Primal Blueprint Podcast

Welcome to Mark’s Daily Apple's Best of 2014, Volume 1: Food and Nutrition, featuring: Do You Really Need to Eat Vegetables to Be Healthy?Is Gently Cooked Food Better for You?Why the Omega-3/Omega-6 Ratio May Not Matter After AllIs Processed Meat Actually Bad for You?(These Mark's Daily Apple articles were written by Mark Sisson, and are narrated by Brock Armstrong)

Dr. Cate talks about her experiences with Primal Advantage clients after the launch of the program in July. In particular, she discusses how traditional medical care is not structured to allow for the discussion of how diet and lifestyle elements affect disease patterns. Most family practice physicians are obliged to spend only 10 minutes with patients. This usually constrains doctors to only enough time to treat symptoms (rather than the cause of those symptoms) with prescription drugs that generate adverse side effects. Regarding blood tests, Cate mentions the recent disturbing headline about the UCLA meta-analysis that 75% of heart attack victims have LDL cholesterol readings in the “safe” or “normal” zone, and furthermore have no symptoms of heart disease until the actual heart attack. She mentions both the fasting blood glucose test and the average blood glucose test (A1C) as simple, inexpensive, but extremely critical markers that suggest a serious problem brewing if they are at objectionable levels. Wi

Host Brad Kearns talks with Mike DiLandro of New Jersey, a Primal Blueprint success story and presenter of the Primal Transformation Seminar and at PrimalCon. Mike was also the very first graduate of the Primal Blueprint Expert Certification program. Mike discusses how he came to try out the Primal Blueprint after becoming frustrated that his chronic cardio approach (10 gym workouts each week!) didn't improve his body composition. After switching to a primal eating pattern and backing off the chronic cardio in favor of more intense workouts and more rest and recovery between intense workouts, Mike lost 25 pounds of excess body fat, ditched his statin medication and resolved his ongoing knee pain.Mike's enthusiasm inspired him to get his parents into primal living, off of their statin meds, and with a combined weight loss of 80 pounds. He also took his enthusiasm to his workplace, where he has inspired numerous co-workers to pursue Primal eating and writes a outstanding monthly newsletter to inform and inspire

Mark tackles a few challenging questions and gets deep into some of the main elements of primal living. First, he talks about how the conventional wisdom view of blood markers like LDL does not accurately reveal the true heart disease risk factors, and how it’s important to look at a bigger picture involving more relevant trackers like triglycerides-to-HDL ratio. He also discusses some drawbacks and side effects of statin use, particularly the depletion of CoQ10 and potentially compromised performance of cellular mitochondria accordingly. Next, Mark tackles the question of the contrasting influence of primal eating versus high carbohydrate eating on one’s appetite and hunger levels. A diet promoting carbohydrate dependency will throw appetite out of whack and generate more hunger than an eating pattern that promotes fat and keto-adaptation – an enhanced ability to generate energy internally and be less reliant on external sources of energy. Carbohydrate dependency and a distorted appetite can also easily occu

Mark turns the tables on Jimmy Moore (host of the popular Livin' La Vida Low Carb podcast, where he has interviewed nearly 1,000 guests!) as Jimmy discusses his new book, Keto Clarity. Jimmy reveals how eating to promote a state of nutritional ketosis can have therapeutic effects on mood, energy levels, and brain function, as well as powerful fat reduction benefits. This is particularly true for people who have been eating primal/Paleo/low-carb and become stalled out on their progress. Jimmy himself lost some 180 pounds through low carb eating, then started to explore the world of nutritional ketosis to make further progress and experience incidental benefits with great success.Keto Clarity, which Jimmy wrote along with Dr. Eric Westman, details Jimmy's intensive self-experimentation, including blood testing several times per day for a year, to identify the dietary patterns that allow him to remain in a prolonged ketone-burning and fat-burning state. In the discussion, Jimmy mentions the confusion around "low

Mark Sisson is back this week with host Brad Kearns to bring you yet another essay style podcast. This time Mark will be reading you a special excerpt of The Primal Connection. This follow-up to The Primal Blueprint goes far beyond diet and exercise; delving into lifestyle factors like sleep, sun, and play and their contribution to optimal gene expression. Since it’s publication, The Primal Connection has won numerous awards, including the bronze medal in the Health category from Foreword Magazine’s IndieFab Awards, two silver medals (Health and Body, Mind, & Spirit) from the IBPA Benjamin Franklin Awards, and lastly, The Eric Hoffer award for best self-published book from The Eric Hoffer Project. The Primal Connection has also experienced a resurgence during a promo earlier this month, skyrocketing it to #4 on Kindle and subsequently landing it on the Wall Street Journal bestseller list.Today’s excerpt is titled “Primal Thrills,” and dives into the importance of getting more excitement out of life. How c

Mark Sisson follows up his essay reading last week with an engaging discussion with host Brad Kearns about the dangers of chronic cardio, and some tips to help avoid the drawbacks of chronic exercise patterns. Brad and Mark discuss numerous real-life case studies of elite athletes in endurance sports such as ironman triathlon and long distance running, who have suffered serious heart problems. Mark and Brad mention the tragic deaths of multi-sport athlete Steve Larsen at age 39 (heart attack while running), and Ryan Shay (heart attack while racing the US Olympic trials marathon), along with an assortment of other high profile athletes and their ordeals. Mark presents a compelling solution in essay form, pulling highlights from some popular follow-up blog posts on the subject. Mark mentions eating Primally, downscaling the "filler" workouts that happen between challenging "breakthrough" sessions, and realizing that interval and sprint workouts can deliver a training effect superior to long-duration workouts, w

Mark Sisson tries something new with this podcast episode, as he reads an essay based on one of his most popular posts ever on MarksDailyApple.com: “A Case Against Cardio.” The original post, published in June 2007, helped shed light on the concept that extreme endurance training can actually compromise health and increase disease risk. Mark published several follow up posts over the years on the topic of chronic exercise and the ways to avoid the stress and damage caused when exercise patterns drift away from optimal stress/rest balance and into the extreme category. Mark’s essay covers the original landmark post, along with assorted commentary from follow up posts. For devoted fitness enthusiasts with passions for Crossfit, marathons, triathlons, heavy gym class participation, or even high-energy weekend warriors who are balancing exercise goals with hectic daily life, this is a very important podcast to absorb and ponder carefully how your own exercise and stress management patterns are looking these days.

Mark Sisson interviews Dr. Cate Shanahan to discuss the launch of the exciting new Primal Advantage metabolic consulting program. In this podcast, Dr. Cate discusses her work with elite athletes, such as Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers; how your dietary choices affect your metabolic function (especially how adding oft-ignored food categories like bone broth can help improve joint function); how mainstream medical care essentially ignores the role of diet in promoting health and preventing disease; how the Primal Advantage can help everyone, from athletes stuck in a performance rut, to people who have sustained significant metabolic damage from years or decades of poor food choices, or even people with serious medical issues taking Rx drugs.To be clear, while Cate is a practicing family physician in California, the Primal Advantage is a metabolic consulting service that cannot be construed as a formal doctor’s appointment (due to the remote nature of the interaction). However, the Primal Advantage allow

In this podcast, Mark interviews Dr. Sinha about his battle on the front lines trying to convince the mainstream medical community that fat and cholesterol are not your energy, and that the true risk factors for heart disease lay in overly stressful lifestyles, poor exercise habits, and a high insulin producing diet. Dr. Ron is an internal medicine physician who specializes in cardiovascular prevention. He is the medical director of employer services, serving major employee groups like Google, Oracle, and Yahoo. For these large employers, he designs health education lectures and wellness programs. Ron describes how mainstream physicians are seeing actual results with his alternative methods and hence embracing the principles of primal/paleo eating slowly but surely.  Dr. Sinha describes the challenges of dealing with a highly intelligent, goal-driven population of Silicon Valley tech workers – particularly those of South Asian descent whom he works with extensively - who unfortunately have neglected health in

Mark Sisson talks about some of the stumbling blocks to losing that last 5, 10, or 20 pounds of excess body fat, and how to overcome them. Experiencing a plateau is common (especially when lots of weight has been dropped over a relatively short period of time), and continued progress requires attention to some of the finer details of healthy living. Beyond the Primal Blueprint eating strategy basics of ditching grains, sugars, and processed oils, and moderating carb intake overall by the Primal Blueprint Carbohydrate Curve, Mark addresses other topics like moderating all forms of life stress, building more muscle mass, avoiding chronic cardio, increasing all forms of daily movement, engaging in intermittent fasting, and cultivating a healthy attitude and positive mindset.

Host Brad Kearns has a lively discussion with Leslie Klenke, who has just released her long awaited book, Paleo Girl. This truly is the first book in the Primal/paleo/evolutionary health space to target teenage girls, and Leslie does a masterful job speaking directly and emphatically to teens on issues that matter most to them.The foundation of Leslie’s approach is to encourage teens to reject the superficial and judgmental elements of modern culture, and pursue happiness as the primary goal and motivator for healthy lifestyle behaviors and dietary changes. Leslie shares some of her own experiences struggling with yo-yo dieting and fatigue from poor lifestyle habits in college, and how she pursued a more sensible and balanced approach to healthy living; a journey that sent her west from her home in Ohio to Los Angeles, and eventually into the inner circle of the Primal Blueprint movement.

Mark Sisson answers questions from listeners varying from eating green bananas in order to integrate resistant starch, to accepting legumes in the paleo diet. Mark also addresses relieving stomach acidity, intermittent fasting, and he takes a deep look at ketosis, with all the pros and cons. Then he answers the question you’ve all wondered about: How do you know when you have become a good fat-burner?

Chris Adams and Tina Leaman, the Primal power couple from Phoenix, AZ, have a lively discussion about their long history as PrimalCon group leaders. Chris and Tina have attended all seven PrimalCons held, and list some of their highlights and humorous memories. Included are the Oxnard ocean plunge/jacuzzi sprint, where the resort jacuzzi (a 2 minute sprint from the chilly ocean) overflows beyond capacity; an impromptu Oxnard beach house party where 100 people danced the night away; the beautiful hike to Angora Lakes above Lake Tahoe; the amazing connections formed where strangers traveling from across the world become close friends and vacation together beyond PrimalCon; and the great work of presenter Angelo Dela Cruz, another 7 for 7 PrimalCon attendee, who starts each day off with his VitaMoves session and does 1:1 bodywork with guests to promote natural healing.Chris and Tina then detail their role as beta-testers for the Primal Blueprint Expert Certification course. They, along with Primal Transformation

  Mark gets back into the Q&A rhythm with some great commentary on an assortment of questions related to peak performance and Primal living. We begin by reviewing a unique training approach where you “stack” hard workouts on consecutive days, which allows for additional recovery time afterward, and also respects the idea that stress hormones flow for a sustained period of time after challenging workouts. Then, we discuss the importance of maintaining intensity during tapering to preserve blood volume for peak performance events. Mark also examines the dilemma of whether to refuel with carbs after tough workouts or to fast to optimize the flow of adaptive hormones into the bloodstream. This leads to the topic of how you can adopt an intuitive eating and exercise approach, which helps with disciplining for healthy habits. Mark then closes the show with a discussion on how endorphins can have pro and con effect on the body.

“Leaky Gut” is the common name for intestinal permeability, where the digestive tract becomes damaged and permeable. This happens from the ingestion of objectionable foods – mainly gluten, as well as from traumatic brain injuries/frequent concussions, excessive NSAID use, excessive alcohol consumption, and poor sleeping habits. When leaky gut is developed, toxins, food particles, bacteria and leak out of the digestive tract into the bloodstream, triggering an undesirable immune response (note that 80% of immune system located in intestinal tract). The immune system responds to this invasion of foreign agents with systemic inflammation, setting the stage for an assortment of health problems. In many cases, the inflammatory cascades cause chronic diseases in the area of your genetics that is your “weakest link.” It could be actual digestive conditions like celiac or IBS, or it could be arthritis, ADHD, allergies, asthma, or thyroid conditions. Leaky gut is becoming increasingly linked to heart disease, cancer a

Mark extends the thread from the previous week's show about human performance by discussing the role of doping in professional and Olympic sports today. Far from a black and white issue, Mark explains that inconsistencies in the testing procedures and random demarcation lines for what constitutes a performance enhancing substance (e.g., Gatorade enhances performance when you are thirsty!). Also discussed is how the public perception that certain athletes cheat to gain an advantage is actually a more complex cultural issue than a true morality weakness. For example, in pro cycling, recent controversies have affirmed that an athlete was virtually compelled to boost blood with doping products to have a chance at being competitive. Furthermore, the highly selective and competitive nature of elite sports compels athletes to search for every possible recovery advantage, including those that cross the line into doping offenses. Mark explains that we might view modern pro sports as theater, where athletes are perform

Mark Sisson departs from the usual Primal Blueprint lifestyle topics for an interesting discussion with Brad Kearns about human fitness. For starters, Mark discussed the recent Outside Magazine article "How Far Fitness Has Fallen". Researchers claim that our hunter-gatherer ancestors, and even early farming ancestors, were far fitter than modern humans.While it's granted that the average citizen today is soft compared to primal humans, Mark takes exception to the scientist's conjecture that, “Even our most highly trained athletes pale in comparison to these ancestors of ours." While hunter-gathers were likely excellent general physical specimens well-adapted to challenging primal life, it's ludicrous to imagine any of them competing in the specialized endeavors of today's Olympic sprinters, or marathon runners, NFL athletes. "It's hard to imagine Grok dunking over Kevin Durant". Mark then comments on the work of Tim Noakes, PhD, a South African considered by many to be the world's leading exercise physiologis

Mark tackles an interesting assortment of questions, including some extensive discussion about sprinting. For example, the difference between sprints on foot and stationary bike sprints with respect to work and rest intervals; the importance of sprint workouts with consistent perceived exertion and intuitive alignment with energy and motivation; implementing the Tabata interval method; and how sprinting can turbocharge fat metabolism and promote weight loss breakthroughs better than any other workout, because of its extreme impact on genetic signaling and metabolic function. Mark also provides a helpful overview of resistant starches and how they act in the body; offers tips on how to successfully introduce primal eating to vegetarians; and the considerations when eating CAFO meat if you can't afford grass-fed.

Mark Sisson starts out tackling a "very interesting question full of nuances" from Karl Bendy (PB Seminar presenter) - about the balance between low-carb, fat adapted living and the need to refuel with acceptable carbohydrates to replenish muscle glycogen when performing high intensity glycolytic exercises. Mark's detailed take on this oft-pondered continuum is to avoid chronic training patterns first and foremost; evaluate your carb intake decisions based on whether you carry excess body fat; adopt an intuitive approach where your intake might fluctuate based on your workout regimens, and finish workouts refreshed and energized instead of craving sugar intensely. Other questions include how food is treated as information by the genes and hormones; how autophagy (programmed cell death) is enhanced by fasting - promoting optimal health and longevity; and how to optimize the use ketones for fuel by the brain and body. Questioners came from disparate locations as far away as Austria, Hawaii, and Thailand!