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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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U.S. News and World Report recently ranked the Best Diets Overall based on ease of use, health benefits and weight loss effectiveness.  The Paleo Diet was ranked #20, surprisingly ranked after such diets as SlimFast, Nutrisytems and Medifast as healthier alternatives for successful weight loss.    Researching the validation of this ranking a little further, I was not surprised to discover the claims made by the U.S. News “experts” were totally false – not only based on my personal experiences (here), but also on existing peer-reviewed research on The Paleo Diet.  Fortunately, Dr. Loren Cordain recently wrote a “Rebuttal to U.S. News and World Top 20 Diets” highlighting the “erroneous and misleading” conclusions made by the U.S. News “experts”.   Follow the link below to read Dr. Cordain’s rebuttal:

Rebuttal to U.S. News and World Top 20 Diets

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This weekend I had the honor of sharing information on The Paleo Diet at Dave and Shae Tozzo’s gym, CrossFit Zoo.  We had an excellent turnout and I was excited to see so many folks eager to improve their health, performance and body composition via paleo-nutrition-concepts.  It was especially moving to hear a surprise testimony from Jay, a law enforcement officer, who shared that he had lost over 47 pounds in 10 weeks (without exercise).  He totally reversed his blood work from that of an overweight old man to that of a fit 18 year old.  His doctor was amazed (and proud).  It was very moving to hear him speak – hoping he’ll post his story for us soon!

For those who were able to attend the “Paleo Talk”, you should now:

• Understand the Importance of Balancing Critical Hormones

• Understand Digestion and the Critical Importance of Gut Health

• Recognize and Understand the effects of Neolithic Foods

• Understand How to “Go Paleo”

•  Recognize Blood Panels that Predict Present and Long Term

As promised, so that it would  not be necessary to take copious notes during the lecture,  I’m  posting  a few  resources to jump-start your own paleo adventure.  Good luck to everyone and please keep me posted on your success!

My  Personal “Evolution” Into Paleo Nutrition

• Finding CrossFit in the Dark
• Robb Wolf:  Paleo Guru

How To Go Paleo “Now”

• Robb Wolf’s “Quick Start Guide”
• Robb Wolf’s “Food Matrix“
• Mark Sisson’s “Primal BluePrint 101″
• “The Whole 30, Version 3.11″
• “Paleo Quick Start”
• “How to Go Paleo:

Top 3 Paleo Nutrition Reads Continue reading

CrossFitters are notorious for their consumption of high dose fish oil supplementation.  Fish oil supplementation has been shown to reverse or even prevent serious damage caused by chronic inflammation:  inflammation that Time Magazine in 2004 deemed “The Silent Killer” (also see “The Anti-Inflammation Zone by Barry Sears). Based on newly published research, it now looks like “long-term high dose fish oil intake” may become “a thing of the past”.  Chris Kresser, of  The Healthy Skeptic post an excellent article discussing the latest research on fish oil supplementation.   He summarizes in this article:

• “The benefits of fish oil supplementation have been grossly overstated
• Most of the studies showing fish oil benefits are short-term, lasting less than one year
• The only fish oil study lasting more than four years showed an increase in heart disease and sudden death
• Fish oil is highly unstable and vulnerable to oxidative damage
• There’s no evidence that healthy people benefit from fish oil supplementation
• Taking several grams of fish oil per day may be hazardous to your health”

To read Chris’ article in full, see “When it comes to fish oil, more is not better “

Based on these latest findings, Robb Wolf shares his thoughts in “The Paleo Solutions” Podcast  #53.  Robb believes short term high dose fish oil intake  is good for intervention (“people who are very overweight and who have loads of inflammation”) , but high dosages of  fish oil supplementation longer than 1 to 3 months could  increase your chance of Cardio Vascular Disease  in the future.   With good sleep and by following The Paleo Diet,  one’s need for high dose fish oil dosages should quickly Continue reading

Mark Sisson, Author of The Primal BluePrint

For a while now I’ve wanted to blog about some of my favorite Paleo Nutrition reads but simply have had little time to sit in front of my computer.   When I find something worthy of sharing, I know it’s gonna take several hours of research and writing to do it justice.  Mark Sisson’s body of work is a perfect example of this.  His book, The Primal Blueprint, is one I often recommend to folks when they are interested in understanding Paleo Nutrition.  He’s in great shape, and is just as informative as he is funny.

He also has a fantastic blog, Mark’s Daily Apple which is full of helpful resources for understanding the science behind the diet.   One of the big questions I get often is “What do I eat for breakfast?”.To illustrate how helpful Mark’s daily blog can be, Mark took the time to answer this question in depth on his website (and in his book):

Primal Breakfast Suggestions for People on the Go

For the visual learners – “Contest Results:  Primal Breakfast Pics”

Fortunately Robb Wolf has saved me some time at my computer by recently blogging on Mark Sisson’s book, The Primal Blue Print.  You can read his blog post here:

Book Review:  The Primal BluePrint

Intrigued?  If so, check out Mark’s “About” page which completely summarizes the content on his website.  There’s some good stuff here – all well-organized and easy to find!

Primal Blueprint 101

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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!

image credit http://castlegrok.com/how-paleo-is-your-diet/

In my very last minute search for Thanksgiving Paleo recipes, I came across Naturally Engineered’s helpful blog post.  Thankfully, Naturally Engineered did the research for us and has combined several Paleo Thanksgiving resources in one post!

Naturally Engineered:  Thanksgiving Meal Ideas and Paleo Cooking Blogs

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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Laurie Ann, the Very Busy Woman!

If ya haven’t noticed – I can be a little long winded!  So in honor of my very dear friend Laurie Ann who has decided to “go paleo”,  I’m going to keep this short.  Laurie Ann is always very busy, likes to do things on her own (like me, she is a  “CrossFit Loner”), and usually tells me to “just tell her what to do”.   So without providing an overwhelming amount of information, I’m going to provide the following links and shopping guides to kick start her own private paleo adventure!

• “How to Go Paleo”

• “Quick Start Guide and Shopping List” provided by  Robb Wolf author of The Paleo Solution

• “Food Matrix” really cool pdf on how to “cook paleo” in your kitchen provided yet again by Robb Wolf

• Paleo Tools by Dr. Cordain author of the Paleo Diet

• Nikki Young has the very BEST Paleo Cookbooks out there!  Here is a link to her Paleo Shopping Guide

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