Author Archives: Paul Jaminet - Page 37

A Dangerous Diet

Posted by Paul Jaminet on June 13, 2013 34 comments

I am quite busy with work and haven’t had a chance to finish a science post, but an article caught my eye with a diet that was new to me and deserves a warning: the “live diet”:

Rainbeau Mars, the actor and yoga- and holistic-health guru with “an irresistible glow,” according to her website, has requested that her guests “try out a vegan, and subsequently live food diet for 21 days” before her upcoming Kauai wedding to Hollywood business manager Michael Karlin, according to the Huffington Post. That way, Mars’s publicist explained in the piece, “everyone will look and feel their best for HER big day.”

Now, since the live diet is not the vegan diet, I suppose it must include animal foods – live animal foods.

It seems like this diet must be a version of Paleo – after all, as Robb Wolf explained, “if it has a face, it’s Paleo” – so I was surprised I hadn’t heard of it. I haven’t found much about it on the web but I think the “live diet” must resemble this excellent recipe by Daniella Martin, except without the cooking:

(Note: The taco shells are not PHD. Consider substituting rice flour based spring roll wrappers.)

Unfortunately, I have to say that based on a brief literature search, I believe the live diet, while fine for pythons, alligators, and herons, may be quite dangerous for humans, and must oppose it. This alarming case study illustrates the potential dangers:

I do wish Ms. Mars a joyful wedding day; but I must recommend that her guests avoid this risky diet.

New Podcasts

Posted by Paul Jaminet on June 6, 2013 12 comments

I’ve been interviewed on two new podcasts:

PaleoHacks Podcast #6 with Clark Danger is out. Clark and I had a great conversation. Unfortunately our time ran out too soon and we weren’t able to get to many of the questions that had been suggested by PaleoHacks readers. I’ll try and tackle a few in blog posts, starting with Eastside Joanne‘s question about rosacea.
That Paleo Show, an Australian podcast hosted by chiropractors Dr. Brett Hill and Dr. Janah James and Wellness Coach Stephanie Wasylyk, was a fun show. At the time we recorded it, Shou-Ching and I were expecting to visit Australia this summer, but our schedule filled up and so we’re now planning to make the trip in October/November. I hear the water is much warmer at that time, so it’s a fortunate change.

Blog posts have been scarce recently. The reason is that several projects are keeping us busy:

An upcoming trip to Korea which will include an event at Reebok CrossFit Sentinel in Seoul on Saturday, June 29.
A documentary with the Korean television network SBS TV — they are filming us in Boston next week.
An exciting new venture that I expect to announce next week, for which we are developing a comprehensive set of lecture and video materials teaching how to be healthy. I expect this venture will be a great opportunity to prove that our diet and lifestyle is highly effective at healing diseases of all kinds.

Please pardon our quietness! Many good things are fermenting … but not quite ready to drink.

Fit Fat Fast Podcast, Seoul Event, and Reader Stories

Posted by Paul Jaminet on May 25, 2013 20 comments

I have a number of blog posts in progress but before finishing those I want to put up a few items.

First, I recorded a new podcast with Jon Smith of The Fit Fat Fast Podcast, which is devoted to endurance athletes but covers a wide range of topics. Check it out!

Second, Shou-Ching and I will be speaking in Seoul, Korea, on Saturday June 29 at CrossFit Sentinel. We’re excited to be visiting Korea again, it’s been quite some time, and we’re very happy to begin spreading our diet into Asia.

Third, I want to thank everyone who leaves Amazon reviews and reader results stories. Let me share a few that we especially enjoyed.

At Amazon, Matt Marcheski wrote:

If this is the bible Paul and Shou-Ching Jaminet are gods…. I have absolutely no problem stating that this is the best book written on nutrition that I’ve come across.

I think Paul Jaminet intended this book to be simply stated, non-exaggerated book with TONS of properly cited information. He hit the nail on the head. However, my new found energy does not allow me to see this book in that light. It reads like an epic, feels like an enlightenment and tastes as delicious as our taste buds can handle. Our bodies are the result of millions of years of evolution. Is it possible that our sweet teeth, fatty preferences and insatiable hunger are screw ups? As Fall Out Boy and Elton John would say….. NO!

When I was reading this book I had already lost 60 pounds and doing GREAT, I simply read it for fun. I thought my diet was great, reading this book confirmed that statement, but I also found out that it could be MUCH better. I made small tweaks and followed their infamous supplement routine and WHOA. I lost an additional 20 pounds; BUT the diet definitely took ten years off my appearance. People used to think I was 25, now everyone says I look like I’m 16. THIS is no exaggeration, in fact I have been given a very difficult time buying alcohol because the picture on my ID looks nothing like me now. I HAVE NOT BOUGHT A DRINK WITHOUT GETTING CARDED YET. I got carded for redeeming a SCRATCH OFF ticket. I did not know that they were allowed to do that at the time. I’ve also had a MUCH better sense of well-being and A LOT more energy. You haven’t lived until you lived Perfectly.

I may be leading the review in the wrong direction though. DO NOT underestimate the amount of information in this book. What upset me about other books on diet & nutrition is that they consist of 95% gobbley-gook and 5% decent information. The Perfect Health diet is mostly 97% great information. If you are looking for motivation, go watch Dr. Phil, but quite frankly, no motivation is needed after reading this book. Your new hunger levels and taste buds provide all the motivation you need.

I have more respect for the Jaminets than any other people on Earth at this moment. They do not sell out, they provide ALL the information you need and if they do not have the answers to your questions they will find out. Take a look at their website. The community is actually OUTSTANDING as well, they are very well informed.

If you take into account all the chicks (or guys) your new appearance will be attracting, the years of perfect health you put on your life, your new sense of well-being and the money you will save on health care, this book could easily sell for $1,375,876.00 precisely.

Thanks, Matt! I’ll pass your pricing advice on to Scribner.

Francesca introduced us to a future astrophysicist, who has experienced many benefits but retains a puzzling itchy scalp:

The PHD has helped my whole family tremendously, but especially my sixteen year old granddaughter. She had frequent headaches and stomach aches since she was a toddler, at the age of seven a blood test showed that she was anaemic, had a TSH of 5.25mU/L, an FT3 level of 5.8mU/L and thyroid antibody levels consistent with auto-immune disease. She had no obvious signs of thyroid problems – she was always slim but had low self-esteem and struggled at school despite being an obviously intelligent child. At 14 the headaches became migraines and she was anxious and upset that she could never achieve the results needed to follow her dream of becoming an astro-physicist – she has had a passionate interest in astronomy from the age of about four.

We found the PHD almost two years ago and within a few days her headaches and stomach aches disappeared and her schoolwork improved tremendously. She said that before PHD she felt that her brain was in a fog and she couldn’t think properly. She is now achieving A’s in physics and chemistry and her dreams seem to be within reach….

She breaks the diet extremely rarely, not even for Christmas or birthdays, because even a bought smoothie caused a stomach ache and a headache. She loves Ris a la Mande and other recipes on your site.

Your diet has turned her life around and she is very grateful. Her only health problem is a terribly itchy scalp. She has had the problem for about two years and complains that it is now driving her insane. I developed the same problem at the same age and it drove me crazy for fifty years but since following PHD it has almost stopped itching. The itching followed exactly the same pattern for both of us – mainly in the crown area; perfectly healthy scalps; no dandruff; shiny healthy hair; we tried all possible hair products with no benefit yet washing with any hair product stops the itching for some hours….

My granddaughter has had almost miraculous improvements in her life from PHD so an itchy scalp doesn’t seem much of a problem but she is finding it very hard to cope with, especially when studying (which is most of her time) so we are hoping you can help.

Thank you for all your amazing work which has helped my family and so many others.

I suggested some nutritional steps, but I imagine it will take some experimentation and continued healing to figure this one out.

On the Reader Results page, Leo Delaplante left a great note (it was left while we were experimenting with Livefyre comments and I think this disturbed the formatting):

i want to thank paul and shou-ching for the for all their time spent researching ,compiling and publishing the perfecthealthdiet,,,you guys educated yourselves about nutrition with open minds and an unbiased view of all nutritional info available ,,,only then did you put all the pieces together and to write your book,,,your 5 year research to help yourselves with your health issues and then to unselfishly share it with us is truly and act of love and compassion to us all….i am sure that mainstream diet and health advisers are closet readers of your informative book,,,your down to earth intentions to help others is truly reflected in the ad free website you have and the amount of time and money you must be spending to answer questions and be guests on radio and conventions,,you are both the salt of the earth,,,,,,,,,,myself i picked up on your book last january and really felt i had found something different and complete to improve my eating habits and health,,,i raised four kids and did all the cooking myself rarely going out for fast foods,,i cooked in a 50′s 60′s style so meats vegies and potatoes were often used,,i wish i would of known more about nutrition but my 3 girls and boy all in their 20′s are all healthy and their weights are perfect….now that i know about seed oils,,grains,fructose ect. i have educated them all on your nutritional knowledge,,

since january 1st i have lost 25 pounds,,the first 10 came off within 2 weeks and now i am consistantly losing 1 lbs/week…i havent eaten wheat, sugar, grains (except for buckwheat and quinoa (buckwheat in my smoothies in the morning make me carb happy)) i understand why you reject any grains as a food but always hope that one day with more research you will let us know that quinoa, buckwheat, chia and hemp seeds are ok as this is were i cheat in my diet ,,,,i supplement ,intermiten fast,,,sleep 8 hrs a night(always have) and generally follow your guidelines 95% of the time,,,,i used to have heart burn(from wheat),,,,,,gone…………..take naps,,,,,,,,no more,,,,,,,,,snore like crazy…..now moderatly,,,,my last bloodwork showed my cholesterol numbers almost perfect(doctor took me off the statins) ,,blood sugar levels slightly below normal,,my doctors was amazed,,,,,,,after four months my new eating habits are a natural part of my life,,i have also spread this diet to my friends and family,,,,,,both of you are a rare find in this day and age and i want to thank you for what you have done to the health of all your followers,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,leo delaplante

Bethany at MyFitnessPal left a great story:

I feel good. I’ve lost an unbelievable 10 pounds in 17 days (seriously, I keep getting back on the scale in disbelief), I’m sleeping like a baby, I have TONS of energy, I’m enjoying my food, and it’s only day 17. No, I don’t expect the weight loss to keep up at that rate, but I do expect that there’s something to this, considering my “perfect” diet from the past left me grumpy, hungry, malnourished, and overweight & gaining. It seemed impossible to me that I was gaining on my past regimen – every part of traditional diet science said I was doing the right thing, and many of my doctors confirmed it. Then I read this line written by Jaminet (from memory, may be slightly different in print):

“Nutrient hunger can cause weight loss to plateau and reverse, even if the diet does not change.”

Wow. That was it – the breaking point for me. My body wanted fat, and starches, and protein, and wanted to stop dealing with toxins. And now that it’s getting all the good fats my heart literally desires, I feel good. I feel happy.

And I have God to thank, and Paul Jaminet & his wife Shou-Ching, and everyone on MyFitnessPal that’s supportive and helpful – even if we do disagree on the details. 🙂

Bethany left an update this week.

There have also been many great stories over on the Perfect Health Diet Facebook group. I don’t want to cite people by name or quote too much because it’s a closed group, but I’ll just share this reminder that sometimes there is an adaptation period when you change diets:

I was relatively low-carb in 2012. On January 1, 2013, I went very low-carb and it immediately did not work. When I started PHD, I did puff up a bit–much to my distress. But I stuck with it because I felt so good. Two months in, I tweaked the starch down (maybe to 6 ounces a day) and started doing IF. I am now at the lowest weight of my adult life and feeling so strong. Many thanks to the Jaminets.

Thank you to all who leave personal stories and positive reviews!

Finally, an animal photo as we wish you a joyful weekend and, to our American readers, Memorial Day holiday:

Peter Lakatos: Tips for Better Movement

Posted by Paul Jaminet on May 19, 2013 15 comments

The Hungarian edition of Perfect Health Diet is on sale! Jaffa Kiadó is the publisher, it can be purchased here, and this is the cover:

Peter Lakatos gets most of the credit for making the Hungarian edition happen. In addition to being a PHD fan, Peter is a StrongFirst Girya Master Instructor with Pavel Tsatsouline, Expert 2 Krav Maga instructor with Eyal Yanilov, blue belt Brazilian jiu jitsu practicioner with Carlson Gracie Jr., and a creator of Primal Move. Peter was born and lives in Budapest, Hungary.

Here are Peter’s tips for better movement.

Move More, but for the Right Reasons

Most training systems tell you to move more to become slimmer. And when you stop being slim, they ask you to move more. This advice is misdirected. Movement should not be thought of as a tool for creating a caloric deficit. Rather, movement should be regarded as a means to better health. Movement can make you slimmer, but only as a side effect of making you healthier.

If you move only to lose weight, and rely on movement for weight loss, you are in trouble. As David Whitley would say: you can’t out-train a doughnut.

The goal of movement should be better health and a more capable body. Movement reshapes your brain and makes you mentally, emotionally, and physically ready for almost any challenge.

We designed Primal Move to help people achieve this positive reshaping of brain and body. Here is a video which introduces Primal Move:

We noticed early on while creating Primal Move that we can easily get our students to move more or more intensely: all we had to do was add games. Games and play are seriously underrated in physical education. Today, we often see kids suffering from play deprivation. Yes, you read that correctly; I am not talking about sleep deprivation, but play deprivation.

Stuart M. Brown, whom we consider to be the world’s number one expert on play, studied several serial killers and found a shocking common pattern in their lives – they all had been deprived of play. According to Dr Brown, play deprivation can cause many cognitive disorders, and lack of play implies a lack of social skills. That does not mean that those who don’t play will become serial killers. But maybe they won’t become Mother Theresa either!

Improve Your Movement Quality

Moving better is where all things start. Now, better is of course hard to measure, but simply said – when things are getting easier you just learned how to make a certain movement more efficient. Moving better means moving with better coordination, better control, less mental, emotional and sometimes physical tension. Moving better means we have full access to the human body, and give us a great foundation for the next step, becaming stronger.

We created a full division in Primal Move focused on moving better, called the Fundamentals. Our Fundamentals division is based on the Functional Movement System of Gray Cook and Lee Burton, and we truly recommend visiting their website, FunctionalMovement.com. Want to be super clever on human movements? Read Gray’s book, The Movement.

In Primal Move Fundamentals, we start and finish with a short but very valuable evaluation called the Primal Flow Evaluation. Yes, we want to know how well you move before we try to make you stronger or more fit.

We really believe the movement hierarchy should be based on the quality of movement. Establishing quality of movement first prepares you to load the movements with weight, repetition or speed. But don’t think you have to move like a ballet dancer. Just move well enough, so that additional strength will not distort your structure.

Now better movement gives a great feeling. Moving better and more fluidly builds your confidence. Can you remember a time when movement was painful – when you moved to play or even simply to take a book off the shelf, and knew before you did it that, “This is going to hurt,” and so you flinched and slowed your movement down. Maybe even just thinking about the movement made you stressed.

Moving better not only means you move well, but also that you learn movements faster because your movement literacy – the term was coined by Istvan Balyi, the famous Hungarian-Canadian sport expert – is wide enough that you will excel and enjoy almost any movement or game you attempt to practice.

Think about this – who is the last kid to get picked for football? Always the one who does not move well, does not kick well, the one who has problems on many levels with tha game. If you don’t get picked, you don’t practice. If you don’t practice, you don’t get better. If you don’t get better, you stop moving. If you stop moving, you get slower. Giving up on movement and play can lead to poor health and a greater likelihood of obesity and other health problems. Yes, there is a risk of a downward spiral with lifelong consequences.

Gaining Strength

Increasing strength is always a high payoff strategy. Being stronger makes everything easier. Yes, I know, we are so clever and original.

To get stronger you have many choices. Are you a minimalist? Keep to bodyweight exercises, play with leverage, and read Pavel Tsatsouline’s book, The Naked Warrior. Bodyweight movements made difficult with leverage are how gymnasts develop extremely strong and attractive bodies.

If you prefer to pick up heavy objects – and many claim this is the meaning of life – we recommend that you still consider minimalist solutions. Kettlebells and sandbags, plus a pull up bar, are a perfect set of equipment for building strength. Want to learn more about these? Visit StrongFirst.com and SandbagTraining.com.

Thanks Peter! For those who would like videos, here is a group doing Primal Move Fundamentals:

One thing I like about Primal Move is that they have developed movement exercises for those who are not physically able to perform the Fundamentals. This practice is called Primal Move Regeneration: