With the Primal/paleo/ancestral/real food/whatever-moniker-you-prefer community growing by leaps and bounds over the past year, I thought I’d do another “blogs you should be reading” post. I’ve done this sort of thing before, both last year and the year before. Once again, there are a ton of blogs out there that I’ve either missed or forgotten to include in previous installments, along with newer ones that are newer and therefore less likely to be on my (or anyone’s radar). But that’s how we rectify the situation and get even more people reading these great blogs – by calling attention to them. Now, not all of them are strictly Primal; some only give passing mention to the specifics of evolutionary health. All the blogs included, however, are relevant to anyone interested in learning about health, fitness, nutrition, and general wellness. And isn’t that what we’re all doing here, anyway? Trying to learn how to improve our lives and the lives of those around us?
Let’s get to the blogs. In no particular order:
Melissa and Dallas Hartwig form the core of the Whole 9 team. Their philosophy revolves around the Whole 30, a 30-day trial run of complete and utter purity and adherence to the diet, and word has it that it’s brutally effective. They also just came out with a book, to which I gave some recent link love, but most importantly, they’re absurdly good looking, write a great blog wherein they give excellent training/eating/living advice, and coin such awesome phrases as “sex with your pants on.” Let them “change your life.”
Stefani Ruper is the gal who spurred that women and fasting post from a couple weeks back. If you dug her perspective on the topic of intermittent fasting, you’ll really love her blog, which deals with, well, it’s right there in the name – Paleo for Women. The hormonal situation in women is a totally different ball of wax than the admittedly simpler and more straightforward endocrine system in men. We deal in the same raw materials, sure, but the amounts, proportions, and effects are different. To get a handle on all this stuff, check out her blog (where she also deals with another oft-ignored topic in our community, eating disorders).
70s Big has evolved over the years. What began as an online homage to heavy squats, big deadlifts, bigger meals, even bigger mustaches, short shorts, tank tops, and the hirsute men of the greatest decade ever to grace the 20th century has become a training blog that promotes smart training, smart programming, and smart eating, breaks down complex kinesiological and anatomical concepts, and yes, still pays homage to heavy squats, big deadlifts, bigger meals, even bigger mustaches, short shorts, tank tops, and the hirsute men of the 70s who bore them. If you’re into lifting, check it out.
I’ve mentioned Kelly Starrett before. Heck, I even invited him to the last PrimalCon, where he loosened wound-up hip capsules, blessed attendees with improved thoracic mobility, and mashed quads galore. But I’m going to do it again, in a formal way, because you probably need what he’s giving. If you’re a human being with (technically) working limbs, you should visit Mobility WOD, try a few of the WODs, test-retest, and note the improvement in your movement. Oh, and whatever you do, stay out of the pain cave.
Though perhaps not the first choice you’d send to your grandma interested in all this “nutrition stuff you’re always yammering on about” to read, the blog of molecular biology expert Lucas Tafur is worth studying. He’s keenly interested in the interplay between our nutrition, the gut microbiota, the immune system, inflammation, and our health. His tagline says it all: “We are 90% microbes and 10% human.” If you’ve ever wondered about those things, and you have a scientific bent, get on over to Lucas Tafur’s blog.
To nom is to “eat something.” To nom nom is to “eat something vigorously and with great enthusiasm.” To nom nom Paleo is to “eat fantastic Paleo chow.” That about sums up Nom Nom Paleo, a Palo Alto, CA-based blog wherein the purveyor takes stunning photographs of food and family, provides great recipes (Kalua pig is probably my favorite so far), and along the way ends up giving excellent advice to families trying to make this Primal thing work in a decidedly non-Primal world.
Clifton Harski
A former MovNat master trainer, Clifton has moved ship to San Diego, where he dispenses training advice, helps men and women develop rotunder posteriors, and has singlehandedly jumpstarted a seriously-suffering V-neck industry. He offers online consulting, as well as poignant insight on topics pertaining to getting stronger, fitter, faster, and more mobile.
Denise Minger, infamous study-eviscerator and bane of vegans everywhere, eats a near-vegetarian raw food diet. Huh? Yeah, it’s crazy. She’s not about Primal, or veganism, or carnivorism, or anything with a label. She’s only interested in disseminating the truth about nutrition. Which is why you should read her blog, especially if you’ve already enjoyed her many guests posts on this site. Oh, yeah, she’s also pretty darn hilarious.
What’s not to love about a blog meticulously written and researched by a ketotic, self-experimenting, endurance athlete MD? Inside The Eating Academy you’ll find well-researched posts on a variety of topics, including an epic series on blood lipids, posts about training in ketosis, and the dangers (or not) of non-nutritive sweeteners. The blog began as The War on Insulin, but Peter Attia has expanded his focus to encompass a wider range of topics. At about a year old, it’s one of the newer blogs around, but it’s already getting loads of attention and providing great content, and I’m excited to see what he has in store for us.
Suzanne Crawt, also known as Paleo Suz, is a frequent attendee of PrimalCon, coming all the way from Australia. And she’s put together a great resource for Australians and New Zealanders interested in making Primal work in their neck of the woods. If you want to know where to get the best prices on compliant products, how to cook Primal versions of traditional local foods, find Australian and NZ health professionals with an ancestral bent, or connect with other folks of similar mindsets who live there, the Paleo Network is the spot to do it.
I’m halfway convinced that Suppversity is written by a robot. The highly detailed, data-and-insight-packed breakdowns of studies he churns out on a near-daily basis boggle the mind and seem unreal. But they’re real, and they’re informative. If you’re interested in hearing about the latest study on the estrogenic effects of soy protein, the asthma-fighting effects of whole milk, or whether that workout supplement you keep hearing about actually works, read Suppversity.
Although we do our best to make Primal living in this non-Primal world work, it’s not always easy. And sometimes, you want to hear from someone who’s faced this conundrum and (seemingly) won, particularly if they have a smart, clean writing style. You could probably learn a thing or two from a person like that, right? Luckily, Paleo/NonPaleo is a blog almost entirely devoted to that exact dilemma, with that exact writing style. Start with her inaugural post that drew the fans in – 27 Ways to Live With Your Non-Paleo Spouse – and see what you think. Then, explore the rest of the site.
As always, I’d love to hear from you. What are your favorite Primal-friendly blogs? Do you read the ones I’ve listed? Why, or why not? Are there any you’d remove from the list? Let me, and everyone, know in the comment section! Thanks for reading, folks.
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