Weekend Link Love
Happy 4th of July!
Here’s another grand slam from TED, chef Dan Barber talks about sustainability and his love affair with fish.
Do video games have a place in fitness? Son of Grok‘s answer may surprise you.
Because more than a dozen people emailed me about the article, it’s worth mentioning that orthorexia is back in the news and is predictably being misinterpreted by pundits. While I covered the subject over a year ago, I’ll go ahead and say it again: Choosing healthy foods is not a mental disorder, but refusing to eat because of impossibly high standards is.
Leg of lamb? Psheh. Eat this.
Drugs in animals… Apparently not such a great thing. The FDA finally takes a step in the right direction by urging less antibiotics in meat.
In super serious news, Pay Now Live Later discovers the secret to the tape worm diet is all in the training…
I’ve poked fun at Gwyneth’s diet and exercise choices in the past, but this is actually kind of sad. She may be in the early stages of osteopenia. On the bright side, this news might spur Gwyneth fans to get more D!
And finally, the layers of meaning are just baked into this photo.
Recipe Corner
- Stuffing peppers, it’s never a bad idea. This week Paleotron jams cheese, beef, and of course, bacon into Primal stuffed peppers.
- Health Bent showboats the barbecue with a hog dog chili with jalepeno sauce. (no Oscar Meyer weiners were used in the making of this dish).
Time Capsule
Two years ago (June 27 – July 3)
- Top 10 Health Marketing Buzz Words (Ripe for Skepticism) – Acai? Pomegranate? Two years later and you can still find them slapped on products for a quick sell to the health crowd. There’s a Pomegranate Diet Seven-Up for goodness sakes!
- Dear Mark: Ketosis – Everything you need to know about the processes of the body under extremely low-carb conditions.
Comment of the Week
Recently I made a buckwheat pillow and I’ve been sleeping way better since. It is really firm but it basically contours exactly to how you want it. Oddly, when I wake up the pillow usually has only like a couple inches of thickness so maybe the thinner the better or something along those lines. All I know is I used to wake up with neck problems and they seemingly have disappeared since.
-Jerry from Does it Matter How Grok Slept?
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Posted By: Mark Sisson
ORTHOREXIA???
LMAO….
If the food companies would create ONLY healthy foods maybe less people would be so ‘obsessed’ ?
They find a name for everything, don’t they.
Agreed! It’s beyond stupid to insinuate that those who want to eat healthy have a problem. Wow.
On second thought, what they say about it potentially causing malnutrition has to be directed to those who have no idea which foods are actually good or bad for them and make the wrong choices.
This “orthorexia nervosa” label can’t possibly be aimed at those who are actually just eating proper foods and doing it correctly.
No, it’s not. The label is for people who are obsessed with eating healthy. Obsession is a mental illness, no matter whether you are obsessed with something good, like exercise or going to church, or something harmful, like illegal drugs. In fact, most obsessions at their core are things that are good for you. There are people clinically obsessed with cleanliness to the point that they are paralyzed by washing their hands all of the time. There are people obsessed with sex who cannot function in life because they are pursuing their obsession. The people described with this disorder suffer consequences in their lives and health because of their obsession–it is therefore a mental disorder. Whether you want to give it a label of its own or lump it under some generalized OCD or eating disorder category is the only question here.
ive been contemplating buying a wii with wii-fit. my friend owns one with the resort, she said she gets a huge workout doing it, and its loads of fun she doesnt realize she is even worked out until they turn it off and she can barely move!
Want a good workout? Try moving about 10,000 books from point A to point B. *rubs sore arms*
Interesting article in today’s Sunday NYT magazine re: research into protein/carbs and men v women. A study seemed to suggest that men benefit much more from post-workout protein than women, where the study found no added benefit. I wonder what you think of this, Mark. It has always been very common that significant research studies look at men and merely extrapoloate the findings to women. Are you aware of any peer-reviewed research that supports Primal eating for women?
I’ve been Primal for a few months now and am a believer but I wonder about the research on women.
Cycling Weekly picked up on this research too … I have to say since follow PB and reading Mark and Taube’s stuff I tend to take most of this kind of research, and subsequent extrapolations, with a pinch of salt!
I noted that the antibiotics article said the following: The FDA guidance applies to antibiotics deemed “medically important” because they also are useful in treating human illness.
This is a rather vague statement. I do know that it has slowly become practice to use different types of antibiotics for humans than are used for pets and livestock. The rational is this will help minimize antibiotic resistance in humans. It sounds like this new FDA statement might actually be a call for further efforts at separation of types more than a call for actual lessoning of antibiotics. However, I would be more than happy to be proven wrong.
I posted on Son of Grok about my husband losing 30 pounds before our wedding on that DDR game thing. He’d be a sweaty mess after 60 minutes and had fun! I figure if you can have fun while doing something that works your body, it doesn’t matter how goofy or silly it it.
I also made an awesome Bison Stuffed Pepper but used organic pork rinds as the “breadcrumbs.” I tried to search but couldn’t find a definitive answer to whether or not pork rinds fit into a primal lifestyle.
What do you think?
But since they’re only the skin of an animal we eat – much like chicken skin – I figured it was okay and they were TO DIE FOR.
a lot of us eat pork rinds – i think the key is to choose a brand that only uses pork skins and salt… several brands add gross stuff like soybean oil and MSG.
I’ve used them as breadcrumbs too. It’s pretty perfect, isn’t it?!
i have a 19th-century recipe for stuffed pepper which uses chopped pecans as the breadcrumb-substitute — it’s really good!
I think I have Tyrannosaurus Rexia Nervosa! Heck…my only concern is that it doesn’t eat me first!
“….but sufferers tend to be aged over 30, middle-class and well-educated.”
sufferers? I suffer? Otherwise, this describes me. So, well educated, mature, wise people practice this “dangerous behavior” and are psychologically imbalanced? I better get Dr. Phil, STAT!
Did you see the news about the bison recall due to ecoli contamination. I thought bison was supposed to be grass fed, and thus unlikely to be contaminated with the bacteria that plagues the factory meat. Maybe this grass fed stuff is over rated. In this case it wasn’t healthier , it was downright dangerous.
Bison’s not guaranteed to be grass-fed. You have to look for it, just like Beef. They tend to be partially grass-fed , but they also supplement with grain (according to the association website).
Also, ecoli contamination can occur from handling long after the animal was slaughtered.
Yes, it was from a manufacturer in Colorado that may have distributed to Utah and Arizona. Here’s the link to the story.
I’m in Iowa and I only get my bison from a farm I could literally drive to. They slaughter 2-3 a week and then freeze the meat immediately and sell it at the farm and at locla farmer’s markets.
However. ANY meat that is processed ALWAYS carries some risk of contamination. It’s just the way it is. Local, grass-fed pastures are the best way to go if you’re near an available source.
Also, the company involved in the recal Great Range Bison is not grass-fed, but grain-fed.
Just because they’re bison and not cows doesn’t mean that the farmer’s and manufacturers have to treat them any differently, which unfortunately means mass slaughtering in tight condition, grain-fed, and thus higher risk of situations like these.
About Orthorexia Nervosa.
I’ve been called odd, weird, strange, unusual, insane, crazy, etc. I take them all as a compliment. Doesn’t matter what I do, someone has a problem with me not being normal. That’s my life story. Long before becoming primal. I consider all those words to mean I’m an individual. As far as I’m concern, those words are a compliment and only encourage me to be an individual son of grok. I’ll even add f*#!ed up to the list.
As for mental, well, I’ll trade my old Emotional Eating for Orthorexia Nervosa any day. So I’ll add “completely mental” to the list of compliments. I sure prefer ON to EE any day.
Mmmm I love stuffed peppers.
Wish my pepper plants would start producing! I was hoping for lots of peppers by now.
If the electronic stuff can get America’s fat kids off the couch, it can’t be all bad.
Interesting post. I don’t care what we get called. Makes me wonder what “treatments” or “therapy” they would use to help this so called condition
Hilarious! I had no idea bison was also grain fed. Thanks for sharing your comments, always learning new things here.
While I think that this “problem” is microscopic compared with those surrounding the SAD, I do think that many people do take eating healthy to unhealthy extremes. The anxiety and stress associated with not eating according to your plan can be just as unhealthy as the “unhealthy” behavior you are trying to avoid. This is something that Mark mentions in PB. Based on some of the comments I have seen on MDA, some folks might benefit from revisiting these passages.
I can’t afford grass-fed beef and organic produce right now, so I eat the grain-fed crap and do the best I can with my current means–I avoid virtually all grains, gave up virtually all sugar, drink some kefir, take a few supplements, etc. I think I’ll be able to afford better beef in the near future if I save up and get a quarter or a side and freeze it. Til then, I’m not freaking out over it.
If the thought of losing access to your precious grass-fed beef and organic produce causes you anxiety, you might have this disorder–I think several posters in this very thread are leaning in that direction.
According to the Bratman test, I need to loosen up over food because I got 4 yes answers. Yes, I’ve been more strict with myself lately. Yes, I get higher self esteem when I eat right. Yes, I’ve given up foods I used to eat because they aren’t good for me. And yes, I feel (a little bit) guilty when I don’t eat right. Is it really such a psychological danger sign to get more diligent about eating right, cut out unhealthy food, and then be proud of yourself for doing it? Sheesh! All the more ironic considering all the so called experts who have been saying for years that the problem with overweight people is they have low self esteem, lack of discipline, and eat unhealthy foods. Talk about a catch 22 situation!
Orthorexia Nervosa
If you read Bratman’s original essay, you will find it intentionally hilarious. http://www.orthorexia.com/
Yes, there are people who get sick and even die because they are obsessed with some purist diet. An example would be macrobiotic followers who die from eating nothing but brown rice for too long.
As I understand the orthorexia questionnaire, it just helps a therapist explore a patient’s pattern of eating. The questions seem fairly good for that.
Mark certainly goes out of his way to avoid leading people into the kind of patterns mentioned by Bratman. Indeed, he constantly encourages a healthy attitude.
When I think about some forum posts, I have to wonder whether the posters have orthorexia. But I am not a therapist nor do I play one on TV. So I will let people decide for themselves whether the shoe fits. I do believe that such a disorder exists.
Wow just wow! that video on sustainable farming blew me away. That is incredible stuff.
I think instead of feeling so defensive, we should realize that if we are truly following Primal Blueprint, we won’t fit the criteria of AO. PB means that we remember to have fun and play, and Mark has made it clear that stressing out about 100% compliance is more harmful than the occasional indulgence. There is a line between being mindful of how we eat and how much we exercise, and becoming so engrossed and obsessed that it sucks the joy out of life. The diagnosis is not about what most of us are doing, it is about taking it to an extreme where we would rather, literally, starve, than eat something not perfect. That is not healthy and Grok wouldn’t have survived if he was that picky.
Mark,
Thanks for doing these posts. Always something good in them! My “quick comment” on the orthorexia link turned into a RANT on my blog.
Check it out and thanks again for all the good stuff you put out.
Adam
http://practicalpaleolithic.com/paleolithic-diet-blog/are-paleo-dieters-crazy
Those stuffed peppers look amazing. I made some a while back and my sisters who do not eat meat really enjoyed them. I may try paleotrons version rather quickly.
And, yes, video games have a place in primal fitness. By going all out in some games, you can get an amazing workout!
I guess I have that eating disorder… but doesn’t every living thing? Think about grok or people from the past, their lives were centered around food, everything else was secondary, eat or die. And look at animals or bugs or whatever, they seem to be thinking about nothing but food
I think the orthorexia thing is an interesting issue, and I guess it’s something that a lot of people who visit this site ‘suffer’ from. A refusal to eat anything that’s not ‘primal’ is surely an example of this obsession with ‘pure’ food.
But, Mark’s focus on sensible vices obviously makes the Primal Blueprint far more pyschologically productive than a fully Paleo/ strictly low carb/ fat or vegan diet.
What I’ve found is that, when I’m in control of the food around me, I don’t feel in any way orthorexic. I look at all the healthy foods in my cupboard/fridge and choose what I feel like eating, like normal people do.
But when there’s a certain amount of pressure to eat certain foods (a kid tried to force me to eat an ice-cream yesterday, looking so hurt that I’d refused their gift) I feel ‘orthorexic’, whether I eat the food or not.
It’s much easier to have a healthy attitude towards food when you’re surrounded by healthy food, or, after a day with unhealthy stuff, you have healthy food to go back to go back to.
Interesting topic though, and a definite issue for lots of people out there.
I do agree with all the ideas you’ve presented in your post. They are really convincing and will certainly work. Still, the posts are too short for beginners. Could you please extend them a little from next time? Thanks for the post.
It is really taken me a bit of time to read each of the comments, but I really loved the post. I’m certain it will be very helpful to me. It’s always a nice surprise if a post is both educational and enjoyable! Thanks a lot