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Ingredients

Episode #8

By Guy Lawrence

This is  just one of the questions we ask leading naturopath and nutritionist Tania Flack as we go over our results from our DNA test.

If you have no idea what the DNA testing is, listen to this podcast first: The ultimate blueprint for better health. I’ve time coded the bullet points so can you jump straight to the bits that interest you most in the video if you’re short on time.

For more information on getting the DNA test. Click here.

Download or subscribe to us on iTunes here.

In this weeks episode:-

• What is DNA testing
• Who would benefit from this [03:10]
• Even if you eat well, it could be wrong for your body type [05:38]
• Why it’s 50% harder for me to lose body fat than Stu [07:05]
• How it can help sports performance [09:50]
• Looking at risk factors around metabolic conditions [18:30]
• and much more…

Transcript

Guy Lawrence: Let me just check. Yep! Recording.

Hey, this is Guy Lawrence and I am joined today with no other than Stuart Cooke and the lovely Tania Flack. Welcome, guys.

Stuart Cooke: Hello! How are you.

Tania Flack: Hi.

Guy Lawrence: Fantastic. Fantastic.

Anyway, Tania, thanks for dropping in. I really appreciate it. And I thought, just to get the ball rolling, if anyone happened to be listening to a prior podcast, because we covered gut health last time.

Could you just tell us a little bit about yourself for the viewers that are watching or listening to this?

Tania Flack: Sure. I’m a naturopath and I work in a clinic in Edgecliff in a medical centre. And I specialize in quite a few different areas. I guess I have special interest in hormone health, gut health, autoimmune conditions, and DNA testing. So, I’ve got a broad range of interests.

Guy Lawrence: Well, we certainly know about the gut health and now the DNA testing as well. And what we thought, as well, is with the DNA testing, again, for anyone that’s not familiar, what we’ve been putting ourselves through the last month or so, could you just explain a little bit about the DNA testing and its purpose as well?

Tania Flack: Sure. Well, it’s a really exciting for us in practice, and it’s fantastic that the general public has not got access to this. The type of DNA testing that we do in practice, it’s physiognomics or nutrigenomic testing. And basically we look at the pathways in the body in our genes involved in those pathways. So, we look at things like your diabetic risk factor, we include cardiovascular health, blood pressure, look at your detoxification pathways, inflammation, estrogen metabolism. We’ve got this amazing range of genes that we can look at now to see what your tendencies are towards certain conditions. And we collect that information using salivary. . .

Stuart Cooke: Yeah, it’s a pretty simple test, isn’t it?

Tania Flack: A pretty simple test, and all it really involves is spitting into a tube. It’s not very glamorous, but there you go. And we get your DNA information from that and it gets processed in a lab by a geneticist and then we get the report back. The practitioner gets a 70-page report. And both of you have seen your reports so you know how extensive they are.

Guy Lawrence: We’ve got them.

Stuart Cooke: It is huge.

Tania Flack: That’s right. Very huge.

Guy Lawrence: It’s made great bedtime reading.

Stuart Cooke: So who, in your eyes, Tania, would benefit from this?

Tania Flack: You know, this information, every single person can benefit from this information. It’s something that you can refer back to over the course of your life. And fundamentally what we do is we look; it’s not the genes themselves that dictate your health. It’s your diet and lifestyle and environment in combination with your own individual genetic profile that really dictate your health now and into the future.

And the beautiful thing is that the geneticist prepares this extensive report for us and I get to go over the report with the geneticist and write up my own recommendations in terms of what I know about your current diet and lifestyle and the way you live your life and how that’s really gonna suit you genetically on a long-term basis.

Stuart Cooke: Almost like an action plan.

Tania Flack: It’s an action plan for life, really. I mean, you cannot get any more individualized preventative health care plan. This is absolutely the gold standard. And it’s amazing, because we know in practice that some people will respond to, say, for example, a certain dietary intervention. Some people will respond beautifully to that. Whereas other people that present with a similar thing, you put them on that same dietary intervention and it won’t suit them. They won’t have that same response. But now we’ve got access to this information so we know exactly what is gonna suit people, and it’s just; it’s very exciting. As a practitioner, it’s just such an exciting time to be a practitioner and be able to offer this to people.

Stuart Cooke: We’ve been describing it as a road map for the rest of your life. And I think when we’ve said that phrase, people have become very excited and just aware that they’re open to information that can really change the way they age, I guess. Gracefully.

Tania Flack: Absolutely. I mean, you know, we put all of this effort into our diet and lifestyle. Doesn’t it make sense to just get that little bit of extra information so that you know what you’re doing is the best possible choices for you individually.

And you can’t put a one-size-fits-all. There’s no fad diet. There’s no particular way of living that’s going to suit absolutely everyone. Everybody’s slightly different, and it’s really interesting doing the two of you and comparing the two of you together, because we’ll see from the results that, you know, despite the fact that you both have beautiful diet and lifestyles, so, really, obviously, I commend you there. But there are certain things that you need to do that will suit one of you more than it will suit the other.

Even people like you who have put all that effort in, there are still things we can improve on.

Stuart Cooke: Well, that’s right. I guess if you’re putting all the effort in you want to make sure that you’re putting the effort into the right places. Because we may not know.

Guy Lawrence: So what we thought we’d do is, obviously, use ourselves as, I guess, a little bit of Guinea pigs for this video. So, we’re obviously not going to cover this 76-page report, because I’m still getting through it now, but at least take snippets out and how then what results we’ve had and how we compare; how they differ for the both of us. And then if somebody else is watching this, it would benefit them, if that makes sense.

So, where would you like to start, Tania?

Tania Flack: I think a good place to start, because I know the both of you have put in so much dedication, time, and effort into sports and exercise, body composition, training diet. Thank you, Stuart. We can certainly start there. And, you know, I think you have a beautiful diet. Absolutely gorgeous diet. And I know the way you train, so that’s fantastic. But you’re quite different, you know. Your genetic profile indicates that you’re quite different. And I want to make clear these are things that you instinctively probably already picked up and you’ve altered what you’re doing already because, you know, some things don’t suit you as well. So, we’ll just do a little recap; a little overview of what’s come up for the both of you looking at your body composition, exercise, and training diets.

I’ll start off with Guy. So, Guy has got a much greater tendency toward weight retention than Stuart, probably about 50 percent more genetic.

Guy Lawrence: Fifty. Yeah, right.

Tania Flack: So, we don’t like Stuart right now.

So, in terms, for you to shift body fat, it’s about 50 percent more difficult than what it is for Stuart. Stuart has got some really fast metabolism. And you’re very sensitive; Guy is very sensitive to highly processed carbohydrates. So, if you were your average Australian having toast and cereal for breakfast and you eat a high-carbohydrate diet, you’d probably struggle with your weight even if you’re exercising.

Guy Lawrence: I can believe that. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Tania Flack: It might still be a problem for you. And, you know, long-term over the course of your life, that was your diet and lifestyle choices; you would be at a higher risk of Type 2 diabetes.

Guy Lawrence: Yeah. Right.

Stuart Cooke: That’s interesting.

Tania Flack: That might come up somewhere in your family history, so you’ve got that sensitivity towards carbohydrates and, particularly, highly processed carbs.

Stuart Cooke: We kind of get that as well, don’t we, when Guy and myself, we work together and we eat together a lot of the times, and if we do ever have a wrap or even a sandwich, to some degree, you, Guy, feel it immediately, right?

Guy Lawrence: Oh, I hate it. I hate it. Absolutely.

Stuart Cooke: It’s almost like you’ve been hit by a sledgehammer, whereas me, I won’t say cast-iron stomach, but I’m generally find.

Tania Flack: And your energy requirements are totally different than Guy’s. Like, for the type of training that you do, you know, your energy requirements are entirely different. You are at entirely two different degrees of the scale, really.
Guy Lawrence: I was interested as well because I think I’m 20 odd kilos heavier than Stew, with our body frame, yet he eats more food than me, easily.

Stuart Cooke: I probably eat 20 more kilos more than you a day. I’m not joking.

Tania Flack: There’s a 50 percent difference in your metabolism. It’s like Stuart’s burning it. He’s burning it so much more quickly than Guy. However, looking at your sports performance, Guy is really well-suited to explosive kind of power sprint events, so that’s your real strength there. But for Guy, his recovery from sports is nowhere near as good as Stuart’s. And Stuart, you’re really more suited to endurance. Both of you’ve got great sports and exercise panels; your genes are great, both of you. But, Stuart, you’re really more suited to that great VO2 max fantastic endurance and you’d have a little bit of capacity to sprint at the end.

So, if I was looking at you, you know, looking at your genes, I would pick you as, say, a cyclist or, say, someone who’s a middle-distance runner. You’d be fantastic at that.

Stuart Cooke: That’s interesting.

Tania Flack: As far as something short, explosive, needs more support in sports recovery. Because with both of you, Guy more than Stuart, will have a slow lactic acid removal, so you need some support around that. But particularly for Guy, your recovery from exercise will be a lot slower than Stuart’s.

Guy Lawrence: Yeah, right. And would, as well, for anyone, would you be better off then exercising to your gene expression more so than going against it?

Tania Flack: I don’t think it means you can’t go against it. But I think you get more results going with it. And it will be easier and feel more natural for you to go with it. So, for Guy, you’re more the high-intensity, like, you know, the HITT training is better for you. But for Stuart, he can get into that zone and really, you’ve got some real distance there. So, you know, you can still do the same types of things but you just have to tailor them slightly to suit your strengths, I think.

Stuart Cooke: So, do you think that if you ever wanted to be, you know, if you had aspirations to be an elite athlete in something that you weren’t genetically suited to, it would, for want of a better word, be almost impossible to excel in that because it’s just not in your makeup.

Tania Flack: Look, I’m sure there’s athletes out there that are genetically in their wrong sport, but I think they probably have to put in a lot more effort into getting that final edge. They’re always going to be behind the eight ball, I’d say.

Stuart Cooke: Right. Wow. It’s fascinating.

Tania Flack: Yeah. And it’s interesting, Stew, with your sort of sensitivity around carbohydrates, you do have some sensitivity there, not as much as Guy, but, you know, ultimately, if you were going to train without some type of carbohydrates, and it can be like a paleo choice, so it can be vegetable-based carbs. Fundamentally, you’re just gonna lose a lot of weight.

Stuart Cooke: Yes.

Tania Flack: If you’re training without them. Whereas Guy, Guy could train in ketosis and probably be fine. Whereas you, it wouldn’t suit you at all.

Guy Lawrence: We’ve kind of got to that conclusion, haven’t we, really, through what we do daily, you know, the more we play around with it.

Stuart Cooke: That’s right. Yeah.

Tania Flack: And it’s been interesting, too, touching on Stuart again, that you’ve got this endurance picture. You have got some sensitivity to carbohydrates but you need carbs to continue on with what you’re doing. But interestingly you’ve got a real sensitivity there around cortisol, and your HPA axis, and we’ll talk about that a bit later on. But it does mean, for someone like you, pairing together those genes and an endurance event, that you have a potential for overtraining that you’d want to watch. So, your lead-up to events, depending on what you’re doing, would have to be fairly well-controlled. You’d have to have that tapering off and you’d have to have good recovery with that as well.

Stuart Cooke: Wow. I’ll take it easy before events then, I guess.

Guy Lawrence: If we can get you in one.

Tania Flack: You build up and you need to have that tapering off and you need to have those days pre-event, whatever you’re doing, where you’re crawling out of your skin ready to go, and then that will fine. But if you train hard right up until straight into events, I think that would be a potential for overtraining there.

Stuart Cooke: So, for any athlete that’s watching or listening to this and is thinking, “Should I do this test or shouldn’t I?” If they were to do it, they could then, essentially, tailor their program a little bit more around their DNA. So, like, for instance, with me I know I need more recovery, so if I start pushing it too hard, I’m not gonna get the best results even though I think other people are training that way. Would that be fair to say?

Tania Flack: Yeah. Absolutely. It certainly helps, particularly if you’ve got exercise recovery issues, like, for you, for example, you know, Guy’s got a lower glutathione activity than Stew, so it makes a lot of sense to find these things out in terms of just, you know, if you’re dedicating your life to your sport or if you’re putting a lot of effort in with your sport, it makes a lot of sense to know what you’re doing and protect yourself against things like overtraining. Make sure you’ve got good sports and exercise recovery.

Stuart Cooke: Yeah. Could you then. . .

Tania Flack: Just on that; just with that.

Stuart Cooke: Could you then tell us, say, certain natural supplementation and things like that to then support these things that are missing?

Tania Flack: Yeah. Absolutely. We know, in terms of Stuart, we know that making sure that cortisol levels are supported and overtraining doesn’t happen and that you’ve got good-quality carbohydrates and your lead-up to events and event preparation as well.

But for you, Guy, we know that your glutathione support is really crucial for you. It would make a big difference with your sports and exercise recovery. And also, to a certain extent, like, if we’re looking at supplements, whey protein isolate (wpi), ironically, is one of the best things we can do to support glutathione production. So, and I know you do that anyway, so that’s a bonus, really.

But also, you know, we’ve got things like turmeric, St. Mary’s thistle, and to a certain extent vitamin D levels all play a role in glutathione. So, there’s lots of things that we can put in there that will support that production.

The other thing is, for Guy, has shown up with some tendencies towards inflammation, which can slow down your post-event recovery, I guess. So, we’d be looking at things like high omega-3s, essential fatty acids, so high EPA formulas would be good for you.

Guy Lawrence: I can believe that, too, because I take a lot of high strength fish oil as well and I make sure they have all the broad-range of fatty acids in them, and yet, if I run out and I don’t top up, I start to feel it. I really do.

So, would that be fair to say, then, that I should be avoiding foods that inflame the body as well?

Tania Flack: Yeah, and I think inflammatory foods are not going to suit you, for sure, and carrying any kind of condition, I don’t know, we talked about gut testing in the past, but, like, you know, a leaky gut or a high dysbiosis for you is really gonna slow down your recovery time a lot, because you need to support that to get optimal recovery and if you’ve got a lot of dysbiosis going on, then that low-grade inflammation is only going to contribute to that and slow down recovery.

Stuart Cooke: Yeah, right.

Guy Lawrence: Interesting. Fantastic.

Tania Flack: That’s just talking about. . .

Guy Lawrence: So, that’s just the exercise.

Stuart Cooke: That’s perfect.

So, Guy, next time we compete in the national tiddlywinks competition, keep that in mind. Because you’re an elite athlete. You’re going places.

Guy Lawrence: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Absolutely.

Tania Flack: You’ll have to carb-load for that, too, Stuart.

Stuart Cooke: Exactly. That’s excellent.

Guy Lawrence: All right. So, what’s next on the list outside of the exercise camp?

Tania Flack: Well, outside of that, we’re kind of looking at your general metabolic health, and this goes into a great deal of detail in that 70-page report and it covers things like your cholesterol, metabolism, your diabetes risk, your blood pressure risk, and inflammation in general. So, all the things that can contribute towards cardiovascular disease, obesity, that type of thing. So important.

And, as young people, we probably don’t pay enough attention to the impact that that will have in our lives. That, you know, cardiovascular disease is so important. You know? So, we looked at both of you with your risk factors around all those metabolic conditions and both of you, the good news is, both of you come up as a very neutral cholesterol profile. So, you know, you’re lumped in with about 55 to 60 percent of the population. You know, not a particularly high risk of cholesterol. And I know that’s a hot topic at the moment.

Guy Lawrence: Yeah, very hot.

Tania Flack: And I think, with the information that we’re given with the DNA results, really, they draw a lot of their recommendations from epidemiological studies that have already been done. So, they talk a lot about the Mediterranean diet and that type of thing. I think with your following a paleo lifestyle, and this is your genetic profile, you are fine. We really don’t need to worry about that.

So, the whole controversy about cholesterol, statins, particularly, something I’m not going to go into in a great deal today. I mean, there is this; out of this remain at least three groups, genetic profile groups, of cholesterol. And one of them is of particular concern. It’s not very common but it’s something that we’d look into. Otherwise, I think the paleo lifestyle is preventative to cardiovascular health. Cardiovascular risk factors and. . . I’m fine with that.

So, both of you have got that neutral cholesterol profile. Guy, we know, is very, very sensitive to refined carbohydrates and would be at risk of Type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome if he had a poor diet and lifestyle. Stew’s somewhat sensitive to refined carbohydrates. However, you’ll never be an overweight person, Stew. I think you really try hard. I think it would be fairly difficult for you.

Stuart Cooke: Yeah. And I have tried hard, physically, from the other side of the camp. You know, some people struggle with weight and I’m one of those; I’m in that camp. And I have tried and it just doesn’t happen.

Tania Flack: However, you do have some sensitivity there. So, if, for example, you were to have a complete opposite lifestyle to what you do have now, there would be a small potential there for you to develop some insulin resistance. But, you know, you’d never be the overweight picture of Type 2 diabetes. You’d be more sort of that skinny Type 2 diabetic that’s just had a . . . typical diet. But that’s what it would take, and I think there’s very little risk of that to happen to you.

And, so, interesting, both of you have a gene that’s to do with blood pressure and it’s really; it’s an evolutionary adaptation towards survival, I guess. But under periods of stress you can have a sharp spike in blood pressure, and it’s something that we look at for people who get white coat syndrome. So, if we were to take your blood pressure in clinic, you would be one of those people who would have a one-off high blood rating just due to the stress of somebody coming at you to take your blood pressure.

Stuart Cooke: And I’ve had that. Absolutely.

Tania Flack: Yeah. So, you definitely both have that. I mean, really, you’re more prone to a maladaptive stress response, sharp survival instinct. But it can manifest itself in that white coat syndrome.

Stuart Cooke: OK. Fantastic.

Tania Flack: Yeah, with Guy, he’s more prone towards that inflammation in the system. We’ve talked about that. And also, for Guy, a higher tendency toward homocysteine levels, which is very important to cardiovascular health. Much more important than your overall cholesterol load, I would imagine. And homocysteine is something that you can have tested in a blood test. And you’ve got some genetic tendency there. Your homocysteine pathways are a little bit challenged, so I would recommend that you have a blood test for your homocysteine, and then once every five years just check in and see how that’s going.

Guy Lawrence: OK.

Tania Flack: That’s important for Guy. So, that’s really looking at your metabolic risk factors. So, both of you are prone, really, the sensitivity to processed carbohydrates but I think you’re doing really well there, so that’s good news.

Guy Lawrence: So, would it be fair to say, then, like, especially if somebody in Stuart’s case, even though he can pretty much eat anything and not put an ounce of fat on, that just because he has that gene and he can do that he still can be susceptible to illness?

Tania Flack: Absolutely. Absolutely. Just because you’re not that type of person to put on a lot of weight, you can still really have insulin issues.

Guy Lawrence: And I think that’s an important message.

Tania Flack: It’s important to keep in mind that if you’re a very light person and not prone to being overweight you can still have metabolic issues.

Guy Lawrence: It doesn’t give you the green light to say, “I can eat anything and live any lifestyle I want.”

Stuart Cooke: And I know a few people that do that.

Guy Lawrence: Oh, absolutely.

Stuart Cooke: “Look at me. I’m fine.”

Tania Cooke: Yes. Absolutely. And that’s really probably more to do with genetics. People like that, that’s more to do with genetics than to do with anything else. So, you know, it doesn’t protect you entirely. And, you know, that is definitely not saying that you shouldn’t be mindful and careful of your health by having a great diet and lifestyle.

Guy Lawrence: Yeah. I’m kind of glad I can put on weight easy, because it keeps me honest.

Stuart Cooke: He says that. You don’t mean that at all.

Guy Lawrence: Fair enough.

Tania Flack: And, look, the other parts of the test, and it is quite extensive, but it does touch on your brain and, really, mood, I guess. And that’s really interesting, too, because you’re both quite different there as well. And I think you’ll. . .

Guy Lawrence: I’d love to hear this one.

Tania Flack: Sorry?

Guy Lawrence: I’d love to hear a bit on this one; on the mood.

Stuart Cooke: But just don’t upset him, Tania, because he gets very moody. Something to do with the Homer Simpson level in his blood. Carry on.

Tania Flack: OK. So, in terms of you two, you’re both quite different in terms of that HPA axis. So when we’re looking at the genes around this, we look at your hypothalamus pituitary adrenal access, so basically your stress response… is that a Meerkat impersonation Stu?

Stuart Cooke: Oh, no. I was just thinking how I would spell that when we transcribed it.

Tania Flack: If you just put HPA, basically it’s your stress response in the body. You know, again, these have developed as evolutionary changes, I guess. Evolutionary variations to improve our chances of survival, which is all very well and good, except in the modern world we often don’t need it to be some finally tuned.

So, if we were looking at stress response, Stuart, you definitely have some interesting genetics around that. Fascinating. So, you’ve got some variations with your COMT gene that’s associated with; it’s really interesting: a higher cognitive flexibility, so just smart, fast-thinking, mentally very agile. But along with that you have this heightened anxiety response. So, you know, you’ve got more of a tendency towards a faster stress response than Guy would have, for example.

There is some link with that gene variation to pain threshold, and IBS and migraine can often come up with that.

Stuart Cooke: Interesting.

Tania Flack: Yeah. And it’s really; it’s important for the metabolism of neurotransmitters and it plays an important role in mood. And, often, we often call that COMT gene variation the worrier-slash-warrior. So, they worry but there’s a lot of that survival instinct as well. So, it’s interesting. And it does mean that you need a little bit more support for your detoxification pathways as well. That plays an important role there, too.

There’s also a gene, it’s a neuropeptide gene. And we like to call it the knockout gene, which just means that there’s some hypervigilance going on there. So, these are people that, if they walk into a room, they’re always checking out. They’re hypervigilant. They’re hyperaware. They know what’s going on around them at any given time. And while Guy’s smiling over there, he can’t smile too much because he has the slight variation on this gene but Stew has got the. . .

Stuart Cooke: The full-blown gene.

Tania Flack: You’re hyperaware and your reaction time is fast. And your stress and anxiety reactions have been fairly fast, I would imagine. And sensitive to repeated stress. You wouldn’t normalize very well after lots of repeated stress. So, clearly support around adrenal function is important for you. And that, then again, goes back to a potential for overtraining. That, too.

Guy Lawrence: Right. So, does that mean, as well, that different people, depending on the genes, can handle stress better than other people, if they were in the same circumstance?

Tania Flack: Everybody will respond a bit differently, so, for example, for you, we know that you would have good genes around short-term stress. So, you know, you’d be fine for public speaking. It’s quick, over and done with, you know, that type of thing is fine for you. However, your; because of sort of the changes that we’ve seen in your methylation pathways, you’d be more; if you were exposed to repeated stress over a long period of time then that would potentially get to you quite a bit. And there’d be more of an issue, perhaps a sleep disturbance, if you’re under repeated stress. And maybe feeling a bit down if you’re under repeated stress as well.

So, you both have slightly different genes around that. And we know in terms of brain health in general that Guy has a gene variation that means that you bind to heavy metals a lot more than Stuart would. And we’ve done a metals analysis, I think, with Guy in the past. And that was quite high for you, and I think that your genes around that are a little bit more sensitive. Heavy metals are not your friend. You’ll be more sensitive than, say, Stuart would be.

Guy Lawrence: Yeah, and that showed up in the tests in the past as well, didn’t it?

Tania Flack: Yeah. Absolutely.

Guy Lawrence: OK.

Tania Flack: I guess; and that leads us to detoxification. And there’s a lot to this so I’ll just keep it really brief, but we know, for example, we’ve got this variation with the COMT gene that makes you agile, highly aware type of person. Mentally agile. But it has a major role in detoxification that’s quite important in your detoxification pathways.

And also there’s a variation in one of your Cytochrome P450 enzymes that is very important with the way your body handles lots of toxins, but particularly hormonal toxins like estrogen. Or, really, chemicals that can mimic hormone activity in the body. And so we’re talking about things like Bisphenol A, all those, you know, estrogen-type chemicals. So, you’re very sensitive to those because you’ve got variations on both those genes in combination. So, if you were a women, we’d be really looking at your long-term hormone health and really looking at things like whether oral contraception would ever suit you.

But because you’re a guy, any of the suggestions that we talk about for you, is to minimize your exposure to plastics and pesticides that you potentially might have difficulty processing and looking at protective things for hormone health for men like lycopene and sources of lycopene in the diet. And putting them in early so it’s never going to become a problem.

So, we’ll definitely be looking at, yeah, for Stuart, and for Guy, you’ve got this higher tendency toward metal binding, and we’ve seen that in the past. And also methylation pathways that are really important. And, ironically, they have a connection and they lower the production of your body’s natural glutathione, which is also an issue for you. So, in terms of our recommendation of what we’ll be working on, is to support those methylation pathways, which really are important for processing your neurotransmitters as well and looking at your glutathione and how they connect together. So, just be very protective about heavy metals exposure for you.

So, as you can see from that, both of you are quite different and have quite different needs. But then, if you came to see me, I’d said, well, you know, here’s a guy, for both of you, in their mid- to late-30s, healthy, very fit, great diet. You know, would I treat you the same if I didn’t know any better? Perhaps I would. But we can see from this that you are very, very different in the way we support you; every aspect of that would be entirely different now we have that information. So, it’s very exciting.

Stuart Cooke: It’s stunning, really.

So, the outcome of the test, then, would be that we get this very complex report but then you break that down into everyday language and would you then be advising, perhaps, you know, a particular diet and supplementation just to assist us along our way with the information that we’ve got from there?

Tania Flack: Absolutely. Well, how we do it is people come in to see me. First we have a half an hour appointment. Prior to that they fill out lots of information so I know all about their current state of health, their current diet, lifestyle, exercise. I know what they’re already doing and do that fact-finding mission beforehand and after that appointment they get their salivary test kit and send them away. It can take up to six weeks to get the results back and sometimes we do have to wait but sometimes it can be faster than that. The geneticist will review the results and write this enormous document; report.

And then I have a meeting with the geneticist and we go over everybody’s results and I put together my recommendations based on what I know about what people are doing in their current diet and lifestyle. So, I confirm that they’re doing certain things right and I give them information on how they can change other things to sort of suit their genetic profile. So then that information is formalized so you have it to go on with.

Guy Lawrence: Perfect. It’s so valuable. Now, if I’m listening to this knowing that in Edgecliff in New South Wales and I live in Darwin, can I still contact you and get this done?

Tania Flack: Yes. Absolutely. As we’re talking about the gut now, I do gut consultations for people and we still stick to the same type of appointment times and we still need to gather all of that information beforehand. But it runs like we’re doing; exactly how we’re talking now; the same type of thing. And they’ll get the recommendations and a full report.

Guy Lawrence: Fantastic.

Tania Flack: There may be some for people that still want to do face to face that would like this done so we can, so we can do this as well as skype.

Stuart Cooke: Of course. It’s just made so easy now with the Internet.

Guy Lawrence: Absolutely. Well, what we can do as well, we can put; add your email and contact details below this video anyway if anyone wants to get in touch and find out a bit more about it.

And I know myself and Stewie have still got to come in and finish the report.

Stuart Cooke: Receive our action plans.

Guy Lawrence: Absolutely. But it’s been fantastic, Tania, and we really appreciate the time you’ve taken to be here and explain to us and our audience as well a little bit more about this DNA testing. And, yeah. I’m sure we’ll keep things updated through Facebook as well, as we go.

Stuart Cooke: Fantastic. OK. Thank you so much, Tania.

Guy Lawrence: Awesome.

Tania Flack: Thank you.

Guy Lawrence: Thank you. Bye.

Stuart Cooke: Speak to you soon.

“The human foot is a work of art and a masterpiece of engineering.”
—Leonardo Da Vinci

Guy: These are just one of the questions we ask sports scientist, barefoot specialist and running coach David Chamberlain.

I must admit, myself and running are not the most compatible companions. If Forest Gump were a gazelle, I’d be a silverback gorilla! In saying that, running has always been in there or there abouts with my training.

A few years ago after a spell of chronic back pain, one of the things I looked at were the shoes I was wearing, which sparked an introduction with the barefoot minimalist shoe ‘The Vibram Five Fingers’ which you can read my review here. I’ve worn minimalist shoes ever since. 

I recently met running coach David Chamberlain and asked him would he mind giving us the low down on minimalist and barefoot running (& I’ll be doing the 2013 Sydney City to Surf.. Yikes!). And of course, if you got any questions or thoughts, we’d love to hear in the comments section below. Enjoy. Over to David…

What is barefoot and natural running and where does the concept come from?

Since the introduction of cushioned, highly supportive, modern day footwear, we have changed the way we run.  We’ve transitioned away from our ‘hunter-gatherer’ style to a less natural and more ‘manufactured’ method of running.

By running barefoot, we effectively ‘re-set’ our style, bringing it closer to the way we are naturally designed to run.  This includes: running relaxed with an upright body position; striking the ground with the forefoot directly under the hips; pulling off the ground; leaning from the ankles and taking relatively short, quick strides.

In its purest form, barefoot running is just that – running with no shoes at all.  This increases the amount of feedback or proprioception that we receive from the ground and enables us to adjust and optimise our running form according to the terrain we are on.  This can also be achieved, to a slightly lesser degree, by wearing minimalist running shoes.

The concept comes from the basic principles of evolution.  Our bodies, and in particular our feet, have evolved into incredible structures that are designed to absorb shock, produce motion, flex and bend.

By giving them constant support and cushioning, we weaken them and inhibit them from doing what they are designed to do.

Is it just the latest fad or is it grounded in scientific fact?

I would ask the same question of modern day, cushioned running shoes.  There isn’t a single scientific study demonstrating that running injuries have reduced since their introduction in the 1960’s.  Evolutionary Biologist Dr. Daniel Lieberman proposes that it’s the shoes that are the fad and barefoot or minimalist running is the evolutionary norm.

Lieberman has conducted a number of studies looking at the different levels of impact on the body when running barefoot compared to running in cushioned shoes.  He consistently found that a majority of barefoot runners land on the forefoot.  By doing this, they don’t generate an impact ‘spike’ on landing which, amongst other benefits, leads to lower levels of force and stress on the knees and lower back.

Is Barefoot Running Dangerous?

Running is a skill and like any skill, it needs to be learned.  Take a sporting activity such as swimming.  If you don’t learn how to swim correctly, swimming is dangerous.  If you don’t learn how to swing a kettlebell properly, kettlebell swings are dangerous.

Whilst barefoot and natural running has the potential to result in injuries, it’s no different to any other skilled physical activity.  It takes time and patience to develop the skills required to master it, but done correctly the risks of injury and associated danger are greatly reduced.

Is barefoot running suitable for everyone or are there any factors to consider?

Whilst everyone is capable of running barefoot or in a minimalist shoe, there is no one size fits all model.

Changing to this style will put more stress in the muscles of the lower legs, glutes and hamstrings.  It also puts greater levels of stress on the muscles, tendons and bones in your feet.

If you have a history of Achilles tendon problems, tight lower leg muscles, poor ankle and/or big toe mobility or a history of foot fractures, you should progress very slowly and seek advice and assessment from a barefoot and natural running specialist.

How do I know if it’s going to be right for me?

The first question to ask yourself is why do you want to try barefoot and natural running?  If you are a thick soled trainer wearing heel striker who’s happy with their running times and never gets injured, the investment required to transition may not make sense.

If you do decide to go barefoot, make sure you consider your injury history, running objectives, lower leg and foot strength and ankle, hip and thoracic spine mobility.

At DC Run, we have a number of specialist barefoot and natural running coaches who can take you through an assessment to determine if it’s right for you.  They can also develop an appropriate transition program to ensure you train safely and minimise the risk of injury.

Even if you decide it’s not for you, a number of the form and strength principles of barefoot and natural running will help to make you a stronger, more efficient runner.

Is it as simple as taking off your shoes or buying a pair of ‘Five Fingers’ and heading out for a run?

In a word, ‘no!’  In order to successfully change to running barefoot or with minimalist shoes, you need to progress slowly.

This progression should include a number of specific strength, balance, mobility and conditioning drills.  These should be predominantly focussed around the feet, lower legs and the muscles that support and stabilise the pelvis.

Once you’ve mastered the basics, you should start by practicing deep squats, skipping (jumping rope), walking and running short distances on different terrain, gradually increasing your run duration over time.

I’ve heard a lot about heel striking and forefoot striking – what’s the difference between them and what are the pros and cons?

Heel striking is when the foot impacts the ground with the heel first, generally in front of the body.  During a forefoot strike, the forefoot hits the ground first followed by a brief heel contact.

For most people, heel striking is only made possible by wearing cushioned shoes.  Without shoes, it would simply be too painful.  Heel striking allows you to take a longer strides, which some would view as an advantage.  However, when you strike with the heel ahead of the body, you are effectively ‘braking’ with each stride.

The advantage of a forefoot strike is that it reduces impact on a number of joints including the knees and lower back.  It’s also more mechanically efficient as it forces the runner to reduce stride length, minimising body rotation and maximising the use of gravity and muscle-tendon elasticity to produce forward motion.

When we walk, we should roll from the outside of the heel, through to the big toe.  When we run, we should land on the forefoot with a subsequent and brief heel contact.  When we sprint, we come up further onto the balls of our feet and toes.

What are the best minimalist shoes to get me started?

When you’re starting out and going through that ‘re-set’ phase, most people find it best to be completely barefoot.  However, once you’ve learnt the basics of good running form, there are a number of different minimalist footwear options available.

Inov8, Five Fingers and Vivo are three of the best minimalist footwear specialists and offer a broad range of options depending on what type of running and other training you participate in.  The big footwear companies also now offer more ‘natural’ options such as Nike’s ‘Free’ range.

Unless someone has extremely well developed strength, mobility and balance, I tend to advise that, in conjunction with transition exercises and drills, they start with a slightly more supportive and cushioned minimalist shoe and progressively move down the scale.

Ultimately, it comes down to your individual objectives, strengths and development areas.

Is there anything I can do straight away to help prepare me for barefoot running?

For sure! Doing these 3 exercises often will help prepare you:

Walking Barefoot

This helps to condition the muscles, bones and tendons in your feet.  Before you start to run, walk barefoot for ten minutes a day, indoors or on grass, increasing by five minutes a week.

Once you are walking 20 minutes a day without pain or discomfort, you should be ready to start some short barefoot runs.

Sit Squats

These will help to develop mobility and strength in your ankles, hips and lower legs.  Squat down as deep as you can go and hold at the bottom for as long as possible, focussing your weight on your forefoot. If you can’t squat all the way down, use a support to hold onto and gradually get lower as your mobility and strength improves.

Note: The first image shows good form with heels flat on the ground and hips below parallel.  The second image displays poor form with feet not flat on the floor and hips above parallel (this is very common at first with poor flexibility).

Skipping 

This is a must do exercise for anyone wanting to transition to a barefoot running style.  It conditions and strengthens your lower legs, helps correct your posture and teaches the correct rhythm or cadence to maximise running efficiency.

Start with one round of 60 seconds and build up to three, three-minute rounds with 30 seconds break between sets.  You should be able to achieve this before you start any barefoot or minimalist runs greater than ten to fifteen minutes.

Have you read the book ‘Born to run’ by Christopher McDougall & what did you think?

Yes. It’s a great book and I’d highly recommend it to anyone interested in barefoot and natural running. McDougall is a great storyteller and does a fantastic job of explaining what barefoot running is all about.

From a run coaching perspective, it’s been an important book as it’s started a broader discussion about how and why we run.

You run barefoot natural running seminars, can you tell us a little more about them?

We run interactive, practical seminars that cover the key aspects of barefoot and natural running.

Participants are provided with individual ‘before and after’ running video analysis; a detailed overview of the history and science behind barefoot and natural running; information on how to assess yourself and others, as well as a broad range of practical strength, mobility, balance and form exercises and drills.

The aim of the seminars is to improve people’s knowledge on barefoot and natural running and help them to make a safe and effective transition.  The next seminar is in Sydney at the end of June 2013, with Brisbane and Melbourne later this year.

And if anyone wants to learn more, where’s the best place to go? 

You can find out more about the services we offer at www.dcrun.com.au

If you have any specific questions, please email us at info@dcrun.com.au

Guy: I’ve twisted David’s arm and he’ll offer a discount to all those that mention this blog post (this is not an affiliate) for his up and coming seminars.

If you go any thoughts, comments or questions we’d love to hear in the comments section below. And if you enjoyed it we’d really appreciate the share on FaceBook… Cheers, Guy.

You’ve dieted, worked out, eaten special foods and potions, and ultimately, nothing worked the way you’d hoped. Before you eat another one of those popular protein bars you spent a fortune on, take a look at the list of ingredients. What you thought was a natural, healthy blend of real food probably isn’t. In fact, that little bar almost certainly contains enough preservatives to keep it from crumbling for centuries. The label will most likely list items, such as artificial colors and sweeteners with names that do not sound like real food.

You need to change your approach to health and fitness by trying 180 nutrition protein bars. The list of ingredients is very short, including the 180 Original Formula powder, sunflower kernels, and flaxseed meal. The company worked hard to incorporate their all natural, raw food philosophy into these convenient bars, so that fans of their original supplement can easily stick to their healthy routines and not be tempted to eat unnatural, super-processed bars. Gluten free and flavored with natural chocolate and coconut, 180 protein bars give people serious about their work-outs the energy they need while nourishing the body.

Too many people don’t bother to find out what is actually in their food. You cannot just trust that a brand labeled nutritious actually is. When you committed to getting healthy, you wanted natural, muscle-building help, not a bar filled with processed this and that. No one equates healthy with preservatives, and you won’t hear companies that use them bragging about it. At 180 Nutrition, you get exactly what you are looking for: help to live a healthy life and the tools that make health and fitness easy and convenient.

Visit www.180nutrition.com.au today and learn more about the company’s philosophy and products. You will truly feel better and be stronger and healthier.

The best kind of protein will give you additional benefits besides just protein as a muscle recovery post-workout or a healthier meal option. Even as a meal replacement, you want to know you’re giving your body a food that will improve digestion and not cause more problems.

The fact that it’s gluten free means that you can avoid that sluggish, sick feeling that many people suffer from when they are allergic to gluten. There are proteins that also increase your daily energy levels so you can do more either before or after your workout. Of course, anything worth investing in will help your body grow lean muscle as well, so you don’t bulk up while trying to lose weight. Sometimes, people focus too much on toning up and building muscle before they lose the weight and regular protein will not prevent that.

Another important feature of gluten free protein powders is that they help regulate body weight so you have a more consistent approach to either weight loss or maintenance at a particular number. This is perfect for someone who has an ideal weight in mind or has reached their fitness goal and wants to stay there.

Before you purchase any gluten free protein powders though, make sure the ingredients are all natural. It’s important for you to identify everything that’s included so you’re not filling your body with any unnecessary chemicals or preservatives. That’s why you should always research the manufacturing company of any protein powder before you buy it and the policy of the company as well.

Check out our gluten free all natural formulas here.

Podcast Episode #7

By Guy Lawrence

Eat fat to lower cholesterol… What about dairy, is it healthy? Can I run an ultra-marathon or CrossFit on a low carb/ high fat or paleo diet?

These are just some of the questions we cover in this episode of The Health Sessions as we catch up with Nora Gedgaudas, best selling author of Primal Body, Primal Mind: Beyond the Paleo Diet. I’ve time coded the bullet points so you jump straight to the bits that interest you most in the video. But when you’ve got the time, it’s well worth kicking back and watching the whole video as the content is invaluable!

Download or subscribe to us on iTunes here.

Nora will also be speaking at:

• Mindd International Forum Sydney on 17th-20th May 2013
• Sustainably Optimizing Human and Planetary Health Dubbo on the 23rd May 2013

You can view all podcast episodes here.

In this weeks episode:-

• Why we shouldn’t be taking cholesterol lowering drugs
• Why cholesterol is a good thing [011:42]
• Can kids eat a paleo diet [029:50]
• From ultra-marathon & CrossFit on a low carb/ high fat diet [035:43]
• What Nora Gedgaudas eats in a day [1:00:53]
• Is dairy healthy? [1:06:50]
• and much more…

Transcript

Hi. This is Guy Lawrence and I’m with Stuart Cooke and I’m also joined with a lovely guest today, Nora Gedgaudas. And Nora, I have to say, I met a nutritionist last week. We caught up for a cup of tea and we were chatting and I said, “Do you know of Nora? I’m interviewing her next week.” And she just got really excited and, basically, she said, “Oh, I went to see Nora two years ago when she came to Sydney and I worked with her. She blew my mind.”

Nora: Oh, really?

Guy: Yeah.

Nora: Oh, that’s great.

Guy: And I have to agree. So, honestly, it’s an honor to have you today.

Now, what we thought we’d do; we actually put out a couple of questions on Facebook to ask our audience if they have any questions for Nora and we thought we’d run through them.

Nora: OK.

Guy: But before we start that, and I’m sure you’ve been asked this a thousand times, can you just tell us a little bit about yourself. Who’s Nora Gedgaudas, and, more importantly, who you came to writing such an awesome book, “Primal Body, Primal Mind”?

Nora: Well, it all started in a little hospital in Winnipeg, Manitoba, June 10th, nineteen sixty. . . No. I’m not going to go back that far.

My interest in nutritional science really goes back a good 30 years or more now. Actually, more than that now. So, it’s been a passion, kind of from the get-go, for me. But over the years, my interests in nutrition changed from thing to thing a little bit and I never really had an underlying really, kind of, foundational way of looking at things. I mostly looked at from the standpoint of minutiae, lots of people were promoting vegetarianism is sort of the ultimate healthy diet. Which I attempted and it didn’t do well for me at all. And I was in lot of denial about that for awhile, as I think a lot of people probably are. It just seemed; I was really determined that that should be healthy for me, but it ultimately wasn’t. I developed an eating disorder. My depression deepened. And eventually. . . And I couldn’t stop thinking about eating meat. And eventually I just sort of transitioned out of that, feeling a little bit, maybe, like I’d failed at what was supposed to be the healthiest diet and then went on with things.

And the eating disorder clearer up, and eventually, with dietary changes and ultimately some neurofeedback work, the depression lifted for me and that’s been permanent for more than 15 years.

But, at any rate, I’ve led a lot of different lives in this lifetime. I’ve worn a lot of different hats. I’ve done many different things. And one of the hats that I’ve had on for awhile was work in behavioral wildlife science. And I spent a whole summer, many people know this story now, that I spent a whole summer living less than 500 miles from North Pole with a family of wild wolves. The four-legged variety.

And during that time period, you know, I was living on a frozen tundra for an entire summer, and it was still quite cold, generally below freezing, sometimes below zero, wind chills coming up off the fjords and off the Arctic Ocean. But, you know, it was relatively green but still permafrost.

And I’m sitting there looking across this vast landscape while the wolves slept and slept and kind of contemplating that landscape, it seemed so primitive, in a way. So, “primal,” if you will. And I looked at it thinking that it really was probably not dissimilar from what a lot of northern Europe might have looked like during the throes of the last ice age when Cro-Magnon humans were migrating across North America 40,000 years ago. That there may have been a lot of clarity to some of these landscapes.

And the whole time I’m sitting there, I was just craving fat-rich foods, which I had not been eating prior to going up there. But while I was sitting there on the tundra, I was kind of obsessing about it. And it wasn’t necessarily the best selection of high-fat foods. I know we had a lot of non-perishable things like, oh, I don’t know, aged cheeses and salami and things like that.

But once a week we made a pilgrimage to a weather station where there was a mess hall there. And we’d be there at 3 in the morning when everyone else was asleep, and the OIC there said that we could, if there was something laying out that we were interested in eating, that we could have at it. Well, I couldn’t stop thinking about [XXbackground noiseXX]. I . . . You have cars in Australia. I just heard a car go by.

Guy: We do.

Nora: Anyway. . . Yeah, but you drive on the wrong side of the road. You guys gotta do something about that.

Stuart: Well, be careful when you come over.

Nora: I was on the freeway one day and sitting there in the passenger side and I look over and there’s a dog sitting in what, to me, looked like the driver’s seat. It was something akin to what an LSD trip must be like. I don’t know.

Guy: Do the dogs over there not drive? Are they not allowed to drive cars?

Nora: Well, you know, dogs and cats really only get partial privileges over here. You have to let them think they’re running the show, but. . . And they think that they are.

But, anyway, with respect to the wolves and that time there, I ate; I went through quite a bit of butter while I was at that weather station. I would make a piece of toast, which I was still eating in those days, and then I would put about that much butter on there. The toast was a vehicle for the butter, you know?

And by the end of the summer I’d lost something like close to 30 pounds. And, mind you, there was very, very little physical activity. Mostly what we did was we sat near the wolves’ den and watched them do whatever it is they were doing. We tried not to move around too much, in fact, because if we got up and started walking around near the den that was sort of upsetting to them. We had certain; there were certain, sort of, standards of conduct that they expected of us when we were in their home vicinity, and so we tried to honor that. And if we messed around with that too much, it was unsetting. So we sat, generally, quietly and watched them. And the one time we were allowed to move was when they were on the move. Then we’d follow them on their hunts and whatever else. So, anyway, and when we did so, it was on a four-wheeler. So, the ground was very hummocky. And a lot of just, kind of; it was very, very bumpy ground and difficult to traverse on foot. In other words, there wasn’t a whole lot of exercise.

I certainly wasn’t eating a low-fat diet. And the only other factor, of course, was that it was fairly cold. Although it got as high as what would be 60 degrees Fahrenheit was the warmest day that we had in the dead of summer. I actually got in a pair of shorts that day just to take a couple of pictures and then put my insulated stuff back on.

But anyway, that taught me something. I looked back at that and I thought, wow, you know. Back at home I had been doing a lot of all of these vegetables and salads and I’d been juicing, and I didn’t have a single craving for any of those things while I was up there. My cravings were all for fat-rich foods. And I thought, our ancestors would have had to have been pretty similar, because fat is really the primary fuel that we use to keep warm, which helps explain, in part, why I lost so much.

But also it turns out that if you want to lose fat, it helps to eat fat. And so I never really forgot that lesson. But it really took until I ran across the work of Weston Price to start to connect the dots a little bit more and realize that it wasn’t just the Inuit that would have eaten a high-fat diet. It would have been all primitive cultures, for the most part, that would have coveted fat as a very; as a sacred foot, literally. The most sacred foods in all cultures were the most fat-rich foods.

And it suddenly started to make sense to me. And then what the Weston Price work did was it dialed me in to the idea of looking at diet and health from more an ancestral or an evolutionary perspective. So, that led me down the paleo path, so to speak.

And then I began looking at things like the hormone leptin and recognizing that that was actually a fat sensor and something that made all of the sense in the world to me. That, of course, the most critical hormone in the body would be a fat sensor, because fat, to our ice age physiology, means survival. And everything boils down to survival. There’s nothing more important than that.

So, if we don’t eat fat, your body considers that a problem. In fact, it is a problem, not just from an energetic standpoint but from the standpoint of fat-soluble nutrients, that they require the dietary fat in order to properly absorb it and be utilized correctly. And if we’re not eating fat, your body’s gonna gosh darn well become really efficient at synthesizing it from whatever else it has available. Mainly carbohydrate.

Guy: Why do you think that message has gotten lost, you know, in today’s society? I can give you a good example. I know somebody that works in the medical industry, let’s say, and is actually on cholesterol-lowering drugs and is on a very low-fat diet and is completely paranoid about eating any fat whatsoever, you know. And that blows me away, really.

Nora: Well, there was, in the term you used, “medical industry.” Statins are a $29-billion-a-year industry. And the irony is that they have absolutely no use in human medicine whatsoever. I can’t think of a single thing that statins do for anybody, other than deprive them of one of the most essential substances in their body, which is cholesterol.

And there isn’t “bad cholesterol” and “good cholesterol.” There’s only one type of cholesterol. There are different carrier mechanisms for it, like high-density lipoproteins and low-density lipoproteins, but high-density lipoprotein is a high-density lipoprotein. It’s a carrier. And so low-density lipoproteins take cholesterol, whether processed by or synthesized by your liver, and move it out to the periphery of your body where it’s used for all kinds of things. There are lists and lists of things as long as your arm of all kinds of things that your body uses cholesterol for. In fact, it’s such an important substance, every cell in your body has a means of manufacturing its  own supply if it absolutely has to. Its complex, multi-step process the body doesn’t do very efficiently, but it speaks to the underlying importance of this particular substance.

And so, once the body has used up or spent that cholesterol in some form, then high-density lipoproteins come along and sweep up that cholesterol from the periphery and bring it back to the liver in order to be recycled back into, you guessed it, low-density lipoproteins again.

LDL and HDL are just carrier mechanisms. Now, what I see cholesterol as is a; it’s an indicator. It’s an intermediate indicator that can kind of give you some general ideas of certain things that may be going on. If I see cholesterol that is particularly elevated or particularly depressed, then I worry much more about somebody whose cholesterol is too low. In our terminology, that would be anything below about 150 milligrams per deciliter. In your terminology, gosh, I should have looked that up; I need to look that up before I come out there. Although it’s interesting, because the optimal is actually somewhere between 5 millimolars to, let me see here, to. . .

There was a study done in Norway called the Hunt 2. It was a meta-analysis, actually. And if your listeners don’t know what a meta-analysis study is, it’s a study that takes a whole bunch of other studies and it screens them for corroborative data to either prove or disprove a theory. It takes a whole bunch of different cholesterol studies to try to figure out, you know, is there something to this or isn’t there? What these researchers at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology found, looking at over 52,000 subjects that were part of this study (that’s a very highly, statistically significant study), between the ages and 20 and 74. And they had adjusted for factors like age, smoking, and blood pressure. What the researchers found were that women with so-called “high” cholesterol, which would be in excess of about 270 milligrams per deciliter, which here is viewed as, “Oh my God, get on statins now!” actually had a 28-percent lower mortality risk than women with so-called low cholesterol, which they called under 200.

Guy: That’s amazing.

Stuart: Crikey.

Nora: So, for women, there was literally a zero correlation between cholesterol of any number (it didn’t matter how high it got) and any elevated risk for cardiovascular disease or stroke whatsoever. So, the risk for heart disease, cardiac arrest, and stroke also declined as cholesterol levels rose.

And you have to understand, cholesterol goes about patching up lesions. It’s your body’s version of duct tape. And it’s also an antioxidant. So, if cholesterol is there, what it tells me is that there is something going on for which cholesterol is actually needed. It doesn’t tell you what’s going on. It just says, “OK. The engine light’s on.”

And by the way, in this particular study, the lowest coronary heart disease risk was actually seen between, in your language, between 5 millimolars and 6.9 millimolars. The lowest coronary heart disease risk. And that includes stroke.

Guy: I think you used the analogy of the fireman putting out the fire, wasn’t it, with the cholesterol?

Nora: With the statin, in order to get rid of cholesterol, it is really quite akin to getting rid of the firemen who are coming to put out the fire and blaming them for the fire.

And in men, by the way, there were about 24,000 or so men that were included in the Hunt 2 study, there was a whole U-shaped curve. The lowest risk for all the causes of death was seen in the 5 to 5.9 millimolar category, compared to those with serum cholesterol under 5, those in the 5 to 5.9 category enjoyed 23 percent, 20 percent, 6 percent [audio problem]. So, in other words, and in folks over 50, where cholesterol had no relationship, by the way, to cardiovascular disease or total mortality, and also other studies as well. I have so many other studies that I’ve cited. But it showed that in older people, elevated cholesterol was actually predictive of greater longevity. It’s literally a longevity marker.

But, you know, and what the researchers concluded from that meta-analysis study of over 52,000 people was, “Our study provides an updated epidemiological indication of possible errors. . .” You think? “. . . in the cardiovascular disease risk algorithms of many clinical guidelines. If our findings are generalizable, clinical and public health recommendations regarding the ‘dangers’ of cholesterol should be revised.” Yeah, I think so. “This is especially true for women, for whom moderately elevated cholesterol by current standards may prove to be not only harmless but even beneficial.

So, to me, cholesterol is an indicator. But to the medical industry, cholesterol is a $29-billion-a-year-business.

Stuart: It will never change.

Nora: You know; in the form of statin medications. And physicians are taught by the drug companies.

Guy: For anyone that’s watching this, then, that could be on statins and is worried about their cholesterol, like, what would be the best approach to go? Because obviously doing what they’re told, they think they’re doing the right thing.

Nora: Well, I don’t actually start thinking, “OK. This person’s cholesterol’s kind of getting a little edgy, you know, and I’m not worried about the cholesterol per se. I’m never worried about the cholesterol by itself, per se, at all. And I only look at HDL and LDL as indications of what kind of a diet they’re likely eating. If their HDL, and I only know my own United States terms for this; our measurements, anything below about 55 tells me that I’ve probably got a carbivore on my hands. You know, somebody who is eating a high-carbohydrate diet. They’re eating too many carbohydrates, which tends to depress high-density lipoproteins.

But if it’s in excess of 55, then I know, OK, well, there’s kind of a window there between about 55 and 75. And if it’s in that range, it’s like, OK, I’m not too; their diet is probably reasonably OK. However, if it starts climbing much over 75, unless it’s always been high, there’s some familial genetic anomaly this way where people just have naturally really high HDL. But in a person who, you know, has been seeing the HDL climb up in a range that’s sort of new, anything over 75, 80 implies to me some sort of non-specific form of inflammation someplace in the body.

Again, cholesterol is there to do a job. And so there may be many things that will elevate it. If you have somebody with depressed thyroid function, I promise you they’re gonna have elevated cholesterol. That always elevates cholesterol. And my eyes are darting around the blood chemistry all over the page to see what might be correlating with that.

And any kind of chronic infection is going to elevate your cholesterol. Inflammation elevates cholesterol. Certain things like certain forms of dysbiosis in the gut will elevate cholesterol. Even stress can elevate cholesterol; chronic stress.

So, all of these things may potentially elevate it, but be happy that it’s elevated. Cholesterol’s doing its job. Your job, at that point, is to lift the hood up on the car, look underneath and see why your body feels the need to produce more. Don’t worry about that number in and of itself. It doesn’t really mean anything by itself. You’ve got to dig a little. What it tells you is, Oh, OK, you may want to dig a little deeper and see if there’s something else that needs addressed. The point never to beat cholesterol down with a club.

Stuart: That’s right. I like the analogy of the car and the hood. It’s so much like a little warning light. You’d probably want to check the probably without taking the bulb out.

Nora: Well, exactly. And what are statins effectively doing? They’re unscrewing the bulb, you know, and saying, “See? All better.” And you have no idea; no idea what these things have done.

By the way, the risk of problems with things like food-borne illness and other infections actually increase on statin drugs. There are a lot of potentially serious side effects of statin drugs. One of the most egregious side effects is that they invariably totally deplete your CoQ10 levels. CoQ10 is the single more important nutrient for the heart. And it’s actually also known as ubiquinone because it’s ubiquitous in the body. It’s in every single organ and tissue. You can’t have normal metabolism, normal energy production, normal mitochondrial function without healthy CoQ10 levels.

And, as CoQ10 gets depleted, guess what the first organ in the body to suffer the effects of that is? The heart. So, one of the things that’s increasing as a result of statin use is heart failure. Also, dementia. Fully 25 percent of all the cholesterol is actually found up here in the brain. And we need to have it there, because it’s absolutely essential for the normal, healthy functioning of the human brain.

And people who are on statins for long periods of time start developing memory issues, may even start exhibiting symptoms of dementia. And so I see absolutely no use at all. Now, there are some people that sit up and get kind of a little hot under the collar and say, “Well, but it’s anti-inflammatory. You know, statins are anti-inflammatory.” No, they’re not. What statins are known to do is depress CRP levels. Now, that’s supposed to be good, because, you know, C-reactive protein is an acute reactivity marker. It’s an inflammation marker in the body. You want lower CRP levels.

However, CRP is manufactured in the liver. And if you’ve been on statins a good, long while, what happens is statins do damage to the liver. And after awhile, enough damage has been done to the liver that the liver cannot produce CRP anymore. Again, somebody has unscrewed the light bulb, is what is happening.

Guy: Yeah, right.

Nora: But it’s not anti-inflammatory. It may have exactly the opposite problem. You know, CoQ10 is such an important antioxidant. You deplete that, you’re at all sorts of risk for the damage that free radicals can do. And your heart is most at-risk.

You know, the TV commentator, Tim Russert; I don’t know if you guys ever knew about him. He was a political commentator here in the states. He had perfectly normal cholesterol levels but his doctors put him on statin drugs preventatively. He dropped dead of heart failure. And as far as anybody knew, he didn’t necessarily have cardiovascular disease.

And my own father, of course, was a victim. He was not on statins. But he was always extremely proud of his low cholesterol. He dropped dead of a heart attack. More than half of people who drop dead of heart attacks have normal or below-normal cholesterol levels. So, there’s almost; there’s a very poor correlation between elevated cholesterol and cardiovascular disease risk, and yet these drugs persist because the money persists.

And the public has been sort of taken in by this now over a period of; there was the whole lipid hypothesis that came along in the ’50s and ’60s, right around the time that vegetable oils were getting in vogue in margarine. And animals being vilified. And there was a hypothesis that dietary fat caused heart disease. well, there was a researcher by the name of Ancel Keys that; I call him “researcher” tongue-in-cheek because he basically cherry-picked data from the World Health Organization because something called the Seven Countries Study, and he selected a number, seven countries, where there appeared to be some epidemiological correlation or observational correlation between high-fat diets and rates of heart disease. However, he ignored data from 20-some-odd other countries that either were inconclusive that way or showed exactly the opposite. He cherry-picked data, published it in the Journal of the American Medical Association, got himself on the cover of Time, and became the father of what is known as the Lipid Hypothesis.

And there has been a concerted effort ever since to promulgate this idea that somehow animal fats, which we’ve been eating for, it turns out now, in my book I say 2.6 million years; there’s new evidence to point to 3.39 million years, you know, we’ve been eating animal fats to no apparent detriment until about 1911. You know, if you graduated medical school in 1910, you never heart of coronary thrombosis. And in 1911, the first four cases of coronary thrombosis were published in the Journal of the American Medical Association as this strange, anomalous thing called “heart disease” that seemed to be occurring. And it appeared to be isolated cases.

And there was a physician at the time named Dr. Paul Dudley White. He had been personal physician to President Eisenhower. And he took an interest in all of this. He thought, wow, what an interesting phenomenon that’s emerging. And he selected it as his area of specialty in medicine. And his colleagues thought he was nuts. They said: Why would you waste your time in a specialty area that was so unprofitable? And by the 19. . .  in no time flat that ended up becoming one of the primary causes of death. But, again, dietary fat is something that we had been eating for millennia and what had actually happened was that our intake of animal fats was going down at that time, and our intake of vegetable oils, which was a very new food to us as a species, were starting to skyrocket. And particularly these hydrogenated fats like margarines. And our carbohydrate intake, of course, the food industry was rising to power at that time and we were starting to eat a lot of processed carbohydrates and things.

Guy: I mean, if you would look at what the next generation as well has been brought up on eating, it’s kind of scary. Because I know you’ve got concerns.

Stuart: I have, yeah. Absolutely. Because we’re talking about, you know, heart disease and cholesterol and lots of people think, well, I won’t worry about that till I’m old. But what about the young generation? Because I’ve got three kids and I wanted to know whether there were any special considerations for youngsters for this primal way of eating. Because I have heard that, “Oh, kids need more carbohydrates because they’re so active.” And, of course, there’s a myriad of children’s products now on the market that are so processed and offer so little nutrients but seem to be very popular.

Nora: Absolutely. And, again, you kind of have to follow the money on this. Look, you know, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s pyramid, right? USDA Department of Agriculture‘s pyramid. Oh, you know, “11 servings of grains a day.” Grains are an entirely new food to our species within the last 10,000 years. That’s less than .4 percent of our history have we been actually consuming any significant amount of grains or legumes in our diet, and yet we’ve changed; genetically, we’ve altered within that same time period perhaps .05 percent.

And what the evidence seems to be suggesting that we’re actually over time now becoming less adapted to those foods and not more. The incidence, for instance, of full-blown celiac disease, which only constitutes about 12 percent of the totality of what can be termed an immunological reactivity to gluten; only about 12 percent of those cases are actually hard-core celiac disease. The incident of celiac disease alone has risen over 400 percent in just the last 50 years. So, we’re not become more adapted to these foods; we’re becoming less adapted these foods. A carbohydrate-based diet is a new phenomenon to the human species. But children actually; there is not a living. . .

OK; of the three major macronutrients (proteins, fats, and carbohydrates), the only one for which there is no human dietary requirement established anywhere in any medical text anywhere is carbohydrates. We can manufacture all the glucose that we need from a combination of protein and fat in the diet. We store little bit of glycogen, you know, in the liver and in the muscles, and we also have the capacity for something called gluconeogenesis, which is just making glucose. We can do that very efficiently. So, we’re actually designed, and have always been designed, to derive our primary; so, there are two sources of fuel that we have available to use as human beings that we can rely on for primary energy. One is either sugar or glucose and the other is fat in the form of either ketones or free fatty acids. That’s it. So, either sugar or fat. Now, what do you suppose the more efficient source of fuel is? Sugar is like kindling in the human body. It burns anaerobically. It’s fermentative and anaerobic. And it’s most efficiently used when we’re in a fight-or-flight situation when we’re either trying to run away from something that’s trying to eat us, or we are attempting to exert ourselves in some profound sort of way.

And so carbohydrates are basically our version of kindling. And you can look at brown rice and beans and whole grains and things like that as fundamentally being like twigs on that metabolic fire. If all we’re doing is looking at carbohydrates from the standpoint of the energy that they provide us with, they’re basically kindling. Now, your white rice, your bread, your pasta, your potatoes. Those are much more (nice to see you again); those are much akin to being like paper on the metabolic fire. And things like sugary drinks, sodas, and alcohol, and, I’m sorry to say, including beer, ‘eh mate; including that old Foster’s lager, is like throwing alcohol or lighter fluid on that same fire.

And if you had to heat your house using nothing but kindling, you could certainly do it. But you would be pretty much preoccupied all day long with where the next handful of fuel was coming from to stoke that fire. If, instead, you were just sort of throwing a big log, a big fat  log, on that fire, you’re free to go about your business. And every once in awhile after however many hours you peer in the wood stove and, “Oh! The fire’s burning down,” well, just throw another log on the fire. And you can kind of go on with your business. You can sleep through the night, you don’t have ups and downs in that energy. It’s just even burning and long-lasting. That’s what fat is for us, and that is the most efficient fuel for everything that we do while we’re breathing oxygen and, you know, when we’re in an aerobic state.

And so that’s most of what we do. We don’t need rocket fuel just to kind of go to work every day, unless your job is, I don’t know, a fast; Olympic sprinting. But even then, you know, you may be able to get by with whatever glycogen you have stored in order to get through that race. You don’t necessarily have to eat extra fuel or store it. Or eat extra, anyway, to do that.

Stuart: Because I know, Guy, you had a question, didn’t you, on that very topic?

Guy: Yeah. I got a question from a Dan Bennett and it’s very much related. “As an ultra-endurance athlete, I’ve been curious if it’s possible to compete in such events without carbs that are traditionally used in this sport.”

Nora: You’re better-equipped to excel in that sport, especially endurance sports, because endurance sports; you’re burning oxygen. You know? Endurance sports require long-sustained energy. And carbohydrates can’t provide long-sustained energy. We can’t store more than about 2,000 calories’ worth of carbohydrate.

Now, some elite athletes may train themselves to store a bit more than that, you know, by challenging themselves and carb-loading and whatever over time. But it takes work to increase that capacity. But that’s not a natural capacity for us. Carbohydrates were not necessarily a readily-available fuel for us for most of our evolutionary history. You know, we had meat and fat and we had the above-ground types of plant foods. We didn’t have fire for cooking or we weren’t cooking our food universally instead of many more like 50,000 years ago. So, things like; and also a lot of starchy roots and tubers. Apart from the fact that we can’t process them at all when they’re raw, they just pass through us as unusable, they need to be heated. You have to cook them very thoroughly in order for the starch in them to become available to us. And that’s a lot of effort for something that doesn’t yield a fraction of the energy that fat would.

So, for endurance athletes anyway, there is nothing more efficient than being a fat-burner. But the transition from being a sugar-burner to a fat-burner can take three to six weeks to pull off. There is a process. Your body has to kind of acclimate itself to a dependence, to a primary dependence, on a different sort of fuel.

Stuart: So is that training the part of the body that burns ketones, essentially?

Nora: Yeah. Ketones and free fatty acids; the brain uses pretty exclusively ketones. When you go into very well-adapted ketogenic state, which takes a little bit to get there, but once you’re there, your brain relies almost entirely upon ketones and will only turn to glucose if there’s some, yet again, extreme thing happening that it needs the glucose for. But, again, your brain can do nearly everything it needs to do on nothing but ketones.

Guy: What about for, like, myself and Stewie, CrossFit. I’m not sure if you’re familiar with CrossFit.

Nora: Sure. It’s big in the States.

Guy: And they promote paleo as well and it’s obviously short, explosive exercise. The workouts are generally pretty short in time. Could it be the same; just become ketone-adapted exactly the same principles?

Nora: Absolutely. Absolutely. We’re designed for short bursts of exertion, and we should have more than enough glycogen stored up and more than enough ability to generate glucose if we need to for that anaerobic activity. And we should be able to replenish that pretty readily. Now, you know, where I’m still sitting on the fence a little bit is where it comes to, say, Olympic-level elite athletes, say, sprinters, who are training for extremes of exertion. Not the endurance sports. Endurance sports, fat’s got that down. Fat always should own endurance sports.

But when it comes to the sprinters that do these extremes of exertion; and it’s not just for one event. But what these people do in order to train for these events is they work out all day long. I mean, they’re doing something very unnatural in order to perform at a certain level at these events. And if one of our ancestors got up against one of these people in an Olympic event, they’d probably give them a very healthy run for their money. But our ancestors would have looked at their training regimen like they were nuts. You know: “What are you doing?” And I’m not saying they shouldn’t do that for those events, but it’s not something that we evolved doing. Our ancestors would have thought that was a ridiculous expenditure of energy and they would have thought there are better things to do with energy, you know? Hunting and gathering and spending time with family. It was; the extremes of stress that professional athletes put themselves under, you know, might demand something a little bit unnatural. But for your average weekend warrior and your CrossFitters and your people trying to excel at everyday sports, even bodybuilding, for that matter. A ketogenically well-adapted state actually spares your branched-chain amino acids. You’re not as likely to burn them for fuel. And the rate-limited factor for protein synthesis are those branched-chain amino acids, leucine. And if, after a workout, you’ve had sufficient protein to replenish that, the XXaudio problemXX isn’t going to make you any more anabolic at that point. There’s really no need.

Stuart: Well, on that subject of carbs, I’ve got a question regarding myself. So, Guy and myself recently were tested; our DNA.

Nora: Uh-oh. What was it related to?

Stuart: Well, we were intrigued as to a kind of; we’re almost living in a one-size-fits-all world and were speaking to a good friend of ours, a naturopath, who said, well, look, we’ve got some; I’ve got a crowd that I’m really interested in looking at DNA testing for your specific body type, and they might be able to give you some pointers for the rest of your life that will help you out. So, we were tested and we had radically different results. And I’ve been advised to follow a low GI diet. And, for me, conventionally would be grains, legumes, and I’m just wondering how would I do that when thinking about the Primal Diet?

Nora: Well, leave out the grains and legumes. That’s the lowest GI diet of all.

Stuart: So, really, just, again, such as meat? Fats?

Nora: Again, there is nobody; I don’t care what your DNA tells you, there’s nobody living or breathing on this planet that has a grain or legume deficiency. There is no such thing. These are new to our species. And they contain immunologically, potentially antigenic compounds. In other words, immunologically reactive compounds and lectins and things like that that in some people trigger autoimmune disorders, but can cause people a lot of grief. There’s nobody that is walking around with a starch deficiency. There just isn’t.

And I know it’s very PC to say, “Well, everybody’s different.” Well, that’s a popular viewpoint, but guess what? We’re so much more alike than we are unalike. You know? We all have the same; our body relies on the same complement of nutrients in general in order to function. We all have a necessity, a blood pH of between 7.35 and 7.45. You know, we all have certain basic, fundamental requirements. We all produce cholesterol. We all need fat-soluble nutrients in order to function. And, again, there are some people who may tolerate some of these foods better than others; starchy foods. Or things like grains and legumes. But there is nobody in my personal view for whole they are an actual health food. And I realize that’s a controversial statement. But, again, there are foreign proteins in these things that can potentially compromise us.

And one of the things that I am seeing now, as an epidemic here in where I’m at, is autoimmune processes. There are people walking around with autoimmune antibodies that are inappropriate levels of autoimmune antibodies than not. It’s literally that epidemic. And autoimmune diseases are seen as relatively rare because people don’t get diagnosed with them very often. But what people fail to recognize is that the standards of diagnosis for autoimmune disease are abysmal. That in order to be diagnosed with celiac disease, and in some countries it’s even more stringent than this, just celiac disease being the most common of the autoimmune disorders out there, there are villi; something called villi lining your small intestine. They look like these finger-like projections. And they’re basically increased surface area in which you absorb your nutrients. And what happens over the course of celiac disease is this ends up eroding down and becoming this. So, basically, until this has totally become this, until your shag carpeting has turned into Berber, you are not diagnosable with celiac disease until that has occurred.

So, if you go and you get an intestinal biopsy and your gut looks like this, you’re fine. Have some bread. That’s the standard diagnosis. Now, with, say, if you’re producing antibodies against your own adrenal tissue, and lots of people are, if you have, say, 45 percent obstruction of your adrenal tissue, I promise you you will notice it in every part of the way you feel and function in your life. But you will not be diagnosable with Addison’s Disease until you have had a minimum of 90 percent tissue destruction to your adrenals. Then you’re diagnosable.

So, autoimmune diseases. . . And, if you have; the second most common, actually, autoimmune disease in the world right now, and although it’s debatable depending on who you talk to, which is more prevalent between that and celiac disease, is autoimmune thyroid disease. Eighty percent of all low-functioning thyroid cases are autoimmune in nature. And yet it’s almost never diagnosed. People, they go to their doctors: “Oh, look. Your TSH is high, your T4 is low.” Whatever. “We’ll put you on some Thyroxin or whatever and call it good. And that makes for prettier labs but it may not change the person’s symptoms any. And it doesn’t; it is a rare thing for a physician to actually test for thyroid antibodies, and the reason it’s so rare is that whether it’s diagnosed or undiagnosed, conventional medicine has absolutely nothing to offer you. Nothing. They’ll treat it exactly the same way they’ll treat it if you’re just a primary hypothyroid case. They’ll just put you on medication.

But I’m here to tell you that if your thyroid is producing antibodies, you have an autoimmune thyroid condition. Your primary problem isn’t thyroid. It’s immune. And it has to be addressed on that level if you have any hope whatsoever of leading a reasonable symptom-free and normal life. And yet it’s completely not; they don’t care. They’re completely unimpressed with that diagnosis.

Stuart: It’s back to taking the light bulb out again, isn’t it?

Nora: It is. Well, but, you know, it’s like, “OK, so the light’s on. So what?” You know? They don’t know what to with it anyway. There are no medications with which to treat an autoimmune thyroid. But I’m here to tell you that there’s never been more that’s been understood about the mechanisms behind what drives autoimmunity. And those mechanisms are very, very easily managed in a very comfortably natural way. There are dietary things that can help manage those mechanisms that drive autoimmunity, that can help mitigate immune polarity and inflammation and things like that. And there are supplemental things that a person can do also in order to manage their immune function.

There’s no cure of an autoimmune disease once it’s taken root. Or an autoimmune process. Most of us have autoimmune processes occurring. Whether or not they ever are diagnosable as a disease down the line depends on how far they’re allowed to advance. And what we do to either perpetuate it or to bring it under control.

And there’s only one lab in the world, too, that’s doing that type of immunologic testing and I’m sorry to say it’s here in the States. I’ve actually had a couple of people from Australia fly over here just to get that testing done; to get answers to questions that nobody else was ever able to offer them.

Stuart: Amazing.

Guy: It’s scary.

Nora: The medical industry is; somewhere around World War II, medicine ceased to become a profession and became an industry. And it’s largely driven by the interests of pharmaceutical companies. That’s who funds the medical schools and that’s where medical doctors get their training. And I do not mean to sound disparaging of hard-working and very well-meaning MDs.

And there are some MDs out there that totally get this. I have a friend who’s a medical oncologist practicing at a facility; at a medical center outside Philadelphia. And he has found, actually, that the exact diet that I promote in my book, which amounts to, fundamentally, a fat-based ketogenic diet, is the single most therapeutic diet; the most preventative and the most therapeutic diet for cancers. As well as diabetes and heart disease and kidney disease and neurological problems and pretty well you-name-it. And yet because there’s no profit in just simply making a dietary change, he runs into; he’s done peer-reviewed research but it’s like pulling teeth trying to shop around for people willing to publish that work. Because it doesn’t toe the party line.

Stuart: Yeah, I can believe that.

Guy: I’ve got a Facebook question that kind of ties into what we’ve been talking about, because we’re talking about the stresses on the body of food. And so this question is from Darren Manser. And he says: “Modern-day stress is different compared to Paleolithic stress due to the fact that the stress these days is likely to end your life yet more continuous. Is there anything we need to be aware of to help accommodate continual stress of modern-day life?”

Nora: That’s a very, very great question, actually. Because our stress levels are so much worse than anything our ancestors even knew. I mean, yeah, they had droughts and floods and they had to endure the extremes of an ice age here and there or volcanic eruption. Give me that any day over what we have to put up with with our water, food supply, our depleted soils. EMF pollution. Radiation from Fukushima up here in Northern Hemisphere. That’s a huge problem up here right now. You guys are quite fortunate to be where you are. I mean, eventually you’ll be dealing with it too but you guys have a bit of a reprieve. And things. . . Give me the throes of the ice age any day to dealing with Monsanto. You know?

And what we’re dealing with are largely corporate interests running everything. And so people today have much more to worry about and we’re dying. . . Actually, today, the children are expected to live not as long as their parents did. And 30 years old is the new 45. Because people are developing diseases of aging at least 15 years earlier now. These are realities.

Guy: It seems no one dies of natural causes anymore.

Nora: Well, yeah. What’s natural causes? But yeah. So, the three top causes are death are: cardiovascular disease, cancer, and the number three cause of morbidity and mortality in the entire industrialized world is autoimmunity right now, whether people are aware of it or not. Collectively, as a whole, autoimmune diseases are the number three cause of death. And, again, morbidity, you know, problems.

And what’s also interesting, though, is the number one cause of death in a person with celiac disease is actually a cardiovascular event. The number two cause of death in a person with celiac disease is malignancy. So, there are tie-ins to the number one and two causes of mortality as well. And there’s new evidence, actually, I just stumbled across the other day to suggest that the onset of atherosclerosis is actually an autoimmune process. That was news to me. That was a little bit of a shocker. And people who have autoimmune antibodies, they’re like cockroaches. If you have one, you’re bound to have more. So, polyautoimmunity is rapidly becoming a norm.

And autoimmunity, of course, is a state in which your body is basically attacking itself. It’s destroying its own tissues in a highly inflammatory way. And, again, there’s a lot you can do. But conventional medicine, at this point, is not really equipped to do very much to help with that. They mostly put people on prednisone, which is a horrible substance, or they’re doing some interesting things now with low-dose Naltrexone.

So, anyway, to get back to your friend’s, or your Facebook question, I think his name was Dan, yes, stress is the biggest thing that we’ve got. And, you know, we’re designed to be in a calm, parasympathetic, relaxed state 99.99 percent of the time. And the other .1 percent of the time, the saber-toothed tiger jumps out from behind the bush and chases us around a little bit, hopefully we survive the ordeal, and then we get to pick up our umbrella drink again and sit back down and relax.

And what we have today is exactly the opposite of this: 99.99 percent of the time we’re being chased around by saber-toothed tigers 24-7, and the .1 percent of the time, if we’re lucky, we get a trip to Tahiti. And I don’t know who these fabled people are; I wouldn’t get that. And, you know, all people really accomplish with that is really stressing out the Tahitians. You know?

Guy: That’s right.

Stuart: And their livers with all of the alcohol that they drink while they’re on holiday.

Nora: Exactly. Exactly. We lead extraordinarily unnatural lives. And that’s one reason why I wrote the book I did. You notice that the subtitle of my book is “Beyond the Paleo Diet for Total Health and a Longer Life” because we don’t live in the same world our ancestors did. There are things that; whatever it was, whatever we had available to us as food over the bulk of our evolutionary history, you know, for nearly three-point-whatever million years, certainly would have established our nutritional requirements, would have established our physiological makeup. And we have to look at that. To me, it’s an essential starting place.

There are principles to be had. I mean, there is no such thing; more is less is no such thing as a true Paleolithic diet anymore. I mean, how many wooly mammoth steaks do you find in restaurants and things? It’s the kind of thing where what we’re left with are some of the principles that our ancestors lived by. And those principles are basically that we had a diet that was largely based in animal-sourced foods that was supplemented with various types of plant material as seasonally or climatically available. And as we were able to, as we had the technology in order to process. Again, cooking would have made a lot of plant foods a lot more edible to us than a lot of wild plant foods; a lot of wild plant foods have toxic compounds in them that would have been detrimental to us in any significant quantity. And the amount of calories you would burn just simply by selectively picking and processing these plant foods would have far exceeded their caloric value and nutrient value to us.

So, I think that plant foods are probably more important to us now, in fact than they were in our evolutionary past. Because of their phytonutrient content, because of the anti-oxidant content, because we’re facing so many more pollutants in our air, water, and food supply now. And we’re facing genetically modified organisms and so many other things that we need bigger buffers. And we still need those same principles. And we still require animal-sourced foods to get certain nutrients. There are some things that can only be gotten in animal-sourced foods effectively, and some things that are best gotten in animal-sourced foods.

Plant foods, I think, are more important to us now than they ever used to be. And so, again, sugar and starch were never essential to us and they’re not essential to us now. It’s just; sugars, of course, are a known vector for free radical activity, for the production of advanced glycation end products or AGEs, appropriately enough, because that’s what ages us. Glycation is a process by which fats and proteins combine with sugars to become sort of misshapen and start to malfunction. And it’s a critical; and then you end up with proteins cross-linking and degrading in the presence of these things and it’s a key part of how we age.

But also insulin is a very, very key aging hormone as well. And the less insulin we produce, as it turns out, because part of what I base my book on, too, is really new information from modern longevity; human longevity research. And all the evidence points to the fact that the less insulin that you produce in the course of your life, the less insulin you require, I should say, in the course of your life, the longer you’re gonna live and the healthier you’re gonna be, by far.

And, of course, the primary macronutrient that seems to have an elevating effect on insulin are sugars and starches. So, what I advocate for is eating relatively sugar and starch free. You know: eat a few berries when they’re in season or something like that. But I wouldn’t be making a point of incorporating sugars and starches in my daily diet. What I would be doing is moderating my protein intake and then eating as much fat as I need to in order to satisfy my appetite while also adding the fibrous vegetables and XXfruits?XX for both.

Guy: What would a typical day of Nora’s life look like in food-wise?

Nora: Well, a lot of mornings I will either cook, scramble, say, a duck egg in a little duck fat. Duck fat’s my new butter. Oh my God, it’s delicious. Or, one of my favorite breakfasts, just because it’s so quick and easy, involves taking a small; actually, probably just half of a small bowl of skinless chicken thigh and broiling that for, like, six minutes.  I know it doesn’t sound that great, but it’s actually a very quick way to cool it. It’s actually a very safe way to cook it. It tends to preserve; the fats don’t oxidize as readily. And then I’ll slather it to swimming in coconut oil and then put a bunch of curry and garlic salt and that sort of thing on it and just sort of enjoy that. The fat, of course, that I add to it is extremely satiating. Sometimes I’ll use a chimichurri sauce or something like that as well, which is marvelously satiating and delicious as well.

And if I haven’t eaten anything by; I’ll eat that at maybe 7 in the morning. If I haven’t eaten anything by 1 or 2 in the afternoon, by that point I’m starting to think, yeah, I’m kind of hungry, it would be nice to eat something. But the difference is between that dependence on carbohydrate and eating that starchy breakfast and all of the mid-morning snacks and whatever, your average person dependent on carbohydrates for their primary fuel were to go, you know, six or more hours without their next meal, they would have snakes growing out of their hair, probably. You know? There would be mental fog, there would be fatigue, there would be cravings. There would be an attitude of: “If I don’t eat something soon, somebody’s gonna die.”

And I don’t experience those things. There’s only one way that we’re supposed to feel before we eat and that’s hungry. And there’s only one way that we’re supposed to feel after we eat, and that’s not hungry. If, prior to eating, if you’ve gone a few hours without eating something and you’re feeling tired or jittery or irritable or something that rhymes with “itchy,” and, if, after eating, you feel more energized, or, if, after eating, you feel more drowsy. If any of that sounds like you in any way, shape, or form, you basically have a blood sugar problem. None of those things are normal. None of those things are supposed to happen. If you haven’t eaten in awhile, you’re supposed to feel hungry. That’s normal. And then, once you eat, you’re not hungry anymore. But you’re not supposed to be more energized or more fatigued after a meal. That’s the difference.

Guy: That’s pretty much nearly everyone I know, to a degree.

Nora: Well, it is.

Guy: Yeah.

Nora: And think about. . . So, remember that analogy with the woodstove. How, if you’re having to heat your house with nothing but kindling, you’re spending your day constantly preoccupied with where that next handful of fuel is coming from to run your metabolic fire.

Who do you suppose profits when the world is eating in that sort of fashion? You know, listen, there isn’t a single multinational corporation on Earth that I can think of that doesn’t stand to profit handsomely that isn’t heavily invested in every man, woman, and child on the planet being dependent on carbohydrates as their primary source of fuel. It’s cheap, it’s profitable, and it keeps us hungry and it also keeps us sick.

And it keeps us quite vulnerable. Now, most people aren’t more than two missed meals away from a state of total mental and physical chaos, honestly, and metabolic chaos. And that makes us sort of malleable. And it’s a very; there is nothing more destabilizing to the body and brain than sugar and starch, honestly. Because you end up with this sort of wave of rushes of glucose that are then being suppressed by insulin, and then cravings again and another meal of raising the blood sugar back up and another crash. And so many people, their energy patterns and their mental energy patterns and their cognitive functioning patterns and their moods and everything else look like this all day long. That’s the way that they’re eating.

And, again, if you’re relying on fat as your primary source of fuel, you’re free. You know? You eat as you choose to eat when it’s convenient for you to eat. You’re able to make healthier choices because you’re not sitting there craving something going half out of your mind with cravings and just trying really hard to exercise discipline and trying not to eat that dessert that you know is gonna pack the pounds on. It’s just sort of a natural thing, you know.

When I see dessert. . . I used to love desserts. I used to love bread and pasta and things like that. Now, when I see them, I look at them the way most people are looked at by their cat. I look right through it. I just don’t see that it’s there. They come by with a dessert cart after a meal in a restaurant and I look at that. It’s not like, “Oh, I shouldn’t.” It’s, “Eh.”

Guy: Fair enough. We have time for one more Facebook question, and it will tie into, you mentioned the fat. Neil Nabbefeld asks, “Is dairy truly bad for humans?” I think because of the argument within Paleo: should we eat dairy, shouldn’t we eat dairy. I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Nora: Right. Well, again, I say “beyond the Paleo diet,” so. . . I don’t consider myself, you know, religiously paleo. Although I believe that those fundamental principles have a lot to teach us and that they have to be a starting place.

It’s very clear that there were human people groups traditionally, not Paleolithically, but traditionally, seemed to do quite well in Weston Price’s time on things like raw milk and also fermented products made from raw milk. Certainly the Masai drank a lot of whole-fat, raw milk and that sort of a thing and it certainly hasn’t done them any harm, at least traditionally.

That said, what most people call milk and dairy today is not something that you could even get a baby cow to drink. Right? It’s heavily processed, it’s been adulterated, it’s been homogenized, it’s been pasteurized. All of the enzyme value of it is completely gone; it’s been obliterated through the pasteurization process. The animals are being stuffed full of recombinant bovine growth hormones and things like that, which. . . One of the other hats that I wore once upon a time, I was involved in doing some veterinary work and I remember going around to some of these large dairies and other livestock facilities and seeing cows, and we’re not even talking big factory operations. Relatively moderate operations. And every single cow in these milking lines all had mastitis. All of them. And they were all on antibiotics. And you would go to milk them by hand and you would see literally pus coming out, which is obviously incredibly gross. But nobody cared about that because all of it was basically going into these huge steel vats where it was all getting boiled and sterilized. So, I guess if you don’t mind drinking sterilized pus, that’s fine, but it’s not my beverage of choice.

So, conventionally generated dairy, to me, is not food. And I have no use for that. For some people, I think raw milk, and there are certain types of components of raw milk, like early; like colostrum and whey that in some people can be highly therapeutic. Now, that said, roughly half of everybody that has a gluten intolerance also has a casein intolerance. I happen to be one of them. I can’t do dairy at all. My immune system is highly reactive to dairy products, and that includes heavy cream and butter, I am sorry to say. And I know in previous editions of my book I extolled the virtues of butter and heavy cream, and for some people I think those foods are probably fine.

But I didn’t know that I had an immunological reactivity to dairy until I tested with appropriately sensitive testing. And the moment I eliminated those foods from my diet, it’s like 20 pounds fell off of me I didn’t even know I had. There were just so much inflammation all the time that I didn’t even realize that I was struggling with something until it go removed as an issue. So, for some people, I think dairy can be fine. For some, it can even be therapeutic, from healthy, entirely pasture-fed raw dairy sources. From, again, trusted raw dairy sources; dairies that are really doing it the right way, that are sanitary and whatever else. I think that there’s a place for that, not on my dinner plate, but for some people I think that there can be a place for that.

So, it is an unnatural food for adult people, though. Animals, I mean, and you can always make that argument that we’re the only species that drinks milk past infancy and we’re drinking the milk of not human milk but cow’s milk.

Guy: Interestingly enough as well, I’m not sure what the laws are in the U.S., but here, if you want to buy real milk you have to buy bath milk because it’s illegal to sell.

Nora: What’s it called?

Guy: It’s called “Cleopatra’s Bath Milk.”

Nora: Ah, I see. You know, there are some raw dairies around the country that will call it “pet milk.”

Guy: Yeah, you always feel like a drug smuggler when you have to go and buy it.

Nora: There are also these what are called “cow share” programs. I don’t know if you have that there, where people actually go to a farmer who has a cow, be it a nice Jersey, a XXunintelligibleXX cow that is eating a nice, grass-fed diet, and they’ll buy an interest in the animal so that they’re basically considered an owner. And there are no laws against drinking the milk of your own animal. So, they kind of get around the law with that. I don’t know if Australia has these cow-share programs or not.

Stuart: I think they exist, actually. Yeah, I do think they exist.

Nora: I would say that, where dairy is concerned, if you’re drinking raw milk and you’re still symptomatic, you might want to lose the dairy. And I would actually say fly over to the States and get some Cyrex testing and figure out whether you have that kind of sensitivity or not; whether you have intolerances. But the only other way to really figure it out is by completely eliminating that food from your diet for a period of time and seeing what happens.

Guy: One last question, Nora. Do you have any books in the pipeline?

Nora: You know, that’s a great question. I’ve got a couple of e-books in the pipeline. And, of course, I’m working so hard and creating all these talks I’m getting this year it gives me precious little time outside of my very full-time practice. I see clients for eight hours hours a day during the week and it doesn’t leave a lot left over to work on new projects. I have two e-books in the pipeline. I have the outline for and some of the preliminary stages of a new book I’m working on, but it’s going to be some time unless. . . There are some projects I’m working on that might change things a little bit for me that may allow me to put much more of a full-time effort into putting out new material, which I’m really passionate about wanting to do. There’s so much more new, wonderful information and I am so very, very excited to impart it. And, again, right now I’m working seven days a week, and there’s very little time in that seven-day-a-week work to actually create new things, but I’m doing it as I can.

So, the one book is actually, that I’m hoping to get out before the others, is actually a bit of a workbook; kind of a quick-start guide to primal health, to kind of help people implement healthy dietary changes and help them understand what they need to do, kind of hand-hold them a little bit, what to expect. Give them a few more details; a little more hand-holding through that process so that they’ve got something that they can work with to help them through it.

Guy: Yeah, absolutely. I think that Gary Taubes did something similar, didn’t he? Because he released “Good Calories, Bad Calories,” which was just this monster of a book. And then he brought out a later edition which was a bit more, sort of, daily practical things that you could apply.

Nora: Right. Right. Which is, you know, it’s needed and it’s something I’m working on. Lots of things, actually, coming down the pike. There are lots of projects in the pipeline. But nothing I can give you as a, “Well, as of this date it’s gonna be released.”

Guy: As long as we know there’s something coming in the future, that’s the main thing.

So, you’re coming to Sydney to speak and it’s gonna be mid-May in Sydney. Is that the only talk you’re doing or. . .

Nora: I’m also going to be doing a talk, oh, boy, what is the date? In Dubbo.

Guy: Ah, I did see that, actually. I can put the dates up on this blog post.

Nora: Those dates are available, I believe, on my website and the Dubbo event should be a lot of fun. I’ve got some friends there and I think they are already actually selling tickets for that as well.

Guy: Fantastic.

Nora: Yeah. I’m excited. The MINDD foundation conference seems to be a marvelous event and I’ll be really happy to impart a lot of information, some of which will be familiar to people if they’ve seen me talk before, but some of it’s going to be quite new, and I think probably pretty interesting.

Guy: Well, we’re certainly looking forward to it and I’m sure there will be a lot of other people.

Well, look, Nora, thanks for today. It’s absolutely been mind-blowing again. Amazing. I look forward to meeting you again in person, in Sydney.

Nora: Absolutely. I look forward to meeting you, Stuart, and seeing you again, Guy, will be terrific. You’re really wonderful to have me on your program and it’s been really enjoyable.

Guy: Awesome.

Stuart: Safe journey and we will see you next month.

Nora: Sounds awesome.

Guy: Awesome.

Stuart: Thank you, Nora. Thank you.

Guy: Goodbye.

Nora: Goodbye.

By 180 Nutrition

Meet James Newbury, an incredible athlete, coach and now gym owner. James is undoubtedly one of the fittest blokes in the country. (In fact he just placed second in the inaugural Men’s Fitness ‘Fit Bloke Challenge’ against an incredibly tough field). We caught up with James to hear exactly what a ‘superfood’ is and how he incorporates them into his diet. He also shares his favourite superfood recipe and gives us a look at what his daily diet looks like.

Over to James…

Khan: What is a superfood?

James: A superfood is a food that contains high levels of antioxidants, vitamins, minerals or trace minerals and some of the best examples are mesquite, maca, coconut, gogi berries, chia, nuts, seeds, kale, kelp, blueberries etc.

Khan: How have superfoods affected your performance and overall health and wellbeing?

James: I put that extra 10% gain in progression down to superfoods and the way they help your body’s natural function. They supply your body with the essential vitamins and minerals it needs to perform at its peak. You don’t run a Ferrari off low-grade fuel.

Khan: What are some of your favourite superfoods and superfood recipes?

James: Some of my favourites are avocado, cacao, mesquite, lucuma, kale and eggs. My all time favourite recipe is choc avocado mousse:

Ingredients:

• 1 Banana
• 1/2 avocado
• 1 scoop of 180 Natural Protein Superfood
• 2 tsp raw organic cacao powder
• 2 tbs raw organic honey
• dash of cinnamon
• dash of organic almond milk
• dash of organic vanilla

Method:
Blend up until smooth. Smother on paleo pancakes or just eat as is.

Khan: How would you suggest one of your clients introduce superfoods into their diet?

Khan: Start off with some basics then add nuts and seeds to the diet. As you progress start introducing new things like nori (seaweed wraps) then looking to things like goji berries, chia, maca and mesquite. Try to get one thing at a time and add 1 tsp to a smoothie, you will start to feeling amazing for it.

Khan: Outline your average daily diet.

James: Most days it looks something like this:

• Breakfast – Steel cut oats with 1 scoop of 180, water and almond milk
• Snack – Avocado mousse
• Lunch – Turkey, big leafy green salad with sundried tomatoes and balsamic vinegar
• Snack – Couple of boiled eggs with some nuts and apples
• Dinner – Chicken, steak, fish with big leafy salad and cherry tomatoes with balsamic vinegar
• Dessert – Greek yogurt with crushed cashews and some goji berries

Khan: Describe how superfoods help you with your training?

James: The nutrient intake helps me tremendously. If I eat badly I feel I perform badly, or at least not as well as if I ate well. My energy feels lower and my recovery isn’t as good. It has definitely helped me prepare for the 2013 Australian CrossFit Regional Games. My girlfriend Kayla has been incredibly helpful in terms of making sure I’m getting the right vitamins minerals and superfoods which has been outstanding.

Khan: Thanks James, good luck with the games.

As the 013 Australian CrossFit Regionals Games approach, we’re all super excited to see how James performs. Be sure to jump over to his Facebook page to follow his training up to the event and check out his gym CrossFit Mode.

What superfoods do you eat? Love to hear your thoughts in the comments section below… Guy

Protein supplements are supposed to be a healthy way to get fit and build lean muscle.

Unfortunately, a quick read of most supplement labels will reveal all kinds of additives and preservatives, things no health-conscious person wants to put into his body. But 180 Natural Protein Supplement rejects this approach and gives its customers the natural supplements they crave, producing the super-food of choice for people serious about their bodies.

Full of natural ingredients, such as grass fed whey protein isolate, flaxseed, and almond meal, 180 protein supplement is known to help with lean muscle growth, to regulate body weight, and to aid in digestion. It is gluten-free and can be used as a meal replacement, saving consumers time and money. It also comes in a vegan option to build muscle without animal protein. 180 respects all ways to a healthy lifestyle.

One of the biggest contradictions in the fitness business is the use of unnatural ingredients in supposedly healthy products. Consumers need to be vigilant and check the labels of even popular, well-known brands. 180 Protein Supplement easily passes the label test by using only the best natural ingredients, making it the source for anyone’s fitness food.

The supplement powder is easily blended with water or milk to make a smoothie. Adding a variety of fruits makes tasty smoothies that anyone can enjoy. The powder can also be put into other recipes to add fibre and natural nutrients to meals. With 180, eating nutritious, easily digested food is simple and affordable. Utilising pepita, chia seeds, and cocoa, 180 makes its products flavorful and of the highest quality.

Building muscle and eating well means choosing pure and natural supplements to augment a sound fitness plan. Working out is only part of the equation. Weights and cardio can only do so much without the proper diet to aid muscle growth and nutrition. Informed people know that additives and preservatives don’t fit a healthy lifestyle. These same people can go natural with 180 Protein Supplement. In a short amount of time, they will be thrilled with the results.

For more information about the 180 Natural Protein Supplement powder, visit www.180nutrition.com.au.

Two critical components in maintaining a healthy lifestyle are regular exercise and a nutritious diet.

For optimal results, it’s imperative that the two components go hand-in-hand. With a plethora of processed protein bars on the market, choosing the best one can be challenging. Luckily, there are healthy protein supplements available that are healthful. As you read this article, you’ll learn more about 180 Nutrition protein bars and all they have to offer.

The 180 Nutrition Difference

The team behind 180 Nutrition take tremendous pride in the fact that the protein bars they’ve created are entirely natural, nutrient-rich, and free of preservatives. Unlike many of the other protein bars sold in stores, the protein bars offered by 180 Nutrition are full of nutritious ingredients like almond paste, grass fed whey protein isolate, flaxseed, sunflower seeds, chia seeds, sesame seeds, and more.

All of the ingredients found in these protein bars offer a wide range of health benefits. The 180 Nutrition protein bar contains almond paste base, which is low carb and full of fiber and vitamins. The grass fed whey protein isolate found in these bars ensures you’re getting high quality protein that will give your body the fuel it needs after a workout. The seeds included in these protein bars provide a wide array of health benefits. Sunflower seeds are rich in vitamins and minerals that can prevent bodily inflammation. Chia seeds and flaxseed have a high fibre content, which promotes proper digestion. Sesame seeds are rich in minerals and antioxidants that promote healthy heart functioning and can prevent cancer. Items like coconut flour, cocoa, and stevia add a sweet flavor that is natural and won’t trigger insulin spikes.

The Undeniable Benefits Associated with 180 Nutrition Protein Bars
Clearly, 180 Nutrition protein bars offer tremendous benefits. Whether you eat them after exercising or simply as a snack, you can be certain you’re enjoying a healthy treat.

Try a low cost starter pack today!

If you’re a woman on the go, you need food to support your busy lifestyle. It’s difficult for a busy woman to eat a meal with all the nutrients necessary for health in the limited time available for lunch.

Perhaps you have tried protein powders as a meal replacement during hectic lunches. The majority of protein powders on the market today are loaded with chemicals. These chemicals are difficult to pronounce as well as trust. The 180 Natural Protein Superfood is the perfect quick lunch you have been looking for. The simple snack mix will refuel you as a quick snack between errands. Helping you avoid reaching for less healthful choices, the powder is a nutritious meal replacement.

Invented by fitness trainer Guy Lawrence, the 180 Natural Protein Superfood is the best choice for before and after workout snacks. Filled with simple ingredients like flaxseed, almond meal, sunflower kernels, whey protein and more, the powder replaces a full healthy meal.

Although anyone can benefit from the 180 Natural Protein Superfood, it is especially good for busy women who have limited time for a good meal. The powder increases the metabolism while eliminating toxicity. This increases much needed energy for busy moms and career women. Taken before or after a workout, the 180 Natural Protein Superfood helps build muscle, stamina and energy.

The 180 Natural Protein Superfood is a perfect meal replacement. If you want to lose weight, simply replace a meal with the powder. You could do this even if you’re at your optimal weight for improved health and nutrition. If you’ve been eating prunes and fiber cereals, try eating a bar every day instead. It will improve your digestive health with its fiber rich combination. The powder is good for everybody. It won’t harm those with diabetes, cancer or other illnesses. It is safe. It doesn’t alter blood sugar, making it the safe, ideal protein powder for pregnant women as well those with diabetes. Used as a meal replacement or snack, the powder adds extra protein, fatty acids, fiber, and minerals to your diet.

Everyone can benefit from the 180 Natural Protein Superfood. Made with your needs in mind, this superfood may not turn you into superwoman overnight, but your health and energy will be on the right track!

Try a low cost starter pack today.