A few announcements: We have a first draft of an Index to the book on the Errata+Index page. Leave requests for additional keywords in the comments. Also, Australian readers can now buy our book at TheNile.com.au.
[1] Thank you, Dr Mercola and Mercola.com readers: I was delighted to talk to Dr Mercola; he is a gracious host and has a great ability to distill complex ideas down to essentials. His article and video yesterday make a great introduction to our ideas.
This blog and our book are a scientific enterprise: our goal is to prove that a multi-step process, beginning with diet and nutrition and often culminating in diagnosis and treatment of infections, is the best way to prevent and heal chronic disease. Convincing evidence that this is true can be gathered only if large numbers of people to try our diet. So we’re very happy and excited to be able to share our ideas with Dr Mercola’s audience.
[2] About that study: Several readers emailed to ask for a link to the Japanese study, mentioned in my interview with Dr Mercola and highlighted in his headline, showing reduced IQ in wheat eaters. Here it is:
Taki Y et al. Breakfast Staple Types Affect Brain Gray Matter Volume and Cognitive Function in Healthy Children. PLoS One. 2010 Dec 8;5(12):e15213. http://pmid.us/21170334. Free full text.
[3] Music to Read By: “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” was the first dance at our wedding, and we honeymooned in Hawaii, so this is double good:
[4] New this week:
Mark Sisson says body fat setpoint is “so 2011”. Heh! Thanks Mark.
Chris Masterjohn drops a bombshell: The textbooks are wrong, we can make glucose from ketones. This helps resolve a problem I’ve been puzzling over: given the physiological need for glucose, why aren’t zero-carb diets catastrophically unhealthy? And why do they seem to be tougher for skinny folk to tolerate than the overweight?
Dr John Briffa’s new book, Escape the Diet Trap, is out in the UK. Unfortunately it’s not yet available in the US, but Americans can check out John’s blog, which I rely on for regular reminders to stay hydrated, plus lots of other good advice.
Melissa McEwen explains why Paleo didn’t fix her IBS.
I was intrigued by the sample Perfect Health Diet meal plans at PaleoHacks. Heather said, “I was strictly PHD and took all the supplements for awhile and it really helped me get out of a scary place health-wise.”
Pepsi claims that Mountain Dew dissolves flesh. No, not in advertising; it is their legal defense to a lawsuit claiming a mouse was found in a can of Mountain Dew.
Seth Roberts is in Tokyo, which has some of the best food in the world. His findings remind me of our discussions of “gourmet Paleo”: simple food can be incredibly tasty:
I had seven dishes. Every one surprised me and tasted great…. No meal at Chez Panisse or anywhere else has pushed me to do two new things….
There are so many great restaurants [in Tokyo] it doesn’t matter…. [T]his “plain” meal, with cheap ingredients and relatively little labor, will continue to influence and teach me …
Speaking of Japan, Dennis Mangan finds a paper claiming that mortality increased slightly when the Fukushima radioactive plume reached the United States. This is a surprising result.
Gary Taubes has a journalism piece in Science about insulin and cancer.
Gary’s petition to the New York Times has almost 400 signatures from low-carb and Paleo community members. I wish the petition had said something like: “Low-carb and Paleo diets have been shown to alleviate many pathologies associated with obesity, including dyslipidemia and metabolic syndrome. Many dieters have found low-carb and Paleo diets an effective aid to weight loss. It would be interesting for the Times to continue its investigation of ‘The Fat Trap’ by looking at whether low-carb and Paleo diets can help the obese escape the trap.” Unfortunately, the petition had a number of statements I felt were inappropriate, so I didn’t sign.
CarbSane has her own objections to the petition.
Dallas and Melissa Hartwig have kicked off 2012 with Version 5.12 of their “Whole30” program. I hear through the grapevine that a few knock-offs are being developed. Stabby Raccoon is doing the “Perfect30”: a Whole30 with rice, potatoes, butter, and sour cream. Aravindan Balasubramanian is developing the “Good Enough 30.”
The Scientist looks at how parasites exert mind control.
Stephan Guyenet had a good holiday: his TEDx Harvard Law School talk came out, and so did a paper on which he was fourth author.
Stan the Heretic looks at ketones, histone deacetylation, and schizophrenia. If ketones are effective deacetylase inhibitors, they would be helpful against cancer too.
ItstheWooo found that supplements cured her hypoglycemia.
Epstein-Barr Virus has always been closely linked to multiple sclerosis, and new research clarifies a mechanism.
Dr Emily Deans has a rant. My reaction is similar to Jamie Scott’s.
Jamie also has a nice piece on how dietary fats modulate intestinal barrier integrity.
Steven Hamley has a lot of ideas about obesity.
Better nourished elderly have better brain health.
Cate Shanahan thinks the Middletons are an example of “second sibling syndrome.”
Via Instapundit, mice whose food is supplemented by extra vitamins, ginseng, and garlic live longer and maintain better cognitive function than mice on ordinary chow. I take this as proof that standard lab chow is malnourishing.
Via cillakat, Psychology Today discusses research showing that progesterone can heal damaged brains.
Cancer Research UK presents a graph showing things you can do to reduce cancer risk.
I’m sorry to hear that Venus Williams has Sjogren’s syndrome, but I doubt her new vegan diet is the solution.
[5] Cute animals:
[6] Cute animal woman of the year:
[7] Via erp:
[8] Magnesium and vitamin B6 calm over-excitable children: So says this paper. But would it work on this girl?
[9] Interesting comments:
[10] Not the Weekly Video: You’ve heard of the genome, proteome, and glycome … now, the newest frontier of medical research: the beardome:
[11] Shou-Ching’s Photo Art:
[12] Weekly Video: If the winter has you pining for the tropics, here’s a look at Fiji and Tonga:
via this link:
The Perfect30 sounds… perfect. If Stabby is serious, I’m signing up!
Paul, Does Chris Masterjohn’s post change anything w/ your PHD recommendations, e.g., eat slightly less safe starch (to be replaced by?)since we’re actually getting more glucose from sources previously thought not to provide any?
Hi D,
No. Our glucose intake recommendations were not based on what happens in ketosis. It doesn’t mean that a VLC carb diet is benign, just that it’s not as damaging as you might expect, because the body has resources for coping with it. It makes sense – fasting is VLC, and the body ought to be able to cope with a long fast.
Hello Paul, I’ve always enjoyed your ATW posts. If I may, I would like to suggest a self-experimentation strategy for PHD followers. It is clear that some may benefit from combining some of the SCD and FODMAPs stuff as well as initial elimination strategies to find their own nutritional sweet spot.
I find the progesterone post revealing and think it’s benefits would extend much farther than TBI cases. Many are now over-expressing estrogen in their tissues. Pregnenolone in men and progesterone in women may provide a “re-balancing” effect for those who need that extra help. PHD does much to address this issue as it supports mitochondrial health and cholesterol is converted to pregnenolone in the mitochondria. The various feedback loops I feel would be served well by supplementing these for a time.
What did you make of the UK cancer prevention diagram? Also, what are your thoughts regarding red meat consumption’s link to bowel cancer? This doesn’t seem to make sense to me.
Lastly, after reading Russell Farris’ “Falling Apart Syndrome” draft, I feel that it may be the missing link in a unifying health principle and something that I was really glad your book addressed. It reminded me of the book “The Red Queen”, if you haven’t read it yet, please do.
Vlc messed up my ft3/rt3 ratio even more AND progesterone
Very happy with the safe starch approach
Hi Gabe,
I agree on self-experimental integration of SCD/GAPS/FODMAP restriction with PHD … that’s a promising therapeutic strategy in bowel disorders.
Your ideas about hormones are very interesting, but I don’t know enough about their effects in different people to be able to recommend supplementing them. We tend to keep our supplement recommendations to the most elemental nutrients. I would love to hear about data however.
The UK cancer prevention diagram – I think it’s great art work, and it seems like a fair representation of the standard opinions. I don’t think all the standard opinions are sound. Red meat may be a problem for bowel cancer, but I think the circle is way too big there – I suspect they are including evidence from processed meats.
I love Russell Farris and am looking forward to reading Falling Apart Syndrome. I am thinking along the same lines and would have worked on a similar book if I had had time; I am glad he has beat me to it, and hope his book does well.
Best, Paul
Paul,
I LOVE IZ’s rendition of it. I have it on my ipod and my kids and I ALWAYS get goosebumps listening to it and I often shed a tear too. Absolutely mesmerizing. Thank you for posting the vid.
Quick question if i may;
what’s your feeling on “Natto”?
Soy not optimal obviously, but this fermented little treat? I used to eat it quite often but have laid of it over the years on the “soy” basis of it. fwiw, when I eat it, I have a distinct sense of well being.
Thoughts?
Thank you
Marc
Hello Paul,
Good Enough 30 is identical to Perfect 30 except for allowance to test the Highbrow Paleo drinking protocol by Stabby –
http://highbrowpaleo.wordpress.com/2011/12/26/the-highbrow-paleo-guide-to-binge-drinking-mitigating-the-deleterious-effects-of-ethanol-on-health-or-how-to-get-shitfaced-with-impunity/
Of course we don’t encourage excess alcohol consumption but sometimes we must bend the rules for the good of science. I’m doing my part!
Regards,
Aravind
It’s worth noting that there have been several problems identified with the statistics in that Fukushima paper noted by Dennis Mangan. See http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/2011/12/20/researchers-trumpet-another-flawed-fukushima-death-study/
They basically cherry picked the data and didn’t give error estimates.
Hi Marc,
I think it’s better than unfermented soy but still probably fairly toxin-rich. I do respect you for being able to tolerate the taste though 🙂
But, if it makes you feel good, that might be the best sign. That probably means either that you need some of the vitamins (eg K2, B12) or that the bacteria in the natto are probiotic for you. Gut flora can have a big impact on mood. Actually, whether bacteria making you feel good is good for you is not certain, since parasites sometimes do that, but probably it is good for you.
Hi Aravind,
I was guessing it was a lacto-ovo-acoholo-vegetarian Whole30. Thanks for the update!
Hi jj,
Thanks! I figured that would be the case, thus my “surprising result” comment.
Best, Paul
“acoholo”…are you hitting the sauce this morning to test out Stabby’s protocol too?
My own diet is essentially PHD for vegetarians (not vegan). If/when I blog about it on HBP or at AHS if I get to present, I actually wanted to use the PHD “plate” which my modifications if that’s ok with you?
I originally called the diet LMFAO – Lacto, Meat Free, Archevore, Ovo diet. We can dual label it as PVD – Perfect Vegetarian Diet. LMFAO is what you would expect from me.
Hello Aravind
I would be very interested to hear more about your LMFAO Perfect Vegetarian Diet. Do you have a website where I can read more about it?
Lesley
Hi Lesley,
Aravind prefers to bestow his jewels on Facebook.
Best, Paul
Thanks, Paul. I’ll check him out.
Lesley
Hi Aravind,
Heh. Guess my mental spell checker doesn’t have “alcoholo.”
Awesome! You can guest-author the vegetarian appendix for the next version of our book.
We’ll get you an image you can modify for the plate. Send me an email, pauljaminet@perfecthealthdiet.com.
Best, Paul
Wow… Dr. Deans rant is a bit harsh. Your appearance on Dr. Mercola’s and Jimmy Moore’s shows certainly don’t constitute you “endorsing” them. I’m also not sure what product Jimmy Moore is selling as per one of the other comments. I just listened to your recent appearance on your show and he seemed a bit hostile to your ideas, which is odd for him as he usually seems very neutral, even to ideas that oppose his completely.
I can see where Dr. Deans is coming from with the “conservatism” required of an MD but it seems a bit closed minded, which is unfortunate.
Hi Josh,
It was hard for me to understand Emily’s reaction too. I try to be consistent: I interact with everyone who seeks me out in as positive a way as I can.
My ultimate responsibility is to follow the commandments: “Love one another as I have loved you” … “It is not the healthy who need a doctor but the sick. I have come not to call the righteous but sinners.” I cannot confine my interactions to those who have already perfected their dietary and medical knowledge, or who are sinless.
But, Emily has her own circumstances and moral views and I respect her choice. She’s a fantastic blogger and a tremendous asset to the medical and Paleo communities, and I hope I am never an obstacle to her success.
Very true. To be honest, Dr. Mercola seems to be bit of a Chicken Little much of the time but I think his heart and mind are in the right place even if he can be very sensationalist at times. It’s unfortunate that people are so quick to throw the baby out with the bathwater because of the credibility and guilt by association issues (which both strike me as extremely unscientific) but I guess that’s just the nature of the beast.
On a side note I have been following your blog for a while but just last night started reading your and Mrs. Jaminet’s book and so far it’s fantastic! Certainly the best “paleo” book I have read so far, it’s answered a lot of questions I have had, being paleo for a little over a year now, and has generated some questions I have never thought to ask. The breast milk ratios as proper adult ratios has intrigued me particularly, I’m only about 1/8th of the way through the book so far so I’ll hold off on any questions until I finish it 😀
Paul,
I have difficulty making sense of Emily Deans’ post and subsequent comments. I agree that Jamie Scott’s comment was a nice attempt to smooth things over, but it really doesn’t explain her actions. If Dr. Deans is really worried any implied association with your “radicalism” (as implied by your willingness to say nice things about Dr. Mecrola) by linking to your blog, then why does she continue to include Michael Eades’ blog and Hyperlipid on her list of “Like Minds” blogs? Cleary they are outside the mainstream, and furthermore they are supporters of of the Taubsian carbohydrate/insulin hypothesis of weight gain. She objects to your open-mindedness but apparently not their dogmatism.
Paul’s keeping it classy. Good job 🙂
I don’t see how the distinction is puzzling. I believe some of Mercola’s advice is quite dangerous and hurts people. I don’t see how Dr. Eades or Peter are hurting people, though I don’t agree with their low-carb dogma.
Emily,
I like both of you (still do! :-)), so, please, let me understand:
You excluded Paul of your “Like Minds” for “praising” Dr. Mercola, tought I never saw Paul endorsing any advice from Dr. Mercola, dangerous or not.
On the other hand, you stil have Dr. Eades and Peter on your “Like Minds” list. Their “low-carb dogma” is central to their blogs and ideas, but you don’t agree with it. So, how exactly are they “like minds” to you?
PS. The idea that a VLCD advice will hurt no one, specially on long term, is certainly, at least, controversial…
Paul and Shou-Ching, I intend to read your book, and have been following your blog for a time. I don’t remember how I came across it, it may have been by way of Dr. Cate, whose book I have read. At any rate, I have been very impressed by your kindness. I’ve read on Dr. Dean’s blog that you are “nice” rather than good. I disagree. I think you are good. You appear to be acting under very clear principles, and are striving to live up to those principles. (I had a suspicion that you are Catholics, which was confirmed when I read about Shou-Ching’s baptism, congratulations, by the way!)
Anyway, I would agree that being merely “nice” is not as desirable as being good, and being called nice wouldn’t necessarily be much of a compliment, but I do think you both are good. I appreciate your open-mindedness, your willingness to accept criticism, and to adjust a viewpoint when sufficient evidence has been provided. I can see that your ideas in regards to the Perfect Health Diet will evolve as you learn more, which is as it should be.
I don’t know much about Dr. Mercola, and while I think Dr. Deans is perfectly within her rights to add or subtract blogs from her “think alike” list, I think she may be missing the point. Being interviewed by Dr. Mercola doesn’t so much give him credibility, as it does give more “airtime” to the Perfect Health Diet, which I think is a good thing. It would be kind of like Jesus talking to the Scribes and Pharisees: (which he readily did) It gave Him a forum to discuss his teachings, which won over some of them, and many others. (Mk 12:34)
So… whether or not one approves of Dr. Mercola, I think it is good for you to have that opportunity to spread not only your Perfect Health Diet, but also your approach to goodness, which, to me, permeates this blog.
If Satan had a radio show, should a Christian refuse to be interviewed on it? If a Christian had the Spirit and the wisdom, it would be a missed opportunity, I think, to refuse. (Not that Dr. Mercola is a satan, I don’t know anything about him.)
Hi Robert,
I agree entirely. Very well said. Thank you.
If Daniel Webster can out-argue the devil (http://www.scribd.com/doc/6567971/The-Devil-and-Daniel-Webster), I don’t see why I should shy from discussing health with any man.
Best, Paul
Paul,
I don’t know why Dr. Dean didn’t handle this
with grace?
It has served to you well though, it has given
you the opportunity to shine. 🙂
Thank you, Betty.
Hi Paul,
You wrote:
“I’m sorry to hear that Venus Williams has Sjogren’s syndrome, but I doubt her new vegan diet is the solution.”
Dr. Thomas McPherson Brown considered Sjogren’s syndrome in the family of connective tissue diseases with an infectious etiology.
A good opportunity for me to plug Brown’s work again, and Roadback.org.
And FWIW, I did not interpret your posts re: Mercola as an “endorsement”. Not at all, and I guess I’m surprised others have had that reaction.
I’ve gotten about halfway through the interview. As a reader of your book and blog, I’m familiar with most of the ideas. Nevertheless, it’s interesting to listen to, and I like the way your work challenges me to think & question.
Thank you!
Dr. Jaminet,
As someone who has read both this site and Dr. Deans’s site, I’d like to offer an opinion on the Mercola issue. As for the “nice” and “good” descriptors, there does not seem to be any debate over the former, so onto “good”: in the sense that you further science of nutrition through well-considered analysis, I would say that you do indeed seem to be “good.” But I wonder if Dr. Deans is not using “good” as a shorthand for “doing good,” and thereby implicitly doing no harm.
While I respect your ethical decision not to shy away from discussing health with any man, let me pose a hypothetical. Let’s say there was a well-known purveyor of health and nutrition advice, Dr. Shadyhams. Further, let’s say that about half of Dr. Shadyhams’s advice comports rigorously with what you know to be not only advantageous to optimal health, but also to carry a very low risk of doing harm if followed. Reduce one’s intake of sugar, for example, and eschew trans-fats. Fine. But then the other half of Dr. Shadyhams’s advice seems to be of more curious provenance, say, telling people to add Drano to their herbal tea to cure gout, or to wrestle with cobras to cure hypertension.
As noble as the egalitarian approach to dispensing wisdom may be, there’s no denying that some of Dr. Shadyhams’s methods can cause personal harm to those who would blindly follow his advice, and I say blindly because the good doctor also advises his patients to drink a quart of methyl alcohol daily as a general health tonic. Of course, I have tried to use a bit of levity here to make a point, which is that Dr. Deans would rather err on the side of caution and in adherence of her medical oath. Her view may be that Dr. Mercola’s advice can cause harm – and that the people who search the Internet or other media for information do so to some degree with faith in the integrity of those dispensing wisdom. And for someone who might otherwise find your reasoning sound, by dint of association with Dr. Shadyhams, it might be assumed that there is some endorsement of his methodology or conclusions as well.
It’s a point of politics, I suppose, and it is why politicians don’t want to be seen shaking hands with leaders of skinhead groups or terrorists. My apology to Dr. Deans if my inference as to the nature of her disapproval is off-base; I actually understand both sides of contention. If every seeker on the Internet were well enough educated and possessed sufficient critical thinking skills to be able to dismiss dangerously bad advice, ignore charlatans, and confidently navigate the dizzying sea of contradictory information and disinformation, perhaps Dr. Deans’s reason for disapproval would be moot. As it is, I can at least understand where she’s coming from.
Best wishes,
Jim
The mercola links has not changed the fact that I regard you as the most trustworthy sources of health advice on the internet. Others I consider especially trustworthy are Kurt Harris, Stephan Guyenet, Chris Kresser, and Mark Sission.
I don’t see how you could have managed to reach out to the audience of mercola.com in any other way. The way you communicate reminds me of what Dale Carnegie called “Fundamental Techniques in Handling People” 1. Don’t criticize, condemn or complain. 2. Give honest and sincere appreciation”
Hi Michelle,
Thanks. I always suspect infections in “autoimmune” disorders; even when there is true autoimmunity, I suspect it is molecular mimickry from an infection that sustains the autoimmunity.
Hi Jim,
There are some important issues in moral philosophy in play here, and I thought about doing a post explaining my perspective, but Shou-Ching prefers that we stick to biology and so that’s what I’ll do.
A few points only, therefore. First, all that happened in this transaction was that Dr Mercola invited me to present my views to his audience. He was an honest broker in this transaction, a cordial host and gracious interviewer. There was no editing and I was given every opportunity to present my case. Some of my advice was contrary to things Dr Mercola has previously recommended to his audience, such as VLC dieting, which he has practiced himself. To his credit he listened to my case and was persuaded by it to alter his own diet, adding in a bit of starches, and doing so improved his health. I was never asked to endorse anything else on Mercola’s site, only to present my own views.
I’m not aware of anything Dr Mercola has done that would be equivalent to promoting wrestling with cobras, drinking Drano or quarts of methyl alcohol. I do not think his audience “blindly” follows what he suggests. Nor do I think he would be as popular as he is if he did advocate things analogous to wrestling cobras or drinking Drano.
If he had done some such thing, then I still don’t believe it would necessarily be immoral for me to talk to him; morality would require me to make a judgment about whether his erroneous advice was the result of error or bad faith, and to be emphatic in declaring what is healthy and that wrestling cobras or drinking Drano is unhealthy, and to seek to persuade him and his audience to the truth and stand firmly for the truth, but it would not necessarily require his ostracism. We are called to preach to sinners, not the choir.
I fail to see how my refusal to do an interview with Dr Mercola would have helped his audience to “dismiss dangerously bad advice, ignore charlatans, and confidently navigate the dizzying sea of contradictory information and disinformation.” I think my speaking to his audience is more likely to achieve that noble aim.
As Jesus’s life and teachings show, we have an obligation to bring truth to those in error. And shirking that obligation is not justified by the defense, “I didn’t want to associate with someone in error.”
Hi Ole,
Thank you! Mr. Carnegie was a smart man.
Best, Paul
Paul, I hope you realize I was utilizing hyperbole for effect, and not suggesting that Dr. Mercola’s ideas are the equivalent as those of the fictitious Dr. Shadyhams. By exaggerating, I merely meant to bring what I infer as Dr. Deans’s point into sharper relief. It would seem that the issue with Dr. Mercola’s dietary stances is that he has possibly arrived at certain conclusions via faulty methodology, an opinion that seems widely held but one I am not here to promote.
I honestly feel that you are a man of strong convictions whose intent is to promote good. Perhaps my ham-handed attempt to bring clarity to this discussion has instead muddied the waters. I appreciate that you wish to stick to science rather than in-fighting, and I will continue to read your site toward that end. There are many folks whose scientific opinions are instructive to me, as a mere layman with an interest in food, and by extension nutrition and health, including yourself and Dr. Deans. I wish you both all the best, and hope that you can bury the proverbial hatchet.
Hi Jim,
There’s no hatchet on my side, only a disagreement. She’s a terrific blogger and doctor, and a likable person.
Hi Paul,
I was wondering what are your thoughts on Terry Whals’ intensive nutrition. She recommends a very high vegetable consumption, do you see any problem with that? It seems to me that this can work in the framework of the PHD, and maybe make supplementation unnecessary.
Thanks
Iris
Hi Iris,
I do think there are potential problems with very high vegetable consumption. The research isn’t adequate to tell us whether it’s beneficial, harmful, or neutral.
You’re right, it could serve as a whole foods substitute for supplementation.
Best, Paul
Regarding Sjogren’s, it’s interesting to note the connection with retrovirus. In 1999, a small, non-controled trial with AZT gave promissing results:
http://pmid.us/10515640
Another clue for a retrovirus connection come from Greece, where, before antiretroviral therapy, the incidence of Sjogren’s among HIV patients was around 7.8%:
http://pmid.us/9667626
Which disapeared after the introdution of the antiretroviral therapy:
http://pmid.us/12777641
Unfortunatly, all studies above are small and no one had interest to persue this connection.
Another thing: aside the retrovirus controversy in CFS, one can not help but notice that one very common symptom in Sjogren’s is fatigue!
http://pmid.us/21996338
http://pmid.us/20147445
Hi all,
I have been reading PHD for over a year and bought the book, but have not commented until now – no need to with all of the excellent input. However, I just found the following article that supports the Jaminets’ theory of many diseases being caused by factors other than genetics. In this case, the diseases discussed are Lou Gehrig’s Disease (ALS) and Parkinson’s and the (potentially) causitive agent is cyanobacteria. I supect you are all familiar with this already, but I have not seen reference to it before, so just thought I would pass it on:
http://www.miller-mccune.com/health/was-lou-gehrigs-als-caused-by-tap-water-38804/
Kyle: That is fascinating – thanks for the link! Here’s another article about it. Very interesting about the women who collected hair samples!
http://discovermagazine.com/2011/may/22-seafood-toxins-causing-als-alzheimers-parkinsons/article_view?b_start:int=2&-C=
Thanks Connie, great article and much better than the one I enclosed. I remember a documentary from many years ago about the cycad flour and the ALS/Parkinon’s symptoms. If I recall correctly, the disease symptoms only seemed to present if the flour was not “soaked and fermented” enough before consumption. (Hello Stephan G.) Your submitted article has stronger evidence to imply it’s not the cycad flour at all.
All very scary if true, though lots of work still to be done……
Hi Mario,
Thanks much for those links. It’s too bad it’s so hard to study viruses, they probably contribute to a wide range of diseases.
Hi Kyle, Connie,
Thanks much for bringing that up. I’ve been meaning to blog about the cyanobacteria-ALS connection for about a year, I have notes on it, but have never gotten around to it. It’s great to have readers beat me to the punch!
Best, Paul
Hi Paul,
Love your ATW posts.
Paul, I was wondering your opinion about olive oil, I know you encourage Sat fats consumption but it seems my body can handle certain amounts of sat. fats, I have no problems at all with HUGE amounts of olive, in fact I haven´t notice any weight gain at all. Do you think Olive oil could be problematic because of its poli.fats? What´s your opinion on the study linking olive oil with diabetes (rose trial study?)
Wish you the best,
Grace
Hi Grace,
I discussed the Rose study and the link to diabetes in this post: http://perfecthealthdiet.com/?p=1042.
I think olive oil is fairly benign but if you use a lot of it, be focused on reducing other omega-6 sources — ie concentrate your meats heavily on seafood and red meat.
Best, Paul
http://moreintelligentlife.com/story/the-madman-at-the-breakfast-table
Stolen from reddit but interesting, perhaps more evidence for the mind-gut link for mental illness
Also looking forward to the Japanese Study.
I understand where both sides come from.
(even i have had vehemently dislike any organized religion, you’re still “good”)
i also have no problem about anyone wanting to profit.
regards,
Ms Deans is implicitly characterizing her readers as weak minded and gullible; they need her protection. Her reaction is clearly based on emotion, and the intensity of that reaction is a clue to the source of her actions. She seems threatened somehow by the success of the PHD.
Perhaps some of her patients have been bringing up the PHD during treatment, questioning her recomendations. All just speculation of course — except for the first statement above. In a very real way, the PHD is a threat to many entrenched and vested interests in the medical/health industries.