“the Sunday comment,
‘Too often, people are too hard on themselves for having these “contradictory” preferences or beliefs. As if they’re upsetting the fabric of reality or something. That’s not how this works. We can be contradictory. We are contradictory. Those contradictions don’t all have to be resolved. They can just be.’

reminds me of Walt Whitman,
Do I contradict myself?
Very well then I contradict myself,
(I am large, I contain multitudes.)

and William Empson,
life involves maintaining oneself between contradictions that can’t be solved by analysis.

and Keats’ idea of negative capability, that a poet must be “capable of being in uncertainties, Mysteries, doubts, without any irritable reaching after fact and reason.

It’s taken me decades of living to give up my hope of a rational world ?
and maintain myself in contradictions..”

-Agreed, Doug.

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Published on April 15, 2022 09:17

April 14, 2022

Success Story: Completing the Marathon des Sables Using Primal Principles

Today I’m sharing a fantastic success story from Mark’s Daily Apple reader Nic, who accomplished a tremendous physical feat with smart training and nutrition.

Have you improved your health, tackled a fitness goal, or overcome obstacles with the help of the Primal Blueprint? Share your story with the MDA community by contacting me here. Your story will inspire others!

success stories I signed up for the Marathon des Sables (MdS) about a year before the event was to take place in 2022. In terms of race experience at the time of signing up, I had run many marathons but only one 50km ultra race.

For those not familiar, the MdS is a self-sufficient race. There is a nightly Bivouac (to be shared among 8 people) provided by the organisation. Although water is supplied, it is keenly rationed. It is up to you to carry everything else you might need across the 6 stage, 7 day 145-mile course, up and down any Jebels and dunes.

Apart from the required physical ability to complete the race, it then becomes about the planning, training, testing and evaluating what works. Living in England, UK whilst training, there is a distinct difference from the expected race conditions and a lack of available options to replicate training scenarios without extensive international travel; but you focus on controlling the variables you can!

I came across the Primal Endurance audiobook by accident. I had to use up my membership credits to an audiobook subscription, and with a natural interest in endurance running, I chose this book. I was ignorant to the real basis of the book, assuming it was more technical form than taking things back to working on one’s internal aerobic engine. The analogy in the book is adapting your body to be a clean-burning electric engine versus one that burns fossil fuels and generates various nasties as unnecessary byproducts.

Early listening of the book had me fascinated, although slightly skeptical because I am a Vegan. Paleo and Vegan—tricky for sure, but thankfully I am a very basic eater. The more natural the food the better. There is a history of gluten intolerance in my family. Both my Grandfather and Father are coeliacs, so the wheat rejection part of the process really resonated with me and gave me the final push to avoid wheat where at all possible. (Thankfully I am not a coeliac and do not show any intolerance so the occasional accidental exposure is okay.)

The preceding five to six months prior to the Marathon des Sables I aligned more and more to the blueprint set out in the Primal Endurance book, even creating Maximum Sustained Power (MSP) workouts for the gym to condition myself, prior to hitting the sauna for a pass at heat acclimation. Preparing for a multi-day race event presents unique challenges and misalignments with the Primal Endurance methodology. I had to condition my body and mind for the fatigue of multi-day 20+ miles attempts, but I did my best to follow the spirit of the book. (Sorry Mark and Brad!)

Sunrise over the Sahara Desert

A large part of the MdS is managing your nutrition, which is where the Primal Blueprint, I believe, delivered major benefits. If you want to compete over the challenging course, you do not want to be slamming down carbs throughout the race. In the heat and with the other physical demands placed on your body, your want your internal engine to concentrate on circulating oxygen and blood to your limbs to keep moving forward, not on your stomach and other digestive functions. My plan, following the blueprint, was for 100g carbs a day, no more. I would rely upon my aerobic engine to do most of the work. Where I needed to exert myself, I would use the 100g carb allowance to accommodate this.

There is a minimum calorie requirement all competitors must have, which is 2000 kcal a day. The event is over 7 days, so runners must carry a total of 14,000kcal on day one. We were allowed to drop by 2000 kcal a day so that on day two you are carrying 10,000 kcals. Being over 6 feet tall and weighing 180 pounds, this 2000 kcal a day would really be minimal. Runners can of course carry more food as they wish—at the cost of lugging it for a potential 145 miles!

Running gear bag with shoes and backpack sitting on a black and beige pattered carpet The strategy for food is simple: you want the lightest weight for the maximum calories. At first, I was considering tasty nut butters. However, I worried that in the heat of the Sahara Desert, this would result in unpalatable tubs of goo. What is peanut butter made from? Nuts. Nuts were to be the answer. You can get a variety of nuts to accommodate your individual nutrition needs: carbs, fat and proteins. I also took a multi-vitamin and some sports greens power to make up for the lack of fresh vegetables and fruit. The high fat content of the nuts streamlined into the Primal Blueprint and the adaption my body had been going through to become a fat-burning beast! The total weight of my food at the start of the event was under 6.5 pounds (17,300 kcals).

Although nutrition forms a large concern to all participants, and rightly so, often overlooked is the form of the runners themselves. Any excess weight (think middle-age spread) is an unnecessary burden on one’s efforts. The Primal Endurance protocol helped me trim off the remaining few pounds I estimated I could afford to lose by going keto and intermittent fasting without undermining my training schedule in the final weeks leading up to the race. I was at 18% body fat before getting on the plane to Morocco. The MSP ethos helped me retain power and strength whilst achieving my lean optimisation.

A final benefit I found by adopting all the above strategies is that the previous need to tape my creaking hips and knees disappeared! Some competitors might have needed the occasional—or frequent—anti-inflammatory or painkiller through their MdS attempt. (Some of the doses I heard runners mention could take out a small mule!) I thankfully found no need to consume any, which I am attributing to the benefits of not creating oxidative damage by the consumption of grains and other beige gloop.

The result: a successful MdS with a time of 37 hours, 48 minutes ranking me a 241 out of 800 other successful competitors. (There was around a 12% withdraw rate for 2022.) I returned home with 14% body fat and a shiny medal.

Man in red shirt and purple shorts stands in front of Marathon des Sables finish line showing off medal.

Outstanding, Nic! Thanks for sharing your story with the Mark’s Daily Apple community!

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Published on April 14, 2022 08:30

April 13, 2022

Dear Mark: What is Turkesterone, and Can It Help Me Build Muscle?

Woman wearing black sports bra is lifting dumbbell while facing a brick wall. For today’s edition of Dear Mark, I’m answering questions about a rather mysterious supplement called turkesterone. I’ve been getting questions about it lately, specifically regarding its promise for muscle building.

Turkesterone has exploded in popularity, but there isn’t much solid information to go on. Compared to supplements with reams of human research, like whey isolate or creatine or magnesium, you’re flying pretty much blind with turkesterone. I’ve had to sift through animal studies, murky Russian research, and anecdotes to bring you my best take on the compound.

It’s not the final word, but I stand by it for now.

So without further ado, let’s get into the questions.

What is Turkesterone?

Turkesterone is an ecdysteroid, a class of compounds that act as growth compounds in plants and insects. Think of ecdysteroids as cellular growth promoters, a kind of hormone. In insects, they regulate molting, growth, and morphogenesis. In plants, they deter predators. And in mammals, they may stimulate muscle protein synthesis. Several pathways have been proposed for this effect:

First, turkesterone may increase the efficiency of muscle protein synthesis—increasing it by over 100% in in vitro studies (and increasing rat grip strength in vivo).https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18444...

Second, turkesterone may increase the amount of leucine a given cell incorporates. Leucine, you may recall, is the most anabolic amino acid around.

Third, turkesterone and other ecdysteroids may bind to the estrogen receptor beta-type, which is associated with bone and muscle growth as opposed to the more classic “feminizing” effects seen with other estrogen receptor types.

Do Turkesterone Supplements Work?

It’s hard to say. There are few if any human studies on turkesterone supplementation, but there are some impressive animal studies on turkesterone and related ecdysteroids. Let’s take a look:

In one, rats who got ecdysteroids were stronger, longer swimmers than rats who received a placebo despite no differences in training/swimming volume.https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1... taking the supplement gained bodyweight faster and produced more wool. This suggests that it’s not just a promoter of raw mass gain, but it improves the function of the organism (wool production). Furthermore, among sheep who weren’t fed enough food, the turkesterone had even stronger effects.http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/artic... old Russian study found that giving turkesterone to rats stimulated muscle protein synthesis in the liver about as much as anabolic steroids.https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/68518... also seems to improve the resilience of mice undergoing “immobility stress”—the forced restriction of free movement in lab mice. This is basically the most reliable way to trigger a stress response in mice. In normal mice, immobility stress causes the adrenal glands to grow, their immune function to decline, the cholesterol and vitamin C levels to drop, and gut lining to degenerate. In turkesterone-dosed mice, these changes don’t happen as quickly (or at all).https://www.researchgate.net/publicat...

Now, what can we glean from animal studies in the absence of human studies?

Animal studies are the start of human research. As mammals, we all share similar pathways for muscle gain, growth, and loss. There are differences to be sure, but there are also well-preserved similarities and redundancies.

There’s also a significant number of anecdotal reports from turkesterone users on online message boards and social media. You can’t base public health policy or write studies based on anonymous reports on Reddit, but you can read them for yourselves and judge whether or not you find them credible. Then you can choose to try the supplement or not.

And if you look back at the old Russian research, they reported some incredible results. Unfortunately, I can’t verify them. They’re all unavailable as full studies or even abstracts, and even if they were available they’d be in Russian. The only thing I saw was an unverified list of the results. Still, here they are:

Anti-anxietyImproved wound healingLower blood glucoseReduced inflammationAdaptogenic effectsAnti-arrhythmia

In other words, these compounds supposedly do all the “Good Stuff” you look for in a supplement. That may very well be the case, but I can’t verify it.

Is Turkesterone Natural?

Turkesterone is a naturally-occurring ecdysteroid that appears most abundantly in the plant Ajuga Turkestanica. Commercial turkesterone supplements all come from this plant. They are extracts of the plant and as “natural” as any other plant extract you might take.

Does Turkesterone Have Negative Side Effects?

Common (but not guaranteed) side effects include upset stomach, nausea, and diarrhea, usually at higher doses than recommended.

Luckily, turkesterone appears extremely safe and non-toxic beyond even the typical doses consumed by users. Most studies find that benefits start around 10 mg per kilogram of bodyweight, while oral toxicity only appears at 9000 mg per kilogram bodyweight. There is no danger of ever consuming anything close to 9000 mg, let alone 9000 mg for every kilogram of your bodyweight.

All in all, if you can afford turkesterone, you’re interested in gaining lean mass (or any of the other potential benefits), and you’re already training hard and eating well and sleeping plenty and doing all the other things you’re supposed to be doing, I’d give it a try for a month. Try to keep everything else consistent—diet, training, sleep, stress—so you can disentangle any effects of the supplement.

But if you’re barely training, staying up late, and eating poorly, don’t think that turkesterone is going to give you any results. Only try it if you’re doing everything right already.

I’d make a wager than turkesterone might also be helpful for preserving or even gaining muscle when cutting weight, if the studies on anabolism in animals on low calorie intakes are anything to go on.

It looks promising to me. The main downfall is that it’s not cheap and it’s difficult to find high-quality turkesterone you can trust. These products seem to be the best out there: Gorilla Mind, True Nutrition,

Anyone have personal experience with turkesterone? I’d love to hear how it worked—or didn’t—for you.

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References https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18444661/https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18444661 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC524647/https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/685188/https://www.researchgate.net/publication/225989328_Immunomodulating_and_antistress_activity_of_ecdysterone_and_turkesterone_under_immobilization-induced_stress_conditions_in_mice

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Published on April 13, 2022 07:45

April 12, 2022

Are There Any Good Carbs?

I’ve long espoused a fairly low-carb lifestyle for optimal health, but “low-carb” means different things to different people.

For some, it means eating the fewest carbs possible, as in a strict carnivore diet or something more like carniflex, a meat-centric approach that strategically includes some plants.

For others, it means a keto or Atkins-style diet that restricts carb intake.

Some people don’t count carbs at all but still consider themselves “low-carb” because they eat mostly meat, eggs, and vegetables, and they limit things like grains, fruit, legumes, and added sugars. Sound familiar? That’s the classic Primal or paleo approach.

What all these low-carb folks have in common is that they need to decide what to eat day in and day out. Thinking about food all the time can become tedious, especially when you’re trying out a new way of eating and don’t know what’s “allowed.” It’s tempting to sort foods into discrete categories based on macronutrients (carbs, fat, protein) and quality (“good” versus “bad” foods) to reduce decision fatigue.

Ultimately, though, that approach is too simplistic. There are always going to be gray areas when it comes to food. But the human brain does love to put things in categories, so let’s talk about this idea of “good carbs” versus “bad carbs.”

Not All Carbs Are Created Equal: “Good Carbs” Versus “Bad Carbs”

First, let’s be clear: carbohydrates are a component of food, not a food group unto themselves. When people refer to “carbs,” as in “I don’t eat carbs,” they really mean that they avoid certain foods (bread and pasta, for example) or they limit their daily carb intake.

Now that that’s out of the way, some sources of carbohydrates are better than others. It’s not just about how much carbohydrate a given food contains. You can’t judge a food purely by its macronutrient content. I love protein, but I’m not going to knowingly consume chicken raised in a dirty cage and fed nothing but pesticide-ridden corn, even though it’s “high-protein.” You have to look at the bigger picture.

Rather than trying to sort foods into “good” and “bad” categories, consider the following questions:

Does this food offer something else my body needs besides carbs—protein, healthy fats, vitamins, minerals?Are there downsides to eating this? Do these carbs come packaged with other compounds that will detract from my health (like gluten if you’re gluten-sensitive, as I believe many or most people are)?Are there better sources of the good stuff that don’t have the potential downsides?

With those questions as a starting point, we can make some generalizations.

Don’t Get Your Carbs from Grains

Yes, grains provide some nutrients (and they’re often fortified during processing). But they aren’t the best source of those nutrients, and they come with significant health concerns. I’ve covered those concerns extensively in the past, so I won’t rehash them here. If you’re new to these parts, start with this post and this post.

Vegetables Are A Superior Source of Carbohydrates

The benefits of eating vegetables far outweigh any concerns about their carbohydrate content. (And yes, I know that carnivores will have a bone to pick with that, no pun intended.)

You’ll want to emphasize lower-carb vegetables if you’re restricting your total carb intake because you’re playing around with keto, for example. These are your above-ground, non-starchy varieties: leafy greens, cruciferous vegetables, cucumbers, asparagus, peppers, and the like. However, root vegetables and tubers are also packed with nutrients and are lower-carb than most grain-based items.

Other Worthy Sources of CarbsBivalves

Mussels, clams, oysters, and scallops each contain about half a gram of carbohydrate, depending on the size. Not much, but when have you ever eaten just one mussel? A can of smoked oysters contains somewhere around 8 grams of carbs—the same as six large strawberries or a cup of cubed watermelon.

These hardly qualify as high-carb foods, but I’m sticking them on the list because most people are surprised to hear they have any carbs at all. (You’ll sometimes see keto “experts” say that you have to avoid them for this reason, but that’s nonsense.)

Fruit

The Primal stance on fruit has always been to prioritize in-season (and organic or pesticide-free when possible), but otherwise, feel free to consume fruit according to your preferences. Fruit can be a wonderful option for athletes who want to increase their carb intake during high-volume training and racing.

Dried fruit is a slightly different story due to its concentrated calories and sugar content. It’s pretty easy to throw back hundreds of calories of trail mix made with nuts and dried fruit. That might be ok on a long hike, but it’s not ideal if you’re mindlessly eating on your commute. Also, dried fruit is often processed with canola or other seed oils, plus added sugar, so that’s something to watch out for.

Legumes

People are surprised to find that I’m not adamantly opposed to legumes. Going back to those questions I posed above, legumes are pretty decent sources of nutrients like folate, copper, and magnesium, among others. They do contain lectins and phytic acid, both of which are considered antinutrients, but any adverse effects are largely mitigated by soaking, sprouting, or pressure cooking legumes.

All in all, my stance on legumes is that I wouldn’t make them a dietary centerpiece, but if you want to add a scoop of black beans to your burrito bowl, go for it. Legumes pack more carbs than vegetables, though, so factor that in if you’re counting carbs.

How Many Carbs Should You Eat In a Day?

Most people eating a Primal diet rich in animal products, a variety of vegetables, nuts and seeds, maybe some full-fat dairy, and sensible indulgences like dark chocolate will naturally land in the range of 50 to 150 grams of carbs per day, more or less.

Once the average person starts to go much above that, it becomes harder to maintain metabolic health. That’s not just down to the number of carbs, though. The more carbs you eat, the more hyper-processed, grain-based, and/or high-sugar foods and beverages you’re probably consuming.

Note that I said the average person—in other words, someone who is desk-bound, mostly sedentary, and struggles with chronic health issues. An active, metabolically healthy person has more leeway. A very active, high-calorie burner who regularly depletes their glycogen stores can probably eat considerably more carbs with no negative repercussions, provided they are doing the other things necessary to foster good health (like balancing stress and rest and avoiding chronic cardio). In fact, endurance athletes might even add some white rice or quinoa to restock glycogen and provide extra calories if they have good gut health to start. Is it necessary? Not at all. I’d start by eating more starchy vegetables and in-season fruit if I wanted to intentionally up my carb intake.

That said, I never count carbs myself unless I’m doing some sort of self-experiment. I also don’t go out of my way to limit carbs. Since I eat mostly meat and vegetables, feel fantastic, and am happy with my current body composition and fitness level, I don’t find it necessary.

Why Do People Think Carbs Are Bad Then?

Because “carbs” has become shorthand for bread, pasta, and desserts.

Carbs in and of themselves are just a source of energy and substrate for your gut microbes to metabolize. We get into trouble when we eat them in excess and most of our carbs come from foods that are otherwise problematic.

What about Keto? Aren’t All Carbs Bad on Keto?

Not at all. The Keto Reset approach I recommend is simply a lower-carb version of the regular Primal eating style. You’ll need to limit carbs to 50 grams or less per day to get into ketosis, but everything else I’ve said in this post applies. There’s no reason to fear the carb bogeyman on keto, any more than if you’re eating Primally.

Keto folks can enjoy a wide variety of vegetables, and even some fruit, as long as they watch their total carbohydrate intake.

The Bottom Line

Rather than putting foods into “good” and “bad” categories, let’s try to make informed, more nuanced decisions about food. Vilifying all carbohydrates is imprecise, and it doesn’t help people who are just trying to be healthy. We all want boundless energy, superior gut health, and balanced hormones, right? Then you should think about:

Prioritizing nutrient-densityLearning which foods work best for you and which you need to limit or avoidExperimenting with macronutrient intake and food timing to find your personal sweet spot

The other important thing to remember is that food is not the only factor in good health. Nitpicking your carb intake while getting five hours of sleep a night, sitting for hour upon hour without moving your body, and drowning in chronic stress makes no sense at all. Keep your eye on the big picture.

Related posts from Mark’s Daily Apple

When Is The Best Time to Eat Carbs?

Dear Mark: Signs You Should Eat More Carbs

Why Does the Keto Reset Allow 50 Grams of Carbs?

*Post updated 4/12/22

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Published on April 12, 2022 09:00

April 11, 2022

Macadamia Nut Cookie Bars (Keto and Paleo!)

Blondie bars stacked on a cutting board. In background, cups of Primal Kitchen Matcha Lattes and a jar of Brad's Macadamia Masterpiece. These macadamia nut cookie bars are our take on a classic blondie recipe. Blondies have more fun, right?

Blondie bars are similar to brownies, but instead of cocoa they feature vanilla and, usually, brown sugar. We wanted ours to be a Primal, paleo, and keto-friendly dessert recipe, so these bars get their signature flavor from monk fruit sweetener and something cool and unexpected: macadamia nut butter!

Macadamia nuts are a good source of monounsaturated fats, and a quarter-cup of macadamias provides 77 percent of your daily manganese requirement and 28 percent of your copper. And don’t even get us started on their creamy texture, which makes these blondie cookie bars all the more decadent.

Macadamia Nut Cookie Bar Recipe

Makes: 9 bars

Time in the kitchen: 10 – 15 minutes prep time + 25 minutes to bake

Ingredients1/4 cup Brad’s Macadamia Masterpiece nut butter3 Tbsp. softened refined coconut oil (see Notes)1/2 Tbsp. vanilla extract1 tsp. milk of choice1 cup + 2 Tbsp. almond flour1/3 cup granulated monk fruit sweetener1 1/2 Tbsp. ground chia seeds3/4 tsp. coconut flour1/4 tsp. saltAbout 4 drops liquid monk fruit or stevia2 eggs1/2 cup keto-friendly dark chocolate chips or chocolate chunks (see Notes)1/3 cup macadamia nuts

Matcha Latte:
1 cup milk of choice
2 scoops Primal Kitchen Matcha Collagen Keto Latte

Ingredients for macadamia nut cookie bars

Directions

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (175 degrees Celsius). Grease a small square baking dish (ours was 7-inch x 7-inch).

In a bowl, mix together the macadamia nut butter, coconut oil, vanilla extract, and milk. Add the almond flour, granulated sweetener, ground chia seeds, coconut flour, and salt. Combine until a crumbly mixture forms. Add the liquid sweetener to taste.

Whisk the eggs and add them to the bowl. Mix until a thick batter forms.

Macadamia bar batter in silver mixing bowl with spoon

Fold in the chocolate chips and macadamia nuts. If the nuts are large, you can roughly chop them before adding them to the mixture.

Pour the batter into the greased baking dish and spread using a spatula so it is uniform in thickness. Top with additional chocolate and nuts if desired.

Blondie batter in white baking dish with blue striped kitchen towel, macadamias, macadamia butter

Bake for 25 to 28 minutes, or until the edges are slightly golden. Allow the bars to cool before cutting into 9 bars.

Serve with a matcha latte! To make, warm your milk in a small saucepan. Add the Primal Kitchen Matcha Collagen Keto Latte mix and whisk to combine or use a frothing wand.

Three macadamia cookie bars on a plate with a mug of Primal Kitchen Matcha Collagen Latte

Nutritional Information (1/9 of blondie recipe):

Calories: 318
Fat: 28 g
Total Carbs: 20 g
Net Carbs: 8 g
Protein: 8 g

Notes:These bars are even better once they are refrigerated. For a gooier, softer bar, bake for slightly less time.You can add more or fewer drops of liquid sweetener depending on how sweet you’d like the bars to be.Feel free to use your favorite chocolate chips or chopped-up chocolate bar. We used keto-friendly chocolate chips, but 85 or 90 percent dark chocolate works well too.This recipe has only been tested with Brad’s macadamia nut butter, but in lieu of it, you could try using half nut butter and half coconut butter. The consistency of the bar may differ slightly.We used refined coconut oil, but you can also use virgin coconut oil if you’d prefer a stronger coconut flavor. (function($) { $("#df0VIzg").load("https://www.marksdailyapple.com/wp-ad..." ); })( jQuery );

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(min-width:520px){.tasty-recipes-ingredients-header{align-items:center;display:flex;flex-wrap:wrap;justify-content:space-between}}.tasty-recipes-ingredients-header .tasty-recipes-ingredients-clipboard-container{align-items:baseline;display:inline-flex}.tasty-recipes-ingredients-header h3{margin:0 10px 10px 0}.tasty-recipes-ingredients-clipboard-container .tasty-recipes-copy-button{background:transparent;border:none;color:#353547;height:24px;padding:0;position:relative;width:24px}.tasty-recipes-ingredients-clipboard-container .tasty-recipes-copy-button:hover{opacity:.5}.tasty-recipes-instructions-header{align-items:baseline;display:flex;flex-wrap:wrap;justify-content:space-between;margin:1em 0}.tasty-recipes-entry-content .tasty-recipes-instructions h3{margin:0 0 1rem}@media only screen and (min-width:520px){.tasty-recipes-entry-content .tasty-recipes-instructions h3{margin:0}}button[name=tasty-recipes-video-toggle]{background:#979599;border:#979599;border-radius:2px;display:inline-block;font-size:14px;height:30px;line-height:20px;margin:0;padding:0;text-align:center;vertical-align:middle;width:86px}button[name=tasty-recipes-video-toggle] span{padding:0 4px;pointer-events:none}button[name=tasty-recipes-video-toggle][aria-checked=false] :last-child,button[name=tasty-recipes-video-toggle][aria-checked=true] :first-child{background:#fff;border-radius:2px;color:#979599;padding:2px 4px}button[name=tasty-recipes-video-toggle][aria-checked=false] :first-child,button[name=tasty-recipes-video-toggle][aria-checked=true] :last-child{color:#fff}label[for=tasty-recipes-video-toggle]{color:#979599;font-size:.6rem;line-height:30px;padding-right:8px;text-transform:uppercase;user-select:none;-moz-user-select:none;-ms-user-select:none;-webkit-user-select:none;-o-user-select:none;vertical-align:middle}.tasty-recipe-responsive-iframe-container{margin:10px 0}.tasty-recipes-equipment{display:flex;flex-wrap:wrap;justify-content:space-evenly}.tasty-recipes-equipment>h3{flex:0 0 100%}.tasty-recipes-equipment .tasty-link-card{flex:0 0 50%;padding:1.5rem 1rem;text-align:center}@media screen and (min-width:500px){.tasty-recipes-equipment .tasty-link-card{flex:0 0 33%}}.tasty-recipes-equipment .tasty-link-card p{font-size:1em;font-weight:700;margin-bottom:0}.tasty-recipes-equipment .tasty-link-card p a{color:initial}.tasty-recipes-equipment .tasty-link-card span{font-size:.9em}.tasty-recipes .tasty-recipes-nutrition ul{list-style-type:none;margin:0;padding:0}.tasty-recipes .tasty-recipes-nutrition ul:after{clear:both;content:" ";display:block}.tasty-recipes .tasty-recipes-nutrition li{float:left;list-style-type:none;margin-bottom:0;margin-left:0;margin-right:16px}.tasty-recipes-plug{align-items:center;display:flex;flex-wrap:wrap;justify-content:center;margin-bottom:1em;text-align:center}.tasty-recipes-plug a{box-shadow:none;text-decoration:none}.tasty-recipes-plug a img{display:inline-block;height:auto;margin:5px 0 0 8px;width:150px}.tasty-recipes-footer-content{padding:1.5em;text-align:center}.tasty-recipes-footer-content .tasty-recipes-footer-copy{margin-left:0}.tasty-recipes-footer-content img,.tasty-recipes-footer-content svg{width:60px}.tasty-recipes-entry-content .tasty-recipes-entry-footer h3{font-size:1.25em;margin:0 0 .25em;padding:0}.tasty-recipes-entry-footer p{font-size:.75em;margin:0}.tasty-recipes-entry-footer p a{border-bottom:none;box-shadow:none;text-decoration:underline}.tasty-recipes-flash-message{background-color:#fff;border-radius:4px;box-shadow:0 .3px .4px 0 rgba(0,0,0,.024),0 .9px 1.5px 0 rgba(0,0,0,.05),0 3.5px 6px 0 rgba(0,0,0,.1);color:#313135;display:inline-block;font-size:13px;letter-spacing:0;line-height:1.2em;margin-left:10px;padding:4px 10px}@media screen and (min-width:500px){.tasty-recipes-flash-message{padding:4px 10px}}.tasty-recipes-flash-message p{margin:0;padding:0;text-transform:none}@media screen and (min-width:500px){.tasty-recipes-footer-content{align-items:center;display:flex;justify-content:center;padding:1.5em 0;text-align:left}.tasty-recipes-footer-content .tasty-recipes-footer-copy{margin-left:.8em}}@media print{.tasty-recipes-no-print,.tasty-recipes-no-print *{display:none!important}}[data-tr-ingredient-checkbox]{cursor:pointer;list-style-position:outside;list-style-type:none!important;margin-left:0!important}[data-tr-ingredient-checkbox] .tr-ingredient-checkbox-container{position:relative}[data-tr-ingredient-checkbox] .tr-ingredient-checkbox-container input[type=checkbox]+label{display:inline-block;position:relative;vertical-align:middle}[data-tr-ingredient-checkbox] .tr-ingredient-checkbox-container input[type=checkbox]{clip:rect(1px 1px 1px 1px);clip:rect(1px,1px,1px,1px);height:1px;overflow:hidden;position:absolute!important;width:1px}[data-tr-ingredient-checkbox] .tr-ingredient-checkbox-container input[type=checkbox]+label:before{border:1px solid;border-radius:2px;content:"";display:inline-block;height:20px;margin-right:10px;position:relative;width:20px}[data-tr-ingredient-checkbox] .tr-ingredient-checkbox-container input[type=checkbox]:checked+label:after{border-bottom:2px solid;border-left:2px solid;content:"";display:inline-block;height:6px;left:4px;position:absolute;top:4px;transform:rotate(-45deg);width:12px}[data-tr-ingredient-checkbox] .tr-ingredient-checkbox-container input[type=checkbox]:focus+label:before{box-shadow:0 0 8px #5e9ed6;outline:1px solid #5d9dd5}[data-tr-ingredient-checkbox=checked]{opacity:.8;text-decoration:line-through}/* Bold recipe card styles. */ .tasty-recipes{border:5px solid 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ul{list-style-type:none;margin:0}.tasty-recipes-entry-header .tasty-recipes-details ul li{display:inline-block;margin-left:0.5em;margin-right:0.5em;font-size:1em;line-height:2.5em;color:#fff}@media only screen and (max-width:520px){.tasty-recipes-entry-header .tasty-recipes-details .detail-icon{height:0.8em;margin-top:0.4em}.tasty-recipes-entry-header .tasty-recipes-details ul li{font-size:0.875em;line-height:1.75em}}@media only screen and (min-width:520px){.tasty-recipes-entry-header .tasty-recipes-details .detail-icon{height:1em;margin-top:0.6em}.tasty-recipes-entry-header .tasty-recipes-details ul li{font-size:1em;line-height:2.5em}}.tasty-recipes-entry-header .tasty-recipes-details .tasty-recipes-label{font-style:italic;color:#b7bbc6;margin-right:0.125em}.tasty-recipes-entry-header .tasty-recipes-details .detail-icon{vertical-align:top;margin-right:0.2em;display:inline-block;color:#FFF}.tasty-recipes-entry-header .tasty-recipes-details .author 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h4{font-size:1em;padding-top:0;margin-bottom:1.5em;margin-top:1.5em}.tasty-recipes-entry-content hr{background-color:#eae9eb;border:1px solid #eae9eb;margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:1em}.tasty-recipes-entry-content .tasty-recipes-description,.tasty-recipes-entry-content .tasty-recipes-ingredients,.tasty-recipes-entry-content .tasty-recipes-instructions,.tasty-recipes-entry-content .tasty-recipes-keywords{padding-left:1.25em;padding-right:1.25em}.tasty-recipes-entry-content .tasty-recipes-description h3{display:none}.tasty-recipes-entry-content .tasty-recipes-description p{margin-bottom:1em}.tasty-recipes-entry-content .tasty-recipes-ingredients ul,.tasty-recipes-entry-content .tasty-recipes-instructions ul{list-style-type:none;margin-left:0;margin-bottom:1.5em;padding:0}.tasty-recipes-entry-content .tasty-recipes-ingredients ul li,.tasty-recipes-entry-content .tasty-recipes-instructions ul 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img,.tasty-recipes-entry-footer svg{color:#FFF}.tasty-recipes-entry-content .tasty-recipes-entry-footer h3{color:#fff}.tasty-recipes-entry-footer{color:#fff}.tasty-recipes-entry-footer:after{content:' ';display:block;clear:both}/* Print view styles */ .tasty-recipes-print-view .tasty-recipe-video-embed,.tasty-recipes-print-view .tasty-recipes-other-details,.tasty-recipes-print .tasty-recipes-entry-header .tasty-recipes-details .detail-icon,.tasty-recipes-print .tasty-recipes-entry-content .tasty-recipes-notes p:before,.tasty-recipes-print .tasty-recipes-entry-content .tasty-recipes-notes ul li:before,.tasty-recipes-print .tasty-recipes-entry-content .tasty-recipes-ingredients ul li:before,.tasty-recipes-print .tasty-recipes-entry-content .tasty-recipes-ingredients ol li:before,.tasty-recipes-print .tasty-recipes-entry-content .tasty-recipes-instructions ul li:before,.tasty-recipes-print .tasty-recipes-entry-content .tasty-recipes-instructions ol li:before,.tasty-recipes-print 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li{padding:0;clip-path:none;background:none;line-height:1.5em;list-style:disc}.tasty-recipes-print .tasty-recipes-source-link{text-align:center}.tasty-recipes-entry-content .tasty-recipes-ingredients ul li[data-tr-ingredient-checkbox]:before{display:none} Baked macadamia cookie bars in white baking pan on wooden cutting board, two mugs of Primal Kitchen Matcha Collagen Latte

Baked macadamia cookie bars in white baking pan on wooden cutting board, two mugs of Primal Kitchen Matcha Collagen Latte

Macadamia Nut Cookie Bars (Keto and Paleo!) Author: Mark's Daily Apple

Total Time: 35-40 minutes

Yield: 9 bars Diet: Gluten Free [image error] Print Recipe [image error] Pin Recipe Description

This take on a paleo and keto-friendly blondie bar recipe is sweetened with monk fruit features macadamia nut butter.

Ingredients

1/4 cup Brad’s Macadamia Masterpiece nut butter
3 Tbsp. softened coconut oil
1/2 Tbsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. milk of choice
1 cup + 2 Tbsp. almond flour
1/3 cup granulated monk fruit sweetener
1 1/2 Tbsp. ground chia seeds
3/4 tsp. coconut flour
1/4 tsp. salt
About 4 drops liquid monk fruit or stevia
2 eggs
1/2 cup keto-friendly dark chocolate chips or chocolate chunks
1/3 cup macadamia nuts

Matcha Latte:
1 cup milk of choice
2 scoops Primal Kitchen Matcha Collagen Keto Latte

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (175 degrees Celsius). Grease a small square baking dish (ours was 7-inch x 7-inch).

Whisk the eggs and add them to the bowl. Mix until a thick batter forms.

Fold in the chocolate chips and macadamia nuts. If the nuts are large, you can roughly chop them before adding them to the mixture.

Pour the batter into the greased baking dish and spread using a spatula so it is uniform in thickness. Top with additional chocolate and nuts if desired.

Bake for 25-28 minutes, or until the edges are slightly golden. Allow the bars to cool before cutting into 9 bars.

Serve with a matcha latte! To make, warm your milk in a small saucepan. Add the Primal Kitchen Matcha Collagen Keto Latte and whisk to combine or use a frothing wand.

Notes

These bars are even better once they are refrigerated. For a gooier, softer bar, bake for slightly less time.

You can add more or fewer drops of liquid sweetener depending on how sweet you’d like the bars to be.

Feel free to use your favorite chocolate chips or chopped-up chocolate bar. We used keto-friendly chocolate chips, but 85 or 90 percent dark chocolate works well too.

This recipe has only been tested with Brad’s Macadamia Masterpiece, but in lieu of it, you could try using half nut butter and half coconut butter. The consistency of the bar may differ slightly.

We used refined coconut oil, but you can also use virgin coconut oil if you’d prefer a stronger coconut flavor.

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 25-28 minutes

Category: Dessert Nutrition Serving Size: 1/9 of recipe Calories: 318 Fat: 28 g Carbohydrates: 20 g Fiber: 12 g Protein: 8 g Net Carbs: 8 g

Keywords: Macadamia cookie bars, Blondie bars, Keto desserts, Paleo desserts

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Published on April 11, 2022 08:01

April 8, 2022

New and Noteworthy: What I Read This Week—Edition 172

Research of the Week

MCT oil helps seniors with Alzheimer’s disease.

Chocolate also helps seniors with memory.

The smell of putrescine (smell of death) may confer greater life satisfaction (makes you love life) on those smelling it.

Oxidized linoleic acid promotes colorectal cancer.

Wearing many common types of face masks causes you to breathe in microplastics.

New Primal Kitchen Podcasts

Primal Kitchen Podcast, Episode 25: Pasturebird Founder Paul Greive Talks the Future of Farming and Regenerative Practices

Media, Schmedia

Frame healthy eating as rebellion to get teens off junk. Could it work?

The carpet cleaner who speaks 24 languages.

Interesting Blog Posts

A panel on linoleic acid and obesity.

An easy way to consume liver.

Social Notes

Man live tweeting his participation in a dysentery vaccine challenge study.

Make the online real.

Everything Else

“Pfizer and me — Best buddies”

“Irrespective of source…”

Big brains win.

Things I’m Up to and Interested In

Interesting: Sleeping more causes overweight adults to eat less.

I’m not surprised: Everyone in the world seems to enjoy the smell of vanilla.

Fascinating study: “What would you do if you were me, doctor?”

What can’t it do?: Keto helps with binge eating.

Interesting video: Peter Thiel on Bitcoin.

Question I’m Asking

What should you be doing but aren’t?

Recipe CornerThai salmon cakes, easy and delicious.Southern Thai dry curry with chicken. Just use avocado oil instead of vegetable oil, of course.Time Capsule

One year ago (Apr 2 – Apr 8)

Is Alcohol Bad For You if You’re Not Addicted? — Well, is it?Learning Deadlifting: 10 Mistakes Almost Everyone Makes— What to avoid.Comment of the Week

“I had lion meat once at a fancy wild game dinner event. It is… not good…. It had the texture and color of a pork chop, but the flavor was just… weird. I can’t imagine anyone buying lab grown lion more than once, and if it’s the first lab grown meat they ever try, they might blame the process and not the “animal,” and never buy lab grown meat again. You decide if that’s a good thing or a bad thing.”

-Lion meat sounds terrible.

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Published on April 08, 2022 10:30

April 7, 2022

Ask a Health Coach: Fake Meat, Celery Juice, and Nut Milk

Hi folks, we’re excited to have Primal Health Coach Institute’s Coaching Director Erin Power back to answer your questions. Got a question for our health coaches? Head over to our Mark’s Daily Apple Facebook group or ask it in the comments below.

Tim asked: “Lately, I’ve been seeing Instagram posts saying don’t be scammed by ‘health foods’ like the Impossible Burger, celery juice, almond milk, and protein bars. I understand some of these (like fake meat!). Others have me confused. What’s wrong with celery juice? Is almond milk bad now too?!”

Woman in kitchen offering bottle of freshly pressed juice in juicer machine. I know, right? There’s so much information out there, and everyone on social media has an opinion about the latest health trends.

As a health coach, I can help you break down that list of “scammy” suspects. Even more important, I can share some guidelines to help you figure out whether trending foods are healthy or a scam.

First and foremost, remember that eating real, whole food never has to be complicated. When working with coaching clients and in my own life, the core of my philosophy is to keep things simple.

I realize that social media hype and “food fights” can make food seem incredibly complex. In moments of doubt or overwhelm, come back to that key principle. It’s really what makes Primal living and eating so effortless: the simplicity just makes sense.

In practice, this means sticking with food that’s closest to its “whole” form (how nature made it). Better to choose an apple than apple juice, for instance. Steer clear of long lists of ingredients you can’t pronounce and don’t recognize. You know the drill.

Let’s look at a few of the common “health foods” marketed today.

Plant-based Meat Alternatives

Fake meat is massive business right now. They’re (dubiously) marketed as healthy, environmentally responsible alternative to meat. You can’t walk through a supermarket or scan a restaurant menu without running into them.

A Primal way of eating can absolutely accommodate folks who choose to limit or avoid animal products for whatever reason. These trendy meat alternatives are so far from their natural state, that I struggle to recommend them for my clients.

The Impossible Burger features highly processed ingredients such as soy leghemoglobin (SLH), derived from genetically modified yeast. A similar product, Beyond Meat, claims to have no GMOs yet does include ingredients such as pea protein isolate and inflammatory seed oils such as canola and sunflower.

Obviously, I’m going to say that the best choice is to go ahead and eat the meat. Grass-fed, ethically and sustainably raised beef is great if you can find it and it fits your budget. If you don’t have the resources to source pastured, local, grass-fed meat, don’t worry; even conventionally raised beef is still worlds better than fake meat. If you are seeking a vegetable-based option, ‘burger’ patties made with mushrooms and even legumes like lentils or black beans if they work for you are far better alternatives.

Celery Juice

This one seems fairly harmless, possibly even Primal! I mean, it is just the juice from an above-ground vegetable after all…

When we juice vegetables and fruit and discard the rest of the plant, we’re no longer consuming the whole food (unless you’re blending it into a smoothie). Nutrition is wrapped up inside what’s commonly referred to as the food matrix. All of the parts of the food coexist together, not “sold for parts.” Consuming celery juice without the fiber… well, it’s just unnatural. Celery simply would never be consumed that way in nature.

That said, celery juice is certainly not the worst choice and in moderation can be fine. It lacks the high sugar content typical of fruit juices, but it’s not going to provide satiety or deliver any healthy fat or protein. As for all the supposed benefits touted by celery juice influencers? Will it fix everything that ails you or replace a well-rounded, nutrient-dense diet? No. Does it even taste good? That’s up to you, I guess, but it’s another no from me.

Is it a scam? Not necessarily, but some of the claims around it are too good to be true. I just don’t see the point of it. Definitely don’t use it as a replacement for more robust primal fare.

Almond Milk and Other Nut-based Milks

Not all nut milks are created equal. The good news is you can find more brands out there making products with minimal ingredients and processing. The less-great news is that most tend to be very low in nutrients.

Similar to celery juice, we’re just not getting the whole food here. Almonds in their whole form are nutrient dense, containing magnesium, copper, vitamin E, and manganese, in addition to some fat, protein, and prebiotic fiber. Almond milk is made by blending almonds with water and straining out any solid material—along with most of the nutrients.

If the label tells you otherwise, nutrients were likely added as part of the manufacturing process. While this isn’t harmful per se, it does drive home the fact that nut milk, left to its own devices, simply lacks much nutrition. Flip the package over and check the ingredients to see what else has been added to almond milk; you might be surprised to see a relatively long list of ingredients.

As with all nuts and seeds, nut milks may not work for everyone. They can be particularly problematic for anyone whose gut is already compromised.

Is almond milk a scam? I wouldn’t call nut milks a “health food,” but they’re a fine option for someone who doesn’t tolerate dairy and wants something to add to their morning coffee. Don’t go drinking them instead of water, and if you can, spend the money for less-processed, higher-quality options. Or try making your own. You’ll be pleasantly surprised at how easy it as, and you may well like the finished product better than anything you find at the store.

Protein Bars

Similar to nut milks, there’s a wide range of protein bars on the market. Some protein bars make stellar, totally Primal snacks, but others not so much. Many contain non-Primal ingredients such as soy and brown rice, which can contribute to systemic inflammation.

Look for options with minimal ingredients featuring Primal-friendly ingredients you recognize like whey, egg whites, nuts, and seeds. If you’re watching your carb intake, make sure to check that too. Many protein bars have a surprisingly hefty dose of carbs from sugars and dried fruits.

Meat bars are my favorite because they’re simple. I favor ones made with organic or grass-fed beef. Are even the best, 100 percent primal protein bars a replacement for whole food? Not in my opinion. Nor are they the most economical way to consume your protein. Still, they can be a decent option when you need a convenient protein fix to supplement regular meals.

Choosing the Best Options

These are just a few of many supposed health foods that my clients commonly have questions about. Of course, there are many more. Rather than break them down one by one, I recommend a two-step, “principle-based” approach:

Keep it simple. When in doubt, stick to food as close to its natural state as possible. We managed to survive this long without healthified franken-foods. Go back to basics.Listen, trust, and respect your body’s signals. How does a particular food make you feel? Pay attention not just while eating it but later that day or as you’re laying in bed that night, trying to fall asleep. How about the next morning? Perhaps you experienced discomfort or even cramping after eating. Maybe gas, gurgling intestines, constipation, or diarrhea hits later. Brain fog, fatigue, irritability. Flare-ups in conditions such as acne, asthma, or arthritis. Tune in to the signals from your body. Collect the data and use it the next time you’re faced with a food choice.

This makes it sound simple, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy. The bewildering and contradictory messaging in your news feed can have you doubting your food choices at every turn.

This is one reason why working with a trained, knowledgeable health coach is so useful. A coach will help you uncover for yourself which foods are best for your particular body, lifestyle, and wellness goals.

Ultimately, your best defense against the food marketing claims of health food scams is a good offense. Learn to understand what foods support you, and you can blissfully tune out the noise.

What other health foods have you confused? Drop them in the comments below!

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Published on April 07, 2022 09:03

April 6, 2022

The Definitive Guide to Grains

Assorted grains in bowls and spoons, bread, pasta Grains are fixtures of modern life. Pastrami on rye, spaghetti dinners, corn on the cob, birthday cake, apple pie, endless breadsticks, pizza parties, taco nights.

Studies about “heart-healthy whole grains” in the news. “AHA Approved” icons affixed to any concoction in the grocery store that contains a few grams of wheat—never mind all the sugar and seed oils.

Grains are “staples,” bread is the “staff of life,” and most people can’t imagine a meal without some type of grain on the table.

Yes, grains are solidly etched into our modern Western psyche—just not so much into our physiology. For the vast majority of human evolution, we were hunter-gatherers eating meats, nuts, bitter wild greens, regional veggies, tubers and roots, and fruits and berries. We ate what nature provided. If we ate any grains at all, they were wild and scarce—never staples.

Somewhere along the line, enough of us figured out how to domesticate and proliferate those wild grains. The first large scale grain farming was occurring by around 10,000 years ago. And that’s where the trouble started.

The Agricultural Revolution and Its Effects on Health

Grains are one of the “big three” foods I recommend avoiding (along with industrialized seed oils and added sugars). Why? Because once grains became a big part of a given human population’s diet, human health suffered:

People got smaller and weaker.Their teeth were worse.They died earlier.

The only thing that improved was their ability to reproduce. Grains meant a steady source of calories and facilitated population growth. The individual agriculturalist may have been weaker and more unhealthy than an individual forager, but the former were more numerous and more successful. They grew and pushed the foragers aside.

Most people reading this today carry an amalgam of farmer, forager, and pastoralist DNA. That means your ancestors had varying levels of grain-eating in their past. That’s not what I’m talking about when I say that grains aren’t Primal.

When I say humans didn’t evolve eating grains, I mean our digestive processes didn’t evolve to maximize the effectiveness of grain consumption. You can probably tolerate grains to a certain degree thanks to having at least some farmer ancestry. That doesn’t mean your body was designed for them or that they’re required— or even helpful—for achieving optimal health.

The goal isn’t to eat foods that allow you to hobble along. We’re talking about prioritizing the foods that offer effective and efficient digestion and nutrient absorption in the body.

What’s Wrong With Grains?

Think about the non-grain foods you eat on a regular basis. Think how easy they are to prepare.

Meat and seafood: You can eat it raw or grill it over a fire. You’ll digest it great either way and incorporate all the nutrients it contains.

Dairy: As long as you’re able to handle the lactose and your immune system is intact and prepared to face casein and whey without acting up, you can drink a tall glass of raw milk and have no issues whatsoever.

Fruit: It’s made to be eaten. It wants to be eaten.

Vegetables: Many of them are best digested after some boiling, steaming, or sautéing, but you can get away with eating most of the raw.

Tubers? Boil, mash ’em, stick ’em in a stew. Easy.

Now consider the unadorned, unaltered, unprocessed grain. Is it easy to eat? Is it easy to render edible? Do you have to do a bunch of weird stuff to it before it’s nutritious? You know the answers.

What’s my point? The foods to which we are best adapted are those that we can consume with minimal processing. If you can eat a food raw or after a little bit of cooking, digest it, and assimilate the majority of its micronutrients, it’s probably something the human digestive system is suited to eat.

If a food takes a ton of extra processing, if you have to perform some complicated ritual just to make it edible and the nutrients available, it might not be the best thing to have as a staple food—just as heuristic.

The Nutritional Value of Grains

Grains often look good “on paper.” They contain high levels of vitamins and minerals, but can you actually absorb all those nutrients when you eat the grain?

Not always.

Let’s take niacin, a very important B-vitamin for growth and development and energy generation. Without enough niacin, rats (and children) suffer from stunted growth.

Field of corn on the cob amidst dry husks Feeding young rats whole corn (yes, it’s a grain) stunts their growth, even though corn is “astronomically rich” in niacin. The problem is niacin in corn is “bound” niacin, meaning it’s unavailable for absorption unless you take certain precautions in its preparation. In the Americas, native groups who lived off corn figured out you had to treat it with alkali to make it suitable for a staple food. In North America, alkaline wood ash was added to corn. In South and Central America, calcium carbonate (lime) was added. Both methods release the bound niacin in a process called nixtamalization.https://pubag.nal.usda.gov/download/2...

Meanwhile, when corn was introduced to Europe and large groups of peasants began living off it, pellagra—clinical niacin deficiency—swept the land. They were just cooking the corn straight up; they had no idea you were supposed to perform an alkaline treatment first to make the niacin available.

This goes for a lot of the nutrients in other grains, too. The niacin in wheat is bound, too, and needs to be fermented and sprouted or treated with alkali, for example.

There’s also phytic acid, the storage form of phosphorus that binds to many vital minerals. When phytic acid binds to the magnesium, calcium, and zinc in a given grain, you absorb much less than you’d think by looking at the nutrition facts. In high enough doses, phytic acid can even pull minerals from your teeth and bones. Populations that rely on high-phytic-acid grains as staple foods have been shown to run into mineral deficiency issues.https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti...

Processes like nixtamalization, extended fermentation, and sprouting can liberate many of the bound vitamins and minerals.

Gluten Intolerance and Sensitivity

Gluten, found in wheat, rye, and barley, is a composite of the proteins gliadin and glutenin. Around 1 percent of the population have celiac disease. These individuals are completely and utterly intolerant of any gluten. For them, any gluten in the diet can be disastrous.https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1... We’re talking compromised calcium and vitamin D3 levels, hyperparathyroidism, bone defects. Really terrible stuff.

But that’s only the tip of the iceberg. Just because you’re not celiac doesn’t mean you aren’t susceptible to the ravages of gluten. Gluten sensitivity is real. It exists as a clinical entity apart from full-on celiac disease.https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22825... Researchers now believe that a third of us are likely gluten intolerant or sensitive. (And that doesn’t mean that the rest of us aren’t experiencing some milder negative effects.)

Folks who are gluten sensitive or intolerant “react” to gluten with a perceptible inflammatory response. Over time, those who are gluten intolerant can develop a dismal array of medical conditions: dermatitis, joint pain, reproductive problems, acid reflux and other digestive conditions, autoimmune disorders. Schizophrenics are more likely to show evidence of anti-gluten antibodies, and when you remove gluten from their diets, their symptoms are more likely to improve.https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30938...

Excessive, Unnecessary Carbohydrates and Glucose

Grains also represent a huge load of carbohydrate. Most people living modern lives, working at a desk, training a few times a week, and walking a bunch simply don’t need heavy boluses of carbohydrate. If they’re trying to become fat-adapted or adopt a ketogenic lifestyle, eating enormous quantities of grains will directly inhibit that process.

Besides, if you want to eat carbs, there are safer, better, more congruent sources like potatoes, sweet potatoes (purple and Japanese sweet potatoes being the clearly superior varieties), winter squash, turnips, rutabagas, and fruit of all kinds. If you absolutely insist on grains, white rice and fresh corn on the cob are the best choices. White rice is fairly neutral and benign, while fresh corn on the cob is much higher in unbound/free niacin than mature “grain” corn.

Okay, but aren’t grains the staff of life? Don’t they represent the staple foods for populations all over the world? Aren’t there tons of studies showing the benefits of “heart healthy whole grains?”

The “Benefits” of Whole Grains

I could make a listicle of all the various grains describing their composition and providing links to all the “health benefit” studies the industry has run. If you were to just glance at titles or even the abstracts, grains would come out looking great. I did this for nuts and seeds in the past.

But the reality is that every single grain study I’ve ever read compares people eating whole grains to people eating refined grains. The control group is the refined grain group. That actually makes sense when you’re considering the general grain-eating population of an industrialized nation. It doesn’t, however, tell us anything about people who avoid grains—both whole and refined—in favor of meat, fruit, vegetables, roots, dairy, and tubers. People like you and me.

They never compare grains (refined and whole alike) to no grains at all.

Here, I’ll show you:

Take rye.

According to one study, you get “increased plasma brain-derived neurotrophic factor 10.5 hours after intake of whole-grain rye-based products.”https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30115... Healthy adults ate some whole meal rye bread and then 10-and-a-half hours later showed evidence of increased BDNF, which increases neuroplasticity and suppresses brain inflammation. Sounds incredible! But they were compared to healthy adults eating the same number of calories in white bread.

Or you’ve got this study, which shows a positive “impact of rye-based evening meals on cognitive function, mood, and cardiometabolic risk factors.”https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30400... Again, just reading the result briefly makes rye sound great, but then you realize they were comparing whole grain rye to white bread. What if there was a group eating meat, sweet potatoes, and berries?

Take wheat.

Whole wheat improves the gut biome, and these changes suggest an improvement in liver fat levels.https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34024... But only compared to refined wheat.

Ok, so what about the oft-reported link between overall whole grain intake and better health? Isn’t that causative?

When you dig into these studies, you find that whole grain intake is simply a marker for a better overall diet.https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34197... Whole grains enjoy the allure of being healthy, so people who do other healthy things will also eat whole grains. This is the healthy user effect.

The best part is when researchers misinterpret their own studies. This one found that ancient wheat reduced a range of biomarkers, including sodium, potassium, magnesium, folate, iron, and HDL cholesterol. It also reduced creatinine, LDL, and ferritin. These changes were evidence, according to the authors, of “beneficial effects deriving from a diet of ancient wheatmeal…”https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34024... Lower HDL, reduced magnesium, and lower folate status don’t sound all that great to me.

The same thing happens with every whole grain study I’ve ever seen: it ends up being a comparison between whole and refined grains.

There’s Nothing Special About Grains

This is really the crux of the matter. Yes, grains contain some nutrients, but why not get the same nutrients from sources that don’t come back and bite you in the backside? Whatever nutrients you can get from whole grains you can get in equal or greater amounts in other food. In terms of nutrient density, grains can’t hold a candle to a diverse diet of veggies and meats. (And if the label says otherwise, look closely because the product is fortified. Save your money and buy more meat instead.)

Let’s use oats as an example.

Oats contain a specific type of soluble fiber called beta-glucan that increases bile acid excretion. As bile acid is excreted, so too is any serum cholesterol that’s bound up in the bile.https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1... (That’s the idea behind the bean protocol, which we’ve covered.) The effect is a potential reduction in serum cholesterol. Now, let’s assume you want to lower your cholesterol using beta-glucan fiber. Are oats the only place to get it?

No. Mushrooms are also a great source of beta-glucan fibers, and research shows that eating beta-glucan-rich mushrooms can improve LDL oxidative stability and reduce oxidative stress in people with high cholesterol.https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34375... Mushroom-borne beta-glucan may also lower lipids.https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32316...

Oat bran has been said to be uniquely protective against atherosclerosis in rats (and presumably humans) with a genetic defect that slows their ability to clear LDL from the blood.https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2... Of course, the very same type of LDL-receptor-defective mice get similar protection from a diet high in yellow and green vegetables, so it’s not as if oat bran is a magical substance.https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1... Other types of fiber can also do it.

Like other prebiotic fibers, oat bran also increases butyrate production (in pigs, at least https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8...). Butyrate is a beneficial short-chain fatty acid produced when gut flora ferment fibers, leading to a host of nice effects. We have plenty of non-grain fiber sources that increase butyrate production, like resistant starch in potato starch or green bananas.

Overall, I think these studies show that soluble fiber that comes in food form is a good thing to have, but I’m not sure they show that said fiber needs to come from oats or whole grains in general. The fiber in grains isn’t special. The nutrients—if you can even access them—aren’t special.

Why not just follow a healthy Primal eating plan? After all, we have studies comparing Primal/paleolithic-style grain-free diets to normal diets containing grains. The paleo diet wins every time, leading to more weight loss, more waist circumference loss, more fat loss.https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31337... That’s about as close as you’ll get to a grain-containing versus grain-free diet study.

Do You Still Want to Eat Grains?

I’m not telling you you CAN’T eat grains. I’m just saying there’s nothing special or necessary about them. And although I choose to steer clear of grains as a regular part of my diet and feel better for doing so, I do occasionally indulge a bit. A tiny bit. And that’s where the Primal Blueprint enters: it’s about informed, not dictated choices.

That French bread at an anniversary dinner, few bites of the great birthday cake your friend made for you, the saffron rice your daughter cooks for you when you visit her first apartment—they’re thoughtful, purposeful compromises. And they’re perhaps very worth it for reasons that have nothing to do with the food itself.

The point of the Primal Blueprint if this: When you understand the metabolic effects of eating grains, you’re empowered to make informed decisions about the role grains will have in your diet.

Prepare Your Grains Like Your Great-Great-Grandmother Did

If you are going to eat grains on a regular basis, you’d better be eating them traditionally prepared:

SourdoughsAlkaline processed cornFermented porridgesSproutingSoaking

Because these weren’t just preparation methods that made grains taste good. They weren’t just fun to do. They were necessary to make the nutrients bioavailable and the grains themselves digestible.

Thanks for reading, everyone. Take care and let me know how you feel about grains down below.

*Post updated 4/5/2022

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References https://pubag.nal.usda.gov/download/23799/pdf https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4325021/https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18534236 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22825366/https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30938127/https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30115826/https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30400947/https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34024731/https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34197483/https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34024731/https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10605616 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34375514/https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32316680/https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20553794 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16772454 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8391563 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31337389/

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Published on April 06, 2022 09:41

April 5, 2022

Go to Bed! Surprising Effects of Sleep Deprivation

Man in green striped shirt yawning and holding hand over mouth. Sleep deprivation affects your brain, metabolism, immune system, and cardiovascular health, not to mention your day-to-day happiness and quality of life. Sleep should be one of our top health priorities. Yet all the research says the same thing: we are chronically sleep deprived as a society.

The CDC reports that one-third of American adults suffer from “short sleep duration,” meaning they consistently get less than seven hours per night.https://www.cdc.gov/sleep/data_statis... A 2020 Sleep in America poll conducted by the National Sleep Foundation found that only 16 percent of us feel well rested every day.https://www.sleepfoundation.org/wp-co... ">2 And this isn’t just an American problem. According to a survey conducted by the Philips corporation in 13 countries in 2021, barely half of adults worldwide are satisfied with the sleep they’re getting.https://www.usa.philips.com/c-dam/b2c...

You have to wonder if some of these surveys underestimate the problem. After all, how many of us want to admit how often we stay up until 2 a.m. scrolling on our phones? More to the point, how many people know if they’re getting good sleep? Sleep deprivation isn’t just getting less than eight hours a night of sleep per night. You can also wind up in a sleep debt when your sleep quality is lacking and you aren’t getting the restorative rest you need.

Does the average person even know what it feels like to be fully rested? Perhaps not. It’s like when people start eating Primally, and they finally discover what it’s like to have energy throughout the day, or they realize that those chronic stomach aches and sore joints weren’t normal after all. By the same token, lots of people are probably suffering from symptoms of sleep deprivation but chalk them up to stress or illness. Or they simply ignore them.

Everyone knows how critical sleep is for health, but it’s just so darn easy to put good sleep on the back burner. Today we’ll highlight some signs of sleep deprivation that you might be missing.

What Causes Poor Sleep?

The kind of sleep deprivation we’re talking about today is what researchers call chronic partial sleep deprivation or sleep restriction. You aren’t entirely sleep deprived, staying awake for 24, 36, or even 72 hours at a time like some folks with insomnia or research participants do. Rather, you consistently get less sleep than you need, racking up sleep debt incrementally night after night.

Sometimes, the factors leading to sleep deprivation are within your control—staying up late to consume media, having poor sleep hygiene habits—but not always. Caregivers or parents frequently experience sleep disruptions, and there’s little they can do about it. Sleep-wake disorders like sleep apnea by definition interfere with sleep, but so do many other medical conditions. (If medical issues are affecting your sleep, talk to your medical provider. They may have treatments you haven’t considered.)

Although the research suggests that some people are more resilient to sleep loss than others, everyone is negatively affected by insufficient sleep. You’re no doubt familiar with common side effects like

FatigueIrritability or moodinessCravingsDifficulty concentrating

Here are some others you might not expect.

Surprising Signs of Sleep DeprivationSleep Deprivation Hurts

Sleep deprivation increases your pain sensitivity. One night of total sleep deprivation decreases your brain’s pain threshold,https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti... and even normal day-to-day fluctuations in sleep quality can affect how much pain you experience. Researchers used sleep trackers to track two nights of sleep among 236 people who were already experiencing some pain. When sleep quality declined from one day to the next, participants reported more pain the second day.https://www.jneurosci.org/content/39/... ">5

Sleep deprivation can make your symptoms worse if you have a condition like fibromyalgia, rheumatoid arthritis, or other chronic pain.https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15033... This is a double-edged sword because it’s harder to get good sleep when you’re hurting. Experts suggest treating chronic pain conditions and sleep disorders simultaneously because they are so intertwined.

Sleep Deprivation Headaches

One specific way sleep deprivation hurts is by causing headaches. Losing just an hour or two of sleep a few nights in a row can trigger all-day headaches. Folks who already suffer from chronic tension headaches or migraines are particularly at risk.https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti... This, too, is a bidirectional effect: poor sleep causes worse headaches, and headaches interfere with sleep. Insomnia is significantly more prevalent among people with chronic headaches and migraines compared to the rest of the population.

A handful of studies show that sleep interventions can reduce headache frequency. They may also reduce headache intensity, though the results are inconsistent.https://www.nature.com/articles/s4159...

Sleep Deprivation Makes You Look Older

Sleep deprivation shows in our faces, and we judge well-rested individuals to be more attractive. For example, researchers photographed 20 adults with sleep apnea before and after treatment. Raters judged their post-treatment photos, when they were getting better sleep, to be more attractive and more youthful.https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti... The same is true for how we see ourselves. A study of 60 women found that chronically good sleepers are more confident in their appearance than poor sleepers.https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25266...

Chronically poor sleep is associated with significantly greater skin aging https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25266... and signs of aging like under-eye bags and dark circles, and fine lines and wrinkles.https://academic.oup.com/sleep/articl... In a cruel twist of nature, poor sleep is also associated with acne, so you can have extra blemishes to go with your dark circles.https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti... Seems unfair, right?

Bad Sleep Leads to Environmental Disasters (and Other Accidents)

Sleep deprivation leads to human error. Tired workers have been at least partially responsible for an alarming number of near-calamities at nuclear power facilities, including Three Mile Island in 1979. Investigators also ruled that sleep deprivation was a contributing factor in the Chernobyl disaster in 1986, the Challenger explosion, the Exxon Valdez oil spill, plus who knows how many near-misses.https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti...

Sleepiness is a leading cause of other less catastrophic—but still plenty serious—accidents. Even a single night of missed sleep leads to measurable defects in reaction time, attention, working memory, and the ability to multitask.https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti... The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration states that sleepiness was a factor in at least 91,000 automobile crashes in 2017, and that’s just in the U.S.https://www.nhtsa.gov/risky-driving/d...

In surveys, 4 percent of drivers admit to having fallen asleep at the wheel in the past month, and a whopping 40 percent in their lifetime.https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/pdf/wk/mm632... https://aaafoundation.org/wp-content/...

Sleep-deprived medical professionals are much more likely to make serious medical errors that can lead to injury or even death. A recent survey of more than 11,000 physicians found that sleepiness increases the risk of medical mistakes by at least 53 percent. The real number might be perhaps upwards of 100 percent. And these are just the mistakes the physicians admit to making![ref]https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2773777">18 Patients and medical professionals alike have been sounding the alarm about this problem for years, but medical students, residents, and many doctors still must work long hours with little time for sleep.

The scary part is that you probably don’t even realize how much your cognitive function is affected. Even mild sleep deprivation—sleeping six hours per night instead of the recommended eight—leads to significant impairment. Yet sleep-deprived individuals routinely report feeling normal. The truth is, you’re probably making lots of little mistakes at work, at home, in the gym that go unnoticed… at least by you. Your coworkers may tell a different story.

Relationship Issues and Interpersonal Conflict

You know that sleepiness makes you grouchy and not all that pleasant to be around, but that’s only one of the ways sleep deprivation can lead to conflict in your relationships.

Generally speaking, when you sleep better, you have better relationships (and more of them) in all areas of your life. Lots of studies link sleep quality—getting good sleep and plenty of it—to relationship satisfaction among romantic couples, in particular.https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33596... Sleep deprivation can easily lead to misunderstandings. Sleepy people are more likely to misinterpret one another’s emotions.https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti... Plus, according to psychologists, you’re less able to put yourself in your partner’s shoes and see their side of things.https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/... This makes it harder to resolve those disagreements.

Even one night of lost sleep seems to predispose your brain to be on higher alert for threats and negativity.https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti... https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti... If your partner has even accused you of being “oversensitive” when you’re tired, this may be why. You literally are more sensitive on to signs of trouble a neurological level .

Chances are, you work to make your relationships successful. Shouldn’t that work include investing in high-quality sleep?

Altered Reality

You might know that even mild sleep deprivation can lead to impaired memory since sleep is critical for locking memories into long-term storage. But did you know that sleep deprivation can also increase your susceptibility to false memories?

In one series of studies, researchers used a validated false memory paradigm. Participants memorize lists of words that have something in common, and later they need to recall the words. The true test is whether they remember seeing the common word which was actually not on the list. For example, the list might include butter, food, eat, sandwich, and rye. The question is whether participants falsely recall seeing the word bread. As you might expect, sleep-deprived participants incorrectly remembered seeing those words more often.https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti...

In another study, researchers had participants view photographs of a crime in progress (e.g., a man stealing a woman’s wallet). Then they read a written description of the event that differed in a few key details from what they had seen in the photos. A week later, they were asked to recall features of the crime. Participants who had reported sleeping less than five hours the night before coming into the lab were more likely to remember false details.https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25031...

Obviously, these are pretty low stakes. However, misremembering can have more serious consequences, from fighting with your spouse because you have different recollections of that conversation from a few days ago to inaccurate eyewitness testimony.

More generally, sleep deprivation can affect how you see the world. For instance, people who sleep less are more susceptible to repetitive negative thinking, where they get stuck focusing on problems and negative experiences. Repetitive negative thoughts are associated with depression, anxiety, OCD, and poorer overall wellbeing.https://link.springer.com/article/10....

In extreme circumstances, sleep deprivation causes paranoia and even full-blown hallucinations. A 2018 review concluded that being awake for more than 24 hours can lead to blurred vision, visual distortions like problems with depth perception, and altered sense of time. The longer you go without sleep, the worse these distortions become. After two or three days without sleep, you’re likely to experience visual and auditory hallucinations.https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti...

How to Improve Your Sleep

Hopefully you don’t need any more convincing that good sleep is worth the effort. For tips about how to improve your sleep quality and quantity, start with these posts from Mark’s Daily Apple:

17 Ways to Improve Your Sleep
7 Ways You Might Be Inadvertently Sabotaging a Good Night’s Sleep
Ask a Health Coach: Why Can’t I Sleep?
10 Natural Sleep Aids: What Works and Why

References https://www.cdc.gov/sleep/data_statistics.html https://www.sleepfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/SIA-2020-Q1-Report.pdf https://www.usa.philips.com/c-dam/b2c/master/experience/smartsleep/world-sleep-day/2021/philips-world-sleep-day-2021-report.pdf https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6892491/https://www.jneurosci.org/content/39/12/2291 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15033151/https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3626265/https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-42785-8 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3746710/https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25266053/https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25266053/https://academic.oup.com/sleep/article/36/9/1355/2453883 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7445853/https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2517096/https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2656292/https://www.nhtsa.gov/risky-driving/drowsy-driving https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/pdf/wk/mm6326.pdf https://aaafoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/2010DrowsyDrivingReport.pdf[/ref]

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33596514/https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2831427/https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1948550613488952 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4502254/https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3107827/https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2567433/https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25031301/https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10608-014-9651-7 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6048360/ (function($) { $("#dfgd1mI").load("https://www.marksdailyapple.com/wp-ad..." ); })( jQuery );

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Published on April 05, 2022 09:01

April 1, 2022

New and Noteworthy: What I Read This Week—Edition 171

Research of the Week

Keto and protein restriction are not quite the same.

The reduction in heart disease associated with light to moderate drinking may be caused by other lifestyle factors that accompany drinking—not the alcohol itself.

More riboflavin, longer telomeres.

Divorce has a much more detrimental effect on children’s educational attainment than parental death.

GlyNAC improves aging biomarkers in humans (and extends lifespan in rodents).

New Primal Kitchen Podcasts

Primal Kitchen Podcast, Episode 24: Eat to Beat Disease with Dr. William Li

Primal Health Coach Radio: Danielle Meitiv

Media, Schmedia

Bird flu puts pressure on poultry production.

Don’t open these.

Interesting Blog Posts

The creator of Ethereum supports the fight against seed oils.

Why kids are suffering.

Social Notes

Hazard ratios for heart disease.

Think about it…

Everything Else

How long term soy consumption affects monkeys.

One reason transhumanist immortality might fail.

Microplastics and gut health.

This is how you retire.

Things I’m Up to and Interested In

Interesting podcast: Zach Bitter talks to Akshay Nanavati, who plans on trekking 2700 km through Antarctica on a keto diet.

I’m not surprised: The link between hyper-processed food and type 2 diabetes.

Interesting offer: Cultured “lion meat.”

Great video: Saxophone!

Interesting theory of aging: Hyperfunction.

Question I’m Asking

What would you do if you retired?

Recipe CornerSimple fermented hot sauce.Fish in Veracruz sauce.Time Capsule

One year ago (Mar 26 – Apr 1)

Common Plank Mistakes to Watch Out For — Don’t do these.Spring Clean Your Pantry for a Healthy Year — How to do it.Comment of the Week

“‘Would we be better off—overall—without modern technology?’

The question overlooks the very nature of technology.

Technology is the application of knowledge to suit practical aims. Whether this is via knapping chert into a cutting edge, domesticating animals, or googling a concept on the internet – understanding our environment, and applying that understanding, is a significant part of what it means to be human. Modern technology is nothing but the guided evolution of premodern technology.

A more relevant question is, “are we applying our technology in the best way?” Are we using modern technology to make our efforts more efficient and our existence more fulfilling? Are we applying our knowledge in a manner that makes our lives and our world better?

In the collective sense, we usually are not.”

-Nice reframe, Hate_me.