Primal Blueprint Podcast

As I discussed last month, depression is the yin to anxiety’s yang. Between these two troublemakers, they’ve got dark clouds hanging over both the past and the future, making the present moment complicated at best (and for some people unbearable). Taken as a human composite, it’s an unfortunate trade-off for being cognitively complex. As individuals, however, we naturally just want a solution. The problem is, there’s just so many confounding factors surrounding depression that it’s hard to know where to start. Your mind is an infinitely complex latticework of moving parts; one which continues to baffle and divide the scientific community. How does a practitioner prescribe suitable treatments for a problem they don’t fully comprehend? And, yet, medical science often (and perhaps inevitably) works with incomplete information. (This Mark's Daily Apple article was written by Mark Sisson, and is narrated by Tina Leaman)

At the onset of our annual 21-Day Challenge this past January, I offered up a post that proposed thinking small—“41 Primal Action Items and Individual Experiments for Success in 2017.” The idea here wasn’t shrinking our scope to the exclusion of big visioning, but homing in on the day to day aims we can set for ourselves that make the big changes happen. (This Mark's Daily Apple article was written by Mark Sisson, and is narrated by Tina Leaman)

Elle Russ chats with Genevieve Howland, author of The Mama Natural: Week to Week Guide to Pregnancy & Childbirth - the modern (and yet ancient) approach to pregnancy and childbirth. “Natural” recognizes that pregnancy and birth are normal, and that having a baby is a wondrous biological process and rite of passage—not a medical condition.
 Full of weekly advice and tips, Howland covers vital pregnancy nutrition, natural remedies for common concerns, as well as the appropriate (and inappropriate) use of medical interventions. Peppered throughout are positive birth and pregnancy stories from women of all backgrounds (and all stages of their natural journey) along with advice and insights from a Certified Nurse Midwife (CNM) plus a Registered Nurse (RN), doula, and lactation consultant. With over sixty million views on her YouTube channel, Genevieve Howland’s funny but informational videos have empowered millions of women to embrace natural pregnancy and parenting.

With Memorial Day come and gone, we’re rounding the corner to summer. Even in the northern-most regions of the country, farmers markets are back (if they ever closed where you live). Ten years ago when I started MDA, they were still a rarity in most parts of the country, but times have changed. Farmers markets aren’t just about local, seasonal produce. Sure, that’s a great reason to show up every week, but I’d argue also for some of the less noted (in some cases even less tangible) benefits of hitting these markets. (This Mark's Daily Apple article was written by Mark Sisson, and is narrated by Tina Leaman)

Serotonin is a major regulator of mood and depression risk. These are important, vital roles, to be sure. Your mood describes how you experience and interpret the world. If it’s consistently bad, you’regoing to have a rough time. Yet, serotonin is much more than the “feel-good hormone.” It also influences sexual desire and helps us remember. It’s the precursor to melatonin, the neurotransmitter that allows us to sleep. (This Mark's Daily Apple article was written by Mark Sisson, and is narrated by Tina Leaman)

Mark Sisson chats with Sarah Ballantyne, Ph.D. about her newest book Paleo Principles.  Sarah is the creator of the award-winning online resource ThePaleoMom.com, cohost of the syndicated top-rated The Paleo View Podcast; New York Times bestselling author of The Paleo Approach, The Paleo Approach Cookbook and The Healing Kitchen, and creator of the online program Go To Bed. Sarah earned her doctorate degree in medical biophysics at the age of 26 and spent the next four years doing research on critical care medicine, innate immunity, gene therapy and cell biology, earning a variety of awards for research excellence along the way.   Sarah’s transition from academic researcher to stay-at-home mom to award-winning and internationally-recognized health advocate and educator was driven by her own health journey, which included losing 120 pounds and using both diet and lifestyle to mitigate and reverse a dozen diagnosed health conditions. As a scientist both by training and by nature, Sarah is deeply interested in

While I don’t recommend making Primalized versions of grain-based foods a staple, the fact remains that people love them. They’re going to want them. There’s not much you can do about that. And if we want to incorporate pancakes, muffins, cookies, and other flour-based items into our diets without ruining everything we’ve worked toward, we need the healthiest, most Primal flours. The alternative flour market has exploded in recent years. A decade ago, you had gritty almond flour and fibrous coconut flour, and that was about it. Today, there are many more flours to sift through. But what are the best ones? Which ones fit best into a Primal way of eating, and why? (This Mark's Daily Apple article was written by Mark Sisson, and is narrated by Tina Leaman)

In response to my post on oral health a few weeks ago, one reader offered a comment about the oral biome, and it’s a worthy follow-up, I’d say. The human oral cavity is home to hundreds of microorganisms. Latest estimates place the number of bacterial species in your mouth at close to 700, with the odd fungus, protozoa and even virus thrown in for good measure. This oral microbiome isn’t a whole lot different than that of our gut, but where things get interesting is when we consider the diverse range of habitats within the mouth: teeth, tongue, cheeks, gums, tonsils. All provide different living conditions for those microorganisms that colonize them, but that diversity of habitats also encourages a diversity of species. (This Mark's Daily Apple article was written by Mark Sisson, and is narrated by Tina Leaman)

Wheat gets a bad rap in the alternative health sphere, receiving blame from all sides. Today, I’m here to provide the other side. Today, I’m going to give you seven solid reasons to love wheat, ranging from its effects on the environment, its role in the foundation of the American republic, its effect on gut bacteria and your health, its ability to stamp out hatred, its protective role in the lives of Bronze Age Chinese women, and its status as an enduring symbol of human rights and prosperity. (This Mark's Daily Apple article was written by Mark Sisson, and is narrated by Tina Leaman)

Elle Russ chats about living an expanded life with Adam & Vanessa Lambert - both exceptional paleo health and lifestyle coaches who make a uniquely formidable team. Adam’s knowledge is rooted in research, and he approaches wellness largely from a scientific perspective. Vanessa is more of an experiential learner who relies on intuition and feeling in her coaching practice. Together, these pros have all the bases of the wellness picture covered—which is why they appeal to such a broad and diverse spectrum of clients. Through Bee The Wellness and its diversity of programs and offerings, Adam and Vanessa leverage their incredible wealth of knowledge to help clients make real, manageable changes that are sustainable for life. They are known for their non-judgmental point of view, caring nature, passion, and commitment to helping people achieve their own personal formula for success. These traits are what truly make them a one-of-a-kind wellness team.  Use the code "primal" to receive a 10% discount on the Bee

As much as humans think they’re objective beings whose every decision emerges from cold logical calculation, we’re just irrational, emotional animals. That’s why stories and anecdotes are more convincing than facts, why people fear losing money twice as much as they enjoy making it, and why the guy making $100k per year feels poor if his neighbors make twice that. This kind of phenomenon is best explained by behavioral economics, a method of economic inquiry that uses psychological, emotional, cognitive, and social factors to explain why we make the often-irrational financial choices we do. And it has some interesting applications for health… (This Mark's Daily Apple article was written by Mark Sisson, and is narrated by Tina Leaman)

The paleo diet and Primal Blueprint way of eating (a.k.a. Primal) are both based on similar evolutionary science. The story goes something like this. Our modern Western diet bears little resemblance to the eating habits of early humans throughout several 100,000 years of evolutionary history. Instead, since the Agricultural Revolution some mere 10,000 years ago, we’ve adopted a nutritional regime to which our physiology is poorly adapted. When the basics of our diet return to the patterns of our pre-agricultural ancestors, we work with, instead of against, our physiology. More simply: eat as our ancestors ate, and we’ll be healthier for it.   (This Mark's Daily Apple article was written by Mark Sisson, and is narrated by Tina Leaman)

Elle Russ chats with Devyn Sisson about her new book Kitchen Intuition. Devyn Sisson is an author, artist, culinary enthusiast and restaurateur involved in the launch of the Primal Kitchen fast-casual restaurant chain. After graduating from the The New School in New York City with a degree in Psychology, she started to express her creativity with a deep immersion into the study of nutrition with the Institute for Integrative Nutrition and self-improvement through the Spiritual Psychology program at The University of Santa Monica. She lives in Southern California where she is kind of successfully training her new dog, Ninja.

It almost goes without saying: Stress is at an all-time high. Not the kind of major traumatic stress we see elsewhere, sure. At least in the Western world, there aren’t any horrific sectarian conflicts scouring the landscape and generations to come. Our infrastructure is built to withstand most natural disasters. Our world is safe and predictable and sterile. But we’re stressed out just the same, afflicted with the kind of pernicious, low-level, unending stress that drives people into substance abuse, that promotes depression and suicide and broken relationships. The type that never quits. The kind you just want to drown out with Netflix and Facebook and anything at all to take your mind off the churning within. (This Mark's Daily Apple article was written by Mark Sisson, and is narrated by Tina Leaman)

With conventional wisdom’s take on oral care, we’re left with a pretty superficial understanding of oral health. What if, for instance, cavities imply more than bad brushing habits? What if we changed the entire template from one focused on cosmetic and sensory criteria to an understanding founded on whole health principles? Answer: we’d be much closer to the truth.   (This Mark's Daily Apple article was written by Mark Sisson, and is narrated by Tina Leaman)

I’m of two minds when it comes to blood testing. For myself, I’m not a huge fan of obsessive, frequent testing and optimization. I have a good idea about how to optimize my health through the actions I take and the foods I eat, and by monitoring how I’m feeling, looking, and performing in response. It’s worked well for me. Whenever I do get a checkup or have blood drawn, my numbers are great. But many people are the opposite. They like to quantify what’s happening under the hood. That’s great, and often necessary. The problem is that there are big problems with many of the most common blood tests. (This Mark's Daily Apple article was written by Mark Sisson, and is narrated by Tina Leaman)

Description:  Elle Russ chats with Dr. Foresman about all things vaccines - the controversies, the dangers, and the benefits.  Dr. Foresman opened a private practice, he quickly became dissatisfied with the inability of established Western medical treatments to effectively treat many of his patients—many of which suffered from thyroid disorders. Determined to help his patients, he began investigating alternative therapies and has since expanded his training in many systems of healing—not just through Ayurveda, meditation, and stress management, but also using botanical, orthomolecular and functional medicine systems. His precise, scientific mind, combined with a holistic integrative perspective, makes him not only an exceptional diagnostician, but also a skilled practitioner who can therapeutically synthesize optimal healing modalities for each individual. In-depth commentary on thyroid issues by Dr. Gary Foresman can be found in The Paleo Thyroid Solution written by Elle Russ.

  It’s no secret that it’s one of my favorite subjects—the burgeoning field of human gastrointestinal microbiology. I know…it’s easy to get caught up in the comparative excitement of it all. The microbiota is familiar territory to most Primal types, but with time and research, we come to understand the nuances of the terrain a little better. New terms pop up. Novel discoveries grab our attention. Promising connections become apparent. It feels like a good day to go over a bit of the latest—to provide a little refresher for those who’ve joined us recently and most of all to offer some additional perspective on what we’re learning as studies branch into new depths.  (This Mark's Daily Apple article was written by Mark Sisson, and is narrated by Tina Leaman)

Every former competitive athlete's worst nightmare is that moment when you lose to a younger person doing the sport you love. When the cocoon of invincibility and superiority you've erected around yourself comes crashing down and a piece of your self-identity shatters. It can truly feel like the end. (This Mark's Daily Apple article was written by Mark Sisson, and is narrated by Tina Leaman)

I’ve written about extending your life by slowing down the apparent passage of time. I’ve written about some interesting predictors—but not necessarily causes—of longevity, and the common characteristics of centenarians. Today, I’m going to describe several unconventional causal means of extending your life. I’m talking about cold, hard days, weeks, and months. Ticks on a clock. Objective measurements of time. Not just the perception of time, although that matters too. (This Mark's Daily Apple article was written by Mark Sisson, and is narrated by Tina Leaman)