Monthly Archives: January 2014

Podcast (on Youtube) with Aaron Olson

Aaron Olson of PaleoRunner interviewed me recently, discussing nutrition for athletic performance, and put it up on Youtube. Enjoy:

“Our Way,” at Clean Program

Shou-Ching and I have contributed a guest post to Dr. Alejandro Junger’s Clean Program blog, as part of a feature called “My Way.” It explains how Shou-Ching and I live — our lifestyle and our food. It has videos of me exercising, and photos of our home and food, such as:

and

Check it out!

PaleoCon & Ebook Sale

Two exciting things this weekend:

  • Scribner has placed the ebook of our new paperback edition on sale for only $7.99. If you don’t own a copy, this is a great time to buy!
  • My appearance on PaleoCon will be on Sunday Monday (it’s been pushed back due to the Super Bowl). Listen for free on Monday.

To buy the ebook, click here:

The complete schedule of the 25 PaleoCon speakers is here. For more info about PaleoCon, click the image:

Paleocon_300x250_3C

Curing Ankylosing Spondylitis

UPDATE: Steven has a new video update, to which I have added an updated commentary: Update: Attacking Ankylosing Spondylitis with PHD, November 18, 2014. FURTHER UPDATE, September 2015: Steven has created his own website with more information, www.recoveryfromas.com. Check it out!

Ankylosing spondylitis is a fearsome disease. The Mayo Clinic states:

Ankylosing spondylitis is an inflammatory disease that can cause some of the vertebrae in your spine to fuse together. This fusing makes the spine less flexible and can result in a hunched-forward posture. A severe case of ankylosing spondylitis can make it impossible for you to lift your head high enough to see forward….

Inflammation also can occur in other parts of your body — such as your eyes and bowels.

There is no cure for ankylosing spondylitis, but treatments can decrease your pain and lessen your symptoms.

But the “no cure” part is probably mistaken. Yesterday I received an email from Steven Morgan:

Hey Paul,

Your website and book saved my ass and gave me a chance to recover from Ankylosing Spondylitis, no small feat.  I made a video about it here:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvgjJTLrM3M

There was a thread on your site about high cholesterol and possible causes when going Paleo.  That thread was HUGE in my recovery….  My cholesterol fell over 200 points in two months!

Anyhow, you’re the best.  Thank you!

Cheers,

Steven

Here’s Steven’s story:

In a follow-up email, Steven elaborated:

My health is fantastic lately!  I’m still able to push the edges of what I can tolerate, and am enjoying eating butter, some white-rice based gluten-free breads, some vegetables, and occasionally cheddar cheese.  Sure beats just the 5 foods I took on my trip!  Well, to be honest, after several months of just eating coconut, cacao, pemmican, fish, and white rice, I grew quite fond of it all.  It’s amazing how your palate can change.

I gave Steven a few suggestions that I think would help anyone with AS:

  • Nutrition:
    • Vitamin A (1/4 to 1/3 lb liver per week plus spinach, sweet potatoes, yams, carrots, persimmons)
    • Vitamin D from sun and supplements.
    • Vitamin C
    • Collagen from soups and stews with joints, bones, tendons, and tripe.
    • Zinc and iodine.
  • Circadian rhythm entrainment
  • Intermittent fasting

Steven wants to share experiences with other ankylosing spondylitis sufferers; he asked me to “let folks know I’d be happy to connect; I’m especially interested in connecting with other people who have AS!” You can reach Steven by email at stevenmorganjr@gmail.com.

Conclusion

The Mayo Clinic is correct that medicine offers no cure for ankylosing spondylitis; but diet and lifestyle may do better. AS is probably an infectious condition caused by a pathogenic gut flora. Improved immune function and remodeling of the gut microbiome ought to be able to work a cure.

Steven experimented with a no-starch diet, but had better results on something more PHD like. As we’ve discussed, eating carbs is important for formation of the intestinal mucosal barrier and for proper immune function. A very low-carb diet often delivers short-term relief by starving pathogens, but it doesn’t support a probiotic gut flora and can bring long-term problems from suppressed immunity and impaired gut barrier integrity. That often leads to food sensitivities like those Steven suffered from. It’s better to obtain sufficient dietary carbohydrates to support a healthy gut. White rice is often one of the easier carbs to start with.

Thanks for writing, Steven! Your experiences and video should give hope to AS sufferers everywhere!