Define the Primal Blueprint page

[wiltondeportes]

I've read much of Mark Sisson's writing on here. It's informative and entertaining, but it is a bit wordy and doesn't cut straight to the core. Let's talk strictly from a nutrition perspective. It says no grains, legumes, or dairy. I say I agree! I know what my body wants, and I have experimented with all kinds of stuff.

What are the scientific reasons? I'll start, and hopefully somebody can finish for me.

Our genes come from a 200,000 year old lineage of Homo Sapiens. Farming practices just started around 10,000 years ago, and our bodies are generally simply not designed to eat grains, legumes, and dairy if it wants to be at max efficiency.

Grains have lectin, gluten, and phytate. Phytate makes minerals bio-unavailable, possibly leading to deficiencies. Lectins bind to insulin receptors, bind to human intestinal lining, and they seemingly cause leptin resistance. And leptin resistance predicts a “worsening of the features of the metabolic syndrome independently of obesity”. Gluten I know sort of sludges your system, and I believe it makes it harder for protein to synthesize. 1/3 of the population is allergic to it on some level (and a lot of them don't even know it??). Does anybody know what else?

Legumes have a higer starch amount than you would want. They do have some vitamins and minerals, but they can be found in other foods as well. They are a good source of protein, but alas they are incomplete sets of amino acids. They are difficult to digest. Ultimately, they are simply ok.

Dairy does what?

Tubers can be good in moderation for their energy content. Potatoes are very starchy. Sweet potatoes are strongly preferred. Basically just watch your carb intake during the day and use these mainly if you need to up the ante or you workout for 2 hours+.

Carbs in general:

1) The levels of blood glucose stay higher longer because the glucose can’t make it into the muscle cells. This toxic glucose is like sludge in the bloodstream clogging arteries, binding with proteins to form harmful AGEs (advanced glycated end-products) and causing systemic inflammation. Some of this excess glucose contributes to a rise in triglycerides, increasing risk for heart disease.

2) More sugar gets stored as fat. Since the muscle cells are getting less glycogen (because they are resistant), and since insulin inhibits the fat-burning enzyme lipase, now you can’t even burn stored fat as easily. You continue to get fatter until eventually those fat cells become resistant themselves.

3) It just gets better. Levels of insulin stay higher longer because the pancreas thinks “if a little is not working, more would be better.” Wrong. Insulin is itself very toxic at high levels, causing, among many other maladies, plaque build-up in the arteries (which is why diabetics have so much heart disease) and increasing cellular proliferation in cancers.

4) Just as insulin resistance prevents sugar from entering muscle cells, it also prevents amino acids from entering. So now you can’t build or maintain your muscles. To make matters worse, other parts of your body think there’s not enough stored sugar in the cells, so they send signals to start to cannibalizing your precious muscle tissue to make more – you guessed it – sugar! You get fatter and you lose muscle. Woo hoo!

5) Your energy level drops, which makes you hungry for more carbohydrates and less willing to exercise. You actually crave more of the poison that is killing you.

6) When your liver becomes insulin resistant, it can’t convert thyroid hormone T4 into the T3, so you get those mysterious and stubborn “thyroid problems”, which further slow your metabolism.

7) You can develop neuropathies (nerve damage) and pain in the extremities, as the damage from the excess sugar destroys nerve tissue, and you can develop retinopathy and begin to lose your eyesight. Fun.


Fats. Omega 3's are good. You want an even ratio of Omega 3 and Omega 6. Fish, grass-fed beef, and lamb are three main sources of O-3. I could get into this more, but I don't have time. Can somebody give me the lowdown on this category.

Nuts...good for a snack. Some of the nuts that have the preferred types of fat I guess would be Macadamia, Walnut, Pistachio, and Cashew.

Oils...You don't want to use most of the nut oils. Olive oil is good but not for cooking. Coconut oil is great for cooking as is beef tallow. Walnut is another good oil that can be used somewhat for cooking.

Feel free to add new categories if I missed something. Please help me fill in the blanks! The best way to learn something is by teaching it...

[Primal Fist]

I think you'll find Mark already wrote a book for this very purpose.

[Hedonist]

I've read much of Mark Sisson's writing on here. It's informative and entertaining, but it is a bit wordy and doesn't cut straight to the core. Let's talk strictly from a nutrition perspective. It says no grains, legumes, or dairy. I say I agree! I know what my body wants, and I have experimented with all kinds of stuff.

What are the scientific reasons? I'll start, and hopefully somebody can finish for me.

Our genes come from a 200,000 year old lineage of Homo Sapiens. Farming practices just started around 10,000 years ago, and our bodies are generally simply not designed to eat grains, legumes, and dairy if it wants to be at max efficiency.

Grains have lectin, gluten, and phytate. Phytate makes minerals bio-unavailable, possibly leading to deficiencies. Lectins bind to insulin receptors, bind to human intestinal lining, and they seemingly cause leptin resistance. And leptin resistance predicts a “worsening of the features of the metabolic syndrome independently of obesity”. Gluten I know sort of sludges your system, and I believe it makes it harder for protein to synthesize. 1/3 of the population is allergic to it on some level (and a lot of them don't even know it??). Does anybody know what else?

Legumes have a higer starch amount than you would want. They do have some vitamins and minerals, but they can be found in other foods as well. They are a good source of protein, but alas they are incomplete sets of amino acids. They are difficult to digest. Ultimately, they are simply ok.

Dairy does what?

Tubers can be good in moderation for their energy content. Potatoes are very starchy. Sweet potatoes are strongly preferred. Basically just watch your carb intake during the day and use these mainly if you need to up the ante or you workout for 2 hours+.

Carbs in general:

1) The levels of blood glucose stay higher longer because the glucose can’t make it into the muscle cells. This toxic glucose is like sludge in the bloodstream clogging arteries, binding with proteins to form harmful AGEs (advanced glycated end-products) and causing systemic inflammation. Some of this excess glucose contributes to a rise in triglycerides, increasing risk for heart disease.

2) More sugar gets stored as fat. Since the muscle cells are getting less glycogen (because they are resistant), and since insulin inhibits the fat-burning enzyme lipase, now you can’t even burn stored fat as easily. You continue to get fatter until eventually those fat cells become resistant themselves.

3) It just gets better. Levels of insulin stay higher longer because the pancreas thinks “if a little is not working, more would be better.” Wrong. Insulin is itself very toxic at high levels, causing, among many other maladies, plaque build-up in the arteries (which is why diabetics have so much heart disease) and increasing cellular proliferation in cancers.

4) Just as insulin resistance prevents sugar from entering muscle cells, it also prevents amino acids from entering. So now you can’t build or maintain your muscles. To make matters worse, other parts of your body think there’s not enough stored sugar in the cells, so they send signals to start to cannibalizing your precious muscle tissue to make more – you guessed it – sugar! You get fatter and you lose muscle. Woo hoo!

5) Your energy level drops, which makes you hungry for more carbohydrates and less willing to exercise. You actually crave more of the poison that is killing you.

6) When your liver becomes insulin resistant, it can’t convert thyroid hormone T4 into the T3, so you get those mysterious and stubborn “thyroid problems”, which further slow your metabolism.

7) You can develop neuropathies (nerve damage) and pain in the extremities, as the damage from the excess sugar destroys nerve tissue, and you can develop retinopathy and begin to lose your eyesight. Fun.


Fats. Omega 3's are good. You want an even ratio of Omega 3 and Omega 6. Fish, grass-fed beef, and lamb are three main sources of O-3. I could get into this more, but I don't have time. Can somebody give me the lowdown on this category.

Nuts...good for a snack. Some of the nuts that have the preferred types of fat I guess would be Macadamia, Walnut, Pistachio, and Cashew.

Oils...You don't want to use most of the nut oils. Olive oil is good but not for cooking. Coconut oil is great for cooking as is beef tallow. Walnut is another good oil that can be used somewhat for cooking.

Feel free to add new categories if I missed something. Please help me fill in the blanks! The best way to learn something is by teaching it...

Per this recent post, Mark feels that olive oil is OK for cooking.

Dairy: Most humans lose their ability to digest milk when weaned off of it as toddlers. Some ethnic groups, such as Northern Europeans, are able to consume it. Primal recommends butter, cream, whole milk yogurt and occasional cheese. Raw products are preferred. See Mark's Definitive Guide to Dairy, which he admits isn't really definitive.

Have a look at this Getting Started post by Kurt Harris.

[wiltondeportes]

I think you'll find Mark already wrote a book for this very purpose.

Does the book spell it out better than the website?

[NeoBerserker]

Primal Blueprint = Winning!

[DaisyEater]

Does the book spell it out better than the website?

It puts it all in one place which seems to be what you're looking for.

[Angieh]

Are you certain Mark is the wordy one? Oh, my.

[Springbean]

Primal Blueprint = Winning!

Too funny!

And +1

[Nomad1]

I find it extremely ironic and funny that you call Mark wordy.

[lexsi340]

Good post, I second reading the PB.. AND cashews are just not even close to an optimal nut.