Weekend Link Love
Research of the Week
In elite gymnasts, a three month stint on a very low carb ketogenic diet had no (negative or positive) effect on their performance and explosive strength levels. Gymnasts on the ketogenic diet, however, did lose a considerable amount of fat mass.
A new meta-analysis concludes that protein supplementation increases both strength and muscle mass in younger and older trainees engaged in prolonged resistance exercise.
Interesting Blog Posts
The Sock Doc breaks down how our hormones can affect the health and stability of our ligaments.
“It’s not me, it’s you,” said the venison to the finicky modern eater.
Media, Schmedia
Vote for Robb Wolf and Greg Everett‘s whole Paleo Solution podcast dealio gig in the People’s Choice Podcast Awards. Scroll down to Health/Fitness to cast your vote.
If any grain is Primal, it’s Paleo oatmeal, about as old fashioned as you can get (Onion warning).
Everything Else
Crossfit Endurance founder Brian Mackenzie details his training philosophy in the newly-released book with the self-explanatory title: Power, Speed, Endurance. If you’re a fan of endurance sports (or just general human performance) and you want to do them safely, effectively and healthfully, check out the book. Here’s a trailer, and here’s a sample chapter (PDF), free of charge.
And for the kids out there wondering what they should put on their feet to go run, here’s a possible answer.
Recipe Corner
- Yeah, it’s a nut-meal based paleo treat that apes SAD food but so what? It’s the holidays: Paleo Sweet Potato Biscuits.
- Just wrap it in bacon and they’ll never be the wiser.
Time Capsule
One year ago (November 18 – November 24)
- The Problems with Antibiotics: More Fallout from Killing Your Flora – All the other downsides to antibiotics abuse that most people – even those who get it otherwise – don’t really mention.
- The Problems with Antibiotics: Possible Alternatives and Damage Control – Assuming you do have a condition that calls for antimicrobials, are there any options besides antibiotics? And how can you reduce the collateral damage?
Email of the Week
I don’t know how ANY of the test subjects managed to fall asleep while researchers were taking their rectal temperatures.
- Different strokes, mattoomba. Don’t knock it til you’ve tried it.
Grab The Primal Blueprint Cookbook Today and Receive Free S&H and a Free Primal Blueprint Poster
Posted By: Mark Sisson
Great set of links, the two that interest me the most are the ones on gymnasts in ketosis and the protein supplementing. Since I went into ketosis I have not been doing as well with my lifting. My bench is down like 10 to 15 pounds.
On the protein supplementing, I wonder what type of protein were they using that saw increased muscle gain? Was it whey or some other form. Liquid or can you eat some chicken or eggs if you want to avoid whey?
Looks like that keto study was a very high protein diet, 200 g per 150 lb body weight. Maybe that has something to do with it.
on ketosis my energy levels were lower. I could not lift as much too. But I was also on calorie restriction so I was weaker
But on normal calories and low carb, for me which is 80 grams under, i got stronger and felt no problem. I was on a very high protein diet, about 1.7 times my weight. So like 260. Which helped. The only issue is i plateau in fat loss loss and muscle gain due to the fact i was low on leptin because i denied myself potatoes for almost 3 months
I used whey protein isolate for supplement which is designed to be very low in lactose. zero carbs and sugars. no soy, gluten or tree nuts
I got excited about the first link, but then I saw that all the subjects were male. My own n=1 keto experiments have been fairly satisfactory, but I’d like to see larger ones with more women subjects.
Aaand now I’m craving venison.
I was about to comment the same thing. Would be very curious to see if the females had any AEs as well, e.g. loss of menstrual periods or acne.
Hey Mark, awesome blog.
Worthwhile to mention that Twinkie manufacturer Hostess just went bankrupt? Down with sugar!
Hostess will be gone but the brand products will be liquated and most likely bought. Flowers Food is the most likely to acquire the brands.
Bimbo is also eyeing the leftovers.
But now what will the cockroaches eat when we cover the planet with trash and have to escape to space and leave the world to adorkable musical-theatre-loving robots?
I was expecting a twinkie-related link too!
Pabst Blue Ribbon made an offer for them–now I suppose we’re going to see bowls of Twinkies and Ding-Dongs on the bar next to the peanuts and pretzels!
Twinkies and Ding-Dongs with Pabst?! Is nothing sacred???
Do not celebrate too fast! I predict that whoever buys Hostess (and someone will…) will declare bankruptcy, fire all the unionized workers, then reopen as a non-union shop. You know, “Sure, you can have your old jobs back. Starting salary is minimum wage…”
I liked the article on the venison. I do try to make it taste better, by soaking it in salt water to thaw after I take it out of the freezer.
But I also try to make my store bought turkey taste better. I soak it is salt water when I take it out of the freezer to thaw.
Bruning is a super way to boost moisture.
Hooray, Meateater finally got mentioned by the Paleo/Primal community! One of my favorite shows, that I actually watch. Steven Rinella is a true paleo man.
Thank you for sharing my recipe! It’s a great treat for Thanksgiving.
Hey Kelly…I cant wait to try it today. If all goes well…it will be on our Thanksgiving table. I’m trying for 100% primal feast this year fingers crossed.
Mmmmmm…Thanksgiving biscuits it is! They turned out great.
How much fat do elite gymnasts have to lose?
Almost an entire pound.
Shared among them all!
Haha!
I know it’s not really gamey like venison but I wasnt able to track down grass fed beef the other day and ended up buying regular beef which I haven’t had in a long time. I gotta say I really didn’t enjoy the flavor, it was just “off”.
The gymnasts lost 1.6 kg or 3.5 lb on average
That seals the deal, I am going on the gymnast diet plan.
some attention should be brought to what exercises these gymnasts were doing…hanging straight leg raise, ground push up, parallel bar dips, pull up, squat jump, countermovement jump, 30 sec continuous jumps. these are all good exercises but elite level gymnasts can do these in there sleep. they’ve probably been doing them since they were literally 5 years old. i don’t think diet makes that much of a difference for them they could probably eat candy all day and they’d still get the same numbers. i’d be more curious to see a similar study done with subjects more “average” for lack of a better word. very few of us are elite gymnasts so i think the study is moot.
Am I the only one who is unable to cast a vote on the podcastawards website?
No, you are not. I spent ~5 minutes looking.
“Despite concerns of coaches and doctors about the possible detrimental effects of low carbohydrate diets on athletic performance and the well known importance of carbohydrates there are no data about VLCKD and strength performance.”
Interesting that the authors of the study decided they needed to insert a comment about the importance of carbs into their conclusions, despite the fact their study proved them unnecessary (at least over the duration of the study)
Hahaha, the best line was in the Quaker link about replicating paleo man’s oldest grain.
“When asked how the crowning achievement in oatmeal science tasted, all researchers agreed that it “pretty much tastes like shit. I mean, it’s oatmeal.”
I see nothing in the linked article about the composition of this protein supplement.
Anyone see it?
I feel the exact nature of our foods is far more important than the general ‘type’ of food, so why the vagueness here?
Generic whey powder? Erk.
Steak! Eggs! Salmon! Milk! Who knows?
Very interesting. People thinks that athletes have to go on a higher carb diet to sustain their energy