Mark Sisson's Blog, page 307

Weekend Link Love

In case you missed the big news, we released a new book last week: The South Asian Health Solution. Order a copy by Wednesday to get a free gift and a chance to win a one-on-one consultation with author Dr. Ronesh Sinha. Learn all the details here.

Episode #9 of The Primal Blueprint Podcast is now live. This time, we’re joined by Steve Levine, a regular guy who’s been doing the ancestral health thing for almost a decade. Steve explains how he incorporates Primal health practices into everyday life – to great effect.

I recently sat down (well, actually we were both standing) with Dave Asprey of the Bulletproof Executive to talk about epigenetics, the gut biome, arthritis, and tons more. Give it a listen!

Research of the Week

Fish oil may be an effective treatment for depression, but it’s the EPA that seems to work the best, while DHA only delays onset of depression.

Why you don’t skip leg day.

Using treadmill desks promotes creativity and increases productivity.

Sprouting garlic contains more antioxidants than regular garlic.

A combination of high red meat intake and weight lifting promotes strength and cognitive gains in seniors. Duh.

The evidence that we need carbohydrates to promote protein muscle synthesis following resistance training simply isn’t there, a new review finds.

Interesting Blog Posts

How much weight are you actually pushing when you do pushups?

Staying paleo when you’re in Korea is actually very doable.

Media, Schmedia

The season of your birth may have had lasting effects on your brain.

Doctors’ number one source for medical information is Wikipedia.

I suppose it’s possible that the spear tip-shaped puncture wound in the vertebrae of a woolly mammoth fossil was a spontaneous, natural occurrence and our ancestors spent their days making snowmen and eating salads, but I doubt it.

The consequences of replacing dietary saturated fat with carbohydrate or omega-6 polyunsaturated fats.

Everything Else

My friend Sami Inkinen felt that kicking ass at Ironman Hawaii on a low carb diet last October just wasn’t challenging enough, so he and his wife Meredith are planning to row across the Pacific! Check out their story here.

Denise Minger offers her take on the latest high-protein diet study scare with Why I’m Not Dismissing the Latest “Animal Protein is Bad” Study (But Not Losing Sleep Over It, Either). Check back tomorrow for mine.

Of course there are anthropologists dedicated to studying the wiping habits of ancient humans.

Why is usage of psychedelics higher among extreme athletes (PDF)?

In case you guys needed another reason not to eat fast food, here are thirty of them.

Music can change the taste of foods.

A woman has invented a way to run 30 lab tests using a single drop of blood for a fraction of the normal price. Amazing.

Stephen Schlepmo introduces you to the exciting sport of speed golf.

Recipe Corner

Savory baked… apples? Yes. Go ahead and try it and you’ll have to swallow that scoff.
You say you love Indian food, but have you ever tried keema?

Time Capsule

One year ago (Mar 10 – Mar 16)

Why Humans Like Taking the Easy Way Out - Why do we take it, and does taking the easy way out always deserve the negative connotations?
How Simplifying Your Life Can Help You Refocus on What’s Important – Sometimes (always), we make life harder and more complex than it has to be.

Comment of the Week

That’s exactly what I thought, I was thinking Mark was going to tell us to give up injecting and trying a more primal approach to illegal drug taking!

- I realized that as I was writing the title, reconsidered it, but ultimately left it in. Maybe I knew I’d get a good comment of the week out of it.

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Primal Ramen Soup

Ramen is Japanese soup made from pork broth, roasted pork, boiled noodles, and various toppings like vegetables, seaweed and egg. For many, the noodles are the main ingredient that the dish revolves around. But Primal ramen puts all the attention on the pork. Slow roasted pork, smoked pork shanks and bacon all play a role in making ramen that’s deeply flavorful and satisfying, even without noodles.

If you’ve traveled to Japan, then you’re familiar with the ubiquitous ramen shop serving steaming bowls of ramen that reflect the shop’s own distinctive style. If you were ever a hungry teenager or college student, then you’re definitely familiar with instant Top Ramen. This recipe is a far cry from instant ramen and not as labor intensive as ramen made in restaurants. It does take a little time to make (most of it hands-off) but suddenly all the ingredients come together. You’re rewarded with delicious steaming broth, tender slices of pork, vibrant collard greens and garnishes of egg, scallions and nori.

If nothing else, what you can take away from this recipe is the immensely flavorful and gelatin-rich broth made from both chicken and pork. It’s smoky, meaty and suitable for almost any type of soup you want to make.

Recipe Note: Before making this recipe, read through the entire list of ingredients for each component to make sure you have everything. This soup is easiest to make over the course of 2 days. Day one, make the broth and roast the pork. Day two, prepare the garnishes and re-heat the broth right before serving.

Servings: 4

Time in the Kitchen: 4 to 6 hours of hands-off time, plus 1 hour of active cooking

Ingredients for 4 bowls of Ramen:

8 cups ramen broth (see below) (1.9 liters)
2 pounds roasted pork butt, sliced thinly (see below) (907 g)
1 bunch sautéed collard greens (see below)
3 zucchini, cut into very thin, noodle-like strips
4 hard boiled or poached eggs
2 sheets of nori, 2 cut into strips
A handful of finely chopped scallions

Instructions for Putting Together Bowls of Ramen:

Before serving the ramen, gently reheat the broth on the stove. Add the zucchini “noodles’ and simmer for five minutes. Pour equal amounts of broth and zucchini into 4 bowls, then add slices of roasted pork, a spoonful of collard greens, an egg, strips of nori and a sprinkle of scallions.

Ramen Broth Ingredients:

2 pieces of kombu
3 quarts water (3 liters)
2 ounces dry shiitake mushrooms, rinsed (57 g)
2 pounds of chicken legs, necks and/or backs (907 g)
2 to 3 pounds smoked ham shanks or hocks (907g to 1.4 kg)
1/2 bunch of scallions, cut in half
1 onion, peeled and cut into fourths
2 carrots, peeled and roughly chopped

Ramen Broth Instructions:

Combine the kombu with the water in a large stock pot. Bring the water to a simmer then turn off the heat and let the kombu steep for 10 minutes.

Remove the kombu and discard. Add the shiitake mushrooms. Turn the heat up to high and bring the water to a boil, then turn the heat down so the water stays at a simmer for 30 minutes. Remove the mushrooms from the pot with a slotted spoon and discard.

Add the chicken and pork shanks to the pot. Bring to a simmer. Skim off any foam that gathers on the top. Simmer uncovered for 1 hour, or until the chicken meat pulls easily off the bone.

Remove the chicken (save for another meal) and add the scallions, onions, and carrots and simmer with the shanks for another hour. Replenish the water as needed to keep the meat covered.

Strain the vegetables and shanks from the broth. Discard or eat the veggies and save the meat from the shanks for another meal. Strain the broth again through cheesecloth if you want really clear broth.

This broth can be made a day or two ahead and refrigerated.

Roasted Pork Ingredients:

2 to 3 pounds pork shoulder or butt (907g to 1.4 kg)
2 teaspoons kosher salt (10 ml)
1/2 teaspoon black pepper 2.5 ml)

Roasted Pork Instructions:

Bring the roast to room temperature and rub it down with the salt and pepper mixture.

Preheat the oven to 250 ºF (121 ºC).

Put the roast in a roasting pan that fits it snugly and roast until the meat is tender and pulls apart easily, about 4 to 6 hours, uncovered, basting every hour or so with juices and fat that accumulate in the pan. Take it out of the oven and let cool completely before slicing.

You’ll have more than enough pork for the ramen. Save leftovers for another meal or freeze it for later.

Collard Greens Ingredients:

1 bunch collard greens
1 piece of uncooked bacon
1 teaspoon sherry vinegar (5 ml)

Collard Greens Instructions:

Remove the leaves from the center rib and stem. Coarsely chop the washed leaves.

In a wide skillet (that has a lid) over medium-high heat, add the piece of bacon. When it is halfway cooked and has released some fat, add the collards to the skillet. Mix well so the leaves are coated in fat. Let the leaves wilt a little then add the sherry vinegar and a 1/2 cup (118 ml) of water. Put a lid on the skillet and simmer over medium-low for 10 to15 minutes or so until tender.

Alternately, the greens can simply be sautéed in olive oil instead of bacon.

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Little by Little One Will Travel Far!

It’s Friday, everyone! And that means another Primal Blueprint Real Life Story from a Mark’s Daily Apple reader. If you have your own success story and would like to share it with me and the Mark’s Daily Apple community please contact me here. I’ll continue to publish these each Friday as long as they keep coming in. Thank you for reading!

I have struggled with weight since I was a little kid! I can remember when I was 13 my folks got me into the Diet Center in our town. I tried that for a year and lost a few pounds. I tried and it was just too much. I went to my folks one night with tears streaming down my cheeks saying I just can’t do this anymore!

I tried again in my late teens with Nutrisystem. I lost a few pounds, but had to give it up due to the fact that I could not afford it anymore. (The food was not that good anyway, so no real loss).

I fell in love in my early 20s and we were going to get married! Yea, but I was a size 22-24. Bride dresses did not look good! So once again the next weight program was Weight Watchers! I joined a year before my wedding and lost 80 lbs. Yea, I’m not a fat bride! But after the wedding and the bliss the weight came back to find me!

I got pregnant a few years later and started of my pregnancy at 190 and ended at 290! I got pregnant 1 1/2 years later with son number two, and had an emergency C-section weighing just shy of the 300 lb mark. A month after the birth, I had a thrombosis of the deep vein and a pulmonary embolism with some damage to my lungs. The doctor said I was very lucky to be alive! I was in a pair of Jobst socks from my ankles to my waist for a year! They had zippers from my ankles to my waist. They were hot and just plain yucky! I did try to keep moving and doing things that moms do! But I fell on my knees a year later and damaged one ACL in each knee. I was told that I was not a candidate for a knee replacement because I was too big. They sent me to a doctor to see about gastric bypass, but I just did not feel right about it! The risk was too high and it might not even work! So I said no!

I lived in pain for the next several years with my knees and every other joint in my body. I felt like a 90 year old everyday! It hurt to even get out of bed.

I once again did Weight Watchers and lost another 50 lbs. Ok, so I was back down to 220 at this time! Yea, but it was very short lived.

I then tried TOPS group, even ran it for a bit, then life got in the way and my weight went back up to 270 and stayed there for about 12 years!

In 2011, I decided to try Atkins! I lost 25 lbs then I started to gain on Atkins! I was like what the heck is going on!!

So a friend of mine suggested in 2012 that I talk to a doctor in the Twin Cities. This is where the CAVEMAN diet came in and saved my life! I still was in shock that I could not have chocolate! I was like what??? REALLY! But I got over that in a hurry when my doctor told me that if I cheat I have to start over again! I was like no way!

So it was a day-to-day basis thing. About two month into it my knees did not hurt as much. My mood was getting better. I was happier!

I had to do a detox, drinking everyday for about a year with GREEN stuff! But now I can tell if I have not had my greens! It is like night and day on how I can tell what my body needs. I think back and go HOLY COW I have not had sugar in a year and a half!

So this is where Mark’s Daily Apple comes in! I have to keep myself involved with my eating every day or every week to keep me motivated and I found Mark’s page! I love to read his ideas and motivation! I looked up the success stories and thought wow I am one of those! Mark had made a statement about give your self credit even if it is a little thing. I had been fighting to get my weight to move for the past six months. Reading Mark’s comment, I thought, I am so far better off now than I was a year ago. So I might not be losing weight, but I am still going down in inches. I think often, little by little one will travel far!

I have been sitting at a good weight of 200 lbs. I bike ride and/or walk everyday! I can bend down and tie my shoes without having to prop my foot up!! Little things!

One other thing is I have been painkiller free for the better half of a year with not Advil, Motrin, or Tylenol. I was at about 8-12 pills a day before I started this journey!

My other success is my 14 year old son who has been dealing with headaches on a daily basis since he was 12. He decided to join me just before Thanksgiving of 2013! Within two weeks of being gluten free he was headache free! He says that he is not as depressed as he was. Then in the beginning of the new year he went sugar free too!

He was and is my biggest fear because he follows mom’s footsteps way too close! So now with the healthy way of eating he can follow his mom’s footsteps and be going down the right path!

I am very proud of myself and my son!

I love the feeling of being able to go places and have people say, WOW! you look great, younger, such pretty skin, etc…. How do you do it? Well, let me tell you. There once was a caveman…

Mindie

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How to Say “No” to Yourself

It’s opening day at the ballpark. You’ve been waiting for this for many long, cold months. Some of your favorite people are with you. It’s a beautiful day. You’re off work. Life is good. You ate before you came because, having decided to go Primal, you know to prep yourself. That said, a few innings into the game the beer is looking good and your tap water – not so much. “Surely, one can’t do that much damage,” you think. “It’s the season opener, for Pete’s sake.” Two more innings later, you’re hungry. You’re caught up in the fanfare. You’re mildly jealous of the friends around you and their “devil-may-care” eating habits. You watch the vendors making their way around the sections. You conjure up the concession stand menu in your mind as you remember it from last year (or a few years before). The inner negotiation begins. Which is the least of all evils? (And what’s coming around the soonest?) You settle on a hot dog because you don’t feel like getting up and missing any of the game. Five bucks later you’re settling in with your snack, even pushing the envelope on how much of the bun you’re going to eat. A few minutes later it’s all gone except for the tell-tale smear of mustard on your lip. Though your team eventually won the day, you’re not faring as well. Your stomach turns funky that evening. You feel that old familiar bloating. Even the next day you admit you’re in recovery mode. You realize then, you’re going to need a better “no” plan next time.

Ah, the Nancy Reagan line made famous – just say no. It sounded so simple in the 80s, and even today we find ourselves wanting to believe in the easy button mantra for all our big, bad temptations. It should somehow be enough, we think – through sheer willpower or at least rational intellect – to deny ourselves what’s clearly not in our best interest. Too bad the human brain has such a capacity for irrationality, particularly when set in a modern environment rife with all manner of unhealthy lures – versions of what, in a twisted way, resembles what might have been adaptable long ago in prehistory.

Think about when you find yourself wanting or choosing to say no to something non-Primal – the foods and behaviors that seem fun and no-big-deal at the time but always come back to bite you in the you know what. Maybe it’s not the season opener but partying or work events that get you going down that road. Maybe it’s loading up on typical carb-based food when you take clients to lunch or eat at your Aunt Selma’s for dinner. Maybe it’s staying up late on the weekends or “indulging” in crappy roadside food when you’re traveling. Maybe it’s bowing to social pressure during the weekly card game or just bowing to old self-sabotage when you’re having a crappy day and want to remember your old “rewards.” And how many times have we all made the same mistake with the same consequences? How many bouts of bloating, itchiness or upset stomach will it take? How many hangovers (bread- or beer-induced)? How much grogginess, crankiness, and lethargy? How much weight gain (or regain) will we put ourselves through? Speaking of bad choices, it reminds me of that old Tootsie pop commercial – how many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie pop? (You decide what’s at the metaphorical center here.) The point is, how long will it take before we stop catering to our present selves’ desires at the cost of our future selves’ health and well-being?

Whatever the case, at some point it comes down to the question of how. How do you identify and then catch yourself in the pattern? How do you gather the fortitude to make a different choice? Finally, how do you reinforce the behavior and make it solid habit?

Identifying the problem

You’ve undoubtedly seen photos of drunk or passed out (drunk) people whose “friends” captured the often unflattering moments for posterity. Sure, some are funny. Others could be cautionary tales in and of themselves. (Make sure there are no Sharpies in the house before passing out.) As ridiculous as these antics can be, there’s something undoubtedly clear about a lasting visual. One of the games we play with ourselves in these scenarios is telling ourselves in a weak moment that last time really wasn’t as bad as it was. We sugarcoat the past memory to serve our present hankering. Maybe some of us need an unbecoming image to remember genuine reality. Maybe it’s a selfie of yourself collapsed on the couch after some fast food. Maybe it’s a photo of the handwritten sign you put over your toilet, noting you really don’t enjoy spending the better part of an afternoon there and that cheese pizza wasn’t worth it. Maybe it’s what your stomach looks like after you eat wheat. Most of us know what does us in (and, if you don’t, some self-experimentation can easily get you there). The real problem is remembering it’s the problem. One strategically unsavory visual can be an exceedingly effective reminder.

Catching yourself in said problem pattern

Oh, more mental games… Here, I think, we tend to selectively simplify a problem and dismiss its varied permutations. If we’re a moth to dairy’s flame (those of us who just can’t go there without major physical malfunction), we need to get specific about what we need to say no to – ahead of time preferably. Sit down one afternoon (maybe this one), and write out all the ways and times dairy (or whatever yours is) has done you in. Yes, milk, cheese, yogurt, butter. But other stuff too. Not checking the label on protein shakes. Asking a host or server for the recipe when you’re in doubt. Forgetting to say no cream in your coffee. Eating anything your mother makes. If something particular registers as a problem in your intellect but tends to squeeze by the rationalization center of the brain, put it at the top of the list. Especially if you have strong sensitivities or really want to make a hard and fast commitment to Primal living for optimum success (highly recommended), make this script second nature. Mentally consult it before saying yes to anything.

Saying no in the moment

Here’s where the rubber meets the road. You can do all the mental and logistical prep in the world, but you’ll still have a million moments in which you can go either way. It doesn’t matter that you ate before. It doesn’t matter than you have two full baggies of your favorite jerky staying cool and fresh in your mini-fridge under your desk. It doesn’t matter that you got your work done by 5:00 for once to avoid staying up late again. You’ll still face the pattern head on – whether it looks like fancy leftovers from the Board meeting now sitting in the break room or the Breaking Bad final season that just arrived via Netflix that day and is wooing you to stay up into the wee hours.

When we’re feeling lured into decisions we know will have negative consequences, we tend to purposefully isolate ourselves in our own swirling head case. The tempted part doesn’t want outside input. That’s exactly the time, however, to rely on someone else’s good judgment. Maybe you have a good Primal friend – or someone who is close enough that you can text him/her, and it won’t seem bizarre. Maybe you employ a trainer or personal coach who takes these kinds of messages. Even if the person is unavailable to call/text back, getting your thinking out of your head and into the light of day alone can give perspective. Alternatively, you could log on and send a message on the forum. Too many think in those moments if they only read some information that it will do the trick in convincing them. My experience is those moments are too late for that brand of intellectualizing. Reach out instead.

Do you have those aforementioned unappealing photos on your phone? (This is a good idea btw – making them mobile.) Again, this is a tactic that doesn’t require mental gymnastics and will evoke a basic emotional response. (Remember, the more dramatic the picture, the better.)

While this might require a bit of patience, think of your choice in that moment as a game show. Maybe it’s the Price is Right. Put your current option in the context of that narrative. Do you really want to spin the wheel (insert offending food/beverage/behavior) again and go over rather than quit while you’re ahead of the game? You’re in the eternal conflict of the psyche weighing present versus future gains. Inject some humor into it and feel the cascade of perspective. Do we really get that hooked by something unhealthy for us? Yes. Visually imagine yourself taking your body or brain off that hook.

Finally, remember that you’re not really saying no. You’ve chosen to live this way in order to say yes to many incredible things – yes to good, genuine food. Yes to feeling vibrant, balanced and energetic. We’re masters at creating our own (or buying into others’) sense of scarcity and deprivation and imagining dramatic emotional and social fallout as a result. See all that for the b.s. it is. Saying no to the ballpark fare means saying yes to having the intestinal well-being to go out afterward for a real dinner – and feeling great the next day.

Reinforcing desired choices

This isn’t about rewarding good behavior (unless you want to see it that way). I always caution people to not get too caught up in the idea of good and bad. We’re not practicing for obedience school. We’re cultivating consciousness of our own behavioral and emotional patterns in order to better exercise free will. Remember those unflattering photos of what you don’t want to remember? Try the same thing of what you do want to repeat. This is you happy and fully sober after a sporting event. This is you looking relieved and proud having managed to avoid the party buffet (or giving it a subtly obscene gesture to indicate your victory). You get the idea. Make a collage of these moments. Log them on your computer or FB if you enjoy (and your friends enjoy) that kind of thing. Now hold in your mind what genuine Primal luxury you’re going to grant yourself. Sometimes reward has its place after all.

Thanks for reading, everyone. How do you catch yourself on unproductive paths and say no to what led you down them? Share your thoughts and stories.

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Wishing You Were Here!

This is just a quick note and a few photos coming directly to you from PrimalCon Vacation Tulum, Mexico!

Over 160 people from all over the world (England, Australia, Switzerland, Canada, New Zealand, Netherlands, Sweden, and across the U.S.) have come out for this event, and it’s been a tremendous pleasure meeting and sharing this incredible experience with all of them.

The bar truly has been raised here in Tulum, but we are prepared to top it at PrimalCon New York (June 5-8) and PrimalCon Oxnard (September 25-28) later this year. So come out and meet your tribe, learn from leading experts, play, have fun, relax, eat some of the best food you’ve ever eaten, and leave the weekend feeling rested, rejuvenated, and prepared to take control of your health for life. It’s what we do at PrimalCon. I hope to see you there. Grok on!

Not sure what PrimalCon is? Learn all about it here.

Introducing The South Asian Health Solution

On behalf of the author and the entire staff at Primal Blueprint Publishing, I’m pleased to announce the release of The South Asian Health Solution, by Dr. Ronesh Sinha. South Asians are some of the most sedentary, insulin resistant people on the planet, making India a global capital for conditions like diabetes and heart disease, with heart attack onset often significantly earlier in the 3rd or 4th decade of life. Dr. Sinha’s unique ancestral health-based wellness approach to achieving success in this very high risk population can be applied not only to South Asians living in India, the United States and across the world, but to individuals from any ethnic background. Dr. Sinha is an internal medicine physician in California’s Silicon Valley. He sees high-risk South Asian patients and runs education and wellness programs for big name corporate clients like Oracle, Yahoo!, and Genentech to name a few. He has taken patients from diverse ethnic backgrounds out of the high-risk, high body mass category and helped them reverse disease risk factors without medications.

As a member of the mainstream medical community, Dr. Sinha is playing an important role in gaining respect and credibility for the Primal approach to reversing heart disease and metabolic disease risk factors. For the naysayers that he encounters among his brethren, he simply has to pull out lab reports that show shocking improvement in blood risk factor numbers in patients who he treats primarily with dietary and lifestyle modification techniques instead of the usual blanket medication strategy. In 2013, he was a co-recipient of the Silicon Valley Business Journal with a prestigious Excellence in Healthcare award. This past September he was invited to give his first TEDx talk on culturally tailored health and healthy apps and has been invited back for a 2nd TEDx appearance this May.

We first came in contact with “Dr. Ron” at a Primal Blueprint Transformation Seminar in the Bay Area back in 2012. Ron and his wife Shally (a pediatrician who treats childhood obesity and was a contributor to the book) were in the audience and made an impression on presenter Brad Kearns with their pointed questions and insightful commentary about their real-life experiences with the danger and destruction caused by the Standard American Diet, and the success of people transitioning to a Primal approach.

As a presenter at PrimalCon Lake Tahoe, I’m not kidding when I say Dr. Ron absolutely rocked the house with his lively discussion of heart health, the medically supported benefits of Primal eating and living, and general question and answer banter. Ron’s enthusiastic personality shines through in this book; it’s an easy read filled with colorful analogies designed to help you understand – and remember – complex medical terminology and metabolic processes. It even has a special section at the end of each chapter for physicians and allied health professionals on how to implement effective lifestyle strategies for patients and clients.

Dr. Ron commented about his target audience, “This book helps readers from culturally diverse backgrounds find their own unique path to optimal health while respecting their traditions, including modified sections to help vegetarians reach their goals. The South Asian audience reflects a population who is highly educated and highly productive, but surprisingly uninformed about healthy eating and lifestyle habits. This is particularly apparent in prevailing cultural trends such as intense academic experiences for children with insufficient attention and respect for fitness efforts and outdoor play. The Primal Blueprint principles have changed my life – while diligently adhering to a US government-recommended heart-healthy low fat diet and daily exercise I unexpectedly developed metabolic syndrome and found this same standard advice to be ineffective and even harmful to many of my patients. This book is the culmination of extensive research and experience in the clinic and during highly successful wellness programs that have blended the best of modern medicine and ancestral health practices to change the lives of readers from all walks of life.”

Some key topics covered in the book include:

The Metabolic Six-pack: Key numbers you and your doctor should monitor to keep your health in check
The Six Cholesterol Rules: A cutting edge approach to interpreting cholesterol which incorporates the 2013 cholesterol guidelines and also includes information about indications for advanced lab and imaging tests
A drug-free approach to reversing abnormal cholesterol, high blood pressure and diabetes, including tips on how to work with your doctor to achieve your goals
Dedicated chapters on Women’s Health (includes PCOS, healthy pregnancy and weight loss for women), Children’s Health and Aging
Dedicated chapter on Fatigue, Stress and Sleep management
Illustrated Exercises that integrate yoga, bodyweight training, and the use of innovative exercise apps and devices
Highly effective Nutrition advice and Recipes tailored to diverse audiences

Read an excerpt of The South Asian Health Solution:

Limited-Time Special Offer

I teamed up with Dr. Sinha to bring you this book because I believe the knowledge he has to share can be truly life-changing, regardless of your cultural background. So, per Mark’s Daily Apple tradition, and because I want you to have a copy of this important book, I’ve put together a special limited-time offer for this book release. It expires on Wednesday, March 12, 11:59 pm PST. This special offer is a two-parter:

1. Free Primal Blueprint Gift Certificate Valued at the Cost of the Book

Here’s what I’ll do: Buy a copy of The South Asian Health Solution at Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com, PrimalBlueprint.com or anywhere else, in any format (hardcover or Kindle), and I’ll send you a gift certificate code in the amount of the cost of the book on Amazon at the time of this writing ($17.58) that can be used at PrimalBlueprint.com to buy anything – more books, Primal Fuel, a Primal Essentials Kit, apparel, etc. – valued at $40 or more. In other words, I’ll effectively cover the cost of your book if you buy the hardcover from Amazon, and more than cover it if you buy the $9.99 Kindle version, with a PrimalBlueprint.com gift certificate. (See “How to Claim Your Free Gift and Be Entered to Win” and “Fine Print” below for more details.)

If you’ve been wanting to try a Primal Blueprint product, or are already a regular Primal Blueprint customer, this is the perfect opportunity: you get a fantastic new book from Primal Blueprint Publishing and your choice of anything from PrimalBlueprint.com at a reduced cost for a limited time. And hey, every book purchase helps support everything we do here at Mark’s Daily Apple. If you enjoy this free resource, if for no other reason, consider purchasing a copy today to help keep MDA going strong.

2. A Chance to Win a One-on-One Phone Consultation with Dr. Sinha

Join Dr.Ron for a one-on-one phone consultation where he will talk to you about your health challenges, give you guidance on assessing your risk factors and how to work with your physician and health care team to get you on track to optimal health. Dr.Ron sees high risk patients in his clinic and also runs wellness programs for large companies and is happy to share the most successful strategies he has used to help individuals achieve their goals, whether it’s weight loss, improving energy, managing stress or a path to possibly getting off your prescription medication.

One lucky randomly-drawn winner will receive the one-on-one phone consultation.

How to Claim Your Free Gift and Be Entered to Win



Buy 1 or more copies from Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com, PrimalBlueprint.com or any other book retailer.
Submit your receipt by filling out this form and you will be emailed your free gift certificate and get a chance to have a one-on-one phone consultation with Dr. Sinha.

So what are you waiting for? Grab your copy of The South Asian Health Solution and take advantage of this special offer today!

Thanks in advance to everyone that orders a copy and participates. Grok on!

Fine Print:

This special bonus offer ends at 11:59 pm, March 12, 2014 (PST).


All receipts must be received by 11:59 pm, March 19, 2014 (PST). The form will stop working on March 20, so be sure to fill out the form and submit your pre-March 13 receipt(s) by then.
You will receive an email within an hour of submitting your receipt that will provide you with your PrimalBlueprint.com gift certificate code.
On an iPhone? You won’t be able to upload your receipt from it, unfortunately. You’ll have to use a computer.
The value of the PrimalBlueprint.com coupon code is $17.58 and reflects the cost of the book on Amazon.com at the time of writing this article. The cost of the book on Amazon.com may rise or fall depending on demand for the book and other factors out of our control, but the value of the coupon will stay the same.
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Both domestic (U.S.) and international orders are eligible for the bonuses.
All book formats are eligible, including physical books and digital versions (e.g. Kindle).
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Movement, Exercise, and Training: Getting the Results You Want

The trouble with talking about fitness on a public forum read by millions and making recommendations based on the scientific literature is that we’re all different. I know, I know, you’ve read/seen Fight Club, and Tyler Durden says that we’re not all unique snowflakes, but he’s wrong on this one. We come from different environments and backgrounds and we all have different goals and desires and abilities. There is no one training plan, exercise program, or piece of fitness advice that is perfect for everyone, equally. Each person must find what works for them.

So when I tried to impart a universally-sound fitness principle, perhaps the only truly universally-applicable one of all - the best exercise is the one you will do consistently - a few people were skeptical. I understand, but my contention stands: single workouts don’t get you stronger or fitter, after all. Adaptations to cumulative workouts performed on a consistent basis get you stronger and fitter. And the greatest exercise won’t work for you unless you do it. The point of last week’s post wasn’t to suggest that doing what you enjoy necessarily leads to peak fitness, just that consistency is key when it comes to fitness.

So, what lies beyond just doing an exercise you’re willing to do? There’s got to be more to it.

Definitely. It helps to conceptualize the differences between exercise, training, and movement.

Movement is the first step above sedentarism. It’s the baseline for good health. It’s the 10,000 steps a day, the hiking, the walking to the store, the gardening, the commute to work on a bike. Movement is required for good health, but it’s not enough for peak fitness. It’s a good start, and maybe the most important part for some people.

Exercise isn’t focused on the long term. If an exerciser has goals, they’re more diffuse and overarching goals like “get healthier” or “get fitter” or “be able to care for myself when I’m elderly.” Exercise is about being active, moving your body, getting fitter, getting stronger, staying fit, staying strong, that sort of non-specific thing.

Training is something you do to achieve a specific goal, like “deadlift 500 pounds” or “complete an Ironman in ten hours.” Training implies a “training program,” consisting of progression (often linear), regimentation, and/or periodization. Trainees employ these training programs to bring them closer to their goals. They’re often competitive athletes – weekend warriors, amateurs, professionals – but they don’t have to be. All that’s entailed is a goal.

Okay, so how do you know if you should exercise, train, or just move?

First off, everyone needs movement in their lives. Constant, low-level movement is the foundation for health and fitness. This s non-negotiable. Plus, it’s a reliable way to “get a workout in” when you don’t feel like going to the gym. I know that however burned out, tired, sore, or run down I am, a hike always brings me back to baseline.

Who should be exercising? Who should be training?

If you’re happy with your fitness level, good. You’ve made it. Keep doing what you’re doing – whatever it is. You can be perfectly happy, fit, lean, strong, and healthy “just” exercising. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with exercising for the sake of exercising.

If you have a specific goal in mind, like bulking up 20 pounds, squatting twice bodyweight, running a five minute mile, competing in an event, running a marathon, playing college sports, you should be training. If you’re spinning your wheels, it might be time to set a goal or two and get training. Even if you’re simply struck by the vague notion that something isn’t working and that you could be doing better, try picking a goal and erecting a training program to achieve it. Note that training often involves doing exercises, movements, or drills that you’d otherwise prefer not to do. It’s challenging by design – to provoke adaptations as you learn to overcome the challenges.

Choosing a Goal

Goals don’t have to be monumental feats or massive undertakings, nor does training necessarily imply the shedding of precious red-tinted bodily fluids and the brandishing of ripped calluses and torn up shins over social media. They certainly can and you’re free to post what you will, but goals and their concomitant training programs take many forms.

There are performance-based goals. You want to beat this time, hit a PR, dunk the ball, or win a competition.

There are vanity-based goals. You want to be better than the other guy, prove something to yourself, prove something to someone else.

Or maybe you want to win some money, win a bet.

These are all legitimate goals and motivations. It depends entirely on what you want out of fitness.

I’ve been to that side of the fitness spectrum – the pursuit of elite performance to the blatant and necessary disregard of optimal health – and I feel like I can be a cautionary tale for others flirting with similar pursuits. You’re totally free to go for performance above all else, of course, and many people do exactly that without any complaints, but I couldn’t do it. There are inevitable tradeoffs (health, social life, diet, free time) and people need to be aware of them and that there is another way to approach training.

Me? My goal is to play better:

I want to be able to play Ultimate every weekend with guys 3o years younger (and keep up).

I want to go out for a paddling session whenever I want and not have it feel like work.

I want to hit the slopes all weekend and be able to drive home without my quads cramping up every time I hit the brake.

And I want to do all that while staying injury-free.

My training focus, then, is to maintain: my fitness, my muscle mass, the viability of my connective tissue, my bone mineral density. I’m not going for PRs anymore because it’s too risky at this stage while bringing me no closer to my goals. But that’s fine. I’ve found what works for me and my goals.

While I train for a specific goal, the details of my training don’t resemble the training of an Olympic lifter, a football player, an endurance athlete, a Strongman competitor, or even a motivated online fitness enthusiast. I enjoy my training and actually look forward to the hard work, but that doesn’t make it any less effective at helping me reach my goals.

As you can see, my goals are different than most. And that’s okay, because they’re mine. Your goals are fine, too, whatever they may be (even if you don’t have any). The important thing is that we have the conversation with ourselves to understand why we’re walking all these miles, paying these gym fees, lifting these weights, running really fast as if someone is chasing us even though no one is there, and grasping this horizontal bar lying overhead and attempting to touch our chests to it. It’d be a shame if we found out we were wasting our fleeting time.

To cap things off, let’s hear from you. Have you thought about the difference between movement, exercise and training? Which do you do? What do you want out of exercise? What fitness goals do you have? If you have one, how do you propose to achieve it?

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Dear Mark: Palmitic Acid and Eating Speed

For today’s edition of Dear Mark, I’m discussing the seemingly evil qualities of palmitic acid, the preferred storage form of body fat in humans and many other mammals. Studies seem to indicate that pure palmitic acid has negative health effects, so should we be avoiding palmitic acid-containing foods like butter, meat, or palm oil? Then, I explain the health effects of eating really fast. As you’ll see, there are quite a few reasons to eat more slowly than quickly. I also include a few tips for fast eaters who want to slow down.

Let’s go:

Hey Mark,

This is something I have been trying to get to the bottom of recently. I have been reading about different saturated fatty acids and their effects on the body. One that always comes up is Palmitic acid. I read that “Palmitic acid is one of the most damaging fats, second only to trans fats in its list of negative health effects” and the same goes for myristic acid. Normally I would dismiss these sorts of claims, but it came from somebody who knows that saturated fats aren’t correlated with heart disease, so this person isn’t in the whole “saturated fats are evil” club.

I would really like to hear your views on this Mark, if some saturated fats are actually harmful, or if it just outdated science.

Thanks,

Luke

Ah yes, dastardly palmitic acid. So evil, so toxic that it’s the body’s preferred storage form of energy. Kind of like how we make cholesterol in order to clog our arteries and give ourselves heart disease, our livers convert energy into palmitic acid to commit long, slow, agonizing suicide and develop diabetes. Makes sense.

I certainly love to cook with palmitic acid. Unfortunately, the refined, isolated palmitic acid doesn’t exist in nature, so I got a fancy fractionation machine sitting on my counter that separates the various fatty acids. It works great. Plop in some butter and let the centrifuge spin, spin, spin until the isolated palmitic acid comes out ready to be used.

I’m kidding, of course. The point is that if you take a look at the literature you’ll find evidence that while isolated palmitic acid has some negative effects, palmitic acid mixed with other types of fatty acids and nutrients – also known as food – has a very different effect. In other words, palmitic acid gets an undeserved bad rap. So what does the research show?

1. Palmitic acid lowers expression of the LDL receptor gene. Less LDL receptor activity, more time for LDL to hang around in the bloodstream and cause trouble. That’s not good.

Except a modicum of oleic acid stimulates LDL receptor activity.

2. Palmitic acid is toxic to skeletal muscle cells, impairing glucose uptake and increasing insulin resistance. I for one like my muscle cells to have the ability to accept glucose, so maybe I’ll stop eating palmitic acid.

But arachidonic acid, a polyunsaturated fat found in animal products often alongside palmitic acid, prevents this lipotoxicity.

3. Palmitic acid induces inflammation and disrupts insulin signaling, early signs of diabetes. We don’t want diabetes, so we should probably stop eating any palmitic acid, right?

Except that introducing a little bit of oleic acid, a monounsaturated fat almost invariably found alongside palmitic acid in the animals we eat (or in the olive oil we use to dress our meat), completely obliterates the inflammation.

Heck, even if we do manage to isolate and choke down enough pure palmitic acid to cause problems, our livers can modify some of it to produce oleic acid, thus negating any potential negative effects.

Physiology is quite a thing, huh? It’s amazing how well simply eating food in its natural state and letting your body take care of the rest works. It’s only when we upset the natural order by engaging in biologically inappropriate activities like drinking two sodas a day plus sweet junk food while sitting down for twelve hours a day with a glycogen-replete liver, thus prompting the liver to convert sugar into palmitic acid for storage and circulation because there’s nowhere else for the fructose to go.

I don’t know about you, but the fact that we “choose” to store it as palmitic acid seems to suggest that it’s not the dangerous toxin we’ve been led to believe it is.

Hi Mark,

I have a weird problem I tend to be a very fast eater (speed at which I eat). As a result, even though I stick to primal foods, I tend to overeat by the time my appetite is satisfied.

I am sure there would be a few others like me who tend to have this problem. Would you have any tips on how one could slow down the speed of eating? It sounds like a simple problem – but just like any other bad habits, fast eaters have built it over a lifetime which makes changes difficult.

Appreciate your response. Thank you for all the great work you do that helps millions of people worldwide

Cheers,

Abhi

Eating speed is absolutely a factor in health. To date, most of the research has focused on the links between eating speed and obesity, with fast eating being associated with higher body weight in middle aged women, middle aged men, and teenagers.

There’s evidence the link is causal. One study followed fast eating school age girls from fourth to seventh grade. Those who speed ate in fourth grade and continued to eat quickly through seventh grade gained the most weight, body fat, waist size, and waist-to-height ratio. Those who ate quickly in fourth grade but slowed down in the ensuing years had normal weight measures. Another study found that retraining fast-eating obese adolescents to eat more slowly improved their satiety responses to carbohydrates and reduced body weight.

That’s the big one, as you’ve noticed, Abhi: eating so fast that you outpace your own satiety signaling. Fast eaters tend to overeat, showing less satisfaction with their food despite eating way more of it.

Relationships between fasting eating and type 2 diabetes have also been found, even when adjusting for family history of diabetes, BMI, waist circumference, and activity level.

What can you do? Well, “don’t eat so fast” is obvious but mostly unhelpful advice. What are some more concrete tips a fast eater can try?

Eat with others. When you sit down (or stand) to a meal with friends, business associates, significant others, kids, or any other sentient being capable of engaging in conversation, you have something else to focus on – the other person.

Eat food that requires work. I enjoy a good amorphous multicolored mash of six different ingredients as much as anyone, but food like that lends itself to speed eating. Favor foods that require some cutting. Think meat on the bone, whole steaks, chops, and the like. Try to limit foods you can eat with a spoon, in other words.

Eat at the table. Your body needs to “know” you’re eating a meal, and that means sitting down at a table with actual plates, silverware, and even companions. If you’re driving while eating, standing in front of the open fridge digging through tupperware to snack, or grabbing a “bite” while “on the run,” you’re not creating the meal environment your body needs.

Eat when hungry, not when ravenous. You want to spice your food up with a dash of hunger, not dump the entire jar onto your plate.

Don’t eat in front of the TV. You’ll zone out and mindlessly shovel food into your mouth at breakneck speed.

Chew more. The more you chew, the more time each bite spends in your mouth, the slower you eat. Plus, there’s the possibility that better-chewed food will get digested more quickly and register in your brain as having been eaten sooner than partially chewed food. Some research points at 35 chews per bite (compared to 10 chews per) as optimal for reducing food intake, extending meal time, and increasing satiety.

Put the fork down in between bites. If you’ve got a fork in your hand all the time, of course you’re going to use it. So keep it out of your hand until it’s absolutely needed.

Practice mindful eating. Savor every bite. Observe the flavors and textures. Pinpoint individual ingredients. Consider absolutely everything about each piece of food entering your mouth, and ruminate deeply on your observations. I’m sure most of you will find satisfying all these practices somewhat exhausting, but being even a bit more mindful will slow you down.

Buy a Vibrafork. I poked fun at them last week, but they actually do exist.

Good luck!

That’s it for today, folks. Thanks for reading!

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Weekend Link Love

Episode #8 of The Primal Blueprint Podcast is now live. This time, I answer reader questions. To ask your own for future podcasts, click the blue “Submit a Question” button in the sidebar to leave me a voicemail.

Research of the Week

Fermented food as ancient psychiatrist: the many links between probiotics, the gut, and mental health.

New research suggests that accentuating the “stretch” of your muscles when lifting heavy things increases strength, IGF-1 response, and muscular adaptations.

A new USDA report on GMO crops is less than positive.

Some of us may have the right gut flora to break up phytic acid and turn it into inositol.

Researchers have discovered a mechanism that could explain the links between low vitamin D levels and autism.

Interesting Blog Posts

How skin – not just muscles, connective tissue, and metabolic systems – adapts to training stressors.

An independent researchers asks a published author about the connection between omega-6 intake and fatty liver, receiving no response but outlining an impressive line of evidence in the process.

Media, Schmedia

The recent history of cannibalism.

“The glass was painful, but it didn’t do any real damage. With dog mess, I just wipe my feet on grass and then wash them at a tap.” One woman’s experience not wearing shoes for the past few years in urban Britain.

Good news: the obesity rate among youngsters has plummeted by 43% over the past decade!

Bad news: maybe it hasn’t.

25-year twice-a-day pizza habit.

Stop (using modern technology), collaborate (on a barn-raising), and listen (to the roaring silence of simple farm life). Vanilla Ice has gone Amish.

Everything Else

Impressive video: 215 pound man doing multiple 1-arm pullups (with each arm).

Why we like hot sauce so much.

If you’ve got an hour, check out this interesting talk by Dr. Alessio Fasano, one of the foremost experts on gluten, celiac, gluten sensitivity, and other “gluten related disorders.”

“We ate them, and they tasted very good.” Scientists are fermenting sausages using the fecal bacteria from healthy babies’ dirty diapers.

Were early agriculturalists interested in bread or beer?

You know, I was just thinking we were overdue for an article from a smug, entirely uncurious skeptic proclaiming everything he refuses to research to be pseudoscience.

Recipe Corner

Everything you could ever hope to know about handling, cooking, and discussing chicken liver, including a great recipe for chopped chicken liver.
Mushrooms have the unique ability to soak up flavor, making them the perfect vehicle for garlic and butter.

Time Capsule

One year ago (Mar 3 – Mar 9)

Extrinsic and Intrinsic Rewards, or What Really Motivates You to Be Healthy  – Where does your motivation originate?
Floor Living: Do You Spend Enough Time on the Ground? – Instead of sitting around in chairs or on sofas, try plopping down on the floor.

Comment of the Week

I guess we are ahead of the curve here in Venezuela. The tounge [sic] mesh has been used, at least for a few months. My girlfriend is an oral surgeon and people have been asking for it. She politely refuses but others are doing it. I’ve seen them and I had no appetite after, so clearly it works.

- I like this.

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A Beginner’s Guide: How to Culture Vegetables

Culturing raw vegetables can be a little intimidating. The process really is quite simple, but it seems like a lot to keep track of. What type of vegetables do you use? What do you culture with – salt, whey or freeze-dried culture? How do you make sure the culture doesn’t go bad during the fermentation process? How long, exactly, do those jars need to sit on my kitchen counter? And why bother culturing vegetables, anyway?

Consuming probiotics and fermented foods has numerous possible benefits. Chief among them, a healthier gut means more nutrients, vitamins, and minerals are absorbed. Plus, fermented vegetables are really delicious. Store-bought pickled veggies (like sauerkraut and pickles) are usually preserved in vinegar instead of a lactobacterial-salt slurry. This short-cut pickling method means no probiotics are present and the vegetables are usually limp and soggy. Lacto-fermented vegetables are crunchy, tangy and alive with healthy bacteria.

The more batches of vegetables you culture, the more experimental you’ll get. But if you’re an absolute beginner then there’s no easier, more foolproof way to start than by using freeze-dried cultures along with salt. Salt inhibits the growth of undesirable microorganisms; starter culture speeds up the fermentation process and offers the most consistent results.

After purchasing the freeze-dried culture of your choice (here’s one we recommend) and some non-iodized salt, buy several canning jars, or better yet a glass jar with an airlock setup (which eliminates the threat of unwanted mold).

Next, choose your vegetables; pretty much anything goes. Culture one type of vegetable at a time, or blend several together. Cabbage, carrots, beets, turnips, cauliflower, onions, hot peppers, bell peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, kale and green beans are the most commonly used. Add spices if you wish (whole coriander, juniper, caraway, red pepper flakes, ginger) or fresh/dried herbs.

Slice or grate the veggies, either by hand or in a food processor, and mix them in a large bowl with the salt and starter culture.

Freeze dried starter culture will come with instructions detailing the ratio of starter culture, salt, water and vegetables to combine. Mix the vegetables really well, squeezing them with your hands to release juices. Then pack it all in a jar with a loose cover or airlock lid. That’s it. (Glass weights can be set atop the veggies to keep them submerged, but aren’t necessary.)

Now it’s time to let the healthy bacteria do its thing. Most freeze dried cultures recommend letting the vegetable sit out for 7 to 10 days at room temperature (70 ºF, 20 ºC). After that, they go into the fridge and can be eaten immediately or left alone to cure several weeks for better flavor.

If you keep a jar of fermented vegetables in your fridge at all times, you’ll find yourself regularly reaching in for a bite. And that is a good thing.

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