even the odd deep-fry session, but definitely go out and find a quality extra virgin olive oil. Believe it or not, quality EVOO exists at that price point. If you have a Trader Joe’s nearby, grab their California Estate EVOO for $6 or $7; it’s probably my favorite “cheap” one.

That’s it for today, everyone. I’d love to hear your thoughts on the low-fat/low-carb study down below, plus any input you have concerning regular old olive oil.

Thanks for reading!

Weekend Link Love – Edition 361

There’s a new Primal iPhone app called PrimalBeat HRV. Learn all about it here.

Research of the Week

Low-volume sprint training improves 5k time.

“Furthermore, despite requiring lower loads, the front squat may provide a similar training stimulus to the back squat.”

In people with type 2 diabetes, a paleolithic diet is better at improving lipids and glucose control than the standard “healthy” diet.

Trans-fats bad, saturated fats exonerated (again).

To improve your working memory, climb trees.

Physical activity is positively associated with cognitive function in teens (and adults, I’d wager).

New Primal Blueprint Podcasts

Episode 80: Romy and Dave Dollé: You’ve heard of Wheat Belly. How about Fruit Belly? Host Brad Kearns hangs out with Romy and Dave to discuss Fruit Belly, Romy’s new book exploring the causes and solutions for the bloating and digestive distress often caused by high-fruit, high-carb diets.

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.

Is Conventional Wisdom About GMO Safety Correct?
Why I Paddle Board (and Why You Should Try It)

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

The trouble with meta-analyses.

What do runners think about?

Media, Schmedia

Coca-Cola is paying researchers to make the claim that lack of exercise is to blame for obesity, not diet.

That “we only use 10% of our brain” thing, while incorrect and misleading, isn’t totally unfounded.

The Washington Post discovers intermittent fasting.

Everything Else

Tinder for foragers.

The nutritional wisdom of goats (and what we might be able to learn from them).

This elephant’s having way more fun that any of you. I swear he’s smiling.

The Chipotle hack.

Fish oil may stave off psychosis.

Bonobo babies communicate an awful lot like human babies.

Apparently, there’s a bit of a cook shortage in the US.

Ouch.

Recipe Corner

These zucchini pizza roll-ups are good. Dairy/meat-free, too (but you can always add some).
It’s still stone fruit season in some parts, so go grab some and make spicy cod with peach nectarine salsa.

Time Capsule

One year ago (Aug 18 – Aug 24)

Why We Eat: Hunger – Of course, you’re probably thinking. But there’s more to it than that.
Smart Fuel: Mushrooms – Why you should shroom.

Comment of the Week

You can always paddleboard in the East River. Just watch out for the floating bodies.

– Yeah. Nothing ruins your day like burying your paddle blade in the spongy chest cavity of a waterlogged corpse.