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Category Archives: Blogs by Loren Cordain
Fiery Hot Sauces: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly
Introduction and Historical Perspective Almost all of us are familiar with hot sauces – who among us hasn’t encountered a bottle of Tabasco, Cholula, Crystal, Tapatío or Sriracha hot sauces at our favorite Mexican Restaurant? Hot sauces represent condiments which are almost universally offered at Mexican and fast food restaurants in the U.S. and elsewhere. Later, I will get into the specific formulations of popular hot sauces, but for now, let it be known that most are mixtures of hot chili peppers, salt and vinegar among other ingredients. Obviously, the most important component of fiery hot sauces is their chili…
Dr Loren Cordain’s Interview on the Primal Blueprint Podcast
Listen to Dr Loren Cordain in his recent interview with Elle Russ on the Primal BluePrint Podcast. From the podcast: Elle Russ chats with Dr. Loren Cordain – the world’s foremost authority on the evolutionary basis of diet and disease. Featured on Dateline NBC, the front page of the Wall Street Journal, and The New York Times, Dr. Loren Cordain is widely acknowledged as one of the world’s leading experts on the natural human diet of our Stone Age ancestors. He is the author of more than 100 peer-reviewed scientific articles and abstracts, and his research into the health benefits of Stone Age…
Ten Questions about the Paleo Diet with Dr Loren Cordain
This spring, Dr Cordain did an interview answering ten questions about the basics of The Paleo Diet®. To start your New Years out right, we wanted to share his answers with you. We hope you enjoy! – The Paleo Diet Team 1. The Paleo diet can be traced to a 1975 book by Walter Voegtlin, but, correct me if I’m wrong, you are responsible for bringing this diet to popularity in your 2002 book “The Paleo Diet.” Can you me about your research journey as a professor and what lead you to writing this book? I have written a blog…
Eat Saint Louis Style Pork Ribs, and Reduce your Risk for Heart Disease, Osteoporosis and Other Chronic Diseases
Introduction Unless you are involved in the culinary arts or the meat industry, you probably haven’t given much thought to the term, “Saint Louis Style Pork Ribs”. Is this dish some kind of specially spiced, spare rib recipe from St. Louis, MO? Did it originate in a colorful Saint Louis, 20th century restaurant, or maybe it was first served at a St. Louis Cardinal baseball game in the 1930s? All three hypotheses seem to be plausible (1). Saint Louis Style Pork Ribs first and foremost represent a specific butchery cut of pork ribs recognized by the USDA (1).…
Salt is a Killer Without Huge Intakes of Fruits and Veggies
Dear Paleo Diet Faithful, Below is the citation, abstract and PDF link to a scientific paper my colleagues and I just published regarding the dietary sodium/potassium ratio and how these essential minerals influence blood pressure and cardiovascular disease. This paper represents the most comprehensive scientific international review of the topic to date. Do yourself or your loved ones a favor by reading it. To Your Health, Loren Cordain, Ph.D.” Link to Paper Sebastian A, Cordain L, Frassetto L, Banerjeed T, Morris RC. Postulating the major environmental condition resulting in the expression of essential hypertension and its associated cardiovascular diseases: Dietary imprudence in daily selection of foods in respect…
Ketogenic Diets: Long-term Nutritional and Metabolic Deficiencies
The Paleo Diet Team Foreword We have previously written about ketogenic diets at this website and about the benefits they can provide for a wide range of ailments (https://thepaleodiet.com/november-series-ketogenic-diets/). One exciting application that is showing promise with on-going research, is the diet’s potential in suppressing cancer (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29868472; https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25460731). That being said, it is currently not hard to find a plethora of material promoting ketogenic diets as a long-term strategy for health and vitality. Ketosis is clearly something that our ancestors were exposed to intermittently, however, this does not mean that following a ketogenic diet is appropriate for a healthy individual, particularly…
Dr. Cordain Interview for Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics
I was recently interviewed by a reporter representing “The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics” which was formerly known as “The American Dietetic Association (ADA)” http://www.eatright.org/. This organization certifies registered dietitian nutritionists in the United States. University level nutrition students must have met academic and professional requirements including an earned bachelor’s degree with coursework approved by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics’ Accreditation Council for Education in Nutrition and Dietetics (ACEND). The official magazine of The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, is called “Food and Nutrition” https://foodandnutrition.org/ which reaches a readership of approximately 40,000 Registered Dieticians. Unfortunately, due to the length…
Fresh Sardines or Canned Sardines: No Longer an Option for Americans
Introduction From 2006 to 2017 a dramatic collapse occurred in the Northern Pacific Sardine population (extending from Baja California to British Columbia, Canada), amounting to a 95 % decline in the entire sardine population (Figure 1, Info graphic 1) (1-3). Figure 1. The Pacific sardine population (biomass in millions of tons) has declined 95 percent since 2006 and it is now below the minimum level required to support a commercial fishery (called the “cutoff”) (1, 3). This fishery collapse caused biologists at the West Coast Region of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries to impose a moratorium on…
The Sodium to Potassium Ratio in Cheese: Clearly, a Non-Paleo Food
Introduction As more and more people get into Paleo Diet lifestyles, a frequent question comes up – How do I know which foods are permitted and those which are not part of contemporary Paleo Diets? The Paleo Diet movement has become so large and fractionated in recent years that many versions of “Paleo” have now arisen. An interesting, but flawed adaptation of present day Paleo Diets frequently permit regular/daily consumption of dairy products (including cheese). So how can you easily determine if any common modern day food mimics the nutritional characteristics of those foods our Stone Age ancestors would have…
Why Olives Are Not Paleo, But Olive Oil Is
Introduction The olive tree (Olea europaea) is native to the Mediterranean basin and is cultivated in many other parts of the world. The fruit of the olive tree is a drupe (a stone fruit) in which a hard inner seed is surrounded by a fleshy outer portion. The olive has a low sugar content (2.6 – 6%) compared with other drupes (apricots, peaches, plum etc., which may contain 12% or more sugar). Olives maintain a high oil content (12 – 30%) depending on the time of year and variety of olive harvested (1). The olive fruit generally cannot be consumed…
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