Category Archives: Good People - Page 3

Thoughts on Palm Sunday

Posted by Paul Jaminet on April 13, 2014 12 comments

Today is Palm Sunday, the day of Jesus’s entrance to Jerusalem, when crowds who thought he might lead a new Jewish kingdom strew palm fronds on his way, an honor fit for a king. It was the only day of Jesus’s life when he was honored and cheered.

None of those cheering followers were to be found a few days later, when the crowd demanded his death.

For Jesus it must have been a bittersweet moment. He must have known that the cheers of Palm Sunday were mere flattery.

The Palm Sunday liturgy does not emphasize the day itself; rather it looks ahead to the painful events of Thursday and Friday, to his betrayal with a kiss; his abandonment and denial by his followers including the “rock” of the church, St Peter; his humiliation and death.

After the false pleasure of Palm Sunday, beyond the pain and desolation of Good Friday, comes the day of true joy: Easter, resurrection and new life. Joy, ultimately, is certain to triumph over pain. But, we mustn’t hasten too quickly to Easter. For there is a time for joy and a time for grief; and first we must grieve.

If life’s nature is bittersweet, it is inevitable that our own lives will recapitulate those ups and downs. Let me share some of my own recent up and down moments, bitter and sweet.

Shou-Ching is in Australia at the moment, spending a few weeks with her godparents, who are in failing health. As their health declined, they found it difficult to cook, and their diet for some time now has consisted largely of packaged foods and pre-prepared dumplings. It is difficult to know how to help them; they have pain, disability, and cognitive decline; and Shou-Ching’s godmother, in particular, may have little time left. “Old age shouldn’t be this hard,” Shou-Ching wrote me. Yet, it is a blessing for Shou-Ching to be able to share time with them, and do them a bit of good.

Kirk MacLeod, a PHDer whom many of you learned about in this blog post, passed away last week from metastatic colon cancer at the age of 42. He was a kind, strong-spirited, courageous man. His cancer was already advanced four years ago when it caused his colon to rupture; yet he was able to make an 11 mile swim for charity last August, from New Brunswick to Prince Edward Island across the Northumberland Strait. The swim benefited Brigadoon Children’s Camp, a charity for children that meant a lot to Kirk. His family has set up a memorial page and suggests donations to Camp Brigadoon as the best way to honor Kirk.

Ironically, Shou-Ching is in the midst of developing an anti-cancer drug that probably would have saved Kirk. Unfortunately, under the laws of the land it can at present be used only to rescue laboratory rodents. Perhaps in ten years, it will pass the regulatory hurdles for use in humans.

Last week brought mingled pleasure and pain to me as a sports fan. I grew up near the University of Connecticut and have rooted for its sports teams since childhood. On Monday the men’s basketball team won the national championship, and on Tuesday the women’s team followed suit. The men’s team has now won 4 of the last 16 championships and the women’s team 9 of the last 20 (and 8 of the last 15).

This year’s men’s team was an unexpected champion. They were not the most talented team in the field, but they were the gutsiest. Their defense became spectacularly good in the tournament; no matter who was on the court, all five defenders synchronized their movements and seemed to be always in perfect position. They held powerful opponents to 54 points or less in the last three games.

Their excellence was no accident, but the fruit of two years of dedicated, gritty effort. Suffering came before the joy, and made the joy possible. I like this highlight video because it shows the fruits of virtue rewarded. Watch the post-championship dancing:

A subplot of the tourney was the story of Lacey Holsworth – ‘Princess Lacey’ – an 8 year old who died of cancer last week. Here’s an ABC News segment about her connection to the Michigan State Spartans:

And here is MSU coach Tom Izzo talking about Lacey at a vigil on the Michigan State campus:

These cancer deaths are painful. Yet why do we mourn them so? A dinner party is a good thing, Santayana noted, though it comes to an end; so too is life something to celebrate, be it ever so short. Death can never diminish life’s worth, nor triumph over joy.

One positive to sickness: it helps us appreciate good health. We regularly receive reader success stories, and they are always a source of joy. From last week:

In two weeks on our diet, Primal Psychologist reported improvements to Raynaud’s and hypothyroidism, and hints of relief from amenorrhea.
Andy Grove writes in an Amazon review: “I have been following this diet as closely as possible for 4-5 months and have lost close to 25 lbs in weight and improved my health considerably. I have been relying on daily medication for asthma since childhood (I am now in my 40s). My asthma did not improve immediately on this diet – it took several months, but I have not had any asthma at all in just over 3 weeks now. This is an incredible change for me.”
Healthy Amelia, who will be at the May Perfect Health Retreat, writes: “My appetite is WAY down and my sugar cravings have diminished a lot. I feel almost incapable of overeating. When I’ve had enough, I have to stop right in my tracks with a feeling of not being able to take even one more bite. I can’t eat even half what I used to for dinner. Very interesting.”
Paula, who had been on Primal for three and a half years, reports: “Tomorrow will mark the end of my second month on the PHD. I have lost about 10 lbs and hit a new low weight…. Benefits so far: Weightloss in spite of binges. Stable mood. Stronger in the gym. Better sleep. Better response to carbs. Decreased PMS. Better sex life.”

From the week before that:

In the midst of a longer philosophical treatise, Euthyphro wrote: “After adopting, four years ago, the Perfect Health Diet, I have not once gotten the common cold or anything else. The anatomical structures of my body have become increasingly robust, especially after the inclusion of pogo jumping.”
Angela Jane Hampton wrote: “From someone who had vitamin deficiencies, severe neutropenia, next to no weight to lose, multiple food intolerances and chronic fatigue and no idea how to get out of my hole. I thank u. For writing this book, it’s (sorry about being cliche) changed my life. 7 years since I could say I feel well, great even! Thank u!”
Mark Barnes-Williams wrote: “I’ve lost 14 lbs in 4weeks and my energy levels have improved, the recipes are tasty and would recommend this way of eating for life.”
Another reader emailed: “I have followed the Perfect Health Diet with great success and am an avid cyclist … When I switched over to the PHD I never really missed a beat on the bike and my IBS symptoms went away. In fact both my peak performance and endurance have increased.”

As always, we’re grateful for every reader who reports results, especially in Amazon reviews.

I have one last pleasure to report. A few days ago my friend Jennifer Fulwiler sent a copy of her new book, Something Other Than God:

Jennifer is at once hilarious and thoughtful. This is her conversion story. I’ve read about a quarter of it so far, and though it is not as funny as her Christmas letters – but what is? – it is deeper and equally entertaining. Highly recommended.

In conclusion: A blessed Holy Week to you, dear reader. Our lives mingle pleasure and pain, suffering and sorrow. Life is brief, and we all witness the loss of loved ones. As Henry James said, it is worse than that: Evil is insolent and strong; beauty enchanting but rare; goodness apt to be weak, folly stubborn; wickedness to carry the day; the corrupt to be in great places, the good in small. Yet for all that, life gives plentiful ground for joy. May you find it and treasure it.

Congratulations, Russ Crandall!

Posted by Paul Jaminet on October 10, 2013 10 comments

I’m pleased to congratulate Russ Crandall, proprietor of The Domestic Man, on his forthcoming cookbook:

Russ’s cookbook is now available for pre-order on Amazon (see The Ancestral Table: Traditional Recipes for a Paleo Lifestyle), and will ship February 11, 2014.

As Russ says in his announcement, The Ancestral Table is the first Perfect Health Diet cookbook.

I was honored to write the Foreword. Russ is a master of world cuisines with superb taste, his recipes are delicious and easy to follow, and his photography is mouth-watering. We spoke together on food and health at the Ancestral Health Symposium in August, and it was a delight to continue our collaboration in a small way by contributing the Forward.

Russ, congratulations! May your cookbook bring joy to many. And to all of our readers, I encourage you to cook from it; for, as I say in the Foreword, Good health comes from an Ancestral Table!

PaleoFX

Posted by Paul Jaminet 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.