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3 Things to Know About Your Whey Protein (Is Whey Protein Paleo?)
Whey protein gets a bad wrap.
Especially if you read any Paleo sites or blogs.
And I really don’t understand it, sometimes.
There are a lot of myths about whey protein, but very few people look at the bigger picture.
Whey Protein is Pretty Darn Good, But It All Depends
Is Running Bad for You?
I’m assuming that anybody asking this question doesn’t have a broken leg or breathing difficulty.
Because running would be pretty bad in those situations.
But otherwise…
Humans Have Been Running For Millions of Years
Doubt it if you want, but there are lots of reasons to run. Hunting. Playing. And, of course, big lions and bears.
That alone isn’t a reason to believe that running isn’t bad. Humans have done a lot of other bad things for a very long time.
But it’s a good starting point. If humans have been doing it that long, it’s probably not terrible, and we’re probably evolved to be able to do it without killing ourselves.
But We Weren’t Made For This
Antibiotics May Save Your Life but Cost You Your Health
Warning: I’m not advising anybody to not take antibiotics!
Now…with that out of the way…
Antibiotics Are Both Great and Terrible
Obviously, there are certain situations in which you would always choose to take antibiotics.
If you’re literally dying of a bacterial infection, and you have antibiotics available that could save your life, you’d be crazy not to take them.
But there’s a lot of new research coming out on the side-effects of antibiotics, including this recent study:
Microbiota-liberated host sugars facilitate post-antibiotic expansion of enteric pathogens
That’s a title filled with a lot of jargon, but here’s the quick summary…
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Why Quitting Smoking Makes You Fat
You might (hopefully) not be a smoker, but this recent study is still quite interesting and informative:. Note this is NOT an article suggesting you should or shouldn’t smoke! This article simply reports what a recent study found.
Smoking Cessation Induces Profound Changes in the Composition of the Intestinal Microbiota in Humans
Smoking Changes Your Gut Bacteria
Over the past several years, there have been a variety of interesting studies that have linked gut bacteria to obesity. In my opinion, the most interesting of these studies have shown that simply taking the gut bacteria of an obese mouse and transferring it to the gut of a non-obese mouse will make the non-obese mouse immediately start gaining a lot of weight.
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How to Eat Potatoes and Improve Your Insulin Senstivity
The study below has been out for a little under a decade, but I recently found it courtesy of Richard Nikoley’s blog:
The study is not ground-breaking, but it’s yet another sign that…
Certain Starchy Foods Have a Lot of Positive Health Benefits
This may seem obvious to you, but for a long time now, many folks (Paleo or otherwise) have placed starchy foods (like rice, potatoes, plantains, etc.) in the same category as sugary candy, sodas, and other problematic carbs like wheat. If studies like this one are right, then starchy foods like potatoes may be the proverbial baby that got thrown out with the bathwater.
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Is Eating Late at Night Bad for Me?
Recently, someone asked me how to stop eating late at night.
It stumped me, not because I couldn’t think of an answer, but because I didn’t understand why anyone would even ask.
I’m not being mean – I don’t mean it’s a dumb question – rather, I didn’t even realize that people thought it was a bad thing.
Eating late at night is a problem, Per Se
In general, it’s better to eat fewer meals (you eat less, plus it gives your body time to be doing something other than trying to control blood sugar levels). But it’s not a huge deal.
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Sleeping Enough is Not Enough. Here’s What You Might Be Missing.
For a lot of my adult life, I was guilty of neglecting my sleep. Even when I was eating healthy and exercising, I’d still stay up too late and then get up early.
Recently, I’ve put a lot of focus on getting more sleep, and it’s working wonders for me. However, getting enough sleep isn’t enough.
It also matters when you sleep.
Circadian misalignment augments markers of insulin resistance and inflammation, independently of sleep loss
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Why Isn’t Dairy Paleo?
Despite what most websites say, dairy actually IS Paleo.
But only certain types of dairy, and only after you’ve determined that you’re not sensitive to dairy.
When Is Dairy Paleo?
1. Dairy is Paleo so long as it’s raw (or made from raw milk) or fermented.
2. [Preferable but not necessary] And preferably, the cow, goat, or sheep will have been pastured (not pasteurized). This means that the animal generally eats grass (although do note that dairy cows cannot be 100% pastured, as they’ll stop producing milk for long periods during the year). In some countries, feeding cows grass is normal, but in the US, cows are often fed corn that’s been especially mass produced for that purpose (not the typical corn humans eat).
3. You have eliminated dairy from your diet for 60 days and the reintroduced it without any ill effects.
The Veggie that Gets No Respect: A Tribute to Brussels Sprouts
“A fruit is a vegetable with looks and money. Plus, if you let fruit rot, it turns into wine, something Brussels sprouts never do.”
P. J. O’Rourke (1947 – )
Brussels Sprouts generally divide folks into two camps–they love them or detest them.
First grown in Italy during the Roman Empire, the sprouts we’re most familiar with may have been cultivated en masse in Belgium (hence the origin of “Brussels”) around 1587. They were then introduced to the U.S. in the 1800s.
Today’s varieties are less bitter than their ancient cousins, but they rarely get the respect that they deserve, either for their versatility or for their health benefits. For instance.
Here are 7 Great Health Benefits that Should Encourage You to Give Brussels Sprouts a Try
Paleo Success Story: Competitive Drive
It’s one thing to read about why eating Paleo foods and living a Paleo lifestyle is great for you. It’s another to constantly see the changes that people just like you are achieving. “Success” is bracketed because it’s different for everyone, and in the end, it’s all about the journey rather than the destination. This guest post is from Lindsay
Like everybody else, I’m pretty busy.
I work a full-time job, I’m attending school at night to get my MBA, and I try to fit in regular Crossfit workouts. Oh…and life happens, meaning that something else seems to come up every day.
Trying to fit eating better into my life has not been automatic, then, but it has been amazing. This is my “success” story.
About Lindsay
My name is Lindsay, and I’ve been pretty strictly Paleo since January 2013. I’m in my late 20s, live in Pittsburgh, and am married with no kids.
Growing up, I played a lot of sports, from basketball to softball to soccer. But as I started working and going to graduate school, my activity level dropped off quite a bit, and my diet was certainly less than ideal.
Why I Went Paleo
In 2012, I started Crossfitting. I’ve always loved sports and physical activity, so I immediately loved Crossfit.
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How to Convince Your Family to Eat Healthier (and that you’re not crazy)
Getting healthy, losing weight, and sticking to a diet of real food – these tasks are difficult for most of us in the best of circumstances. However, if you’re also struggling to either convert or just gain the support of your spouse and/or kids, then everything suddenly seems a lot harder.
Have you ever wondered how much easier it would be if your entire family was actually excited about making better and healthier food and lifestyle choices? What if it were your entire family and all of your friends? How easy would it be in that case for you to make better choices and decisions about your health?
I’m here to tell you that not only is that situation possible, but I’ve seen thousands of people do it. And most of those people started out thinking that their families were too stubborn, too unsupportive, or just too lazy to ever care about their health.
And even though everybody’s situation is different, you can use the same approach to get your family on board with eating and living healthier. There’s a formula for how to do it.
My Story
My wife, Louise, is a very successful health author, blogger, and speaker, and she runs one of the 2 magazines that we own (Healthy Recipes Magazine).
When you read that, you might be thinking, “Wow, Jeremy was really lucky to find someone who is so excited about and interested in health.”
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You Can Die from Working Too Hard
I often try to focus on recent studies, since science progresses so quickly.
And when it comes to stress, there have been a lot of interesting studies over the past few years.
However, we went back almost 15 years for this one:
Are Vacations Good for Your Health? The 9-Year Mortality Experience After the Multiple Risk Factor Intervention Trial
As you can guess from the title, the study examined the association between vacations and health. Vacations are obviously not an exact measure of stress or the lack thereof.
The study followed over 12,000 men for about 9 years, but it was, nonetheless, only an observational study, meaning that we can only draw hypotheses from it.
However, the results were astounding enough to warrant some discussion.
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How Sweet It Is: Why Artificial Sweeteners are Unhealthy
Around here (in the world of Paleo), we recognize that calories matter but also that counting calories is a pretty dismal way to lose weight or live life.
In the rest of the world, though, artificially sweetened drinks are still very popular for just this reason.
There have been many studies on artificial sweeteners, but this recent was very interesting:
Artificial sweeteners produce the counterintuitive effect of inducing metabolic derangements
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The Problem with Gluten-Free and “Paleo” Breads
It’s always very hard to answer questions of what you should or shouldn’t be doing, because it depends a lot on who you are and what you’re trying to accomplish.
In an ideal world, you wouldn’t need to try to recreate old non-Paleo foods.
But I know from much experience (myself and others), that it’s often an easy way to ease yourself into big dietary changes.
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6 Reasons to Go Wild: The Problems with Farm-Raised Fish
Fish is incredibly nutritious.
However, by some estimates, as much as 90% of the fish in the United States is farm-raised.
What does this mean for you, your health, and your cooking?