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Not many words make people shift in their seats as the word posture does. Probably just reading it made you straighten up. What did you do? How are you sitting now?

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Hey, folks. If you’ve ever wondered if watching what you eat is really worth it, you’ll want to check out today’s post. PHCI Coaching Director, Erin Power is here answering your questions about managing macros, weighing the pros and cons of meal prep, and the value of paying more for your food. We love getting your questions, so keep them coming in the comments below or head over to our Mark’s Daily Apple Facebook Group.

Debbie asked:

“I don’t know what to eat anymore. I was following a strict macro split of 56% fat, 28% protein, and 16% carbs, but I’m worried that my protein is too high. My goals are to maintain my weight, build muscle, and control my blood sugar since I am pre-diabetic. I know higher protein isn’t good for diabetes as it converts to glucose and then you get an insulin dump and gain weight. Can you point me in the right direction?”

Feels stressful doesn’t it? All the measuring, weighting, counting, and adding — just to get your macros to line up and reach some magical equation that you’ve decided will make everything work out perfectly. Don’t get me wrong, I love that you’re committed to doing what you can to prevent diabetes and reverse your current diagnosis (I wish more people followed your lead here), but I have a hunch it’s sort of ruling your life right now. And it doesn’t have to.

There’s so much great information out there. Unfortunately, that makes it easy to get overwhelmed. Personally, I’ve always hated the fussy factor. That’s why my philosophy is “keep it simple.”

My advice is to ditch the food scale (as well as grains, sugars, and industrialized oils) and focus on eating real foods in the form of vegetables, low sugar fruits, animal proteins, and healthy fats. Start with a protein-forward breakfast like eggs and bacon and eat when you’re hungry, not when your macro-tracking app says you need to squeeze in ten more grams of protein.

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Sure, some people thrive on adding up their macros. They get a sense of control out of knowing exactly how much protein, fat, and carbohydrates they’re consuming. But if it’s causing you more stress, you’re actually working against your goals of inhibiting an insulin response.

Both physical and emotional stress¹ can create changes in blood sugar, regardless of what you eat. The stress from constantly tracking and worrying about your macros causes your body to release cortisol and adrenaline, so it can access stored glucose because it thinks you’re in danger. In ancestral terms, your body thinks you’re being chased by a predator, so it pumps extra energy into your bloodstream.

If you’re not actually converting that glucose into energy, you’ll get a buildup of sugar in your bloodstream, and you’ll dump more insulin. Keep that up and you’ll be on the fast track to weight gain and a full-on diabetes diagnosis.

Okay, now to answer the other part of your question about muscle-building. Sure, protein helps increase muscle mass but you actually need to incorporate strength training if you want to see a real difference. It’s just one of the reasons “lift heavy things” is one of the cornerstones of the Primal Blueprint. When you put more stress (in this case, good stress) on your muscles, you create muscle fiber tears, which, once repaired, cause an increase in size and strength. Keep in mind that “heavy” is relative. Even bodyweight exercises like pushups, planks, pullups, and squats done two to three times a week will help you put on muscle.

JoAnn asked:

“Now that school has started again, I’m finding I have even less time to prep meals and snacks. What are good healthy convenience foods I can stock up on?”

Time management is a tough one this time of year. Especially when you’re busy working, parenting, and homeschooling all day. I get it though, it isn’t super convenient to sit down every week and plan out what you’re going to eat, then shop for ingredients, then prep those ingredients and create meals for you and your family.

It’s much easier to buy pre-packaged foods that go from the microwave to your mouth in two minutes flat. It’s easier to buy the giant Costco-size bag of popcorn and “healthy” chips. Don’t get me wrong, there are actually a few brands that go out of their way to use clean, minimally processed ingredients, but sadly, most of them don’t.

Most convenience foods are loaded with artificial colors, flavors, and preservatives – even the brands that have “low sugar” and “no trans fats” written right there on the front of the label. Problem is, although they’re hyped as healthy, these foods are full of ingredients your body doesn’t recognize, which can make you feel foggy, achy, cause you gain weight, and make you want to fall asleep before the kids finish their homework.

Which begs me to ask the question, what’s easier, hard boiling a dozen eggs or carrying around 15 extra pounds? Is throwing a couple of pieces of bread in the toaster more or less convenient than struggling to keep your eyes open after 7pm? Are those peanut butter crackers for when you’re feeling “snacky” worth the price of having chronically sore joints from systemic inflammation?

You say you don’t have time to prep foods. However, my guess is you also don’t have time to be sick, achy, or overweight. So, be smart about it. Following the hashtag #easypaleo on Instagram is a great place to start. Collect recipes that are healthy and easy to make, then stock your kitchen with staples like:

• Frozen veggies and meat
• Coconut milk
• Ghee
• Coconut aminos
• Nut butters
• Nuts and seeds
• Eggs
• Coconut and almond flour

Robert asked:

“In an effort to cut down on our grocery bill, my wife and I are thinking about buying conventional meat and produce. Is it really worth it to spend more for products labeled organic and grass-fed or is it all just marketing?”

Since the pandemic started, the cost of groceries has skyrocketed² with meat prices jumping as high as 20%, eggs increasing 10%, and fresh veggies going up 4%.Buy the organic, grass-fed, and pasture-raised versions and those costs will be even higher.

So, is it worth it? I’ll break it down for you.

I have clients that only buy organic. I also have clients that, for financial reasons, have to go the conventional route. The thing is, in general, when you buy organic (or grass-fed beef in this case), you’re limiting your exposure to synthetic additives. Other than that, there’s no conclusive evidence that eating this way is better or healthier for you.

But we’re not really talking about nutrition here. We’re talking about produce covered in pesticides and fertilizers. Factory-farmed animals housed in poor conditions and fed grains pumped full of antibiotics. The main issue here is the impact these foods have on your overall health – not to mention the health of our planet.³

Ever heard the phrase, pay for it now or pay for it later? Sure, it can be costly to eat this way. It can also be costly to manage chronic gastrointestinal, neurological, endocrine, and respiratory conditions for the rest of your life.

So, whether or not it’s worth it to spend more is totally up to you Robert. My advice is to buy local or organic fruits and veggies when you can, especially ones that have been proven to contain higher levels of pesticides, like strawberries, spinach, apples, potatoes, cherries, and peaches. Same goes for beef and poultry. If you can, get in touch with a local butcher. There’s a good chance they can get you a better cut of meat at a more affordable price than you’d find at the grocery store.

What do you think? Have you found that it’s worth it to eat healthy? Tell me about it in the comments below.

The post Ask a Health Coach: Is Eating Healthy Even Worth It? appeared first on Mark’s Daily Apple.

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The liver is incredible. Most people think of it as a filter, but filters are physical barriers that accumulate junk and have to be cleaned. The liver isn’t a filter. It’s a chemical processing plant. Rather than sit there, passively receiving, filtering out, and storing undesirable compounds, the liver encounters toxic chemicals and attempts to metabolize them into less-toxic metabolites that we can handle.

• It oxidizes the toxins, preparing them for further modification
• It converts the toxins to a less-toxic, water-soluble version that’s easier to excrete
• It excretes the toxins through feces or urine

Bam. It’s an elegant process, provided everything is working well back there. And it’s not the only process it controls.

The liver is the primary site of cholesterol synthesis and disposal. It creates cholesterol as needed and converts excess into bile salts for removal via the bile duct. The liver also plays a huge role in the burning of fat for energy, the storage of vitamin A, the metabolism of hormones, and the regulation of blood sugar. If you enjoy burning ketones, you can thank the liver because that’s where they’re produced.

The liver supports full-body health, in other words. If it isn’t working correctly, nothing is. Everything starts to fall apart.

How do we support the liver?

It’s not one thing we do. It’s many things. It’s nutrition, supplementation, lifestyle, sleep — everything. It’s also the things we don’t do. The stakes are high, you see. Whenever there’s a grand overarching orchestrator regulating dozens of different processes in the body, you must protect it from multiple angles. A lot can go wrong. Or right, depending on how you look at it.

Since the liver is “hidden away” and you can’t really “feel” it, you may not give it too much thought. When you’re overweight, you know it. When your fitness is suffering, you consciously experience it. When your liver is overburdened or suffering, you don’t necessarily know it. That’s where doing the right things for the sake of doing them comes in handy.

So, what should you do to maintain pristine liver health?

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11 Ways to Maintain a Healthy Liver

Liver health depends on steps you take toward a healthy lifestyle, and equally as important, the things you refrain from doing. Here are some things you can to to contribute to lifelong liver health:

• Reduce linoleic acid intake
• Reduce refined carb intake
• Reduce alcohol intake
• Stop overeating, and lose weight
• Practice time-restricted eating
• Eat fatty fish and get omega-3s
• Eat egg yolks and other choline sources
• Take NAC
• Take whey protein
• Regularly deplete your liver glycogen
• Get good, regular sleep

Reduce Linoleic Acid Intake

When a patient can’t eat, they get something called parenteral nutrition — a direct infusion of nutrients into the gut. The classic parenteral nutrition consists of an emulsion of olive oil and soybean oil. It’s very rich in linoleic acid and typically leads to elevated liver enzymes and fatty liver. That’s right: the medical establishment for whatever reason just accepts that people receiving parenteral nutrition have a high chance of developing fatty liver disease.

Okay, but what’s happening here? Is it really causal? Yes. The more linoleic acid you eat, the more oxidized metabolites of linoleic acid show up in your body. The more oxidized metabolites of linoleic acid you have, the higher your risk of fatty liver. These toxic metabolites of LA are actually full-fledged biomarkers of liver injury.¹

The bottom line: your liver prefers smart fats like avocado oil, butter, lard, fatty fish, and olive oil over industrial seed oils.

Reduce Refined Carb Intake

The real danger of refined carbs is that they tend to be nutrient-poor. They’re basically just pure starch (or sugar). All the energy, none of the micronutrients required to metabolize that energy.

Your liver works hard to convert carbs into glucose that your body can use. When you don’t use the glucose in your blood, it gets stored in the liver and skeletal muscle as glycogen, and if you have excess after that, it gets stored as body fat. With refined carbs, it’s easy to get there.

Studies show that carb overfeeding, especially with fructose, can lead to non-alcoholic fatty liver disease,² which affects how efficiently your liver works.

Of course, the combo of high linoleic acid and high refined carbohydrate is just about the worst thing possible.

Reduce Alcohol Intake

To detox alcohol, the liver converts it into the metabolite acetaldehyde. Acetaldehyde is far more toxic than ethanol itself, so the body then releases acetaldehyde dehydrogenase and glutathione to break down the acetaldehyde. If you stick to just a few drinks and space them out accordingly, your body’s natural antioxidant enzyme production can keep up. If you start binging, though, glutathione stores become overwhelmed and the liver must produce more. Meanwhile, acetaldehyde, which is between 10-30 times more toxic than ethanol, accrues in your body.³

Here’s where dosage matters. The more you drink in a given allotment of time, the higher the liver burden. Your liver doesn’t metabolize ethanol all at once. It’s an ongoing physical process. It takes time, and glutathione. Glutathione is also a physical material. You need more substrate, like glycine and cysteine, to produce it. Without enough glutathione (and there’s never enough if you drink too much), your liver will incur damage and develop fat.

If you’re going to drink, do so sparingly, choose healthier drinks, and practice good hangover prevention hygiene. High linoleic acid intake, for example, mixes terribly with alcohol; a much better choice is something saturated like beef fat or cocoa butter.

Stop Overeating, and Lose Weight

The number one risk factor for getting a fatty liver with impaired function is gaining excess body fat. Don’t get fat. If you are fat, lose it. Losing weight is the number one risk factor for losing a fatty liver.

Figure out what type of diet helps you eat normal amounts, and then go follow that diet. For most of my readers, it’s a low-carb Primal or keto approach. For others, it’s full-on carnivore. And yes, there are some for whom a moderate or even high carb diet works best. Whatever satiates you is the one that will improve your liver function.

Overeating fat especially can be bad, because the extra fat doesn’t need to waste any extra steps becoming available to your liver.

Practice Time-restricted Eating

In mice fed a typical soybean oil-fructose-based lab diet, the “high-fat” kind that reliably plumps up their livers, switching to a shortened eating window eliminates the metabolic fallout. They don’t get fat, they don’t get insulin resistant, and, most importantly, they don’t get fatty or dysfunctional liver.⁴

Eat Fatty Fish and Get Omega-3s

If you offset some of that olive oil and soybean oil with a blend of medium triglycerides and fish oil, liver enzymes may drop and overall integrity of the liver may improve.⁵ Amazing how that works.

Fish oil isn’t the only option. In fact, eating actual seafood is ideal because in addition to the omega-3s it also provides micronutrients and macronutrients that enhance liver function. If you’re not a fish eater, supplements can fill in the gaps.

Eat Yolks and Other Choline Sources

Choline protects against fatty liver by providing the backbone for VLDL—the particle the liver uses to transport fat out  into the body. Without adequate choline, you can’t make enough VLDL for transport and the fat tends to accumulate in the liver.

Egg yolks are the best source of choline.

Take NAC

In patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, taking NAC every day for three months improved liver enzyme levels and overall liver function.⁶ Taking it with vitamin C may be even more effective.

NAC is well-known for boosting levels of glutathione, the primary antioxidant used by the liver to metabolize toxins and protect itself.

Take Whey Protein

Obese women with fatty liver who took 60 grams of whey protein per day reduced their liver fat by almost 21%.⁷

Whey boosts glutathione levels and provides methionine, which the body can convert to choline when deficient.

Try Vanilla Coconut Primal Fuel, made with whey protein

Regularly Deplete Your Liver Glycogen

De novo lipogenesis, or the creation of fat from carbohydrate, is a hallmark of fatty liver disease.⁸ When liver glycogen is full, it becomes far more likely that your liver will turn any subsequent carbohydrate it encounters into fat for storage. If you keep liver glycogen low, or regularly deplete it, you can avoid de novo lipogenesis because there’s usually a place to store the glucose.

Furthermore, keeping liver glycogen low increases fat utilization from all over the body, including the liver.⁹ A few of my favorite ways to deplete glycogen:

• Train hard. I like HIIT, higher volume lifting, and sprints. Or my personal favorite: Ultimate Frisbee. Not all at once.
• Fast. Fasting is a reliable way to burn through available liver glycogen.
• Reduce carbs. Going low-carb or keto is a reliable, if slightly slower way to burn through your liver glycogen.

Get Good, Regular Sleep

Certain molecules responsible for clearing liver fat operate according to a circadian schedule.¹⁰ If you don’t get to sleep at a normal, consistent time, your rhythm is disrupted and the molecules can’t do their jobs.

If you hadn’t already noticed, these are good health practices in general. We keep running into this phenomenon, don’t we?

What’s good for the liver is good for the brain is good for the cardiovascular system is good for your performance in the gym is good for the mirror.

It makes things easier and harder.

You know what to do.

Thanks for reading, everyone. Do you have any other recommendations for liver health? Which of these do you follow?

The post All About the Liver, and How to Support Your Favorite Detoxification Organ appeared first on Mark’s Daily Apple.

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Whenever I write about sleep, I hear from a chorus of people who struggle to sleep through the night. Anecdotally, it seems a far more common complaint than difficulty falling asleep in the first place.

These complaints are one of three types:

1. People who have trouble falling asleep
2. People who sleep fitfully, waking multiple times throughout the night
3. Those who reliably wake once, around the same time most nights

Understandably, this is a hugely vexing problem. Poor quality sleep is a serious health concern. Not to mention, sleeping badly feels simply awful. When the alarm goes off after a night of tossing and turning, the next day is sure to be a slog. String several days like that together, and it’s hard to function at all.

I’m going to go out on a limb, though, and assert that waking up in the middle of the night isn’t always the problem we make it out to be. For some people, nighttime wakings are actually something to embrace. As always, context is everything.

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What Causes You to Wake Up In the Middle of the Night?

One of the most frustrating things about nighttime waking is that there are so many possible causes. Sometimes the solution is as simple as practicing good sleep hygiene. Other times, medical help is in order. Still other times, the solution is something different entirely.

Transitioning to Lighter Sleep Stages

Sleep isn’t a uniform state of unconsciousness you slip into when it becomes dark and, theoretically, ride until morning. It’s a dynamic process that goes in waves—or more precisely, cycles—throughout the night.

There are four (or five, depending on how you slice it) stages of sleep:

• Stage 1: light sleep, occurs right after falling asleep
• Stage 2: deeper sleep
• Slow-wave sleep (SWS): deepest sleep, a.k.a. Stage 3 and Stage 4 sleep
• REM: lighter sleep where our more interesting dreams occur (although we can also dream in non-REM phases¹)

A single sleep cycle lasts about 90 minutes, during which you move from light sleep, through stage 2, into deep SWS, and back up to REM. Then down you go again, then back up, ideally at least four of five times per night.

Your sleep is also roughly broken into two phases over the course of a whole night. In the first half, you spend relatively more time in SWS. The second half is characterized by a higher proportion of REM sleep.

What does this have to do with nighttime waking?

One possible explanation is that as you transition into lighter sleep — either within a single sleep cycle, or as you move from the first to the second phase—aches, pains, and small annoyances are more likely to wake you up. These can include medical issues like chronic pain, sleep apnea, restless leg syndrome, or GERD. Soreness from the day’s hard workout, noise or light from your environment, hunger, thirst, or being too hot or cold might rouse you from your slumber.

If you’re waking up multiple times at night, chances are that you’re experiencing physical discomfort that you’re not able to sleep through. Sometimes it’s obvious, but not always.

Was It Something You Ate Or Drank?

While individual studies have linked sleep quality to diet and macronutrient intake (high versus low carb, for example), they are mostly small and the results inconclusive.² Still, you might be able to look at your diet and identify a likely culprit. For example, if your sleep problems started after going carnivore or adding intermittent fasting, that’s an obvious place to start.

A food log can help you spot patterns, such as whether eating certain foods at dinner tends to correlate with poorer sleep. Alcohol and caffeine are big sleep disruptors as well, though you surely know that.

If you’re frequently waking up to pee, you might be overhydrating, especially in the evening. More seriously, it can be a symptom of diabetes or bladder, prostate, kidney, adrenal, or heart problems. Getting up once or twice to pee probably isn’t cause for alarm. It’s worth seeing a doctor if you’re getting several times or urinating much more at night than during the day.

Melt your stress away with Adaptogenic Calm

What to Do About Nighttime Waking

First things first, pick the low-hanging fruit

I’m talking good sleep hygiene practices. Things like:

• Sleep in a cool, dark, quiet room.
• Minimize exposure to artificial lights after the sun sets. Use blue-light blocking glasses, and turn on night mode on your devices.
• Watch your alcohol and caffeine consumption, especially later in the day.
• Go to bed around the same time each night.

If applicable, experiment with your diet and food timing

Depending on your current diet, some experiments you might try include:

1. If you’re ultra-low-carb, try increasing your carb intake for a few weeks.
2. Try loading more of your carbs into your evening meal.
3. Make sure your protein intake isn’t too low.³
4. Try eating your last meal earlier if you’re waking up with indigestion, or later if you’re waking up hungry.

Try a teaspoon of raw honey before bed

One hypothesis is that you’re waking up in the middle of the night because your brain gets hungry for glucose eight hours after your last meal. The honey provides some carbs to get you through.

There’s no concrete evidence for honey as a sleep aid, but plenty of people swear by this remedy. I’m not sure it’s likely to be more effective than eating a serving of complex carbs at dinner. That said, even for low-carbers, I don’t think there’s any harm in trying.

I’ll note, though, that fasting studies don’t show a link to sleep disturbances.⁴ That calls the “starving brain” hypothesis into question, but I suspect there’s an important nuance here. Individuals who can comfortably do longer fasts are almost certainly also fat-adapted and, at least during the fast, producing ketones to fuel their brains. Metabolically, they’re in a very different place from a carb-dependent person who struggles to make it through the night.

Consider napping

If you’re unable to get enough high-quality sleep at night, you might prefer to adjust your sleep schedule entirely. Instead, aim for a shorter nighttime sleep period, say five or six hours, paired with an afternoon nap. This is another variant of biphasic sleeping.

Years ago, I wrote a post on how to conduct just this type of experiment. Check it out and see if it might work for you. It’s unconventional in this day and age, but I know people who thrive on this schedule.

Finally, don’t hesitate to seek medical help

Sleep issues are a symptom of many diverse health issues, including hyperthyroidism, anxiety, depression, and, as previously mentioned, diabetes, heart disease, and others. Your doctor may want to test you for sleep apnea.

The Case of Hot Flashes

Hot flashes are a common cause of nighttime waking for women of a certain age. If you endure nighttime flashes, you’re probably familiar with the standard advice:

• Sleep in a cool room
• Use moisture-wicking pajamas and sheets
• Try acupuncture or other mind-body therapies
• Add supplements like folic acid, or herbs like black cohosh or chasteberry
• Investigate hormone-replacement therapy

Unfortunately, as I’ve learned from my wife Carrie’s and many friends’ experiences, there is no one-size-fits-all solution. I do think acupuncture is a potentially helpful, underutilized tool. Mostly, though, it’s just a combo of trial-and-error plus time that seems to get most women through this phase.

Getting Back to Sleep

In the meantime, while you get to the root of the issue, here are some tips for getting back to sleep:

• Take care of pressing needs. Get up and pee, get a drink of water, or adjust the thermostat. There’s no point in trying to power through the discomfort that woke you up in the first place. Just fix it.
• Keep artificial lights and screens off. Use small nightlights to light your path to the bathroom if necessary, and wear your orange-tinted glasses.
• Do a calm activity such as reading by candlelight, deep breathing exercises, or sketching or writing in your journal.
• Most of all, don’t stress! Fretting is likely to keep you awake for much longer than simply accepting the fact that you are awake and lying peacefully in bed.

Are You Fighting Something You Should Be Embracing?

I’ve long believed that humans naturally tend to be biphasic sleepers. The idea that we should be passed out for a solid eight hours per night is a social construct not firmly rooted in our sleep biology.

Historian Roger Ekirch argues, rather convincingly I think, that before the advent of artificial light, humans across geographical locations and social strata slept in two chunks during the night. The first, usually just called “first sleep,” or sometimes “dead sleep,” comprised the first four or so hours. “Second sleep” went until dawn. In between, people would enjoy an hour, or perhaps two or three hours, of mid-night activities such as praying and meditating, reading and writing, having sex, and even visiting neighbors. This was seen as completely normal, even welcome.⁵

Anthropological evidence confirms that some modern-day hunter-gatherers around the world likewise engage in biphasic sleeping.⁶ Also, in one small experiment, seven adults lived in a controlled environment with 14 hours of darkness per night. Over the course of four weeks, their sleep and hormone secretions slowly and naturally became biphasic.⁷

Scholars argue that biphasic sleep confers an evolutionary advantage.⁸ If some individuals fall asleep earlier and some later, and most people are awake for an hour or two in the middle of the night, someone in the group is always up. That person can tend the fire and watch for danger. In fact, the waking hour was sometimes called the “sentinel” hour. According to Ekirch, it was often referred to as simply the “watch.”

Are You a Biphasic Sleeper, or Do You Have a Sleep Problem?

Waking up multiple times per night, such that you rarely feel truly rested, is a problem. However, we shouldn’t rush to pathologize a single nighttime waking. That might just be your natural sleep pattern. It doesn’t necessarily mean you’d be better off aiming for biphasic sleep either. Even if you wake reliably at the same time each night, sometimes a full bladder is just a full bladder.

The litmus test is how you feel. With a biphasic schedule, the intervening waking period should be pleasant. Your mind should feel calm and alert, if perhaps a bit dreamy. Anecdotally, many famous writers, artists, and sculptors have adhered to a biphasic schedule, believing that creativity and flow are enhanced during the mid-night hours.

Of course, you can’t tap into how you feel if waking is causing you a ton of angst. Remind yourself that waking can be normal, not dysfunctional. I know this can be easier said than done, especially if you’re sleep deprived. The thing about biphasic sleeping is that you’re still supposed to get the eight hours of nightly sleep you need, give or take. That means you have to spend nine or ten hours in bed. How many people do that nowadays?

See if you can commit to at least a couple weeks of sufficient time in bed. Push away your previous (mis)conceptions about what a “good” night of sleep is “supposed” to look like. Try to welcome rather than fight the mid-night waking. Be open to what comes next.

The post Why Am I Waking Up at 3am? appeared first on Mark’s Daily Apple.

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Just when you thought the only thing that could get you through Covid-19 was your mask and trusty hand sanitizer, here comes another recall.  The FDA is warning consumers and health care professionals about hand sanitizer products containing methanol and 1-propanol. Both contaminants are extremely dangerous and even proven to be deadly, especially when accidentally […]

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Keto egg wraps are a keto dieter’s best friend. You can fill them with your favorite taco or burrito fillings, or make a satisfying sandwich wrap without racking up tasteless carbs from a tortilla. Fill and roll to your heart’s content, just like you would any wrap.

Here, you’ll prepare the egg omelette for this collard wrap in a similar fashion to how we prepared the egg “tortilla” in the Keto Burrito. The collard greens add a nice crunch and help the wrap hold together a little better than egg alone.

How to Roll Like a Pro

When folding up your wrap, orient your piece of parchment like a diamond with a point facing you. Build the collard wrap in the center of the parchment and then place the toppings and fillings on top. Carefully fold the parchment point closest to you up and over the collards and fillings. Continue to roll and tuck in the sides of the wrap as you go.

Keto Egg Wrap with Collard Greens Recipe, 3 Ways

Serves: 1

Time in the kitchen: 20 minutes

Ingredients

Egg Wrap Base:

• 6 collard green leaves
• Avocado oil spray
• 1 Tbsp. avocado oil
• 3 large eggs
• 1 tsp. water
• Salt and pepper

Veggie Egg Wrap Option:

• 1/2 Tbsp. avocado oil
• 1 cup sliced mushrooms
• ¼ cup sliced shallots
• ½ Tbsp. mayo of choice (we like Primal Kitchen® Pesto Mayo)

Spicy Egg Wrap Option:

• 1-2 slices pepper jack cheese
• 1 Tbsp. spicy BBQ sauce or spicy ketchup 
• Sliced jalapeños

Buffalo Egg Wrap Option:

• 1 chicken sausage, cooked and sliced down the middle
• 1 Tbsp. buffalo sauce

Directions

To make the eggs, spray your seasoned cast iron pan with avocado oil spray. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and place the pan in the oven for 10-12 minutes to heat up.

In a bowl, combine 3 eggs and 1 teaspoon of water with a pinch of salt and pepper and whisk together with a fork.

Once the pan is quite hot, place the hot pan on your stovetop and heat over medium-high heat. Swirl 1/2 tablespoon of avocado oil in it and then quickly add the egg mixture to the pan and spread it out if necessary with a rubber spatula. As the edges of the egg begin to set, tilt the pan slightly while pulling up the egg from the edges with a spatula. This will allow the raw egg in the middle to fill the spaces in the pan so it can set.

Allow the egg to cook until it is almost set, continuing to periodically run the spatula under the edges of the egg. Using your spatula and hand, carefully flip the egg over and allow it to cook for another 15-30 seconds. Remove the omelette from the pan.

For the veggie option, heat the avocado oil in the pan. Once hot, add the sliced shallots. Sauté for about 2 minutes, or until soft. Add the mushrooms and saute until the mushrooms are tender. Season with a pinch of salt and pepper.

To assemble the wrap, cut a square of parchment paper and orient it in a diamond shape so that the point of the paper is facing towards you. Arrange 3 pieces of collard greens next to one another vertically, and then the other 3 pieces of collards next to one another horizontally across the first layer of leaves. Place the egg on top and then the toppings based on whatever option you choose above.

Carefully pull up the piece of parchment towards you and begin rolling up the collard and egg wrap, tucking the sides in as you go. When you finish wrapping, carefully slice the wrap in half. Gently pull back the parchment as you begin to eat the wrap and enjoy!

Nutrition Info (for 1 basic collard and egg wrap):

Calories: 343
Fat: 27g
Total Carbs: 6g
Net Carbs: 2g
Protein: 21g

The post Keto Egg Wrap with Collard Greens Recipe, 3 Ways appeared first on Mark’s Daily Apple.

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If you’re in and out of the shower faster than the speed of light, then you might be forgetting to wash a few bacteria-laden body parts. While it’s perfectly acceptable to take a “quickie” shower now and again, you may want to revamp your day-to-day bathing routine to include body parts that require regular housekeeping. […]

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Research of the Week

A bodybuilding supplement reduces frailty and extends lifespan in mice.

Honey bee venom shows efficacy against cancer cells.

Beard prevalence predicts intra-sexual competition among men.

Exercise promotes general stress resilience.

Selenium deficiency is a major factor in cardiomyopathy.

New Primal Blueprint Podcasts

Episode 443: Dallas Hartwig: Host Elle Russ welcomes Dallas Hartwig, who wants you to live in tune with the seasons.

Primal Health Coach Radio Episode 74: Laura and Erin chat with Laura Poburan about cultivating your intuition.

Media, Schmedia

Walking isn’t enough.

Interesting Blog Posts

Vitamin D nearly abolishes the risk of ICU admittance in COVID-19.

Ancient Briton home decor.

Social Notes

What do you want from me?

Embrace flexibility.

Everything Else

The American Academy of Sleep Medicine wants to get rid of daylight savings time.

I want a singing dog.

The Lost Colony of Roanoke wasn’t actually lost. Turns out the English settlers left the settlement to join the natives (to find ourselves, maaaan).

Things I’m Up to and Interested In

I agree with all of this: Longevity advice from a Japanese doctor who lived to 105.

Research I found interesting: Fat is the main source of glucose in fasting.

Cool study: Highly-purified fish oil reduces atherosclerosis.

Sadly I’m not surprised: Plastics and other endocrine disrupting-agents could increase the risk of severe COVID-19.

You love to see it: California dairies are on their way to climate neutrality.

Question I’m Asking

Should we get rid of daylight savings time?

Recipe Corner

• Nyama choma—Kenyan grilled meat.
• Taco dip which you can easily turn into a taco salad. Lose the beans if you’re not into them.

Time Capsule

One year ago (Aug 29 – Sep 4)

• Life in the Sanitized Bubble (or Why Probiotics Are so Important)  – Too much of a good thing.
• Dear Mark: Health Effects of Neutering, Grain Free Dog Diets, Ideal Dog Diet  – I answer a few of your burning questions about dogs.

Comment of the Week

“I recently decided to imagine myself as a Teflon duck that stress slides off the back of.”

-Nice visual, joel.

The post Weekly Link Love – Edition 97 appeared first on Mark’s Daily Apple.

http://www.thealternativedaily.com/

With growing concerns over the environmental impact of farming livestock and an increased interest in alternative protein sources, retailers, restaurateurs, and consumers are starting to take a second look at insects as a serious food of the future. Many people believe insects are the answer to the ongoing viability of the human food supply since […]

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Burping, disrupted sleep, abdominal pain, nausea, even vomiting and choking … if you’ve experienced these symptoms, you’re likely suffering from chronic acid reflux, also commonly known at GERD.

You’re not alone. Roughly 25%-30% of Americans experience GERD-related heartburn multiple times a week.¹. One Norweigen study surmises that acid reflux is 50% more common than 10 years ago.²I personally suffered bouts of GERD and acid reflux during and even after my endurance training years, and my symptoms persisted until I finally gave up grains once and for all.

More debilitating than average, occasional heartburn, GERD symptoms chip away at your daily quality of life, and if left unattended, can even eventually lead to esophageal cancer ³. GERD and acid reflux are becoming more prevalent ⁴, and supposed ‘miracle’ pills are more pervasive than ever: from TUMS and Pepcid to prescription medications, the market is flooded with treatment options. How did a condition usually associated with late-stage pregnancy and over indulgence become an epidemic?

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What is GERD, or Acid Reflux? Are They the Same Thing?

Reflux, more commonly known as ‘heartburn,’ occurs when stomach acid moves backwards into the esophagus, sometimes as a result of the esophageal sphincter (the muscle that connects the stomach and esophagus) malfunctioning. ⁵ GERD, or gastroesophageal reflux disease, is a recurring, severe form of acid reflux. ⁶

Acid Reflux and GERD Symptoms

People who suffer from acid reflux and GERD tend to experience some combination of these symptoms regularly:

• Chest pain or burning sensation in your chest
• Regurgitation or even vomiting
• Coughing
• Stomach pain/discomfort
• Nausea
• Bad breath
• Tooth decay
• Respiratory problems⁷

What Causes Heartburn and Acid Reflux?

There are many contributing factors to heartburn and acid reflux, and depending on who you talk to, the causes will vary. Some blame foods that cause acid reflux, citing tomatoes, garlic, mint, chocolate, vinegar, and alcohol as “food triggers.”⁸

According to some doctors, the physiological causes are diverse: sliding hiatus hernia, low lower esophageal sphincter pressure, a relaxation of the lower sphincter, the acid pocket, obesity, among others.⁹ Other factors, like obesity, genetics, pregnancy, and even stress can allegedly also generate the symptoms of acid reflux and GERD.¹⁰

There is also a correlation between NSAID (think: aspirin and ibuprofen) and GERD – which might account for the many athletes and trainers who I know who rely on pain relief from medication, and then struggle with acid reflux ¹¹.

Some even notice the connection between higher levels of estrogen and GERD symptoms, perhaps why it was long associated with pregnant women ¹² With so many factors contributing to the causes of GERD, it’s easier to understand why so many suffer. However, the physical response to GERD and the treatment don’t quite connect. While the problem is rising acid, most medications treat excess acid, which doesn’t address the weakened esophageal sphincter, and might make one wonder, are these ‘wonder medications’ just treating the symptoms, and not the actual problem?

How to Stop Heartburn: the Most Common Acid Reflux Treatments

So what helps heartburn and acid reflux? Is there such a thing as acid reflux relief? Over the counter antacids like TUMS and Pepcid are often a short term solution, and it’s possible you’ve even heard about the recall of major drug, Zantac, and its link increasing risk of cancers.¹³ The most commonly prescribed acid reflux medication is a proton pump inhibitor, or a PPI.¹⁴

Most conventional doctors will treat GERD or acid reflux by prescribing one of the PPIs and recommending lifestyle changes (such as avoiding “food triggers”). Consistent symptoms usually result in further evaluations of the esophagus through endoscopies.
¹⁵ However, if you talk to folks who’ve been struggling with GERD and acid reflux for a while, you’ll learn PPIs have a bad reputation. Long term use is linked to higher risk of infections ¹⁶ and weaker bone integrity. Some even believe PPIs can cause kidney diseases, heart attacks, and dementia.¹⁷

Because PPIs reduce stomach acid, long term usage or incorrect dosage might cause a swing in the other direction – too little stomach acid, which can actually make symptoms worse. ¹⁸

Are there other remedies besides medication?

If chronic discomfort or long term side effects of PPIs don’t entice you, there are other options. Since doctors and patients are becoming more aware of the various side effects of antacids and proton pump inhibitors, there’s been an increased interest in non-medical therapies and remedies.¹⁹

For generations, doctors, healers, and patients have searched for natural remedies for acid reflux. For example, in ancient Persian culture, it was believed herbs might act as an acid reflux remedy – and given the enduring prevalence of this theory, there might be some evidence that it’s effective. ²⁰ Some people use teas and natural products meant to combat morning sickness because they contain similar herbs.

Home remedies for reflux

People have used the following remedies for GERD and reflux, with varying results:

• Apple cider vinegar, diluted in water, before meals
• Digestive bitters before meals
• Small amounts of baking soda mixed with water (Careful, this could make low stomach acid even lower.)
• Betaine HCl, to increase stomach acid (Another one to be careful with. This only works if your reflux symptoms are caused by low stomach acid. It can make matters worse if you have too much stomach acid.)
• Avoiding eating or snacking late in the evening
• Avoiding lying down after eating or snacking
• Stress management
• Probiotics, which may be part of a complete digestive system balancing regimen

Getting to the source of the problem is most effective, so work with your doctor to see what steps to take.

Acid reflux diet

The most common advice is be aware of what acid reflux and GERD foods to avoid. In general, the data on food and diet related to GERD and acid reflux symptoms can be sparse and conflicting, however, there is promising data that your diet can help protect against symptoms.²¹ In one study, researchers found that patients studied with GERD and acid reflux tended to have multiple food intolerances as well, suggesting that maybe acid reflux dietary modification could have a positive effect on symptoms.²²

Could low-carb be the answer? One small study points to lowering carb intake as a means for relief. ²³ Certainly there are folks who’ve found success, and you can read their stories right here ²⁴. If the underlying problem is a malfunctioning esophageal sphincter, we have to look at healing the system, not the acid (which is an important part of our body’s processes). I recommend Dr. Norman Robillard’s book, “Heartburn Cured: the Low Carb Miracle,” where he suggests that our high-carb diets are to blame. Our bodies are unable to properly breakdown the carbohydrates, creating gas in the upper digestive system, triggering the reflux.

Action Steps for GERD and Acid Reflux

How do we begin to heal the system, and not just the symptoms? Here are some things you can experiment with and see how you feel:

• Repopulate your gut with probiotics and good bacteria
• Eat low-carb
• Try omega-3s as a step toward addressing inflammation

Have you overcome GERD or acid reflux? I’d love to hear how others have tackled this and what has worked for you.

The post Acid Reflux, Heartburn, and GERD: Symptoms, Causes and Remedies appeared first on Mark’s Daily Apple.