Weekend Link Love
Otzi the iceman had clogged arteries. But evidence suggests that he also had a genetic predisposition toward heart disease, plus a bit of lyme disease.
Ned Kock offers his tips for building muscle while losing body fat.
Seattle is set to unveil the nation’s largest public food forest, an “urban oasis of public food.”
Now you don’t have to stress out over finding the perfect pair of Vibrams to match your plaid pants.
A few helpful tips for budding roadkill diners.
Both coffee and exercise elicit interesting – and similar – changes to DNA in muscle tissue. Also, have you ever seen a more perfect stock photo used for a science article?
The Natural Running Center brings us a video of the principles of natural running.
And finally, a definitive list of absolutely essential fitness products. Seriously, folks, peer reviewed research clearly shows that a Tug Toner-deficiency increases all-cause mortality in men and post-menopausal women.
Recipe Corner
- Purely Primal gets extra points for referring to Brussels sprouts as “baby cabbages” in this recipe for bacon-roasted Brussels sprouts.
- Foolproof prime rib, courtesy of J. Stanton, who leaves no stone unturned in his ceaseless quest for truth and delicious standing rib roasts.
Time Capsule
One year ago (March 5 – March 11)
- 6 Sneaky Ways to Work Offal Into Your Diet – For everyone who would like to eat more offal but who cannot stomach the taste, this is an important post.
- A Tale of Two Gluten Studies – In which we delve a bit deeper into the real meaning of a seemingly “positive” study on gluten.
Comment of the Week
You didn’t address the clothing issue. With so many people losing weight and getting fit, they will all have to buy new clothes.
Are there enough 30-inch jeans to go around for everybody?
- Chris Pine (no, not that Chris Pine, at least I don’t think) makes an excellent point. Can the world sustain the number of tailors required to bring in the waist of three billion pairs of jeans?
Grab a Copy of The Primal Blueprint 21-Day Total Body Transformation and Start Getting Primal Today!
Posted By: Mark Sisson
i’ve noticed that people in the paleo community are somewhat defensive about the otzi revelations? why? the guys was NOT a paleolithic human, and was NOT eating a paleolithic diet.
Right. He was from the Bronze Age, and thus, the conclusions reached by the scientists about his physical condition actually support Paleo/Primal ideaas about Neolithic diets and the rise of agriculture being ultimately bad for people.
Exactly.
His gut was full of grain (einkorn and emmer, both wheat-like) with a little goat meat. He also had bad teeth from his high-carb diet.
No kidding.
That anyone in the paleo community would be defensive this way is: (1) An indictment of the state of science education; and, (2) an indication that certain people in the paleo community need to educate themselves about the what/when/how/where of the paleolithic era.
Anyone wanting to follow Otzi news would be well served by a visit to the South Tyrol Museum of Archeology.
http://www.iceman.it/en/node/226
HAHA. GREAT comment
I wandered through a few other articles from the Ned Kock and thought this would be worth sharing: “I use a special spice that enhances the natural flavor or almost any combination of ‘natural’ foods – foods that are not engineered by humans – making them taste delicious.
This special spice is ‘hunger’. This spice can be your best friend, or your worst enemy.”
On another note, I’ve noticed that a lot of people, when talking about DNA, see it either as a completely rigid determinant or as completely elastic. From what I’ve learned, it’s a balance. It can be influenced, changed even, but it still provides significant structure and must be considered from both the determinant and elastic viewpoints. Be aware of the balance.
OMG. Love the minimalist golf shoes!!!
haha, at the bottom of the Iceman article, there’s a link for a ‘related video’: ‘How to make perfect porridge!’ Way to go, big agra…
I watched a video about the “murder” of Otzi. During the documentary it was revealed that he was a grain eater.
I think it was this video. (It’s on my other computer but just google “video Otzi murder” The are a bunch and I din’t remember which had the autopsy which showed grains.
Love the comment of the week. I’m the big girl married to the skinny guy. Skinny guys wasn’t so healthy either and found he developed a basketball type tummy that was often bloated. I went primal and he’s becoming a healthier skinny. He texted me yesterday to get a 30″ belt because he had to create another notch ‘under’ on his belt. I think if he actually quit eating his 3 scoops of ice cream (HCFC/sugar), he would blow away! PS- Could not find a 30″ belt.
My gym actually has one of those riding chair things in the women’s changeroom! Here’s a hint for ya – if an “exercise” machine needs to be kept in the women’s changeroom, it’s probably not appropriate at all. Or effective.
Oh and I should mention that I’ve been wondering for a while what the hell that thing was to begin with, since I’ve never seen anybody use it – but now I know!
Love the roadkill article! We love to find a fresh hit deer, salvaging what we can. We use the meat, and my husband tans the hides or uses them to make rawhide drum heads. Nothing says primal more to us than a venison steak and a drum session! He even acquired the nickname Graben Yager- german for ditch hunter..
Thank you for the muscle building/losing body fat article, Mark.
It’s been a recent topic of discussion amongst some of us at our CrossFit box lately.
I would love to read more about the supercompensation period and how to calculate it and if your workouts are too hard/easy to reach supercompensation and differ from baseline.. many of the articles out there describe what it is but do not give you anyway to calculate it.. is there a way?
Ötzi’s atherosclerosis may also have been caused by lyme disease.
See http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16326170, for example.
I now listen to my body for exercise. I literally start to “crave it” – when that happens I get the best results. I average one muscle group per week (two 40 minute sessions per week)
Bacon and anything go hand in hand, haven’t had brussel sprouts in awhile – must give this a try!
Glad you linked to the gluten article from a year ago -I’m hosting a ‘Go Gluten Free’ Challenge next month – I’ll add it to my arsenal of resources!
Love the link love posts! Keep up the good work!
Ozti was also expected to die in several years anyway from heart disease. PLUS, This was in a day when grains were a little more forgivable. (less processed.) And you’d THINK that people in this era, although grain eaters, would still be a bit more healthy than modern man. That just emphasizes that during this time period, the selective pressure was against those with agricultural-intolerant genes. Still rooting out those that could tolerate agricultural food the least.
I remember when they fount Otzi, and reading about how they initially could neither figure out how he strung his bow, nor what those little antler tips were for. All the archers of my acquaintance (I used to be active in the SCA) were trying to figure out who to write to to tell them that the antler tips *were* how the string was attached. Silly archaeologists.
I had the same sort of reaction at an archaeological conference listening to a talk about the midden at one of the Irish monasteries. They couldn’t figure out why there were x number of whole carcasses based on bones, and then yx number of skulls. I went up to the presenter afterwords and asked if they had considered anything like head cheese. He had absolutely no idea what I was talking about.
Archaeologists seem to have the bad habit of forgetting to consult experts in other areas related to their finds before they draw conclusions.
First of all, let me belatedly thank Mark for the link.
@ alleycat007, the post linked below provides a detailed account on how to calculate one’s supercompensation window:
http://bit.ly/vReN6y
Sorry, I got the link wrong in my previous comment:
http://bit.ly/ugi1Lp