Any recommendations for finding a good bcaa supplement? Is the 2:1:1 ratio the most important factor?

Scivations Xtend seems legite, do you think its good to go?
http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/sv/xtend.html

Pre-ordered your book at amazon!

http://www.endo.gr/cgi/content/abstract/354/26/2783
“More than adequate or excessive iodine intake may lead to hypothyroidism and autoimmune thyroiditis.”

And this
http://www.eymj.org/search.php?where=aview&id=58988&code=0069YMJ&vmode=AR
“In conclusion, 78.3% of patients with hypothyroidism due to Hashimoto’s thyroiditis regained an euthyroid state iodine restriction alone.”

I added kelp tabs when I got diagnosed last year – think I’ll drop them for a while.

I’ve thought about the veggies, so far I’ve minimised the broccoli etc. Maybe I’ll try cutting them completely for a bit.

I will talk to my doctor about the heavy metals – he mentioned testing for those.

I asked the digestive enzyme question in episode #28. I thought I should give you an update. I have been on the NOW FOOD super enzymes for a little over two months. I started at 5 pills with each meal and have since dropped down to 4 pills. In the process I have put on 5lbs of lean mass and have been setting PR’s in almost everything that I do. I recently had a fitness evaluation done and had my body fat checked with a bod-pod. I am running at 7.2% body fat at 190lbs (last time I was approx 9% @ 185lbs). Also, I received an invitation to compete in the Southeast Regional next week. So that will be the true test if this has helped my performance.

Thanks for all you do!

I am one of your very few listeners (since episode one, located in Australia and China).

Am looking forward to your book, as:

1. I like you personal anecdotes and “Northern California (Chico) type guy” approach – as will many others and to have them in a book mixed with science will be great

2. Your book promises to be a good mixture of science and exercise, from a perspective that is different from, but very practically adds to, Taubes, Cordain, Voleck, Veech, McGruff, Eades, De Vany, Sisson, Briffa, Nora G etc.

3. I keep on listening because: you seem to know your biochem; your thinking is rooted in RCT results, which bear out when checked; you remember and acknowledge the literature; have practical clinical/training experience; and yet you have practical advice. This differentiates you from many in the trainer and medical community.

4. You can very easily develop a niche in much of the Western world – not just in the USA, but also in smaller, but similar, markets such as the UK, NZ and Australia – I will buy your book – I hope you have a broader marketing plan.

5. Need to think about how in the medium term to develop your work in China and India, both of which increasingly have a bunch of middle class folks with all of the neolithic issues arising from recent changes in diet. The very interesting thing about your stuff is that it not only works amongst a small aging sample such as the USA (including Chico), but also potentially in seriously large populations such as India and China.

Have you thought about a China edition of your book and blog?

———-

Bingo.. there is a lot of bitterness over at his forum. So much negativity. I used to hang out there but got tired of him belittling people and calling anyone a “paleotard” who didn’t believe him/Aragon regarding carbohydrates etc. I never even posted on the particular topic over there, but saw numerous threads dedicated to mocking everything Taubes and others wrote about calories in = calories etc. The dogma was just so incredibly entrenched that if you even expressed interest in understanding what GC BC had to say you were jumped on.

Who needs that crap in their life? Much happier lurking around here, panu, hyperlipid etc. Although all this cross-fit jargon bemuses me, coming from a bodybuilder mindset. WOD this, Met-Con that he he (that’s another thing constantly mocked over there) either way, I feel like I must be a rare thing around here – a paleo-eater following a bodybuilding training routine with little regard for all the other crossfit stuff that seems to go along with paleo eating.. But I feel and look so much better eating like this that I’m never going to go back to a high carb/flour/wheat/gluten/sugar based diet even if all that insulin is great for stimulating anabolism.

I have a question about heavy metal allergies. A client was informed by her doctor that she has a nickel allergy, because of this she not only has to avoid certain jewelry (Not my problem) but also some super healthy foods like Salmon, ShellFish, Sweet Potatoes, carrots, broccoli, etc.

Common sense says: “Ok, we can do this” It wasn’t until the doctor recommended she increase her white bread intake (!!!).

My Question is can we expect to see her return to normal foods after an extended time on the Paleo diet? Also, is there anyway to speed the process along (Supplementation)?

While I am going to track my weight, performance, measurements, and generally how I feel, I thought it would be good to check how stuff is doing on the inside, so I booked a check-up with my PCP for June 16 (the earliest he had). In listening to you and others, I am going to request a Vitamin-D profile, Hb1Ac, C-reactive protein, and an LDL density profile. I don’t know if he’ll run all that but if it ends up working out, am I missing anything else that would be helpful to see? Since I will be full-on Paleo for only 10 days when I go, I’m planning on doing a follow-up in September to see how much things change. I’m sorry, I know you have covered this before. As always, thanks for doing what you do!
-Mark

I’m just about through the Taubes book. Can you or anyone else comment on which bits you think he got wrong?

Interesting and good read!

Thanks,

Steve

Went to the doctor as it’s now visibly enlarged (it wasn’t 2 months ago). Thyroid anti-bodies still at pretty much the same levels. TSH rising further – now 13mIU/L (was 11 in March) ideal, 0.3 – 4.0.

Free T3 and T4 in low normal range, so no other physical symptoms as yet.

Here’s my take on this – I’ve probably had high anti-bodies for many years, but only now (at 50) is my thyroid wearing out, maybe too much damage?.

Given eating paleo has cured every other niggling issue – I know that it is working for my body, I’ve now been doing it for a year and none of the issues I had that used to come and go on the Zone have reappeared.
All my other blood tests by the way are perfect, B12 , folic acid right at top end, CRP lowest possible, DHEA & cortisol all good etc.

I’d love to know if there is anything else I can do? I’m seeing the specialist soon and I guess they’ll do a scan.

You often discuss the fact that fructose preferentially fills liver glycogen and glucose preferentially fills muscle glycogen, prompting you to suggest that a glycogen dependent athlete eat some yams or sweet potatoes in the post workout window as opposed to fruit. I have implemented this in my training as a basketball player and I have seen great results, but I was wondering what effect sucrose has on liver/muscle glycogen stores in the post workout window?

-Ben

As for the cod liver oil discussion, you made a statement about the fact that our ancestors probably got most of their vitamin A from beta-carotene and not retinol. As we all know (and you mentionned it), liver is a great source of retinol (Vit A). It seems to me that hunter gatherers would have eaten liver on a regular basis which means that the bulk of their vitamin A would come from retinol. It’s basicly a ”natural multivitamins”. On what facts does Cordain base his opinion ? Would you happen to have a reference too?

It does not seems right to me.

Thanks again, and keep up the good work.

JP

What else do you suggest might be at work? Total calories, too few or too many? Macronutrient ratio? Mineral deficiency? or just an idiopathic SOL situation?

Thanks so much for taking my question (fasted training and cortisol). Your explanation of the cortisol mechanism was excellent. Seems like the primary take-away is to focus on more sleep. It’s funny, I’m willing to work hard in the gym and stay pretty strict with nutrition, but when it comes to sleep it’s easy to be lazy (which I find to be more than a little ironic). But I’m going to give it a shot for 30 days, in bed by 9, hopefully it sticks.

Interesting you mentioned MEBB too, because our gym has started to take a look at some of the alternative programming methods, specifically OPT’s stuff. Looks good and I look forward to its implementation (especially more strength training… gotta do something about these T-Rex arms).

Also, don’t know if you saw it already, but Martin Berkhan posted a protocol for early morning fasted training http://leangains.blogspot.com/2010/05/early-morning-fasted-training.html Basically, 10g BCAAs Pre-WO and then 10g every other hour until the first meal. I’ve got a 9 week supply of BCAAs, so I’ll give it a try for that long and see how it goes. My only concern is the insulinogenic effect of liquid protein, but Martin addresses that, saying high-intensity work causes increased insulin sensitivity Post-WO, mitigating the insulin-spiking nature of protein shakes (in these small amounts). Thoughts?

Thanks again for your answer and for all your work sharing your knowledge. I look forward to the book… especially if you can work “Hungry Like the Wolf” in there. Cover Art idea: http://www.everythingwolf.com/shop/productimages/howling.jpg

Robb-

Do you recommend the NOW foods super enzymes to someone who is not really pursuing mass gain but only better digestion? To those who want to get started on the NOW foods super enzyme, how many should be taken a day? One with every meal? Two? BTW – I’m confused as to what is this ‘warm’ feeling talked about in the podcast…

Again, awesome podcast. Always serves as a nice break from the books to hear more about ‘psuedo-science’!

Omri

Give this a looksie, very insightful:
http://www.metabolicdiet.com/mdiet_tools.htm

Say somebody is eating a lower carb paleo, i.e. protein, fat, and veggies each meal, how many g carbs should one be aiming for after a more metabolic workout? (thinking BJJ here) I have been reading a lot on other sources such as Lyles who advocates up to 1.5g/bw carbs over a day (most PWO-so like 100g) which is a TON and overkill esp. if you consider getting this all from paleo food sources.

If goal is maintaining performance how many g/ carbs would a 180 pound body need to recover gycogen stores from longer met-con style workouts (or BJJ, boxing, MMA, etc)?

Also, do you have any take on Mcdonalds suggestions of “refeeds” to set on hormonal changes when people metabolisims start to slow fro dieting. These refeeds usually are to the bell of 300-500 carbs, 1g/bw, and under 50g fat in a 5 hour window, ontop of normal food consumption of that day. He also suggests this really helps maintain performance while cutting weight (low cal/carb day followed by “refeed day”)

Looking forward to thoughts!

http://www.staffanlindeberg.com/DiabetesStudy.html

http://www.springerlink.com/content/h7628r66r0552222

BTW another awesome podcast, and I think the “Hungry Like The Wolf” title is the tops!

My experience with clients is that when they go paleo (or even Zone) regular headaches simply disappear.

Here is an interesting link to a Gastroenterologist and pediatric doctor and allergy specialist – his studies show that 1 in 10 people react to gluten and it is measureable.
http://www.drrodneyford.com/

He is now advocating for a gluten free planet!
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Christchurch/Dr-Rodney-Ford-The-Food-Allergy-eClinic-Online-Specialist-Consultant/106086206087267?v=wall

You pretty much hit the nail on the head, as I’ve always been someone who overbooks my schedule, trains too hard, and tries to fit 25 hours of stuff in a 24 hour day. Eventually it catches up with me and I either crash for a day or 2, get sick, or end up getting hurt.
I’ve been getting much smarter with the training, switched to CFFB about 4x a week and been feeling awesome with that. Also been tailoring the volume a bit more based on my schedule with my day job and training clients at night, and how my sleep has been.
Now I just need to do better at leaving more free time in my schedule.

Thanks for your insights and for sharing your experience with the same isssues. Great podcast and enjoy Belize!

Thought you’d be interested in this ted talk, it is basically about “Can we eat to starve cancer?” and he looks at how they limit angiogenesis. The list all the food that they are looking at and the majority, with the exception of soybeans and a few others, are very paleo.

http://www.ted.com/talks/william_li.html

Just a question though, saying you go to the extreme in eating these “anti-angiogenesis” would it have any affect on the bodies ability to heal from both working out and cuts etc.

Thanks, Norm

I freaking LOVE the whole flat-earth analogy, I pull it out on select folks:
http://www.theflatearthsociety.org/

So make soup out of lettuce, celery..owt low carb and add..about 1000 cals worth of sat fat primarily.

Scoff that and am so stuffed i don’t eat til din-dins whence i eat and nicely lot of protein and some veggies as per usual.

Also seems to have increased strength much and though seldom weight myself el jeans are getting substantially looser.

More than one to skin…a carrot !

BTW, if you guys get a chance would you mind posting a link to the Lindberg (sp?) study that was alluded to in the podcast? Thanks! (I think I’m spelling his name wrong & therefore can’t track this study down).

Cheers for picking up on my question (Paleo Newbie) i have two of the book already mentioned so I might treat myself and get another. So from my birthday which was 8th of May I have been complete no paleo feel like s**t and get a nice bloted belly for show.
So ill be back in the game from next week (payday) and cant wait

Thanks Again

Danny

The Paleolithic Solution: Hungry Like the Wolf
-Norcalories, Strength and Conditioning

I will buy Robb’s new Paleo book, but only if it is entitled Hungry Like The Wolf.

Can you explain how the saturated fat component effects the body and if grain fed vs. grass fed saturated fat is different. (other than there just being more of it in grain fed animals). What about the other 2/3 of the saturated fat?

It would seem from an evolutionary standpoint that the fat from wild/grass fed animals would be our best source of fat period.
Obviously we did not process plants into oils back in the day, therefore plant fat sources were never consumed in large quantities.

jared

Question: Pretty much every “Greens” powdered food supplement I’ve come across contains both sources of grains (barley, oat, wheat grass) and soy, be it lecithin or soy sprout. What are your thoughts on these ingredients, even in trace amounts, and these products, overall?