Let me introduce myself. My name is Mark Sisson. I’m 63 years young. I live and work in Malibu, California. In a past life I was a professional marathoner and triathlete. Now my life goal is to help 100 million people get healthy. I started this blog in 2006 to empower people to take full responsibility for their own health and enjoyment of life by investigating, discussing, and critically rethinking everything we’ve assumed to be true about health and wellness...
Episode 300: Melanie Avalon: Host Elle Russ chats with Melanie Avalon, an actress and author of What When Wine: Lose Weight and Feel Great with Paleo-Style Meals and Intermittent Fasting (and some wine).
Each week, select Mark’s Daily Apple blog posts are prepared as Primal Blueprint Podcasts. Need to catch up on reading, but don’t have the time? Prefer to listen to articles while on the go? Check out the new blog post podcasts below, and subscribe to the Primal Blueprint Podcast here so you never miss an episode.
They pitted refined grains against whole grains. Eating 98 grams of refined wheat each day led to a 49% increase in liver fat over 12 weeks, while eating 98 grams of whole wheat “prevented a substantial increase in liver fat.” What’s that saying, exactly? Did the whole grains prevent all increases in liver fat, or just substantial increases?
As it turns out, the whole wheat also increased liver fat, albeit “only” by 11%. That the whole wheat mitigated the catastrophic rise precipitated by the same portion of refined grains is something, I guess. Or you could just not eat any wheat at all.
And 98 grams of anything isn’t much. That’s a couple of slices of bread. Be careful!
How customer service reps for DNA analysis companies end up playing therapist to customers shocked by results.
An extremely important post by Dr. Malcolm Kendrick, who was recently removed from Wikipedia for questioning the cholesterol orthodoxy. Is Fathead next?
I recently read a quote—“It is incorrect to believe that top athletes suffer great sacrifices to achieve their goals. Often, they don’t see what they do as sacrificial at all. They like it.”
Do you agree with this regarding top athletes and top performers in other fields?
Recipe Corner
Instant pot cowboy chili, perfect thing to make out on the range. Just bring an extra long extension cord.
“An extremely important post by Dr. Malcolm Kendrick, who was recently removed from Wikipedia for questioning the cholesterol orthodoxy. Is Fathead next?”
PLEASE, everyone, switch over to Infogalactic.com (Infogalactic, The Planetary Knowledge Core) — it’s a ‘fork’ off WP WITHOUT THE SJW censorship!!
Someone tell Malcolm and Tom that at Infogalactic — the page’s SUBJECT can be verified and gets to edit and control his or her own page… A viewer/reader can, if that person wants to, see a page NOT edited by the page subject but by Infogalactic editors — to see if that person is … adding or subtracting truth. As the liberal idiots in the tech world keep closing down and shutting off and blocking other views (wot?! Malcolm Kendrick isn’t trustworthy?!?!?) — Infogalactic is providing another place to go!
I certainly agree that censoring viable scientific debate is wrong, but why use infammatory labels like “liberal idiots”? And, not all blocking is unwarranted, based on the organized attacks by hostile countries to spread disinformation some cyber security is required on our social media platforms.
One of the great things about MDA is the lack of the kind of political insults you hear hurled around in just about every other comments section. You can make your point without the insults. There are plenty of other places you can go if you can’t resist doing so.
Re: elderly returning to the workplace…my dad retired after 30 years in the food industry, and his second job, [which I believe he took more seriously than the first] is toodling around in his truck going to yard/garage/estate sales, buying low, selling high[ish..all relative]. It kept him going until an accident 2 months ago, an accident that ended up with his drivers license revoked. I admit his physical health, at 90, is waning, but his mind is solid. Any morbidity/mortality research on the effect of this priviledge, denied, on the functionality in the otherwise ‘moving forward’ elderly? I’m convinced that losing the independence of travel, after 74 years having it, is akin to losing a spouse, or similar. I fear this will put him in a terminal downward spiral. Thanks
“Do you agree with this regarding top athletes and top performers in other fields?”
You tell us Mark, you were once a world class triathlete. 🙂 I gotta think some part of it requires sacrifice as much as you love what you are doing. The top tennis players all tend to complain the season is too long and they have to practice constantly to keep up with the competition.
Very interesting to read the study on resistance training for the over 70s. I’ve even got my 2 daughters doing high intensity body weight exercises to failure with me for 15 minutes most days. It all helps – especially this time of year. But regarding that study, if you read it – they actually gave the non-control group extra protein. I’m known for being a high protein advocate so in my view it’s the combo of resistance training + high protein which leads to positive results…
I’m happy to see that salt (genus homo’s first currency) remains part of the health narrative. Our early ancestors would have consumed magnitudes more than modern humans — to the tune of 10+ grams / day. I personally start my day with 2 grams of pink Himalayan sea salt and get the rest throughout the day by seasoning my nose-to-tail foods to taste. I also devour fermented fish sauce and wild fish eggs on Sundays and Wednesdays.
We can drink all the water in the world but if it’s real hydration (intracellular hydration) your after, electrolytes (and mechanically structuring your water by earthing and sun exposure) hit the spot for better health. There’s a reason that “salt” remains on the short list of the Weston A Price Foundation’s Principles of a Healthy Diet.
Another tip… if you find yourself getting up at night to use the restroom, try dosing with 2 grams of the pink Himalayan sea salt before bed. Better sleep equals better everything!
I add salt to both my water and coffee. I notice that if I don’t do that I suffer with HUGE leg cramps, especially through the night. All it takes is about a pinch of sea salt, pink salt or whatever salt is available if I’m not at work or home. No more “Charlie horses” or leg cramps at night for me. I remember Mark saying that we need about 2 teaspoons a day so I knew I wasn’t getting that much.
I’m a big fan of tennis. My fav, Rafael Nadal, often says you have to love the suffering to be a champion. I imagine Roger Federer would not agree. Different outlooks for different personalities.
Was watching Rafa a few minutes ago on the Tennis channel while eating breakfast. Love the guy and as a left hander appreciate that he holds the racquet in the correct hand LOL. However, RFed is probably my favorite athlete of all time. He is also one of the hardest workers on the tour, his three hour workouts in Dubai are legendary, Google it if you get a chance. Many people don’t know that, they assume that just because his game is so smooth and flowing he does not work as hard as Rafa. Both are tennis gods and wonderful people and they are good friends.
That Iron article was enlightening. It’s frustrating that something so promising and possibly one of the most pivotal factors in some of our most frustrating diseases is struggling to get recognition by our researchers. Not sexy enough! What could be more sexier to a scientist than uncovering the truth behind heart attacks, cancer, diabetes and Parkinson’s?
Mark, I would love to see your take on “Iron is the new cholesterol”article. Specifically as it relates to optimal ferritin levels, blood donation,dietary and other lifestyle factors.
As a top athlete-a professional circus artist who has trained at extreme levels for six years to be where I’m at in terms of technique and artistry-some days, it does feel like a sacrifice. There are days when it hurts just thinking of getting out of bed to go back to the studio. Days when I just don’t want to make my wrists bleed again. And then there are the days when I leap out of bed totally excited to hit it hard. I think the hardest sacrifices though are the social ones-the amount of times I’ve turned down get togethers with friends because I chose 8 hours of sleep and a 6am alarm over a late night of board games; when you can’t be as lax around food for a greater goal; giving up financial and geographic stability for a passion and a dream. Is it hard? Yes. Is it worth it? Most definitely.
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“An extremely important post by Dr. Malcolm Kendrick, who was recently removed from Wikipedia for questioning the cholesterol orthodoxy. Is Fathead next?”
PLEASE, everyone, switch over to Infogalactic.com (Infogalactic, The Planetary Knowledge Core) — it’s a ‘fork’ off WP WITHOUT THE SJW censorship!!
Someone tell Malcolm and Tom that at Infogalactic — the page’s SUBJECT can be verified and gets to edit and control his or her own page… A viewer/reader can, if that person wants to, see a page NOT edited by the page subject but by Infogalactic editors — to see if that person is … adding or subtracting truth. As the liberal idiots in the tech world keep closing down and shutting off and blocking other views (wot?! Malcolm Kendrick isn’t trustworthy?!?!?) — Infogalactic is providing another place to go!
I certainly agree that censoring viable scientific debate is wrong, but why use infammatory labels like “liberal idiots”? And, not all blocking is unwarranted, based on the organized attacks by hostile countries to spread disinformation some cyber security is required on our social media platforms.
One of the great things about MDA is the lack of the kind of political insults you hear hurled around in just about every other comments section. You can make your point without the insults. There are plenty of other places you can go if you can’t resist doing so.
Re: elderly returning to the workplace…my dad retired after 30 years in the food industry, and his second job, [which I believe he took more seriously than the first] is toodling around in his truck going to yard/garage/estate sales, buying low, selling high[ish..all relative]. It kept him going until an accident 2 months ago, an accident that ended up with his drivers license revoked. I admit his physical health, at 90, is waning, but his mind is solid. Any morbidity/mortality research on the effect of this priviledge, denied, on the functionality in the otherwise ‘moving forward’ elderly? I’m convinced that losing the independence of travel, after 74 years having it, is akin to losing a spouse, or similar. I fear this will put him in a terminal downward spiral. Thanks
“Do you agree with this regarding top athletes and top performers in other fields?”
You tell us Mark, you were once a world class triathlete. 🙂 I gotta think some part of it requires sacrifice as much as you love what you are doing. The top tennis players all tend to complain the season is too long and they have to practice constantly to keep up with the competition.
Cannot read the article about salt. “You have reached your limit of free articles.”
Very interesting to read the study on resistance training for the over 70s. I’ve even got my 2 daughters doing high intensity body weight exercises to failure with me for 15 minutes most days. It all helps – especially this time of year. But regarding that study, if you read it – they actually gave the non-control group extra protein. I’m known for being a high protein advocate so in my view it’s the combo of resistance training + high protein which leads to positive results…
I’m happy to see that salt (genus homo’s first currency) remains part of the health narrative. Our early ancestors would have consumed magnitudes more than modern humans — to the tune of 10+ grams / day. I personally start my day with 2 grams of pink Himalayan sea salt and get the rest throughout the day by seasoning my nose-to-tail foods to taste. I also devour fermented fish sauce and wild fish eggs on Sundays and Wednesdays.
We can drink all the water in the world but if it’s real hydration (intracellular hydration) your after, electrolytes (and mechanically structuring your water by earthing and sun exposure) hit the spot for better health. There’s a reason that “salt” remains on the short list of the Weston A Price Foundation’s Principles of a Healthy Diet.
Another tip… if you find yourself getting up at night to use the restroom, try dosing with 2 grams of the pink Himalayan sea salt before bed. Better sleep equals better everything!
I add salt to both my water and coffee. I notice that if I don’t do that I suffer with HUGE leg cramps, especially through the night. All it takes is about a pinch of sea salt, pink salt or whatever salt is available if I’m not at work or home. No more “Charlie horses” or leg cramps at night for me. I remember Mark saying that we need about 2 teaspoons a day so I knew I wasn’t getting that much.
I’m a big fan of tennis. My fav, Rafael Nadal, often says you have to love the suffering to be a champion. I imagine Roger Federer would not agree. Different outlooks for different personalities.
Was watching Rafa a few minutes ago on the Tennis channel while eating breakfast. Love the guy and as a left hander appreciate that he holds the racquet in the correct hand LOL. However, RFed is probably my favorite athlete of all time. He is also one of the hardest workers on the tour, his three hour workouts in Dubai are legendary, Google it if you get a chance. Many people don’t know that, they assume that just because his game is so smooth and flowing he does not work as hard as Rafa. Both are tennis gods and wonderful people and they are good friends.
That Iron article was enlightening. It’s frustrating that something so promising and possibly one of the most pivotal factors in some of our most frustrating diseases is struggling to get recognition by our researchers. Not sexy enough! What could be more sexier to a scientist than uncovering the truth behind heart attacks, cancer, diabetes and Parkinson’s?
Mark, I would love to see your take on “Iron is the new cholesterol”article. Specifically as it relates to optimal ferritin levels, blood donation,dietary and other lifestyle factors.
Don, thanks for your note. I’ll be writing more about the topic in the coming weeks. Best — M
Hi Mark,
As someone who can’t donate blood because I contracted Hep B 37 years ago, I would really like to know more about this topic also. Thanks
Jen
Gratified to see this at the top of the blog on a Sunday!
As a top athlete-a professional circus artist who has trained at extreme levels for six years to be where I’m at in terms of technique and artistry-some days, it does feel like a sacrifice. There are days when it hurts just thinking of getting out of bed to go back to the studio. Days when I just don’t want to make my wrists bleed again. And then there are the days when I leap out of bed totally excited to hit it hard. I think the hardest sacrifices though are the social ones-the amount of times I’ve turned down get togethers with friends because I chose 8 hours of sleep and a 6am alarm over a late night of board games; when you can’t be as lax around food for a greater goal; giving up financial and geographic stability for a passion and a dream. Is it hard? Yes. Is it worth it? Most definitely.
Wild boar a “defenseless animal”, oh man that made me laugh out loud. Think what you want, Princess Meghan, but don’t say vacuously stupid things.
I got cancer from reading that CNN article. The fake data used for carbon emissions is astonishing if you have done any outside reading.