pimg class=”alignright” title=”Aloe Vera” alt=”aloevera” src=”http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg158/MDA2008/MDA%202012/aloevera.jpg” width=”320″ height=”213″ /For today#8217;s edition of a title=”Dear Mark” href=”http://www.marksdailyapple.com/category/dear-mark/”Dear Mark/a, we#8217;ve got a three-parter. First I discuss the effect of aloe vera on gut function. Is there evidence that it#8217;s a panacea for intestinal permeability, as so often is claimed? Next, I help an extremely active reader who#8217;s considering switching to one meal a day to lose the last few stubborn pounds of body fat figure out what his next move should be. And finally, I explore the evidence for a connection between the herbicide glyphosate and celiac disease./p
pLet#8217;s go:br /
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blockquotepI have been reading a lot about Aloe Vera juice and the claim that it#8217;s a #8220;miracle#8221; potion for helping with curing leaky gut. Do you have an opinion about using this as a method for helping to heal the gut? There is also some research out there claiming that aloe juice […]

Original post by Mark Sisson

pimg class=”alignright” title=”Beet and Berry Jello” alt=”BeetampBerryJello” src=”http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg158/MDA2008/MDA%202012/BeetampBerryJello.jpg” width=”320″ height=”212″ /Whether it’s a treat for your kids or a way to satisfy your own craving for retro dessert, making homemade jello is a fun experiment. The recipe couldn’t be easier – add 1 tablespoon of unflavored, powdered gelatin to 1 cup cold liquid then stir in 1/3 cup boiling water and chill until firm. The experimental part comes in when we start talking about flavor./p
pOne hundred percent fruit juice is the easiest option to use as a cold liquid, and offers plenty of different flavors, but watch out for the sugar. Get a little experimental by blending in tea to cut down on the sugar level. Herbal teas can add intriguing, and kid friendly, flavor. Or, you can get really experimental and blend up some a title=”Smart Fuel: Beets” href=”http://www.marksdailyapple.com/beets/”beets/a and a title=”Best Fruit Choices” href=”http://www.marksdailyapple.com/best-fruit-choices/”berries/a until you have a […]

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” alt=”real life stories stories 1 2″ src=”http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg158/MDA2008/MDA2009/real_life_stories_stories-1-2.jpg” width=”320″ height=”240″ /Hi Mark,/p
pI#8217;ve had serious kidney disease all my life, although I was not diagnosed until I was 26 years old. My kidneys never grew properly due to reflux nephropathy and I developed another disease inside the kidney (FSGS) which was diagnosed as terminal in 2011. Along the way I had developed thyroid issues, Type II diabetes, and asthma. I was on medication to reduce high blood […]

Original post by Guest

pimg class=”alignright” title=”Couch” alt=”couch” src=”http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg158/MDA2008/MDA%202012/couch.jpg” width=”320″ height=”220″ /We all have days when our motivation is less than sprightly. We stayed up too late the previous night. We#8217;ve had a busy week with work or family duties. We#8217;re worn out after trying some new fitness experiments. The snow and cold are getting on our nerves. There are plenty of good reasons to take a day off from exercising. An overabundance of physical or mental stress, after all, can deplete us without adequate recovery. Plus, some days we just want to wallow in some abject, a title=”Hunter-Gatherer Leisure Time” href=”http://www.marksdailyapple.com/hunter-gatherer-leisure-time”Grok-style leisure/a. As healthy hominids, we#8217;re entitled, yes? All this said, what about the times when a day on the couch becomes a couple weeks #8211; or couple months? What if we#8217;ve, in fact, spent much of our lives on the couch (or office chair, driver#8217;s seat, etc.) and are trying to make […]

Original post by Mark Sisson

pimg class=”alignright” title=”Shellfish” alt=”shellfish” src=”http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg158/MDA2008/MDA%202012/shellfish.jpg” width=”320″ height=”240″ /A few weeks ago, I a title=”We Don’t Know What Constitutes a True Paleo Diet” href=”http://www.marksdailyapple.com/we-dont-know-what-constitutes-a-true-paleo-diet/”made the point/a that even though we may not have access to our paleolithic ancestors#8217; (yes, all of them) food journals, and even though there were many different paleolithic diets depending on climate, latitude, topography and other environmental contexts, the ancestral eating paradigm remains viable, helpful, and relevant to contemporary interests. That almost goes without saying, right? It#8217;s kind of why we#8217;re all here, reading this and other blogs, and asking the butcher for a title=”Tails, Tendons and Tripe: A Guide to Discovering the Odd Bits” href=”http://www.marksdailyapple.com/tails-tendons-and-tripe-a-guide-to-discovering-the-odd-bits/”lamb tongues and goat spleens/a with straight faces. This stuff works./p
pBut make no mistake: we may not know the day-to-day eating habits of our ancestors, but we know some things. And we can use what we know, drawing on several lines of […]

Original post by Mark Sisson

pimg class=”alignright” title=”Vitamins” alt=”vitamins 1″ src=”http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg158/MDA2008/MDA%202012/vitamins-1.jpg” width=”320″ height=”213″ /If you pay attention to science journalism, you#8217;ve probably heard tell that antioxidant supplements have mostly negative effects on health markers, ranging from impaired training adaptations in response to exercise, extreme hypoglycemia, and even cancer. At their best, these reports say, antioxidants are merely useless and totally ineffective./p
pSo, is this true? Are antioxidants harmful? Are they effective?/p
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pLet#8217;s examine some of the specific claims made about antioxidant supplements./p
h3Do antioxidants erase the beneficial effects of exercise?/h3
pSometimes they reduce them, sometimes they enhance them, and sometime they have a neutral effect. It depends on several factors./p
pstrongIt depends on your baseline oxidative stress status./strong Giving antioxidant supplements to heart disease patients on an exercise regimen a title=”Do antioxidant vitamins ameliorate the beneficial effects of exercise training on insulin sensitivity?” href=”http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21427602″ target=”_blank”did not reduce the benefits of exercise/a. CHD patients typically have a title=”Astaxanthin, oxidative stress, inflammation […]

Original post by Mark Sisson

pimg class=”alignright” title=”Bones for Broth” alt=”bones22″ src=”http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg158/MDA2008/MDA2008029/bones22.jpg” width=”320″ height=”240″ /Today#8217;s edition of a title=”Dear Mark Category” href=”http://www.marksdailyapple.com/category/dear-mark/”Dear Mark/a is a two-parter. First, I dig a bit deeper into the nutrients found in bone broth. A reader#8217;s come across some startling nutritional data that seems to call into question the legitimacy of our community#8217;s collective love affair with hot bone water. Find out if we#8217;ve been overselling the benefits. Then, I discuss humankind#8217;s tendency to (try to) tame, quell, counteract, and otherwise improve on nature#8217;s mysterious workings. Can we come up with a viable alternative to agriculture, often characterized as our most egregious offense?/p
pLet#8217;s go:/p
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blockquotepMark,/p
pI know in the primal/paleo world, bone broth is considered a superfood. I always have some in my fridge, and consume it almost daily. I investigated the nutrient content of beef bone broth, and was pretty disappointed. First, there are very few studies that break down […]

Original post by Mark Sisson

pimg class=”alignright” title=”Swedish Meatballs” alt=”SwedeMeatballs2″ src=”http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg158/MDA2008/MDA%202012/SwedeMeatballs2.jpg” width=”320″ height=”212″ /Swedish meatballs can be a main course, but their small size is ideal for an appetizer, ready to be stabbed with a toothpick or picked up by hungry fingers. But if you’re not planning a festive smorgasbord in the near future, then just stash these meaty morsels in the fridge for middle of the week snacking./p
pThe allspice and nutmeg seasoning in these Swedish meatballs is subtle, but enough to be noticed, and makes the dish taste different from your average meatball. Swedish meatballs are usually made with a blend of beef and pork, which you could certainly do, but they’re also really delicious made with ground bison. The small size of Swedish meatballs means they don’t need to be cooked long, which is perfect for bison, a type of meat that is most tender and juicy when served medium rare./p
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pWhy use […]

Original post by Worker Bee