What I've Been Reading

The Paleo Manifesto: Ancient Wisdom for Lifelong Health by John Durant. We all should be thankful for John Durant for writing this insightful book. I learned so much from this book, one of the best books of this year. It's not a diet book but its a lifestyle book - highly recommended !!

• Lots of other fields have something to offer. Geneticists are unlocking a wealth of statistical inferences about our ancestors. Primatologists teach us about other closely related species, such as chimpanzees and bonobos. And paleoanthropologists put all the pieces together, grounded in a theoreotical framework based on evolutionary biology. Combining these disciplines allows us to make an educated guess at what an ancestral human lifestyle might have looked like during the middle to late Paleolithic.
• Don't count calories; eat high-fat, moderate protein, low-carbohydrate diet.
• What you eat directly reflects on your dental hygiene. Look at your teeth and alter your diet accordingly.  
• The tight link between physical and spiritual purity led to the religious proverb “Cleanliness is next to godliness.” And it prescribes effective methods of disinfection, such as hand washing, bathing, sterilization by fire, boiling, soap, quarantine, hair removal, and even nail care. Follow that.
• In contrast, biohackers begin by acknowledging their own ignorance: How does the body work? The simple truth is that no one has a very precise idea. Not doctors, not molecular biologists, and not the average Joe. Rather than looking for the answer in a scientific journal, molecular biology textbook, or classroom (like tools would), biohackers get their hands dirty. They, too, follow the Hands-On Imperative. Biohackers experiment on themselves: trying new foods, removing others, and tracking how their body responds. This trial-and-error approach has a number of virtues: it’s fast and cheap; the results are customized to unique persons or circumstances; and it doesn’t require a PhD in molecular biology. Biohackers also understand that “Perfect is the enemy of the good.”
• Two of the most well-known factors that influence feeling energetic have nothing to do with energy intake: the perception of a serious threat causes the release of adrenaline, and morning sunlight causes us to wake up.
• Red meat from grass fed animal is healthy. At the same time, there are plausible ways in which eating red meat might be unhealthy. Insufficient cooking might not kill all viruses, parasites, or bacteria. It’s also probably not a good idea to cook meat at extremely high heat, as charred meat has many toxins. But there’s good reason to be skeptical that red meat— the flesh of adult mammals— is inherently unhealthy.
• What to eat: Mimic a hunter-gatherer (or herder) diet. 
• How to eat: Follow ancient culinary traditions. When dealing in proverbs and old wives’ tales, it can be hard to separate superstition from science, so it’s a good idea to look for traditions that are old (persistent), widespread (pervasive), and originated in multiple cultures (profitable).
• What not to eat: Avoid industrial foods (meat, processed, microwavable etc), sugars, and seeds. 
• Make it meaningful: Experiment, customize, enjoy.
• The most healthful plants are green leafy vegetables and seaweeds, fruits and berries, and roots and tubers (in contrast to grains, legumes, nuts, and seeds). For most people, roots and tubers are a good source of “safe starches” or “safe sugars”— safe because of the low levels of problematic antinutrients. These include sweet potato, potato, yam, taro, carrots, parsnips, rutabaga, beets, onions, and squash. Another good source of nontoxic starch is white rice.
• Dairy is one of those areas where personal experimentation is required— exclude it entirely for a time, then add it back in and see how you feel. Many people seem to do just fine with full-fat or fermented dairy, including real butter (very popular), heavy cream, sour cream, cheese, and yogurt. It’s best to avoid low-fat, ultra-pasteurized dairy entirely.
• Humans have co-evolved with the bacteria in our gut since long before we were human, and fermentation simply externalizes that synergistic relationship.
• Slow cooking is one of the oldest methods of cooking. A mix between steaming and baking, it relies on indirect, low heat for a long period of time. Hunter-gatherers often used simple earthen ovens: dig a fire pit, light a fire, let it go out, bury the embers along with the food, and dig it up hours later, ready to eat. Get a slow-cooker.
• Traditional animal fats include tallow (beef fat), lard (pork fat), butter, and ghee (clarified butter). Healthy plant oils include coconut oil and olive oil. Generally, tropical plants provide the healthiest oils. Choose cooking fats and oils that are low in polyunsaturated fats (PUFAs). Avoid industrial vegetable oils, such as canola oil or soybean oil. try butter made from the milk of grass-fed cows. Grass-fed butter is a rich source of vitamin A, a healthy fat called CLA (conjugated linoleic acid), and vitamin K2. Many grocery stores now carry Kerrygold, an authentic Irish grass-fed butter.
• The different colors in plants indicate different chemical compounds, and each provides a different set of antioxidants and nutrients. Eating a variety of colors is a good way to eat a variety of micronutrients.
• According to the Talmud, “An egg is superior to the same quantity of any other kind of food.” People who order egg-white-only omelets are missing out on the most nutritious part of the egg: the yolk. Dr. Chris Masterjohn points out that of all the nutrients in an egg, the yolk contains 100% of the fat-soluble vitamins (A, E, D, and K), essential fatty acids DHA and AA, and carotenoids.
• They are a rich source of omega-3 fatty acids, as well as vitamin D, calcium, and vitamin B12. Whether cooked, cured, or canned, whole fish are an under-appreciated way to eat nose to tail, getting the skin, bones, and many of the organs.
• Eat Seaweed - Seaweed typically contains iodine, vitamin B12 (rare among non-animal foods), and large amounts of protein— making sea vegetables particularly popular among vegans.
• Despite all the hysteria over the sodium added to industrial food, there is only meager evidence that low-salt diets significantly reduce blood pressure, heart attacks, or strokes. If you generally avoid industrial foods, then your own sense of taste should be a reliable guide to salt intake.
• The seeds of cereal grains contain toxic proteins. Many of these toxic proteins are intended to make it difficult for a grazing mammal to digest the seed. From a seed’s perspective, it doesn’t “want” to get digested— it wants to make a new plant. The goal is to exit a mammal’s digestive tract still intact, dispersed and covered in the manure that will fertilize the seed’s growth. Grains that contain the heavily toxic bran are described as “whole grains,” and are often mistakenly viewed as entirely healthy. For those who keep grains in their diet, sprouting, soaking, and fermentation are three traditional ways to make them less toxic. For a wonderful exploration of fermentation, read the fourth part of Cooked by Michael Pollan.
• Consumption of wheat has been associated with a vast number of chronic health conditions, including cardiovascular disease, autoimmune disorders, and cancer. Corn contains many toxic proteins similar to those found in wheat and other cereal grains. Of all the cereal grains, white rice is the least toxic, largely consisting of pure carbohydrate. Therefore, depending on one’s level of carbohydrate intake, white rice is a good low-toxicity option.
• Avoid Legumes - Legumes are grain-like seeds. The most important legume in the industrial diet is the soybean, the fifth largest agricultural crop in the world. Other common legumes include peanuts, lentils, peas, alfalfa, and any variety of beans. Many seeds come in strong casings or shells, which is nature’s way of saying: “Stay out.” Of the “big eight” food allergies, half involve a seed or seed-like part of a plant: peanuts, soy, wheat, and tree nuts.
• For those getting started, the single best online resource is Marks DailyApple.com. Published by Mark Sisson, author of The Primal Blueprint, it has excellent introductory material on just about any health topic. For those with a need or desire to take a deeper dive into diet, I highly recommend Perfect Health Diet by Drs. Paul and Shou-Ching Jaminet PerfectHealthDiet.com). The best resource is PaleoHacks.com, founded by tech entrepreneur.
• Cook food that is distinctive to your lineage. Learn some family history. Dig up your great-grandmother’s cookbook or look up traditional recipes from your ethnic heritage. Learn how to cook one dish better than anyone else in the family. Find out how your ancestors died, and see if you can uncover any hereditary conditions. Get your genome sequenced. Do some ancestor worship. Fasting is a part of most religious traditions, so look up traditional forms of fasting in yours. Observe those holidays.
• Eat less frequently and less predictably than we currently eat.
• Fasting helps the body fight infection. One indication of this effect comes from the behavior of sick animals, including humans, who often lose their appetite until an illness has passed. Farm animals, pets, zoo animals, and wild animals often just stop eating altogether when facing an acute infection or a serious injury. The widespread nature of this phenomenon suggests it’s an adaptive response. Loss of appetite isn’t a bug, it’s a feature. The health benefits of fasting go beyond fighting infection; fasting is also one of the most promising areas of cancer research. Fasting alters the playing field by activating ancient starvation defenses in the cell. Fasting is a signal to the body that resources are scarce. Healthy, nonmalignant cells take the hint and stop dividing as often, focusing instead on cellular repair mechanisms that conserve resources. So even as chemo damages healthy cells, they are hard at work repairing chromosomal damage. But malignant cells don’t stop dividing; they’re “cancerous” because they refuse to do anything but grow and grow. In an era when potential blockbuster drugs get caught up in lengthy and expensive trials, fasting is free, entails no high-tech equipment, requires zero government approvals, and offers hope for many people who have nothing to lose. Fasting is also beneficial for metabolic health, protecting against heart disease, diabetes, and obesity.
• Breakfast is important to many people for the same reason that fasting is hard: they’re addicted to sugar. Smokers like a cigarette in the morning, too. Breakfast is a fix.
• CrossFit a new fitness movement that billed itself as the antithesis of big box gyms. But how do you train for everything? The answer, according to CrossFit, is a combination of three things: (1) high intensity interval training, (2) constant variation, and (3) functional movements. By the outfit’s own admission, these concepts had been borrowed from a wide variety of existing disciplines in order to deliver well-rounded athleticism.
• A common view is that the occasional vigorous exercise is a sufficient antidote to a sedentary lifestyle, the notion that a couple hours of cardio a week somehow counteracts days of sitting. But a number of studies suggest that sitting is unhealthful in its own right, independent of the occasional visit to the gym.
• According to bestselling author Nassim Taleb, “To become a philosopher, start by walking very slowly.” Standing and walking are exactly the sort of low-level movement missing from most people’s workday. Forget about calories and focus on accomplishment: don’t take life sitting down. Then, when the day is done, you’ve earned your rest.
• Barefoot Ted McDonald founded Luna Sandals, a company that produces comfortable and versatile sandals built with a traditional, minimalist design (LunaSandals.com). Many large shoe companies have jumped on the minimalist bandwagon— a welcome development.
• Sweat baths, tun down thermostat, work out outside. We try to reduce the sun to just so much vitamin D, as if those golden rays could somehow be captured in capsules of fish oil.
• Vegetarians have been resistant to financially supporting an alternative food system based on ethically raised meat. Since they ideologically oppose buying any type of meat, they refuse to buy ethically raised meat from entrepreneurs who are trying to create an alternative to the factory farm system and thereby alleviate the suffering of domesticated animals.
• If, say, 5% of the population is vegetarian, that means that the market for factory farmed meat is 5% smaller. To any of the big agribusinesses, that 5% hit isn’t going to put them out of business. They can further identify vegetarians as a consumer segment and then turn around and sell them Boca Burgers made with industrial soybeans. However, that same 5% would have a huge impact on the sales of entrepreneurial, ethical farms that are experimenting with alternative food systems. Talk to any entrepreneur about the importance of that first dollar of revenue, breaking even, and finally getting to cash flow positive— all are major milestones. That means in terms of “starting up” a more humane food system, one can have a far greater impact by contributing money to start-ups that are doing it right than by abstaining from buying products from established players that are doing it wrong. Here’s the kicker: once the big guys see that there’s money to be made by being ethical, they’ll get into the game themselves. But the very people who clamor the loudest about animal suffering won’t actually pay for meat that has been ethically slaughtered. If 5% of the population had been insisting on ethically raised meat for the last two decades, a lot more progress would have been made in satisfying that demand. The relatively tiny Jewish community has been willing to pay a small premium for kosher slaughter for millennia, and they’ve been getting kosher slaughter for millennia.
• My personal opposition to the worst aspects of factory farming isn’t motivated by feeling animals’ pain. Put a wounded animal directly in front of me and I feel its pain. Remove it from view and I sleep soundly. As Adam Smith pointed out long ago (in reference to an earthquake in China), humans have difficulty feeling the pain of other humans, much less animals. My opposition to the mistreatment of animals is honor-based. What we do to many factory farm animals is dishonorable in the same way that carelessly wounding an animal while hunting is dishonorable. In combat, respected adversaries have always merited a quick and painless death. There is every reason to extend that honor to the animals that give us our strength.
• Not all of these changes will be good ones— and those should be resisted. But without being too fatalistic, all prior growth revolutions— Paleolithic, Agricultural, Industrial— took place without planning or coordinated control. So far, the Digital Revolution is no different. The danger, of course, is that we engineer our way into disaster— but that’s why our design solutions should hew closely to those in the natural world. Nature must be the model.
•  The quest for a healthy human diet doesn’t end in the Paleolithic— but that’s the right place to start.