Dairy, as I’ve discussed, is a somewhat hazy matter in the Primal Blueprint. With adequate reasons from solid thinkers both for and against, I’ve relegated dairy to the provisional, the peripheral, the speculative even as I choose to modestly indulge in it. As with most Primal gray areas, some forms appear less controversial than others. Raw, fermented, full fat dairy offers much more health benefit with fewer reservations than processed, low fat renderings. (Isn’t that always the case?) From a Primal perspective, however, dairy still remains somewhat of an enigma. Hardly one of the original, universal foods in human evolution, milk entered the scene at a surprisingly late date – only some 9,000 years ago with the advent of animal domestication. Researchers have long traced the “progression” of Grok‘s dairy intake from the Middle East into Europe, where milk actually became an unusually significant dietary staple. New research into the dairy “drift” now offers more details than ever surrounding this relatively isolated, albeit dramatic, evolutionary event.
Posted By: Mark Sisson
5 Minute Crawl
Variations on this WOW are encouraged. See the “How-to” and “Variations” sections below.
Posted By: Mark Sisson
As NPR reports, your lifestyle behaviors may not only affect your gene expression. They may alter your children’s, too.
Author Leo Babauta of Zen Habits just launched his new book, Focus. For those looking to simplify the chaos in their lives, Leo has aptly dubbed his new book a “simplicity manifesto.” You can get it free as a download, or you can buy an upgraded version including some goodies like how-to videos (love the title “How to Single Task”) and interviews with the likes of Seth Godin.
I occasionally feature some parkour action here. This week you get dog parkour.
Posted By: Mark Sisson
Beauty isn’t everything and celery root is living proof. There is nothing about its knobby, gnarled, beige appearance that would entice you to put it in your shopping cart. You’ve probably passed by it a hundred times nestled between the turnips and rutabagas, not even realizing what an amazing root vegetable you’re passing over.
The flavor of celery root strongly resembles celery but there is also something potato-like about it both taste and texture. It is often eaten as a salad, grated then left raw or quickly blanched and mixed with mayonnaises, lemon and mustard. This time of year we prefer to cook celery root a little longer before serving. Peeled and cut into pieces, this vegetable can be braised, boiled, baked or sautéed. If you’re tired of using cauliflower as a mashed potato stand-in, give mashed celery root a try. Even better, gently simmer celery root then puree it into a silky, creamy soup.
Posted By: Worker Bee
I make no bones about enjoying the conveniences of our modern age. As much as I esteem our beloved Grok figure, I wouldn’t opt to trade places with him. (All right, it might be fun for a day.) That said, I’ve always acknowledged that modern living comes with a price: persistent stress, rampant responsibilities, less sleep, less play, less sun, and novel environmental toxins. Pollution, in particular, is one of my central considerations in designing the Primal Blueprint well beyond a basic paleo model. Although we’re wholly Grok’s kin, let’s face it: we’re hardly in Paleolithic Kansas anymore.
Unlike some drawbacks to modern living, pollution (especially air pollution) is one downside that’s hard to avoid. Sure, you can live upwind from the industrial section of town, or you can settle in the country. Regardless, factories set up shop in new areas, highways are added to accommodate increasing sprawl, jets fly overhead, and crop dusters spread “drift” far beyond target fields. (And then there’s the next door neighbor’s daily chiminea ritual, stinky “vintage” truck, or perpetual tendency to spill gasoline in his garage while filling the lawn mower.) Not to be a killjoy, but very few of us live beyond air pollution’s reach.
Posted By: Mark Sisson
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