Want to avoid your risk of dementia holistically? Besidescontrolling your weight, blood pressure, cholesterol, blood sugarsand decreasing your intake of inflammatory foods, what else can youdo?Dancing has been shown to have numerous health benefits inv…

Dave

Dr. Corrdain does not really address coconut in his book. It is just listed under “bad oils.” I just recently started reading the blog and listening to the podcasts. I was looking for the definitive reasons or some sources why coconut is beneficial. Dr. Corrdain suggests avoiding SFA. I did some quick literature research. I found some benefits in immune health and blood lipids. I was just wondering if you could address why you are pro coconut? Do you have a suggestion for adding it into my diet?

Hope the holidays treated you well. If it makes you feel any better I am pissed that I outweigh you by 40-50 lbs yet you can outlift me. I have to say that I am a bit stumped also, I thought that CFFB would be great for hockey. More strength, speed and power what every hockey player (contact sport athlete wants). However, for some reason with me as I lost my metcon I seemed to lose some on ice performance. I do recall feeling better on the ice previous to the CFFB with just mainsite WODs. That has not been the case since September though. I think I am going to WAM paleo (a la 42 ways to skin the zone)to see what I am eating and try to drop some weight that way. I am also thinking about reducing my volume somewhat (was .com 5 on 2 off)maybe MEBB 3X per week with once additional metcon with no workout on days I am on the ice and we’ll see what happens. Thanks for all the advice and the great podcasts.

Scott

I have noticed on subsequent shows outside of the fish oil, D3 and magnesium you guys have also been mentioning Zinc as another supplement to look at in the leaning out process.

What is the dosage on the zinc that you guys recommend?

Thanks.

Respectfully,
Steven

I look forward very much to reading your books, I plan on getting both, even if it means for the second one I need to study.

I’ll be posting a review shortly on iTunes, because you deserve it.

Some comments:

Don’t pounce on your keyboard. Learn to tap keys lightly while you are recording.

Try not to move your head so much that it changes the sound quality – if you are using a stand alone mic, I suggest changing to a headset and using a push to talk button to remove all the background noise (as a gamer I can tell you this is much, much nicer than a hot mic).

Try to not use as many technical terms. While I understand why you do (it is very technical stuff) at least explain what the term you are using means, or post a reference in the podcast reference notes. The only thing I ever learned from L. Ron Hubbard (scary I know that I actually read Dianetics) was that people skip blindly by words they don’t understand and this is bad for true comprehension. You are doing the community that listens to you a disservice if they can’t understand what you are saying as the complete communication loop is severed when a word such as “ecanosoids” pops up in the conversation and people don’t know what those are. I think it would help immensely!

Not sure what your background on the subject is but a podcast addressing the gut-mind link would be interesting, especially concerning autism.

Thanks !

Robb,
Is there an online resource where we newbies in our garages can find the nutrition packet that you send to new clients before they begin their Onramp?

Thanks for giving us the benefit of your expertise. You’re a treasure.

Ciao,

Charles

Happy Holidays!

This was a very interesting segment of the podcast. I’m curious about the high class headache of putting on too much muscle from the female perspective, for someone who can’t get too bulky because the main non-crossfit sport is dance, gymnastics, or similar, where power and agility and bursts of speed are important and keeping in a “weight class” (of sorts) is important as well.

I’m wondering if too many CF main page style metcons, or if an unweighed and unmeasured approach could potentially overbuild this category of female athlete. If dropping the dairy doesn’t keep growth in check, what could be done with the training or feeding? I’m curious about trying the MEBB approach.

Also for the female athletes out there…a non-hormonal IUD is THE way to go for contraception. Don’t want to mess with those synthetic hormones because they wreak total havoc in the body!

Cheers

Happy Holidays!!

I’d honestly prefer to see you follow somehtign like CFFB and then do a day of on-ice suicides or similar conditioning. Again thoguh, i think i;d need to see more to offer more.

Jason Seib
CrossFit Clackamas

Just wanted to say, as a guy who has ALWAYS struggled with nutrition, this podcast has been a godsend. I subscribed just a few weeks back and picked up all the episodes and have been slowly but surely making my way through them. just over two weeks ago i buckled down and began tracking my food and putting sincere effort into getting my weight and nutrition under control (at 31, i’m 5’8″ and 265 lbs – and that’s after losing 20 plus lbs.) i do crossfit at a box, 4-5 times a week for about 7 months now, and though weight loss hasn’t been my primary concern, it became glaringly obvious I just wouldn’t make much progress on many things we do without simply dropping some lbs. well, in the two weeks, i’ve dropped 10 lbs! here’s the kicker: i’ve been using your podcast as a tool to help keep me on track. on the way to and from work and to and from the gym i listen to the podcast, and i’ve found it helps keep me really focused on nutrition and less concerned about eating the gnarliest thing i can find (food addiction is as bad as any out there!) It’s keeping nutrition at the forefront of my mind, reminding me of the what, why and how of what i’m trying to do, and teaching me to boot. i say all that just to say it’s an incredible resource, greatly appreciated and i sincerely hope you continue to make it available.

cheers and happy holidays!

Hope all is well with you…In conversation with my mom over the kitchen counter we got to talking about artificial sweetener and insulin spike. Do you address it in one of the podcasts or where can I get a bit of info on it? Also, my mom was telling me about a natural sweetener that she grows in her garden called stevia. The leaves are sweet, and evidently its marketed as well (Truvia)…I would assume it produces the same response??? Thanks!

Thanks for tackling my question about gaining strength without size. You mentioned Glen Cordoza and his training, does he more or less use his fight training for Metcon? Metcon is my weakness so if I decrease my volume by cutting mainsite WOD’s I think that my metcon will suffer. I am not on the ice enough to maintain it, so I have to rely on my workouts. I think that one of the problems I had with CFFB was the shorter metcon workouts decreased my capacity, while increasing my strength. I don’t think that fatigue was a factor in my feeling slugish either as I did taper prior to competition. Was off CFFB for a month prior, doing reduced volume mainsite WOD’s. Strength isn’t my main priority as I feel my strength is OK, can always use more though (1032lb CF total @215BW), however I would like to increase my power ie. oly lifts.

My problem is I like CrossFit style workouts for metcon, however if the volume and intensity are causing size gain where can I get my metcon? 1-2 CFE workouts a week? Reduce CrossFit metcon to 1-2X per week? Any ideas would be appreciated.

The podcasts are great. You and Andy have a great Christmas season.
Scott

Here is a podcast with the every interesting Brian Peskin that I thought you might like to hear if you haven’t already.

http://www.thelivinlowcarbshow.com/shownotes/1346/professor-brian-peskin-tells-the-hidden-story-of-cancer-episode-316/#comments

I know several people have commented regarding his video’s demonizing fish oil.

Happy Holidays!

My dad was interested in learning more about the Paleo Diet, so he downloaded The Paleo Solution Episode 1. I started to listen to it with him, but we soon realized it assumed a basic knowledge of the how and why of the diet, of which he knows nothing. (PWO nutrition is far down the road for him.) Is there a particular episode or part of an episode meant for the Paleo newbie? If not, is there an article or book (Cordain’s?) or other source you recommend to get started?

Thanks!

P.S. I was visiting an out-of-town CF affiliate today, and I would guess that as many people as there are that have shown support through online comments after the BBSBS (new word?), there are even more out there that continue to go about their business silently but know that you are in the right.

P.P.S. Sorry if my question has already been answered.

Just wanted to wish you and your family a very happy holiday and new year. You’ve given so much to this community and you’ve completely changed my outlook on what I put into my body. It’s gotten so bad that I die a little inside when I see my 10month of old niece eating breads!

Keep fighting the good fight and keep the podcasts coming, I look forward to them every week! OH and I can’t wait for the book.

Background: I’ve only switched my diet in the last 4 weeks (bad cholesterol ratios were my motivation) so I’m still in the midst of acclimating, etc. I’m shooting for ~30g of carbs a day, 175g of protein (I weigh ~175), but I’m not WAM (except for carbs), just keeping a dairy and making sure I’m in the ballpark. I’m about 22% body fat right now, so I look forward to that changing as a side effect of improving my cholesterol ratios (I retest in 4 weeks, that is, 8 weeks into this process).

Thanks again for the great podcast.

You tend to speak highly about the use of coconut as a fat source, but it seems like coconut is a rather exotic food from an evolutionary standpoint. It probably was not widely consumed until neolithic times and even then was probably available to only a small group of humans. Just because we haven’t eaten it for hundreds of thousands of years does not mean it is bad for us, but I was wondering if you have any thoughts on the matter.

Your line aout the WAM makes me chuckle and think back to the BBS. I had just described Glen Cordoza, our IFC lightweight MMA champ who weight 175 lbs, C&J’s 275-290, Snatches 225, turns a 470 LEGIT Fight Gone bad…brown belt BJJ, A level Thai game…I said glen was eating an unweighed, unmeasured Paleo gig, protein + Carbs PWO etc. I said he had been setitng PR’s monthsly on this program of fight training, OL’ng and gymnastics. Russel Berger raised his hand and asked “Why don;t you weigh and measure so he gets better performance?” I just looked at Russel, mouth agape and finally asked “What EXACTLY W would YOU change to “imporve” Glen’s performance?” “At present it seems to be working VERY well and frankly I have no idea where I would take it to improve it” I think I said somehting about Numerology in closing. Funny to remember. Now.

If Mat Lalonde reads this he is likely to have an aneurism.

My condolences…what a loss.

if a female supplements with 150mg iodine/day for menstrual cycles – how long should she give it before concluding its not the thyroid issue? three weeks? 2months?

thanks for all the podcasts! will be re-listening during holiday transit. hope you have some planned downtime for the holidays!

I have to say I’m glad I went to you seminar in Atlanta and I’ve been loving the change!! I’ll send you more information on my progress but just in case you don’t have it here is an awesome article on “new” information on gluten enjoy.

ankit

Thought I would check in with you about a small change I made (that you suggested) that might help some of your female readers.

I cut down–way down on fruit. That is it. I replaced the fruit breakfasts with a huge salad with protein or roasted vegetables. Still haven’t eaten an egg though will have eggs on xmas morning and will see how I feel.

I think as a transition step–having fruit is great–but for me–tweaking my diet after eating whole unprocessed foods for years–really worked. I also know it is something I can sustain. And if occasionally I have fruit–fine! But before I was eating 4 apples or a bowl of watermelon for breakfast –no wonder I was sleepy!

Yesterday we experimented with making kimchi– I don’t know your thoughts on it but in my experiment of one:) I am psyched I have something new to add to the menu.

You rock Robb. Thanks again. Come to the Bay Area!!!

long -time reader here from Australia.

Sadly, a good friend of mine lost his battle with depression last friday, and took his own life. This made me do some research on the ways that he had been treating his depression. I knew that he connected a lot of it with his diet, but I only recently found this site:

http://mindd.org

have you come across this organisation, or the use of Paleo food in treating metabolic, immunologic, neurologic, digestive disorders that often affect the mind? I know you talk about autoimmune disease, but this seems a little different. I also know they don’t explicitly recommend Paleo, but they’re almost there..

Reference: The Anti-Inflamation Zone p. 77 section titled “Buyer Beware: Fish Oil Contamination”

second paragraph “Fish are simply at the end of the food chain in the ocean. The bigger the fish, the more toxins it contains (remember, tuna is a pretty big fish even though the size of the tuna can is small). Since these contaminants are fat soluble, they all end up in the fish oil.”

You probably have the book or can check it out at the library but it talks all about it from p. 77-85. In black and white.

Jay

I recently switched over to eating eggs as a main source of my protein throughout the day, because they’re a cheap source. I often eat more than 20 eggs a day, and I was just wondering if all that cholesterol would have a negative effect in any way (inflammation maybe?) I usually try to go for the Omega 3 enriched ones, and am on a generally low carb (6-10 blks) paleo diet. Any input would be awesome.

You aren’t implying that everyone should try things out on their own and then make a logical decision on whether or not it is good for them are you? Thats some type of nerve you’ve got. Don’t you know the party line is WAM. Never mind those first lines of Fitness in 100 words(the paleo sounding part). WAM baby, WAM!

BTW, have you seen these vids. Paleo in a NutShell http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCFZoqmKf5M

Otherwise, keep up the awesome work – thanks for all the great info!

Thanks very much and keep those podcasts coming!

http://www.zonediet.com/tabId/130/itemId/743/44-cents-more-per-day-for-peace-of-mind.aspx

Could you recommend some reading from Pavel Tsatsouline that coincides with what you were talking about in episode 7.

Thanks for everything you do Robb.

I know I have bugged you about this before (sorry!), but are you going to comment more on your stance with cod liver oil? Possibly in the supplement podcast? I know you have stated that the Vit A inhibits the Vit D, but is this just in general or is it due to the fact that standard cod liver oil has such a high ratio of Vit A: Vit D. The top of the line brands seem to have a better ratio (Less A, More D). Does Cordain have any papers on this topic? I cannot seem to track them down, as I have been looking for more info on the subject since you told me about your dinner with Cordain, when we met at the seminar in Toronto.

Here is some commentary from Chris Masterjohn on the possible interference Vit A might have on Vit D.

http://www.westonaprice.org/Vitamin-A-On-Trial-Does-Vitamin-A-Cause-Osteoporosis.html#appendix2

This is a paper that Cordain has cited but I am unable to read the full text.

http://www.annals.com/toc/auto_abstract.php?id=15313

I personally don’t take cod liver oil. I crush fish oil & Vit D seperately, it is just a topic that I find interesting and the knowledge seems useful for folks who are currently taking Cod liver oil. Thanks again Robb!

Thanks again for another great podcast. Really good stuff.

Two random questions I had: 1) Can you dumb down the topic of autoimmune issues? Particularly as it relates to inflammation? I’d love to see you dig deeper into this toppic. 2) What do you eat on a daily/weekly basis? Are you a simplistic “repeat” kinda person or do you like to make yourself fancy paleo meals?

Thanks again. Keep it up!

Do you have any thoughts on the therapeutic use of probiotics? I’ve eliminated dairy (I was down to high protein greek yogurt) and am considering adding back in a powdered probiotic for the immunity boosting and digestive benefits. But I’m hesitant to spend the money and energy if it’s not that beneficial.

Thanks!

Rachel

I attended your Nutrition Cert in Edmonton ALberta, thoroughly enjoyed your and Cert and enjoy listening to your podcast. I was wondering if your thoughts on Green Smoothies, I recently added them to my diet, and have noticed some interesting things. Coffee cravings have withered substantially and typically I try to have one with a good protien source, but on the odd occasion when I don’t grab some protien, I am amazed how long I can go without hunger being as there is so little calories in the smoothie. The just of the smoothie is that your body can absorb the nutrient easier from the greens. A typical smoothie (that I make) is a cup of blueberries (frozen organic), a couple of good handfuls (pretty much stuff a blender full) of spinich, Kale, Romain (one of these), a couple of tea spoons of Olive oil, and water. So basically very Paleo, except protien.

Your thought on getting carbs this way, and any thought on your body taking advantage of the greens better after blending?

Thanks and keep up the excellent work, can’t wait for your book!!

http://www.zonediet.com/tabid/130/itemid/738/How-fish-oil-is-rated.aspx

“Unfortunately, all fish oils are inherently contaminated with toxins. These toxins significantly degrade the tremendous health benefits of the long-chain omega-3 fatty acids in the fish oil. For years, the supplement industry assumed that the consumer was not sophisticated enough to ask the probing questions concerning the quality of a finished fish oil product. Fortunately, this has all changed with the introduction of the International Fish Oil Standards (IFOS) 5-Star Testing Program.”

…

“Of all the toxins in fish oil, mercury may be the easiest to remove. This is why the IFOS program does not award a star for lowered mercury levels. However, the IFOS testing equipment can measure mercury levels to a much lower concentration than is generally reported by health-food grade fish oil producer. Any fish oil that contains more than 10 ppb of mercury should be considered unfit for human consumption.”

What I’d liek to see is his commentary on why we are seeing so much alleviation of autoimmune issues with grain free diets and what other theory besides evolutionary medicine preducts this? And liek I always say, tinker with stuff, see what works.

Would you comment on the article Mercader J. Mozambican grass seed consumption during the middle stone age. Science. (2009) 326(5960):1680-3. in a future podcast? It’s referenced on this blog post at bodyrecomposition.com

http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/research-review/static-stretching-and-refined-grain-intake-by-paleo-man-research-review.html

Thanks very much for all your hard work with the podcasts; they’re great!

Mike

Is there any ways that this might be affected by my diet? or anything specific in terms of supplements or deficiencies that might be a factor? I am quite on point with my Paleo.

ps. love the podcast, and I have been following all the goings on in regards to HQ and I am very sorry about how it has all played out.

Here’s new article by Lyle McDonald that looks at research on ancestral diets. Any comments?

http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/research-review/static-stretching-and-refined-grain-intake-by-paleo-man-research-review.html

I would love to see a podcast on common counter arguments to paleo nutrition (similar to Crodains article, but more in depth) and good rebuttals (so I can lay the verbal smack down on the nasysayers).

In other words, as a trainer, when we recommend this type of nutrition and the client says “well, my doctor says…”, what are some of these common worries? And what should the appropriate response be? Im sure you have many different examples of this from your clinical experience.

Question for a quick response on the blog or podcast. I’m getting killed on fish oil costs (about $100/month from Zone Labs). I have nothing against them but then I heard you mention in one of your previous podcasts that mercury (which Sears touts as the reason his is so awesome) really isn’t an issue in fish oil. Any brand good to go or should I stick with the high quality stuff?

Jay

Robb – as always, fracking good stuff.

Hope you and the lovely Nicki have an absolutely fantastic Christmas, and a 2010 that brings: 1.) your book to publication (woo-hoo!), 2.) more success for NorCal S&C, 3.) nothing but good, positive stuff for you and Nicki!

Thanks for answering my last question.

I just got some krill oil, epa/dha levels are about 1/2 normal fish oil. Thoughts on this? Is it indeed “48x more potent”?

Happy Holiday, best to you and Nicki!

-John

One thing that might help on the podcast is to mention specifically how people can submit questions to be answered, I think most of us are very familiar with your website but as your podcast grows making that clear might help get a wider variety of questions for people that just happen across it on iTunes.

Keep up the great work, can’t wait for the intro music!

Ian

Alzheimer’s & Type 3:

I saw one of your seminar videos where you talked about the Alzheimer’s being Type 3 diabetes. Can you touch on that in one of your podcasts? A couple reasons for my question. From the heriditary standpoint, my father comes from a family of 9 kids – 3 of which have been diagnosed (Dad being one) another sibling we suspect has Alzheimer’s. So my obvious concern is to do whatever I can to minimize my chance of getting it. And is there something that can/should be done to help my Dad (he was diagnosed 2 years ago).

“Recommended” Carb consumption in the elderly:

I’ve been “working” on my mother and trying to get her to make dietary changes. Discussed Zone with her. Discussed Paleo with her. Her rebuttal has been/continues to be was doctor recommendations that the elderly need to consume carbs by way of grains etc. Can you shed any light on why this is the recommendation? What is the appropriate rebuttal?

Thanks – I am loving your podcast!!!! To bad it has a “inappropriate” rating that’s blocking it from my work network. Good thing for the ol’ wireless aircard! Wouldn’t want work to get in the way of nutritional education! LOL

Best thing to do is have your levels tested then determine if you need to supplement. At the levels of vitamin D I see people suggest I wouldn’t be worried about hitting a toxic level. The key is test and supplement, test again after a month.

Love your podcasts – I’m always eagerly awaiting the next one to see what topics you’ll be discussing.

So, here’s what I’m wondering about and hope you can shed some light on it. How much damage, what type of damage is done when I go off paleo for a week or two – say due to family vacations / celebrations/ travel, etc. where I am unable to observe my usual paleo method (vegetarian paleo) of eating? While I eat as much vegetables and good fat as I can, there’s a good amount of rice and flatbreads (typical Indian food and what’s considered “normal” Indian food in my family) on the menu. When I switch back to paleo, how long does it take for the body to return to the steady state it was before? How bad will the detox period be? I’m mentally prepared for it and WILL be reverting to paleo from Jan 2nd onwards.

Thanks!
Anu