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 thinking we need to irrigate our crops with Gatorade.
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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 and I’m looking at hip replacement surgery for both as soon as possible. If anyone has any relevant hip replacement info regarding surgeons, techniques, or facilities in the Dallas area, I would love to hear about it.
Until the surgery and recover are behind me, I’m going to refocus my energies on paleo and nutrition. I can hear my hips telling me that losing another 80 pounds wouldn’t bother them a bit!
]]>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 live longer. The more I researched the science behind it, the more it was obvious to me that it should be a tremendous treatment for diabetes.” Dr. Garcia discusses his Big Three conditions his patients present; Hypertension (HTN), Cholesterol, and Diabetes. All three of these problems react well to a paleo dietary change. It’s interesting to hear his reasoning as to how he approaches fixing each of these problems. A Paleo lifestyle change is first… “If we can do that with a Paleo lifestyle, awesome! This is ALWAYS my first choice.” What was a bit of a wake up call to me was his frank discussion on hypertension and medication and his continued aggressive approach. I have seen significant improvement in my blood pressure as I lost weight and improved my health. So much so, that I really had full intentions of getting off all medication. Now, I am resolved to that not necessarilly ever happening. Sure it’s more managable and doses may be much less. But the seriousness of the condition and its direct correspondence death leave me willing to be pragmatic.
He has a very strong argument for treatment of diabetes. “Blood pressure high?…I can bring it down no problem! Cholesterol up?…just take this medicine and you’ll look great on paper in 6 weeks! Diabetes on the other hand is no where near as simple”Blood pressure high?…I can bring it down no problem! Cholesterol up?…just take this medicine and you’ll look great on paper in 6 weeks! Diabetes on the other hand is no where near as simple.” He makes it perfectly clear to his patients that “in my opinion, their best chance for long term sugar control and limiting the meds they will need to use is to adapt an 85-90% Paleolithic lifestyle.”
Dr. Garcia struggles with the weight of trying to help everyone he sees as well. “I’ll admit, it really bums me out when people won’t give it a try. I practically beg for patient’s to try it for 30 days because I know they won’t go back.” Dr. Garcia claims a 100% success rate for those patients who go the full 30 days. I earnestly ask anyone not familiar with paleo and the long list of diseases our society now battles, to please read Dr. Garcia’s article and blog. Inform yourself.
30 days is all it takes to find out how your body reacts to the foods in your diet. Anyone can do this for 30 days. If after reading this, you are interested in trying it out, here are a couple 30 day plans to make it simple to get started.
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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;
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 and sustain your ideal weight.
The Perfect Health Diet Four Steps to Renewed Health, Youthful Vitality, and Long Life.
There’s also a new podcast that’s rising up the charts – Abel James’ Fat Burning Man
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Thanks to Greatist.com
]]>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 to paleo principles will certainly help ourselves. But standing on the sidelines and watching everyone else’s health deteriorate is difficult to do. What’s worse is the injustice of our government, which is supposed to be helping us, instead helping the giant multinational corporations. We do need a revolution. But put this in the proper context. We aren’t raising up militias here to beat back the food tyrants and their nanny state comrads. We just need to raise awareness. Wake people up one or two at a time.
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Dr. Doug Willen quickly explains the benefits of eating the Paleo diet in under 5 minutes! A great watch to get you started and to understand what is at stake.
]]>Tom also posts Bad Science articles on LowCarbBlogs.net
]]>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 off this last 100 and start living again.
]]>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.
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