Mark Sisson's Blog, page 260

What Advice Would You Give Your Younger Self?

It’s a question I’ve posed to clients and seminar attendees in the past: what direction or wisdom would you share with your younger self if you could go back ten, twenty, thirty years (or more)? The idea obliges us to think about the whole of our journey thus far – how we’ve viewed health or success, how we’ve valued our well-being against other commitments, how we’ve weighed instinct against authority – among endless other inquiries.

The fact is, life teaches us. I’m not talking just about the assemblage of data – more information gathered, more studies skimmed. I mean the self-knowledge acquired – sometimes through hard-won means – as well as the priorities that have come into focus over time. It’s often about the lessons learned through a variety of epic mistakes and frustrating dead-ends. Beyond the neat world of “good life” theory exists the full dimensional backdrop of living feedback.

So, I’d invite you to think for a minute or two about that younger version of yourself.

What was your concept of health way back when?

What value did you place on self-care and self-actualization?

What challenges were you facing?

What was competing for your attention/priority?

How did you think you were supposed to cultivate your health and happiness?

What self-judgments did you have then?

What kinds of actions did you take or resist and why?

What would you say to that person now?

What concepts or encouragement would you want to share?

What perspectives do you wish you’d known back then that you hold now?

What knowledge do you think would’ve made the journey easier?

What do you think he/she needed to hear more than anything else to claim health, vitality and well-being?

As you consider those possibilities, let me offer a few of my own….

If it were easy, everyone would be doing it.

So often we give up on things that present too many hurdles too soon, forgetting that most people will encounter those same hurdles to achieve the level of success they desire. I gave myself this advice when I started Mark’s Daily Apple in 2006. It was a labor of love for the first four years. After those first years, however, the blog audience began to reach a critical mass that enabled me to branch out to books, events, certifications and other opportunities that might never have materialized if I had given up a bit earlier. There were plenty of days when my faith was lacking, but I’ll always be grateful I held on through the rough part and allowed things to come to fruition.

Always invest in yourself first – it offers the best return possible.

Whether it’s investing in a gym membership to get healthier, a night course to become savvy at accounting, a cooking class to better attract a mate or plowing hard earned dollars back into your own business, the returns are often multiples of what you’d make investing in the stock market (which isn’t to say you shouldn’t do that where appropriate as well). In 1984, I put $10,000 on a credit card to do a course in personal development that I felt strongly about (I had no savings at the time). It scared the crap out of me to invest in myself that way, but I have benefited from that training every day of my life since. (Unfortunately, by the way, the course no longer exists.)

Don’t put off being happy for some future date when the stars might be better aligned.

There is almost always an opportunity to find some amount of joy in the moment, no matter what your current circumstances. During a trip to a small, impoverished village in South Africa a few years ago, I was impressed by the overwhelming sense of joy these people exuded on a daily basis despite what we might perceive as dire circumstances. It struck me that this was an attitude that was culturally induced. They looked for opportunities to be happy over the smallest “wins.” I suspect that much of our Westernized attitude is also culturally induced – ushered more in the direction of worry, fear and guilt. I try to do a little gratitude exercise each day, when I simply reflect for a few minutes on what makes me happy in that exact moment.

I recognize of course that the perspective comes with experience. We gather evidence through our lives confirming or discounting a certain belief as we perceive it. And yet…

I wonder what it would mean if we could take certain viewpoints on faith earlier in our lives. Maybe we did. The fact is, the times I did – when I stepped off the cliff and held to a particular path despite no existing evidence – those were the times I experienced the most fulfillment and success. The evidence came later. The times when I valued my own vision and invested in myself – I never regretted it. It might have taken a while for the real purpose or payoff (not always both) of a choice to become clear, but it did.

And I think here we find the real power of this exercise. Most definitely, our advice, when shared, might help someone else – someone younger or not. We can boost people’s faith by offering our own experience of what we chose to do and how we held on seeing it through. We can put a human face and story to what might feel like unrealistic goals in others’ minds. Our experience can embolden others in ways we might never anticipate.

But there’s more. Just the process itself of surveying our own past, can offer us something in the here and now. So much of our lives are spent just getting through the day, keeping up with the routine. There’s nothing wrong with this as a general rule. Be in the moment by all means. However, we do well to step back for a while now and then – not to plan, not to imagine new goals (although that’s good, too) but to assess the overarching narrative of our lives.

What have we been attempting to flee, to grow out of? What have we been moving toward, hoping for? Where have we shown up for ourselves (and others), and where have we retreated? What has motivated us in our lives? What has been the persistent stumbling block – the theme(s) we always seem to be fighting. What have we managed to accomplish in spite of that? How have our efforts and small wins poised us for better things – for the next thing we might imagine now.

Are you still gathering more perspective? Let me throw out a few more pieces of retrospective advice friends and clients have shared over the years.

Let yourself rest more. Seriously, there’s plenty of time.
Find something you really love to do as a way to move every day. Make it something you look forward to – a want rather than a should.
Learn to cook. No, really. Learn to enjoy it. Enjoy experimenting with it. Value your time in the kitchen in a way the culture doesn’t encourage as much anymore. You’ll be healthier for it – and a kick@$$ host.
Pretty much 90% of what you’re stressing about will mean nothing in ten years – most of it nothing in 10 days. Learn to let it go.
Play more. But don’t make it an official, planned, self-conscious exploit: “Hey, I’m going to play now!” Just stop taking your life so seriously. Look for ways you can make everyday life more in the spirit of play – exercise, parenting, work, cooking, etc. Loosen up and embrace your inner fool.
Tithe your time – to yourself, to your own joy.
Look for a job that doesn’t take all your time and energy. Think about the conditions that will make or break your happiness here: long commute – no, long vacation time – yes.
Meditate – not because it’s supposed to be “good” for your health as you get older but because it will help you enjoy your life more exactly where you’re at.
Don’t think of health in terms of components – like add-ons you can incorporate one after the other. Give up the divisions in your life. Live from a healthy center, and make everything else – all your other – choices reflect that value.

And now the floor is yours. What has your path taught you? What wisdom would you share with your younger self if you had that opportunity? Or what perspective do you want to pass on to those here who might be younger – or who might just be ready for a redirect, a transition to something better and healthier in their lives?

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

How Does Ancient Wisdom Intersect with a Primal Perspective?

I spend a lot of time talking about evolutionary blueprints, primordial logic and genetic instinct because I happen to think there’s value in it. We live today with the belief (or maybe bluster) that we’re “evolved” beyond our evolution. Too often there’s a resistance to scrutinize our innate responses to the world, to question our choices or to imagine that what we want to pursue is anything other than deep and enlightened rationality at its finest. Sometimes people are offended by the concept of seeing themselves as products of their evolution. For some people, it’s the equivalent of calling them advanced animals, to which I basically agree (much to their continuing exasperation). And, yet, there’s the crux of our human story – these additional, incredible capabilities that we can access and use to guide our lives. These capacities over the millennia have impressively flowered into everything from science to art to, most notably for today’s post, life philosophy.

The truth is, we’re heavily influenced by the impulses of our evolutionary wiring, but that doesn’t mean we’re helpless against them. Our lucky species developed a reflexive thinking capacity – the ability to observe our own mental states, our own cognitive processes and emotional responses. In short, we can – when we’re willing – observe our own thoughts and motivations with a degree of objectivity.

So, while our primal inclinations are always a factor, they aren’t the only factor – or even necessarily the voice that wins out. In this context, the benefit of understanding our evolutionary default is that we don’t have to do it all the time. We have more options – and can consciously distinguish the underlying sources of our choices.

The Importance of a Life Philosophy

Although I’ve always been a science guy, I’ve found myself drawn to philosophy at times. For the most part, I take a pretty practical approach to it. I want something I can use. Navel gazing doesn’t interest me, and neither does splitting hairs or playing a game of clever semantics. Philosophy, as I appreciate it, isn’t an academic study but a useful template (or choice of templates actually) for life practice.

Recently, I enjoyed a great read for this purpose: A Guide to the Good Life: The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy by William B. Irvine. It’s a thoughtful but readable primer for understanding and practicing Stoicism, the branch of Hellenistic philosophy cultivated over the span of a few hundred years by figures like Zeno of Citium, Diogenes, Cato, Epictetus, Seneca and Marcus Aurelius, although shadows of Stoic philosophy would pop up now and then among the works of famous figures and movements into the 19th Century.

Irvine begins by asking us to consider our primary objective in life – the goal which takes precedence over all others, the goal which all our interests should ideally serve. He challenges us to think “what we want out of life” not in the short-term or even in decade-oriented aims but as the overarching pursuit we attach to our lives. Only when we identify this, he says, can we have a “coherent life philosophy.”

Living in alignment with this ideal is the crux of the “good life.” The Stoics – and Irvine’s book as a reflection of their interests – both define a good life and strategize for it.

It’s a cause that intrigued me and that touches on the purpose of the Primal Blueprint as I see it – how to live the healthiest, happiest life with the least amount of pain, suffering and sacrifice.

It’s why I wrote both The Primal Blueprint and, later, The Primal Connection – as a response to the restless, discontent, searching condition in which many of us find ourselves. What is the reality behind the modern ennui, midlife crises and end-of-life regrets many experience? And so that all-too-common question of personal satisfaction (or dissatisfaction) intersects with that of life purpose: Is this all there is?

At issue here is the threat of “misliving” our lives, which according to Irvine, is more likely than ever. As he explains, most people “spend their days working hard to be able to afford the latest consumer gadget, in the resolute belief that if they only buy enough stuff, they will have a life that is both meaningful and maximally fulfilling.” Sound familiar?

He implicates evolutionary programming, what he considers the culprit behind our “assiduously seeking out what feels good and avoiding what feels bad.” Personally, I see our evolutionary blueprint in a more complex light, with implications for social altruism and even duty, which he highlights as a Stoic principle. Nonetheless, I believe he’s correct that our evolutionary instincts do steer us more toward situational response than overarching purpose.

While the modern age is full of life-wasting distraction, it simultaneously offers us an historically unique opportunity for more people to make the most of their years – to decide where instinct will have its way and where some greater vision will guide them.

Defining “The Good Life”

This good life, according to Irvine, varied in detail among the individual philosophers but as a whole hovered most consistently around the concept of “tranquility,” the experience of relative peace and satisfaction in light of nearly any condition. The ultimate goal, as Irvine describes, is “to make [our] happiness depend as little as possible on [our] external circumstances.”

And, yet, it also seeks to maximize joy while limiting detriment. As Irvine explains, it’s an “enlightened hedonism,” with which we seek and enjoy pleasure but simultaneously attempt to conquer our Desire (with a capital D rather than a particular desire). It’s about developing – through discipline – an unshakable equilibrium through which we can gain the most from our lives and give as little to distraction and dead ends as possible. When we are no longer ruled by our “tendency toward insatiability,” we are able to experience fulfillment at a deeper, more substantial and satisfying level.

The result is, as Irvine puts it, “less comfort and pleasure, but considerably more joy.” It’s a discipline that minimizes our valuing of the external possessions and situations, maximizes our cultivation of our internal capacities and obliges us to live from greater appreciation for the relationships and experiences that fulfill us.

Materialism, vanity and indulgence, they warned, are the surest ways to “mislive” our lives and are the most likely to result in regret. We do better to master ourselves, they believed, and live a life larger than chasing our instinctual insatiability. According to Stoic thought, we’re better off and more likely to experience long-term, sustainable joy and contentment with a sense of purpose, a priority of self-control and a belief in tranquility above all else.

At various points he asks us to compare the situations of those who know or care nothing of a Stoic perspective with those who practice this philosophy. While it’s impossible to do justice to all of what he illuminates about Stoic thinking, consider these points.

In Matters of Emotional Influence…

Do we want to hold on to anger, to use it as a motivation, to allow a sensitivity to take root in ourselves that makes the slightest provocation feel dramatic? Can we let go of anger as a waste of precious life and even contemplate with humility our own annoying natures?

Can we believe that grief has a purpose but that it can also pass? Can we believe that at some point reason can speak to grief and help us reenter life beyond it?

In Matters of Material Wealth…

Can we see how desire for and attachment to money or material goods can cause us to sacrifice experiences, to compromise relationships, and to make choices that do not serve our greater happiness – the kind that in our final days we will take ultimate comfort in? Do we see how acquisition can never lead to contentment but simply perpetuates the cycle of desire and may keep us from appreciating small joys?

Can we accept living with the likelihood of more modest means because we choose not to prioritize acquisition or exertion that compromises other areas of our happiness and tranquility? If wealth does, by happenstance, come our way, can we live in detachment from it?

In Matters of Social Standing…

Can we accept that valuing the opinion of others can enslave us? Do we feel truth behind Epictetus’s saying, “‘What upsets people is not the things themselves but their judgments about those things?’”

Is it possible for us to envision a life in which we are indifferent to what others think of us while still caring for those we are closest to? Do we believe in the impact of selectively socializing with those who share our basic values? Can we relate with boundaries that allow us, above all, to remain true to ourselves?

In Matters of Control…

Can we not only intellectually embrace Irvine’s adaptation of Epictetus’s theory – a “trichotomy of control” (what we have total control over, what we have some control over, what we have no control over) and apply it to our everyday choices? Can we commit above all to cultivating the best in ourselves? Can we stick by a primary desire to “not be frustrated by forming desires [we] won’t be able to fulfill”?

Can we accept a middle ground that encourages us to engage in processes we find valuable in and of themselves, investing insomuch as the process itself (e.g. for health, well-being, professional development) fulfills us – but letting go of “bigger” outcomes?

In Matters of Physical Comfort/Denial…

Can we see value in keeping ourselves a little uncomfortable at times? Can we accept forgoing pleasure to a certain point in order to avoid feeling entitled to it all the time? How can we embrace cultivating mental fortitude and physical resilience?

In Matters of Aging…

Do we believe that life is supposed to always go our way – especially when we do everything “right”? Or do we see the sense in cultivating an acceptance of circumstances for the sake of tranquility? Even though we invest in making our later years as vital as possible, can we be satisfied without our desired outcome?

How do we respond to Seneca’s thought, “Let us cherish and love old age: for it is full of pleasure if one knows how to use it”?

In Matters of Death…

How much are we willing to invest in our overarching goal and committing to a life philosophy designed to leave us without regret in our last days? How do we feel about a “good death“? Do we live with purpose and even believe in causes worth dying for?

What Does It Mean to Become a Primal Stoic?

All this said, what does this mean for a Primal Blueprinter? How does one make the connection between primeval and ancient – and go on to practice a Primal Stoicism?

Just as I claim to merely be an interested explorer on this path, I think the question is open to wide interpretation. Maybe you already have some ideas or questions you’d like to propose on the comment board.

But here’s what I think – and let me add a bit about the primary points that Irvine highlights.

The “single most valuable technique” in practicing Stoic philosophy as Irvine sees it is negative visualization. (I can just hear the energy and manifesting folks gasp.) I’ll acknowledge I was a bit skeptical initially, but stay with me and see what you think.

According to the Stoics, we should regularly visualize negative occurrences – losing our possessions, losing our faculties, even losing those we love – in order to not take them for granted. We don’t have to stay there long, but in imagining these scenarios, we can practice detachment from what fills our lives. We can forestall or reverse, as Irvine explains, the natural “Hedonic adaptation” that causes us to get bored with the various elements, possessions and people in our lives. Without requiring a blatant “catastrophe,” we can remedy the ennui and “jadedness” that too often sets into our minds and, as a result, live and act each day with greater appreciation for all we have. In its proper perspective, I think this tactic (as a thoughtful practice and not a fear-based obsession) is brilliant.

In the end, however, what draws me most to this book and to the Stoic perspective is the focus on and acceptance of what is. It’s about being present to our lives – each moment – no matter what.

This might surprise a few folks who see me as a chronic do-er always in search of the next ambitious development. That’s true, too. But there’s a difference – especially in the last decade or so for me.

While the Stoics themselves wouldn’t likely call me a fitting poster child for their movement, I believe in the primacy of reason and see it as the formidable and natural counterpart to evolutionary logic – when interpreted correctly.

I believe in the power of letting go of outcomes. I commit only to projects where the process itself is worth my time, energy and enthusiasm even if the outcomes end up miserable failures. This way, I know I haven’t wasted my personal investment, which I view as separate from any monetary input.

I believe in gratitude as a discipline. I’ve seen it firsthand in people who have almost nothing, and those experiences have had their sway. Entitlement never did anyone any favors, and we moderns (in the more affluent subsections of the so-called first world) I think have to consciously battle this mental and cultural pest. An infestation of entitlement has the power to undermine and even level lives in a way hardship doesn’t. The best way I’ve found to take on the lulling patterns in which we take what we have for granted is to regularly remind myself of their impermanence. It’s all on loan, and seeing it as such helps me appreciate all I have today.

Finally, it’s how this sense of impermanence and this prioritization of small, present joys connects with the immediacy of our primal ancestors’ reality that intrigues me. To live a life where value resides in the here and now – and to embrace it, discover it, every day as a deliberate life vision ultimately feels like the best of both philosophical worlds.

Thanks for reading, everyone. What thoughts came up for you as you read through? Do you connect your Primal perspective with another philosophy to guide your life and choices – and how so? Have a great end to your week.

A Brilliant Way to Enjoy the Summer

We’re springing into summer, and into perfect weather for outdoor activities—we’re already there in Malibu. I’ve been catching some rays (and vitamin D as a result) while hiking, paddle boarding, cycling, and playing Ultimate Frisbee. The key word in that last sentence is “playing”—it’s central to how I stay in shape and enjoy life. But it wasn’t always this way.

As many of you probably know, my love of low level aerobic activity and sport as play developed from a 20 year career as a competitive endurance athlete. I logged tens of thousands of training miles pounding the pavement and hammering the bike, developing all sorts of physical ailments in the process. At the age of 28, I was diagnosed with debilitating osteoarthritis, and eventually succumbed to chronic hip tendonitis and nagging recurrent upper respiratory infections. I continued my pattern of chronic cardio, and subjected my body to dangerous levels of continuous systemic inflammation that suppressed my immune system and elevated oxidative damage to the point where my precious muscle and joint tissue was quite literally being torn apart.

I had no recourse but to ditch the chronic cardio chaos and opt for gentler movement methods. I learned to train like our hunter-gatherer ancestors who clocked in at least 3 to 5 hours a week of low-intensity aerobic work. I built my aerobic capacity slowly and steadily, protected my adrenal health and immune system, and trained my body to derive more energy from fat and less from glucose, and gradually my injuries repaired and my health dramatically improved. All by moving my body more…and more slowly.

Biking is a great low-level activity to incorporate into your day-to-day life now that the weather is improving, and a fun way to burn fat, build and preserve lean muscle, and maintain optimal health—if you do it right. These days it’s not about racing, endurance, or accumulating miles on my bike; it’s about play, enjoyment, and relaxation on the open road.

That’s why I’ve partnered with a new company called Brilliant Bicycle. Brilliant Bicycles are especially designed for the casual rider who wants to commute, ride on weekends, and just generally cruise—not for the endurance athlete looking to break records at high-intensity speeds. They’ve just launched today, so go check them out.

I’ve been putting my money where my mouth is in regards to the investments I’ve been making, investing in ethical companies whose missions are aligned with my own. Brilliant Bicycles is all about simplicity, so the casual rider can focus on necessities (size, color) instead of technical details they don’t need for their ride and that only make the bike more expensive. Brilliant bikes cut out the middlemen, so there are no outsourced manufacturers, distributors, or retail spaces jacking up the costs. They ship your bike direct to your house. Upon receipt, you can be riding in a matter of minutes. All told you get elegant design at exceptional cost savings with a great experience from the time you order to the time you’re cruising…and that’s a mission I’m thrilled to back. If bicycling is your thing, then I encourage you to learn more about Brilliant Bicycles.

Whether it’s on the bike, on a board, or on your own two feet, I hope you enjoy the great outdoors this season, priming your Primal health system with some fat-activating low-level movement. Stay tuned for today’s regularly scheduled blog post, and Grok on!

Introducing The Primal Endurance Podcast!

Back in November of 2013, we published our first Primal Blueprint Podcast, and have since published a total of 69 weekly feature-length episodes, along with over 100 audio recordings of Mark’s Daily Apple articles. Check out each of the feature-length shows here at the Archives. We started this venture on a whim, noticing that podcasting was becoming pretty popular. Since then, podcasts have become one of the most prominent emerging media forms in our high tech world, and the Primal Blueprint Podcast and the Mark’s Daily Apple audio narrations have become a major element of our publishing efforts.

Articles abound about the amazing podcast advertising power of reaching a niche audience, the convenience of getting podcasts on demand through mobile devices, and the increasing ability of the consumer to completely customize their informational and entertainment experience. It’s seriously cool stuff, especially in comparison to the recent past when our mornings were commandeered by over-the-top radio deejays (different one in every city, except they weren’t that different…) serving up low brow fodder and tons of annoying commercials.

Today, we walk around with thousands of hours of highly customized audio programming in our pockets, ready to entertain us whenever we can lend an ear. This is particularly cool because our eyes often get overbooked reading stuff on screens, but we have abundant free time during work commutes or exercise sessions to listen to audio programming. I’ve heard from many podcast listeners who admit that they often fall behind in their reading of Mark’s Daily Apple posts, but how the audio recordings of the relevant posts allow them to easily keep pace with my ambitious efforts to publish fresh, relevant daily content.

On the flip side, I feel like podcasting is a way for me to dispense my expertise and life experience in a manner that is fun, entertaining, relatively easy and low stress compared to writing a book or even a blog post, and also effective for the listener to obtain information through a different portal than just eyes on a printed word. I feel like the digital age has created a growing body of busy folks, young and old, who just can’t be bothered to read much, but are very willing to listen. I’ve also heard from folks who are computer-phobic, and others who are vision challenged, who appreciate the podcast as a way to immerse in the primal movement without having to read anything!

This brings me to today’s announcement of a spin-off podcast dedicated to matters of endurance training and racing, the Primal Endurance Podcast. The decision to launch a new channel was inspired by the November 2015 planned release of the book Primal Endurance. I have been working hard on this project with Brad Kearns for a long time, and we are particularly passionate about Primal Endurance becoming a movement instead of just a book—a catalyst to reshape the disastrously flawed conventional approach to endurance sports.

In the decades since old timers like Brad and I left the racecourse, participation in endurance sports has skyrocketed. Back in the day, if I happened to see an occasional cyclist pass through Malibu on Pacific Coast Highway, odds are I knew who they were. Today, on any random day and at any random time, you are certain to see a steady stream of individuals and packs of cyclists busting out of the city and headed for the many awesome canyon roads in the Santa Monica Mountains that originate in Malibu. Ditto for runners out on the trails, or the distinctive round white automobile stickers that say “13.1”, “26.2”, “70.3”, or “140.6” (for the uninformed, that’s the distances of half-marathon and marathon running races, and half-ironman and ironman triathlon races). Brad, who has a particular affinity for covering his car with crazy stickers, found a gem on the Internet that reads “2.62” – a little dig at the arguably pompous act of informing the world of the race distances you like to cover.

Can you spot the snarky sticker? How about the montage of the self-portrait from Primal Blueprint Production Manager and underground artist Farhad Mostaedi?

On that note, I admit that I’ve pulled no punches about my serious concerns over the prevailing Chronic Cardio approach, and the assortment of health problems resulting from an overly stressful approach to endurance training. The Primal Endurance Podcast, book, and a planned series of online multimedia educational products designed for endurance athletes are an effort to facilitate a healthy, balanced, primal-aligned approach to endurance training and racing. Yes, it’s possible to be primal and run marathons or do triathlons! However, it will require a fundamental shift in philosophy for many athletes stuck in the carbohydrate dependency paradigm, and ascribing to dated endurance training protocols handed down over generations from dummy forefathers—like me, like Brad, and like most serious athletes who put up big miles and long hours at the expense of health.

While the Primal Blueprint laws advocate a less extreme approach to building endurance – hiking, lots of daily walking and low level cardio (combined with high intensity strength and sprint sessions to be full on primal, of course), I realize there are a great many people captivated by the exciting challenges of the day, such as marathons, half and full iron-distance triathlons, and ultramarathon trail runs. The Primal Endurance Podcast will hone in on the diet, training, and lifestyle topics of particular relevance to those pursuing these ambitious goals. And while my days on the starting line have passed, it’s an incredibly exciting time in the world of endurance sports. The grassroots ketogenic endurance training movement offers a glimpse of possibly the greatest endurance performance breakthroughs in our lifetime. Imagine—athletes setting records fueled by fat instead of sugar—eating less, weighing less, going faster, experiencing less oxidative damage from hard training, and recovering faster. That day is here, and you will meet many of the pioneers in this low-carb endurance movement on the podcast and in the book.

The podcast graphic is also going to be the book cover. People liked the design but commented that “it looks like you aren’t really running.” I guess because I was standing up so straight. Well, they haven’t seen the Great Malibu Sand Dune! There is no other way to get up the thing than stand tall and drive the knees high, like an Olympic sprinter! Here’s a backstage video from the day of Leslie Klenke’s cover shoot, the exhausting cover shoot! Leslie was merciless in asking for multiple takes up the hill to get the perfect shot. Anything for my readers…

We have already recorded numerous fantastic shows with interesting guests offering novel and memorable commentary that is both entertaining and practically valuable. As with The Primal Blueprint Podcast, we plan to keep things fresh and interesting, rotating in different hosts, guests, formats, and lengths so you can pick and choose what you like from our published offerings. Some leading voices in the endurance world have already agreed to be recurring guests, including the legendary aerobic training pioneer Dr. Phil Maffetone (author of The Big Book of Endurance Training and Racing and coach of all-time greats Mike Pigg, Mark Allen, and Tim DeBoom), and former top pro Andrew MacNaughton (winner of over 20 pro events from ’86-’93, arguably the finest pure climber ever in triathlon, and reigning national Xterra age group champion and Wildflower 50+ age group record holder, who offers a most refreshing and unconventional approach to coaching and training at his TheAthletesPotential.com).

While my team and I have all kinds of great ideas and exciting plans for the show, we are more concerned with what you want, and look forward to any and all feedback you are willing to share. What are favorite topics, show formats, and guests? What are the biggest challenges you face trying to balance endurance goals with hectic daily life and your interest in primal living? What questions would you like answered on the air? (You can submit all your questions via email.) Get ready for a wild ride at The Primal Endurance Podcast! We have just launched the channel and already jam-packed it with great content!

Click here to visit the iTunes subscription page

Click here to visit the Stitcher subscription page

Help Spread the Word! – Free Barefoot eBook for Your iTunes Review

We need your help spreading the word, and we’ll give you a fabulous free gift for taking a bit of time to write a review on iTunes (populating a channel with reviews is known to be one of the best ways to elevate rankings and listenership.) So, after listening to a few of the great shows that are already up there, chime in at iTunes. After you post your review, click here to access our form, telling us what you published in your review and providing your email address. (The form and this offer expires on Sunday, May 31, so act fast!)

After you submit your form, we’ll email you a copy of my acclaimed new eBook, The Primal Blueprint Definitive Guide to a Barefoot-Dominant Lifestyle. This is no flimsy pamphlet; it’s a comprehensive take on the burgeoning barefoot topic, 34 pages in length with great illustrations and practical advice. This eBook provides a detailed plan of action to help you transition safely and successfully to a more barefoot life, without suffering from the injuries that everyone seems to be so concerned about when you make unwise and abrupt footwear changes. It’s not for sale anywhere; it’s only available when you participate in promotions like this. I really appreciate your efforts to give our new podcast a good listen and share your thoughts with the world!

Dear Mark: Your Milk Questions Answered

For today’s Dear Mark, I’m responding to as many of the questions and concerns relayed in the comment section of last week’s raw milk post. You guys had a lot of them, ranging from whether raw milk can help with eczema and adult asthma, if homogenization is dangerous, why raw milk might taste and smell fishy, to how many people get sick from pasteurized milk. I also respond to reports of raw milk not being a panacea for immune health, and even an active impediment to it.

Lots of ground is covered today, so let’s get right to it.

Here we go:

Is homogenization dangerous?

The initial hypothesis posited by Dr. Kurt Oster was that homogenization unleashes for full absorption an atherosclerotic enzyme called xanthine oxidase. In the larger non-homogenized milk fat globules, the story went, xanthine oxidase is readily exposed to digestive enzymes and fully broken down into harmless metabolites. Oster said that homogenization places the xanthine oxidase in smaller, more novel milk fat globules called liposomes that protect it from digestion, allowing it to be absorbed intact and get into the blood where it increases oxidative stress and triggers atherosclerosis.

This hypothesis fell apart in 1983 when a researcher showed (among other things) that milk homogenization had never been shown to create liposomes, nor had homogenized milk consumption been shown to increase blood levels of xanthine oxidase.

Furthermore, intake of full fat dairy — the vast majority of which is homogenized — shows consistently negative associations with heart disease. The more full fat dairy people eat, the less heart disease they have. It doesn’t establish causation, of course, but it does make the homogenization-heart disease hypothesis unlikely.

While I prefer non-homogenized dairy, I’m not convinced homogenized milk is dangerous.

I”m curious…..I had some really good raw milk about a year ago, but then stopped getting it because it had turned “fishy.” Is that because of the cows being grassfed or having grains in their diet?

Probably not. A mutation in the FMO3 gene can cause cows to produce excessive amounts of trimethylamine, or TMA, in their milk. TMA is the compound that got a huge amount of press a couple years back for supposedly causing heart disease in people who eat meat. Gut bacteria can metabolize carnitine from meat into TMA, and this seemed to be elevated in people with heart disease. Fish is probably the richest source of TMA around, and TMA causes the “fishiness” commonly ascribed to fish (and, it seems, your milk).

So that’s probably the cause. I’m not sure there’s anything to worry about it, but it’s not a pleasant sensation and I’d probably stop drinking it, too.

As an adult, I’m struggling with asthma. Does anyone know if there is a supposed beneficial effect (anecdotal or otherwise) for an adult already with asthma drinking raw milk?

There are of course anecdotes from adults with asthma, but the strongest scientific evidence appears to be for early life exposure. The “farm effect,” which has been recreated in animal models, is strongest in utero and early infancy.

For what it’s worth, taking NAC (which increases glutathione synthesis, similar to raw milk) has no effect on adults with asthma, positive or negative. And aerosolized glutathione seems to worsen symptoms and bronchoconstriction in adults with mild asthma.

Maybe try it if you can get a good, clean (tested), trustworthy source of raw milk for a reasonable (one you’re willing to pay) price.

What about eczema?

There’s no solid evidence of an association between raw milk consumption and eczema risk in the literature. However, people with skin diseases like eczema tend to have depressed levels of glutathione. If raw milk is increasing glutathione, and low levels of glutathione are causally-related to eczema risk, consuming raw milk during childhood might very well boost a person’s resistance to eczema. But those are a lot of “if”s and there’s no way to say anything definitively.

I wouldn’t be surprised if it conferred resistance when consumed early in life, though.

My sister and I grew up drinking raw milk, probably because it was cheaper, having gone through less processing. My sister was diagnosed with asthma in her teens, and I was always allergic to some grasses and trees. The raw milk didn’t hurt us, but it also wasn’t a magical cure-all for allergies and asthma; it didn’t give us superhuman immune systems and make us impervious to disease.

This is an important point: drinking the purest most grass-feddiest raw milk as a child doesn’t guarantee perfect immune health. Epidemiology suggests that doing so improves a kid’s chances of avoiding asthma and allergies — and there’s a potential mechanism, too — but it’s not reducing it to zero. The studies never say that drinking raw milk eliminates the risk of immune-mediated disease.

A good article – I would be interested in knowing how many people have gotten sick from pasteurized milk.

According to Chris Kresser (and CDC data), from 2000-2007 the United States had “8 outbreaks with 2,214 illnesses, with an average of 277 illnesses per year” associated with pasteurized milk. Based on a 2007 CDC survey which found that 78.5% of the US population drinks pasteurized milk, that’s a 1 in 888,000 chance of getting sick from pasteurized milk.

In the same time period, there were 37 outbreaks and 800 illnesses from raw milk. Since just 3% of the population drinks raw milk (according to the same 2007 survey), that’s a 1 in 94,000 chance of getting sick from raw milk.

An interesting study would be to feed half the calves with pasteurised the other with raw and see if there is a noticeable difference over their lifetime.

It’s actually been done.

For four months, two dairy calves of the same breed were brought up either on pasteurized or raw milk. At the end of the trial, the raw milk-fed calf weighed 200 kilograms and the pasteurized milk-fed calf weighed 115 kilograms. Raw-fed manure was normal and smelled decently, like manure should. When the pasteurized-fed calf pooped, it was runny and grey-white and just all around disgusting. After slaughter, the raw-fed calf’s liver and kidneys were a deep red-purple, the color you want when shopping for quality organs; the pasteurized-fed calf’s organs were pale and sickly-looking. When the stomachs were cut open, the raw-fed calf’s contained mostly solid, relatively cohesive waste. The pasteurized-fed calf’s stomach contained extremely fluid waste that spilled out across the floor.  And the nail in the coffin was probably the state of the testes, which were vibrant and full and powerful on the raw-fed calf.

Words don’t do the differences justice, though. Check out the blog post for pictures of the two calves’ livers, kidneys, stomachs, testicles, and overall appearances to truly see the difference.

Now, we’re not cows. And those calves were relying entirely on the milk, whereas adult humans drinking raw or pasteurized milk generally aren’t using it as a primary source of calories and nutrients. Humans are drinking a cup here, a cup there, on top of our normal diet. Even if pasteurized milk isn’t a suitable base for a monofood diet, we can get away with using it as a source of additional nutrients because we eat so many other foods.

If we’re talking human children, especially infants for whom milk is the primary source of nutrition, raw human milk is a much better option than pasteurized human milk. I even mentioned a bunch of studies in the last milk post showing how infants given pasteurized human milk fail to thrive.

I bought into the raw dairy hype a few years back and managed to make myself sick as hell with tonsillitis. I should have known better because consuming dairy throughout my youth caused me chronic sinus infections.

Yeah, raw milk is still milk. If you have intrinsic issues with milk, if you’ve developed sinus infections in the past from drinking milk, don’t count on raw milk being different. It may very well help, and you might react better to raw dairy than you do to pasteurized dairy, but don’t “push through” pain, inflammation, and full-on illness just because raw milk is supposed to be good for everyone. It’s not.

I’d like to know more about pasteurized vs. ultrapasteurized milk. Most of the organic milks available locally are ultrapasteurized.

Let’s just go through the different types of pasteurization.

Regular pasteurization involves heating milk to 161°F for 15 seconds.

Ultra pasteurization involves exposing milk to 280 ºF temperatures for two seconds. This kills all microbes and makes the milk so shelf-stable that it can sit out, unrefrigerated, for months.

Vat pasteurization involves heating milk to 145° for 30 minutes.

You’ll often hear that ultra pasteurizing milk “flattens” the proteins, makes them unavailable to our digestive enzymes, and allows them unfettered access in their intact state to our blood stream via our permeable intestinal lining, thereby increasing allergic reactions and dairy intolerances. This is in contrast to vat pasteurization, which is supposed to be “gentler” on the milk, allowing more beneficial bacteria and helpful enzymes to survive and reach your cup.

Is it true?

The “protein flattening, digestion inhibiting” argument seems to always be attributed to Lee Dexter, a goat farmer and microbiologist. I couldn’t actually find any references in the literature supporting this specific claim, however. And according to some research, the heating of milk can actually reduce allergenicity of milk proteins in people with milk protein allergy. There’s even research suggesting that kids with milk allergy can use baked milk (which they tolerate) to develop widespread tolerance of unheated milk, which is pretty cool. Another study found that ultra high heat treatment of milk made the proteins more digestible, but only immediately after treatment. Storage of ultra pasteurized milk reduces digestibility.

That said, a lot of people report having issues with ultra pasteurized milk. When a friend of mine had to give his two year old daughter ultra pasteurized cow milk because it was the only thing available one night while traveling abroad, she woke up later that night with intense stomach pains lasting several hours. The next day, they found a source of organic, vat-pasteurized cow milk and everything went back to normal. Ironclad peer reviewed science this is not. But it’s hard for a parent to ignore something like that when it happens to their kid. If it works, it works.

I’ve also had vat pasteurized milk from grass-fed, Jersey cows that, to be quite honest, I wasn’t crazy about. It tasted “cooked,” for lack of a better word. The temperature is lower than the other methods, yes, but 30 minutes is a long time to heat milk.

Hi Mark, I’m wondering if making the raw milk into yogurt decreases the risk of pathogens at all? Maybe the good probiotic bugs would kill any bad bugs? Thanks!

To make yogurt, milk must first be heated. That goes for raw milk too. Since raw milk contains live bacteria that already enjoy a strong foothold, it’s difficult for the yogurt bacteria to establish themselves and turn the milk into yogurt. Thus, not just even but especially raw milk is heated to kill any resident bacteria and open up the floor for the inoculation to take place.

If you want to make kefir from raw milk, you don’t need to heat it.

I think that about does it for questions, folks. If you’ve got any further comments or responses to today’s questions, go ahead and leave them down below.

Thanks for reading!

Weekend Link Love – Edition 349

Sweepstakes of the Week: Enter to win a 5-year supply of Primal Kitchen™ Mayo

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If any Primal Blueprint Podcast listeners would be so kind, please fill out this survey when you have a chance. Thanks!

Research of the Week

Researchers just found stone tools from 3.3 million years ago, pushing hominid technology back 700,000 years.

Despite their bamboo diets, pandas still have the guts of carnivores. Poor pandas.

Preschoolers by and large are not getting enough active play time at daycare.

More than half of all probiotic supplements contain gluten.

New Primal Blueprint Podcasts

Episode 68: Nicolette Hahn Niman: If you want to know the truth behind livestock sustainability and the solutions to today’s most pressing environmental issues, you should listen to host Mike DiLandro talk to Nicolette Hahn Niman, a cattle rancher from Northern California.

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.

Get a 5-Year Supply of Primal Kitchen Mayo for FREE
Is Raw Milk Really Better?
15 Alternatives to Burpees for When You’re Tired of Doingxt Burpees

Interesting Blog Posts

Making meals out of insects is great and all, but how about art?

If you plan on eating a ketogenic diet, try using food.

Media, Schmedia

The Guardian gives keto a fair shake.

Also from The Guardian, a look at a new book on proper pooping.

Everything Else

Though the Super Bowl has passed, I’d still recommend checking out the newest edition of Pigskin Paleo, a book of delicious paleo-friendly game day sports bar-esque recipes.

A great (and important) 30 minute video about the legal difficulties faced by CrossFit. If you don’t want to watch a video, read this article.

I think I’ll pass on these burgers, thanks. Although it might be fun to order them bunless and see what happens.

How to grill steaks using actual lava.

In case you missed the Paleo f(x) livestream (and weren’t there in person), the videos, including my keynote, are now available here.

Anthony Bourdain plans to open a NYC food market based on Blade Runner. I’d go.

Japanese foodies on Twitter are apparently obsessed with slathering butter all over their food and posting about it. Sure, why not?

Recipe Corner

Paleo ambrosia salad. It’s well worth it to use fresh coconut if you can swing it.
Fat bombs are one delicious way to up your fat intake, if that’s what you’re into.

Time Capsule

One year ago (May 26 – June 1)

7 Nighttime Rituals to Help You Unwind, Relax, and Chill Out (That Don’t Involve Alcohol) – Learn what you can do to get ready for bed.
Mastering the Art of Self-Negotiation – Complex beings that we are, sometimes we just have to compromise with ourselves.

Comment of the Week

I was reading this thinking it would be a great workout to do one set of all of these in succession. Then I decided to just go walk the dog.

– Hey, that totally works too.

Portobella Chorizo Burgers

This is a guest post by Emily Schromm, of SuperheroUnleashed.com.

Good morning, world! Emily Schromm here. My philosophy is this: there is an inner superhero in us all, and it’s OUR duty to UNLEASH it. I am from Denver, Colorado, unleashing my own superhero by way of lifting heavy things, eating bacon, and training clients all around the world. Formerly on some reality television shows and also recently named Women’s Health Magazine’s Next Fitness Star, you better believe it took some good gut-healing food and lots of lifting for me to feel the confidence I feel today. Now, by way of that good food and online training, it’s my calling to help all I can in feeling that same confidence.

I want to share one of my favorite recipes with you guys. This recipe is simple and wonderful for two reasons: it not only impresses everyone you make it for with little to no effort on your part, it makes the BEST breakfast casserole the next day.

Clear your schedule! Tonight, dinner will be Chorizo Portobello Burgers.

My recipes are almost annoying in their simplicity. My philosophy is that if I can’t throw it together in five minutes or less, it won’t be a good solution for those nights I am exhausted and want nothing more than to order delivery. If I won’t make it, how can I expect my clients to make it?

So that’s what this is: an Emily-approved-throw-it-together-and-impress-people recipe (and tried and tested by many of my online clients as their fave).

I hope you love it as much as I do.

Get more recipes and tips from me by following my Instagram or checking out my next 21-Day Superhero Challenge that begins July 27th! 21 days of workouts and a community to get you to BE YOUR OWN SUPERHERO!

Ingredients:

1 pound grass-fed beef
1 pound chorizo
1 clove diced garlic
4 tablespoons chopped cilantro
Salt & pepper
8 portobella caps

Pre-heat over to 380 ºF.

Combine the grass-fed beef with the chorizo. Add garlic, cilantro, salt & pepper and mix together with hands in a large bowl.

You can use baby portobellos or big portobella caps. Either way, cut the stalk off the bottom of the mushrooms so you create a little bowl in the mushroom cap. For the small mushrooms, roll 1-2 oz of meat rolled into a ball and lay it on the mushroom cap. For the big mushrooms, use a larger handful of meat (roughly 5 ounces).

Lay the filled mushroom caps on a baking sheet and make for 20 minutes. I like to serve these with a big side of bacon Brussels sprouts (cooked in a separate dish right next to the burgers) in bacon grease, salt and garlic.

Not Sure What to Eat? Get the Primal Blueprint Meal Plan for Shopping Lists and Recipes Delivered Directly to Your Inbox Each Week

200 Pounds Down and Grateful to Be Alive

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!

Ever since the age of 8 I can remember being different. The only sports I was ever picked for were wrestling and tug of war. The President’s Physical Fitness Test (particularly the 600 yard dash) nearly killed me every year, and my failure provided endless hours of laughs for the other kids. The only saving grace was that I developed a bit faster and even though most of the kids acted like big shots, many of them were aware that it wasn’t too smart to push the big kid too far… unless you wanted to be seen running away, which was more than their fragile egos could take. I did develop an easy going “jolly” personality, which helped me save what little face was left, and diffuse most situations. At least social media hadn’t been invented yet!

This social stunting continued all through high school and various employments, until I was about 30 years old. Naturally, I tried the conventional wisdom route many times but due to the unrelenting cravings, the most success I ever had lasted about six months. I ended up being treated for congestive heart failure and the doctors propped me up with meds and told me to lose weight or lose my life. Then they sent me home with the same damn low-fat diet I knew I could not stick to, even in the face of death. I went home depressed and expecting to die.

The most important moment of my life happened shortly afterward. I went out one night with a friend, and we met up with one of his friends that happened to have a master’s degree in health promotion and knew the cutting edge research in the health and fitness field. He took a look at me and heard my story, then immediately told me I was insulin resistant and needed to go on a low-carb diet. This was all new and naturally unbelievable, because I knew and believed the conventional wisdom even though it obviously wasn’t working for me. After he left, I told my friend it sounded like bunk and I didn’t plan to follow the low-carb advice. My friend just looked me in the eye and said, “What do you have to lose? If things continue as they are you’re going to die! Do you have a better idea?” I was above 400 lbs at 5’6″ after all and not in good shape in any respect.

I told my friend that his logic was sound, and I could certainly deprive myself of some junk food and at least give it a real try. I did and I was amazed. I read Atkin’s and pretty much all of the low-carb books, and the weight started to virtually fall off. My cravings disappeared and eating became a choice rather than an addiction. I went off all my meds, began exercising, and felt better than ever. I am still angry with the medical establishment for knowing less than a friend of a friend in a bar! They sent me home with a death sentence when I didn’t even really need medication. I could have had a much better life and saved myself some real damage with that simple knowledge. Better late than never I suppose. My friend actually told me I was the only person he ever saw return from the dead. One day he summed up my situation when he said, “You must feel like Superman now. You were so gravity challenged most of your life.” It was a bit like walking on the moon. My weight was so much less than I was use to carrying around. No more congestive heart failure symptoms for me!

I kept the weight off for many years but I slowly loosened the reigns and regained half of it. This time I knew what to do and began taking care of the problem. Then I received my second revelation… Thanks to Mark Sisson of Marksdailyapple.com who showed me that the only thing better than a low-carb diet is a low-carb Primal Blueprint diet, consisting of low-carb whole foods that humans are genetically adapted to eat. There are many other lifestyle factors that the Primal world focuses on to complete the health and fitness picture too and I took advantage of those. I eventually dropped to a low of 176 lbs, accounting for a loss of over 200 lbs.

Initially a user from the low-carb forums told me about MDA. I checked it out immediately. Unfortunately I thought it was the hokiest thing going and thought Mark was just trying to sell goods. I continued to read MDA and The Primal Blueprint; the logic and truth spoke to me like some sort of gospel and I realized this was the key to the last lock. I have been a follower for years now and it’s continued to keep me on track.

That’s where I am today; most of the way back to a decent weight, much better health, and grateful to be alive… but still supremely pissed at the “experts” that I paid good money to that led me (and damn near everyone else) astray and still continue to do so! After discovering MDA I realized that going Primal was the icing on the cake I had been missing by simply doing low-carb.

I want to thank Mark, the worker bees, and Robb Wolf too, for all they have done and continue to do.

Jim Rendek (Groktimus Primal)

Get a 5-Year Supply of Primal Kitchen™ Mayo for FREE

How would you like to a win a 5-year supply of Primal Kitchen™ Mayo? You have the opportunity to do just that today…but more on that in a moment. This is just one of several special offers I have in store for Mark’s Daily Apple readers in coming weeks (lots of chances to win!).

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I was hoping it would be well received. My team and I spent a year getting the recipe just right, sourcing the purest primal ingredients, perfecting the texture, and tweaking the taste.

But the response has been really quite overwhelming. Thousands upon thousands of you have tried it to date, and it’s received almost nothing but positive reviews and feedback. Finally, we can eat mayonnaise without worrying about harmful fats, sugars, artificial ingredients, or industrial seed oils. And not just us in the paleo/Primal community, but others, too. I’ve heard countless stories now of people gifting Primal Kitchen Mayo to their in-laws, using it in a conventional recipe, knowingly serving guests a healthy version of a traditional dish with their guests none the wiser.

And the success of Primal Kitchen Mayo owes a lot to you for having spread the word. And, of course, for being among the first taste testers. The paleosphere is truly widening, and it could never have infiltrated the mainstream without your dedication and active involvement, so thank you. With the meteoric rise in popularity, Primal Kitchen Mayo may be coming to grocery store shelves near you before too long. Stay tuned.

For more information about my paleo-crafted mayo, check out this video of me introducing Primal Kitchen Mayo.

Click the image above to visit Thrive Market and watch the video

As a token of gratitude to everyone who’s reading and who has helped make Primal Kitchen Mayo an early success, I’ve teamed up with Thrive Market to give you a chance to win a 5-year supply of Primal Mayo. There’s no purchase necessary. Just visit this link to register. The offer ends on May 26. 

For those of you who aren’t familiar with Thrive you can read more about it below, and learn why I think this revolutionary online shopping club is the best new thing since sliced, err… grass fed beef. Or you can just click on over now to make sure you get your registration in before the offer expires.

Oh, and if you win you’ll get the option to spend the $500 Thrive Market shopping spree prize on something other than Primal Mayo. Your call! Plus you’ll get a free 1-year membership. Finally, 10 second-place winners will also receive a free 1-year membership, gaining instant access to top quality health foods at a fraction of the retail cost.

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Thrive Market merges Whole Foods quality with Costco prices on a platform as convenient as Amazon. It regularly beats discounted online retailers like Amazon and Vitacost on price. And shipping is free on orders over $49. What I especially appreciate is that you don’t ever have to worry about the quality of your purchases, because if they’ve been vetted by Thrive, they’re trustworthy.

I got involved because I believe so wholeheartedly in Thrive Market and its socially conscious mission. Thrive Market makes healthy eating and living accessible and affordable to everyone by donating a free membership to a low-income family in need for every paid membership it receives, and that’s a business model I can stand behind. Thrive also works with eco-friendly vendors, uses all recyclable packaging, and maintains a 100% carbon neutral footprint through CarbonFund.org.

All you have to do to participate is click this link and then enter your email address. No purchase required. Stay tuned for special contests that will be announced in the coming weeks. Enter them all!

Here’s to thriving easily and economically.

P.S. If you’ve registered at Thrive Market during one of the previous special sweepstakes I’ve held here at Mark’s Daily Apple, you’ve automatically been entered into this sweepstakes. No need to register again. Grok on!

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

Is Raw Milk Really Better?

I don’t drink much, if any, milk. A little cream in my morning coffee, good cheese regularly, some yogurt and kefir on occasion are about the extent of my dairy consumption. But milk? That pure white untouched fluid gushing from swollen udders? No, not really. Not anymore. It’s certainly a nutrient-dense food, don’t get me wrong, and I’m good at breaking down lactose. I just don’t see the need for it in my regular diet.

Ambivalence and lack of personal investment aside, I can’t ignore the bitter debate raging between raw milk advocates and raw milk skeptics. I may not have a personal dog in this fight (for what it’s worth, I seem to tolerate pasteurized milk just fine), and lots of Primal folks reading this are in the same boat, but many of my readers do drink milk — or would like to drink it if a healthier version existed. Raw milk may or may not be that version. Plus, it’s always interesting to wade into the fray to see whose claims are science-based and whose aren’t.

So let’s get to it.

What effects, if any, does pasteurization have on the nutritional content of raw milk?

It reduces the copper, iron, and manganese levels present in raw milk. Of course, raw milk is a fairly modest source of these minerals. You don’t drink milk for the iron or manganese, and a 1922 study, for example, found that the average content of copper in fresh (raw) milk was 0.53 mg/L (PDF).

It lowers vitamins B12, B1, B2, C, E, and folate concentrations. And it degrades beta lactoglobulin, a whey protein that increases intestinal vitamin A absorption, possibly reducing the amount of vitamin A/retinol we absorb from the milk.

What about dairy intolerance?

When a 2014 Stanford study concluded that raw milk has no beneficial effect on lactose intolerance, skeptics rejoiced. Before we grant them the victory, let’s look at the design of the study. Stanford researchers had put out a call for people who suffered from lactose intolerance when consuming pasteurized milk. 440 respondents showed up to the trial, all of whom had what they assumed to be lactose intolerance; in other words, they couldn’t drink pasteurized milk without stomach upset, diarrhea, and/or other acutely negative symptoms. After the screening, all but 16 were disqualified. How can this be? Were most of the volunteers lying? The researchers screened applicants using the hydrogen breath test, a method that detects the amount of hydrogen in a person’s breath following lactose consumption. If lactose is poorly digested by the host (you) and becomes food for gut bacteria, the gut bugs produce hydrogen which appears in your breath. A 10-20 ppm increase in breath hydrogen indicates clinical lactose malabsorption. The Stanford researchers admitted only those applicants who experienced lactose intolerance symptoms and whose breath hydrogen increased by at least 25 ppm after lactose ingestion. People who merely experienced symptoms were excluded.

Nail in the coffin? For clinical lactose intolerance, perhaps (setting aside the small sample size). If that sounds like a decisive “win” for the anti-raw milk crowd in general, though, I’m not convinced. Even though they may not necessarily have clinical lactose intolerance, many people still can’t tolerate milk. Sure enough, studies show that self-reported milk intolerance doesn’t help identify lactose malabsorption. One isn’t necessarily the other. They still have gastrointestinal issues with milk, even if it’s not the lactose. Millions of raw milk consumers, some of whom flout the law and pay exorbitant prices to obtain the stuff simple because they can’t tolerate pasteurized milk, report complete cessation of symptoms when drinking raw milk. Are they all lying or mistaken?

The focus on lactose, then, may be a red herring. The real problem could be some yet-to-be-elucidated effect of pasteurization.

What about immune health?

In 2010, Chris Masterjohn wrote a post extolling and, most importantly, explaining in great detail the “biochemical magic” of raw dairy proteins. The whey proteins beta-lactoglobulin and serum albumin in particular have a unique structure providing two thirds of the backbone required for making glutathione. So when animals — in this case, rats — consume raw whey, their glutathione levels increase because most of the work is already done. Undenatured whey proteins (which, since pasteurization denatured proteins, only comes from raw milk) are able to boost glutathione, the human body’s premier endogenous/homegrown antioxidant used to fight oxidative stress, improve immunity and prevent alcohol-related toxicity, but this effect is greatly reduced or even absent once the milk is heated.

That’s all well and good for lab rats, but does this increased glutathione production lead to any real-world benefits for human raw milk drinkers?

We know that improving glutathione status through other means, like supplementation, certainly helps.

Taking NAC improves glutathione status and protects against PUFA and alcohol-induced oxidative stress.

Taking curcumin (bioactive component of turmeric) improves glutathione status and also protects against PUFA and alcohol-induced oxidative stress.

Taking alpha lipoic acid improves glutathione status and the health of HIV patients.

According to Masterjohn’s calculations, the average 8 ounce glass of raw milk will help a person produce an additional 9.3 milligrams of glutathione, more than double the 4.5 milligrams a cup of pasteurized milk provides. To see if this might translate to benefits for raw milk consumers, let’s look at a pair of studies.

The first examined children from rural communities in Germany, Switzerland, and Austria habitually consuming fresh raw farm milk. After adjusting for farm status (whether they lived on farms), specific location, age, sex, breastfeeding history, family size, and the presence of asthma in the family tree, raw milk consumption was protective against asthma. Compared to children who exclusively consumed pasteurized milk, less-than-daily raw milk drinkers were 40% less likely to have asthma and daily raw milk drinkers were 50% less likely to have asthma. Again, this is after controlling for all other variables that might affect asthma status. Furthermore, if a family boiled raw milk before consuming it at home, the protective relationship between fresh farm milk and asthma was abolished.

Another study from last year found that consumption of unprocessed cow’s milk protects infants from common respiratory infections. Researchers tracked 983 infants from rural areas in Austria, Finland, France, Germany, and Switzerland through the first year of life, finding that raw milk consumption protected against rhinitis, otitis, fever, and respiratory tract infections. Raw milk-drinking babies also had lower C-reactive protein levels than other infants. Overall, raw milk consumption in the first year of life reduced the chance of fever and respiratory infections by 30%. Similar results were found among infants consuming raw milk boiled at home, but the associations were weaker than for untouched raw milk.

Neither study proves causation, but they’re both quite suggestive of real differences between raw milk and pasteurized milk when it comes to immune disorders, especially given what we know about the effect raw milk has on glutathione status — a major regulatory of immunity.

Is it safe?

Interestingly, raw milk is actually somewhat resistant to bacterial contamination and proliferation. As far back as 1929 (PDF), researchers considered it common knowledge that “fresh milk… will inhibit the growth of a variety of organisms, while when milk is heated at a temperature of 80 °C or more the inhibitory principle is destroyed.” But it’s not immune to pathogens, and those who drink raw milk are more still more likely to get sick from milk-borne pathogens than consumers of pasteurized milk. And when a person does get sick from drinking raw milk, however rare it may be, it can be serious. Take the four children from Oregon who ended up in the hospital after drinking milk contaminated with E. coli in 2012, or the Missouri outbreak that put two people in the hospital with hemolytic uremic syndrome, a type of kidney failure caused by E. coli infection. No sugarcoating; it’s the simple truth that raw milk can be dangerous. However, the absolute risk of hospitalization from raw milk consumption is low: about 1 in a million. Most things we do and eat are “risky,” in that they carry some modicum of risk. But they can still be worth doing or eating, like real brie cheese or raw oysters on the half shell or tacos at midnight from a Puerto Vallarta side street cart.

Are there actually any documented differences in people drinking raw vs pasteurized milk?

Beside the epidemiological studies of the European farm kids mentioned earlier, there’s not much in the literature to go on. However, it’s well-known that unpasteurized human breastmilk is better for infants than the pasteurized stuff, with an extensive body of literature showing the former’s superiority:

Raw breastmilk helps neonates gain weight more quickly than pasteurized breastmilk.
Raw breastmilk’s fat is better absorbed than pasteurized breastmilk’s (which, again, improves infant growth).
Pasteurization causes variations in breastmilk fatty acids.
Raw breastmilk contains protective cytokines that pasteurization inactivates.
Pasteurization damages immunoprotective components of breastmilk.
While pasteurization has little effect on macronutrient or mineral content of human milk, it drastically reduces the presence of protective maternal antibodies.

Infants given raw expressed breastmilk gain more weight. They’re less susceptible to infections. Those are major documented differences between raw and pasteurized milk drinkers. Sure, they’re drinking human milk, not cow or goat or sheep milk, but the salient point is that pasteurization is altering the effects of consumed milk. Proof? No. But it makes all those millions of people shelling out $14 a gallon for raw milk because they can finally drink milk again seem a little less crazy and a bit more justified.

Should you drink raw milk? It’s tough to say. Most adults aren’t really missing out on much by not drinking raw milk. But if you are drinking milk, a good, clean source of raw milk might be worth trying. And you can always heat it up at home if you’re worried about contamination. The tricky part about all this is that the population who stands to gain the most from regular raw milk consumption — children, those tiny humans who are still developing their immune systems and are most likely to develop asthma and rhinitis and other immune disorders, which raw milk may protect against — is also the most susceptible to infectious raw-milk borne diseases.

The decision ultimately rests with you. Yes, you, the individual reading this post. That decision should remain yours to make. Not a government agent. Not the FDA. Not me.

I almost forgot. I will sometimes keep a little raw milk on hand. Not for me. For my dogs. Yeah, after a particularly hard hike or play session, I’ll occasionally give the furballs some raw cow or goat milk. They love it and nothing changes in their stool. Dog owners know: a dog’s poop is a direct conduit to his immediate physiological state. If they eat something that doesn’t agree with them, they’ll let you know in the backyard right away. Now pasteurized milk? Another story entirely. They only got it once, and on accident. Terrible, stinky diarrhea. Audible farts. Whining. That miserable hangdog look man’s best friend is so good at delivering.

What to make of this? Placebo effect’s out. Dogs are smart in their own way, but these are dogs we’re talking about. Milks were all full-fat. The pasteurized stuff was homogenized, which could have made a difference. All were organic. I’ve got to think it was the pasteurization.

This is a tough topic. There are definitely clear differences and some potential benefits to raw milk consumption, but there are also safety risks, however minimal and overblown. Raw milk might help your kid stave off asthma and optimize his immune function, but it could also land him in the hospital (if you’re one of the rare few).

The only person who can answer the titular question is you. So, let’s hear it down below:

Is raw milk worth it to you and your family? Do you notice differences when you drink raw milk? What about pasteurized?

Is raw milk really better, in your experience?

Thanks for reading, everyone.