In today’s show, host Lindsay Taylor talks to Shawn Mynar, NTP, a holistic nutritionist whom you might know as the host of the popular podcast The Keto For Women Show. Shawn is an expert on helping women heal and achieve optimal health through a ketogenic diet and supportive lifestyle modifications. While Shawn’s practice focuses on helping women navigate the world of keto, the information in today’s show will be relevant to everyone! Some of the topics they cover include:

Who benefits from keto? What are the various motivations of the women with whom Shawn works to go keto?

Tips for making the transition to keto as smooth as possible. How do we set ourselves up for success? Are there things that women in particular might want to consider?

Are there “rules” for keto that we should all be following? How do you achieve “food freedom” or metabolic flexibility?

When it is better to try to heal yourself before making any major dietary changes, versus using dietary changes to heal yourself?

Analysis paralysis is real! What can people do to get going even if they feel overwhelmed by the transition to keto?

How does Shawn help people find the optimal number of calories to eat, the correct macros for their specific needs, etc.? Intuitive eating is the ultimate goal, but how do we get there, especially for people who have a history of yoyo dieting or people whose metabolisms aren’t otherwise healthy to start?

How does Shawn help her clients develop a mindset that leads to success?

MORE ABOUT SHAWN:

Shawn Mynar is a holistic nutritionist based out of Boulder, CO. After years of chronic health issues, Shawn was able to regain complete health by changing the food she puts on her plate, the lifestyle choices she makes, and the mindset she brings to daily life. She now has made it her life’s mission to help others understand and implement the power of using food as medicine, specifically with a high-fat, low-carb approach. She has an online holistic nutrition practice specializing in women’s health, autoimmune disease, hormonal imbalances, and gut health. She also teaches a group class, The Fat Burning Female Project, that takes women through the process of becoming keto-adapted with a safe, effective approach. Shawn shares her knowledge and experiences with the masses on her website shawnmynar.com.

Most people learn about ancestral health through books and blogs, which makes sense—Primal folks tend to be big readers, and the complexity and depth and constant evolution of the knowledge almost requires the written word for proper transmission. But a well-produced, beautiful film with great content has a unique effect on viewers. The combination of video and audio are more convincing than prose to our lizard brains, making documentaries a great vehicle for the introduction of a radically new idea. Skilled creators in the paleo space have taken note, producing some excellent ancestral health documentaries.

(This Mark's Daily Apple article was written by Mark Sisson, and is narrated by Tina Leaman)

Elle Russ chats with Paul Robinson - fellow thyroid patient and author of Recovering With T3: My Journey from Hypothyroidism to Good Health Using the T3 Thyroid Hormone. Paul became ill with hypothyroidism just before the age of 30. He is 60 this year (2018) and has accumulated a wealth of knowledge on thyroid and adrenal dysfunction.  His scientific background enabled him to fight through the morass of misinformation and recover his health. Paul, was put on the most common thyroid treatment to begin with  - Levothyroxine (also known as Synthroid or T4). However, the majority of his symptoms remained, much like they do for many on T4-only therapy. Over time he became even more ill, with both low cortisol and low thyroid symptoms.

Paul saw many endocrinologists and doctors. Many of these were privately paid for, as he got more desperate and worried about losing his career. Eventually, he realized that he had to figure out what was wrong himself.  During this time he was told, "You will have to live with it", "You have Chronic Fatigue Syndrome", "You cannot have a thyroid issue, as your thyroid results are within range". All of these were nonsense! Paul eventually recovered. But the costs were great. Over a 10-year period, the struggle had cost him his career, and relationships were damaged.  Paul's own family doctor at the time was so impressed with the work he had done to get well - she suggested he write about it.

In the Recovering with T3 he describes how he recovered from thyroid and adrenal hormone issues. Paul did get well again, after he had been written-off by numerous medical professionals. In the process of getting well he developed a safe protocol for using the T3 thyroid hormone (Liothyronine). This protocol is explained in detail in the Recovering with T3.  In order to fully recover he developed an innovative approach that he details in his second book Circadian T3 Method (CT3M) which can correct adrenal function in many cases.

Paul has now been taking T3-Only (T3-monotherapy) for over 20 years now. He has has worked with thousands of thyroid and adrenal patients, via many Internet forums, and some one-on-one coaching sessions. He knows that every individual thyroid patient needs a solution that suits him or her. All the thyroid hormone treatments have a role.  With good clinical judgment, and all the available thyroid treatments, there is no reason for anyone to continue without symptom relief.

Paul continues to be active as an advocate for thyroid patients through his website: http://recoveringwitht3.com. He also has a Facebook page where he posts relevant information from time to time:https://www.facebook.com/recoveringwitht3

Google searches for this question have shot up in recent weeks. I’m not surprised. An unprecedented number of people went keto in January purely as a quick weight loss hack, and now they’re looking to transition off of “this weird diet.” Tortillas and bagels beckon, after all. This is the wrong way to approach keto—obviously. It’s not a quick hack. It isn’t magic, and if it were magic, the magic takes awhile to happen.

(This Mark's Daily Apple article was written by Mark Sisson, and is narrated by Tina Leaman)

Generally speaking, the basic Primal Blueprint for fitness and physical activity applies equally to men and women of all ages. Lifting heavy things works in everyone. Sprinting is a fantastic way—for anyone who’s able—to compress workouts and improve training efficiency. Improving one’s aerobic capacity through easy cardio doesn’t discriminate between the sexes. And everyone should walk, hike, garden, and perform as much low level physical activity as possible. These basic foundations—the 30,000 foot view of fitness—don’t really change across age or sex.

(This Mark's Daily Apple article was written by Mark Sisson, and is narrated by Tina Leaman)

Elle Russ chats with Arriane Alexander about putting yourself out there in the social media world through video! Arriane is a “rock your life coach” and has a Masters Degree in Spiritual Psychology. She helps entrepreneurs step into new possibilities so they can create a life and career they’ve always dreamed of. She spent over 12 years as a high level executive in the fashion business and walked away from that successful career to follow a heartfelt dream of succeeding in the entertainment industry and as a transformational Life Coach. Today, she works consistently as an Actor on TV shows like Justified, Grey’s Anatomy and The People vs O.J. Simpson. She is also the Host of two TV shows, and has booked numerous TV commercials. In other words, she has created the life of her dreams, and as a Rock Your Life coach for over a decade, she helps women do the same in a fun, inspired, and transformative way.  She works with clients all over the world –Entrepreneurs, Health and Fitness Experts, and Executives to help them overcome their fears, self-doubt and any other obstacles blocking their path, to create the foundation for their new life, and a journey to take them there.

Arriane’s Website
Arriane’s YouTube Videos
3 Free Videos

Host Brad Kearns talks about his month-long and still running experiment with increasing his overall caloric intake (and consequently allowing for an increase in carbohydrate intake). The experiment was inspired by his NourishBalanceThrive.com consultation with Dr. Tommy Wood, the content of which was presented on a previous Primal Endurance Podcast. Brad’s detailed NourishBalanceThrive test results suggested some deficiencies that might be righted with custom supplements as well as a superfood “green” smoothie.

Brad embarked on a grand experiment to significantly increase his overall food intake—of course focusing on highly nutritious foods with little or no empty calories. Brad reports an improvement in athletic performance and especially recover. He went all-in with this test, including indulging in fabulous Las Vegas buffets, occasional carb binges, and big-time green smoothies in the morning. The early results of the experiment pose an interesting question: could there be a different set of rules and decision-making processes for someone in the category of optimal body fat, good blood numbers, and ambitious athletic goals, versus someone with metabolic damage and/or wanting to reduce excess body fat? Brad and Dr. Lindsay will look into this matter with further research and self-experimentation (stay tuned for a future show where Lindsay varies fat intake up and down from daily expenditure level to track effects on blood ketones). 

Imagine money is no object. Imagine you wield absolute control over the scientific community and can direct it to run whichever study you desire. If you can dream it up, they’ll get the subjects, produce the money, and make it happen. All you need to come up with is the overarching design. What would you choose? What do you wonder? What questions do you want answered once and for all?

(This Mark's Daily Apple article was written by Mark Sisson, and is narrated by Tina Leaman)

Elle Russ chats with Lauren Lobley - author of The Accidental Paleo: Easy Vegetarian Recipes for a Paleo Lifestyle.  Lauren is a Canadian born-and-raised former pastry chef turned healthy chef. Together with her husband, Ted, and 22-month-old daughter, Madison Grace, they run and operate a yoga studio in Malibu, California, where Lauren provides the freshly baked vegan gluten-free granola, and Ted teaches the best class on this side of Malibu.

 After culinary school, she joined the ranks and worked her way up as head baker to celebrity chef and Food Network star, Duff Goldman, churning out thousands of cakes a week at his West Hollywood location. Realizing how terrible she felt by consuming so much gluten, dairy, and sugar, Lauren began recipe testing with one goal in mind: to make healthy food taste good. She blogged about her experience on her website, Delectable You, and began featuring her recipes both on that site and on her increasingly popular YouTube channel.

Keto is red hot these days, and it’s not going away anytime soon. Call it the latest dietary fad, but keep in mind a great insight Robb Wolf told Joe Rogan on his podcast: keto was “likely the default human metabolic state” over the past 2.5 million years of human evolution. Only with the extremely recent (on the evolutionary timeline) advent of civilization have we been stuffing our faces with carbs and snuffing out our magnificent ability to generate ketones as a clean-burning alternative fuel source to dietary carbohydrates. And we certainly were compelled to evolve a highly efficient mechanism to keep our high energy demand brains fueled with glucose or the glucose-like substitute of ketones at all times—for this was a matter of life or death in primal times. When our ancestors were starving, they needed to keep working hard, and concentrating hard, to find food!

(This Mark's Daily Apple article was written by Mark Sisson, and is narrated by Tina Leaman)

Megan Roberts (née Hall) is the Scientific Director of Nourish Balance Thrive. In September, 2017, she co-authored a paper that was published in the prestigious journal Cell Metabolism entitled A Ketogenic Diet Extends Longevity and Healthspan in Adult Mice that was widely commended in the scientific community. In this podcast, Megan sits down with host Lindsay Taylor to discuss her program of research and the most important and exciting findings from that study. They talk about the difference between lifespan and healthspan (hint: you want both) and the evidence for how a low-carb ketogenic diet can contribute to both.

Taking a step back, Megan gives a brief lesson in Research Methods 101: What are the benefits and limitations of non-human research (e.g., studies conducted on mice)? Where can we and where should we not extrapolate from this type of research to human interventions? What do we know and what do we not know at this point about the ketogenic diet? Finally, Megan tells us what advice she gives people who are interested in adopting a ketogenic lifestyle and why it doesn’t work to try to micromanage your diet.

As we move into a new era of health awareness, there’s more variety than ever available to us. Overall, this is a very good thing—the average Primal consumer now has far greater access to a wider range of organic, free range, pastured, GMO-free, wholesome foods and products.

(This Mark's Daily Apple article was written by Mark Sisson, and is narrated by Tina Leaman)

Elle Russ chats with Daniel Thomas Hind - the founder of EvolutionEat, a transformational weight loss and lifestyle coaching company designed to help overwhelmed individuals solve their eating, food and dieting problems. Over the past few years Daniel has specialized in helping busy executives and high performers become more productive at work and create more meaningful lives by prioritizing their health and overcoming unhealthy eating habits. And here’s the kicker...he’s figured out how to make the process fun, so that it lasts forever. Every week, tens of thousands of people read Daniel’s material to learn how to use psychology, mindset and healthy habits to live a more meaningful life.

If you think going Primal is restrictive, the autoimmune protocol is downright draconian. But this is by design. The entire point of an autoimmune Primal/paleo protocol is to eliminate all the foods with the potential to trigger any allergenic, autoimmune, or inflammatory responses. That leaves out a lot of delicious foods, many of your favorites—but it can be a powerful way to assess your sensitivities, target the root causes of mysterious health problems, and illuminate a path forward. It gets you back to square one. A fresh start, a wiped slate.

(This Mark's Daily Apple article was written by Mark Sisson, and is narrated by Tina Leaman)

In this episode, Lindsay Taylor sits down with Leanne Vogel, author of the popular book The Keto Diet and host of The Keto Diet Podcast. Listen in as Lindsay and Leanne chat about Leanne's journey from vegan blogger to becoming a respected leader in the ketogenic diet community, their personal philosophies about how to adopt a ketogenic diet and lifestyle in a healthy manner, and the stumbling blocks they see people--especially women--encounter along the way. Hear how Leanne used a ketogenic diet to reclaim her health after years of struggling with chronic health issues faced by many women today, and why she recommends a low-carb, high-fat approach for optimal health. Find Leanne at healthfulpursuit.com and on Instagram @healthfulpursuit. Connect with Lindsay via the Keto Reset Facebook group and on Instagram @theusefuldish. 

Elle Russ chats with Cavin Balaster about his experience sustaining a severe traumatic brain injury that left him comatose with less than a 10% chance of regaining consciousness beyond a vegetative state. Since waking up, he has devoted years to researching and connecting with doctors, professors, researchers, nutritionists, practitioners, and neuroscientists.  His book, How to Feed a Brain is the culmination of the nutritional tools that he has learned through this journey, presented as a user-friendly guide with handouts and web resources created to help anyone improve their brain function.

We have a problem. When discussing vitamin B9, common parlance is to use “folic acid” and “folate” interchangeably, as if the two are different terms for the same thing. Talk to most OB-GYNs about the type of vitamin B9 in your prenatal, and they’ll say the difference doesn’t matter. Look at the average nutrition label, and it’ll list folic acid rather than folate, even though it’s naturally occurring. They are not the same. The difference is meaningful. 

(This Mark's Daily Apple article was written by Mark Sisson, and is narrated by Tina Leaman)

Host Brad Kearns discusses this common and perhaps over-analyzed topic of the role carbs play in your keto journey. This show attempts to simplify the issue, giving you some important concepts to consider while allowing you the freedom and flexibility to follow a strategy that works best for you. Brad discusses whether mornings or evenings are better for carbs, where pre- and post-workout fueling fits in, and also what are the best carbs to consume and which you should always avoid.

Elle Russ chats with Keith and Michelle Norris - Keith is a former athlete, a military vet, and an elite strength and conditioning expert with over 35 years of experience.  His wife Michelle is a former corporate warrior and a trained chef.  Keith and Michelle are serial entrepreneurs who are best-known in the ancestral community as the founders of the largest Paleo conference in the world, Paleo f(x)™ .   As well, Keith is a partner in one of the most innovative lines of boutique training studios in the nation, Efficient Exercise.   He’s also a partner in ARXFit training equipment, and a founding member of ID Life. In his spare time, he authors one of the top fitness blogs in the health and wellness sphere, Theory To Practice. Michelle recently developed a new website dedicated to breaking the bonds of the obstacles that hold us back and keep our should from soaring called www.ZeroGravitySoul.com

With 6.1 million children in this country bearing a past or present ADHD diagnosis, it’s little wonder folks had a lot to say in the initial post I did on the subject a few months back.  For the most part, people were pumped to discover new potential therapies for themselves or loved ones, or at the very least to find validation in their own hunt for side effect free ADHD treatment. Others questioned the validity of certain alternative approaches, and still more posed questions about other treatments they’d heard about or were interested in.

(This Mark's Daily Apple article was written by Mark Sisson, and is narrated by Tina Leaman)

Host Brad Kearns offers some important tips to make your first foray into nutritional ketosis a success. As you may know, the complete Keto Reset journey entails a 21-Day Metabolism Reset, a fine-tuning period of morning fasting, followed by a minimum 6-week stint of nutritional ketosis. Regardless of your long-term keto strategy, completing a single Keto Reset journey and staying keto for at least six weeks affords you the highest level of metabolic flexibility, which you can leverage into long-term benefits. Even when well prepared, it can be tough to make it through the initial weeks of keto, since you are making such a dramatic transition from your lifelong #1 fuel source of glucose over to fat and ketones. Follow the guidelines offered in the show to make sure you succeed out of the gate and hang in to the magic six-week mark and perhaps beyond (since it gets super easy by then!)

I like intensity when I train. Lifting heavy, running sprints, playing Ultimate Frisbee. I keep it brief, and the foundation is always a lot of slow movement throughout the day—easy runs, long walks or hikes, rarely sitting—but I go hard when I “work out.”

What if you were to go slow, on purpose?

Entire schools of physical culture are founded upon slow, deliberate movements. They squash momentum and lambast rapidity. They’re difficult in a different way. They require patience and fortitude.

Take yoga.

(This Mark's Daily Apple article was written by Mark Sisson, and is narrated by Tina Leaman)

Elle Russ chats with Norm Robillard, Ph.D., Founder of the Digestive Health Institute and a leading gut health expert. He turned his own suffering from chronic acid reflux into a mission to create the drug and antibiotic free Fast Tract Diet for functional gastrointestinal disorders, small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) and related health conditions. The Fast Tract Diet was presented at the Digestive Disease Week in 2013 to provide an alternative treatment to gastroenterologists for SIBO related conditions which affect over 100 million people in the US alone. The diet has been endorsed by the New York Times Best Seller Co-author - Dr. Michael Eades, GI Surgeon - Dr. Alan Hu, many certified nutritionists and healthcare providers. Dr. Norm consults with people around the globe for their digestive and related health issues. You can download his free ebook here. 

For anyone who’s experienced it, the frustration can be miserable. The countless tossing and turning, the minutes that tick by (turning into hours), and you STILL haven’t gotten a modicum of decent sleep. No matter how hard you try to ignore it, that urge to constantly move or stretch your legs just won’t let up.

(This Mark's Daily Apple article was written by Mark Sisson, and is narrated by Tina Leaman)

Valter Longo is a leading fasting researcher. Since the early 2000s, he’s been one of the top guys running legitimate fasting studies in cancer patients, regular people, and, of course, rodents. He’s gotten great results, elucidating the idea that fasting causes human cells and tissues to enter “survival mode” which allowed them to survive the withering effects of cancer treatment. I’ve cited many of his studies in previous posts.

(This Mark's Daily Apple article was written by Mark Sisson, and is narrated by Tina Leaman)

Host Brad Kearns, leverages the previous show, by acknowledging that we don’t want to be orthorexic and uptight about dietary patterns and biofeedback numbers, but we also don’t want to exhibit a loosey-goosey, “Hey, everything in moderation” attitude where we make an excuse or rationalization for our frequent departures from ideal dietary and lifestyle patterns and from our stated goals. Living in a manner incongruent with your stated goals is a source of massive pain to the human psyche. For keto to work, you have to be methodical in your approach, patient with your progress, and precise at times when it comes to macronutrient intake and awareness of where you stand on the stated keto guidelines. However, it’s very possible to cultivate a precise approach without being uptight. This show will give you some good pointers to chill and succeed while you’re at it!

There are many reasons to be thankful for the cushy existence modernity affords us. War and other extenuating circumstances aside, you probably don’t fear for your life on a daily basis. You have clean water to drink. Food is widely available, and it’s affordable. You survived infancy, childhood, and adolescence, which is quite special on a historical scale.

(This Mark's Daily Apple article was written by Mark Sisson, and is narrated by Tina Leaman)

Last month, you asked a ton of great questions in the comment section of my post on reclaiming your wildness and being less civilized, covering everything from rock climbing to role playing games, grappling to kung fu, walking meditation to grounding. For today’s post, I’m answering as many of them as I can.

Let’s get right to the questions.

(This Mark's Daily Apple article was written by Mark Sisson, and is narrated by Tina Leaman)

Ah, chocolate. What a life.

According to the Aztecs, the great feathered serpent god of wisdom and creation known as Quetzalcoatl introduced the cocoa bean to mankind. It’s likelier that it originated in the Amazon rainforest and wound its way north to Mesoamerica, whose inhabitants figured out they could domesticate, ferment, roast, crush, and mix cocoa with water, chilies, and spices to produce a bitter, intoxicating drink. It then took a boat across the Atlantic, learning Spanish along the way. Europe wasn’t sure what to make of the bitterness until someone spilled a little sugar into the drink. Cocoa quickly swept across the continent, giving rise to large corporations that persist to this day, like Cadbury, Nestle, Hershey, and Lindt.

(This Mark's Daily Apple article was written by Mark Sisson, and is narrated by Tina Leaman)

Yes, there is such a thing as an overly analytical approach to keto and health and fitness goals in general, where you compromise your intuitive abilities and obsess too much on the details. The massive amount of information we are exposed to on a daily basis and can obtain with a few clicks can result in the disease of TMI—too much information! Host Brad Kearns talks about how to avoid the traps of an overly obsessive, overly analytical approach, instead focusing on the big picture items. For example, if you are precise about macronutrient intake guidelines but are skimping on sleep, you don’t pass Go nor collect $200. Instead, cultivate an intuitive approach and trust yourself as the world’s #1 expert on your own diet, fitness and lifestyle practices. Learn from experience and recalibrate without feeling too stressed or like you failed in a quest for perfection.

Elle Russ chats with Vanessa & Adam Lambert of Bee The Wellness - an innovative personal coaching company based in California. This couple has been living and working in the Paleo/Primal world for nearly 10 years now, helping to educate and empower clients on their personal journeys to optimal health. they have amazing and and some exotic bee the wellness retreats, and a lot of ways to support you on your health journey. welcome back...or...welcome home.

Selected Links:
Bee The Wellness Website
Bee - Fest 2018

Connect with Show Host Elle Russ:
Twitter
Instagram
Facebook
The Paleo Thyroid Solution
ElleRuss.com

Readers, especially those new to Primal eating, frequently request quick and easy ideas for ancestral cooking. While new recipes may be inspiring, sometimes expanding your kitchen repertoire doesn’t require whole new meals—but new flavors you can infuse into multiple recipes you’ve already mastered. More than just another ingredient to extend the cooking process, herbs and spices are quick, inexpensive additions that can literally transform just about any Primal meal. Parsley and cinnamon need no introduction, but how well acquainted are you with sumac and fenugreek? When was the last time you added lemon balm or Mexican oregano to a recipe?

(This Mark's Daily Apple article was written by Mark Sisson, and is narrated by Tina Leaman)

If you think of Type 2 diabetes as carbohydrate intolerance, the natural dietary response should be to restrict the offending dietary component. And when this occurs—when diabetic patients restrict carbs—their symptoms improve, often to a greater degree than diabetic patients on other diets. Keto restricts more carbs than even other low-carb diets, so on the face of things, keto seems great for diabetes. 

Let’s take a closer look.

(This Mark's Daily Apple article was written by Mark Sisson, and is narrated by Tina Leaman)

Co-hosts Brad Kearns and Dr. Lindsay Taylor welcome Dr. Cate Shanahan back for a second show where Cate discusses blood testing, fasting, meal timing, and how variation in meal patterns affects metabolic function. Cate proposes the compelling premise that “meal timing” is so important that it can be considered the “fourth macronutrient.” As you can read in the Keto Reset Diet, Cate’s view on carbohydrates is that when consumed in and around strenuous workouts, they will go right into the “open glycogen suitcases” and not disturb your fat loss or keto goals. Listen carefully at regular speed and get tons of juicy tidbits and “wow’s!” from Cate. Learn about the give and take between fasting/calorie restriction/autophagy and the anabolic effects of getting ample calories and nutrients. Learn about how to break through weight loss plateaus with anabolic periods (listen “Brad’s Experiment” show for more details)

Host Brad Kearns welcomes Kale Brock from a natural setting in Australia, amidst the noisy cicada beetles chirping in the background. Kale is on an awesome global adventure to discover the secrets of the gut microbiome, and has just released his wildly popular Australian book to the USA market, The Gut Healing Protocol: An 8-week holistic program to rebalance your microbiome. Kale offered up some memorable insights and quotes in this lively discussion, such as: "You can't make informed decisions until you're informed."

Kale's quest to understand the important role of the gut microbiome in all aspects of health took him to Namibia to film a documentary called, The Gut Movie, which has been playing to sold out audiences throughout Australia. In this show, they discuss the miraculous results of FMT treatments (aka poop transplants). Kale talks about how most everyone has an imbalanced microbiome caused by antibiotic use (at any point in your life!), or obtaining antibiotics in food (eat organic animal products!) or tap water. Yes, we are all messed up, but gut problems manifest in assorted different ways. "Genetics loads the gun, lifestyle pulls the trigger" (Kale quoting another health expert).

Kale's holistic program includes getting BEEMS time: Breathe, Eat, Earth, Move, and Sunshine. The book discusses a healing protocol where you restrict certain foods for a short time and emphasize diverse plant intake, consume high quality probiotics, drink your bone broth, and try his favorite remedy of aloe vera and bovine colostrum. Here's a great analogy: The gut is like a screen door, designed to let in fresh air and sunshine but keep out insects and leaves and other debris from outside. Leaky gut is like a screen door with tears in it. If you have leaky gut, focus on that first. Eating healthy foods and probiotics may go to waste otherwise. Enjoy an extremely informative show, and check out the book. If you order directly from PrimalNutrition.com, we'll send a free bottle of Primal Probiotics! Just mention to live chat that you heard the host boast about the offer on this show.

What did Kale Brock's diagnosis of a heart problem as a youth teach him the importance of nutrition? [00:01:57]  

What got him to he investigating the role of gut health? [00:08:00] 

We can only make decisions on what we know now. [00:09:30] 

Some people have gut problems and don't know it. [00:13:07] 

How does the imbalance of microbiome affect our guts? [00:16:33] 

What is the best gut-healing protocol?. [00:21:33] 

What are some symptoms of gut dysfunction that an otherwise healthy person might have? [00:24:37] 

What about the holistic side of gut health? [00:28:00] 

How does this manifest itself? What is leaky gut? What about gluten?  [00:31:23] 

His favorite remedy is aloe vera and bovine colostrum. [00:39:39] 

What can one do to improve the effects of exercise and stress on your gut health?  [00:43:16] 

Kale's book and documentary have all these practical steps and new fascinating information. [00:48:31] 

FMT

Kale Brock

Co-hosts Brad Kearns and Dr. Lindsay Taylor welcome Dr. Cate Shanahan for a long-awaited grilling on assorted matters of keto that are often misunderstood and disputed. As always, Dr. Cate sets listeners straight with her crisp explanations and reasoning. Some of the topics discussed including the debate about the role of dietary fat in keto efforts (high fat intake does NOT drive keto; it’s low carb/limited insulin). Cate drops the whopper insight that in a fully fed state, the liver will not produce ketones, it will just convert extra fat calories into cholesterol. Folks, this is BIG NEWS because it shatters one of the big misconceptions that keto is about stuffing your face with fat or chugging down high-fat coffee in the name of keto. If you want to get a clear and comprehensive education on keto, you can’t miss this show! Other topics covered include the difference between burning fat and ketones, whether the numbers do or don’t matter, and much more from this lively roundtable with Cate, Lindsay, and Brad!

Civilization has given us great gifts. Infectious diseases rarely kill us anymore. We have hot running water that’s safe to drink (usually). We can go down to the market and buy a thousand different foods. Things are, for the most part, safe and comfortable. Of course, many of the benefits of civilization have been solutions to problems it introduced. That we rarely die from infectious disease is significant because the high population densities of early civilizations created such high infectious disease burdens; nomadic hunter gatherers didn’t have that issue. But there are benefits.

(This Mark's Daily Apple article was written by Mark Sisson, and is narrated by Tina Leaman)

Good cooking is art and science. You’re measuring, you’re tasting, you’re following recipes, you’re following intuition. You’re adding a dash of this, a level teaspoon of that. It’s clinical and sensual at once. For this kind of good cooking to occur, pleasurable cooking, the kitchen needs to disappear. It must get out of the way and become an extension of your body. You shouldn’t have to think about what to use or where to grab it; you just know it. A messy, disjointed lab or workspace is hell.

(This Mark's Daily Apple article was written by Mark Sisson, and is narrated by Tina Leaman)

Elle Russ chats with Ginny Gane -  bestselling author of The Champion Mindset and an adventurous, fun Law of Attraction expert for people who crave more out of life and are ready to realize their full potential. Ginny teaches LOA skills and guides you towards purposefully creating a life you are wildly in love with. Through her fun and easy courses, ebooks, and personal coaching, she reminds you of your incredible personal power. Learn the skills that will ultimately empower you to take control of your experience and truly uncover and be all that you want to be.  When she’s not playing with LOA, you can find her indulging in sunshiny outdoor adventures, fun fitness exercise and practicing singing...along to the radio. Ginny is also the co-host of the popular Manifest It Now podcast.

Yesterday, I explained my rationale for supplementation in a Primal lifestyle. Today, I’m going to get a bit more specific and discuss the role of supplementation on a keto diet. As a diet founded upon the restriction of an entire class of macronutrients, keto seems like the perfect candidate for stringent supplement requirements. And if you go around the web asking other people, you’ll find plenty of opinions, lists, and recommendations for this or that supplement that you absolutely must take or face certain death and disfigurement.

I disagree.

Done well, keto needs no overt supplementation. That said, some supplements can be useful.

(This Mark's Daily Apple article was written by Mark Sisson, and is narrated by Tina Leaman)

The main objective of following the Primal Blueprint is to extract the healthiest, happiest, longest and most productive life possible from our bodies – and to look and feel good in the process.

(This Mark's Daily Apple article was written by Mark Sisson, and is narrated by Tina Leaman)

Elle Russ chats with Jeffrey Brownstein, a Certified Empowerment Coach and founder of Life Purpose U. He has been helping people to uncover their purpose and create meaningful, extraordinary lives since 2005.  Jeff has Bachelor's degrees in English and Metaphysics, and is also a professional speaker, writer, photographer, and Certified Energy Healer. He currently lives on the East Coast with his wife Allison, and their 2 dogs Bailey and Murphy.

Last year I was talking with Brad Kearns and Dave Dolle when Dave said something really interesting: he was using neurotransmitter analysis to build personalized training programs for his athletes. By giving a short written T/F test called the Braverman test, he could determine whether a client was dominant in dopamine, acetylcholine, GABA, or serotonin—and then use the results to determine their ideal training regimen. It was one of those instances where you hear something you know you’ll be chewing on for the next few months.

(This Mark's Daily Apple article was written by Mark Sisson, and is narrated by Tina Leaman)

Host Brad Kearns welcomes Folsom, CA’s #1 power couple, Jake Taylor and Primal Blueprint’s own keto queen Lindsay Shaw Taylor, Ph.D. These folks are the real deal and they have immersed themselves fully into ketogenic living and studying the various approaches. Interestingly, they have landed upon disparate approaches to keto and dietary habits in general. Lindsy is an ironman athlete and also happens to be a female. She has determined her best approach to be somewhat regular meals, with generally stringent carb intake guidelines ranging from full keto to low carb primal over the course of the year. Jake, always pushing the limits in the financial markets as well as personal peak performance, has found an effective strategy in prolonged fasting/compressed eating window, but with less stringent carb intake guidelines when he does eat.

Today I want you to completely rethink your basic philosophy about how you manage both your fitness activities and the assorted stresses of hectic, modern life. This post was inspired by a great article from training expert Joel Jamieson of 8weeksout.com titled, “All Pain, No Gain: Why The High Intensity Training Obsession Has Failed Us All.” Joel’s message set off a firestorm of internal dialog among members of the Primal Blueprint team. (Catch Brad Kearns’ recent interview with him for the Primal Blueprint Podcast.) After much back and forth and additional research, I’m eager to get you reflecting and commenting on the genuine nature of recovery from an entirely new angle.

(This Mark's Daily Apple article was written by Mark Sisson, and is narrated by Tina Leaman)

Brad Kearns chats with Performance Architect Joel Jamieson about his groundbreaking post about the energy cost of recovery, published on 8weeksout.com, called "All Pain, No Gain: Why The High Intensity Training Obsession Has Failed Us All".  Joel details how our flawed perspective about training negates the concept that the body only has a given amount of energy to expend each day, and that recovery and restoration require energy just as training and stressful.

Furthering the compensation theory discussed at length in Primal Blueprint books, Joel mentions respected science that contends we operate under a "constrained model of energy expenditure." If you burn up excess energy during exercise, your body becomes naturally lazier throughout the day and divert valuable energy away from recovery and immune function. Hence, Joel's argument for "recovery-based fitness" where you respect the resources necessarily allocated to three main functions:
1 - vital biological functions - basic daily survival
2 - physical activity AND general everyday stress of busy life
3 - recovery and restoration
It follows that a type-A hard driver trying to dispense energy to career, family and also fitness endeavors is playing with fire, constantly challenging the body's maximum energy potential and incurring what Jamieson calls "recovery debt." This is where your hard training goes to waste because your body has insufficient energy to recover and restore. This show will really stop you in your tracks and get you re-thinking your basic principles of not only training, but daily living.

This is one of the most common queries I receive: How do I go keto as a vegetarian?

One way to go keto as a vegetarian is to stop being vegetarian. You begin as a vegetarian, make the conscious decision to go keto, and then cease vegetarianism. Seriously, just try it out. A little animal won’t hurt you. Promise.

Okay, jokes aside: How do you go keto while remaining vegetarian?

Once you let the dust settle and consider the proposition with a calm, clear mind, going keto as a vegetarian isn’t all that outlandish.

(This Mark's Daily Apple article was written by Mark Sisson, and is narrated by Tina Leaman)

Host Brad Kearns walks you through Chapter 1 of The Keto Reset Diet—the what, when and how of keto. First, resetting your metabolism to ditch carb dependency. Then doing some fine-tuning to improve your metabolic flexibility. Finally, a six-week immersion into nutritional ketosis. Keto is the default human genetic factory setting; we have likely spent more time in keto-mode over the past 2.5 million years, because carbohydrates were never abundant until civilized times, and often regular calorie consumption was not assured either.

Brad explains that if you do the journey correctly, there will be no struggling and suffering involved, because you will be getting a nutrient-dense diet. Regarding the widely-touted 50 grams of daily gross carbohydrate intake limit for keto, you can discount the contribution of avocados, leafy greens, and other high fiber above ground vegetables, since they have minimal net carb contribution. Brad talks a bit about blood testing and the surprising phenomenon of highly fat- and keto-adapted individuals delivering low blood values even with lots of fasting and keto-aligned eating. Also, the meters can be wildly off, as you can see at the @BradKearns1 Instagram account. Check out the post of 3 different machine readouts from the same blood prick showing wildly disparate numbers—from pre-diabetic to hard-core keto stud. All in all, a good overview of what the Keto Reset journey is all about.

Almost everyone has at least one dietary restriction. Maybe your religion or cultural traditions prohibit specific foods or food pairings. Maybe your physiological response to certain foods—an allergy or intolerance—prevent you from eating them. Or perhaps your immediate goals preclude a food’s inclusion in your diet.

Like every other diet, keto is already circumscribed by basic principles, which can make further limitations difficult to accommodate. But the benefits of going keto, at least for part of the time, are well-established and worth the effort. You want to do it. How can you go keto while honoring your own dietary bounds?

It depends on the restriction.

(This Mark's Daily Apple article was written by Mark Sisson, and is narrated by Tina Leaman)

Mark Sisson chats with Dr. Joseph Mercola - a board certified family physician who started Mercola.com 20 years ago...the most visited natural health site on the internet for the last 13 years. He has also authored many bestselling books including Fat for Fuel which details mitochondrial metabolic therapy.  Mark Sisson and Dr. Mercola discuss topics ranging from intermittent fasting, KETO, stem cell therapy, mitochrondrial impairment, stem cell therapy, and issues around EMF.

Every New Year, the cynics are quick to tell you how arbitrary all the motivational messages, resolutions, and new beginnings are. It’s just another day, they grumble. And, sure, they have a point.

You could start that new diet, join that new CrossFit box that just opened down the street, and finally pursue the dream job you’ve always wanted on March 7th, February 15th, or August 3rd. It doesn’t have to be January 1st. Any day will do. The New Year is somewhat arbitrary.

But we’re social animals who thrive in the presence of others. We feed off the energy around us to fuel our own initiative. On some level we’re always looking to what the group is doing for motivation, if not direction. The New Year presents a unique opportunity that way for all of us. Why would we not take advantage of the tailwind?

(This Mark's Daily Apple article was written by Mark Sisson, and is narrated by Tina Leaman)

Host Brad Kearns talks about the common mistakes and drawbacks of a shortcut approach to keto. If you are still even a bit carb dependent when attempting keto, what you will get is a flood of stress hormones in response to the sudden deprivation of your primary fuel source glucose. Lacking dietary carbs, you will commence the hallmark fight or flight process of gluconeogenesis to give your body the sugar it needs. You may even feel alert and energetic for a while from the stress hormone buzz, but when the stress response becomes exhausted, you are destined to crash and burn, featuring overeating, extra sleeping, and programmed lazy behavior to recalibrate.

 Also in the show, Brad rips on the concept of “cheat days.” If you are allured by the prospect of a cheat day, this suggests your approach is too regimented and unpleasant to sustain. With the Keto Reset approach, you will instead progress gracefully with your metabolic fitness so that you are enjoying nutritious, satisfying meals, getting better and better at burning stored energy so you don’t have to deal with “low carb flu” or afternoon blues, and be patient in unwind the metabolic damage caused by decades of carbohydrate dependency.

Mark Sisson chats with with good friend and fellow New York Times Bestselling author Robb Wolf to answer a few listener questions and to chat about what they have been up to. With his bestselling book, The Paleo Solution, Robb Wolf helped hundreds of thousands of people lose weight by eating a low-carb Paleo diet, but Paleo is only a starting point, not a destination.  In Wired To Eat, he shares a more customized way of eating that may be the key to permanent weight loss and better health. You'll start with Wolf’s 30-Day Reset to help you restore your body's blood sugar levels, repair your appetite, and reverse insulin resistance. Robb recently teamed up with filmmaker CJ Hunt for a new documentary called Dispelling The Lies