Primal Blueprint Podcast

For anyone who’s experienced it, the frustration can be miserable. The countless tossing and turning, the minutes that tick by (turning into hours), and you STILL haven’t gotten a modicum of decent sleep. No matter how hard you try to ignore it, that urge to constantly move or stretch your legs just won’t let up. (This Mark's Daily Apple article was written by Mark Sisson, and is narrated by Tina Leaman)    

Valter Longo is a leading fasting researcher. Since the early 2000s, he’s been one of the top guys running legitimate fasting studies in cancer patients, regular people, and, of course, rodents. He’s gotten great results, elucidating the idea that fasting causes human cells and tissues to enter “survival mode” which allowed them to survive the withering effects of cancer treatment. I’ve cited many of his studies in previous posts. (This Mark's Daily Apple article was written by Mark Sisson, and is narrated by Tina Leaman)

Host Brad Kearns, leverages the previous show, by acknowledging that we don’t want to be orthorexic and uptight about dietary patterns and biofeedback numbers, but we also don’t want to exhibit a loosey-goosey, “Hey, everything in moderation” attitude where we make an excuse or rationalization for our frequent departures from ideal dietary and lifestyle patterns and from our stated goals. Living in a manner incongruent with your stated goals is a source of massive pain to the human psyche. For keto to work, you have to be methodical in your approach, patient with your progress, and precise at times when it comes to macronutrient intake and awareness of where you stand on the stated keto guidelines. However, it’s very possible to cultivate a precise approach without being uptight. This show will give you some good pointers to chill and succeed while you’re at it!  

There are many reasons to be thankful for the cushy existence modernity affords us. War and other extenuating circumstances aside, you probably don’t fear for your life on a daily basis. You have clean water to drink. Food is widely available, and it’s affordable. You survived infancy, childhood, and adolescence, which is quite special on a historical scale. (This Mark's Daily Apple article was written by Mark Sisson, and is narrated by Tina Leaman)

Elle Russ chats with Ken Berry MD, author of Lies My Doctor Told Me about the health benefits of the ketogenic diet and intermittent fasting  Dr. Berry has been practicing Family Medicine in rural Tennessee for over a decade.  He is board certified in Family Medicine and was recently awarded the degree of Fellow by the American Academy of Family Physicians. Having seen over 20,000 patients of all ages over his career, he is uniquely qualified to advise on both acute and chronic diseases. Dr. Berry has focused on chronic disease caused by the Standard American Diet and Lifestyle and has made it his mission to turn the tide on the epidemic of Type 2 Diabetes, chronic inflammation and dementia.  Dr. Berry has a variety of free YouTube videos on various topics.

Last month, you asked a ton of great questions in the comment section of my post on reclaiming your wildness and being less civilized, covering everything from rock climbing to role playing games, grappling to kung fu, walking meditation to grounding. For today’s post, I’m answering as many of them as I can. Let’s get right to the questions. (This Mark's Daily Apple article was written by Mark Sisson, and is narrated by Tina Leaman)

Ah, chocolate. What a life. According to the Aztecs, the great feathered serpent god of wisdom and creation known as Quetzalcoatl introduced the cocoa bean to mankind. It’s likelier that it originated in the Amazon rainforest and wound its way north to Mesoamerica, whose inhabitants figured out they could domesticate, ferment, roast, crush, and mix cocoa with water, chilies, and spices to produce a bitter, intoxicating drink. It then took a boat across the Atlantic, learning Spanish along the way. Europe wasn’t sure what to make of the bitterness until someone spilled a little sugar into the drink. Cocoa quickly swept across the continent, giving rise to large corporations that persist to this day, like Cadbury, Nestle, Hershey, and Lindt. (This Mark's Daily Apple article was written by Mark Sisson, and is narrated by Tina Leaman)

Yes, there is such a thing as an overly analytical approach to keto and health and fitness goals in general, where you compromise your intuitive abilities and obsess too much on the details. The massive amount of information we are exposed to on a daily basis and can obtain with a few clicks can result in the disease of TMI—too much information! Host Brad Kearns talks about how to avoid the traps of an overly obsessive, overly analytical approach, instead focusing on the big picture items. For example, if you are precise about macronutrient intake guidelines but are skimping on sleep, you don’t pass Go nor collect $200. Instead, cultivate an intuitive approach and trust yourself as the world’s #1 expert on your own diet, fitness and lifestyle practices. Learn from experience and recalibrate without feeling too stressed or like you failed in a quest for perfection.

Elle Russ chats with Vanessa & Adam Lambert of Bee The Wellness - an innovative personal coaching company based in California. This couple has been living and working in the Paleo/Primal world for nearly 10 years now, helping to educate and empower clients on their personal journeys to optimal health. they have amazing and and some exotic bee the wellness retreats, and a lot of ways to support you on your health journey. welcome back...or...welcome home. Selected Links: Bee The Wellness Website Bee - Fest 2018 Connect with Show Host Elle Russ: Twitter Instagram Facebook The Paleo Thyroid Solution ElleRuss.com    

Readers, especially those new to Primal eating, frequently request quick and easy ideas for ancestral cooking. While new recipes may be inspiring, sometimes expanding your kitchen repertoire doesn’t require whole new meals—but new flavors you can infuse into multiple recipes you’ve already mastered. More than just another ingredient to extend the cooking process, herbs and spices are quick, inexpensive additions that can literally transform just about any Primal meal. Parsley and cinnamon need no introduction, but how well acquainted are you with sumac and fenugreek? When was the last time you added lemon balm or Mexican oregano to a recipe? (This Mark's Daily Apple article was written by Mark Sisson, and is narrated by Tina Leaman)

If you think of Type 2 diabetes as carbohydrate intolerance, the natural dietary response should be to restrict the offending dietary component. And when this occurs—when diabetic patients restrict carbs—their symptoms improve, often to a greater degree than diabetic patients on other diets. Keto restricts more carbs than even other low-carb diets, so on the face of things, keto seems great for diabetes.  Let’s take a closer look. (This Mark's Daily Apple article was written by Mark Sisson, and is narrated by Tina Leaman)

Co-hosts Brad Kearns and Dr. Lindsay Taylor welcome Dr. Cate Shanahan back for a second show where Cate discusses blood testing, fasting, meal timing, and how variation in meal patterns affects metabolic function. Cate proposes the compelling premise that “meal timing” is so important that it can be considered the “fourth macronutrient.” As you can read in the Keto Reset Diet, Cate’s view on carbohydrates is that when consumed in and around strenuous workouts, they will go right into the “open glycogen suitcases” and not disturb your fat loss or keto goals. Listen carefully at regular speed and get tons of juicy tidbits and “wow’s!” from Cate. Learn about the give and take between fasting/calorie restriction/autophagy and the anabolic effects of getting ample calories and nutrients. Learn about how to break through weight loss plateaus with anabolic periods (listen “Brad’s Experiment” show for more details)

Host Brad Kearns welcomes Kale Brock from a natural setting in Australia, amidst the noisy cicada beetles chirping in the background. Kale is on an awesome global adventure to discover the secrets of the gut microbiome, and has just released his wildly popular Australian book to the USA market, The Gut Healing Protocol: An 8-week holistic program to rebalance your microbiome. Kale offered up some memorable insights and quotes in this lively discussion, such as: "You can't make informed decisions until you're informed." Kale's quest to understand the important role of the gut microbiome in all aspects of health took him to Namibia to film a documentary called, The Gut Movie, which has been playing to sold out audiences throughout Australia. In this show, they discuss the miraculous results of FMT treatments (aka poop transplants). Kale talks about how most everyone has an imbalanced microbiome caused by antibiotic use (at any point in your life!), or obtaining antibiotics in food (eat organic animal products!)

Civilization has given us great gifts. Infectious diseases rarely kill us anymore. We have hot running water that’s safe to drink (usually). We can go down to the market and buy a thousand different foods. Things are, for the most part, safe and comfortable. Of course, many of the benefits of civilization have been solutions to problems it introduced. That we rarely die from infectious disease is significant because the high population densities of early civilizations created such high infectious disease burdens; nomadic hunter gatherers didn’t have that issue. But there are benefits. (This Mark's Daily Apple article was written by Mark Sisson, and is narrated by Tina Leaman)

Co-hosts Brad Kearns and Dr. Lindsay Taylor welcome Dr. Cate Shanahan for a long-awaited grilling on assorted matters of keto that are often misunderstood and disputed. As always, Dr. Cate sets listeners straight with her crisp explanations and reasoning. Some of the topics discussed including the debate about the role of dietary fat in keto efforts (high fat intake does NOT drive keto; it’s low carb/limited insulin). Cate drops the whopper insight that in a fully fed state, the liver will not produce ketones, it will just convert extra fat calories into cholesterol. Folks, this is BIG NEWS because it shatters one of the big misconceptions that keto is about stuffing your face with fat or chugging down high-fat coffee in the name of keto. If you want to get a clear and comprehensive education on keto, you can’t miss this show! Other topics covered include the difference between burning fat and ketones, whether the numbers do or don’t matter, and much more from this lively roundtable with Cate, Lindsay, and Br

Good cooking is art and science. You’re measuring, you’re tasting, you’re following recipes, you’re following intuition. You’re adding a dash of this, a level teaspoon of that. It’s clinical and sensual at once. For this kind of good cooking to occur, pleasurable cooking, the kitchen needs to disappear. It must get out of the way and become an extension of your body. You shouldn’t have to think about what to use or where to grab it; you just know it. A messy, disjointed lab or workspace is hell. (This Mark's Daily Apple article was written by Mark Sisson, and is narrated by Tina Leaman)

Elle Russ chats with Ginny Gane -  bestselling author of The Champion Mindset and an adventurous, fun Law of Attraction expert for people who crave more out of life and are ready to realize their full potential. Ginny teaches LOA skills and guides you towards purposefully creating a life you are wildly in love with. Through her fun and easy courses, ebooks, and personal coaching, she reminds you of your incredible personal power. Learn the skills that will ultimately empower you to take control of your experience and truly uncover and be all that you want to be.  When she’s not playing with LOA, you can find her indulging in sunshiny outdoor adventures, fun fitness exercise and practicing singing...along to the radio. Ginny is also the co-host of the popular Manifest It Now podcast.

Yesterday, I explained my rationale for supplementation in a Primal lifestyle. Today, I’m going to get a bit more specific and discuss the role of supplementation on a keto diet. As a diet founded upon the restriction of an entire class of macronutrients, keto seems like the perfect candidate for stringent supplement requirements. And if you go around the web asking other people, you’ll find plenty of opinions, lists, and recommendations for this or that supplement that you absolutely must take or face certain death and disfigurement. I disagree. Done well, keto needs no overt supplementation. That said, some supplements can be useful. (This Mark's Daily Apple article was written by Mark Sisson, and is narrated by Tina Leaman)  

The main objective of following the Primal Blueprint is to extract the healthiest, happiest, longest and most productive life possible from our bodies – and to look and feel good in the process. (This Mark's Daily Apple article was written by Mark Sisson, and is narrated by Tina Leaman)

Host Brad Kearns welcomes Dr. Tommy of NourishBalanceThrive.com back to the show to talk all manner of diet, health and peak performance details. The show gets off to a surprising start, verging away from health practicalities to talk about the importance of mindset. Dr. Tommy reports that many of his health clients must reflect upon how mindset affects their results. We must ask ourselves why we set tangible, measurable goals, and if they will really lead to happiness. We must be wary of the orthorexic approach to diet, where stress levels increase and counteract the benefits of healthy food. Dr. Tommy notes that particularly with aging, one's mindset is highly predictive of longevity. Studies show that those with a positive perception of aging live longer.   The conversation then turns to Tommy's expertise area in health and peak performance nutritional protocols. The duo discuss the provocative question of whether there are disparate decision making sequences for those with good blood and optimal body fat