Author Archives: Paul Jaminet - Page 58

PaleoFX

Posted by on March 18, 2012 45 comments

PaleoFX was a terrific meeting. It’s not easy to stage such a large event. Kudos to Michelle and Keith Norris, Kevin Cottrell, and the 100 volunteers who worked so hard to make it a success. Jack Kruse in his keynote speech talked of “paying it forward,” and the volunteers and organizers certainly did that.

Jack is a better speaker than writer, and I enjoyed the talk. He recounted a story of a woman he met as a surgical resident. She had an inoperable cancer; Jack closed the incision in the operating room, and she lived for another six months. She willed her wine collection to Jack, and each day before she died she took a single bottle from each case to the beach and wrote a letter to Jack explaining its provenance and what it meant to her. The package of letters came along with the wine after her death, and in a note she mentioned the story of the Old Man and the Starfish, and told Jack, “You are my starfish.” She advised him to withdraw from the rat race and enjoy life, as she had in her final six months. Jack didn’t pay much heed to that advice until 2006. Then, after reflection and perhaps some cold thermogenesis, he realized that he ought to “pay it forward” by working “transformational change.” At this point he pulled out what he said was a stick of dynamite and a lighter:

He said that the dynamite could work transformational change on the University of Texas, and it was our obligation to go out in the world and work transformational change by converting others to Paleo.

Luckily the fire marshal was not present, or PaleoFX might have come to a premature end.

The next day began with a talk by CJ Hunt, producer of the documentary “In Search of the Perfect Human Diet.” CJ has a great personal story: he had a heart attack at age 24, but now in his 50s looks like a young and athletic man. Here is the trailer:

CJ can’t market the movie widely until after film festivals, so if you’re interested, the place to buy is through his web site.

Robb Wolf was next, and talked about how he made Norcal into such a successful gym. Robb is an outstanding businessman and his advice for gym operators was excellent.

Cooking demos were next. Check out Nom Nom Paleo for some great pictures of food and people.

Next was a panel I served on, “Ancestral Wellness Through the Decades.” I was impressed with Skyler Tanner, who came well prepared. Melissa Hartwig, Emily Talley, Dr Shilpi Mehta, and Jack Kruse all had good things to say and we covered a lot of ground.

More panels and talks by Mark Sisson and Ron Rosedale followed. The “Whole Foods vs Supplements” panel with Chris Kresser, Amy Kubal, Diana Rodgers, Liz Wolf, Diane Sanfilippo, Dr Dan Kalish, and Joe Johnson was excellent.

After the day was over we had an author book signing and then the audio-visual team recorded interviews with presenters.

The audio-visual team was really, really good: I understand it was the team that produces Anthony Johnson’s The 21 Convention. One of the A/V guys stayed up all night Thursday night putting together a video from the first day’s action, and it was played first thing Friday and was really professionally done. Quite impressive. A DVD of the conference will go on sale in about 60 days, and I’m sure it will be outstanding.

We finally got back to our hotel at 11 pm, our only food having been some chipotle chicken for lunch. Chris Kresser, Dan Pardi, and I went to a Pappadeaux restaurant for some baked potatoes.

Friday, after the video, began with an open Q&A panel: “Ask the Paleo Experts.” The biggest fireworks came with a “safe starches” question, directly specifically to Jack Kruse and myself. Jack has been arguing that one shouldn’t eat any carbs in the winter – here is Jack on the subject of eating a banana in winter:

Only humans who fail to listen to evolutions rule book of engagement die. You can eat a banana in the winter and feel fine but Mother Nature says it’s impossible………therefore we ought not to do it. I will follow her lead over a diet book guru or the opinions of a bunch of people who let their thoughts subjugate their genes. Feelings and thoughts do not trump neural biochemistry …

Jack turned to me and said something like “I’d like Paul to explain why, if Neuropeptide Y is downregulated in cold weather, it can be safe to eat starches.” My answer was that we are warm-blooded mammals and maintain a constant body temperature so that our basic biochemistry, including the ability to digest and utilize glucose, works no matter what the outside temperature. Ron Rosedale, Nora Gedgaudas, and Emily Deans added to the discussion. Here’s a photo of half the panel, from Bryan Lambeth:

From the left are Emily Deans, David Pendergrass, Keith Norris, Lane Sebring, and myself. Offcamera were Jack Kruse, Ron Rosedale, Nora Gedgaudas, Dean Dwyer, and Dallas Hartwig.

After the panel came my talk. It was my “fitness” talk and covered “Some Overlooked Factors in Fitness.” One of the topics I covered was body composition. After the talk I had a long chat with Jimmy Moore about how eating some carbs can improve body composition and facilitate weight loss. He said it was starting to make sense to him. Today he tweeted:

Wouldn’t it be funny if I actually started eating rice again? Stay tuned. @pauljaminet #safestarches

Who knows, maybe we’ll revive the PHD weight loss experiment Jimmy and I talked about last fall. Stay tuned!

While all these talks and panels were going on upstairs, there was a continuous string of Strength and Movement sessions on the first floor. I didn’t have enough time for those, but I did make time for a 15-minute mashing session from Kate Catlow of the Mindful Body Center. Great!

I spent most of Friday chatting to people. The great value of conferences like this is the opportunity to meet others in the Paleo community and to look for ways we can cooperate to achieve good things. I even got a head start on this: Nora Gedgaudas sat next to me in our flight into Austin. In her review of the conference, Emily Deans mentioned a few things under discussion:

I drove with Paul Jaminet in the car and we talked about his upcoming plans, Shou-Ching’s research, and his work with Aaron Blaisdell to help with publishing an Ancestral Health academic journal, all very exciting stuff.

Nothing is settled yet but there will probably be a few initiatives to report in coming months.

I think PaleoFX planted a few seeds that may grow into bigger things. Many thanks to the organizers and volunteers who made it all possible! I hope that a good time was had by all.

Around the Web; PaleoFX Edition

Posted by on March 10, 2012 40 comments

I’ll be speaking and sitting on two panels at the Paleo(fx) conference this week, Wednesday-Friday in Austin, Texas. The meeting has a great lineup of speakers and I’m looking forward to meeting a lot of interesting people there. If you’re there, be sure to introduce yourself!

[1] Music to Read By: Glen Campbell has Alzheimer’s, and is doing a farewell tour. His final concert will be June 30 in Bayfield, Wisconsin. Here is “Wichita Lineman”:

And “Rhinestone Cowboy”:

[2] Interesting posts this week:

My favorite post of the week: Emily Deans reports on the Pathogen Host Defense theory of depression. Depression is part of the immune response to infection: it is how the immune system gets us to rest and avoid other people so as to keep the infection from spreading. The supporting evidence: every genetic allele known to increase the incidence of depression, also increases immunity to infectious disease. Moral of the story: if you’re depressed, find and treat your infections.

Bix discusses the role of histamine in depression. Antihistamines relieve depression. Of course, they may also inhibit the immune system from fighting an infection.

Kamal Patel has a new website on pain management, paindatabase.com; he opens with an excellent discussion of nightshades. Peter Frost notes that redheads are more sensitive to pain.

Dr. Steve Parker reviews the classic study in which diabetic Australian aborigines were returned to their ancestral lifestyle.

Angelique Corthals presents an offbeat theory of multiple sclerosis. Another offbeat theory: Via Melissa McEwen, a paper argues that Crohn’s may result from bacteria which survive in refrigerators.

Chris Kresser discusses folic acid dangers, a topic I’ve recently done some thinking about.

Allan Balliet has a podcast interview with Dr Thomas Cowan, author of The Fourfold Path to Healing: Working with the Laws of Nutrition, Therapeutics, Movement and Meditation in the Art of Medicine.

Tony Federico was able to fix his cholesterol by adding carbs. CarbSane finds she sleeps better on 100g per day starches (PHD proportions) than she did on VLC. Cameron also had trouble on VLC.

Serum IL-6 levels predict mortality and disability. IL-6 is part of the immune response to many infections.

An 87-year-old billionaire aims to live to 125. He eats a lot of fruit and vegetable smoothies.

Parvovirus B19 is present in the thyroid glands of 90% of Hashimoto’s patients.

Stephan Guyenet got some nice exposure at Boing Boing, talking about how the cafeteria diet seduces rats. Matt Metzgar’s personal experiments are supportive of Stephan’s view.

Sean at PragueStepChild has a terrific post pointing out the flawed logic underlying a new “food reward in a pill” drug.

Seth Roberts warns that supplement quality can vary widely.

Apparently Dr Steve Phinney thinks the best fat is a mix of butter, olive oil, and canola oil. I think it’s possible to do better.

The Daily Mail reports that passing weak electric currents through the brain can lift patients out of depression for up to six weeks.

Via Dave Asprey, an “M2A” (mouth to anus) capsule enables photography of the intestine. He’s got video. Dave also has a rapid fat loss protocol: a diet of coffee, butter, and supplements. I prefer our Food for a Fast.

Warning: Dr Clark says that coffee is bad for people with gluten sensitivity, due to cross-reactive antibodies.

Dr Mercola defends free speech, and objects to an FDA assertion that walnuts are drugs. Yahoo reports that the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is buying 7 million pounds of “pink slime” beef for the school lunch program.

I didn’t know this: “In healthy individuals, blood sugar rises to ~135 mg/dL after 15 minutes of vigorous exercise…. In Type 1 diabetics, the same intensity and duration of exercise produced blood sugars that exceeded 150 mg/dL in spite of continuous insulin infusion.” (from Sam Knox)

Via PaleoHacks, how a pig gets divided up into meats.

Matthew Green satirizes Paleo.

Finally, Apple came out with a new product last week, and Yoni Freedhoff has the marketing video:

[3] Cute animal:

Via Yves Smith.

[4] Meet Ray Audette: The author of NeanderThin: Eat Like a Caveman to Achieve a Lean, Strong, Healthy Body and one of the pioneers of Paleo:

[5] Not the weekly video: Dr. Mark Cucuzzella offers “The Principles of Natural Running”:

[6] Shou-Ching’s Photo Art:

[7] Weekly Video: Ever wondered what auroras look like from space?

Food for a Fast

Posted by on March 8, 2012 112 comments

Alfredo asked us to offer ideas for how to fast during Lent:

What to eat during fasting (other than cranberries & coconut oil) is on my mind. Looking for some variation in the fasting menu.

It’s a great question. We did have a post on one possible fasting food – Neo-Agutak: “Eskimo Ice Cream” – but never discussed alternatives or the reasons for eating particular foods during a fast.

Fasts don’t have to be food-free

Some people think a fast should involve no food at all. On the Neo-Agutak post, Don Matesz commented:

I would not say that I was fasting if I consumed more than 625 calories during any period of that “fast.”

But that’s not the position of the Catholic Church. During Lent, Ash Wednesday and Good Friday are fast days. The US bishops allow one full meal and up to two snacks:

The law of fasting requires a Catholic from the 18th Birthday (Canon 97) to the 59th Birthday (i.e. the beginning of the 60th year, a year which will be completed on the 60th birthday) to reduce the amount of food eaten from normal. The Church defines this as one meal a day, and two smaller meals which if added together would not exceed the main meal in quantity. Such fasting is obligatory on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. The fast is broken by eating between meals and by drinks which could be considered food (milk shakes, but not milk).

Children, the elderly, and those whose health might be threatened are exempt from the requirement to fast.

So let’s consider a fast to be any period of reduced calorie consumption – not zero food.

Basic fasting: Electrolyte and fluid replacement

It is certainly a mistake to consume nothing at all during a fast.

People deprived of fluids and electrolytes die quickly. In a famous case cited in Wikipedia (“Starvation”), Drusus Caesar, son of Agrippina the Elder, was starved to death in 33 AD by the emperor Tiberius, and managed to stay alive for nine days only by chewing the stuffing of his bed. When Saint Maximilian Kolbe and nine others were starved in Auschwitz, seven of the ten died within two weeks.

When fluids are provided, however, survival can be much longer. Even in his 60s, Gandhi was able to go without food for 21 days. In the Irish hunger strikes of 1980-1981, no one who fasted less than 46 days died, and about half those who fasted between 46 and 73 days died.

So fluids and electrolytes extend the duration of a fast by about a factor of four. Since we want our fasts to be safe and health-improving, we should certainly take:

  • Water.
  • Sodium and chlorine. During a fast protein is converted to glucose and ketones, releasing nitrogen waste in the form of urea. Sodium and chloride are excreted along with the urea. Salt loss can be fairly rapid during a fast, equivalent to as much as a teaspoon of salt a day. A large amount of water is lost along with it.
  • Potassium. Potassium is the intracellular electrolyte, sodium the extracellular, and osmotic pressure must be balanced. So potassium will be lost along with water and sodium, and should be replenished with it.
  • Calcium and magnesium. These also serve electrolytic functions and it is desirable to maintain their concentrations.
  • Acids. These are beneficial for the digestive tract and metabolism, and also for solubilization of minerals. Citrate, for instance, helps prevent kidney and gallstones.

Vegetables are the best source of potassium; bone broth is a source of calcium and magnesium. The best acids are citrus juices, such as lemon juice, and vinegars, such as rice vinegar. Sea salt, or salty flavorings such as soy sauce or fish sauce, can provide sodium chloride. So the most basic food to take during a fast is a soup made of vegetables in bone broth, with salt and an acid added.

Here are some pictures. First, make up a bone broth by cooking bones in acidified water:

It’s best to use a ceramic or enameled pot to prevent leaching of metals from the pot.

When you’re ready to eat, put some scallions or celery and cilantro or basil in a bowl, and add hot broth:

Add salt, pepper, acid, and spices to taste.

Spinach and tomatoes are great vegetables for these broths, because they are rich in potassium. Here is a tomato soup:

Here’s a slightly fancier example. I think this had tomatoes, onions, peppers, carrots, and kohlrabi:

Served with parsley and scallions, rice vinegar, and sea salt:

Adding some food

So far we haven’t provided any calories to speak of. The next step in reducing the stress of the fast is to add some nutrition to the soup.

The stress of a fast is largely due to the absence of dietary carb and protein. The body has limited carb storage – glycogen is depleted early in a fast – and is loath to cannibalize lean tissue for protein. On the other hand, the body has abundant fat reserves. So

Two strategies may make sense in different circumstances:

  • A protein-sparing modified fast. Protein, which is convertible to glucose, is eaten to relieve the carb+protein deficit.
  • A ketogenic fast. Short-chain and medium-chain fatty acids, such as are found in coconut oil, are eaten to generate ketones. Ketones can partially substitute for glucose utilization.

What these have in common is that they reduce the carb+protein.

Probably 90% of people who fast should favor the protein-sparing approach. Those on ketogenic diets for neurological disorders should probably favor the ketogenic fasting approach.

An example of a food suitable for a ketogenic fast would be Neo-Agutak: “Eskimo Ice Cream” (Dec 5, 2010).

A suitable food on a protein-sparing modified fast would supply most calories as protein; carb and fat calories would be from nutrient-dense sources. Egg yolks, which are rich in phospholipids like choline, and potatoes are good examples of nutrient-dense fat and carb sources.

The easy way to implement this healthy fast: just add eggs, potatoes, and maybe some fish or shellfish (which tend to be protein-rich, and comply with the Catholic guidelines for Friday abstinence) to any of the soups shown above. Heat the soup in the microwave and there you have it: a healthy fast-day meal!

Conclusion

Those on weight loss diets will notice that by adding protein, carbs, and a few nourishing fats to our fast-day soup, we’re getting very close to our recommended diet for calorie-restricted weight loss diets: see Perfect Health Diet: Weight Loss Version (Feb 1, 2011).

There’s a good reason for that: both posts work from the same design principles. Both aim at the greatest possible nourishment on the fewest calories.

Would you like to lose weight? Consider making these nourishing soups a staple of your diet.

Even if you’re not fasting or trying to lose weight, consider making these soups a regular part of your daily meals. It’s very easy to make a broth on the weekend and warm it up and pour it over diced vegetables at mealtime. You might find them a very satisfying addition to your diet.

Around the Web; Davy Jones Goes to His Locker Edition

Posted by on March 3, 2012 30 comments

The Paleo Summit continues: today we have Cate Shanahan, Keith Norris, and Daniel Chong; tomorrow the summit wraps up with Jimmy Moore, Stephanie Greunke, and Dean Dwyer.

To download the full set of videos, you can buy the Paleo Summit upgrade package:

[1] Music to read by: Davy Jones passed away at 66 from a heart attack:

He looked good 8 months ago, just overweight:

One more for the road:

[2] Interesting items:

Beth Mazur organized discussions at PaleoHacks for each of the Paleo Summit talks. Here is a list:

Jimmy Moore asks, “What’s With The Antagonism About Low-Carb From The Paleo Community Lately?”

Richard Nikoley‘s ideas have been sipping scotch in the back of his mind, and now that his safe starch experiment is going well, they’re ready to come out:

Four days in, and I’m averaging 300-400 calories below what I was averaging before. I feel more full on average, more satisfied, sleep WAY better, and have a mental go-for-it attitude I haven’t felt since I was on that high-fat diet, in caloric deficit and losing 60 pounds.

I’ve lost between 2 and 3 pounds since weighing in Saturday morning when this all began.

SCD Kat is giving up starches after contracting appendicitis. Get well soon, Kat!

J Stanton gives us the next big thing: the Australopithecine Paleo Diet.

Conner Whitney, cancer survivor, chef, and author of Zest for Life: The Mediterranean Anti-Cancer Diet, explains healthy ways to create processed meats, including home-made bacon.

Bruce Charlton reports that nerve function has degraded 35% since the 1880s. He thinks it’s due to genetic changes; I would put my money on dietary changes and the evolution of chronic infectious pathogens since the invention of plumbing and water treatment.

Fight Aging! notes a 1929 study in which rats lived 10% longer when some of their dietary wheat was replaced with milk. Elsewhere, Fight Aging! notes that HDAC inhibitors can reverse Alzheimer’s in a mouse model. This is interesting, because many foods contain HDAC inhibitors, and HDAC inhibitors are also effective against cancer, as I will blog about in my next cancer post.

We’re pleased to be featured in “Dan’s Report”.

Dan’s Plan reprints a post by JD Moyer that starts with the links between Toxoplasma infection and traffic accidents, and ends by saying you should drag your doctor into the modern era.

A Mongolian-trained Harvard doctor thinks modern milk has too much progesterone. Mongolian milk is much healthier.

Cate Shanahan thinks that the elevation of rT3 and decrease of T3 thyroid hormone sometimes seen on extreme low-carb diets is due to abrupt reduction in carb intake. I think it’s due to the body being unable to manufacture enough glucose to meet its needs.

Jack Kruse offered two posts: First, why you shouldn’t eat a banana if you find yourself in Calgary, Canada on Dec 31st. Second, why the death of a patient from cold taught him that we should expose ourselves to cold. Melissa McEwen thinks Jack’s posts deserve criticism. Melissa’s post has a vigorous comment thread that includes comments by me, Chris Kresser, Kurt Harris, Steve Parker, and others.

Walking the dog can be hazardous to your health.

The New York Times reports: postprandial blood glucose will be better regulated if you keep moving.

Stephan Guyenet reports that more palatable foods are less satiating.

More on food reward: The history of toothpaste shows that the Flavorists were already getting started in the early 1900s.

Paleo ideas are going mainstream: FoxNews has a slide show featuring nutritionist Carol Cottrill’s advice to avoid processed foods.

Dr Steve Parker reviews Mark Hyman’s book, which is #1 on Amazon.

Robert Su asks: what does it mean if you can hear your heartbeat?

Judy Tsafrir discusses the FODMAP diet.

Via Ruthie, cuddling dying pets can sometimes give the owner a life-threatening infection. A hospital in Akron, Ohio, saw three such cases in a year.

Jennifer Fulwiler remarks upon a photo series of New Yorkers eating dinner: “I was surprised by the number of people who ate alone and/or who watched TV or used the computer during dinner.” New York is a lonely place.

[3] Cute animals: Looking for ideas to treat the mange on your baby sloth?

Also, be careful in Calgary: Stabby’s Japanese cousin is visiting.

[4] Only in Japan: Japan is a special culture. Many tsunami survivors lost all their family photos in the flood, and Japanese photographer Nobuyuki Kobayashi, with the help of hair and makeup volunteers and a legion of grade school students, decided to make up the loss with professional portraits and letters of support from schoolchildren. Here’s a slideshow.

This is Katsuko Abe, age 71, with her dog Kaede, getting ready for her portrait:

[5] Giving up weight for Lent? In the same post I linked above, Jennifer Fulwiler shares some good news:

As I look for something to wear this weekend, I’m reminded that I am in the middle of the wardrobe crisis that I’ve been waiting to have for ten years: all my clothes are too big. I don’t mean a little loose; I mean I perpetually look like I’m headed out to an M.C. Hammer costume contest.

Over the past few months I’ve lost 25 pounds. That’s a good thing, mainly since the drop on the scale was more of a side effect of lifestyle changes that have left me with more stamina and energy than I had when I was 20….

It’s too long a story to explain in detail here, but the short-short version is that it was Perfect Health Diet + rethinking what a reasonable portion size looks like + accepting that spiritual warfare really does come into play with getting healthy + learning to depend on a good jog for an energy boost.

[6] More on pork: Via Dan Moffet, another reason to avoid undercooked pork:

[7] Not the weekly video: Via Chris Highcock, Jeb Corliss makes a spectacular base jump in a wingsuit:

This was in Switzerland. On 16 January 2012, Jeb suffered multiple leg fractures in a similar jump off Table Mountain, Cape Town, South Africa.

[8] Shou-Ching’s Photo-Art:

[9] Weekly video: The Dance of the Water Sleeves: