Perfect Blog Post

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Must See Video: Toxic Sugar

Insulin Resistance and Obesity, the Chicken or the Egg?

This is a wonderful video, by Dr. Peter Attia at TEDMED which questions whether obesity causes insulin resistance or insulin resistance causes obesity.  But, really it is a phenomenal demonstration of critical thinking.  Highly recommended.

11 Food Ingredients Banned Outside the USA!

If you haven't read this, go read it now!  Common food ingredients in the US banned in other countries!

How to best avoid them?  Follow the Paleo/Primal lifestyle, of course!

Another Obesity as Disease Review

An excellent post on the question of whether obesity is a disease over at the Primal Godfather's site, www.marksdailyapple.com.

He makes the very valid point that calling obesity a disease will make it seem that the obese do not have the power on their own to "cure" their condition!

Obesity as a Disease

Great look at some of the factors in the decision by the AMA (If it's a decision made by the AMA, then I always question the motives! Most people don't understand that the AMA only represents about 15% of physicians!).

Personally, I disagree with making a multi-factorial symptom into its own disease process.

The Health Foods That Are Killing You!

Finally, an article that gets it right!  This is one of the best summaries that I have seen!  Agree, wholeheartedly with  every statement!

24 Days!

24 days and I will be back in this exact position!

Brewer's Bay, Tortola, British Virgin Islands

Recent Meals!

Dragon Fruit Salad!

Buffalo Chicken Deviled Eggs!

Paleo Buffalo Wings!

Spicy Chicken Stir Fry over Dirty Cauliflower Rice

Roasted Hawaiian Purple Sweet Potatoes

Two Maps

The first shows prevalence of ADHD in the United States:



The second, soda consumption and Diabetes rates:


See a pattern?

Found here!

30 Grams of Carbs

Which would you choose?


or



Found here!

Low Glycemic Index Diet May Extend Your Life > 9 Years!

That is if this study on mice translates over into humans! It found significantly lower amounts of oxidative stress on the Low GI mice versus the control!

Thought of the Day!

Sorry for the light blogging. Heavy work issues, but should improve next week!

Supplement Concerns

Please read this article in the New York Times.  It details the death of a soldier linked to a common exercise supplement, DMAA (dimethylamylamine,)  This can be found in several popular supplements, including Jack3d, a supplement that I heard really good things about!

FYI, I use Cellucor C4 Extreme, for pre-workout protein and energy boost!

Please, keep in mind that supplement companies are VERY lightly regulated by the FDA and caution should always be used, especially with new products!

Thought of the day!

From the wonderful http://rainydaysandblankets.tumblr.com/

Niacin?

I am a member of the National Lipid Association (Yes, exciting I know!). This morning I received an email about the newest Niacin study HPS2-THRIVE.  The study (using EXTENDED RELEASE Niacin) found that:

"The primary composite endpoint of major vascular events (MVE) was not significantly reduced (risk ratio 0.96, 95% CI: 0.90-1.03, p =0.3) in the active arm. "Serious adverse events" were found in 3% more subjects in the active arm, although most were "minor hyperglycemic problems." Myopathy generally was uncommon (0.34%/yr), but was 4-fold higher overall in the active arm, and 10-fold higher among Chinese subjects."

Regardless, the NLA believes that, "Meanwhile, we believe that niacin remains a valuable adjunct to statin treatment for LDL-C lowering, and a valuable statin alternative in statin intolerant patients."

The bottom line is that for years we have known that Extended Release Niacin increases your risk for liver toxicity and shows little of the cardiovascular benefit that (real, Immediate Release) Niacin shows. If you are intolerant (like most people) of Niacin (Immediate Release), do not expect to get the same health benefits from the extended release preparations.

This illustrates the foundation of the Paleo/Primal movement: If you take real, healthy, natural food and manipulate it in a lab, do not expect to get the same health benefits!

This week it's salt that's in the news!

Another great article by Zoe Harcombe on (another demonized nutrient essential for life) salt!

A sample:

"9) There is no evidence that salt causes heart disease; there is evidence that low salt is associated with heart attacks
A study of approximately 3,000 hypertensive subjects (men with high blood pressure) found that there was a 430% increase in myocardial infarction (heart attack) in the group with the lowest salt intake versus the group with the highest salt intake. (Ref 6)  Knowing how vital salt is for human health, this should not be surprising – low-sodium diets have been shown to cause multiple nutrient deficiencies, including nutrients vital for heart health (calcium, magnesium, potassium and B-vitamins). (Ref 7)
The SACN report concluded: “There are insufficient reliable data on long-term effects of salt on cardiovascular disease outcomes to reach clear conclusions.” Quite."

Read the whole thing!

Stop eating C.R.A.P.!

http://healthy-is-sexy.tumblr.com/

A New Review of An Old Study

The Sydney Diet Heart Study was conducted in Australia from 1966-1973.  It evaluated substituting "heart healthy" vegetable oils rich in PUFA Omega 6 fatty acids for that known evil ......Saturated fat!

The take home points:
"Advice to substitute polyunsaturated fats for saturated fats is a key component of worldwide dietary guidelines for coronary heart disease risk reduction. However, clinical benefits of the most abundant polyunsaturated fatty acid, omega 6 linoleic acid, have not been established. In this cohort, substituting dietary linoleic acid in place of saturated fats increased the rates of death from all causes, coronary heart disease, and cardiovascular disease. An updated meta-analysis of linoleic acid intervention trials showed no evidence of cardiovascular benefit. These findings could have important implications for worldwide dietary advice to substitute omega 6 linoleic acid, or polyunsaturated fats in general, for saturated fats."

Read the whole thing!

Chalk another one up for the Paleo lifestyle!

Smile!

Found here!

The Sugar Conspiracy!

This is a great video, taken from a lecture at the University of California, San Francisco by Dr. Lustig, Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism.  It's very long, but does an excellent job of explaining how fat became the evil part of our diet and sugar was overlooked, how sugar (hfcs) consumption has closely followed the diabetes and obesity epidemic and the metabolic causes for this.

Highly recommended!

Dr Oz is stealing my talking points!

This is a must watch video!  I have this exact same conversation with several patients a day.  If you or a loved one is on a Statin, they should re-evaluate whether they actually need it or not!

Sugar + Breaded Deep Fried Foods Increase Stroke Risk!

Is anyone surprised at this result? Well I guess those that still cling to the false belief that saturated fat in the diet is a risk for stroke and heart attack may be surprised.  But for us in the Paleo/Primal movement the thought that sugary beverages + breaded food + deep frying with "heart healthy," lab created, PUFA's will increase your risk for stroke is an absolute no brainer!

More Gluten News!

More and more we are hearing about non-celiac Gluten disease! Of course, those of us in the Paleo community have understood this all along!

Cholesterol and Mortality: Not what you think!

Doesn't that make you think? World Health Organization data shows that as cholesterol increases, your risk of death goes DOWN!!!! These graphs are from the wonderful and insightful article by the British researcher Zoe Harcombe.

Remember, I was a national speaker for the most prescribed statin in the world.  I have done a Fellowship in Advanced Lipid Analysis. There is no doubt in my mind that statins, while indicated for those with known coronary artery disease, are markedly over-prescribed for use in primary prevention.

What is "Health?"

Great video with Dr. Alexander Jadad asking, "What is Health?" and the effort to come up with a new definition.  Definitely worth a look!

So true!

New Study: Glycemic Index versus Glycemic Load!

A really interesting study detailed over at Suppversity compares the importance of the Glycemic Index of our diet versus the Glycemic Load. Now for those of us on traditional Paleo/Primal diets, we essentially follow a low Glycemic Index diet, however, more and more are beginning to recommend what is  being called "Paleo 2.0," essentially focusing more on Glycemic Load than Glycemic Index.

One of the major differences being that starches, especially white potatoes, which have long been verboten in my diet, may now be acceptable, and even recommended for those of us who utilize heavy anaerobic (weight training/ cross fit) workouts! Can't say that I wouldn't mind some mashed potatoes made with real butter and heavy cream on my plate occasionally. Anyway, the study is very impressive in the superiority of GL versus GI. Certainly, is not the end of the argument, but more and more information is weighing in on the GL side.

Also, I am very much looking forward to reading the new version of Perfect Health Diet. Some of my patients have already started using their principles with very good results!  Will detail more once I have reviewed the entire book.

By the way, with my increased work schedule, it has been difficult to document daily Whole 30 updates.  I do continue to follow a pretty strict "original" Paleo diet, while exercise has increased as well. Look forward to detailing physical changes at the end of the Whole 30 period!

Motivation!

Day #4 Review

This day didn't start off so well. For some reason my Android phone alarm clock did not want to work and so we woke up 30 minutes later than usual. Had to skip breakfast.  Did manage a mid morning protein shake and then for lunch had ground beef, pico de gallo, jalapenos and a little hot sauce over lettuce. Did not work out secondary to muscle fatigue from the other nights. Skipped pre-bed casein as well.

Weight check this AM : steady at 184.

Day #3 Review

A good day #3. No breakfast yesterday. Had pharmaceutical rep bring in lunch, vegetable soup with pasta (didn't have any of it), salad (removed the croutons and used my own paleo dressing), and turkey on croissant (threw away the croissants!), so didn't do too bad. Had to pick my girls up at the gym at 6:00, got home and promptly had a pretty good back workout (not as long as I'd have liked since I had to get dinner going). Watched "Cougar Town" that we had DVR'd the night before. For a show that I always love the writing, it was a little bit of a letdown. Finished the night with casein protein drink.

Weight this morning was 184. No change from yesterday. Total loss of 1.5 pounds since Monday.

Day #2 Review

Another good day! No intermittent fasting yesterday!  Started the morning with scrambled eggs and bacon. Had midmorning whey protein shake and then went to one of my lunch staples.....Denny's!!  Had two orders of scrambled eggs, two orders of bacon and side salad. Got home at 5:30 and did some light cardio and biceps workout. Then had a fantastic flank steak stuffed with .....wait for it.......bacon! As well as spinach and bell peppers! Then a final casein shake prior to bedtime.

This morning weight was 184.0.  A loss of a pound and a half so far this week!

Day #1 Review

Overall, day 1 went about as well as it could have. I did do a day of intermittent fasting, not eating any calories until 4:00 PM. 17 hour fast went by without any problems! Took a protein shake at 4:00 PM, got home at 5:30 and went to the gym. Did chest and tri's, 275 pounds on the incline bench for 2 reps. For the longest time, I have used a pyramid for chest training, gradually working my way up in weight as sets progress.  This month, I am going to focus on a reverse pyramid, after warming up, will attempt my heaviest sets first and gradually decrease weight.

After working out, my lovely wife had fixed a fantastic dinner of a juicy french cut pork chop, asparagus and side salad (mixed greens, radishes, pistachios, and chopped bell  pepper) with paleo salad dressing. Had a small whey based protein shake mixed with water as well. Then at bedtime, took my casein based protein shake mixed with water.

Weight this AM was 185.6.  No change from yesterday.

And So It Begins!

Today is the beginning of my wife's and my Whole30 experiment.  30 days of perfect Primal diet and exercise! I have been scouring the web for the latest research on dietary supplements to aid fat burning and muscle gain. Also, I will be practicing Intermittent Fasting 3-4 days a week during this period.  Today, I weighed 185.6 pounds and body fat is up a little to 11%. I will be updating frequently on workouts, diet and progress......so stay tuned.

These are the supplements that I will be taking this month:

VPX Meltdown, the only fat burner that I've been impressed by their studies!

MusclePharm Combat Powder, high quality whey protein supplement.

MusclePharm Core Casein, high quality slow release protein to take at bedtime.

VPX NO Synthesize, Pre and Intraworkout creatine and Nitric Oxide increasing supplement.

Taurine, Essential Amino Acid, which recent studies suggest taken 2 grams 3 X a day will promote muscle synthesis!

Leucine, Branch Chain Amino Acid taken 3 grams intraworkout suggest a significant increase in testosterone production!

As well, as my usual Vitamin D3 and Krill Oil supplements.

Add lots of H2O, blood sweat and tears and a Primal diet and I am incredibly excited to document the next month!

LA Magazine Article

Nice little article on Mark Sisson and the Primal Movement in LA magazine!