A new podcast is up, with Dave Asprey on Bulletproof Executive Radio (download here). It was a fun chat, in part because Dave and I have a lot in common (although not, it happens, a bulletproof coffee habit.)
A lot is happening. I will be resuming the “What’s New in the New Edition” series tomorrow, but for today I thought I’d post a few links.
Our Australian edition goes on sale January 7. I have not seen a copy myself, but a few special people have.
Australia’s biggest circulation magazine, The Australian Women’s Weekly, is doing a five-page feature. Healthierjane comments:
Just noticed that The Perfect Health Diet is featured in the January Australian Women’s Weekly. That’s seriously mainstream, WELL DONE.
It’s not yet available online or in print, but here’s the cover of the iPad sneak peak:
That model really seems to be enjoying our diet!
Back in the States, a few mentions are coming up:
- On Monday December 31, USA Today will include us in a piece on new diet books.
- In the January Vogue, now on newsstands, we are described as “Paleo Perfected.” They say, “The caveman and his eating habits … undergoes an adjustment in a new book, Perfect Health Diet.” Yes, cavemen may now eat white rice!
What seems to resonate with the media is the idea of an updated, accessible, tastier version of Paleo. I think that’s exactly what we are, and I hope we’ll play a big part in the continued migration of ancestral diets into the public consciousness.
Meanwhile, Jennifer Fulwiler, who contributed a reader report to the new edition (p 11), has an update – she is pregnant and the pregnancy has been going very well:
Just wanted to jump in to say that I am pregnant with my sixth child, and have been following the PHD for this pregnancy. The results have been amazing. In fact, with all five of my previous pregnancies I had debilitating, severe morning sickness. On the PHD, I had almost none!
She has more details over at her blog, Conversion Diary.
A few other recent reports: Robert Nappi improved his ulcerative colitis; Donna improved her digestion and rosacea; Conor cured his rosacea and experienced improved energy, Jonathan fixed his restless leg syndrome; Laura is losing weight; and Evan is “feeling great in just 3 weeks.”
Finally, our thanks to every reader who leaves a review at Amazon. So far there are 11 reviews of the new edition: 8 are 5* reviews (thank you!), a 4* review is quite positive:
This diet has controlled my cravings. After almost 40 years of interest in and great benefits from proper nutrition, I believe this is as close to perfect eating as we can get.
There is a 3* review from a vegan who hopes that John McDougall or Joel Fuhrman will set us straight; and a 1* review from a low-carber who regularly churns out 1* reviews on Amazon and whose major objections are that our ancestors who ate starch during the Paleolithic have all died, his blood sugar rises for a few hours after eating taro, and we didn’t warn all readers to get thoroughly tested by their doctors before attempting to eat Cambridge Fried Rice. (Also, there was an error with the Kindle edition links which Scribner is fixing.)
If you have read and enjoyed the new edition, please consider leaving a review at Amazon. They do influence others and are much appreciated by us!
via this link:
Paul, very happy to see the book getting some (well deserved) attention. I’m still crawling through it myself, and I only wish that Amazon allowed 6* reviews 🙂
I’m so excited that it’s beginning to go mainstream!! I truly hope that this new take on an ancestral diet will reverse some of the negative stereotypes and connotations people associate with “Paleo.” I’m still reading it myself, but I will be sure to review it once I finish!!
Paul – You should have a forum similar to Mark Sisson’s. I would love to discuss some aspects of the PHD, but it’s not really fitting to do so in these comments.
I’m seeing lots of talk of your new book and especially people starting to eat some rice and potatoes on Mark’s Daily Apple. Someone even just coined the phrase ‘CHF diet’ (Cannibalistic High Fat) when referring to what happens on the Potato reset!
Someone else posted that while eating only potatoes for several days, their ketostix showed high ketones…moreso than when on a HFLC diet.
I would love to debate the ‘best of the best’ of your safe starches.
“Finally, our thanks to every reader who leaves a review at Amazon. So far there are 11 reviews of the new edition: 8 are 5* reviews (thank you!), a 4* review is quite positive”
As of 12/29, there are now 73 reviews with 57 being 5 star!
Have just left a 5* UK Amazon review – the new book is fab – I got it for Christmas and I am reading through it avidly. Great kick in the pants after Christmas dietary indulgence too 🙂
Hi Paul and Shou-Ching,
Just wanted to let you know the new edition is great. I just finished it and also bought it for 3 family members for Christmas, which is something I’ve avoided doing until now (giving “diet” books as gifts).
It’s definitely a major shift from what a lot of them are eating, though (fast food and boxed everything, i.e. not real food), so I’m hoping your sensible, yet scientifically-thorough approach will at least give them a good wake-up call.
Thanks again,
IC
Excited to listen!
I have the first page of the last chapter of the book dog-eared. Discovering paleo was a game-changer but PHD 2.0 takes it to a whole new level. So much more context, flexibility, and insight – it was a truly enlightening read!
My five star review will be forthcoming soon!
Paul, I’m looking forward to reading the new edition. It’s so exciting to read this post about PHD getting some mainstream attention.
Hi Paul,
I went to Barnes and Noble today to purchase the book but could not find what I really really want after having read a lot of this blog, which is a food list – allowed and disallowed. Is there a page like that on here? I could not find it in search.
I also second the suggestion of a forum. That would be awesome
– Leia
Hi Leia,
Did you look at this page?
http://perfecthealthdiet.com/the-diet/
In the book, we have grades for various foods in Chapter 16, recommendations for nutrient-dense foods in Chapter 37, and meal plans in Chapter 44.
I did. Thanks for the chapter recommendations. I’ll get the book tomorrow.
In the meantime, is coconut flour a safe starch?
I wouldn’t consider it very starchy, it has a lot of fiber and a bit of sugar, but it is a fine food.
I listened to your interview with Bulletproof Exec and was wondering about your views on Omega 6/3 ratio, and Omega 3 per-cent. I had mine measured: O6/O3 was 1:1, and O3 % was 9.4. I pretty much follow your diet recommendations only exception probably is I eat more poultry(chicken and turkey) than perhaps in PHD, and have not yet been eating bone broth. Eat zero processed food,and O6 oils except that which is in Olive oil.
Thanks,
Hi Steve,
Those numbers sound excellent to me.
Did the test measure HUFA specifically, or all omega-6 and omega-3?
Great interview with Dave. He’s a great interviewer and you sounded really on-point here.
I’m enjoying the book, just reading random chapters basically. I’m learning a lot from it, and there are times when I wish that it wasn’t such a…diet book, because I think I’m past “dieting”, but I’m definitely going to recommend it to people and just tell them to read your blog, other blogs, and keep on learning.
Cheers
Thanks, Stabby. We have more non-diet stuff in Part V but couldn’t make the book too long.
Yeah that part is great, and I’m sure you’ll go into it more on the blog when the time is right.
What I mostly mean by “diet book” is a book that is mainly intended to get people to eat in a particular way, in this case the Perfect Health Diet and all of its prescriptions, to be contrasted with a book on science that goes deep into the issues. And it’s fine that this is the former, but these issues lose their complexity when they have to be palatable to large audiences. Not everyone can think as much about this stuff as we do, and the message has to be simplified to be accessible, but when doing that the context and complexity that can result in the best possible effect gets lost. It’s a necessary evil, and I don’t dispute most of the book’s prescriptions, but I’ve just evolved beyond the basics, and I’d like to see you do a really detailed and scientific book that explores the issues more deeply.
But like I mentioned that’s what the blog is for and that’s what we do all of the time anyway. I don’t doubt that people will find a lot of value in the new book. It’s significantly better in that department than the average diet book though; it reaches a sweet spot between being over the heads of most people and not being informative enough.
Hi Paul:
I think it just measured O6 and O3 only.
Thanks
Hi Paul,
Excellent interview on Bulletproof. I am greatful for your work and research in providing us with the recommeded perfect HUMAN diet.
One topic in the interview was on the future development of a huge medical statistical database. This would provide a great advance in human health diagnoses and treatment. If millions of average public could post their hormone, thyroid, cholesterol levels and countless other stats. Then show there later results after various dietry, lifesytle, supplement changes.
This type of database could be assesable to anyone in the world with internet access and im sure enthusiastally participated in.
There is a web site and software that compare various aspects of computer speed and graphical performance called 3dMark. You upload your results and can compare with hundred of thousand of other machines. Changing any componates in the computer alters the results which you can compare.
Wouldnt it be fanstatic if we could compare with millions of others say for example the removal of gluten from our diets and compare outcomes.
Tim……..
Hi Tim,
Yes! I organized a panel at the 2012 AHS on this topic: http://perfecthealthdiet.com/2012/08/ahs-2012-new-technologies-new-opportunities/
It remains in my thoughts. I think it is a major entrepreneurial opportunity as well as a potentially huge public health improver.
Hi Paul,
so happy to be reading your ne book and am working hard to implement the food recs for me and my family (you need to link up with a mommy blogger to talk about what the diet would look like for young children!).
Anyhoo, i have a question for you and readers. How in the heck do I eat five eggs yolk a day! Or even three! I have been pregnant or nursing for the past 7 years, and will probably become pregnant again in the next two years, so I really want to get my egg yolks but I cant seem to work them into the diet. any suggestions besides scrambled eggs and omelettes and just drinking them in a smoothie? I’m thinking of eating a custard every night. lol!
Hi elizabeth,
You can eat chicken liver if you prefer.
We like eggs in soups and stews. Just drop the egg yolks in and stir them in. They are diluted with all the other flavors.
You can also mix them in with rice, as in Cambridge Fried Rice (http://perfecthealthdiet.com/2010/12/cambridge-fried-rice/), or with desserts, like Creme Brulee (http://perfecthealthdiet.com/2011/05/creme-brulee/) or custard as you suggest, or any place where you might instead use butter, sour cream, coconut milk, or olive oil as a sauce/flavoring/dressing. Eg, you can make thousand island (mayonnaise-egg based) salad dressings instead of italian dressing.
Hey Elizabeth,
I also have challenges getting in the required number of egg yolks. And when I’m working with a pregnant or breastfeeding mom on nutrition, she is usually eager for some creative egg yolk options too:)
Here are the solutions I’ve come up with so far:
1. Mix with soups or stews (as Paul says). I also find that yolks mix really well into most “skillet” type meals. Here’s an odd one. I mix egg yolks into my kids fajita meat/veggies. Anything stir-fryish also gets egg yolks stirred in before serving.
2. Mix 1-2 yolks with the starchy portion of the meal or veggies (as Paul does with cambridge fried rice. I’ll mix an egg yolk with a baked or boiled potato (mashing it with the yolk). I also like yolks stirred into sweet potato with scallions and fish (but clearly I’m not a picky eater. lol) I also like yolks mixed with spaghetti squash. Place the cooked strands of spaghetti into a sautee pan, add desired number of yolks and a bit of tomato sauce. Or just crumble the already cooked yolks (from boiled eggs) into the squash and mix with sauce of choice.
3. Mix with yogurt. My 11 has a terrific dislike of eggs….I drop 3 yolks in the vitamix with 1/2 cup strawberry drinkable yogurt (local, organic, sugar sweetened) and 1/2 cup pastured plain yogurt, 1/2 tsp erythritol, 1/2 tsp succanat, 1/4 tsp frontier strawberry flavor. Blend then pour into coghlans squeeze tubes. she has *no* idea she’s eating three egg yolks per day. http://www.rei.com/product/696007/coghlans-squeeze-tubes-package-of-2
4. eat them plain and raw. Honestly, this is what I usually do. I just get too full otherwise. Using my clean hands, I separate the yolk from the white (allowing the white to drain into a bowl….which I save for my dogs). Then I just pop the yolk into my mouth and swallow with one gulp of water. Repeat 2 more times. Note that this did take some getting used to.
5. Scramble, hold (some of) the whites — just use one whole egg and two additional yolks. I love sauteeing some bell peppers first in butter with salt, then adding the whole egg and two yolks. It’s a great meal any time of the day.
6. French sauces. Allemande, béarnaise, hollandaise, suprême http://www.edwardbottone.com/index.php?id=28
7. Mayo (which paul mentions below) and it’s variants – aioli, gribiche, various dressings… I make mayo with extra yolks – 3 yolks per cup of oil is perfect. To keep the oil reasonably appropriate, I use high oleic organic sunflower oil (whole foods or spectrum). TJs has a non-organic high oleic sunflower oil that’s a great value. Hain has a non-organic high oleic sunflower oil that’s available at iherb.com for a great price. Here is a perfect mayo recipe: http://www.instructables.com/id/One-Minute-Mayonnaise/ [place in container: 1 cup appropriate oil, 1T lemon juice, 3 yolks, 1/2 tsp salt, 1T mustard then blend as shown]
8. egg drop soup – though this uses the whites too and doesn’t turn out quite right if you omit more than 1-2 whites. I do wonder though about tempering the yolks and adding that way? Hmmm. http://www.mommypotamus.com/egg-drop-soup-gaps-paleo-primal/
9. avogolemono (a traditional greek soup with lemon, yolks and chicken). go for a recipe with maximum yolks like this one: http://www.sassyradish.com/2010/10/avgolemono-soup/
10. add cooked yolks to your pate. So far, this is the only beef liver recipe that I can not only tolerate but that I actually love. I mean I *love* it. http://farmlet.co.nz/?p=199
11. I like your suggestion for custard(s) and similar (occasional) treat foods: ice cream, zabaglione, creme brulee etc.
http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/zabaglione/
http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/french_vanilla_ice_cream/
Good luck and have fun experimenting.
The kids just reminded me of a couple more:
egg salad – discard as many whites as needed to be able to eat the target number of yolks
egg/potato salad – same idea as above, but mixed with cubes of boiled potato
shakshuka – I use jarred sauce almost always. I cook the eggs as outlined in the recipe. The kids and I get one whole egg plus sauce and 2 extra yolks – either raw or cooked depending on preferences, mixed in. DH prefers three whole eggs. http://smittenkitchen.com/blog/2010/04/shakshuka/
So, after experimenting, I’ve found that starting each day with a three egg omelette works perfectly for me.
I’ve found that eating too many raw or runny eggyolks (added to soup or on a ceasar salad or dropped into a smoothie are some of the things I’ve tried) makes me feel high. Like I’ve drunk about 9 cups of coffee or taken some kind of mind altering drug.
I read somewhere that people with ADD (which I have) may be very sensitive to phospates (phosphorus?), and egg yolks are strong natural source of them. I don’t know. I’d be interested to hear if anyone else has a similar experience.
Hi Elizabeth,
Bone broth is very rich in phosphorus, you might check if that gives you a similar feeling.
Interesting. I don’t have a problem with bone broth, I eat it every day. It must be something else about raw egg yolks. Thanks!
I figured this out, I hope. I believe I’m sensitive to choline or was just plain getting too much. The bulletproof executive talked about this on the Fat Burning Man show once.
I can do three egg yolks, or a choline supplement, but not both (just stupidly forgot that upping my egg yolk consumption meant I might not need a choline supplement anymore). Anyway, several weeks just doing the egg yolks and felt fine, then one day did both for some reason and similar reaction.
Hi Katherine,
Unfortunately TJs sunflower oil is NOT high-oleic (at least not yet); see http://perfecthealthdiet.com/the-diet/comment-page-23/#comment-1732191.
Best,
-Eric
Paul and Shou-Ching,
Just wanted to share that my husband and I enjoyed your Steak Diane recipe as our last most delicious meal of the year! It has been one of our favorites! 😀
http://perfecthealthdiet.com/2011/03/steak-diane-ribeye-with-cream-sauce/
(I also salt cured the ribeyes first for 30 minutes. Seems to make the meat really nice and tender.) Thanks for a delicious recipe!
Happy New Year to all!
KH
Happy New Year Paul!
In the podcast with Dave, you touched on the longevity Blue Zones. I’ve been reading quite a bit about it lately, viewing some videos, and it’s very interesting.
For diet, the summary highlights legumes and very little meat.
Blue Zones Power 9
Paul aside from bulletproof coffee not being a habit of yours, any thoughts it from a health/diet perspective?
Hi Greg,
It’s basically innocuous — empty calories. Fine if you’re active.
Hi, Paul –
I left a review on Amazon.com last night. I didn’t discover your (plural) work until the second edition so I can’t compare it to the first, but I think the current book is fantastic. Hopefully it will become “mainstream” this year and help people on the path to longer life and better health!
Jim
Thank you Jim!
my diet has been pretty spot on for the past 1-1.5 years. i was convinced more fats will do me good since i’m an endurance runner (recreational runner, but many many annual races).
I tried MCT oil (2Tsp) from bulletproof exec. About an hour after ingesting it I started sweating profusely and then was doubled over with gut cramps. I thought it would be a mess!! THEN i researched and read how it may be important to slowly introduce it to your system! ugh, i wish i’d known that prior. anyway milk have the same effect on me is this related??
Hi Mark,
I don’t know, that’s an odd experience. It sounds like some sort of immune/inflammatory response. Lots of people have dairy sensitivities, which would account for that. MCT oil is normally absorbed pretty well and sent to the liver, but if for some reason it stays in the gut, it would have an antimicrobial effect and could also irritate human cells. Either it would kill bacteria or upset them creating inflammation from endotoxins, or maybe it irritates the gut directly. Do you get any steatorrhea / loose stools?
I’m not sure what can be done except try to improve digestion and digestive tract health. Maybe building up MCT oil dose slowly will help, I don’t know.
I found that mark sisson had the same experience (almost verbatim): http://www.marksdailyapple.com/dear-mark-mct-oil-camelina-oil-and-fancy-canola-oil/#axzz2HNxmPDKH (3rd paragraph down) but he didn’t seem very curious why it happened. my stools are pretty consistant in time, quantity and…’firmness’ about 88% of the time. if i do have a loose stool i can trace it back to a pizza slice the night before (which was cheese or grain induced, i don’t know). but i don’t get the oiliness or other descriptors i found in wiki’s entry for steatorrhea. could be low stomach acid? and of course possibly, gut flora related.
if i figure this out maybe i can eat dairy. i think it’d be a great fat source for me.
I know this discussion is old, but I found it because I was looking for info on MCT oil making you feel sick. Has anyone gained any more insight into this process? Every time I have tried MCT oil (1 or 2 tablespoons), I just don’t feel very good. It’s OK for the first 1/2 hour or so, and then I start to feel really fatigued, hot, head achy, and have mild stomach cramps. The fatigue and headache last hours.
The weird thing is that this feels really similar to how I have felt the few brief times I have tried any kind of low-carb diet. The hot part, especially, feels very familiar. This makes me wonder if this is just how processing lots of ketones feels to me. Do some people not process a lot of ketones very readily? Is it a matter of adaptation to the processing of so much?
I have read on other forums that MCT oil takes a while to adapt to, but no one has really explained a mechanism for why it should take time to adapt, and no one has cited any research to bolster this statement.
For what it’s worth, I don’t get diarrhea from MCT, and a large dose of coconut oil (2 or more tablespoons) has the same effect on me as MCT oil. I have always used coconut oil for cooking, etc., no problem. If I take a spoonful in the morning, though, then I feel terrible. Same effect as MCT.