Archives for January 2012

Menace to Society: North Carolina Board of Dietetics/Nutrition (NCBDN)

January 31, 2012 290 Comments

Today I have a story for you about heroes vs. villains…about the innocent vs. the guilty, the benevolent vs. the parasite, and the honest vs. the automatic liar. In the end, it’s really a story about evil, corruption, and force. But this is the Court of the Internet, so you get to judge for yourselves.

Back in 2009 I got an email from Steve Cooksey. He relayed his story to me, which I relayed in this post. I’ll give an excerpt.

Long story short, I was taken to the hospital in an ambulance with a BG reading of 700+ and an A1C that was literally “too high to read”. Three days later I was discharged home as a Diabetic and while the doctors were not sure, I was told that I was likely a Type 1 and that I would be on insulin and medications for the rest of my life.
While still in the hospital, I was given an ADA Food Pyramid by the “hospital nutritionist” and upon inquiry was informed to “eat the food groups” but stay below 2200 calories. This seemed odd to me but at the time, I was a mental wreck — having been given several body blows — so I took the advice and ordered my meals from the hospital menus. To be honest…they looked a hell-u-va-lot like what I ate ordinarily….
So, I go home and start researching what to do. I was determined to do ALL I could to stop taking insulin and medications. I’d seen too many relatives go down this road…and quite frankly…I did not like the destination nor the ride to get there.
A couple days later after discharge, a home health nurse came by — I also quizzed her about my diet — SHE HANDED ME ANOTHER ADA Food Pyramid and told me to “eat the food groups”.
A couple of days later my doctor told me to check out the Low Glycemic Index to see if that would help…it did and it started me on a journey that lead me to Mark Sisson’s website where I explored all things Primal.
Today, with the benefit of a great workout program and a Primal diet, I am 75 pounds lighter and I take -0- insulin and -0- medications. My latest blood work showed NO EVIDENCE OF DIABETES NOR OBESITY!
I have been insulin and medication free for about 6 months. Because I know how utterly confusing and hopeless life can be when diagnosed with diabetes, I have attempted to reach out to “spread the word” about paleo / Primal eating and living. I often “befriend” people in social media groups and strike up a conversation.
Multiple times — I’d say at least 4-5 times — I have began a conversation with a “Certified Diabetes Educator”. EVERY SINGLE TIME — NO EXCEPTIONS — they do not HAVE A CLUE when it comes to paleo / Primal eating. Honestly…I find this disgusting. Especially when I have to hear (or read) how they are required to go to X number of hours of recertification classes and how they are trained on the latest…blah, blah, blah. ALL of this is bad enough, but here’s the kicker…
THEY ATTEMPT TO CONVINCE ME TO STOP!!! …And go back to eating grains, beans, rice, pasta etc. THE AUDACITY!!! EVEN AFTER they know that I have lost weight and kicked diabetes in the ass they try to get me back on the train…the train to hell.
WHY? Why would they do this?????

Why? Well, for starters, go re-read the first paragraph.

Steve Cooksey Before & After

That’s Steve “Before;” that is, when registered dietitians—licensed & regulated by the North Carolina Board of Dietetics/Nutrition (NCBDN)—were advising him to eat in such a way as to remain fat, diabetic and dependent upon them. After, is when Steve realized that if they were not actually, explicitly trying to kill him early, it was way too difficult to draw distinctions—so he simply took matters into his own hands.

Well, why wouldn’t he? Let’s examine the track record of the NCBDN, established in 1992.

60% + of North Carolinians are Overweight or Obese

1995-2010, Percent of NC Diabetics Who are Obese (~40% – 60% in that span)

Great job there, NCBDN! Keep up the “good work.”

You know, given that level of demonstrated “competence,” I can offhand think of a bunch of things the NCBDN ought not be entrusted with…fetching my mail, taking out the trash, clearing a stopped up toilet, pumping outhouses, cleaning up behind my dogs, and properly disposing of used tampons all come to mind…

And yet…yet, what they are being entrusted with is the health and dietary habits of a whole state, and in particular, those with serious medical conditions such as diabetes that require even more attention.

…And even as egregiously wrong as that is, morally, it doesn’t stop there. Nope. They’re not content to simply wallow in their own incompetence and let caveat emptor prevail. Nope, they actually, with a straight face, seek to stop those who actually do get real results. So now, let’s continue on to make the case that this isn’t simply mistaken ignorance, but evil of a sort that actually seeks to harm people, explicitly.

When Steve, through his own research and dedication, fixed his own problem, he sought to help others via his website, Diabetes-Warrior.net. Perfectly natural, benevolent, etc. And he’s very effective, as you’ll see if you read through the success stories so many have shared on his website. You’ll find similar things in the comments to his posts. Now, contrast that with the record above.

Now let’s drop the other shoe. This same den of incompetents launched an official “investigation” into Steve’s private affairs—publishing his website for the benefit of anyone who wishes to read it—and they issued a “report” (PDF). Here’s an update on the whole deal, along with an 8 minute interview Jimmy Moore was kind enough to get out there quickly.

So you can read through as much of the “report” as you like, but it all reads the same. It’s all based on the same thing. Nowhere is there any indication of moral or conscious thought along the lines of: ‘he helped himself marvelously and is helping others.’ Or: ‘wow, if more North Carolinians did this it would be a great thing for the obese and diabetic.’ Or: ‘maybe we can learn something from this guy.’ Or even: ‘we have discretion here, let’s just close this case out.’ Or even more: ‘he does not appear to be hurting anyone.’

None of that. Just as your average German bloke in a foot soldier’s uniform in the early 1940s, charged with loading men, women and children into boxcars—cognizant of a certain destination and fate—chose not to listen to the voice of his own conscience…(it was “legal”), so it is with the NCBDN, willing, in all their demonstrated incompetent glory, to shut someone down who’s obviously helping people and not hurting a soul—unlike, obviously, the NCBDN is doing.

It’s an upside-down world so perverse that the bigger the lie, the easier the sell. And look, it’s not as though it ought to be all that difficult to expose those who might, somehow, someway, manage to do more harm to the average diabetic than the NCBDN already does. For instance, how tough would it be to catch someone advising diabetics to shoot rat poison in place of insulin? And even then, at least that offers the prospect of a quick death, rather than the slow & debilitating one the NCBDN offers with its “education” and “consultation.”

There’s not an ounce of morality or righteousness or honesty or heroism in the whole thing, that “report.” It’s just simply spouting laws.

“I’m just doing my job.”

…And last but not least, let’s just not forget how this rolls, eventually and to the very end. At the end of the line of the NCBDN’s cordial admonishments, nice words and “helpful” guidance…somewhere, at some time or place down the road, if Steve doesn’t buckle under, there’s a gun.

There’s always a gun and it ultimately always comes down to force.

Update: Oh, I forgot to take names.

Michelle Futrell, MS, RD, LDN – Chair, Public Health
Brenda Burgin Ross, MS, RD, LDN – Vice Chair, Clinical
Richard W. Holden, Sr. – Treasurer, Public Member
Kathleen Sodoma, RD, LDN – Secretary, Management
Christie Nicholson, MS, RD, LDN, Private Practice
Phyllis Hilliard, MPH, Public Member
Cathleen E. Ostrowski, MS, RD, LDN, Education

Ice Cream with Bacon Bits

January 31, 2012 10 Comments

I didn’t suppose this was really anything new, given the vast array of things that seem to come with bacon—not to mention the saying that everything’s better with bacon. I’ve even tried one of the dark chocolate bar brands that contains tiny bits of bacon—not enough in my view.

…I engaged in two indulgences on my birthday, Sunday. The first was that eggs benedict for breakfast. The second, and final, was ice cream after the dinner our good friends prepared for us.

On hand, they had tubs of Trader Joe’s Mocha, and the Dark Chocolate. But Julie had also made a good batch of bacon bits earlier for the bisque (and I also sprinkled some on my ribeye, with butter). There were plenty left, so I had an idea: let’s finish them off on the ice cream.

Mocha and Dark Chocolate Ice Cream with Bacon Bits

When I made my intentions known, there was a uniform sigh of trepidation. Each of the three others vowed not to even try it. And then I placed it on the table like this.

Four Spoons

Everyone dug in, and apparently, everyone liked it and focussed mostly on which was better.

I should mention, Julie makes awesome bacon bits because, rather than draining them on a paper towel or equivalent, where they sit in the fat and soften up, she uses a wire strainer so they retain their crunch and crispiness. In all, the combination between the texture, chewiness and saltiness…it was definitely a winner and I can’t wait to serve it up to unsuspecting guests one of these days.

Rejoinder: A Podcast, a Birthday Weekend, and an Unexpected 5-Star Book Review from Nassim Nicholas Taleb

January 30, 2012 9 Comments

I hurt last Friday.

I hurt so much that I was almost ready to ask my wife—who was doing and had done everything for a weekend away—to call it off. But I observed over the morning hours how she was getting everything prepped, how much she was looking forward to it, and how she was kinda hoping against hope that I’d suck it up and just go for it.

I surmise that had it not been for the fact that instead of doing a weekend in San Fran as we’ve done so many times for my birthday—deciding instead on the upscale, dog-friendly Carmel—that she’d have pressed me to call it off. But she was enamored of the whole idea. The doggies were coming along. I was suffering, but tried not to let it show too much.

So how did it work out?

I’ll get to it later. In the meantime, I’ve done another podcast and it has just gone live at Fat Burning Man. I’m getting better at this because, 1) I’m trying not to go through the same story I’ve related in so many other podcasts and, 2) we cover a whole bunch of stuff about the book. And also, Abel is able. He does a very good job covering new ground in nutrition and health that I haven’t covered before. As I always do, I listen to the whole thing before linking it up and I think it’s a decent listen even if you know it all; but of course, you get to judge for yourself. It’s the Internet.

Interview with Richard Nikoley – Free the Animal

At that link, you’ll find the whole 50 minute streaming audio interview and as well, a 15-minute YouTube of excerpts, mashed with photos of Abel, myself (fat and leaner), and some of my food porn.

…Yep, Friday I about wanted to curl up into a ball. I have hardly, if ever been sick in years but this one knocked me out. Who knows what it was, and it’s silly to dwell on detail, but there are times in life when you just want the whole fucking world to get out of your face, leave you the fuck alone..and try back later.

It’s harder when it’s your birthday.

We took the hour and a half drive, checked it, got situated and headed out. Clint Eastwood’s old place, the Hog’s Breath Inn has been a Carmel staple of mine since 1989, and I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been there since (dozens). I even patterned a back yard of mine after it, once—pavers, raised flower beds, fire pit, trees and what he didn’t have: an in-ground spa.

A Small Portion

…But Beatrice worked her butt off for this, calling hotels to inquire…making sure we had the best place, dog-friendly, with a fireplace. That in itself is healing in a sense.

We were only a minute walk away from Hog’s Breath, but on that day, Friday, I was in a state of healing myself, which is to say: fever. I walked over with two sweatshirts and a jacket on, and was still cold. And I was dumping water rapidly. No appetite at all. So no drinks, no food. But I enjoyed the ambiance and just observed, quietly. Then later, a walk around the town, to be followed by a night of horrors—with deep lung coughing and cold sweats, just to round everything out.

Saturday was a different day from minute 1. By this point I had decided to push vitamin D severely, to the tune of many thousands of units (25K+) and began to feel relief within hours. So I knocked off all the OTCs, like Mucinex, decongestant, nasal spray and so forth. I continued taking 25K vitamin D through Sunday and the cold or whatever seems dead as I sit here.

But who knows? Could have been on the way out anyway. No woo here. Just try it yourself if you like.

By Saturday evening I was feeling grand, good enough even for some alcohol, so we began on a rooftop.

Vesuvio

Then another place and finally, as is my preferred method—no reservations…keep trying—we landed at Le San Tropez. Pastis instead of whiskey, oysters on the half shell with red vinegar—as God commanded or should have—escargot, blue cheese stuffed dates, and a main course of fleet with sauce béarnaise. Dessert was a perfectly done cafe. Not too short like the Italians do, and certainly not miles long like the Americans do.

Oh, and a soufflé. Only, it was a real one, which you have likely never had unless you had one in France or in a French restaurant with ideals. A real soufflé is not the slightest bit sweet. It’s not a puffy sugar cake. It’s like a fluffy omelet with unsweetened chocolate in it. Then, you pierce the top and add in the semi-sweet, hot dark chocolate. A good soufflé isn’t overly sweet at all, and if you didn’t get that you’re primarily eating an egg dish, then you’re getting fake soufflé. Désolé.

…Later, we called it a night and I woke up the next day to my birthday. I called a Paleo time out and had a 3-egg benedict at Katy’s Place. I had sliced tomatoes instead of the potatoes but hardly touched them.

We walked the dogs off leash on the beach as we had the day before, watching them socialize normally with hundreds of other similarly situated free animals. Amazing how so much of the aggression melts away when dogs are off leash and as such, on equal terms. In two days and over two hours walking miles along the beach and hundreds of off leash dogs, we heard not so much as a single growl. This is by far from my first experience like this.

So next time you watch the news and politics and feel aggression, just ask yourself: who’s on the leash, and who’s not?

Alright, I’ll finish with a bit of book promotion. I’m happy about it. The print version is now available on Amazon for those so inclined, and after a couple of weeks of frustration with my publisher chewing up the Kindle chain of command, it’s finally coming available on the Amazon international sites. Copies sold are 1,200 and climbing, and since I’m in it for the long haul, that’s just great. Feedback has been so positive, like this email from Scott.

Thank you so very much for your blog, and the information you give out.
I came to your site originally from Tom’s FatHead website, after being sent to view the movie by a very dear friend of mine who is a chef. I guess you could say the rest is history.
I’m not in bad shape, but thanks to you and the inspiration of others doing similar work, I am by far after the past year in the best shape of my life. I eat real foods, and skip over the crap. Sure, every now and then Steak and Shake will lure me in (maybe once every 2 or 3 months,) but I know I’ll pay the price for it, and I accept it under those terms.
I ordered your ebook, and that day I read it. And then I read it again. I read it a third time. Congratulations… it really was that great a read. I’ve sent a number of friends the link, hopefully they will join in the health.
Thanks also for bringing Denise Minger to those of us in your regular readers, holy cats, man, she is amazing.
Glad to see the work you do, inspiring people to live their lives.

The Amazon reviews are so far, still 100% 5-star. There’s 12 of them now, and the 12th was just dropped in on Saturday, but I didn’t check until this morning.

charming and motivating, January 28, 2012
By N N Taleb “Nassim N Taleb”
A charming primer on the paleo idea, with an illustration through the authors own life. I read it in one sitting.

I left a comment thanking him for his great work with the best selling Fooled by Randomness: The Hidden Role of Chance in Life and in the Markets and The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable. Both of those books and in particular the former, really set me off initially in about 2006 after a very bad week trading options, to eventually prefigure what I was to do vis-a-vis paleo and beyond.

…It seemed quite a coincidence when a year later, stumbling upon Art De Vany and his work in Evolutionary Fitness—that got me started in all of this—that he and Nassim Nicholas Teleb were friends and that NNT was undergoing his own Paleo/EvFit transformation.

Is it too much to observe that the world of the truly prescient and intelligent is rather small?

Heading Out

January 27, 2012 15 Comments

Taking the rest of the day and weekend off and heading out of town, since I’ll be turning 51 on Sunday.

Circumstances could be better. The bit of possible food poisoning incident I blogged about the other day appears to have morphed into a full blown head cold, with all the usual symptoms. But that’s just the way things roll, sometimes.

Seeya.

More Clues Toward Determining Optimum Vitamin D Levels

January 26, 2012 27 Comments

Yesterday I got an interesting email from The Vitamin D Council reporting on a new study that measures the vitamin D levels of the Masai and Hadzabe of Africa.

It seems there’s a good amount of epidemiology for vitamin D levels in people with various illness and disease; as well, there’s epidemiology for disease incidence by latitude (as surrogate for vitamin D levels), but not really anything measuring the vitamin D levels of a a group of normal people one might expect to have reasonably high levels.

Previously, there was only a 1971 study of 8 sunbathing, white lifeguards who maintained levels in the range of 50-80 ng/ml.

So here’s the abstract of the new study:

Traditionally living populations in East Africa have a mean serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentration of 115 nmol/l. Luxwolda MF, Kuipers RS, Kema IP, Janneke Dijck-Brouwer DA, Muskiet FA.

Dr. John Cannell explains the study thusly:

The Maasai are no longer hunter-gatherers but live, along with their cattle, either a settled or a semi-nomadic lifestyle. They wear sparse clothes, which mainly cover their upper legs and upper body, and attempt to avoid the sun during the hottest part of the day. They eat mainly milk and meat from their cattle, although recently they began to add corn porridge to their diet. Their mean 25(OH) vitamin D level was 48 ng/ml (119 nmol/L) and ranged from 23 to 67 ng/ml.
The Hadzabe are traditional hunter-gatherers. Their diet consists of meat, occasional fish, honey, fruits, and tubers. They have no personal possessions. They wear fewer clothes than the Maasai in that the men often wear nothing above the waist. Like the Maasai, they avoid the sun during the hottest part of the day. Their mean 25(OH)D was 44 ng/ml and ranged from 28 to 68 ng/ml.

It was also reported in the study that all subjects had black skin types that require the most sun to produce robust vitamin D.

So I guess if you unpack all of that, a 25(OH)-vitamin D level of 50 ng/ml that the Vitamin D Council has recommended is right about in the sweet spot.

But there’s a few other things this suggests to me:

Since these subjects have the most difficult kind of skin to stimulate D production, that levels higher than 50 and perhaps even way higher might be less of a concern than others have suggested. Perhaps it’s less of an “experiment” now in the longer term.
You really need to pay attention to what I called in my book, being a “fish out of water.” These subjects were on the equator where the sun is most effective, combined with skin that’s least effective. Things get dicey with modern migration and relocation where you have very efficient D generating white skin near the equator (too much D) and the less efficient dark skin at advanced latitudes (too little D).

But it seems to me that the latter situation is the far riskier one: a darker skin person at higher latitudes, such as northern Europe, Northern areas of the US, and Canada. The white skin person can always avoid over-exposure, use some sunscreen, etc., but the dark skin person suffers a double whammy of having less efficient skin for synthesis, combined with a sun that’s only effective in stimulating vitamin D for part of the year (the higher the latitude, the less effective).

How about the health of the Masai, in general? Do I really need to answer that question? I recommend Dr. Stephan Guyenet’s series:

That 4th link wasn’t actually in the series but deals with the Masai, as well as vitamins A & D, which we now know work in synergy (along with K2). Here’s an excerpt:

…However, their colleagues had previously noted marked differences in the infection rate of largely vegetarian African tribes versus their carnivorous counterparts. The following quote from Nutrition and Disease refers to two tribes which, by coincidence, Dr. Weston Price also described in Nutrition and Physical Degeneration:
“The high incidence of bronchitis, pneumonia, tropical ulcers and phthisis among the Kikuyu tribe who live on a diet mainly of cereals as compared with the low incidence of these diseases among their neighbours the Masai who live on meat, milk and raw blood (Orr and Gilks), probably has a similar or related nutritional explanation. The differences in distribution of infective disease found by these workers in the two tribes are most impressive. Thus in the cereal-eating tribe, bronchitis and pneumonia accounted for 31 per cent of all cases of sickness, tropical ulcers for 33 per cent, and phthisis for 6 per cent. The corresponding figures for the meat, milk and raw blood tribe were 4 per cent, 3 per cent and 1 per cent.”
So they set out to test the theory under controlled conditions. Their first target: puerperal sepsis. This is an infection of the uterus that occurs after childbirth. They divided 550 women into two groups: one received vitamins A and D during the last month of pregnancy, and the other received nothing. Neither group was given instructions to change diet, and neither group was given vitamins during their hospital stay. The result, quoted from Nutrition and Disease:
“The morbidity rate in the puerperium using the [British Medical Association] standard was 1.1 per cent in the vitamin group and 4.7 in the control group, a difference of 3.6 per cent which is twice the standard error (1.4), and therefore statistically significant.”
This experiment didn’t differentiate between the effects of vitamin A and D, but it did establish that fat-soluble vitamins are important for resistance to bacterial infection.

So, there appears to be a dietary factor as well, which should make perfect sense, since we evolved over millions of years outdoors, at latitudes appropriate to our skin’s ability to produce vitamin D, and we ate real foods—not nutritionally bankrupt serial grains and all the processed crap they make from them now.

Just one more thing. How about cancer? While I looked but could find no references for cancer rates in the Masai, I do have some epidemiology for various cancers by vitamin D levels as well as latitude.

It’s from this very long and complex presentation: Dose-Response of Vitamin D and a Mechanism for Prevention of Cancer (PDF). Cedric F. Garland, Dr.P.H., F.A.C.E., Edward D. Gorham, M.P.H., Ph.D., Sharif B. Mohr, M.P.H., and Frank C. Garland, Ph.D., Department of Family and Preventive Medicine
UCSD School of Medicine and Moores UCSD Cancer Center, December 2, 2008.

This first slide is a plot of renal cancer rates in males (left) and females (right).

What do you make of that? Can anyone think of anything that might explain it better, with less assumptions (Occam’s Razor style) than vitamin D?

Dose-response relationships from cohort studies were used to estimate the number and percent of cancer cases that could be prevented worldwide by vitamin D3 supplementation:

Basically, what this estimates is that keeping your level of 25(OH) above 50 ng/ml dramatically reduces your risk of cancer.

And so now, given the above, I see no reason anyone should not be setting about to ensure it. And eat real food while you’re at it and better your chances even more.

Here’s the list of cohort studies that were used in that last graph:

Gorham ED, et al. Am J Prev Med. 2007;32:210-6.
Garland CF, et al. Am Assoc Ca Res Mtg San Diego April 14, 2008
Li H, et al. PLoS Med. 2007;4:103.
Tworoger SS, et al. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2007;16:783-8.
Mohr SB, et al. Prev Med. 2007;45:323-4.
Mohr SB, et al. Int J Cancer. 2006;119:2705-9.
Purdue MP, et al. Cancer Causes Control. 2007;18:989-99.
Lappe JM, et al. Am J Clin Nutr. 2007;85:1586-91.

What Do You Do When You’re Sick?

January 25, 2012 66 Comments

Last evening, I went to dinner with Dave Asprey of BulletProofExcec, Grace—AKA Dr. BG—of AnimalPharm (link removed), and Patrick, creator of PaleoHacks. Grace’s lovely sister and my lovely wife Beatrice were also in attendance. It was at Birk’s, in Santa Clara. They have grassfed steaks. Dave knew this, and actually metioned it in the podcast I recorded with him a couple of weeks back—which should come out soon.

And then, that asshole Patrick ordered a dozen oysters on the half shell and being the hog I am, I downed four of them. And within an hour or less, already having ordered and received my grassfed filet, I had them box it for me. I excused myself from the table, went out, found a secluded flower pot, and did exactly what my dogs do when they don’t feel quite right.

The difference is, I didn’t return to it.

I have no idea what the human reluctance to vomit is all about. When you feel like you need to blow chunks, fucking blow chunks! And guess what? You’ll feel immeasurably better almost instantly. Why do you insist on putting your will to not be embarrassed, beyond your physiological nature?

And guess what else? Why not trust your inner animal? It’s telling you that something is very fucking wrong. Why try to overcome that physical urge with a potentially lifesaving natural physical response. You can actually die from a bad enough dose of bad shit. Really. It’s happened. And for the sake of saving face, you’re going to feel like crap for hours, suck it up, and take the risk? Not me.

Flower pot. Yea, there were oyster chunks in that shit.

I got this email earlier that motivated me to this post, and I’d intended on taking a post break for today.

I’m really enjoying your blog and looking forward to your forum starting up. In the meantime, I have a question regarding a recent experience of mine. I was the unfortunate victim of food poisoning earlier this week, and was wondering what I could have done to recover from it. I’m familiar with the BRAT diet, and realize that half of that formula isn’t paleo friendly. So what kind of diet is recommended for a stomach that’s recovering from some kind of insult? I ended up eating bananas and applesauce, but wondered what else I could have eaten to help me recover.

Here’s how I replied:

I do just like a typical animal does, even my dogs. At the slightest hint of a problem, I stop eating until I feel better. You don’t eat anything; you rather, divert all resources to healing. Your body already has all it needs. Yes, you may deplete certain nutrients somewhat, but if you eat nutritionally dense you’ll quickly fill them again when you are hungry and feel good, at which point you eat.

Once again, it’s always about “what do I eat”: to cleanse, to lose weight, to recover from illness.

How about: Try Nothing.

I hadn’t eaten much yesterday and after that experience, had no desire of food until about 11AM. Anticipating this, I had set my filet out all morning to get up to room temp. I fired and basted two sunny eggs in butter, set them aside and re-seared my $32 untouched filet in the same butter. It was all awesome.

…The coolest place I ever emptied a stomach was on the island of Diego Garcia in the dead middle of the Indian Ocean—about 2 deg south of the equator, if I recall correctly. We’d been 60 days at sea, we arranged for an officer’s kinda dinner ball with gold cummerbunds & all—or crumb catchers, as you prefer—and we went to town.

I think I lost it the most when Erik, a fellow officer friend of mine, got up and toasted to true manly character, defined as whether or not you get out of the shower to pee.

Vitamin K2, Menatetrenone, Weston A. Price Activator X…or Whatever…It’s Amazing

January 24, 2012 169 Comments

Among the many hacks we do in this Paleosphere, pushing out crap food in favor of real, nutrient dense food has to be the biggest bang for the buck. As I’ve blogged before but is hard to overemphasize, nutritional density counts for Big Lots. For review: 4 ounces of liver vs. 5 pounds of mixed fruit. And a loaf of bread vs. an equal caloric intake of beef liver or salmon.

There’s really two, maybe three ways to approach this whole deal. As in my post of yesterday regarding the health & longevity spectrum, one approach is to simply eat a good amount of real food, even if unaware of what the bad stuff is. The other, most notably my friend Dr. kurt harris‘ approach, is to be primarily proscriptive; i.e., cut out the neolithic agents of disease (NAD: flour, sugar, vegetable oils). The second approach is obviously superior because it gets you to the first approach anyway, and with more knowledge.

A third approach, however, might be to go with the second, above, but combined with really zeroing in on high nutritional density—focussing on it. This is what I’m gravitating toward. In that endeavor, both Dr. Stephan Guyenet and Ad. (almost doctor) Chris Masterjohn have always been my go-to guys. Over years of reading their stuff, one thing always seems to ring important: nutritional density.

…And it was via both of them that I first became enamored of the nutrient which is the subject of this post. It was June of 2008, when Stephan did his first post on the subject. That led me to Chris Masterjohn‘s very extensive article on it from February of the same year.

I’m an integrator, a synthesizer…rather than doing anything really original. I hate jigsaw puzzles, but seem to like connecting dots…and all these dots just seemed to fall into place.

At this point, I’m just going to point you to the number of posts I’ve done on Vitamin K2 that seem to signal that it’s somewhat of a “miracle” nutrient. But not really. I don’t buy into any of the “superfood” crap, really—unless maybe you’re talking beef liver, oysters, mussels, fish roe, etc…and who does that? In point of fact, it’s not a miracle at all but rather, something that was relatively plentiful in ancestral diets and is almost absent now—with the possible exception of those of the low-fat paradigm who “cheat” on good cheese.

So rather, let me tell a story.

To preface it, I must mention a dentist of the early 20th century, Weston A. Price, who had a clever idea. Rather than try to find out directly why he had teenager patients with rotted teeth to the tune of 1 in 3, and whom he was fitting for dentures—not to mention the corrective orthodontic work that often needed doing—he set out to find out if there were populations without either of those problems (rotten teeth and crowded teeth).

He found it in spades. You can read all about it for free with lots of photos, courtesy of Project Gutenberg: Nutrition and Physical Degeneration, published in 1939, I believe. Over about 10 years in the 1920s and 30s, he and his wife travelled the world to seek out primitive populations that were out of normal contact and trade with the modern world. That is, they lived by their own means. He found what I consider to be three very important things: almost no dental cavities (about 1 tooth in 1,000 vs. 1 in 3 in the modern world), wide dental bridges (no need for “braces”), and near effortless childbirth (wide birth canals in females). To round things out, he came home and used what he found to correct tooth decay in his patients. That is, he got cavities to remineralize.

Now we’re talkin’ minerals, the unifying, connect-the-dots theme!

It was in the mid and late 90’s when I began to have regular appointments with the dentist and his hygienist. They referred me to a periodontist, a surgeon who specializes in gum issues. Seems I had some “deep pockets,” as they call them, towards the back of my molars where cleanings could not get to. (I had both corrective orthodontics—”braces”—as a kid, and had my “wisdom” teeth pulled in college—and loved the “percs”.)

…Never did I stop to wonder how animals in the wild can possibly manage…without regular brushing, flossing, cleanings and…dental surgery.

Because I was still struggling along in business, several years away from hitting a stride, I just opted for the cleanings every three months over the surgery that would set me back a few thousand. I had no insurance, and wasn’t interested in having any of you—or anyone else—pay my way. …I’m so fucking weird about that shit…

In 2001, with things looking up, I went for the dental surgery—two of them…one side top & bottom, then the other. It helped. While I still had to use the numbing mouthwash before each cleaning, it was more effective in those deep pocket areas that used to catapult me to the ceiling in pain when the hygienist would probe them with her sharp poker. This went on for years. The surgery was like a reset button. OK, now 3 cleanings per year, and while things are back to reasonable, it’s still only a progression until such time that surgery is required again. Wash. Rinse. Repeat.

And then in 2008 everything changed. I attribute it to both the better paleo diet, but also the micronutrient; again, the subject of the post.

I initially went with Green Pastures Butter Oil capsules, and that was remarkable. After a couple of rounds, I went on the cheap and got the synthetic drops from Thorne. Didn’t notice much difference either way and so later, I began with the K2 Complex from Life Extension Foundation—that I remained on up until a few months ago. The small gel caps were convenient. But the thing is, some of the luster went out of the whole experience. I seemed to still get calculus buildup on my teeth and they felt “rough” in a number of places. It’s especially severe on the inside of the lower front teeth. I would at times stick a wooden toothpick through there and important chunks of mineralized deposits would break off.

I still had cleanings; and while things were actually improving rather than getting worse, there was really nothing to write home about. But still, I haven’t had a cleaning in at least over a year. It may be approaching 2 years…and the dentist office has stopped calling to schedule.

I was kind of getting to the point of forgetting about the whole problem, comfortable in the knowledge that things weren’t optimal, but at least not totally out of hand, as they were before.

But a few months ago, I ordered the original butter oil from Green Pastures—Price’s original formulation. I noticed some improvement over the first several days, much like I recall from the beginning. It’s in the smoothness of your teeth, particularly upon waking in the morning. And I thought…huh…why not go the distance? So, when my first two bottles ran out and I re-ordered again, this time I also got the fermented cod liver oil caps. Two caps per day of each and the measurable results have been nothing short of phenomenal.

Gobsmacking phenomenal!

But shit-hell all over the place…it goes to all that bullshit on the Internet, does’t it? Yea, some berry from the rain forrest that 99% of the evolved people on Planet Earth never ate is some “superfood” you just can’t do without. Well, guess what? The nutrient I’ve been talking about is relatively prevalent in all natural diets—so long as you eat the whole thing. At the equator. At the arctic. At sea level. At 16,000 feet. And everyplace in between. Just eat the whole animal.

…Or, as a modern person like me, find ways to supplement when you aren’t regularly chowing down on bone marrow, organs, fish eggs and the like.

So to conclude the story, here I sit, about 10 years after having gum surgery with before and after experiences of several major teeth cleanings per year and I really don’t even find a need to brush my teeth. I can literally go days and my teeth remain as though they were pearls in an oyster shell and my tongue is the flesh that explores them. And my gums have not the slightest hint of inflammation, swelling, or anything of the sort. It is remarkable.

Whatever.

Aside from the weight loss via paleo that got me started on this track in the first place: this, of all things, has been the most remarkably significant and easy to verify aspect of the whole deal. …And while supplementing vitamin D has also seemed to have a big impact, I don’t really have concrete results I can point too. Yea, Beatrice and I rarely, if ever, get sick anymore, and I seem to be able to kill a cold in a day or two by upping the D sups, but it’s simply not so much of a concrete and profound result confounded by variables and randomness as has been the K2, given my history of teeth and gum issues.

Update: 2 things. First, someone mentioned in comments about bleeding gums, especially during brushing. Yes, that too. I always used to bleed when brushing and haven’t done so a single time in years, now.

Second, someone wanted the product links to what I use. I didn’t put them in there originally because I didn’t want people to assume I had any affiliate relationship. I don’t. I use the capsule form of these: butter oil, and fermented cod liver oil.

Update 2: This just in, a pretty good TEEVEE video on K2, though it doesn’t make any distinction between subforms. But listen for the theme, about K2 being the thing that causes calcium to go where it should (bones & teeth) and not where it shouldn’t (soft tissues like coronary arteries). Been saying it since 2008.

I blogged about this book back here.

The Paleo Health & Longevity Spectrum

January 23, 2012 36 Comments

Got a comment from longtime reader, commenter and fellow pilot, Bill Strahan.

…Have you considered looking at or writing about why you pursue what you do in regards to diet, exercise, and health?
For me I consider it a triple point optimization: I want to feel great, I want to perform well, and I want to live a long time. If I have any bias amongst the three, it’s for performance. I enjoy competing physically.
So, would you trade performance (let’s lump sports and sex together) for longevity or vice versa? Healthy, active sex life until 78 at which point you drop dead, or sex until 70, and then just kinda hanging around till 85?
There are many points at which all three points benefit from the same choice. Take hydrogenated oil as an example. Eliminating it will result in longer life, better performance, and better health. But what happens when you’ve taken all the low hanging fruit and what’s left is to either just take what you’re getting, or specifically choose options that will favor one value over another.
Obviously you see where my head is these days. I’m your junior by many years at 44, but I do wonder how a triple point optimization like this resonates with you. And if it does, what are your biases?

It’s an interesting set of interconnected questions. I don’t have any sure answers and even if I did, who’s to say my priorities—and hence answers to the questions—don’t change over time? I turn 51 on Sunday. My dad turned 74 this last Saturday. …He’s spent the last 10 days doing the painting cost estimate for the new San Francisco 49ers Stadium in Santa Clara, and tells me he probably has another 9 or 10 days to go. He keeps active and working, and he has to meticulously go over complex, large project blueprints and specifications (he can bid painting on any project, no matter size & scope, and has been for 40 years). …Don’t get him started an architects who use boilerplate specs. Especially after a couple of drinks around a campfire…

Considering these questions requires in some sense, at least to me, taking a look back at my ancestry. I had the rare privilege of growing up not only with 4 grandparents alive until well into my 30s, but having all of them living in the same city: Reno, NV. And I even had a great grandmother who didn’t die until I was 28! Yea…Depression era…she left home with a guy, and got knocked up young with my grandmother (14 yrs old, if I recall). Of course, in these days today, my great grandfather—whom I never knew—would have been a “molester” felon serving a prison sentence. …And how might that have effected lives & legacies downstream?

But we’re so “progressive.”

At any rate, they were all lovers of life…good food, parties—and most were smokers and drinkers. My maternal grandfather and grandmother were avid fishermen, and deer & bird hunters. My childhood focussed substantially on hunting and fishing trips and often, just day trips…like to Pyramid Lake. And we lived right alongside the Truckee River where my grandfather taught me to tie my own flies and then use them to catch fish. I saw him many times catch dozens of trout on a summer afternoon after a long day in his on-site workshop where, as a lifelong artist—but needing to make a living—did most of the hand painted sign work for Reno’s most prominent casinos. This was back when all the sign work was done by hand.

With the exception of my paternal grandfather—who used to tell me stories of how they, as German soldiers, would make fun of all the Hail Hitler saluting and genuflecting bullshit they had to do—all the other grandparents and the great grandmother were overweight. Not obese, just standard plump for old people in the 60s, 70s and then 80s.

And all five of them lived into their 80s. And for most, they lived pretty active lives until reasonably near the end. (Side note: one of my dad’s grandmothers whom I never met, lived to 96, in Germany). The great grandmother had dementia of a sort not diagnosed, but this happened after she was 80, and she made it to 85.

Not a single one of them darkened the door of a gym their whole lives. Three of them smoked until they died, my paternal grandmother quit early on and my maternal grandfather quit in his mid-60s, but was the first of all of them to die, of leukemia.

And so, what am I to make of all of this?

I’ll tell you what, and it’s the very most important thing: they all loved good real food. They all knew how to source and prepare their own food, did so daily, and some of them hunted & fished it. I don’t have a single recollected image of any of them eating a fast food meal, though I’m sure it happened. Yea, and in particular, my maternal grandmother, she had typical crap in a box around…but they were of a different culture in that, you simply didn’t sit down and go through a bag of chips or crackers.

I think that the eating of real quality food is absolutely the most important thing you can do—especially if you eat crap sometimes.

No matter what else you do in terms of indulgences, addictions, or anything else, make sure to get plenty of high quality, nutrient dense food regularly. Then, feel free to up your game, as many of us do around here.

None of this answers Bill’s questions, of course, but it does give you something to consider when figuring out that’s going to work for you.

For example, what if you just hate everything about the gym? There’s nothing you try that you like. Let’s say that going to the gym and doing the prescribed intense exercises gives you five extra years of life. But if you hate it, are those estimated extra years worth 40, 50, 60 years in the gym 2-3 times per week…doing something you hate?

That’s an analogy for the essence of the tradeoff. It means you have to really think about what your values are and determine a sensible way to pursue them.

In some sense, I just wonder if optimality is rather a fools chase, ending up in diminished returns because you did a lot of stuff you didn’t really enjoy, ending up diminishing you’re life with not much, little or less to show for it.

But eating a lot of good real food? If you don’t want that, then you’re dysfunctional and so who cares? But if you do, then the other things might not be so important as you might believe.

C’mon Man!

January 23, 2012 3 Comments

One of the more amusing parts of Monday Night Football is the C’mon Man! segment.

It’s exactly what I thought first, when I saw Charles Barkley doing the “Lose Like a Man” campaign for Weight Watchers and then today, I see Terry Bradsaw in there for Nutrisystem.

C’mon Man!

Let’s review, men: Meat. Fish. Fowl. Vegetables. Fruits. Cook. Hunt it if you like. Eat like a man, man. C’mon!

So Richard, How’s the New Paleo 101 Book Going So Far?

January 21, 2012 30 Comments

I’m so glad you asked.

But first, thanks so much to the hundreds of you who’ve popped for it, with zero refunds (just confirmed by the publisher). I’m in this for the long haul, which means: I want there to be something out there that’s inexpensive, quick, easy to read and gets that random person motivated and excited to begin right now…Today: you can be on your way to a better life inside of 3 hours or so!

I got an email from the totally awesome Denise Minger yesterday.

…Opened your book with the intention of “taking a peek”… and a few later I’m at the last page barely aware that any time had passed.
THAT is the mark of a good book.
Comprehensive, engaging, and fabulously written. When I get emails from people asking for the best health resources, this puppy is now on the list.
Truly awesome job, Richard. You should be really proud of this. Let me know if I can do anything to help spread the word.

It was almost embarrassing to read, given the exhaustive nature of what that cute little smarty pants does. Red-faced & happy, I guess you could say. Relieved, too. 🙂

Of course, there was a risk in disappointing the long time readers with what might be perceived as a review of lots of info they already know. Thankfully, that’s not what I’m hearing. in addition to the many positive tweets and Facebook comments—and comments on the blog—the Amazon reviews at the time of this writing are still batting 1,000.

Raf Laurent just posted a question/comment on the FTA Facebook page:

Rich I’m a huge fan and I’m curious what makes your book different???

That’ll be answered in the Amazon reviews I’m going to copy into this post right now. So here they are, 10 so far, all 5-star.

Betsy in Portland, Or:

Richard Nikoley came to paleo as an already-established entrepreneur, whipsmart independent thinker, and no-holds-barred individualist.
And he brings all of those characteristics (regularly visible on the Free the Animal blog he created to talk about his paleolithic journey) to this book, distilled from both popular posts on his site and augmented by pointers to other sources, resources and leading ancestral thinkers.
It’s the book I wish I would have had last April, when I came to paleo as an obese 40-something woman flirting with type 2 diabetes and recently diagnosed with high blood pressure & metabolic syndrome. (And after dragging myself, kicking & screaming to the paleo side of the fence – what, no baking bread any more? AIIIEEE? – I’ve rid myself of all of the labels, significantly lowered my blood pressure & lost 42 lbs in 8 months.)
Richard’s no-nonsense style and ability to reference compelling facts (without bombarding you with statistical analyses & charts up the yin-yang to make his point) just makes sense. And since an average reader can blast through it in an evening & the book costs less than an overpriced fancy-schmancy coffee drink? There’s no real excuse to avoid buying this book.
If you, too, like to think of yourself as a smart, independent thinker and *your* health and well-being matter to you, that is.

Maria from Planet Earth (I’m assuming):

I love the way Richard tells a story, in a matter of fact way, to the point you feel like you’re talking to the guy at a pub or coffee house. Very intimate and friendly read about his journey from an unhealthy lifestyle to the paleo lifestyle. (There are plenty of links for the research enthusiasts.)
When you finish the book, you long for a second… so that you can revisit that pub with Richard and have another fascinating discussion about living life to its fullest.
Read it and enjoy!

Primal Pig, also, from Planet Earth—and that needs no assuming:

I’ve been paleo-ish for about two years now, and wish I had this easy to read, no flub e-book from the beginning. Not that I don’t appreciate the longer round about journey I took to get to where I am now, but Richard’s Free the Animal hits it right on the head. He digests a lot of the very compelling data out there from Paleo/Primal resources all over and makes it so straightforward that it’s hard to fail.
Just eat REAL food – meat, veggies, fats, eggs, nuts and occasional fruit; no processed grains (and even whole grains are just that – processed), seed/grain oils or sugar. But Richard also puts special emphasis on humans as ANIMALS, instinctively eating when and what their bodies need in order to stay vibrant, lean and alert.
You’ll possibly want to flesh out your knowledge afterwards with a few books from Robb Wolf, Mark Sisson or Loren Cordain if you feel the need to intellectualize it to your peers, but this book gives you all you need to get back on to the healthy path we’ve been carving out for hundreds of millions of years.
And lastly, I love that Richard went the e-book route as it makes it so accessible as well as empowers most readers to instantly validate his resources… a steal @ $3.99!

Darren Reed:

Simple, practical, no holds barred paleo for those who like to eat big, lift heavy, be lean and live well. Richard knows his stuff and his easy to understand, no holds barred writing style is a joy to read. Like a fine single malt whisky, this is paleo eating and living distilled perfectly down to its essence. Must have.

J. Jones “Bones” from Arizona:

For those that aren’t interested in delving into the medical mumbo jumbo of some of the other paleo books, Richard does a great job of getting to the meat of issues and ignoring the fluff. If you are a fan of his blog, this book is a must read. If you’re just starting to research and read about the paleo diet, add this to your list and think about reading it first so you can get all the basics (and nothing that isn’t needed).

John Cole:

Using the ideas and advice found in Richard’s book, I have lost seventy pounds and no longer have to take blood pressure or cholesterol medications.
I have never felt better physically or psychologically. Physically I can eat “real foods” until I’m full- I NEVER go hungry. Psychologically, I feel confident in the idea that my weight troubles now make sense: eating “processed” foods, developing insulin resistance from a diet high in refined sugars, and believing the myth that all fats are created equal and, therefore, inherently evil.
Richard’s book focuses a great deal on listening to your body and experimenting with real foods and how you respond to them. For example, I can tolerate dairy with little trouble while others struggle with digesting them. In the end, Richard stresses listening to your body and following the basic principles of eating real food.
No diet is for everyone, but I recommend taking a look at the ideas found in this book. It has changed my life for the better and for that I am eternally grateful.

Will:

I’ve recently read Wolf’s paleo Solution and Nikoley’s Free the Animal. I think they are exact compliments. Wolf – TONS of info to justify nearly every assertion in the work. Important and helpful for a certain crowd. Nikoley – well, concision is the word. Short, sweet, to the point. Exactly what a bunch of people need, who aren’t looking to know all the medical ins and outs, but simply want the goods on “how to.” I’d recommend this book in a heart-beat as a first-rate intro to a Primal/Paleo way of eating. Not quite the “colorful” language you get on his blog, but if you read him much you can sort of fill in the expected… Read it – you’ll be glad you did!

Robert Rio from Florida:

For me the chief benefit of paleo has come from preparing my own meals instead of just heating processed food in the microwave. That by itself has made a tremendous difference in my life.
Cooking was a totally alien, incomprehensible practice to me until fairly recently. I learned a lot of what I know about cooking from Richard, he de-mystifies it and explains it in terms that the cooking-challenged can understand and replicate in the real world. He doesn’t present recipes written by professional chefs and leave it at that, he presents his dinner and explains how you can make it yourself.

twoidhd from Oklahoma:

I’ve been following Richard for a couple of years and this is a great starter book if you are interested in the paleo way of life. He covers it all in a short, direct, and thorough way. It’s all here….all you need to do is follow the ideas laid out in this book.
Good luck with your journey.
It’s worked for me. I’ve lost 100lbs since going paleo and have never been in better shape in my adult life.

And finally, Jimmy Moore who was the very first up with a review, which is cross-posted to both his blog and Amazon. It’s longish, so go to his blog to read it. Here’s the first paragraph.

I have been a BIG FAN of the writings and work of paleo health blogger Richard Nikoley from the insanely-popular “Free The Animal” blog for several years and consider him a great friend and champion of what healthy living is really all about. His no-holds-barred style is in-your-face and unapologetic as he seeks to help others find the health and weight changes that have eluded them for years. Sure, he can be a bit rough around the edges for some people with his colorful, expressive language. But it’s indicative of a sincere passion that runs deep and wide at the root of everything Nikoley shares with the paleo community through his thought-provoking posts. With the highly-interactive e-book Free The Animal: Lose Weight & Fat With The paleo Diet, he is taking the best of everything he has personally learned through this journey and wrapping it up in a convenient package designed to arm virtually anyone who desires weight loss and vastly improved health to make it happen for themselves. There are so many clickable links to a treasure trove of information included in this e-book that you’ll spend months trying to go through them all!

And dear Chris Highcock from Scotland, who has been an Internet friend from day one, also blogged about it.

And Erwan Le Corre of MovNat lent me a hand as well.

I thank you all, am humbled by the support, and in particular, the clever, individual ways you have found to send the message of what this is about.

I didn’t write it for you, stalwart readers. I wrote it for the people you love the most.

Once You Find Me Boorish, Crude, and No Longer Worth Your Time…Success Has Been Achieved

January 20, 2012 44 Comments

Am I a hero? Or, am I a villain?

Are you getting tired of me? I would certainly hope so if you’ve been at this paleo thing for a while. C’mon. Get a life!

…The most interesting thing that happened today was that I had to get my ass out of bed earlier, go through the emails, walk the dogs & hit the road for the hour & a half drive to SF and Union Square to meet up with young Julian Smith at the Daily Gill for breakfast: already an NYT best-selling author in his 20s…part way through his second book and beginning work on his third.

I seek out intelligence. I seek out perceptiveness. I seek out people who take almost nothing for granted and realize they have one tiny little life shot…to make of it the best they can. And Julien typifies this attitude. And he’s young. And I don’t think he’s alone.

He’s not alone by any means. And do you know what? Fuck history. Yea. Fuck History! The future is immeasurably more important, and the future is so easy to find. You can have good coffee, eggs, & bacon with the future. Just sit down and talk about very serious shit with an intelligent, informed, perceptive 20-something, sometime. Whether you like it or not, you’re talking to the future.

OK, go grab a history book if you like, get out the Ouija Board, and make your profecies of how we’re doomed to repeat it. Or, or, and or again…just go talk to the future. Persuade the future. Educate the future. See what the future really has in mind. Cram an insight or two down its throat if you can. Or, learn new insights and perspectives. Or do both. Focus on the future and its running around, all around you. Do young people in general irritate and annoy you? Then so does the future. What are you doing about that? Citing history?

One thing’s for sure: that rocket sled is leaving the station. Boarding is free. Its path and destination are unsure. History, by contrast, is sure: set in the concrete and stone of interpretation. But, it’s…history. Get it?

Alright, let me give a passing, glancing nod to history: most of these bright 20-somethings will eventually be corrupted. They’ll be corrupted, largely, by the very same or similar things that corrupted us…motivating us to live for “ideals” that were not our own. We didn’t became news junkies and voting booth whores because that’s the life we wanted. All that worthless bullshit just became the next lottery ticket sold to typical fools in a life largely abandoned.

The lottery comes out weekly for a reason.

…I returned a few calls on the drive up, and one was to a longtime business mentor of mine. In 1992, with about $250 to my name, two failed entrepreneurial endeavors in the category of “history”—as well as $50,000 of savings in the same category—and rent due soon, I risked $89 on his book on how to renegotiate and settle trade debt for troubled companies. I got the book on a Thursday or Friday, and on Monday afternoon, got my first client. I proceeded to make about $250,000 in my bedroom that first year…with the help of my mom, who was looking for a way out of doing day care. I subsequently built it into a company with 30 employees, a few office locations and over $3 million annual revenues.

In the early initial run up to that, “Bud” offered private consultations beyond the book. I availed myself of them from time-to-time, at a discount from his $250/hr consultation rate. Bud also put together a few conferences and I went to those, featured among a few others as success stories—and who, like them, could not so much as take a piss in the men’s room without questions from those clamoring for some measure of success.

Bud & I eventually became good friends; but when we talked, it was almost never about the “business,” but about other ideas and most of all, about great wine, food, and living life. Bud’s originally a Louisiana Cajun who loves life and all the good things that go with it.

So, I didn’t need Bud anymore for this business. But it never meant we were not going to be lifelong friends and confidants.

…Many years later, I learned something along the way, which is that you can learn something from any animal, even animal animals. Thinking back, in early 2007, I began to get hints of this whole paleo thing from putting my dogs on a more evolutionarily appropriate diet and observing their changing body compositions and hunger/satiation. …But now that my dear sweet Rotor-man just turned 13, his age is beginning to show and now, he has nothing more to teach me. It’s now to me to apply the principles I learned to nurture him for his last few years.

…There’s a bit of a tendency for people who’ve been at this a while to think that paleo has “jumped the shark,” when in all probability, it hasn’t even begun. In the words of Robb Wolf:

It’s like this shit really works!

And this is why that most will—and even should—get fucking bored and tired with me and move on.

What, have I ever even implied that you need me for the “next big thing?” …Yea and Right, I’ve been keeping it under wraps, doing self experiments…and any day now, am going to release the 4-Hour paleo? And then the 4-Hour paleo Kitchen, followed by the 4-Hour Paleo Bedroom, then the 4-Hour Paleo X? Etc? …All the while, growing my enormous cadre of sycophants?

Look. I’d love to have Tim’s money, influence, independence and so on. But the very last thing in the world I want is dependents.

Two dogs are plenty and a wife is enough.

It comes and it goes. My only objective is to keep the coming rate slightly above the going rate.

But when it’s time to go, go! Pop in from time to time and let me know how it’s going.

In the meantime, I plan to be here to help and assist the next wave of fat asses you see around you.

My market is in minds and fat asses. I simply want the smart fat asses for the two or three years it takes to fix the fat ass and make the mind even better. And those who can’t seem to get to the point where they can begin to figure this out on their own, well…

There’s blogs for that.

But this insn’t really one of them.

“The Animal Club”

January 19, 2012 91 Comments

So I’ve chosen the name of the forum and I hope you detect the double entendre.

The developers are now working to install and configure. I’ll be using the bbPress platform for its clean and streamlined pizzaz. One of the big reasons I hardly use forums is for all the clutter bullshit.

I also have designers coming up with a cool banner & logo. I’ll keep the concept for that under wraps until it’s done.

Now this is going to disappoint some, perhaps a lot…and some will accuse me of scandalous behavior for having the audacity to actually charge money for anything I spend hours upon hours on…but this is going to be a premium service. It’s not going to hurt the blog, which will always be completely free and open; but in fact, will actually improve the blog—as that will be the chief means of attracting new paid subscribers to the forum in measured doses.

First of all, feedback for the idea was almost unanimously positive. At the time I popped off the post with the idea, it was off the cuff and I hadn’t even considered making it a premium service. When feedback seemed positive, I went out checking around, getting advice. And then I kept running into the same realization: the true quality forums are paid subscriptions. It’s a place where the truly serious can go to commune and communicate free of spam, marketing innuendo, trolls, aggressive harassment and the list goes on.

What’ll it cost? $50.01 per year. Not $49.95, $49.99, or any silly bullshit like that. $50.01. And yes, though I haven’t worked out details, there will be opportunities for free trials, a refund policy, et cetera, et cetera. And I’ll be giving away memberships for the price of jumping through a hoop or two.

Rather than thinking of it as a forum, I prefer to think of it as a club, a pub, or what have you. Serious on the one hand, fun and lively on the other. I plan to choose the top level forum topics wisely and I welcome all suggestions as such. Needless to say, there will be zero moderation.

…So now to drop the other shoe.

For some time I have wanted to host a weekly live video broadcast using VOKLE. The problem is, frankly, it’s too much work to do for free, at least for me. The other problem is that it’s a bit like the blog comments in that they are primarily directed at me, author of 99.9% of the posts. I wasn’t convinced enough people would pay for it. But forums are different as I’ve come to realize. You create the topics, and then replies are directed primarily at you. You get to be a “blogger” on my blog.

But as part of The Animal Club, having a live video show with only club members fielding questions, having co-hosts and special guests…perhaps it becomes workable and viable. We’ll see.

While this is geared toward the role of the host or producer, it’s a good short demo of how this works to take both live video questions and live text questions from the viewing audience. It’s 34 seconds so everyone has to watch it. That’s the rule: under a minute and everyone has to watch.

Here’s a description of the various features.

So, yea, I plan to have co-hosts from the membership—maybe even members as exclusive hosts, sometimes. And I plan to bring in special guests, perhaps 1/3 to 1/2 of the shows. It’ll have some sort of format, like a monologue in the beginning, otherwise known as BULLSHIT!.

To gear up for this aspect of the Club, I’m going to do a minimum of two shows open to all. The first one will stream live next week, and another the week after. I’ll try to have a co-host for one, and a special guest for the other. You all know how forums work, but do you know live video shows?

So there you have it. More info as it develops and I’ll try to do some real blogging as well.

And BTW, book sales are going very well. Thank you all so much. Feedback has been almost uniformly positive. Amazon Reviews are solid 5-star, so far, and I would love to have more reviews—even if that’s not the rating you would give it. For the many of yooz still waiting for it to show up on the non-US Amazon sites, all the settings have been verified as correct, so it’s only a matter of time. I apologize for the delay.

Onward. To Bigger and Better.

Photos of Yesterday

January 17, 2012 4 Comments

Beatrice took some photos yesterday of our outing to Capitola. Since I’ve already posted two entries for today, why not go for broke and just do a third?

It was an epic day, much like we’ve been having regularly, with temps into the low 70s even—in mid January. I’ve sunbathed in the backyard a couple of times.

The Wife Unit

There were lots of people out. Don’t think it was nearly 70 on this day, and there was a breeze and bit of chill factor. Father down the beach, kids were surfing. All but two had wet suits on. But two of them had but only board shorts and bare skin.

I thought of my many experiments in the gym I used to go to with the cold plunge and sitting neck deep in 40 degree water for up to 15 minutes. I doubt these two kids were as focussed on the cold as I was. They were actively engaged.

Do You Animals Want a Forum?

January 17, 2012 63 Comments

Well, the question is presented.

Do you want one, as raucously paleo as I can make it? No moderation except obvious spam? Let me know what you think in comments. And if you rarely or never comment but would participate in a forum, I’d especially like to hear from you and to get your insight as to why.

I’ll try to make the topic selections unique and intriguing.

Update: More details here.

He “Woks” the Talk and Talks to the Wok

January 17, 2012 26 Comments

Every now and then I see something that simply must be shared immediately. But more than that, promoted.

Since I’m not the only one with a great talent for entertaining those who show up, I often like to highlight those with far less talent, but who try hard. …Are you kidding me?…because, I don’t kid myself; this guy needs his own show—like, right now. Even if I hate him.

Here’s what you’re going to do immediately. You’re going to watch both of Nacho’s cooking videos. Why are you going to do this? You’re going to do this because 1) they’re fucking funny as hell, and 2) because you don’t want to be a fucking idiot who misses out.

Is that clear enough?

Funny jump cuts galore. Silly references. Bad English puns in a Spanish accent. In the end, watch them because, like me, you’re going to hate the mutherfucker for having the nerve to assemble so much fresh creativity in a paleo cooking scheme.

The first is a Chicken Curry. He didn’t prepare enough, though. He had to retreat to the basement for his wok. Watch for that. See? Dumb.

Here you go: Nacho Rubio or, as he tags himself in my comments, El Gourmet Espartano.

The second is a Seared Tuna with Gazpacho.

Alright, give him plenty of hate love in comments. He deserves it.

Oh, yea, he also has a blog, bit it’s in fucking Spanish.

A Day Off From Book Promotion

January 16, 2012 11 Comments

I did not expect to be spending all weekend drumming up interest for my Beyond the Blog book. In fact, I had not planned to do anything at all until tomorrow, given the weekend, holiday, etc.

And then I asked myself: is that how you do things, Richard? And so I just went for it, timing be dammed. Of course, there were snags & issues. For instance, the Kindle and Nook versions did not have images showing up, so the Hyperink folks worked into Saturday evening to get that resolved (supposedly, the updated version will push out to those of you who were the early birds). Also, the head editor on my project left the company at some point last week and I guess some of the last edits we made didn’t get into the published manuscript. Most of those were resolved too. There’s sill a few typos to fix, but that’ll happen soon. I’m also assured that the book will be available on international Amazon sites very soon.

And the print version, perhaps this week or next.

Sales have been nicely brisk, so I’m happy about that. A few reviews on Amazon too. Please, those of you who’ve read it, the best thing you can do to help is put a review on Amazon, secondarily B&N, and thirdly Hyperink. But Amazon is by far the most important for gaining exposure (such as Amazon making suggestions, etc.).

Thanks to all of you who’ve snagged it, and thanks for all the feedback. With dozens of emails, comments, tweets and Facebook input, I have received but a single negative judgment, and that was via a 3rd party, not directly.

Here’s a cool comment that came in today:

I’ve recently read Wolf’s and yours, Richard. I think they are exact compliments. Wolf – TONS of info to justify nearly every assertion in the work. Important and helpful for a certain crowd. Yours, well, concision is the word – short, sweet, to the point. Exactly what a bunch of people need, who aren’t looking to know all the medical ins and outs, but simply want the goods on “how to.” I’d recommend your book in a heart-beat. Fast read, fun read, and not nearly so “colorful” as you tend to be on here!!!

Thank you.

So, the depressurization began last evening with Beatrice picking up the tab for a New York steak and pear & gorgonzola salad at Chicago Steak & Fish in Los Gatos.

Steak Salad

Then mid-morning, we set out on a hike for an hour or so at Lexington Reservoir just outside of Los Gatos, CA.

Lexington Reservoir

Then it was over the hill on Hwy 17 to Capitola, where we had lunch at Paradise Beach Grille.

Paradise Beach Grille

How’s that for weather in mid January? I had Oysters, then Mussels in a spicy and sweet Thai curry.

Oysters

Mussels

Then we browsed around and I treated myself to a new pair of Maui Jim sunglasses.

Alright, it’s MLK day and I do have admiration for his stand on non-violent resistance via civil disobedience. Everyone loves the I have a dream speech and I appreciate it as well. It was playing on NPR on the trip over the hill. But for me, the most powerful thing ever from Dr. King was Letter From Birmingham Jail.

We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed. Frankly I have never yet engaged in a direct action movement that was “well timed,” according to the timetable of those who have not suffered unduly from the disease of segregation. For years now I have heard the word “Wait!” It rings in the ear of every Negro with a piercing familiarity. This “wait” has almost always meant “never.” It has been a tranquilizing thalidomide, relieving the emotional stress for a moment, only to give birth to an ill-formed infant of frustration. We must come to see with the distinguished jurist of yesterday that “justice too long delayed is justice denied.” We have waited for more than three hundred and forty years for our constitutional and God-given rights. The nations of Asia and Africa are moving with jet-like speed toward the goal of political independence, and we still creep at horse and buggy pace toward the gaining of a cup of coffee at a lunch counter.
I guess it is easy for those who have never felt the stinging darts of segregation to say wait. But when you have seen vicious mobs lynch your mothers and fathers at will and drown your sisters and brothers at whim; when you have seen hate filled policemen curse, kick, brutalize, and even kill your black brothers and sisters with impunity; when you see the vast majority of your twenty million Negro brothers smothering in an air-tight cage of poverty in the midst of an affluent society; when you suddenly find your tongue twisted and your speech stammering as you seek to explain to your six-year-old daughter why she can’t go to the public amusement park that has just been advertised on television, and see tears welling up in her little eyes when she is told that Funtown is closed to colored children, and see the depressing clouds of inferiority begin to form in her little mental sky, and see her begin to distort her little personality by unconsciously developing a bitterness toward white people; when you have to concoct an answer for a five-year-old son asking in agonizing pathos: “Daddy, why do white people treat colored people so mean?”; when you take a cross-country drive and find it necessary to sleep night after night in the uncomfortable corners of your automobile because no motel will accept you; when you are humiliated day in and day out by nagging signs reading “white” men and “colored”; when your first name becomes “nigger” and your middle name becomes “boy” (however old you are) and your last name becomes “John,” and when your wife and mother are never given the respected title “Mrs.”; when you are harried by day and haunted by night by the fact that you are a Negro, living constantly at tip-toe stance never quite knowing what to expect next, and plagued with inner fears and outer resentments; when you are forever fighting a degenerating sense of “nobodiness” — then you will understand why we find it difficult to wait. There comes a time when the cup of endurance runs over, and men are no longer willing to be plunged into an abyss of injustice where they experience the bleakness of corroding despair. I hope, sirs, you can understand our legitimate and unavoidable impatience.
You express a great deal of anxiety over our willingness to break laws. This is certainly a legitimate concern. Since we so diligently urge people to obey the Supreme Court’s decision of 1954 outlawing segregation in the public schools, it is rather strange and paradoxical to find us consciously breaking laws. One may well ask: “How can you advocate breaking some laws and obeying others?” The answer is found in the fact that there are two types of laws: There are just laws and there are unjust laws. I would be the first to advocate obeying just laws. One has not only a legal but moral responsibility to obey just laws. Conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws. I would agree with Saint Augustine that “An unjust law is no law at all.”

I try to read the whole thing once a year on this day. Onward.

The Wife Unit: The Lipid Panel That Keeps Going and Going

January 15, 2012 21 Comments

This is what my cooking can do for you

I’ve done posts in the past about both my wife’s and my blood work; our lipid panels. Interesting to me is how they’re so similar while our genetic lineage is so different. I’m northern Europe and she, hispanic.

So here’s the news.

Beas Lipid Panel

Now, of course, I really don’t think that cholesterol is a problem to be managed. Rather, your diet of Real Foods is what you manage. You manage your activity, your sleep and stress, and a healthy sex life. That’s what you manage and let the numbers be what they are.

Still, is is refreshing—or, in your face—to get the news that what you’re doing makes for a lipid panel that ought to be considered awesome by all but the stupidest of lipophobes who think no level of cholesterol is safe, and will focus on questionable studies and anecdotes that a total under 150 mg/dL is optimal for heart disease—ignoring that higher cholesterol equates to greater longevity from all causes of mortality, especially in women and the elderly.

Here’s the history from 2007, around the time I began cooking more Pleoish and lower carb. You can click both of these images for larger versions.

From 2007 to Present

So total and LDL have pretty much stayed constant while the HDL trend is up and the triglyceride trend is down, just what you want.

My previous reports here, here and here.

My “Beyond the Blog” Book is Available

January 14, 2012 53 Comments

Just a quick announcement that the book is finally available after the normal number of snags here & there, including the holidays getting in the way. I’ll perhaps have more to write about the book later.

I read through it very carefully last Saturday morning for the purpose of touch-ups here & there. I came away with the sense that I achieved my objective of making this a short read in an easy-to-understand style that will be the ideal book to give or recommend to friends, family, co-workers and colleagues—especially those who wonder what you’ve been up to in looking so good and never taking a sick day from work.

Yes, the title and marketing focus on weight and fat loss because that’s what everyone thinks it’s all about, primarily. But it’s far more than that. Primarily, it’s about thinking differently. Everything then flows from there including lots of information on health and nutrition. I do incorporate as much of my style as possible, in terms of essential ridicule of just about everything Conventional Wisdom…but I do it without vulgarity so, the book is safe for work and for grandma too.

I think this one stands a good shot at actually being read, perhaps more so than the 300-page books on the market. It keeps things pretty simple, to the point, and moves onto the next point.

I wanted a low price point for this, because I really want it to get out there and become the go-to book to introduce someone to paleo. So, the price of a fancy coffee concoction at Starbucks seemed about the way to go. It’s $3.99 for all of the e-versions (PDF, Kindle, Nook, iBook). The print version should be ready next week and of course, that will be a higher price point, but I’m not certain what, yet. It comes in at about 110 pages.

There are a number of free chapters you can read on line at Hyperink’s sales page for the book. That’s also the place to get the PDF version. For the other versions: Amazon Kindle and Barnes & Noble Nook. The Apple iBook comes later (I think) and definitely the print version.

Two other things. First, as primarily an e-book, I make heavy use of hyperlinks within the text. This is the way of the future—shorter books that assemble and synthesize information that’s available on the web. But, for those with devices that are not web-enabled or who opt for print, I will have up later today a page that gives all the links chapter-by-chapter, so nothing is left out. The URL is provided in the book. Second, also as an e-book, I can essentially update it and revise it as often as I want, even expand it. So, bring on the suggestions, references, better references than I already have, or whatever you think. Use my email for that, please. One advantage of getting the PDF version from Hyperink is that it comes with free lifetime updates.

Finally, I would greatly appreciate customer reviews at the three sales sites.

Update: I now have up a landing page with the TOC and introduction included.

Update 2: The amazingly comprehensive review by Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb man, Jimmy Moore.

Update 3: Stalwart Chris Highcock of Conditioning Research posts a review.

My Delayed Eulogy For The World’s Top Intellectual and Writer

January 13, 2012 36 Comments

I’m guessing many of my most astute readers will already know who this is about.

So let’s give a clue to everyone else by means of a quote.

Beware the irrational, however seductive. Shun the ‘transcendent’ and all who invite you to subordinate or annihilate yourself. Distrust compassion; prefer dignity for yourself and others. Don’t be afraid to be thought arrogant or selfish. Picture all experts as if they were mammals. Never be a spectator of unfairness or stupidity. Seek out argument and disputation for their own sake; the grave will supply plenty of time for silence. Suspect your own motives, and all excuses. Do not live for others any more than you would expect others to live for you.

I would really be hard pressed to come up with a better overall foundational essence for this thing we call “paleo.””

…And, “the grave will supply plenty of time for silence.” He was actually too humble to add something like, “unless you’re me.” He will never be silenced by his awful grave. Because…

The essence of the independent mind lies not in what it thinks, but in how it thinks.

And I could not, actually, hope or ask for a better guiding theme for what I do here; on this blog, and my promotion of a paleo / Primal / Ancestral paradigm. As you may gather from the foregoing, that’s all just application. That’s why: paleo is easy. Get the fundamental down. Rest. Easy.

Yea, the quote is Hitch. Or, Christopher Hitchens, who died some days back of esophageal cancer. I had wanted to toss up a post immediately, but. I waited.

I read all the “New Atheist” books (Dawkins, Dennett, Harris) but I remarked at the time that God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything was my favorite of the lot for its literary bent. Hitch was very well read and I think he must have noted that there were a disproportionate number of non-believing authors in the literature. I can only hope to take in some measure of the classics he did in the remainder of my lifetime. With Kindle and free books, that’s becoming exceedingly easy.

As an independent thinker himself, he championed independent thinkers. He was pretty much all over the map in his lifetime, from Trotskyite commie to partly champion of Republican conservatives and the Iraq War—except for the God thing. They would have loved to love him more.

Regurgitate

That’s who he never was, and who they always were.

You know, whenever I do my occasional anti-religion, anti-state rants and I get comments or I see links to posts with “I don’t agree with him, but…”—religion & State qualification—that picture above is what I always see in my mind’s eye.

I did the religion thing, even graduated HS in a class of two (I was top 50%), in a small private fundamental Baptist school, went onto a fundamentalist Baptist U in Tennessee. And here’s how that turned out.

Well, Hitch and his Hitchslap have been mainstay reads of mine for years, and not even because I agree with him more than I don’t. It’s because you can’t really categorize him…he was an intellectual’s intellectual, a brash & witty, drinking & smoking writer…and above everything else about his life: he was never, ever anyone’s fool. So while I can merely only dream to ever write with half the wit, pith and depth of history he did, I believe he’ll always remain my own personal touchstone.

I collected a few video clips of some of my favorites. There are many more. I hope you enjoy them. If I said that one or two didn’t bring a tear to my eye, I’d be a lying fucker.

I’ve rather heavily including that friend and “faggot” of Hitch, Stephen Fry. He’s awesome in his own right and I searched far and wide to find the bit where Hitch defended him in a debate about the Catholic Church being a force for good in the world (in the final vote, Hitch and Fry kicked the Bishop’s and the Politician’s asses).

The first is a back-&-forth highlights of Hitch & Fry in that debate (the whole thing is available on YouTube, which I watched in its entirely some months ago).

At times, I like Maher, but he was never, nor will he ever be any match for Hitch. And if you think Hitch is defending Bush, think context. Would Hitch defend Bush’s childlike religious views (yes, we only elect people as President who display outwardly, childlike views of superstition)? Hitch was simply unwilling to engage in the silly notion that someone capable of getting themselves elected PresUS is a moron. As an aside, I’m pretty sure the Pope is an atheist.

Unwilling to take Muslim waffling, qualification and evasion.

I’ve arranged these to be shortest to longest. Here we get into the longer ones at about 8 minutes. It’s an opening statement for the aforementioned debate.

This moron must have had no idea who Hitch was when he agreed to go on a national news show. It’s difficult not to feel a bit bad for the guy.

Some cool clips of Hitch getting righteously indignant. Of Jerry Falwell (whom I actually saw speak in person a shook his hand as a teen): “I think it’s a pity there’s no hell for him to go to.” And, “if he could have been given an enema, he could have been buried in a match book.”

Christopher defends his dear friend in this one, but the whole thing is brilliant.

And finally, Stephan Fry‘s 45-minute live tribute to Hitch, with a number of personalities ringing in live.

So there you go.

Go ahead and persist in your fantasies, but in point of logic and truth, Christopher Hitchens actually crafted his own immortality over a lifetime.

Butterfat Basted Eggs & Meatloaf and TGIF FunStuff

January 13, 2012 21 Comments

Three days, three food posts.

In addition to doing a lot of cooking lately, I’m doing a lot of leftovers instead of letting them sit in the fridge to rot. After yesterday’s meatloaf post, I did just that.

Simple as can be. Slice pretty thin, fry it quickly in a good amount of butter (30 seconds to 1 min per side), remove to a plate, add more butter if you need to, pop in the eggs, and as soon as the whites firm up a bit, tilt the pan, get a spoonful of butter and baste your eggs continuously until the whites are done.

Click to open the hi-res versions.

Fried Eggs & Meatloaf

Here’s the artsy fartsy shot.

Freid Eggs Meatloaf, round 2

Yes, very tasty indeed.

And here, for the TFIF FunStuff, remember Ray Audette? Back in 2000 and prior to Cordain I believe, he wrote NeanderThin: Eat Like a Caveman to Achieve a Lean, Strong, Healthy Body. I haven’t read it myself, but others give it good marks. I actually remember seeing this 48 Hours segment way back in 2000 when it aired. That was when I still watched news and newsmagazine programs. All in all, pretty solid—the great thing about paleo being that the message remains pretty consistent—until Dean “Cubby Face” Ornish chimes in.

I think it’s pretty damn cool he has a hawk to hunt small prey with. I really love hawks, but the only time I’ve been close to one is in the air, on various ridges and thermals, in a hang glider. Friendly as hell and they’ll get much closer to you in that—their—element. Look closely and they’ll show you were the best lift is. Then you can scientifically confirm they’re right when the chirp rate on your variometer begins increasing.

So here’s a 1 minute HG video from last July coving the launch & landing for a 30-40 minute flight, set to music I like.

And this cracked me up when I saw it in the Facebook stream this morning.

Otherwise, check out this bit on Wikipedia: Evolution as fact and theory.

From the archives, a decent innuendo FAIL I found a while back.

Innuendo Fail

Last but not in the slightest sense least: Go 49ers!

Gluten Free, Low-Carb and Near Paleo Meat Loaf

January 12, 2012 40 Comments

Been cooking a lot lately. So why not do food posts?

Last night’s meal was Gluten Free, Low-Carb and Near paleo Meat Loaf.

It was about 2.5 pounds of grassfed beef, 2 eggs, chopped onion, 1/2 tsp each of salt & pepper, big tbs each of Trader Joe’s organic ketchup and yellow mustard, handful of fresh cranberries, about a half handful of fresh blueberries I had left over, 2 minced cloves of garlic, small handful of dry white rice (the non-paleo part), a few dashes of Worcestershire, and about 1/4 tsp each of thyme, oregano & sage. And a good sprinkle of parsley.

Into the oven initially at 350 with a temperature probe. When internal got to 120 I turned the heat down to 250. Took it out of the oven at about 155 internal. All images can be clicked for hi-res.

Loaf of Meat

Whilst it was cooking away I prepared the sauce, which was simply lots of beef stock, some butter, a bit of balsamic vinegar, a tiny shake of rosemary (careful!), and…about a tablespoon of the TJ’s organic ketchup, then a tiny bit more to get just a slight tangy taste (it also helped to thicken). I did this reduction slowly, as I had time, so no need for starchy thickening agents like potato starch.

Meat Loaf

Yep, also did some mashed taters. Here’s the artsy fartsy shot.

Artsy Fartsy Meat Loaf

Eat well, eat big, and sometimes, eat nothing at all. My eyes were bigger than my stomach this time around. This was a rare three meal day (don’t do the same thing all the time) and I didn’t come even close to finishing that. Leftover city. In fact, it’s gonna be cold meatloaf (love it cold) with fried eggs later this morning.

Thanks to all the Twitter folks who helped with ideas for fillers. Most common suggestion was almond meal. For one, I don’t have any any longer and haven’t used it in a long while. I don’t try to duplicate baking breads, cakes, cookies and such. I don’t plan on getting any, either

I also look at things a bit different in the paleo vs not-paleo category. That is, not as a strict line to follow but more of a spectrum. For example, I have small amounts of ketchup and white rice in there, neither paleo. But the ketchup is good quality organic from TJ’s with no nefarious ingredients, and sugar instead of HFCS. The rice is just starch that will absorb moisture. On the other hand, if I were to have used almond meal, where 1/4 cup of almonds has 4.3 grams of omega-6 PUFAs, and I use two cups of almond meal for 2.5 pounds of beef, and presuming that meal is 2x concentrated compared to whole nuts (it’s probably more, actually), then I’m adding almost 70 grams of omega-6 fats to the dish and that’s quite a lot.

I’ll go with the non-paleo rice. As a parting thought on the issue, nut meals strike me somewhat like fruit juice. Almonds and fruit, both paleo. Concentrate them, not so paleo and likely worse than some neolithic foods, unit per unit, such as white potatoes and white rice.

Archives for January 2012

<img class="lazyload" width="336" height="311" alt="before after" src="/images/2012/01/before-after.jpg" /> Steve Cooksey Before & After

<img class="lazyload" width="500" height="374" alt="Screen Shot 2012 01 31 at 12 36 12 PM" src="/images/2012/01/500/Screen-Shot-2012-01-31-at-12.36.12-PM.png" /> 60% + of North Carolinians are Overweight or Obese

<img class="lazyload" width="500" height="325" alt="nc diabetes" src="/images/2012/01/nc-diabetes.png" /> 1995-2010, Percent of NC Diabetics Who are Obese (~40% – 60% in that span)

<img class="lazyload" width="500" height="373" alt="IMG 0798" src="/images/2012/01/500/IMG-0798.jpg" /> Mocha and Dark Chocolate Ice Cream with Bacon Bits

<img class="lazyload" width="500" height="373" alt="IMG 0799" src="/images/2012/01/500/IMG-0799.jpg" /> Four Spoons

<img class="lazyload" width="721" height="264" alt="Screen Shot 2012 01 30 at 3 08 30 PM" src="/images/2012/01/Screen-Shot-2012-01-30-at-3.08.30-PM.png" /> A Small Portion

<img class="lazyload" width="500" height="373" alt="Vesuvio" src="/images/2012/01/500/Vesuvio.jpg" /> Vesuvio

<img class="lazyload" width="500" height="374" alt="IMG 2009" src="/images/2012/01/500/IMG-2009.jpeg" /> The Wife Unit

<img class="lazyload" width="500" height="373" alt="Steak Salad" src="/images/2012/01/500/Steak-Salad.jpg" /> Steak Salad

<img class="lazyload" width="500" height="373" alt="Lexington Reservoir" src="/images/2012/01/500/Lexington-Reservoir.jpg" /> Lexington Reservoir

<img class="lazyload" width="500" height="373" alt="Paradise Beach Grille" src="/images/2012/01/500/Paradise-Beach-Grille.jpg" /> Paradise Beach Grille

<img class="lazyload" width="500" height="373" alt="Oysters" src="/images/2012/01/500/Oysters.jpg" /> Oysters

<img class="lazyload" width="500" height="373" alt="Mussels" src="/images/2012/01/500/Mussels.jpg" /> Mussels

<img class="lazyload" width="499" height="126" alt="Beas Lipid Panel" src="/images/2012/01/500/Beas-Lipid-Panel.png" /> Beas Lipid Panel

<img class="lazyload" width="500" height="463" alt="From 2007 to Present" src="/images/2012/01/500/From-2007-to-Present.png" /> From 2007 to Present

<img class="lazyload" width="242" height="324" alt="FTA Book" src="/images/2012/01/FTA-Book.jpg" />

<img class="lazyload" width="500" height="358" alt="Regurgitate" src="/images/2012/01/500/Regurgitate.jpg" /> Regurgitate

<img class="lazyload" width="500" height="334" alt="Fried Eggs Meatloaf" src="/images/2012/01/500/Fried-Eggs-Meatloaf.jpg" /> Fried Eggs & Meatloaf

<img class="lazyload" width="500" height="334" alt="Freid Eggs Meatloaf 2" src="/images/2012/01/500/Freid-Eggs-Meatloaf-2.jpg" /> Freid Eggs Meatloaf, round 2

<img class="lazyload" width="433" height="315" alt="Go Back" src="/images/2012/01/Go-Back.jpg" />

<img class="lazyload" width="337" height="400" alt="Sign Fail" src="/images/2012/01/Sign-Fail.jpg" /> Innuendo Fail

<img class="lazyload" width="500" height="334" alt="Meat Loaf 1" src="/images/2012/01/500/Meat-Loaf-1.jpg" /> Loaf of Meat

<img class="lazyload" width="500" height="334" alt="Meat Loaf 2" src="/images/2012/01/500/Meat-Loaf-2.jpg" /> Meat Loaf

<img class="lazyload" width="500" height="334" alt="Meat Loaf 3" src="/images/2012/01/500/Meat-Loaf-3.jpg" /> Artsy Fartsy Meat Loaf