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Category Archives: Blogs by Loren Cordain
Physiological Mechanisms: Underlying High Salt Diets and Cancer
Introduction I recently received a question from Bill, “I would also like to know what the purported mechanism for low sodium and low cancer is?” Let me first preface this question with my original blog that precipitated the question. Dr. Jansson sent me this in his unpublished book manuscript on May 10, 1997 (Found here: http://thepaleodiet.com/a-rare-and-never-before-published-book-chapter-concerning-salt-and-cancer/). Accordingly, the information in his book is now more than 20 years old and unfortunately, Dr. Jansson died on May 23, 1998. Dr. Jansson’s book runs about 300 pages in length, is hand typed, double spaced, and contains the following 10 Chapters: 1.…
Processed, Cured and Smoked Meats: Definitely Not Paleo!
As more and more people adopt the Paleo Diet, controversy has arisen as to which dietary elements actually comprise a contemporary “Paleo Diet”. Or more precisely, which current foods, food groups or food additives should be included or excluded in modern day diets as we try to emulate the nutritional characteristics of our pre-agricultural ancestors? A number of popular-day and charismatic bloggers suggest that processed meats such as bacon and other cured, processed and smoked meats should be part of contemporary Paleo Diets on a daily basis (1-3). Surprisingly, one of the contested elements that charismatic bloggers advocate…
Dr Cordain Answers a Reader’s Question About Egg White Lysozyme
Hi Dr. Cordain, I read the lysozyme article and I am wondering if you could please indicate if egg white lysozyme is more readily bio-available raw or cooked? If egg whites are consumed by eating them raw or cooked, does the body actually have the ability to put it into bloodstream and utilize the lysozyme? In other words – what is the big deal if a human cannot even utilize it if it is digested and broken up or if it cannot be absorbed if raw or cooked? How would evolution have made lysozyme more available – cooking, selection of…
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…
Dr. Cordain Responds to Critics of a Recent Paleo Diet Study
[Part One in our Series on Why the Paleo Diet is a Nutrient Dense Diet] In April, news of a recent two-year study exploring the effects of a Paleo diet on postmenopausal women was presented at the 2016 Endocrine Society Annual Meeting. Soon afterwards, an article hit the web detailing the positive results, but quickly shifted its focus to interviews with members of the nutrition community who focused more on their issues with the diet. In this part 1 of our Nutrient Density Series Dr Cordain addresses these critiques and shows that when you just delve a little deeper into…
Loren Cordain, Ph.D discusses Paleo on “That Paleo Diet Show”
Loren Cordain, Ph.D. joins Brett on That Paleo Show to discuss the latest developments in Paleo and to clarify some common misconceptions. Stream the podcast below and visit That Paleo Show for more information. Check back soon for Mark Smith’s That Paleo Show podcast soon!
Quinoa and Saponins: Dr. Cordain Responds to a Reader’s Question
Some people following the Paleo diet eat quinoa and other pseudo-grains as grain alternatives based on the encouragement of others in the nutrition community who tout quinoa as a “super-food.” Dr Cordain answers a reader’s question about why the high saponin content of quinoa can cause digestive issues and why we should be careful about reading too much into any single study. Dave Chiasson on August 24, 2016 wrote: I just read this: “What the Science Says Emerging research appears to contradict the idea that saponins from quinoa cause inflammation. Researchers examined the inflammatory effect of saponins from quinoa. Contrary…
Is Sugar Addictive?
Sugar is likely the most over consumed substance in the modern world 1 On top of our endless addiction to soda (sugar water essentially) – sugar is surreptitiously added to nearly every processed food.2 As a result, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) now reports that the average American ingests 150-170 pounds of sugar per year.3 This overconsumption of sugar may very well be killing us. As I’ve previously written, sugar is the precursor and the ‘canary in the coalmine’ – to numerous diseases and unhealthy conditions. Diabetes? Check.4 Obesity? Check.5 Even Alzheimer’s has been directly linked to too…
Revisiting Sea Salt: Dr. Cordain Responds to a Reader’s Comment
As the Paleo movement has grown, many within the community have broadened the original template to include other ingredients that we at ThePaleoDiet.com do not feel should be included as a Paleo staple. This is not to say that these additions should never be consumed, we have always agreed, that for most people, non-Paleo foods can be included in a healthy diet with an 85:15, Paleo:non-Paleo ratio. But even if an ingredient can be argued as natural, one should still assess the likely availability, and hence its evolutionary influence upon humans, while also examining the current scientific literature with respect…
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