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Mark Hyman, MD recently wrote an excellent article in the Huffington Post titled “Gluten:  What you Don’t know Might Kill You”.    As Dr. Hyman summarizes in his article, gluten sensitivity is widespread and is now understood to go beyond Celiac Disease.  New research confirms that gluten (wheat) consumption can now be linked to the cause of over 55 diseases from irritable bowel disease to autoimmune disease:

 ”…Gluten Sensitivity: One Cause, Many Diseases

A review paper in The New England Journal of Medicine listed 55 “diseases” that can be caused by eating gluten. (iv) These include osteoporosis, irritable bowel disease, inflammatory bowel disease, anemia, cancer, fatigue, canker sores, (v) and rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, multiple sclerosis, and almost all other autoimmune diseases. Gluten is also linked to many psychiatric (vi) and neurological diseases, including anxiety, depression, (vii) schizophrenia, (viii) dementia, (ix)migraines, epilepsy, and neuropathy (nerve damage). (x) It has also been linked to autism.(ix)

We used to think that gluten problems or celiac disease were confined to children who had diarrhea, weight loss, and failure to thrive. Now we know you can be old, fat, and constipated and still have celiac disease or gluten sensitivity.

Gluten sensitivity is actually an autoimmune disease that creates inflammation throughout the body, with wide-ranging effects across all organ systems including your brain, heart, joints,digestive tract, and more. It can be the single cause behind many different “diseases.” To correct these diseases, you need to treat the cause–which is often gluten sensitivity–not just the symptoms…”

 To read his article in full click on the link below:

 ”Gluten:  What you Don’t know Might Kill You“

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Kim Mulvihill, MD of CBS News San Fransisco

CBS News San Francisco recently did an in-depth report on The Paleo Diet.  In this informative five part series,  Kim Mulvihill, MD of CBS HealthWatch follows The Paleo Diet for just two weeks with remarkable results:  reversed insulin resistance (insulin resistance precedes the development of Diabetes 2), reduced blood pressure, and reduced LDL (the bad cholesterol). Dr. Mulvilhill also lost 30 pounds by continuing to eat a diet of lean meats, fish, vegetables, fruits nuts and by eliminating all dairy, grains, beans and processed foods (a.k.a. – The Paleo Diet)!

HealthWatch: Doctors Warming To Caveman Diet Trend

CBS 5 HealthWatch: Caveman Diet Trend Video Series

1. Caveman Diet Trend Starting To Catch Fire

2.  Surprising Results From ‘Caveman’ Diet

3.  Caveman Diet Shows Blood Pressure, Cholesterol Benefits

4. How Realistic Is Caveman Diet At Home?

5.  For Some, Caveman Lifestyle Goes Beyond Diet

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My husband recently finished reading “Anticancer – A New Way of Life” written by David Servan-Schreiber, MD, PHD.  After being diagnosed with brain cancer, Dr. Servan-Schreiber began a 15 year journey investigating the latest research on how best to fight and prevent cancer.  Early in his investigation he discovered that we all have cancerous cells residing in our bodies.  Yet, only 1 out of 3 people will die from the activation of these deadly cells.

Anticancer is an accumulation of his research which surprisingly explains the role both food and stress play in the growth or inhibition of cancerous cells. Although my husband and I are personally aware of the health benefits associated with The Paleo Diet (see “Robb Wolf:  Paleo Nutrition Guru), we were pleasantly surprised  to learn Dr. Servan-Schreiber’s Anticancer diet recommendations are very similar to those of  The Paleo Diet – both of which recommend eliminating all sugars and processed foods from one’s diet.

You can read more on Dr. Servan-Schreiber’s anticancer recommendations, published articles, and “research based insight” by visiting  his website:  Anticancer – A New Way of Life

I’m currently reading Dr. William Davis’  latest book titled  “Wheat Belly”.    William Davis, MD, a cardiologist and author of the  The Heart Scan Blog, also encourages his patients to avoid sugar and processed foods.  More specifically, similar to The Paleo Diet he recommends his patients completely eliminate all wheat from their diets (yes, that includes whole wheat breads, pastas, cereals, etc).  His book “Wheat Belly” is well-referenced and documents the numerous health issues that can be resolved by simply giving up all whole-wheat products:  guaranteed weight loss; reversal of metabolic syndrome and diabetes 2;  reduction of systemic inflammation; improvement in LDL bio-markers of health; etc.   The same health benefits you can also expect when following The Paleo Diet (see “Paleo Talk Resources”)!

Dr. Davis discusses how wheat eaten today is very different from the wheat eaten by our ancestors.  In order to cultivate crops that will produce higher yields and resist pest (insects, bacteria, fungus, etc), seed companies have now begun altering the actual DNA of plants.  For a better understanding of how plants are genetically modified and how these  modifications impact your health,  I also highly recommend watching the documentary “Food Matters“.

Dr. Davis also discusses the high rate of gastrointestinal cancers  found in individuals who knowingly or unknowingly have had some form of gluten sensitivity.  There is cause for concern when  Melissa Smith reports in  her book “Going Against the Grain” that 50% of the population is gluten-sensitive.  Whole wheat bread is loaded with many anti-nutrients  – one of which is gluten.  Gluten is known to irritate and damage the intestinal  tract (see “Got Leaky Gut?”).   Eating genetically-modified plants and long-term wheat consumption by gluten-sensitive individual can result in chronic gastrointestinal inflammation.  Could the ill effects of wheat be key in understanding the continual rise of gastrointestinal cancers?

One final thought on diet, wheat and cancer.  Few folks understand that a slice of whole wheat bread increases blood glucose more than consuming a teaspoon of table sugar (The Glycemic Load Diet).   Michael Eades, MD, author of Protein Power and The 6-Week Cure for the Middle Aged Middle, recently wrote an excellent review on “Wheat Belly”.  In this book review, Dr. Eades highlights Dr. Davis’ explanation of how wheat affects blood glucose levels:

…Dr. Davis writes that modern wheat is approximately 70 percent carbohydrate by weight.  The carbohydrate is in the form of a starch called amylopectin A.

“The most digestible form of amylopectin, amylopectin A, is the form found in wheat.  Because it is the most digestible, it is the form that most enthusiastically increases blood sugar.  This explains why, gram for gram, wheat increases blood sugar to a greater degree than, say, kidney beans or potato chips.  The amylopectin A of wheat products, “complex” or no, might be regarded as a supercarbohydrate, a form of highly digestible carbohydrate that is more efficiently converted to blood sugar than nearly all the other carbohydrate foods, simple or complex. [Italics in the original.]

It’s well understood that high blood glucose levels result in increased insulin production which in turn increases the body’s ability to store fat.  Simply said – eating bread can make you fat.  What does this have to do with cancer?   For one, sugar just happens to be the food that fuels the growth of most cancer cells:

Is there a role for carbohydrate restriction in the treatment and prevention of cancer?

Does Sugar Feed Cancer?

Cancer and Sugar’s Role In It…

Can a High-Fat Diet Beat Cancer?

Cancer and Ketosis

Anti-nutrients, genetically modified plants, gut irritants, autoimmune issues, obesity, diabetes 2, cardiovascular disease, etc  – how many more reasons do you need to stop eating sugar and processed foods, especially wheat??!!

Cheryl Polack and Dr. Loren Cordain at the IHMC Ocala Lecture Series

Dr. Loren Cordain of the Paleo Diet recently presented his lecture on “Origins and Evolution of The Western Diet:  Health Implications for the 21st Century” at the Institute for Human and Machine Cognition here in my small hometown town of Ocala.  I’ve become a paleo groupie, having first followed Dr. Cordain all the way out to California to hear him speak at the Paleo Brands Seminar and later having hunted him down in Orlando to hear two additional Paleo Diet lectures.  My obsession has more to do with fact than fad.

Fads fade with time, but this has not been the case with the Paleo Diet.  As Dr. Cordain states in his revised edition of the Paleo Diet, the popularity of Paleo Diet has exploded since it was originally published in 2002.  Why?  It has a lot to do with “the masses” following Robb Wolf’s Paleo recommendations as the “once upon a time” nutrition guru of CrossFit.  Dr. Cordain also states in his new book that “electronic interconnectedness” has exploded in the last decade making information that is relevant to our lives easily accessible through emails, websites, and blogs.  But the main reason the Paleo Diet has grown in popularity within Crossfit and the electronic community is because it actually works.

Not only will you lose weight, but you will also prevent (and reverse) future disease.    Future diseases that are mistakenly believed to be an inevitable part of the aging process:   getting heavier – the proverbial “spare tire around the middle”, abnormal blood sugar levels leading to Diabetes II, abnormal blood lipids leading to high triglycerides, cholesterol and LDL, increased risk for cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, osteoporosis, rheumatoid arthritis, etc.  It doesn’t have to be this way, folks.  I’ve not only read the research myself, but I have also applied the paleo principles in my own life with very positive results:

Robb Wolf:  Paleo Guru

Large, Fluffy and Buoyant Can Be A Good Thing!

Being healthy and losing weight is not about counting calories or measuring food.  As Dr. Cordain lectured this Thursday evening,  it’s about eating in accordance with our evolutionary ancestral diet.  We evolved for millions of years on a diet of nutritious minimally-processed wild plants and animals.  Since the onset of the agriculture revolution some 15,000 years ago, we have increasingly displaced this nutritious diet with highly-processed, refined foods.   Researchers are now beginning to recognize a  strong correlation exists between our modern diet (the highly coveted  USDA Food Pyramid), metabolic syndrome,  and autoimmune disease.   What we typically eat on a daily basis is making us very sick.  Scary.

How do you stay healthy?  Not by counting calories, but by avoiding all varieties of grains (wheat, corn, rice, etc), grain-fed meats, legumes (including soy and peanuts), dairy products, refined sugars, refined vegetable oils, salt and processed foods.   What’s left?  A diet of natural foods: lean meats that are grass-fed, wild-caught fish, vegetables,  fruits and the “good fats”.  It’s that easy.  This is how you can take control of your own life and prevent (and in most cases reverse) chronic inflammation,  metabolic derangement, acne, acid reflux, asthma,  etc.  You can also prevent hundreds of auto-immune diseases that may develop over time due to  Leaky Gut Syndrome (see “Got Leaky Gut?”).  Leaky Gut Syndrome has been implicated in auto-immune disease and is believed to be caused by grain, legume, dairy and nightshade vegetable consumption.

Miss the lecture?

• The Abstract

• The Slides

• The Lecture: (from CrossFit Football Certification at CrossFit Denver)

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Part 6

Part 7

How to implement the Paleo Diet in your life

• My long-winded version

• My short version

Official Paleo Diet Resources

• The Paleo Diet Website and Blog (sign up to receive Dr. Cordain’s free Paleo Newsletter)

• The Paleo Diet Revised Edition (my review)

• The Paleo Diet Cookbook

• The Paleo Diet for Athletes

• Direct-Ms.org Lecture Series with Dr. Cordain:   The Paleo Diet and Multiple Sclerosis (7 Parts)

Special thanks to Dr. Ken Ford of the IHMC and the many sponsors involved in bringing Dr. Cordain to Ocala so that others may benefit from his work.  It was wonderful to have an opportunity to express our gratitude for the personal successes we have each experienced by applying his life’s research in our own lives.

Chef Al Rosas of Rosas Farm and Dr. Cordain

Erin Rosas adding the finishing touches to a beautiful table!

In additional, a heartfelt thank you to Al and Erin Rosa of Rosas Farm for creating a truly enchanting gourmet paleo event in their home following the lecture.  Based on our experience with them that evening, with much anticipation I’m hoping they will soon publish a gourmet paleo cookbook so that we may all re-create Al’s paleo gourmet magic in our own homes!  In the meantime, please visit the Rosas Country Market which is well stocked with organic and completely grass-fed beef, pork, poultry, eggs and wild-caught sea food.  They also offer their own line of organic seasonings and the best organic barbecue sauce I have ever tasted (and the only one I’ve ever seen that does not list “corn syrup” on the label)!

Dr. Cordain, Dr. Montes, Cheryl Polack, and Dr. Wartels arriving in the Rosas Home

An evening of incredible food and great conversation!

Wow – this was a good read!

Basically just finished pouring through, page by page, the long awaited Revised Edition of The Paleo Diet by Loren Cordain, PhD.  Not sure if it’s because I’ve been doing this a while or recently finished a fantastic webinar with Matt Lalonde (the Bill Nye of Nutrition) – but this was a much easier read than Dr. Cordain’s first book written in 2002!  The revised edition is definitely “new and improved”:  it’s informative, provides thorough explanations of the science behind the diet, and cites numerous studies as they apply to the Paleo Diet.

I strongly encourage those who are interested in better understanding the science and research behind the Paleo Diet to order this book.  His presentation is convincing.  By following the Paleo Diet you will not only lose weight, but also prevent future disease.  Sounds like a great Christmas gift for someone you love!

A couple of highlights from the revised edition include:

• Mark Sisson would be proud to read Dr. Cordain’s revisions on “recommended oils” – he now puts canola oil on the “foods to avoid list”.   Allowed oils are basically culled down to four:  olive, flaxseed, avocado and walnut oils.

• Dr. Cordain has “softened his stance” on saturated fat.  Based on the latest research he now believes the original view of “artery-clogging saturated fat” is incorrect even though he states saturated fat, specifically lauric acid, myristic acid and plamatic acid (but not stearic acid), elevates blood cholesterol.  New research points to the role inflammation plays in artery-clogging plaques and heart disease.  Unless your immune system is chronically inflamed, atherosclerosis from saturated fats “will not likely kill us from either heart attacks or strokes”. He continues to drive home the point that by following the principles of The Paleo Diet, you will be protected from dangerous low-level inflammation that has been shown to occur from eating a diet of grains, vegetable oils, sugar, legumes, dairy products , salt and/or processed foods (Neolithic or Modern Foods).

• Dr. Cordain discusses the connection between anti-nutrients found in modern foods (grains, legumes, dairy products, and nightshade vegetables) and the role they may play in auto-immune disease.  Referring to the numerous mysterious autoimmune diseases that have baffled researchers in the past, Dr. Cordain shares that through new research we can now better understand  how following the Paleo Diet can “protect us from these one hundred or more illnesses.”

• Dr Cordain also discusses at length the mechanisms that contribute to the development of Metabolic Syndrome and concludes time and time again that by following the Paleo Diet you can halt and in many cases reverse the progression of Type 2 Diabetes, High Blood Pressure, Heart Disease and Dyslipidemia.

• As a woman, I especially enjoyed his in-depth discussion of the role high carbohydrate diets may play in breast, colon and prostate cancers.  A high carb diet results in high insulin levels which increase IGF- 1 (a powerful growth hormone) and decreases IGFBP-3 (which regulates out-of-control cell growth).   In other words, high insulin levels can promote the unregulated growth of cancer cells.

• And the most exciting meaningful part of the book to ME?  Wine is now “allowed” in moderation citing health benefits that may result from an occasional glass of wine.  But don’t go overboard; we’re talking a 4oz glass on date night!  If you have an auto-immune issue of any sort, alcohol is NOT permitted.  Alcohol has been known to increase gut permeability.

I also received  The Paleo Diet Cookbook: More than 150 recipes for Paleo Breakfasts, Lunches, Dinners, Snacks, and Beverages.  Again – another highly recommended book.  We ate the “Beef Stew with Vegetables” for dinner tonight and had “Lorraine’s Strawberries with Creme” for dessert.  Everyone left the table happy and satisfied -  that’s not bad when you’re feeding two teen boys!

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image credit to http://www.leakygutcure.com/

In a follow-up to my “Got Leaky Gut?” article,  I found an interesting link posted on Robb Wolf’s Paleo Solutions blog this morning. Via video Robb and his wife Nikki are in Italy enjoying a gluten free pizza.  They’re surprised that they are able to encounter so many gluten free products in a “wheat dominated” culture.   Robb links an article found in Scientific American Magazine on the relationship between gut permeability (leaky gut) and autoimmune disease.  The article is based on the research of Alessio Fasano, an Italian researcher in the US who was one of the first to note the connection between gut permeability and the development of autoimmune disease.    The full article can be found here – it’s a must read!

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Came across this fun and informative Paleo Diet article posted on Nerd Fitness.  I had to have the “fat is not bad” conversation with LA  yesterday as she began her private paleo adventure.  Having blogged about this issue in the past, I thought  Nerd Fitness did an excellent job summing this and the Paleo Diet up in one post.  Enjoy!

Nerd Fitness:  The Beginner’s Guide to the Paleo Diet

I hate counting calories.

I don’t like keeping track of how much I’ve eaten, I don’t like obsessing over how many grams of a particular nutrient I’ve eaten, and I don’t like worrying that I ate too much/little and the end of the day.  Not only do I hate counting calories, but I know that calories are really only half of the battle, as they’re not all created equal – 400 calories of Doritos do NOT affect your body in the same way as 400 calories of high-quality vegetables and chicken.

Fortunately, if you can expand your horizons and remove certain types of food from your diet, you can stop worrying about counting calories FOREVER (sorry,  the Count – ah ah ah).  About fifteen months ago, I stumbled across a particular type of eating that doesn’t require counting a single calorie AND allows you to eat as much as you want (I’m serious – I explain later).  Oh, and it will help you lose weight, build muscle, and get in the best shape of your life.

I know, that sounds like an ad for some really shady supplement or diet book that you’d see on TV at 4 AM.

Putting aside the marketing mumbo-jumbo, it’s a diet – it’s actually a lifestyle, but we’ll stick with diet for now – that actually works.  How do I know?  Because I’ve been following this type of diet for the past month, and despite my best efforts to force feed myself as often as possible to gain weight, I’ve actually managed to lose a few pounds.

I’m talking about the Paleo Diet….(read on)

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image credit to www.womentowomen from www.balancedbites.com

“I’m not giving up bread!”

This is often the first response you’ll hear when explaining that grains are not eaten when following The Paleo Diet.  For a few seconds I’m usually speechless – my mind awhirl with so many reasons one should avoid grains altogether.  For one – eating more than a couple of tablespoons of bread, including whole wheat bread, will not only cause your blood glucose levels to spike but it will also keep your blood glucose levels elevated for an extended period of time .  It’s a vicious chain of events – high blood sugar levels stimulate your pancreas to produce more insulin.  Constant high blood glucose and insulin levels (also known as hyperinsulinemia) can be detrimental to your health.  Hyperinsulinemia leads to a plethora of problems: inflammation, Cardiovascular Disease, Diabetes Type II, Syndrome X or Metabolic Syndrome, weight gain, infertility, cancer, etc.  Google the term ‘Hyperinsulinemia’ along with any one of these health issues and you’ll be surprised by what you’ll learn!  To be fit, healthy and happy for the long haul, you’ll need to consistently maintain normal blood glucose levels.  That’s one good reason to avoid bread altogether, whether white or whole wheat.

Yet when it comes to eating bread, or grains in general, there’s a little more to the story.     How would you feel knowing that grains can not only lead to hyperinsulinism, but they can also make your gut leak.  Yep, you too may have already acquired “Leaky Gut Syndrome”.  Leaky gut comes in varying degrees from tolerant, to gluten sensitive, to full blown Celiac disease.

Not going to give an anatomy lesson here, but think about your mouth, stomach, intestines, etc.  from beginning to end.  It’s one very long tube. When your intestinal barrier is working correctly, it breaks down nutrients your body needs while keeping out harmful substances.  But what happens if this barrier begins to breaks down?  You’ll leak – basically leaking the contents of your intestines into your bloodstream. When the microvilli lining of the intestinal wall is destroyed, gate “tight-junctions” loosen and it becomes “open sesame” to bacteria, yeast, viruses and larger food molecules that don’t belong inside your body. Continue reading

The long awaited, much anticipated, highly coveted book promised by (or coerced out of) Robb Wolf is finally available!  Robb Wolf’s new book  The Paleo Solution “...unearths the story of the original human diet by uniting the anthropological knowledge of our hunter-gatherer past with the latest, cutting edge discoveries from genetics, biochemistry, immunology, and life extension research.”

Not only does he have a new book, but he has also recently updated his website with easy to find links to his blog (very informative), podcast (I’m behind again), live events (hope I get to go again soon), tools (paleo man can never can have too many), etc.  Everything is there to help you better understand and implement The Paleo Solution.

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Just when I think I’m up to date,  Robb Wolf and Andy Deas post yet another episode of the The Paleolithic Solution.     I’m currently listening to Episode 38, but already behind as they have recorded and posted Episode 39.  For me, the “last podcast” is ever elusive, but in all honesty that’s actually a good thing.  Besides presenting an incredible amount of applicable paleo “pseudo science” each week, these two guys are also very funny.   I look forward to walking my dogs and laughing out loud in the middle of the street.  Although the bio-chemistry of nutrition and fitness can be tedious and boring, Robb and Andy actually make the learning process fun. To quote one of their classic podcast comments -  “It should be more like a birthday party than physics class” .

In Episode 26 of The Paleolithic Solution Robb and Andy were joined by Melissa Urban and Dallas Hartwig of the Whole9.    Melissa and Dallas are on top of their game when it comes to nutrition, health and fitness (check out their Whole9 blog).  During this interview Melissa shared her “fresh, natural foods your great grandmother would recognize” elevator “Paleo Pitch”.  She responds with this “Paleo Pitch” when asked “what do you eat”?  Robb comments that Melissa’s  elevator pitch would need to be  in a very tall building, like a [skyscraper] in Dubai.  It may be a little long because she does do a very good job of explaining what one would eat when following The Paleo Diet.

The Whole9 Nutrition Paleo Pitch

Melissa and Dallas also have also developed the “Whole30″ and “Whole30 Version 2.0″, a program that will “change your life in 30 days” (links provided below).    Melissa and Dallas give you all of the information and tools you’ll need to get started eating “paleo”.    The testimonials have been incredible with many Continue reading