Search Results for: diabetes

Can the Paleo Diet Diminish Alzheimer’s Disease Risk?

According to Max Planck, the legendary, Nobel Prize winning physicist, “a new scientific truth does not triumph by convincing its opponents and making them see the light, but rather because its opponents eventually die, and a new generation grows up that is familiar with it.”[1] Could Planck’s Principal apply to Alzheimer’s disease (AD) research and treatment? This would be remarkable, but certainly not unprecedented. Within the realms of nutrition and physiology, we’ve seen many instances of Planck’s Principal over the years. For example, despite evidence to the contrary, sugar was once thought to be benign. Similarly, saturated fat and dietary…

Get Grains Off the Brain

When it comes to good nutritional choices, the mainstream media and food companies have taught us that grains are truly one of the best choices we can make. But is the science saying the same thing? Over the last few years, there’s been a rapid increase in scientific research showing that grains may actually be one of the worst choices we can make when it comes to our brain’s health.1 A fact that is only just starting to reach the media through some eye-opening works like the book  Grain Brain by Dr. David Perlmutter. The book made numerous key points…

Staffan Lindeberg (1950-2016) and His Legacy

Dr. Staffan Lindeberg was a pioneer of the Paleo diet as well as a wonderful colleague and friend. The following tribute was written by his Ph.D. student Pedro Bastos. Dr. Lindeberg would have been 67 today (February 22nd.) Dr. Staffan Lindeberg was a Swedish physician, who, like Prof. Loren Cordain, got hooked in Evolutionary Medicine when he first read Drs. Eaton and Konner’s now classic paper (‘Paleolithic nutrition: a consideration of its nature and current implications’) published in 1985 in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine. One of the things in that caught his attention in that paper was…

Happy Valentine’s Day: Enjoy Your Dark Chocolate Treats

On February 14th, 2017 millions of people across the globe will indulge in various chocolate assortments of all flavors, textures, shapes, and sizes. Most people following the Paleo lifestyle will feel obligated to avoid partaking in the widespread chocolate consumption, and with good reason. The average milk chocolate bar you see while strolling the aisles of your local grocery store typically contains little cacao or cocoa based ingredients and proportionately higher quantities of sugar, milk, lactose, soy, preservatives, and other non-paleo ingredients. These types of chocolate bars should definitely be avoided. The primary motive for consuming chocolate, while following a…

Further Evidence Against a High Sodium Paleo Diet

An ongoing controversy about dietary salt (either refined salt or sea salt) in human ancestral diets represents a significant point of contention for the Paleo Diet community.  Some popular bloggers contend that ingested high levels of dietary salt have no adverse effects upon our health and wellbeing1-10.  My scientific colleagues and I disagree with these conclusions11-34.   The Table below clearly demonstrates that high sodium diets (greater than 2300 mg/day) are virtually impossible to achieve when eating a 2000 to 2500 kcal/day diet consisting of normal selections of un-adulterated, non-salted wild or domesticated foods. References [1] Kresser C. Shaking Up…

The Sea Salt Controversy: Important Updates for Your 2017 New Year’s Resolution

Introduction: The Belief that Added Salt is Paleo Look no further than the increasing number of bestselling “Paleo” diet cookbooks1-7, or “Paleo” diet website recipes8-16 and you can fully appreciate the near unanimity of authors whose recipes embrace sea salt or salt as fundamental ingredients in an otherwise Paleo-friendly meal. Somehow, somewhere most people in the Paleo community have been led to believe that added sea salt or salt can be safely included in contemporary Paleo diets with no long-term, adverse health effects, and that high salt intakes were a normal part of ancestral, hunter-gatherer diets. At least, this is…

The Sun – Beyond Vitamin D (Part 1)

Introduction The sun emits electromagnetic radiation, which encompasses a large spectrum of wavelengths. Of these, only infrared, visible light, and ultraviolet (UV) radiation are able to reach the earth’s surface and hence our skin.1 So far, most of the research regarding the effects of the sun on human health has focused on UV radiation,1, 2 which is divided into UVC, UVB and UVA.3 As depicted in figure 1, virtually no UVC radiation reaches the earth’s surface, except at extremely high altitudes, since it is efficiently absorbed by the stratospheric ozone layer.1-3 Ozone also absorbs most of the UVB and UVA…

Does a Ketogenic Diet Extend Life Span?

Part Three in Our Ketogenic Diet Series Lately there has been a lot of hype about extending lifespan with diet. Stories of new scientific evidence and exciting “discoveries” are circulating the medias causing many people to fast or severely restricting carbohydrates to live longer. But does the science actually back it? Its true that more and more research is being published on the effects of diet and aging. Two key trends have appeared to emerge so far. First, eating vegetables and other antioxidant-rich foods is associated with improved health and longevity.1,2 Second, reducing refined sugar intake is a great way…

How to Achieve Ketogenic Gains with a Paleo Diet

Part Two in Our Ketogenic Diet Series The Paleo diet approach shares many similar traits to a ketogenic diet and a few modifications to your Paleo diet may make it possible to achieve the best of both worlds. In part one of this series on ketogenic diets, Christopher Clarke outlined the physiology of a ketogenic diet and its significant benefits with a myriad of chronic health conditions including weight gain, diabetes, metabolic syndrome, cardiovascular disease, neurological conditions and certain cancers.1,2 Now, the practical part… How can you transform your Paleo diet into a ketogenic Paleo approach? #1 Reduce Your Carb…

The Ketogenic Diet. Is it Paleo?

Part One in Our Ketogenic Diet Series. The Paleo and ketogenic diets are not the same, but does that mean there isn’t a place for the ketogenic diet within the Paleo template? They do have considerable overlap. Additionally, there is strong evidence that ketogenic diets are highly beneficial for a wide range of chronic health conditions. During the past decade, low-carb diets, such as the Paleo diet, have become increasingly popular, while a cloud of suspicion has formed over government-advocated, low-fat, grain-centric diets. The reasons for this are simple. Reducing carb intake promotes both improved blood glucose levels and reduced…