Free the Animal

Triglycerides: 93.5% Reduction in Three Weeks - 3,100 to 202

So there you have it: the punchline, right there in the title.

But who did it, and how? That would be none other than Dr. William Davis, cardiologist. So then, what sort of medical procedure did he perform? What sorts of pharmaceuticals did he prescribe? To what level did he admonish his patient, Daniel, to cut the arterycloggingsaturatedfat and to eat lots more servings of hearthealthywholegrians?

Of course, anyone who actually reads and thinks for themselves -- rather than swallowing the cloistered expert-&-authority-protectionism of conventional "wisdom" -- should know, he did none of those things; which, given the other successes he's blogged about -- some of which I've highlighted here -- exposes most if not all of the "lipid establishment" (i.e., cloistered expert-&-authority-protection racket) as con men: most physicians in that role, all the drug companies, and our beloved (not!) FDA.

Got it? Good, so let's move on.

Since most of you who should know, know, what then, dear supplicant to cloistered expert-&-authority-protection rackets, did Dr. Davis do? I'm glad you asked! It's actually simple: step one is that he "prescribed" 3,600 mg of over-the-counter omega-3 fatty acids per day, i.e., plain ol' fish oil caps. Depending on concentration, that could be anywhere from 5 to 10 1g caps per day, guesstimating. After 10 days, Trigs had dropped from 3,100 to 1,100. Step two was to continue on the OTC fish oil and eliminate wheat, corn starch, and sugar from the diet (in other words: less hearthealthywholegrains, more arterycloggingsaturatedfat). This took him from 1,100 to 202 in another 10 days.

Daniel, a sufferer of what's known as familial hypertriglyceridemia, now has lower Trigs than whole bunches of people walking about without such a genetic disorder. For those who don't know, triglycerides are fat circulating in your blood. The more hearthealthwholegrains and sugar you eat, the higher will be your triglyceride levels. The more arterycloggingsaturatedfat you eat, the less will be your levels. Almost all paleo and low-carb eaters have levels less than 100, and most of us hang out in a range of 40-60. I believe the average in the US is around 150 or so, and climbing (all while the cloistered expert-&-authority-protection racket claps and cheers over irrelevant, non-associated lower LDL levels). Lots of people are walking around at 400 and higher. But, hey, they lowered their LDL by eating lots of hearthealthywholegrains, and thus helping out Big Agra, who, in gracious turn, helps the cloistered expert-&-authority-protection racket. It's all quite cozy, incestuous...and insanely profitable.

High triglycerides are bad, very bad, and in my opinion, far worse than "elevated" serum cholesterol (lipoproteins). High triglycerides are well associated with death from heart disease, while half of those who die from heart disease have low cholesterol and half have high cholesterol.

Well, that about sums up the story (but not the rant), so the rest is devoted to Dr. Davis himself, who tells the brief story here and here.

I am continually surprised at the number of people with high triglycerides who are still treated with a fibrate drug, like Tricor, or a statin drug, when fish oil -- widely available, essentially free of side-effects, with a proven cardiovascular risk-reducing track record --should clearly be the first choice by a long stretch.

Could Dr. Davis be referring to his own colleagues in the medical profession -- most, probably?

Uh, yep:

Unfortunately, most of my colleagues, if they even think to use omega-3s, choose to use the prescription form, Lovaza. Indeed, several representatives from AstraZeneca, the pharmaceutical outfit now distributing this miserably overpriced product, frequently barge their way into my office poking fun at our use of nutritional supplements instead of the prescription Lovaza. "But insurance covers it in most cases!" they plead. "And your patients will know that they're getting the real product, not some fake. And they'll have to take fewer capsules!"

Dr. Davis has previously blogged about the Lovaza rip off; punchline: $3,600 per year vs. $150 per year (all while so many in America clamor to have everyone pay for everyone else's "health" care...).

He says further:

I never use Lovaza to reduce triglycerides, even in familial hypertriglyceridemia -- the FDA-approved indication for Lovaza -- and have not yet seen any failures, only successes.

Good for Daniel, and good for the heroic Dr. Davis, who gives a great prognosis.

He's got just a little further to go to achieve the biologically ideal level of less than 60 mg/dl. You can see that it is not really that difficult--provided someone didn't load you down with nonsense about "cutting your fat," or statin or fibrate drugs.

And guess what, on a related topic? I just heard from a very well respected health blogger in email that a guy who'd contacted him about fatty liver disease got his enzymes back to normal in a single month. This, after 9 whole years of a fatty liver. What advice did this health blogger give him? Drop the sugar, vegetable oils, and take fish oil.

Let's be clear who the enemies are in all this: many of Dr. Davis' colleagues, all pharmaceutical companies, the FDA, and the whores in the mainstream media who can't wait to bend over for each and every one of the foregoing as often as they possibly can.

You didn't hear that here first, but you'll hear it often.

Get Primal With Mark Sisson

Mark Sisson, of Mark's Daily Apple, has an entirely new website design. I think he did a fabulous job. He gives you the highlights right here.

Also, his new book, The Primal Blueprint, is available for pre-order. I have a feeling it's going to be the go-to book for beginners. I have my copy ordered and will put it to the top of the stack when it gets here. I'll review it when complete. I'm sure I'll be recommending it highly, and, it will be nice to have a updated "paleo diet" text, as Cordain's in out-of-date and plain wrong in too many areas.

For those who missed it, Mark Sisson guest blogged here a few months back (and here's my guest post at Mark's place).

"The Original Low-Carb Diet"

Just a quick hit, as I said earlier that I'd review Jimmy Moore's interview with Dr. Loren Cordain once I'd listened to it.

First off, I highly recommend it. The best parts concern anti-nutrients and toxins in foods that a low-carber might eat, because the focus is on low carb and not on foods we evolved to eat (and the "foods" we should avoid like the plague). In other words, low-carbers often don't experience the sorts of health benefits paleos do, because many eat stuff like this and other modern concoctions. In essence, many are stuck in the same place as the low-fatters. You can only eat so much protein, the upper limit being around 1/3 of total energy. So, the remainder is going to be some combination of fat and carbohydrate. Consequently, the low-fatters are necessarily high-carbers, and industry has seen to it that they have plenty of low-fat processed products loaded with sugar and other crap. Conversely, industry is seeing to the low-carbers as well, giving them all sorts of processed "food" with cheap ingredients nobody ate for the 2.5 million years preceding the last 10,000 years. That would be all fine and good, but we're talking about foods that are literally poison to some degree for most -- maybe even all -- people, causing low-level inflammation below the pain threshold that goes unchecked for decades. To make matters worse, many of these grain-based products promote the production of small, dense LDL (VLDL) and oxidized LDL, the very thing that acts upon inflamed arteries to form plaques.

The good thing about the paleo principle is that it's a principle, not a description for a macronutrient ratio. As such, you could never call this low-carb bread paleo. Look at the ingredients:

whole grains, bean, seeds of kamut, spelt, wheat, rye, millet, lentils, eggs, soy protein, flax, sesame, quinoa, amaranth, wheat gluten, 7 grain flakes, oat bran, sea salt & yeast.

So, while it meets the qualifications of a low-carb diet, very nearly all of the ingredients -- and the top 8 in terms of volume -- are not things anyone would have consumed in any important quantity prior to 10,000 years ago. Virtually all plants have toxins, but our ancestors spent 2.5 million years in a push-pull struggle with natural selection to adapt to most of them.

Now, everyone will want to know: yes, Cordain is still beating the "lean meat" mantra, though he doesn't seem to be dwelling on it, as least not to the obsessive extent he did in his book. And, he's still justifying this stance on the basis of the total fat proportion of the total edible content of wild animals, while relying on the assumption that primitives would have eaten entire carcasses, one by one, start to finish, nose to hoof to tail, rather than being wasteful and selective, as virtually all predators are -- which is why there's a whole wild kingdom of scavengers in virtually every ecological niche.

One notable difference from his book, published in 2000 I believe, is that he's now recommending supplementing vitamin D for all, regardless of diet and he says 2,000 IU per day out to be the lower limit. I agree.

No mention of "Paleo" skinless chicken breasts, "Paleo" canola oil, or "Paleo" diet soft drinks, thank god.

All in all, it's a great interview, Loren Cordain is a hero, and Jimmy Moore is a superstar with his podcasts that you can subscribe to on iTunes.

Cordain, again...

In anticipation of this Thursday's release of Jimmy Moore's interview of Loren Cordain, which I'll blog about after I listen to it, I had a tidbit to report from Cordain's free newsletter, which I subscribe to.

The latest issue (v5, #16) is The Impact of Saturated Fat on Health. For those new to all this, Loren Cordain wrote The Paleo Diet, a book that when I last wrote about it, I lamented not being able to toss my ebook reader across the room.

I have a love/hate thing going with Cordain. I love the principles, i.e., the fact of our evolution, how long agriculture has been a part of that, and how such facts inform our logic as to what things we ought to eat and not eat for optimal health, lean bodies, and taking years off your look.

I hate his ideas regarding saturated fat, and unfortunately suspect that he takes this position out of convenience and then uses silly science to justify it. Here, from the latest newsletter:

The estimation of saturated fats from animal sources is more complex because hunter-gatherers typically ate the entire edible carcass,^10-11 necessitating the calculation of the total edible carcass saturated fatty acid content.

In mammals and most vertebrates, organ and tissue mass scales closely with body mass. Consequently, the mass of individual edible organs can be calculated from body mass using allometric equations.^12-15 Edible carcass mass can be determined by subtracting the mass of bones (minus marrow), hide, hooves, antlers, blood, urine and gastrointestinal contents from the total live weight. Edible carcass saturated fatty acid mass can be computed by multiplying individual tissue and organ mass by their respective saturated fatty acid compositions and then summing these values. The edible carcass saturated fatty acid content by energy can be calculated from values by mass using the cubic regression equations developed by Cordain et al.¹⁶

10. Thomas, E.M., The Harmless People, New York, Knopf, 1959

11. McArthur, M., Food consumption and dietary levels of groups of aborigines living on naturally occurring foods, in Records of the American-Australian Scientific Expedition to Arnhem Land, Mountford C.P., Ed, Melbourne University Press, Melbourne, 1960, 90.

12. Stahl, W.R., Organ weights in primates and other mammals, Science, 150, 1039, 1965.

13. Calder, W.A., Size, Function and Life History, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, 1984.

14. Meadows, S.D. and Hakonson, T.E., Contributions of tissues to body mass in elk, J. Wildl. Manage., 46, 838, 1982.

15. Hakonson, T.E. and Whicker, F.W., The contribution of various tissues and organs to total body mass in mule deer, J. Mammal., 52, 628, 1971.

16. Cordain. L., et al. Plant to animal subsistence ratios and macronutrient energy estimations in world wide hunter-gatherer diets, Am. J. Clin. Nutri., 71, 682, 2000.

Now, how likely does it seem to you that primitive hunter-gatherers generally ate an entire animal, less "the mass of bones (minus marrow), hide, hooves, antlers, blood, urine and gastrointestinal contents from the total live weight"? Or, in normal times, would they have eaten the most desirable parts (fatty!), discarded the rest, and gone on another hunt?

This analysis just seems too contrived and convenient, to me. It looks like science done for the sole purpose of confirming a bias. How about to you?

Ever seen how bears deal with the salmon run? They strip off the fatty skin, particularly the belly fat, discard the lean salmon meat, and head back into the water for another. I don't think humans behaved altogether differently short of famine or starvation. I know that, had I had reasonable means to just obtain more fatty meat, I certainly would have, in lieu of eating lean, tough, unappealing meat.

Later: Oh, he began the newsletter talking about saturated fat being linked to heart disease. I don't think much of such associations, given that perfectly healthy primitive societies existed on 40-50% of total energy from saturated fat.

Erwan Le Corre & MoveNat - Reprise

I was delighted yesterday to receive an email from Erwan, alerting me to the fact that he and his methods have been featured in a substantial article in Men's Health Magazine. I first blogged about Erwan a couple of months back. Before linking up the article, here's a bit of review. When the video comes up, absolutely do click on the "HD" button for a way better experience.

Now, here's the link to the magazine article.

When Zuqueto finally steps back, thick fists on his hips, chest heaving in fatigue and frustration, the man hops down from the pole. His name is Erwan Le Corre, a 37-year-old Frenchman who may rank as one of the most all-around physically fit men on the planet. His last name sounds exactly like the French phrase for "the body" -- le corps -- and his appearance lives up to the advance billing: If he grew out his sun-bleached hair and traded the board shorts for a loincloth, he'd be a perfect twin for Tarzan. Le Corre isn't just strong and fast and explosive and nimble; he's an athlete whose opponents are everything he sees and whose arena is anywhere he happens to be standing.

Enjoy. I certainly did.

Life Spotlight

Two really great food & fitness blogs out there were Modern Forager and The IF Life. I say "were," because as of this last Monday, they are, sadly, no more. I'm sure longtime readers have enjoyed many of my posts highlighting and linking to various posts on those two great sites.

They will be missed.

...But not too much; because Scott Kustes and Mike O'Donnell have teamed up on a new project, done one huge crapload of work by all appearances, and have created The Life Spotlight.

Go have a look.

You Asked; Mark Sisson Answers

That gentleman to the left? 55 years old. Somewhere along the line, I recall someone saying that we Primals ought not listen to anyone not willing to stand in front of you and take their shirt off. So, there you have it.

My path to an eventual Primal life way in terms of diet and exercise (and a couple of other categories, when I think about it) began in May of '07. I had a little bit right. I reasoned that in order to recompose my fat body, I needed to build some muscle. What I got right is that I knew to shun the cardio equipment and go for the weights. I also -- somehow -- made it brief and intense, kinda by accident. I was familiar with "low carb" a-la Atkins and I knew it worked. I watched carbs a bit, but it was totally dis-integrated in terms of Paleo, EvFit, or the Mark Sisson Primal Blueprint.

Since I was already a blogger, I wrote about it. It was one of my first one or two posts that a commenter said that some of what I was saying was reminiscent of Arthur De Vany. And what was eventually to become a complete life revolution began. Of course, it took no time at all before I was introduced to Mark Sisson's great blog, Mark's Daily Apple. To this day, Mark and Art are the go-to guys. They are always at the top of my reading list. There are many others doing great work out there, but these are among the pioneers, no doubt about it.

There's nothing like being the first, and Mark is right up there. As a blogger myself, with well over 2,000 posts going back to 2003, I am continuously gobsmacked at the quality work Mark puts out: daily. I guess he locked that in when he put "Daily" in the name of his blog. For the newcomers, Mark was generous enough to publish a guest post on his blog from me. But now, let's get right to it; with advanced thanks to Mark.

~~~

Keith Norris asks:

I'm curious as to what your take is on Quinoa. Being a gluten-free seed, (and from a leafy green plant)I wonder if it is indeed free of the immune system irritants that plague the grass grains. I've been looking for a bean substitute for my Tex-Mex chili -- could these be the ticket?

I tend to consider quinoa a “lesser evil.” It has decent levels of vitamins, amino acids, and protein, and it’s gluten-free, but it’s still rather carb-intensive, with a glycemic index of 53. Quinoa also contains a certain protein that’s been known to cause digestive issues in some. While I don’t eat the stuff myself, if you can without ill effects – more power to you. Coincidentally, we’ve got a killer chili recipe over at MDA, if you’re interested in a competent bean-less option (although I know how people can get about chili recipes, so don’t take that as a challenge!).

We also wrote a short post on quinoa some months back.

Bill asks:

What are your thoughts on a all meat diet? Some say thats the way we should eat; are there any benifit's to that?

Looking back at our ancestral forefathers, some subsisted on mostly meat diets. The inland Inuit (without access to the coast or very agreeable conditions for vegetation) ate mostly caribou, plains natives in North America lived off of mostly bison, and the traditional diet of the Masai is blood, milk and meat. Make no mistake, though – these guys weren’t just eating reindeer steaks and bison kebabs. They ate the entire animal – organs, bones, meat, skin and fat. Using the entire animal gave them access to all the micronutrients, vitamins, and minerals they needed to survive and thrive.

Nowadays, it’s tough to replicate that. You could hunt game. You could probably find a butcher that was willing to hand over the entire animal for a rough approximation of a diet reminiscent of our ancestors, but remember: those animals of yesteryear were wholly natural, organic beasts eating nothing but natural foods (you could even say they followed their own Primal Blueprint), not the grain-fed, bloated, over-stressed meatbags that most people eat today. If you’re set on an all-meat diet, definitely make sure you’re eating EVERYTHING, and only buy organic, grass-fed and finished meat. I can’t endorse it, though. Eating plenty of vegetables, fruits, and nuts (alongside a generous serving of meat, of course) is an easy, healthy, affordable way to get the nutrients and vitamins we need.

I touched on this here.

Richard Nikoley asks:

While there are a lot of success stories here on this blog, and on yours and others, Mark, there are also the comments (and I'm sure the emails to bloggers personally) from those who have seen some success and then stalled in their progress.

So, Mark, over the months and years, have you come to recognize any common themes, and do you have a short list of things "the stalled" ought to look at or do in order to get back on track?

First off, it’s absolutely essential that the Primal Blueprint (or any similar model) be approached as a lifestyle, rather than a diet. “Diet” connotes transience and short-term results; while living in accordance with evolutionary biology certainly has benefits obvious in the short-term (weight loss, lean mass gain, energy), you need to maintain to make them permanent. I’d even argue that any “diet” could be beneficial, even those you or I might not necessarily agree with, just as long as they’re respectfully approached as a viable lifestyle choice rather than a temporary fix.

Second, support helps. Whether we get our support from our friends and family, or from online communities of likeminded individuals all working towards the same goal (like on Free the Animal or MDA), humans are social beings that can sometimes falter. Having peers to look toward for tips or recipes or workout ideas really helps.

If the weight has simply stopped coming off, the easiest thing is to cut the carbs. No matter how clean they may be, limiting carb intake is the absolute key to losing body fat. So instead of an apple a day, make it every other day. And don’t skimp on the fat. Sometimes those old societal phobias creep in and whisper quiet recriminations – “Oh, are you really cooking with lard?” Ignore them. Fat keeps us full and less likely to venture into “just this once” carb territory.

Mark asks:

I'm wondering about the apparent difference in opinion (I think) between Mark and Art DeVany: be sure to eat within the first hour after a hard workout (Mark), or definitely wait until at least an hour has passed (Art)?

I’m definitely of the opinion that a healthy dose of protein within the post-workout hour is good: our bodies are primed for protein synthesis, we’re usually hungry following a good lift, and the prospect of a piece of meat is good impetus to finish hard and strong. That said, I also recognize the value of occasionally fasting after a workout. You see, intense resistance training induces a rise in HGH, as does fasting. The result is a confluence of HGH-raising stimuli that packs even more of a punch. Most workouts still end with a protein-rich snack, but occasionally fasting after a particularly intense session has its benefits too.

As for Intermittent Fasting in general, I try to randomize it as much as possible. Maybe I’ll skip two meals early in the week, then go an entire 24 hours toward the end. Trying to mimic the circumstantial fasts of our ancestors with artificial randomization can be tricky, but it’s the best we’ve got.

• Is Intermittent Fasting Healthy?
• The Hype Over Human Growth Hormone
• Post Workout Fasting

Keith Norris asks:

Dr. Scott Connelly (of MetRx fame) is a big proponent of whey protein and raw dairy in general. This seems to be his "gold standard" vis-a-vis protein bio-availability. I would think that the lactose/insulin issue, not to mention the body's immune/inflammatory reaction to dairy, would render whey/dairy protein substandard. Thoughts?

As a protein powder, I like whey enough to use it in my meal replacement. It’s not intended to form the foundation of a person’s daily nutrition, but it gets you a nice dose of healthy, available protein in a pinch.

Grok Didn't Take Supplements So Why Should I?

Robert Chon asks:

I'd be interested to know Mark and Richard's take on the newest wave of miracle supplements.

I'm speaking of course of those which generally perform the function known as "colon cleansing."

The purveyors make many claims, mostly regarding the removal of toxins from the body and of course, substantial weight-loss claims.

I’m inherently skeptical of quick fixes – especially when specifically marketed as such. It makes me think of some conman hightailing it out of Dodge, suitcase of money in hand. A few of these guys are suggesting that many of us have a ten-foot-long layer of plaque in our colon that’s been there for years! It’s all BS. I say if you’re eating clean, whole foods as ordained by evolutionary biology, you won’t need to cleanse yourself of toxins. These supplements – I’m just guessing here, as I’m not sure which you’re referring to – may help you lose weight in the short term, but I’d imagine it would be via a combination of starvation and frequent trips to the bathroom. Many of these are just high-fiber preparations that might even be dangerous. Why not just stick to eating good fats and proteins and cutting carbs?

Next are three questions around the same issue. First, Meese asks:

I've been puzzling over Lyle McDonald's posts on leptin and had the following 2 questions:

1) On a primal/paleo/evfit type of lifestyle in which one consumes relatively constrained amounts of carbohydrates, could falling or low leptin still become a problem as both carbohydrate metabolism and fat storage would tend to decrease, possibly prompting hormonal responses to guard against starvation? For instance, I notice when I am fasting, I am not particularly hungry or weak (insulin levels good!), but I am extremely and uncomfortably cold.

2) McDonald seems to recommend brief(ish) carb-heavy "refeeds" to bring leptin levels back to baseline after dieting. As fat and protein don't seem to have appreciable effects on leptin, and fat and sugar stores tend to decrease on a primal lifestyle, how can a recovering dieter/non-bodybuilder raise leptin levels? Assuming one already gets adequate sleep, is there a better way than controlled carb binges?

Then... Madmax:

I'd like to know how Mark approaches Intermittent Fasting; ie how often he does it and for how long.

I too second Meese's questions regarding Lyle McDonald's "carb re-feeding" idea. McDonald is an interesting case. He's heavy into the science aspect but he does not recommend a paleo/primal lifestyle. In fact, I get the impression that he thinks its "faddish" and unscientific. Lyle is also no fan of Gary Taubes. I would usually dismiss someone like him but for those that know Lyle, they know that he knows his science. This makes ignoring him out of hand difficult.

And... Richard:

At the risk of just re-hashing Meese and Madmax, here goes: can there be potential value in intermittent/random higher carb days? Nothing ridiculous, but I'm thinking something like ratcheting from, say 100g or less per day, to the occasional 200-300g per day. Aside from the leptin issue noted by Meese above (which I did not know about), I'm wondering whether this could simply be a valuable form of variation/randomizing that "confuses" the body in a productive way.

Lyle (whom I greatly respect) seems to attribute a whole lot more to leptin than I do. I’d say insulin is the more significant driver (by a factor of 10, even). While leptin has it’s function, it, as Lyle says, has a lot to do with regulating appetite – it’s an “anti-starvation” hormone. But if you’re doing a true Primal eating program, appetite doesn’t really ever become an issue.

As you lose body fat, leptin may decrease. If hunger pangs set in, eat a bit more. Once you’re down to 10% body fat (for a guy) or 15% (for a gal) and you feel the need for more carbs in your life, have at it! Just make them healthy sources. At that level, maintaining your body composition shouldn’t be an issue, and eating all the protein and fat you want with 100-150g/day of carbs from veggies and fruits shouldn’t change it.

And finally, if leptin is mostly an “anti-starvation” hormone and you don’t feel like you’re starving, where’s the problem? If you do feel like you’re starving yourself, try to up the fat and protein first, then bump up the carbs to 100-150g/day. Still feeling it? Go for a “refeed” day or two. Even then, get your carbs from healthy sources (think yams, roots, vegetables, fruits) and try not to exceed 300 grams a day.

Chris asks:

1. Mark, how does someone with very fair skin, who easily burns, handle sun exposure? Maybe 15-20 minutes exposure before you break out the Chernobyl strength suncreen?

2. What would you suggest for those of us Primals who go on a cruise? Go for the fruity drinks with all that sugar, or stick to the beer or wine?

(1) 15-20 minutes of good sun exposure a day is a perfect amount (in fact, for the ultra-fair skinned – think Nordic maidens – 3-15 minutes is plenty). You don’t want to burn, but you do need to give your skin enough time to absorb the good stuff. Fifteen minutes seems to be an optimum level to shoot for. Then just find shade, cover up with clothing or apply a good sunblock.

(2) I’d say go for the wine. Although you probably aren’t thinking about nutrients and healthy stuff on a cruise, red wine is loaded with antioxidants and has actually been deemed healthy by CW (I know, I know, not exactly a sterling endorsement, but still…). You can read more about wine here. Of course, I’m a sucker for a good pale ale, and I always stress the importance of actually enjoying life, so do what you want… it’s a vacation!

Richard Nikoley asks:

Have you looked into vitamin K2, specifically, and MK-4 subform, i.e. the one made by animals from K1, not the MK-7 from bacterial fermentation)? Chris Masterjohn has quite a piece on it.

I made brief mention of it way back when MDA was still in its infancy, but that article is pretty compelling – as are your past posts on the subject. I think I’ll have to take a deeper look and maybe do a post on it for MDA. I don’t currently take any supplements for it, but I’d assume we get plenty of it through leafy greens on a Primal diet. Do note that all forms of K are considered off limits for people who take blood thinners (K1 is a clotting factor). I’d be interested to hear your thoughts.

[Editors note: Thanks again to Mark Sisson for his generosity in answering all your questions.]

Don't Listen To Me! (Part 2)

I'm going to break with standard practice and go ahead and quote the whole thing, here, because there's no single part of that can be excerpted and it's just too important. Here's some resources to check out:

• My original post: Don't Listen To Me!
• Dr. Dwight Lundell's part 1 article: Heart Surgeon Admits Huge Mistake
• Dr. Lundell's book websites: The Great Cholesterol Lie; The Cure for Heart Disease
• Dr. Lundell's interview with Dr. William Davis of the Track Your Plaque program

And now, here's part 2 of Dr. Lundell's heroic article.

Take a moment to visualize rubbing a stiff brush repeatedly over soft skin until it becomes quite red and nearly bleeding. Let’s say you kept this up several times a day, every day for five years. If you could tolerate this painful brushing, you would have a bleeding, swollen infected area that became worse with each repeated injury. This is a good way to visualize the inflammatory process that could be going on in your body right now.

Regardless of where the inflammatory process occurs, externally or internally, it is the same. I have peered inside thousands upon thousands of arteries. A diseased artery looks as if someone took a brush and scrubbed repeatedly against its wall. Several times a day, every day, the foods we eat create small injuries compounding into more injuries, causing the body to respond continuously and appropriately with inflammation.

While we savor the tantalizing taste of a sweet roll, our bodies respond alarmingly as if a foreign invader arrived declaring war. Foods loaded with sugars and simple carbohydrates, or processed with omega-6 oils for long shelf life have been the mainstay of the American diet for six decades. These foods have been slowly poisoning everyone.

How does eating a simple sweet roll create a cascade of inflammation to make you sick?

Imagine spilling syrup on your keyboard and you have a visual of what occurs inside the cell. When we consume simple carbohydrates such as sugar, blood sugar rises rapidly. In response, your pancreas secretes insulin whose primary purpose is to drive sugar into each cell where it is stored for energy. If the cell is full and does not need glucose, it is rejected to avoid extra sugar gumming up the works.

When your full cells reject the extra glucose, blood sugar rises producing more insulin and the glucose converts to stored fat.

What does all this have to do with inflammation? Blood sugar is controlled in a very narrow range. Extra sugar molecules attach to a variety of proteins that in turn injure the blood vessel wall. This repeated injury to the blood vessel wall sets off inflammation. When you spike your blood sugar level several times a day, every day, it is exactly like taking sandpaper to the inside of your delicate blood vessels.

While you may not be able to see it, rest assured it is there. I saw it in over 5,000 surgical patients spanning 25 years who all shared one common denominator — inflammation in their arteries.

Let’s get back to the sweet roll. That innocent looking goody not only contains sugars, it is baked in one of many omega-6 oils such as soybean. Chips and fries are soaked in soybean oil; processed foods are manufactured with omega-6 oils for longer shelf life. While omega-6’s are essential –they are part of every cell membrane controlling what goes in and out of the cell — they must be in the correct balance with omega-3’s.

If the balance shifts by consuming excessive omega-6, the cell membrane produces chemicals called cytokines that directly cause inflammation. Today’s mainstream American diet has produced an extreme imbalance of these two fats. The ratio of imbalance ranges from 15:1 to as high as 30:1 in favor of omega-6. That’s a tremendous amount of cytokines causing inflammation. In today’s food environment, a 3:1 ratio would be optimal and healthy.

To make matters worse, the excess weight you are carrying from eating these foods creates overloaded fat cells that pour out large quantities of pro-inflammatory chemicals that add to the injury caused by having high blood sugar. The process that began with a sweet roll turns into a vicious cycle over time that creates heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes and finally, Alzheimer’s disease, as the inflammatory process continues unabated.

There is no escaping the fact that the more we consume prepared and processed foods, the more we trip the inflammation switch little by little each day. The human body cannot process, nor was it designed to consume, foods packed with sugars and soaked in omega-6 oils.

There is but one answer to quieting inflammation, and that is returning to foods closer to their natural state. To build muscle, eat more protein. Choose carbohydrates that are very complex such as colorful fruits and vegetables. Cut down on or eliminate inflammation-causing omega-6 fats like corn and soybean oil and the processed foods that are made from them. One tablespoon of corn oil contains 7,280 mg of omega-6; soybean contains 6,940 mg. Instead, use olive oil or butter from grass-fed beef.

Animal fats contain less than 20% omega-6 and are much less likely to cause inflammation than the supposedly healthy oils labeled polyunsaturated. Forget the “science” that has been drummed into your head for decades. The science that saturated fat alone causes heart disease is non-existent. The science that saturated fat raises blood cholesterol is also very weak. Since we now know that cholesterol is not the cause of heart disease, the concern about saturated fat is even more absurd today.

The cholesterol theory led to the no-fat, low-fat recommendations that in turn created the very foods now causing an epidemic of inflammation. Mainstream medicine made a terrible mistake when it advised people to avoid saturated fat in favor of foods high in omega-6 fats. We now have an epidemic of arterial inflammation leading to heart disease and other silent killers.

What you can do is choose whole foods your grandmother served and not those your mom turned to as grocery store aisles filled with manufactured foods. By eliminating inflammatory foods and adding essential nutrients from fresh unprocessed food, you will reverse years of damage in your arteries and throughout your body from consuming the typical American diet.

Don't Listen To Me!

Instead, how about listening to a man who has held over 5,000 beating human hearts in his hands? Dwight Lundell, MD.

Heart Surgeon Admits Huge Mistake

We physicians with all our training, knowledge and authority often acquire a rather large ego that tends to make it difficult to admit we are wrong. So, here it is. I freely admit to being wrong. As a heart surgeon with 25 years experience, having performed over 5,000 open-heart surgeries, today is my day to right the wrong with medical and scientific fact.

I trained for many years with other prominent physicians labeled “opinion makers.” Bombarded with scientific literature, continually attending education seminars, we opinion makers insisted heart disease resulted from the simple fact of elevated blood cholesterol.

The only accepted therapy was prescribing medications to lower cholesterol and a diet that severely restricted fat intake. The latter of course we insisted would lower cholesterol and heart disease. Deviations from these recommendations were considered heresy and could quite possibly result in malpractice.

It Is Not Working!

These recommendations are no longer scientifically or morally defensible. The discovery a few years ago that inflammation in the artery wall is the real cause of heart disease is slowly leading to a paradigm shift in how heart disease and other chronic ailments will be treated.

The long-established dietary recommendations have created epidemics of obesity and diabetes, the consequences of which dwarf any historical plague in terms of mortality, human suffering and dire economic consequences.

He goes on to explain the huge difference between the natural benefits of acute inflammation, contrasted with the harm to heart, blood vessels and other tissues arising from chronic inflammation. Just the sort of thing I've been saying for pretty nearly two years, now, and others for even longer. I recommend to read the whole thing, which is not lengthy in any case.

But let me bring you the punchline, keeping in mind that this guy understands heart disease just about as up close and personal as you can get.

The rest of us have simply followed the recommended mainstream diet that is low in fat and high in polyunsaturated fats and carbohydrates, not knowing we were causing repeated injury to our blood vessels. This repeated injury creates chronic inflammation leading to heart disease, stroke, diabetes and obesity. Let me repeat that. The injury and inflammation in our blood vessels is caused by the low fat diet that has been recommended for years by mainstream medicine.

What are the biggest culprits of chronic inflammation? Quite simply, they are the overload of simple, highly processed carbohydrates (sugar, flour and all the products made from them) and the excess consumption of omega-6 vegetable oils like soybean, corn and sunflower that are found in many processed foods.

And again, the drone from this blog is virtually identical. But don't listen to me.

Ask Mark Sisson

Many of you will recall my guest post over at Mark's Daily Apple. At the time, Mark and I agreed he'd do one here as well, and I decided it would be best to wait until after the holimonth. Well, it's time; and though he and I bounced a few ideas back and forth, I was always left disappointed about all he could've addressed, but wouldn't, in sticking to one subject.

Well, I'm happy to announce that Mark solved that little dilemma by suggesting a guest post that will actually be a lot more work for him.

So here's the deal: Ask Away. Preferably in the comments, but you can also send me an email (the address is on my About page). Of course, anything having to do with food, diet, fitness, weight loss, fasting supplementation, cooking, etc. etc. is fair game.

Want to know more about Mark so that you can be best informed about what to ask? Then read all about him and take in those photos. Also, Mark is the designer of The Primal Blueprint, so you might have a question or two about that. You won't even have to wait for his forthcoming book.

OK, folks, let's make the most of this great opportunity. Once we have sufficient questions I'll get them off to Mark and he'll prepare a guest post to answer as many as he can.

Later: More Ideas For Questions.

Update: You Asked; Mark Sisson Answers

We Live in a Zoo

What a day for a title like that, eh? What, with about a million cattle and sheep herding around D.C., trying to get an angle on how they get to be led around by the nose for the next four years...

Alas, politics isn't the core subject of this post. Rather, I would like to introduce you to someone worth paying attention to. I got an email from this gentleman last week introducing himself, and I'm sure glad he did. His name is Erwan Le Corre and he operates MovNat.

The “zoo” is a modern, global and growing phenomenon generated by the powerful combination of social conventions, technological environment and commercial pressures. Increasingly disconnected from the natural world and their true nature, zoo humans are suffering physically, mentally and spiritually.

Are you experiencing chronic pains, are you overweight, do you often feel depressed or do you suffer from frequent illnesses and general lack of vitality? These symptoms indicate that you are experiencing the zoo human syndrome. Modern society conditions us to think that this is normal and unavoidable.

We don’t think so. Our true nature is to be strong, healthy, happy and free.

We have designed a complete education system that empowers zoo humans to experience their true nature.

That stuck an immediate chord with me, as several days earlier I had compared how we had gone soft as humans with the way domestic dogs are ill-equipped for survival on their own, unlike their genetic ancestor, the wolf.

Now, what I'd really like you to take a look at is his video. There is also a YouTube version (of significantly less quality; Later: turns out there's a 'watch in HD' link that is of superb quality) if your particular browser doesn't bring up the one on Erwan's site. The thing to take away from that is to notice how natural and functional are all the movements. This, folks, is the Gold Standard for exercising the body designed by evolution.

Finally, Chris Highcock at Conditioning Research came across Erwin as well, and went and conducted an interview that's very much worth the read. Given the political theme of the day -- the inauguration and replacement of the 'old bad king' with a 'new good king,' and with everyone stumbling over everyone else to see who can more quickly and readily dispense with their individualism in exchange for "hope" and duty to the collective, I particularly liked this bit in Erwan's interview.

The zoo is not just an environment, it is a phenomenon, a process, which is designed to keep you a captive of both external and internal cages. It is something that conditions many of your behaviours: clearly it is to me a domestication system, no less. The zoo impairs our ability to experience our true nature which is to be strong, healthy, happy and free. [...]

But I personally have a problem with morals or ethics when it comes to deciding what is good or what is not good for me, what is done and what's not, what I should do or what society expects me to do or would like to impose to me as some form of duty.

After all, a tool is useful, a cog in the machine is useful right? I accept no institutional duty. Free will is the most precious thing in my eyes. If I choose to be helpful to others, which I in fact often do because I tend to like others, it is because I decide so and not because I have to. The problem is, many people often think of altruism as sacrificing oneself or one's resources unconditionally for others, even for those that are total strangers to you or even if it's going to be seriously detrimental to yourself. I prefer to impose no moral code in MovNat and leave it up to each individual to decide for themselves what is best when it comes to investing their energy or risking their physical integrity for others, because each situation is different. MovNat training will greatly increase your preparedness so that, in time of need, you have the ability to respond efficiently to practical challenges.

Notice this grand distinction, folks: utility is amoral. Pay attention whenever you hear or read of a justification for something on the grounds that it's useful, functional, efficient. Think really hard.

That, my friends, is the essence of individualism, and there could be no greater contrast between that individualism and those old, tired, collectivist ideas straight form the zookeeper's manual -- hauled out and polished up for those ignorant of the failures of history -- delivered by the new Zookeeper-in-Chief, himself.

In fact, I wonder if 'zoo' is even the right metaphor for what we're going to get, now. I think ant farm or bee hive might be a little bit more fitting.

New Additions to Blogroll

In addition to the specific links to specific posts I assemble regularly, there are some out there whose regular content is so good that they earn a permanent spot here in the "Blogroll," which I actually call "Other Resources," as they are outside this blog, and some are not blogs but reference sites.

I've just added three new sites.

At Darwin's Table

Really a great blog by Dr. Dan Bassett, a PhD marine biologist out of New Zealand. Here's a great quote from his profile:

The research I undertake is feeding physiology / behavior / ecology / evolution of fish. It was this reason that the paleo diet really appealed to me. I'm so used to looking at the evolutionary basis for why fish feed the way they do, and the paleo diet really applied this reasoning to humans, and so I could back it wholeheartedly. Essentially fish are not so different than us, if you put them on an artificial diet they get sick and fat. Millions of dollars have been spent trying to do this and it just never works as well as if you have fish feeding on what they evolved to eat.

Dan practices a Paleo diet himself, and has racked up some real progress with photos to prove it. He also does some marvelous food preparations with plenty of food porn photos.

Animal Pharm

Dr. B.G. is a pharmacologist who works with Dr. William Davis of the Track Your Plaque program. Very high level blog in terms of technicality. I thought I was doing real good in understanding a lot of the medical, biological, and pharmacological jargon and terminology out there until she came along.

She always tells me that my "HDLs ROCK!," so that alone gets her a spot. But seriously, the more you try to follow along, the more you actually will, because the more you'll learn.

Theory to Practice

What can I say? Keith Norris, at age 44, is absolutely ripped (more here), and in a very healthful, lean and not puffy way. Unlike body builders, he looks that way on his days off, too. He writes a lot of really good stuff about workouts -- a big deficiency over here, and of course, he has is own results to prove the effectiveness of them. He has written up an nice brief overview, or precepts of the Paleo life way. Finally, he cooks and does good food porn. I'm going to be trying his baked eggs sometime this week.

~~~

Great job, all of you.

The Look of Success

How would you react if, instead of asking for a handout, the next bum you see -- smelly and dressed in rags -- approaches you and offers to be your "success coach" for a fee?

Have you pondered anything quite so absurd in a while?

Coronary heart disease prevention and reversal specialist, Dr. William Davis, wonders why it is, then, that people tolerate the advice of fat and even obese dietitians, who perhaps number in the thousands in hospitals and clinics around the country.

When I go to the hospital, I am continually amazed at some of the hospital staff: 5 ft 4 inch nurses weighing over 200 lbs, etc.

But what I find particularly bothersome are some (not all) hospital dietitians -- presumably experts at the day-to-day of healthy eating -- who waddle through the halls, easily 40, 50, or more pounds overweight. It is, to say the least, credibility-challenging for an obese dietitian to be providing nutritional advice to men or women recovering after bypass or stent while clearly not in command of nutritional health herself.

I note the same thing in general, both when visiting a hospital and daily around a large medical clinic less that a block from our residence. In fact, it is quite rare to see any lean person going in or out of that building, scrubs or "civvies."

Dr. Davis thinks they're by and large following the standard dietary advice. Perhaps they are, perhaps not, but here's the thing: "frankenfood" manufacturers have become ruthlessly clever, and that goes even beyond the political clout they and grain growers enjoy. Low fat is good? Food manufacturers deliver. They line the shelves with products that are low in fat, but high in sugar. Whole grains are healthy? They line the shelves with appealing -- to many -- products based on grains, and bonus: low in fat. Butter is bad? They give you margarine, for decades. Oops... Trans fats, now universally recognized as poisson. Alright, so now let's create a whole new line of synthetic "spreads" based on vegetable oils -- formerly used as industrial machinery lubricants -- extracted by heat and petroleum solvents that have to be deodorized to eat. Perhaps it won't take another four decades to determine that those are as bad or worse than the margarine they replaced. And what will they think of next?

Sadly, the "healthy, whole grain" message also contributes to heart disease via drop in HDL, increased triglycerides, a huge surge in small LDL, rise in blood sugar, increased resistance to insulin, tummy fat, and diabetes. Yes, the diet provided to survivors of heart attack increases risk.

The "healthy, whole grain" message also enjoys apparent "validation" through the enormous proliferation of commercial products cleverly disguised as healthy: Cheerios, Raisin Bran, whole grain bread, whole wheat pasta, etc. The "healthy, whole grain" message, while a health disaster, is undoubtedly a commercial success.

I'll bet that our fat dietitian friend enjoys a breakfast of healthy, whole grains in skim milk, followed by a lunch of low-fat chicken breast on two slices of whole grain bread, and ends her day with a healthy meal of whole wheat pasta. She then ascribes her continually climbing weight and size 16 figure to slow metabolism, lack of exercise, or the once-a-week piece of chocolate.

Wheat has no role in the Track Your Plaque program for coronary plaque control and reversal. In fact, my personal view is that wheat has no role in the human diet whatsoever.

Dr. Davis, a cardiologist who used to make a lot of money doing stents, angioplasties and other lucrative cardiac procedures gave that al up and now partially subsidizes a heroic and revolutionary program to detect, prevent, and even reverse heart disease. You don't have to take his ideas seriously, but you very well may live the consequences of them nonetheless.

He offers a list of relevant posts that I highly recommend reading.

• What's worse than sugar?
• The Wheat-Deficiency Syndrome
• Nutritional approaches: Large vs. Small LDL
• Are you wheat-free?

That last link has a bunch of testimonials, so if any of this sounds insane or unbelievable to you, you'll want to have a look at what people who've done it have experienced.

Jimmy Moore Interviews Arthur De Vany on the Livin' La Vida Low-Carb Show

I haven't actually listened to it, yet. Today was spend driving from San Jose, CA down to Vista, CA for the holidays. Coincidentally, Bea and I listened to a number of Jimmy's shows that I'd loaded on my iPhone. I synced up yesterday, and, it turns out, mere hours prior to this latest episode.

I feel quite confident recommending it to you even in advance of listening. I'll probably do so tomorrow.

Here's the entry from Jimmy's main site, and here's the one from his show site.

Cardiovascular Health

Here are a couple of must listen podcasts. You can call 'em up on your computer, or, put them on an iPod, iPhone, or other player and listen whenever. I like taking them in while driving.

These two particular podacasts are a two-part interview by Jimmy Moore.

‘Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb Show’ Episode 185: Interviewing ‘Heart Scan Blog’ Author Dr. William Davis (Part 1)

‘Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb Show’ Episode 186: Interviewing ‘Heart Scan Blog’ Author Dr. William Davis (Part 2)

Cardiologist William Davis runs the Heart Scan Blog and is involved with the Track Your Plaque program. Formerly spending his professional time doing cardiac procedures such as stents and angioplasties, he's now focussed on prevention, early detection, and reversal.

Listen to what he has to say about "vitamin D" (it's actually a hormone) and how it's profoundly helping his patients. Find out also why LDL numbers are useless and that you need to know your particle size. It's the small and dense that count, not the big & fluffy. Find out about heart scans and scores. Find out why most cardiologists and hospitals aren't interested (procedures generate billions in revenue).

In the second part, he explains why following the conventional advice to lower fat intake, eat more whole grains, take blood pressure and cholesterol meds killed Tim Russert at an early age.