Hormones Archives - The Paleo Diet™

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Leptin: More Than Just a Satiety Hormone

What’s all the buzz about leptin? With over half the American population trying desperately to lose weight,1 it’s no wonder we’ve become fascinated with a hormone that prompts us to think obesity or starvation. Robert H. Lustig, MD, professor of pediatrics at UCSF and a member of the Endocrine Society’s Obesity Task Force explains “Leptin is a protein that’s made in the fat cells, circulates in the bloodstream, and goes to the brain; it’s the way your fat cells tell your brain that your energy thermostat is set right…and you have enough energy stored in your fat cells to engage…

Could the bacteria in your gut be the key to your anemia?

Posted on October 8, 2015 by O. H. Okoye, MD, MBA, MSEpi — 2 Comments ↓

Introduction An essential part to healthy living and Paleo is making sure that you are getting the right amount of key nutrients. One such element is iron.1 Maintaining a proper balance of iron in the body is crucial to ensure the body can make red blood cells.1 Red blood cells act as oxygen carriers taking oxygen from the lungs to your body’s tissues. In cases where a shortage of iron exists, an anemia occurs. Extreme fatigue due to decreased ATP energy production from the insufficient amount of red blood cells,2 is a key symptom. Ward anemia away by including Paleo…

Charismatic Paleo Bloggers: Rigorous Caution Required

Posted on September 28, 2015 by Loren Cordain, PhD, Professor Emeritus — 20 Comments ↓

INTRODUCTION Some of the most well recognized names in the “Paleosphere” surprisingly maintain few professional, academic, or even experiential credentials which would qualify them as scientists, researchers or even lay experts in the discipline. These self proclaimed, charismatic authorities have influenced and continue to influence hundreds of thousands of people based upon nothing more than their untested subjective opinions and limited understanding of the scientific, peer review literature. Most have never been trained in the research process, few maintain anything more than a bare bones understanding of the scientific method and don’t have even the slightest inkling of the statistical…

Hunger Pangs? Need to Lose Weight? Try This Vegetable

Posted on August 18, 2015 by O. H. Okoye, MD, MBA, MSEpi — No Comments ↓

In the journey of healthy living, we eagerly seek options that are not only tasty, but nutritious as well. What if there was an easily accessible vegetable that contains packed nutrients, while curbing your hunger pangs. Introducing spinach, a vegetable, that is familiar to many people following a Paleo lifestyle. In recent years, there has been a growing awareness of an abundant component of spinach, known as thylakoids.1 Previous scientific studies have shown that thylakoids promote the release of the satiety hormone cholecystokinin (CCK). This hormone signals to your brain that you feel full, after a meal, and affects appetite…

Lose Weight and Keep It Off?

Posted on July 28, 2015 by Casey Thaler, B.A., NASM-CPT, FNS — 5 Comments ↓

Besides winning the lottery, there may not be a more universally shared goal than losing body weight and keeping it off. If this is a goal you are after, you may not want to read the rest of today’s piece!

A Brief History of the Contemporary Paleo Diet Movement

Posted on July 24, 2015 by Loren Cordain, PhD, Professor Emeritus — 4 Comments ↓

INTRODUCTION In order to appreciate any concept, including the Paleo Diet, it is important to recognize its history and how it came to be. Most of you are aware that Paleo and particularly Paleo diets have recently become very hot, on trend topics. These ideas have become household words in the past few years; however it hasn’t always been this way. Below is a graph from Google Trends for the words “ the Paleo diet” (Figure 1). It’s fairly clear from Figure 1 that, except for the past four years, the Paleo diet was virtually unknown to all but dedicated…

Paleo Diet and Breastfeeding Mothers and Babies

Posted on May 6, 2015 by Stephanie Vuolo — 1 Comment ↓

Human breast milk is often called liquid gold, and should be considered the most original Paleo food available in modern times. Although today’s standards for the human diet have migrated away from our evolutionary roots,1 research still supports numerous health benefits for both infants and their mothers when breastfeeding exclusively during the first six months of life.2 However, it turns out that is quite challenging for mothers today to stick to these guidelines, often citing insufficient milk supply or a still hungry infant as the main reasons to supplement with commercial formulas or to abandon nursing altogether.3 One study showed…

How Modern Light Is Causing Sleep Loss and Making Us Sick

Posted on May 5, 2015 by Casey Thaler, B.A., NASM-CPT, FNS — No Comments ↓

There are many ways in which our Paleolithic ancestors lived completely different lives than we do, in our modern, hyper-digital world.1, 2, 3, 4 Perhaps one of the most interesting factors may be the amount of light which we are exposed to, on a near endless basis.5, 6 And I don’t mean healthy, vitamin D endowing sunlight. I mean artificial, man-made, sometimes cancerous light.7 In fact, modern life typically gives us inadequate exposure to natural light during the day, and also overexposes us to artificial light at inappropriate times (after sunset).8 Study after study has shown this imbalance has possible…

Paleo’s Promising Effects on Menstrual Cramps, PMS, and PMDD

Posted on April 30, 2015 by Nell Stephenson, B.S. — 5 Comments ↓

“I’m cranky when I have my period; I feel awful and I just want to stay home in bed.” “I have such horrible cramps during my time of the month which puts me so on edge, I can’t stand to be around anyone. Every little thing drives me nuts!” Do these sound familiar? No need to be sheepish, it’s more common than you think! In fact, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists estimates that at least 85% of menstruating women have at least one PMS symptom as part of their monthly cycle, and most of these women have fairly…

GMOs: To Be, Or Not To Be

Posted on April 27, 2015 by Casey Thaler, B.A., NASM-CPT, FNS — 1 Comment ↓

The fairly recent development – nay – may I say obsession – with genetically modified foods, is certainly one of our generation’s most important battles.1, 2, 3 On the one hand – quite clearly – we have never entered into these waters before.4, 5 We, as a species, have never eaten artificial foods that have been so wholly manufactured, designed (molecule by molecule) by food chemists, and consumed so egregiously.6, 7, 8 And – largely – we have never been fatter as a world population, as a result.9, 10, 11, 12 This is all pretty indisputable. On the other hand,…

LOREN CORDAIN, PH.D.