Yes, they’re inextricably woven into nearly every aspect of our society. Dietary staple, cultural icon, sentimental fodder, patriotic symbol: it’s impossible to get away from them. However, just because they’re ubiquitous in our social environment doesn’t mean they deserve a place on your dinner plate. You know the multitude of reasons to quit grains. How about some strategies for kicking them to the curb?
As much as I condone, cajole and attempt to convince people to give up grains for the sake of their health, I’m not oblivious to the fact that dumping grains can be a tough and sometimes lonely slog. It’s not just the cultural thing either. For most people, physiological and habitual forces are the most demanding aspects. You’ve likely hard the term “carboholic” (used mostly in magazines and Oprah confessions for humorous, normalizing purposes), but there’s genuine truth there. Although I’m not equating the ravages of alcoholism […]

Original post by Mark Sisson

Hey, if you missed these seminars, you missed out, and I’m sorry for you. Johnny Ward and Carlos Rodriguez taught an amazing Muay Thai clinic Saturday, May 29th, which was followed by an excellent Brazilian Jiu Jitsu clinic with Michael Nunes.
And if you didn’t come, you have no one to blame but yourself. We had a blog post on this very site about the Muay Thai and BJJ clinics, as well as it being all over the Knuckle Up Facebook, AND the Boot Camp Facebook.
Johnny and Carlos were clearly very good at what they do, both as professionals in the sport, as well as instructors. The class began with some various warm-ups, all of which were pretty different from the norm. When Johnny had us pair up and purposely try to stomp on each others feet, with the loser doing 10 burpies, it became clear that we were in for […]

Original post by knuckleup

Following up on my article about the fat fallacy and anti-fat propaganda of the 80s and 90s, I thought it would be fitting to cover the carbophobia of more recent times. The origins of carbophobia can be traced back to the late 90s. Just about the same time that the public was starting to realize that dietary fat was not to blame for our steadily increasing waistlines and failed diet attempts.
In this case there’s not a single researcher or study that started it all. Our fear of carbs started as a consequence of us looking for a new scapegoat to blame. Luckily, Heller, Sears and Atkins were there to satify our needs with “The Carbohydrate Addict’s Diet” (1993), “The Zone Diet” (1995), “Dr Atkins’ New Diet Revolution” (1997).
Let’s approach this topic from an outside observer that had some strikingly accurate thoughts about low carb diets at the time they were […]

Original post by noreply@blogger.com (Martin Berkhan)

Conquering carbs offers a whole constellation of rewards, not the least of which is a steady, brisk energy unlike most people have known before (well, maybe since the whirling age of 10 or so…). People tell me constantly that they can finally make it through the day without being down for the count every midafternoon. They enjoy enough vigor and vitality to weather a whole day’s worth of activity. The busyness of life becomes easier to handle: the energy demands of daily work or business travel, the mayhem and constant commotion of kids, a weekend’s worth of chores and errands, etc. A skipped meal doesn’t suddenly change the agenda to including procuring a bagel or other false pick-me-up. Nonetheless, for some folks, there’s a common, temporary but still bothersome bump in the road on the way to that Primal prize. Though it varies, it often means a couple weeks of […]

Original post by Mark Sisson

The basis of Tabata Training is 4 minutes of intense interval training/circuit training. What you are doing is taking an exercise we'll use sprints as an example here.
Sprint as hard as you can for 20 seconds
Walk for 10 seconds
Repeat 7 more times for a total of 8 sets.
So what you have is a total of 4 minutes of workout time.
Tabata Training can be done with a number of different exercises the idea is to use an exercise that gets the whole body involved or at least the major muscle groups.Tabata Training can be done with Barbells, Dumbells, Kettlebells or just Bodyweight exercises. I'll give you some other exercises and routines to try in a minute but first let me give you some background and how Tabatas work.
Tabata Training was developed by Izumi Tabata (imagine that) at the National Institute of Fitness and Sports in Tokyo, Japan. They did a study […]

Original post by WP-AutoBlog Import

Everyone should do a cheat day every once in a while.
Why?
Because it reminds us how HORRIBLE it feels to overeat.
Seriously, even the WORST fasting day doesn’t feel as a bad as an overstretched, bloated, distended gurgling stomach.
It’s just not a nice feeling.
But worth doing…for the sole reason of remembering why we DON’T do it more often.
In a way, it’s kind of like getting really, really drunk.
It might sound like fun, but in the end, all it does is remind us of why we don’t it every night…or month…It just doesn’t feel nice.
And we know it’s hard on our bodies.
Basically, in my opinion cheat days are a form of nutritional shock therapy.
Done very sporadically, it’s a good way to stay on track.
BP

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Original post by Brad Pilon

Almond flour and coconut flour can be perfect substitutes for traditional flour in many Primal baked goods, but they don’t always provide a texture that is as light and airy as we want. This is why we were so pleased when Katie Hudgens sent us a recipe for baked clafouti that eliminates flour entirely. Her Chicken Curry Clafouti bakes up into a rich, savory pastry with a texture that’s so smooth and buttery it made us wonder why we ever thought clafouti needed flour in the first place.
A clafouti is a French pastry with a texture somewhere between cake and custard. It’s usually served as a dessert, and Katie often makes it this way herself by adding mixed berries to the batter. As good as this sounds, don’t let the temptation of berry clafouti dissuade you from trying Katie’s savory version, Chicken Curry Clafouti. A simple batter of eggs, butter […]

Original post by Worker Bee

Little known to the public at large. Little understood by the health community. Omnipresent in our conventional food culture. Proven to be at least mildly detrimental for everyone and downright destructive for the more sensitive (and often unsuspecting) among us. We’re talking lectins today: common natural agents on the one hand, cloaked thugs of the anti-nutrient underworld on the other. Our popular health media, if they’ve heard of lectins, certainly never make mention of them. Famous health gurus never deign to speak of them. In short, lectins thrive in the American diet basically unfettered, unscrutinized. Make no mistake, however. They’re a menacing power to be reckoned with. I’ve addressed them on Mark’s Daily Apple in the past (Why Grains Are Unhealthy) and in my book (The Primal Blueprint), but I still get a fair number of emails and forum questions asking for more info. As I always say, let’s break […]

Original post by Mark Sisson