User rick - PaleoHacks.com

Could smoking tobacco have a benefit? If so, what is the mechanism?

2010-02-28T03:06:47Z

It seems as if every other account of traditional or hunter-gatherer cultures I have been reading lately marvels at the amount of tobacco smoked by the groups/tribes. The Kitavans, Eskimos, and Hazda all fall into this category. On Richard Nikoley's site, he indicated that in the China Study (of all places) the data showed a HIGHLY significant negative correlation between home-made rolled cigarettes and cancer.

I used to be pretty interested in ethnobotany, and recall that tobacco was more than just a sacred plant for many Native American tribes...it was a cure-all.

In the interest of full disclosure...I do smoke. But only about one a day (not lying) and they are organic American Spirits. I've never noticed any negative impact, outside of wanting to have a cigarette. Conventional wisdom says cigarettes are the worst thing in the world we could do for are health, so paleo wisdom says...?

If cigarettes do indeed confer a benefit, why do they? Appetite suppressant? Stimulant? Some compound within the plant? The nicotene itself?

Answer by Rick for Does Fiber interfere with the absorption of other nutrients?

2010-09-16T18:26:51Z

Once I decided to lay off fiber completely, my digestion improved dramatically. Dr. Michael Eades wrote a great thought piece on fiber: http://www.proteinpower.com/drmike/fiber/a-cautionary-tale-of-mucus-fore-and-aft/

So, we have a situation where a product causes damage to the cells lining a tube, causing them to produce a lot of mucus in an attempt to protect themselves. In the process many of these cells die and are replaced by new cells. And this is perceived as a good thing.

My question is: is it really a good thing?

Answer by Rick for Not losing weight on low carb paleo. Why?

2010-07-19T15:03:59Z

I have also gained weight (fat) eating mostly paleo/low-carb...and it coincided with a lot of muscle gain as a result of a regimen of heavy lifting (and eating). It appears that with the added muscle my body is comfortable with some extra fat to support it. Given your workout regimen, you likely added some muscle as well, and it may be that you need more fat to support your increasingly muscular frame.

In short, although we are eating "naturally" as best we can, some of the workout regimens many of us subject ourselves to may not be so "natural." My body likely wasn't made to support the kind of muscle that I have put on it, so it needs a little more fat to compensate. I think if you stop killing yourself to lose these few pounds, you might start feeling much better.

Good luck!

Answer by Rick for Overeating with Paleo

2010-05-27T03:17:12Z

My experience has been that putting on more muscle=increased hunger=putting on more fat. I have come to the conclusion that the body needs that fat to support the additional muscle. It is a little disconcerting...I miss my six pack a little bit, and buying bigger pants wasn't all that fun either. But eating good food until I'm full, not getting sick, having tons of energy, flawless digestion, and arms/chest/shoulders/back I get compliments on makes it worth it :)

In short, I think that if you are eating good food...it is virtually impossible to overeat. Your body will give you the right signals.

Answer by Rick for is it ok to eat a lot of butter ?

2010-05-25T18:41:03Z

Of course it's not "technically" paleo...but I eat/cook with about a stick a day and it appears that lots of other paleos eat plenty of butter as well. Personally, it gives me tons of energy. It really comes down to a choice of fat or carbs for the majority of calories...and fat is the best choice. No need to ration butter IMHO.

Answer by Rick for Is a saturated fat plus high glucose meal a dangerous combination?

2010-05-06T05:26:09Z

This sounds like it is along the same lines as Dr. Davis' butter makes you fat nonsense, to which Peter at hyperlipid provided a sound rebuttal.

The gist of Peter's post is that although saturated fat may raise your insulin levels a bit higher than other fats when taken with glucose, saturated fat turns you into a fat burning machine, so who cares?

My personal opinion is that it is this overriding fear of saturated fat that has led to the obesity epidemic, and the sooner we all get over it the better!

Answer by Rick for What are your Paleo Meta-Rules?

2010-05-01T20:35:55Z

I like this one:

"Don't think naively that plants are your friendly food friends; they've evolved as immobile creatures with toxin-laden tissues for protection against herbivory."

I believe that Kurt Harris says it this way: "Nature is beautiful, and it's trying to kill you."

I also like these: "Don't disrespect the spirit of The Ten Commandments" and "Don't disrespect your ancestry."

Mine would be "Let health, not appearance, be your motive; let wisdom, not knowledge, be your guide."

Answer by Rick for Your worst cheat to date?

2010-04-27T20:37:48Z

LOL...I'm not even sure one drink could count as a cheat. Take it easy on yourself!

Last year on July 4th I made up my mind beforehand that I was going to cheat. 6 beers, 2 hot dogs, a hamburger...and to top it all off...a giant dessert plate of something at a popular local restaurant to go along with more alcohol. I'm fuzzy on what it was exactly as a result of the alcohol, but I am certain that it was delicious. And don't worry, Grok wasn't driving.

The problem with this cheat was that it spilled over into the next few days. After you wake up from a day like that, you start thinking about how good McDonalds breakfast food is, with those little hashed browns and the McGriddles...my God the McGriddles sandwich. Ketchup briefly became a part of my life again. And soon...tighter fitting pants.

My advice is that cheats shouldn't be planned, sort of like drunkenness shouldn't be planned. When this happens, overdoing it practically becomes an inevitability.

Answer by Rick for Dr Davis vs Paleo? That is, How often should we eat meat?

2010-04-19T07:00:17Z

Dr. Davis seems to be backing himself into a corner on this subject. Why...who knows? These two posts are the first I saw of it. The comments are telling. He ignores or evades the questions Dr. Harris asks again and again. Peter from Hyperlipid gives an excellent explanation for the phenomenon Dr. Davis reports in this one:

http://heartscanblog.blogspot.com/2010/02/genetic-vs-lifestyle-small-ldl.html

Here is the first of that series:

http://heartscanblog.blogspot.com/2010/02/saturated-fat-and-large-ldl.html

I wasn't interested in too much he had to say after witnessing all of that.

Answer by Rick for Brad Pilon's Eat STOP Eat

2010-04-16T14:18:27Z

I was under the impression that Pilon was on board with paleo-nutrition to a certain degree, but Stephen Guyenet's interview with John Barban made it clear that Pilon and his cronies are not. This is surprising, since the ads for ESE are so subtle (rolling eyes).

Here is Stephen's link to the interview: http://wholehealthsource.blogspot.com/2010/04/interview-with-john-barban.html

More of the same from the bodybuilding crowd. Calories in = calories out, food is food, Taubes is an idiot(!), blah blah. A better name for Eat Stop Eat might be Starve Get Ripped!

Answer by Rick for Still sick & manuka honey

2010-04-02T12:50:38Z

Cayenne pepper brother! Mix some up in a glass of water and take a sip every 10 minutes or so. Heat the water and add honey if you like. It should be spicy and make you sweat but don't kill yourself with it. The key word is sip.

and put the tequila down! ;)

Answer by Rick for Most important common veggies, fruits in a Paleo diet?

2010-03-25T22:01:02Z

Personally, I focus on the kinds of vegetables that can help me get the vitamins I need. Spinach tastes great cooked in ghee, coconut oil, and bacon grease. All three of those are great on a baked potato as well. Potatoes are very cheap.

Onions are good with liver, and cauliflower is a good substitute for mashed potatoes if you want to keep the carbs down, but you'll pay about the same for a big head of cauliflower as you would for a bag of potatoes. Asparagus, in season, can be pretty cheap and is definitely my favorite vegetable.

I would echo what Dexter says about fruit. A lot of fruit isn't really "paleo", in that the plants used to produce this fruit have been significantly modified to produce fruit as sweet as possible. Berries don't have a lot of fructose, but are expensive as well.

To echo Dexter again, we don't really need fruits and vegetables, so making them a "focus" of diet might be a fundamental mistake.

Answer by Rick for Is fluoridated water safe for everyday drinking?

2010-03-17T19:53:50Z

I had always been a skeptic when it came to the dangers of water fluoridation. Seemed like it could have been a bunch of fear mongering, as more often than not the Nazis were brought up during a discussion of the subject.

That all changed this week. I was having to drink more and more water recently, to the point where it seemed like I was always thirsty. As a result, I was having to make a trip to the bathroom about every hour. The endless thirst was really starting to get old.

I did a little research and decided to try some distilled water. Night and day. I've normally refilled my 12 oz glass of water about 3 or 4 times by now. I've yet to refill it. I had gained a some weight recently and was having trouble shedding this as a result of hunger cravings that really made no sense knowing what I know about physiology (thanks to you good people) and what I was eating. Cravings gone.

Here is a link to a tragic video about fluoride-poisoned horses:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9RXfOuylWo

Answer by Rick for High Fat or High Protein For Very Overweight Clients?

2010-03-15T20:25:09Z

What is good for the goose is good for the gander. Obese people shouldn't be eating diets that lack the nutritional benefits of a diet that "fit" people eat. Seems like a recipe for failure.

Answer by Rick for The Best Paleo Elevator Pitch

2010-03-09T15:27:15Z

I saw a good one somewhere, started out: "and she addeth to bear his brother, even Abel. And Abel is feeding a flock, and Cain hath been servant of the ground."

Answer by Rick for Potatoes: Eat the skin, or no?

2010-03-09T00:47:24Z

The skin is likely the best place for the potato to put up a fight. All those carbs that the plant stored up so that it could grow the following season need to be protected. It makes sense for the skin to be full of harmful substances.

Pretty odd that we have always been told to eat the skin. Funny how conventional wisdom is often not just wrong, but harmful.

Answer by Rick for Should the "Grok" be dropped?

2010-03-08T21:56:33Z

I understand the complaints, on many levels, but I don't think we need to burn Grok at the stake. Let him die a peaceful, natural death, much like we all might wish to do.

How do most of us respond when someone uses a hackneyed phrase around us? Usually tepidly, but not rudely, and if the other person has much sense they will see this. No need to berate them.

Answer by Rick for How did Grok self-obsess?

2010-03-07T22:04:43Z

He planted some seeds.

Answer by Rick for When Grok gets a cold- what then?

2010-03-06T18:36:01Z

I discovered the benefits of cayenne pepper while in the throws of a bad cold a year ago, and have been telling everyone I know about it ever since. I've tried it twice and it has worked both times, alleviating about 90% of symptoms. Closest thing to a "miracle" I think I have experienced in my life, outside of dumping the wheat.

Here is a good site that lists some testimonials:

http://www.earthclinic.com/CURES/sore_throat_cayenne.html

I realize most of the testimonials talk about dealing with a sore throat specifically, but this works for a cold just as well.

There are some down votes for cayenne, but these appear to be either accidental, as they are not reflected in the actual testimonial, or a result of the person not doing it right. Kind of like when someone says that paleo didn't work for them, when in actuality they were on a "faleo" diet (hat tip to Melissa).

The correct way to do it is to mix some cayenne in a glass of water (hot water with a bit of honey and lemon if you like) and sip every 10-15 minutes until you start to feel better. You definitely want it to be spicy, but you don't have to kill yourself with the stuff. Compare to eating a spicy meal. Took me about two hours to start feeling better the first time, and an hour after that I was feeling great!

If someone knows why this works exactly please let me know. My own personal opinion is that the reaction of your body to the cayenne kills the bug as well.

Answer by Rick for Are tubers paleo?

2010-02-28T02:34:49Z

To answer this from a health standpoint instead of a paleo/not-paleo standpoint...Conventional wisdom says that the skin of the potato is where all of the good stuff is. So "paleo" wisdom would probably say that the skin of the potato is where the good stuff is not. And this makes sense. If a potato wants to avoid being eaten it is likely going to put up its defenses on its surface.

In general, I am finding it harder and harder to justify the consumption of almost any plant. In order to eat many of them, delicate preparations are necessary and this in itself seems a little absurd when there are so many things one could be eating that do wonders for the body.

Answer by Rick for More MEN than WOMEN are paleo?

2010-02-26T21:33:09Z

I commented on this on another blog...and of course was promptly censured by other commenters. This blog was more mainstream and not paleo-oriented, so I should have held my tongue and waited for a better opportunity. Well here it is!

Let me say first off...I think a combination of stereotypes, marketing practices, and the sordid history of gender discrimination in our society are the reasons for the differences between men and women in regards to paleo. In a vacuum, there is no reason to believe that a man or a woman would be more or less capable of following a paleo lifestyle.

As a result of these outside influences, I think women have a harder to warming up to paleo and/or have less of a desire to follow it. I also think women have a harder time giving up grains and legumes. I can't tell you how many women have told me, after I informed them about my diet, "But I LOVE carbs!" How many men have said this to me? None that I can think of.

I think it is in the minds of many women that by eating meat they are in essence demonstrating their dependence on men. Grains and legumes are thus empowering for women, and so that may be the reason you see more women than men following a vegan/vegetarian lifestyle.

I wish there was more focus on women among paleo bloggers and proponents as well. I think a shared experience exploring a paleo lifestyle would be a wonderful addition to any relationship, and personally I would love to be able to convince my girlfriend to go paleo.

So you paleo women out there...keep putting out good, woman-specific info. The boys are watching and reading. Every "Grok" wants a "Grokette!"

Comment by Rick

2012-06-10T18:17:26Z

Nuts did it for me too. Also ended up having problems when I relied too heavily on lean protein and didn't get enough fat or carbs in my diet

Comment by Rick

2010-10-13T23:02:46Z

I was thinking about this the other day. Why immediately curtail your body's natural reaction?

Comment by Rick

2010-09-19T13:41:46Z

ben...I definitely agree with you on gelatin. I was struggling with bowel problems recently, until I re-incorporated some broth into my diet.

Comment by Rick

2010-08-18T13:34:23Z

I'm guessing there are more than a few paleo guys who would be interested in a curvy 20-something paleo gal. Have her get on facebook/twitter and throw up the paleo flag...she'll be found :).

Comment by Rick

2010-07-23T00:39:57Z

Now you are putting words in my mouth. I was saying that I was surprised by the response because vaccinations don't seem to fit the spirit of "paleo." But, yes, in addition to not being "paleo", there is a boatload of money to be made on vaccinations, and there are often scare campaigns launched in support of this vaccine or that one or vaccinations in general. So there are a lot of reasons to be skeptical.

Comment by Rick

2010-07-22T18:07:56Z

Blanket statements and piles of dead children. Where have I seen these methods of persuasion before?

Comment by Rick

2010-07-22T14:50:37Z

I'm a bit shocked by the paleo response here as well. If there is something that is definitely NOT paleo, it's vaccinations. I'm guessing that many are convinced that CW is often wrong because of stupidity or oversight, followed by greed and politics. I would argue that they have their causality backwards.

Comment by Rick

2010-07-19T17:34:55Z

I'm really not certain. My opinion on this is from personal experience and anecdotal evidence I've heard from others. Intuitively, it seems to me that if our bodies naturally need a certain amount of fat to function optimally, if we add muscle mass (and perhaps bone density) to that body it would need more fat to continue functioning optimally.

Comment by Rick

2010-07-15T19:36:58Z

I think we might live in a better world if bread made everyone as sick as it makes me :)

Comment by Rick

2010-06-08T00:44:31Z

L-Lysine is definitely the drug of choice here...first introduced to me by mom!

Comment by Rick

2010-05-27T03:22:12Z

I can vouch for what Patrik said personally...hope it sticks around AJ! Otherwise its time to grow some facial hair and buy some hats.

Comment by Rick

2010-05-21T03:16:45Z

Although the author didn't do a bang up job, I'm glad to at least see some criticism out there about synthetic D. I never noticed any benefit when taking it, and often would get a bit congested. Tossed the suckers awhile back, and definitely felt better about that decision after all that "cod liver oil is poison" nonsense from the vitamin d council.

Comment by Rick

2010-05-02T03:58:36Z

Definitely. If you ever have read Ishmael by Daniel Quinn, he interprets the story of Adam and Eve as a story about the birth of agriculture. Adam's punishment for eating the apple? "Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field."

Comment by Rick

2010-05-02T03:51:31Z

To quote Kary Mullis: "People who talk about scientific facts don't really know about scientific facts."

Comment by Rick

2010-04-19T20:45:23Z

Dr. Davis' post is "spot on?" Dr. Davis is repeatedly demonizing saturated fat without cause, evading any and all reasonable challenges and requests for evidence. You seem to be doing the same. Where is the evidence? Do you really think we should eat like a bear because Native Americans considered the bear a "brother?" Many also referred to trees as their "parents," does that mean we need to photosynthesize?