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Sam West

Author Archive: Sam West

Chowing Down On Meat, Dairy Alters Gut Bacteria A Lot, And Quickly

A new study my wife came across on npr.org tries to represent the results of a Harvard study published in nature.com.   The nature article titled “Diet rapidly and reproducibly alters the human gut microbiome” seems to be a fair representation of the study as expected. But the sensationalized npr article falls into a couple traps. They’ve got 1 thing right – Gut flora is one of the most important areas of scientific study taking place today. It effects almost every aspect of our health. 2 Problems…    The lack of consistent terminology. Using the words “meat” and “cheese” to represent protein. But using the word “carbohydrates” to actually mean vegetables. Extreme “end of the scale” tests can give interesting results but are always compromised by not taking into account the need for balance in the diet.   So pigging out on all meat and not eating any vegetables at all had a significant effect on gut bacteria for the worse? That’s a shocker! Come on npr – have some integrity. You don’t need to dumb everything down for us to understand what those super smart men are saying… Keep it up and one of these days we really will be…
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I’m still alive!

In spite of what this article might lead you to believe on siliconindia.com, the paleo diet has not killed me off. Not by a long shot. I haven’t been posting any updates in the last several months due to a variety of reasons. I plateaud after losing 110 lbs and intentionally relaxed what I was doing somewhat. I convinced myself it was okay and temporary. It’s easy to do. I live in a SAD family with 2 teenage kids that are deeply devoted to being SAD. In more ways than one it often seems… But change being ever present, we have been through a lot in the last few months. New jobs, new house, new schools; My wife and I barely survived it!  I’m happy to say that I have not put a lot of weight back on. Probably 5-10 lbs from my lowest point of 115 lost. But I am not happy with where I am. I’m not able to work out due to both of my hips having osteoarthritis from many years of being over weight but still trying to do everything everybody else was doing in my tae kwon do work outs. My hips have progressively degenerated…
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Would that ALL physicians stop one moment and listen…

My paleo journey has at once liberated me, and also made me feel helpless to all the worlds health problems. It all comes down to getting people to listen. Not just to stop and hear. But to truly listen and think. Consider. Reflect. My personal physician was not aware of paleo, evolutionary medicine and diet, until I started telling him what I was doing to explain my significant weight loss. He was supportive if not convinced. He sees so many patients on a daily basis. If it was me, it would drive me literally crazy to not be able to help all the people coming in with diabetes,  heart disease, and auto-immune diseases. I came across an article a few weeks ago on a new resource I love – PaleolithicMD.com In typical PaleoCoder fashion though, I didn’t get around to reading it until today.  In this article titled “How Has My Transition to Paleo Changed My Approach To Treating the Big Three In My Patients?“, Dr. Ernie Garcia discusses how his practice has changed in recent years with his adoption of a paleo lifestyle. “My Paleo journey began as a personal one.  I did it to feel better, get fitter, and…
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Update Me: Lots of new resources popping up!

Been awhile since I last posted. <– This has to be the most common opening sentence across all blogs on the Internet… But at any rate, I’ve been in a maintainability cycle for a couple months now. Down to 275 (115 lb loss) and feeling good. I don’t bother to track what I eat or count any calories but I am going to begin a push to knock off another big chunk of weight now. I have also come across a number of very informative resources that someone passing by may not know about and find useful. First, there’s almost too many paleo recipe sites to list these days but here’s a few I’ve recently enjoyed; Paleo Diet Lifestyle Nom Nom Paleo T.G.I.Paleo And last, I noticed I didn’t have Everyday Paleo on my recipes page. This was my first resource AND first cookbook I purchased! There’s a number of interesting new approaches to this paleo scene that aren’t necessarilly paleo. But I think are worth checking out. See what you think! The Bullet Proof Executive Supercharge your body, Upgrade your brain, Be Bulletproof. Nerd Fitness Superhero fitness: We understand that fat is not the enemy. Dan’s Plan Programs to help you achieve…
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The Paleo Declaration of Independence

  This poignant video cleverly draws the comparison between oppressive governments and oppressive food processing manufacturers. It’s certainly true that we must maintain our right to choose. But there’s going to be a lot of people thinking we’ve “flipped the bozo bit“. Calling for a revolution? Well, there’s so many parallels here it’s difficult to quickly pick where to start. As a Paleo follower, I am hoping for a revolution of sorts. But when I started this journey, it didn’t take me long to realize I should start by revolutionizing myself. Leave the arguing to others and concentrate on improving my food choices. I still feel that way. I’m still on my weightloss journey. But as I’ve discussed on here before; the attack on cholesterol; the processed sugary foods; the fear of saturated fat; all identify a concerted and coordinated effort to control our food supply and what we eat. Probably for the purpose of profits.  So while I like taking the personal responsibility approach, I’m sure I still come off as preaching to people. It’s not my intent but that’s what happens when you feel passionate about something. This video is rooted in this movement’s passion. Living our lives according…
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Fat Head – the Movie

I came across a documentary today that I thought was worthy of recognition. Fat Head (2009) is a documentary by Tom Naughton where he follows up on the infamous Super Size Me. While he really punches holes in Super Size Me’s conclusion, it’s the common sense approach that’s worth paying some attention to. Tom set about eating fast food everyday only he set some rules to try to see if he could do so and still lose weight. He certainly isn’t promoting paleo, but he did take a fairly low carb approach. It’s a long movie but pretty entertaining. Tom also posts Bad Science articles on LowCarbBlogs.net

A New Year For A New You

2011 is winding down and as expected, my progress apparently headed south for the winter. At best we can say, I’ve been coasting. I’m still down a tad over 100 pounds but with the new year comes a new attitude for me. I’ve seen what eating right, specifically paleo, has done for me and it’s time to take it up a notch. I’ve never bothered with new year’s resolutions because I never was really serious about them. Sure you tell yourself you are going to start using that gym membership but its priority seems to be pretty flexible. And soon enough, we’re considering cancelling that membership all over again. The thing is, a resolution’s priority should be the last thing that is flexible. In fact, I think it’s supposed to be resolute! On the other hand, your expectations should be flexible. I was listening to a recent episode of Merlin Mann’s Back 2 Work and he does an amazing job of breaking down what we need to do to have successful resolutions. I highly recommend checking it out. So, it’s time for a fresh start. Incremental changes in my diet, exercise, and activity are on the horizon. Time to take…
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Just when you finally get that cholesterol level down…

Several interesting studies are starting to test mortality rates relating to cholesterol levels and here’s the latest I’ve seen. Published in the Journal of Epidemiology, the Jichi Medical School Cohort Study investigates the relationship between low cholesterol and mortality and examines whether that relationship differs with respect to cause of death. 12,334 healthy adults aged 40 to 69 years were studied for levels of cholesterol related to cause of death. They found that the risk of death was significantly higher for those with the lowest cholesterol levels for hemorrhagic stroke, heart failure (excluding myocardial infarction), and cancer mortality. Those with the lowest cholesterol (under 4.14mmol/L – 160mg/dL) had around a 50% higher death rate than those with cholesterol up to 5.17mmol/L – 200mg/dL. High cholesterol (above 6.21mmol/L – 240mg/dL) was not a risk factor. Read that again; High cholesterol WAS NOT a risk factor.