Primal Blueprint Podcast

Though few people reading this consider insects anything but a novelty, for many human cultures they were (and are) staple foods. Humans have been eating insects for millions of years, starting with our distant ancestors and continuing through the present day. (This Mark's Daily Apple article was written by Mark Sisson, and is narrated by Tina Leaman)

All of us are at various points in life subject to pain, loss and suffering. Whether we contend with something as severe as trauma or something difficult but normal like grief, anxiety or resentment, how do unresolved emotions linger within our physiology or even particular locations or functions within it? How might these feelings that we retain act as a wild card in our overall health? Finally, in keeping with this possibility, does “moving through” emotional suffering oblige us to move bodily toward healing? (This Mark's Daily Apple article was written by Mark Sisson, and is narrated by Tina Leaman)

You’re reading a blog about nutrition. You’re clicking links to scientific studies and abstracts. You’re in deep. You obviously care about the quality of the food you eat and the effect it has on your health. But you also know that perfect is a myth. We can’t achieve it, and if we think we can and spend all our time obsessing over perfection, we usually subvert our own goals. Perfection becomes the enemy. But better is always within reach, and today I’m going to give you a few ways to improve your nutrient intake and make your food healthier and safer. Who’s in? (This Mark's Daily Apple article was written by Mark Sisson, and is narrated by Tina Leaman)

Aaron has been working with clients of all ages seeking a variety of goals from pain relief to improved athletic performance for over 10 years. He is currently seeing clients at his office, Align Therapy, in downtown Bend, Oregon. Aaron began the journey as a nationally certified personal trainer specializing in corrective exercise and nutrition consultation. During that time Aaron studied psychology at the University of Hawaii. Soon after, he evolved into becoming a licensed manual therapist studying myofascial release, neuromuscular therapy and trigger point therapy at Maui School of Therapeutic Massage. A fascination with connective tissue lead him to study structural integration at the Rolf Institute in Boulder, CO. Being a LMT and CPT on top of a Rolf Structural Integration Practitioner, Aaron has a strong understanding of the intricacies of the body and mind.

You all know about intestinal permeability, or “leaky gut.” The job of the gut lining is to be selectively permeable, allowing helpful things passage into the body and preventing harmful things from getting in. Nutrients get through, toxins and pathogens do not. Leaky gut describes the failure of this vetting process. But what about “leaky brain”? (This Mark's Daily Apple article was written by Mark Sisson, and is narrated by Tina Leaman)

For hundreds of years, the localizationism theory of the brain reigned: the idea that the adult brain is composed of distinct regions, each responsible for a separate function. Most people still hew to this, assuming that vision goes here, memories there (with separate sections for short and long term memories), smell here, verbal fluency over here and quantitative processing over there. We assume the number of neurons is fixed and their wiring soldered. But the emerging science of neuroplasticity shows how wrong this is: rather than fixed and immutable, the neural connections between different “regions” of the brain can reorganize themselves. (This Mark's Daily Apple article was written by Mark Sisson, and is narrated by Tina Leaman)

Elle Russ chats with integrative physician, Dr. Gary E. Foresman, MD, about breast health (this episode will be Breast Health, Part I, focusing on general breast health. Breast Health, Part II will delve deeper into diagnosis and treatment). Dr. Foresman is not only a Primal doctor well-versed in all things paleo/primal, but an informed integrative physician whom Elle chose to interview for her book, The Paleo Thyroid Solution. When 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

Over the past several years, I’ve noticed a subtle shift in the way the media discusses dietary protein, with many experts promoting lower intakes. The push for lower intakes hasn’t only come from the mainstream crowing about red meat and colon cancer. Many voices from the alternative health communities are urging a reduction in protein. Even the ancestral health community counts among its ranks protein skeptics. Am I one? I’m not sure. In past posts, I’ve discussed how my own tastes have changed, going from eating high protein to more moderate amounts. Today I’m addressing the standard arguments levied against high protein intakes. Hopefully, we can get to the bottom of the issue. (This Mark's Daily Apple article was written by Mark Sisson, and is narrated by Tina Leaman)

Particularly when you’re a parent, October can be a transitional month. I remember feeling like we’d just gotten the kids settled in school and suddenly we were knee deep in extracurricular activities, class projects, parent-teacher conferences—and the holidays. On my more exhausted days, I felt like we were navigating a two-month bender of parties and concerts, costumes and events. On the one hand, it was fun to see the kids’ excitement. It made for good memories, but it also exacted an extended toll. When every week is “special,” it’s wearing. These days life is simpler on the family front, but every once in a while I’ll remember those more frenetic patches. It’s easy to be nostalgic on the other side of the dogged years, but I haven’t forgotten the harder truth of parenting. Sometimes it’s a slog through overwhelm, and research reflects that much. But does it need to be as heavy as we often make it? (This Mark's Daily Apple article was written by Mark Sisson, and is narrated by Tina Leaman)

I’ve mentioned the concept of the minimum effective dose before, or the smallest dose that provides the desired outcome or effect. This applies to exercise, to sunlight, to carb intake, and to calories in general. It is this caloric efficiency that describes my goal for the last dozen years: How little can I eat and retain or build mass, have optimal energy, never get sick and still NOT GO HUNGRY? (This Mark's Daily Apple article was written by Mark Sisson, and is narrated by Tina Leaman)  

Elle Russ chats with Allan Misner about fitness for people over 40.  Allan is the host of the 40PlusFitness podcast. He spent his adult years focused on his career and as a result, his relationships and health suffered. Upon meeting the love of his life, he committed to turn his health and fitness around. His efforts to learn health and fitness resulted in him earning a personal training certificate and specialties in corrective exercise and fitness nutrition.  He adopted the primal lifestyle and recovered his health. He dedicated himself to helping people over forty get healthy and fit. He launched the 40+ Fitness Podcast to encourage, educate and entertain people as they move along their health and fitness journey. He is also the founder and head trainer at Forever Fitness, providing online personal training and wellness coaching.

For over a dozen years, I’ve railed against what I call “chronic cardio“—the excessive, unrelenting endurance training I did for the better part of three decades. Most of my health issues cleared up when I stopped stopped running and training for marathons and triathlons, removed the refined grains and sugar I ate to support my endurance training, and began taking it easy. Explore the MDA archives and you’ll read all about the downsides of chronic endurance training, as well as my experiences in that world. Next to Primal living, most people probably know me best for being against “chronic cardio.” It’s kinda my thing. As a result, a lot of people have this idea that any type of endurance training is verboten and totally antithetical to the Primal way of life. That’s a misconception, albeit an understandable one. But it’s persistent. I have been outspoken against chronic cardio. I’ve also released a book called Primal Endurance. How do I square my distaste for chronic cardio with the fact that I wrote an e

A little bird told me the other day that it might not be a bad time to talk about the impact of emotions on our health—particularly our choice to express or not express them. I’ve heard people around me share that they’re worn out lately—that emotions have imposed a toll regardless of how well they keep their own in check. It got me thinking. Increasingly, researchers uncover the remarkable imbrication of mental and physical well-being. How we nourish or neglect our physical selves affects how we feel psychologically. Likewise, the emotional terrain we traverse throughout a day, in turn, elicits its own physiological feedback. Yet in this culture, there’s a certain esteem for the stiff upper lip. We restrain ourselves for the sake of others—our perception of their comfort and/or of their opinion of us. But are we sacrificing something in doing so? When does the polite instinct to suppress our emotions benefit us, and when does it backfire? (This Mark's Daily Apple article was written by Mark Sisson, and is n

Many years ago (I initially wrote that in jest, but it has been almost seven years), I wrote a definitive guide to oils, covering the benefits and drawbacks of over a dozen of the most common edible oils. Seven years is plenty of time for new data to come out, new perspectives to develop, and even new oils to hit the market. How would I go back and update my previous recommendations? (This Mark's Daily Apple article was written by Mark Sisson, and is narrated by Tina Leaman)

Elle Russ chats with a former vegetarian/vegan who became a Marks Daily Apple's success story - Elizabeth Resnick. Elizabeth is a holistic health coach (and currently enrolled in the Primal Health Coach Program) who believes that all women deserve to feel happy, healthy and hot!  She loves showing busy women how simple lifestyle changes can help them look and feel amazing.  Elizabeth spent over 30 years as a vegetarian, pescatarian, and sometimes vegan. While she was always considered to be healthy, she struggled with cystic acne, digestive issues and anxiety. These problems were finally resolved after transitioning to a primal lifestyle.

What are the health effects of wine consumption—positive and negative? A vast amount of observational evidence suggests that wine consumption is good for us. These types of studies cannot establish causality, but plausible mechanisms exist which strengthen the associations. (This Mark's Daily Apple article was written by Mark Sisson, and is narrated by Tina Leaman)

Life is and has always been trial and error. Human—and all of—evolution was one massive set of false starts and broken lines with only a few (and their progeny) getting out alive. There’s perspective on the five pounds you gained over the summer. It’s simple really. If we can just accept the patchy, errant nature of progress, we have a better chance of using our mistakes to propel rather than sink our success. Here are a few thoughts on that. (This Mark's Daily Apple article was written by Mark Sisson, and is narrated by Tina Leaman)

Eating a variety of protein sources ensures you’re getting all the amino acids you need to perform basic physiological processes. So here are a couple reasons why balancing your protein intake from different sources is important. (This Mark's Daily Apple article was written by Mark Sisson, and is narrated by Tina Leaman)  

Host Elle Russ talks with Brant Cortright, Ph.D, a clinical psychologist and the #1 international Amazon bestseller The Neurogenesis Diet and Lifestyle: Upgrade Your Brain, Upgrade Your Life. He is a Professor of psychology at the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco. He is also a licensed clinical psychologist with a private practice in neuroscience-informed depth psychotherapy as well as a coaching practice focused on brain health, anxiety and depression. He is the author of two previous books, Psychotherapy and Spirit and Integral Psychology: Yoga, Growth and Opening the Heart.

People frequently wax sentimental for what they call “simpler” days—presumably times when the rules were fewer and clearer, when choices weren’t so overwhelming, when demands were less and common sense was more prevalent. Eating, of course, is no exception to this. If you listen to the dominant voices in the social-media-marketing-medical culture, it’s enough to ruin your dinner and make you feel guilty for skipping breakfast (Don’t buy the guilt trip). We’re fed contradictory studies, warned of the latest threats lurking in our food supply, told every bite squashes the life out of another ecosystem, and led through fluorescent-lit warehouses filled with more food options and label claims than one person should ever be reasonably expected to handle. It’s exhausting, frustrating and on certain days defeating. So what’s a reasonable approach in an age when anxiety too often overtakes enjoyment of eating? (This Mark's Daily Apple article was written by Mark Sisson, and is narrated by Tina Leaman)