pimg class=”alignright” title=”Kombucha” src=”http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg158/MDA2008/MDA%202011/kombucha.jpg” alt=”kombucha” width=”320″ height=”288″ /Not too long ago kombucha was a fringe beverage, a murky concoction brewing on someone’s kitchen counter or being sold in a few health food stores. In recent years, however, kombucha has gone mainstream. It’s now widely available in an array of eye-catching colors and flavors and sold in stylish glass bottles. Even at the price of nearly $4.00 for 16 ounces, people are regularly carrying cases of the stuff out of Whole Foods Market. So what’s all the fuss about?/p
pThere’s the not-too-sweet flavor, the carbonated zing and the potential health benefits. Kombucha is a a title=”The Definitive Guide to Fermented Foods” href=”http://www.marksdailyapple.com/fermented-foods-health/#axzz1qQixBOwc”fermented/a beverage (fermented tea, to be exact), which means it can introduce a title=”What’s Up With Your Gut?” href=”http://www.marksdailyapple.com/whats-up-with-your-gut-beneficial-bacteria-and-good-digestive-health/”beneficial bacteria/a into your body. Once you get used to the somewhat vinegary flavor and as long as you watch the sugar […]

Original post by Worker Bee

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pIt’s Friday, everyone! And that means another a title=”Success Stories” href=”http://www.marksdailyapple.com/category/success-story-summaries/”Primal Blueprint Real Life Story/a from a Mark#8217;s Daily Apple reader. If you have your own success story and would like to share it with me and the Mark’s Daily Apple community please contact me a title=”Contact Me!” href=”http://www.marksdailyapple.com/the-book/share-success-story/” target=”_self”here/a. I’ll continue to publish these each Friday as long as they keep coming in. Thank you for reading!/p
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pimg class=”alignright” title=”Primal Blueprint Real Life Story” src=”http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg158/MDA2008/MDA2009/real_life_stories_stories-1-2.jpg” alt=”real life stories stories 1 2″ width=”320″ height=”240″ /em/emI hesitated to share my story since before I started a title=”The Primal Blueprint” href=”http://primalblueprint.com/products/The-Primal-Blueprint%3A-Updated-and-Expanded-%28Paperback-Edition%29.html” target=”_blank”The Primal Blueprint/a (PB), I was already a fairly healthy 22-year-old, so my transformation simply cannot compare to those that have lost weight in the triple digits and literally cured diabetes. However, I decided to write out this story after some encouragement from my friends, and I do believe that […]

Original post by Mark Sisson

pimg class=”alignright” title=”Too Much Information!” src=”http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg158/MDA2008/MDA%202011/tmi2.jpg” alt=”tmi2″ width=”286″ height=”288″ /A couple weeks back, the LA Times a title=”Geneticist’s ‘personalized medicine’ study focuses on himself” href=”http://www.latimes.com/health/la-sci-personalized-medicine-20120317,0,7998981.story” target=”_blank”published a piece/a on a geneticist#8217;s experience with #8220;personalized medicine.#8221; Based on careful and constant monitoring of his sequenced DNA and around 40,000 health markers #8211; or #8220;omics#8221; #8211; over 14 months by a team of his colleagues, Stanford geneticist Michael Snyder observed in painstaking detail exactly what his body was doing during periods of sickness and health. If and when a viral infection entered the picture, Snyder and his team could watch how thousands of biomarkers responded. He could track its invasion, his body#8217;s battle against it, and its eventual retreat. Although Snyder had no family history of diabetes, his sequenced DNA revealed he was at risk for it, so he began monitoring his blood sugar. Sure enough, a couple weeks after the viral infection, […]

Original post by Mark Sisson

pimg class=”alignright” title=”Hour Glass” src=”http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg158/MDA2008/MDA%202011/hourglass.jpg” alt=”hourglass” width=”320″ height=”212″ /A time-honored and research-tested way to extend an animal#8217;s lifespan is to restrict its caloric intake. Studies repeatedly confirm that if, say, a lab mouse normally gets two full bowls of lab chow a day, limiting that mouse to one and a half bowls of lab chow a day will make that mouse live longer than the mouse eating the full two bowls. Cool, cool, a longer life is great and all, but what about the downsides of straight calorie restriction, aside from willfully restricting your food intake, ignoring hunger pangs, relegating yourself to feeling discontent with meals, and counting calories and macronutrients obsessively? Are there any others? Sure:/p
pstrongLoss of muscle mass./strong Humans undergoing calorie restriction often suffer a title=”Antiaging, longevity and calorie restriction” href=”http://journals.lww.com/co-clinicalnutrition/pages/articleviewer.aspx?year=2010amp;issue=01000amp;article=00009amp;type=abstract” target=”_blank”loss of lean muscle mass and strength/a, all pretty objectively negative effects (unless you really go for the […]

Original post by Mark Sisson

pimg class=”alignright” title=”Skiing” src=”http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg158/MDA2008/MDA%202011/skiing.jpg” alt=”skiing” width=”320″ height=”212″ /This week, we#8217;re back to a rapid-fire edition of Dear Mark. I enjoy honing in on a single reader question well enough, but I also like covering a smattering of questions from you guys. In future weeks, I#8217;ll probably continue to mix it up. Which do you prefer? Anyway, we#8217;ve got four topics today. First, I discuss carb cravings during #8220;That Time of the Month.#8221; Why do they occur and should you give in? Next, I provide a few Primal food choices suitable for a former Clif bar addict heading out on a five-day ski/snowboard trip. Then, I give advice to a father of an overweight, inactive teen. This is always hard, and there are no easy answers, but I have a few thoughts on the matter. I wrap it up with the safety of feeding fat to children./p
pLet#8217;s go./p
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blockquotepMark #8211; I […]

Original post by Mark Sisson

pimg class=”alignright” title=”Primal Crackers” src=”http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg158/MDA2008/MDA%202011/primalcrackers1.jpg” alt=”primalcrackers1″ width=”320″ height=”228″ /What is it about dip that makes it so irresistible? The creamy and spreadable texture? The comforting flavor? For whatever reason, kids love to dip (and eat dip) and so do adults. Just because you’ve purged your pantry of crackers and chips, doesn’t mean you have to say goodbye to dip, too. Vegetables, either raw or a title=”Zucchnin Chips with Spicy Salsa” href=”http://www.marksdailyapple.com/zucchini-chips-with-spicy-salsa/#axzz1pmeuPLW1″fried into chips/a, are the perfect vehicle for carrying dip from bowl to mouth. Thin strips of cooked chicken breast aren#8217;t half bad either. But admittedly, when you’re in the mood for a crispy cracker to plunge into your favorite dip (or top with a slice of aged cheddar) a carrot stick doesn’t always satisfy the craving./p
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pstrongOf course, moderation is key with nut crackers./strong Are they better than Triscuits and Wheat Thins? Absolutely. Are they a great way to […]

Original post by Worker Bee

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pIt’s Friday, everyone! And that means another a title=”Success Stories” href=”http://www.marksdailyapple.com/category/success-story-summaries/”Primal Blueprint Real Life Story/a from a Mark#8217;s Daily Apple reader. If you have your own success story and would like to share it with me and the Mark’s Daily Apple community please contact me a title=”Contact Me!” href=”http://www.marksdailyapple.com/the-book/share-success-story/” target=”_self”here/a. I’ll continue to publish these each Friday as long as they keep coming in. Thank you for reading!/p
/div
pimg class=”alignright” title=”Primal Blueprint Real Life Story” src=”http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg158/MDA2008/MDA2009/real_life_stories_stories-1-2.jpg” alt=”real life stories stories 1 2″ width=”320″ height=”240″ /Thank you for a title=”The Primal Blueprint Paperback” href=”http://primalblueprint.com/products/The-Primal-Blueprint%3A-Updated-and-Expanded-%28Paperback-Edition%29.html” target=”_blank”The Primal Blueprint/a #8212; a book that has changed the way I eat./p
pI grew up on a Wisconsin dairy farm a long time ago. 71 years old as I write this. Have been eating grains and grain products #8212; anything made with flour #8212; my whole life. I liked bread #8212; especially when it was loaded […]

Original post by Mark Sisson

pimg class=”alignright” title=”Epic Fail” src=”http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg158/MDA2008/MDA%202011/epicfail.jpg” alt=”epicfail” width=”319″ height=”264″ /When you#8217;re facing a title=”How to Train for a Marathon” href=”http://www.marksdailyapple.com/how-to-train-for-a-marathon/”26.2 miles/a of hard open road with nothing but a pair of Nikes and your own determination to see you through, you get a little attached to the outcome. In fact, the outcome #8211; the finish line, the win, the PR #8211; sustains you. It drives you. Without the promise of relief it holds, you wouldn#8217;t be here, doing this, running this a title=”A Case Against Cardio (from a former mileage king) Read more: http://www.marksdailyapple.com/case-against-cardio/#ixzz1pnTb5bSt” href=”http://www.marksdailyapple.com/case-against-cardio/”ridiculous number of consecutive miles/a. You certainly aren#8217;t going to be savoring each and every step. You won#8217;t be basking in the glory of the toil and immense physical effort as they transpire. You will be anything but present, in the moment; you will be attempting, with all of your mental faculties, to transport yourself to […]

Original post by Mark Sisson

pimg class=”alignright” title=”Now!” src=”http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg158/MDA2008/MDA%202011/nowlater.jpg” alt=”nowlater” width=”320″ height=”212″ /Last month, I wrote a couple articles on akrasia, or the phenomenon of acting against one#8217;s own better judgment. First, I a title=”Akrasia, or Why You Act Against Your Own Better Judgment” href=”http://www.marksdailyapple.com/akrasia-or-why-you-act-against-your-own-better-judgment/#axzz1ph6ZJYKB”introduced the concept and described a bit of research/a surrounding it. Then, I discussed a title=”8 Reasons Why You Act Against Your Own Better Judgment” href=”http://www.marksdailyapple.com/8-reasons-why-you-act-against-your-own-better-judgment/#axzz1pgkRXNu1″8 reasons a Primal eater might suffer from food-related akrasia/a, including cravings, nutritional deficiencies, and a title=”What I Mean by “Reprogram Your Genes”” href=”http://www.marksdailyapple.com/epigenetics/”mismatched Paleolithic genes/a trying to navigate a modern food environment./p
pToday, I#8217;m restarting the discussion with a list of novel strongtools and techniques to help in the fight against fitness-and-health-related akrasia/strong. As I mentioned in the first post, akrasia is universal, transcending culture and age and dietary persuasion. Whether we like it or not, we don#8217;t always do what we know we should #8211; […]

Original post by Mark Sisson