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Research of the Week

Machiavellian and sadistic people are less likely to be members of frats or sororities; narcissistic people are more likely.

Teaching your kids that the world is a bad place is bad for your kids.

Rabbits show great promise as small-scale meat animals.

More nature contact, less loneliness.

Women suffered fewer high heels-related injuries during the pandemic.

New Primal Kitchen Podcasts

Episode 12: Crohn’s, Acne, Hormones, and Health—Unique Hammond Shares Her Journey

Primal Health Coach Institute: David Lindsay.

Primal Health Coach Institute: A year in review.

Media, Schmedia

A microchip brain implant allows a paralyzed man to send a Tweet.

Beef prices are way up but ranchers aren’t making extra money.

Interesting Blog Posts

What happens in Denisova Cave…

Social Notes

Get ready for Keto Month.

Changing Chinese eating habits.

Everything Else

Imagine the sound.

CDC recommends shorter isolation periods.

People tend to escalate the situation in nuclear war simulations.

Things I’m Up to and Interested In

Interesting paper: Brain insulin sensitivity and fat distribution.

Clear conclusion: Donuts good.

Bizarre: COVID strikes remote Antarctic science lab despite everyone being vaccinated and isolated.

True in every creature: We all have our roles.

Hilarious: Man seeking positive COVID test to avoid spending holidays with relatives.

Question I’m Asking

What do you think the new year will bring?

Recipe Corner

• Roast pork shoulder, skin on, Thai style.
• Beef masala curry.

Time Capsule

One year ago (Dec 25 – Dec 31)

• 11 Questions to Ask Yourself at the Start of the New Year — Ask away.
• Pros and Cons of Different Forms of Magnesium— All about magnesium.

Comment of the Week

“Re analog vs digital:
At its root, Things feel right when we align with nature and feel wrong when we don’t. (That’s because of our evolution).
We know Intuitively, with “gut feelings”, with all of our senses, body, and intellectually (if we pay attention), that pollution, plastics, blue light and sitting still all day, don’t feel as good as natural substances and activities that have interaction with nature as its basis.”

-I agree Tuffy.

The post New and Noteworthy: What I Read This Week—Edition 159 appeared first on Mark’s Daily Apple.

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The smaller, simpler goals are what everyone goes for every New Year’s. You know the ones I’m talking about.

Run three times a week.

Join the gym and use it.

Meditate for fifteen minutes every morning.

Call your parents every week.

Apply to new jobs every month.

These are worthy goals. Important goals. They form the backbone of a healthy, sustainable lifestyle—the staples of self-improvement. But let’s face it: they’re boring. Of course you should be training regularly, regulating stress, maintaining strong relationships, and pursuing professional success. These are non-negotiables. Make them goals if they’re missing from your life, but also stretch for greater things. Stretch for the big, scary goal you’ve always thought about.

What’s Your Big Scary Goal?

Everyone has one (or several). That one goal you pine after, the one that visits you in your sleep, that won’t go away, that feels a little bit unrealistic.

Well, it’s not unrealistic. It’s slightly unrealistic because it isn’t reality, right here and now. You have to grow into it—you must become the person that can accomplish the goal. How do you grow into your big scary goal?

Let’s take my experience with my own goals (the only ones I can truly speak to). My big scary goal for the longest time was “I want to change the way a million people eat” (for the better). I reached it, but what did it take? How did I start?

First of all, it doesn’t happen right away. Even “overnight sensations” are years in the making. There are thousands of steps before you make it.

That first step for me was sitting down, starting a health and fitness blog called Mark’s Daily Apple, and writing the first post. This was a simple step, one that, if broken down into its constituent parts, wasn’t all that difficult.

So that’s the first thing to consider: Each step should come rather easily. It should feel natural, it should be something you’re good at and ideally enjoy doing. I sat down and started writing about the things I knew about. Health, fitness, endurance, nutrition. These are subjects I’d spent my entire life studying and living, so writing about them wasn’t “hard.” These were subjects I was deeply interested in and enjoyed thinking about, so writing about them wasn’t “work.”

Another thing to consider is that your goal and the steps toward it should be open-ended. Rather than lead to a dead-end, the steps should lead to many potentialities and possibilities.

I didn’t think I’d ever actually reach my goal, until I got that many blog readers. Before I knew it, it was reality.

Did I stop there? Rest on my laurels?

Absolutely not. Once I hit a million, I started writing books. I started selling health coach certifications and putting on live events. It kept building and compounding until a million people eating differently sounded small. I co-founded Primal Kitchen and started selling mayo— literally changing how people were eating by altering the constituent parts of a common dietary staple that sits in everyone’s pantries.

The goal started as an abstract, indirect vision: show enough people a different, healthier way to eat and a good portion of them would actually change their diet.

It evolved into a tangible, direct progression: change the physical ingredients of mayonnaise, salad dressing, and other common pantry items so that people would actually be eating differently. And guess what? It worked. All because my goals and the steps required to achieve it led to unforeseen outcomes.

But really? the most important thing of all? Act.

It takes an act. Action. Motion. Doing things. Making it happen. Lifting of the leg to ascend the stairs. Moving your fingers to type the blog post. Whatever it takes, you’ll have to move and do and act. And then you will Be.

The cool thing about big scary goals is that they morph and evolve into bigger and better goals. Once you hit it, it keeps growing so you have to keep growing to keep up with it. That’s the secret of all this.

Trust me, I know.

The post How to FINALLY Take the First Steps Toward That Big Scary Goal This Year appeared first on Mark’s Daily Apple.

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Resolutions season is rolling around again, and I want to propose something a little different this year.

What if we all agreed to resolve for MORE? More what? More of whatever brings meaning or happiness to your life. More of the things that fill your proverbial bucket.

I’m proposing a mindset shift for this coming year. Instead of looking at your life and asking, “What needs fixing?” or “What ‘bad’ behaviors do I need to change?” what if you asked yourself: 

• “What can I add that would make next year more joyful?”
• “In what ways would I like to grow next year?”
• “How can I help myself flourish?”

We all need and deserve more good right now. Here are some ideas getting more out of the coming year.

More Green

No, not money (though good for you if you get it!). I’m talking about nature.

If you didn’t jump on the houseplant bandwagon last year, what are you waiting for? Houseplants can help reduce stress and negative emotions. Place a few plants in your workspace to improve attention and productivity.¹ 

Plant a little garden this year. Gardening can be incredibly therapeutic, and it is one of the activities that helps Blue Zones residents stay active well into their ninth and tenth decades, while also providing fresh food. 

Have a brown thumb? No problem, you can bring more green into your environment by painting a wall or adding green accent pieces to your decor. There’s a whole field of study called “color psychology” that suggests that the color green evokes feelings of peace and harmony.² Add some green to your workspace to boost creativity.³ 

Get more green exercise, meaning exercise done in nature. Green space produces myriad health benefits ranging from stress reduction to better immune function to longevity. This need not be time-consuming or arduous exercise either. Research suggests that just five minutes of walking in nature or gardening can significantly improve mood and self-esteem.⁴

The Japanese practice of forest bathing, or shinrin yoku, involves deliberate slow walks through forests (or other green spaces like parks). In order to reap the many physical and mental health benefits,⁵ however, you must unplug and make a concerted effort to be present in the moment, noticing the sights, sounds, and smells around you. (More forest bathing is my number one intention for next year.)

More Music

Beyond the pure enjoyment that humans get from listening to music, music therapies are great for everything from cancer⁶ to autism⁷ to dementia⁸. However, I’m not talking about listening to music here. (But by all means, listen to more music next year!) 

No, I’m talking about making music. Learn a new instrument or dust off that clarinet from high school band. Mark has taken up drumming in the past few years and wrote recently about the many impressive brain benefits you get from playing music. 

Drums are cool because in addition to making music, you also get a workout and the chance to bang away some stress. But if drums aren’t your (or your housemates’) thing, check out the Brainjo program developed by neurologist and ancestral health enthusiast Dr. Josh Turknett, which “integrates the science of neuroplasticity to optimize the learning process.”

More Discomfort

Growth happens when we are willing to step outside of our comfort zones. We Primal folks are already accustomed to putting ourselves out there and trying new things, so this one probably doesn’t sound as unappealing to you as it might to the average person. 

Think about activities that sound scary-exciting or appealing-but-nervewracking. Maybe learning a new instrument checks that box for you. Is this the year you finally try out for community theater, write your memoir, or sign up for your first 5k?

Experiment with some temperature variation—cold exposure and heat therapy. Harness the power of hormetic stress! 

More Sleep

This is a no-brainer, and we have tons of posts on the blog about how to optimize your sleep. The two practices I’m really hammering home right now and for the new year are:

• Enforcing a consistent bedtime.
• Getting natural light soon after waking. 

Those are both powerful circadian rhythm entrainers, and they’re highly actionable with a firm commitment (parents of young children and shift workers excepted).

More Squatting

What’s not to love about squats? As one of the Primal Essential Movements, they hold a special place in our hearts around here. 

Incorporate more squatting into your day via microworkouts. Break up periods of inactivity, stimulate your muscles, and work on balance and mobility all at the same time! Incorporate a variety of squats to challenge your body in different ways. 

Commit to spending less time in a chair or on the couch and more time in a squat. Squatting should be a default human rest position, as evidenced by cultures around the globe. Yet many of us struggle even to get into a heels-down squatting position, much less find it restful. 

And hey, it can even help you poop! 

More Sunshine

It’s never been more obvious that low vitamin D is a public health crisis, and sun exposure is by far the best way to increase vitamin D levels (followed by supplementation). That’s reason enough to spend more time in the sun, but of course, sunshine also has immediate and tangible benefits for how you feel on a daily basis.

Commit to getting out and moving in the sunshine every day, weather permitting, and you also get the mood-elevating, immune-enhancing, and longevity-promoting benefits of green exercise. Go early for the aforementioned sleep hack, as well, and take off your shoes to grab some grounding.

Take meals, work, and phone calls outdoors whenever possible. Even if you’re not moving, you’re still getting that sweet, sweet vitamin D. 

More Self-compassion

Couldn’t we all use more kindness and understanding in our lives right now? Well, you can start with being kind to yourself. 

“Self-care” is having quite the moment right now, but it’s usually associated with pampering, taking “me time,” and setting good boundaries with the energy vampires in your life. While I wholeheartedly endorse all those things, I think self-compassion is the ultimate act of self-care. 

Self-compassion is basically a way of showing yourself grace and understanding whenever you’re having a hard time for any reason. Research shows that more self-compassionate individuals also experience 

• Better relationships with romantic partners⁹ 
• Fewer negative emotions¹⁰ 
• Less depression and anxiety¹¹
• More happiness¹²
• More positive body image¹³

Self-compassion doesn’t come naturally to everyone, though. Negative self-talk and limiting beliefs are all too common. The good news is that self-compassion, like mindfulness, is a skill you can develop through regular practice using guided meditations like the ones here, books, or workshops. 

Ok, I’ll stop here, but there are so many more I could have mentioned. Now it’s your turn. What do YOU need more of in the coming year, and how will you get it? 

The post Flipping the Script on Resolutions: MORE, Not Less appeared first on Mark’s Daily Apple.

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Hi folks, if everything feels more challenging right now, you’ll definitely want to check out this week’s post. PHCI’s Coaching & Curriculum Director and seasoned health coach, Erin Power, is here to show you how to achieve your goals with less force and more flow. Got a question for our health coaches? Drop it in the comments below or over in our Mark’s Daily Apple Facebook group.

Jason asked:
“Nearly every day, often in the late afternoon, I get so tired I can’t do anything (whether it be work, socializing, or exercise). Still, instead of surrendering to a nap, I try to force myself to do something. Do you have any tips for these situations?”

What if, instead of forcing your body into doing something it doesn’t want to do, you actually did the thing it wanted you to do?

We make things so much harder than they need to be. Like when your stomach growls. Your first thought might be to ignore it because it’s not a mealtime, or because you just ate, or because you’re trying to fast for another few hours. Or you’re convinced you’re thirsty and suck down a glass of water to keep the growling at bay. Here’s an idea: what if you responded to your body’s signals instead of dismissing them? How amazing would that be?

You say you get so tired that you can’t do anything. So, what’s the benefit of forcing yourself to stay up? Is it because you have work to do? Responsibilities to manage? Think napping’s only for kids? Worried the productivity police will come and pull your overachiever card?

Are Naps Good for You?

In many cultures (that are far smarter than we are, mind you), midday naps are considered non-negotiable.¹ From Spanish siestas to Italian riposos to Japanese inemuris, these cultures believe that napping is a respected activity you can and should do daily.

So really, it’s just us folks here in the “developed West” that equate napping with laziness. But tons of research shows the widespread benefits of taking a midday rest, everything from improved alertness to a longer life span. In fact, I took a nap in the middle of the day last week, and my Oura Ring upgraded my sleep score from an already impressive 96, to a 98 (out of a possible 100). So, naps can absolutely count as beneficial, quality sleep.

How Long Should Naps Be?

Take this study that looked at the impact of napping on athletes. Researchers had thirteen national-level karate athletes take either a thirty-minute nap or no nap after a night of partial sleep deprivation. Then they completed a series of tests that included cognitive and physical activities like reaction time, mental rotation, squat jumps, and countermovement jumps. The study found that a thirty-minute nap enhanced cognitive function and helped the athletes overcome psychological and physical fatigue more effectively.

Thirty minutes of resting can leave you feeling restored and ready to take on anything. There are even studies that say that a 10-minute nap does the trick.² That being said, if the sleep you get at night is sub-par, you’ll want to address that first. But the idea here is that it doesn’t have to be an all-or-nothing situation.

Napping doesn’t have to mean checking out for the rest of the day. And it doesn’t need to bring up feelings of guilt, shame, or assumed laziness. When your body tells you it’s tired, honor those signs. Then pull the shades, get under the covers, and set the alarm for thirty minutes. You can thank me later.

Kathy asked:
“I’ve been Primal for years, but lately have been leaning more towards Carnivore. What are your thoughts on this?”

I’m not a big fan of diet declarations, in general. I am, however, a fan of listening to your body. And if you’re finding that you feel better eating more animal-based foods and less of everything else, why not give it a go?

What’s the Carnivore Diet?

Carnivore is an animal-protein focused diet that includes foods like meat, fish, eggs, and — depending on which Carnivore doctrine you align with — may include honey, and lower-lactose dairy products. While it’s similar to Primal (both believe that we should eat the way our ancestors did), the carnivore diet also generally excludes fruits and veggies.

A sampling of foods in the “eat this” category include:

• Beef
• Chicken
• Pork
• Lamb
• Turkey
• Organ meats
• Salmon
• Sardines
• Shellfish
• Eggs
• Butter
• Lard
• Marrow
• Cream and hard cheeses in small amounts

Some people do well on a strict carnivore diet, claiming weight loss, improved mood, and better blood sugar regulation. There haven’t been a ton of studies to date, but anecdotally, quite a few folks in the Mark’s Daily Apple community and in the Primal Health Coach community seem to thrive on it. I’ve had a handful of clients try it to manage the symptoms of irritable bowel diseases, with some pretty excellent outcomes. It is considered by some to be the “ultimate elimination diet.” That doesn’t mean you have to push into total Carnivore though.

Our society tends to reward the all-or-nothing thinking that makes us believe we must go full throttle on our plans to make them worthwhile. If we’re not loading up on organ meats 24/7 (and shouting our dietary choices from the rooftops), it means we’re not 100% in.

How to Ease into Carnivore

The restrictive nature alone makes the carnivore diet a challenge to stick to. Instead of forcing this shift in your diet, what if you make incremental changes?

Since you’re already eating Primal, the bulk of your calories come from animal products anyway. So, use veggies, fruits, and tubers as accents on your plate. Let them enhance your micronutrition rather than be giant caloric staples.

Strictness for strictness’ sake can be a recipe for failure. Limiting the big inflammatory players like sugar, grains, and seed oils is smart, and going full carnivore might not be necessary. Try making some subtle shifts and pay attention to how you feel. Just listen to your body. Finding your optimal way of eating might be easier than you think. And if you need extra help or accountability, you can sign up for daily, actionable tips through the new myPrimalCoach app. You can even work with your own health coach one on one.

Donna asked:
“Do you have any guidance about resting heart rate and HRV, or know of a good resource to learn more about it? I recently stopped running/walking due to too many other commitments and my HRV went up 20 points. It feels very unhealthy but certainly looks like my body likes being sedentary.”

Increased heart rate variability has to do with your parasympathetic nervous system, or your relaxed state. It’s the measure of variation in between each heartbeat. And while I’m not personally really into tracking metrics (calories, steps, macros), I think there’s a benefit of checking in on your HRV numbers.

Benefits of Tracking HRV

Tracking your HRV gives you insight into how stressed your nervous system is. It also allows you to see if you’re producing excess cortisol (which can make you weight loss resistant). Generally speaking, the number will be lower if your body is in sympathetic or fight-or-flight mode. If you’re in a more relaxed state, the number will be higher. But it’s not just your daily run/walk that impacts your heart rate’s variability. When you’re burned out, sleep-deprived, undernourished, or not well-rested in general, you’ll notice that the variation in your heart rate starts to go down.

Research shows that people with a high HRV tend to have better cardiovascular fitness.³ It means that the body is adept at vacillating between sympathetic and parasympathetic states. Basically, high HRV indicates a balanced nervous system that can adapt to various conditions on demand.

But in your case, your numbers went up when you stopped exercising. Again, these numbers provide feedback about your body’s stress levels, so there’s a chance that your workouts weren’t doing what you think they were. Being completely sedentary isn’t the answer, however.

Heart Rate Variability Resources

Daily movement is one of the best things you can do for your body. So, when you start walking and running again, try integrating a few of these practices and see if you notice a change in your numbers.

Non-fitness ways to increase HRV:

• Deep breathing or meditation
• More or better-quality sleep
• Adjust your food intake; double down on the anti-inflammatory foods that don’t trigger a stressful immune response
• Notice how your emotions, thoughts, and feelings affect your stress levels

I do use my Oura Ring to keep tabs on my HRV. The Elite HRV app is a good one too. But don’t dismiss your gut instincts about your health. Your body has been trying to tell you what you should or shouldn’t do for years. And it’s not too late to start paying attention. I have a deep respect for exercise science and love the insights HRV can provide. However, there’s no replacing the act of honoring your body’s signals. That means pushing yourself when you feel rested and recovering when you’re not.

Are you trying to force your results, or are you in the flow? Tell me down in the comments.

The post Ask a Health Coach: How to Reach Your Goals More Easily appeared first on Mark’s Daily Apple.

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There are some amazing story-tellers out there in the world, on the television, in the newspapers, on social media. Omnipresent narrators with an authoritative command of language and imagery and sound and special effects that wield supreme confidence. Doesn’t matter if the stories they tell are largely fictional. They sound and look good so we believe them. We can’t help but pay attention and give them credence even if we tell ourselves we don’t.

For you are a story-telling hominid. It’s in your DNA. You respond to stories—on a guttural, instinctual level. You perceive your daily existence as a story unfolding into the future and stretching back through time. We are vulnerable to the power of stories.

And so for this holiday season, this Christmas, or winter solstice, or whichever one you follow, give yourself the license to tell your own story.

Used to be around the campfire you’d tell stories about the day’s adventures, the hunts successful or failed, the trickster gods, the founding myths, the battles won or lost. Or you’d heed the stories of your close community, your village, your tribe. These were people with close ties to you. Maybe even blood ties. They knew you, and you knew them. It wasn’t all hunky dory, but at least you were all in the same boat together, aiming for the same general outcomes. Those stories you could trust. And because they were “smaller scale” stories, you could also verify the ones you didn’t quite trust.

That was a limited world and we can’t return to it, and there are many benefits to living in the modern far-flungness of the contemporary, but you can’t help but note the downsides. Atomization. Lack of meaning and purpose. Traditions shattered whose pieces you pick up and try to reassemble. And stories whose provenance you can’t verify with your own two eyes through direct experience.

Instead, you have to research and second-guess everything. Triple-guess, even. You have to fact-check the stories and then fact-check the fact-checkers. Everyone’s trying to sell you their version of reality—in order to sell something to you, convince you to go along with a narrative, or “nudge” you toward some desired behavior or outcome.

This isn’t necessarily a new phenomenon, but never before have the storytellers had such influence while also having so little direct connection to the consumers of the narrative.

That’s where we find ourselves: subjects to the Narrative, or narratives.

This cannot continue. You are the protagonist, not a random side character that appears once or twice only to be subsumed into the narrative. When we stop telling our own story, or never start in the first place, we lose ourselves. When we tell our own story, we become the main character. And what happens in every story ever told when the protagonist accepts his or her role in the narrative?

The protagonist rises to the occasion. The protagonist becomes the hero.

That’s the power of story that you need to access.

To start telling your own story, you need to stop ignoring the gut check. If a story sounds fishy or goes against your own direct experience, don’t accept it at face value. Never discard or discount what you know to be true, what your nervous system tells you is probably the case. Instead, regard these stories that contradict your own with extreme suspicion. They require ironclad verification.

Remember: the human gut produces a large majority of your neurotransmitters.

Remember: a direct line of communication runs from the gut to the brain.

Remember: your nervous system is working for you and knows more than you suspect. Ignore it at your peril.

Remember: you’re not ignoring reality. You are discerning.

Don’t disappear. Become the Hero. And remember that heroes come in all shapes and sizes. “Hero” is a relative term—all that matters is that you tell your own story and display agency.

Heroism starts with agency. Going upstream. Charting a course. Deciding. Acting. Writing the story as it unfolds.

How are you going to start telling your own story this year?

The post The #1 Gift You Can Give Yourself This Year appeared first on Mark’s Daily Apple.

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We’re all about easy meals here at Mark’s Daily Apple, but sometimes you want to step it up and make something a little special. Who says you can’t serve an impressive meal that’s also simple? Here, we made air fryer cornish hens over mashed root veggies with a side of roasted Brussels sprouts. It’s easy to prepare and is a step up from your typical weekday fare.

Here’s how to make it.

Cornish Hens with Brussels Sprouts and Gravy Recipe

Ingredients

• 2 cornish hens
• 2 tsp. dried thyme
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. black pepper
• 1 tsp. onion powder
• 1 tsp. smoked paprika
• 1/2 tsp. mustard powder
• 1.5 tbsp. avocado oil
• Primal Kitchen® Classic Gravy

Roasted Brussels Sprouts

• 2 tbsp. avocado oil
• 1.5 lb. brussels sprouts
• 4 cloves sliced garlic
• Salt and pepper

Root vegetable mash

Directions

Drizzle and rub the avocado oil all over the hens.

In a small bowl, combine all of the spices together and sprinkle them on all sides of both of the hens. Place the cornish hens on a baking sheet or an air fryer rack.

Air Fryer instructions

Preheat your air fryer to 350 degrees Fahrenheit if you are using an air fryer with a stainless basket, or 380 degrees if using an air fryer with a plastic basket. Place the hens breast side down and air fry for about 30 minutes. Flip the birds over and continue air frying until the internal temperature reaches 165-180 degrees Fahrenheit in the thickest part of the breast and thigh (check the packaging on your hens to confirm cooking temperature). For a crispier bird, you can increase the temperature to 375 or 400 respectively and air fry until the skin crisps up. The overall time and temperature it takes will depend on the type of air fryer you have.

Oven Instructions

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Place the hens on a sheet pan or baking sheet and roast for about 55 minutes. Check the internal temperature and place back in the oven if necessary, until the internal temperature of the thickest part of the breast and thigh reach 165-180 degrees Fahrenheit.

To prepare the brussels sprouts, cut off the tough ends and cut them in half lengthwise. Toss them in the avocado oil, sliced garlic, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Lay them out on a glass baking dish or roasting pan and roast at 375 degrees for about 40-45 minutes, or until golden, Alternatively, you can place them in your air fryer and air fry at 350 or 375 degrees for about 15 minutes, or until golden. The overall time and temperature it takes will depend on the type of air fryer you have.

Once the hens have cooled slightly, slice them in half and serve each half with a helping of crispy brussels sprouts and a serving of mashed root veggies. Pour the Primal Kitchen Classic Gravy on top and enjoy!

Tips

• Cornish hens vary a bit in size and are usually around 1-1.5 pounds. This will influence how long they take to cook, and how many people they feed. For a larger bird, aim for half of a hen per serving. For smaller hens, you may be able to serve each person a whole hen.
• Defer to the cooking instructions that came with your cornish hens if you have any. Some packaging recommends cooking hens to 180 degrees, which differs a bit from the typical 165 degrees for other poultry.
• Every air fryer is a bit different, so defer to your manual on ideal cooking times and temperatures. I’ve found that steel-insert air fryers tend to cook a bit more hot and quickly than plastic insert fryers. If the air fryer function on yours runs quite hot and you have a convection bake option, that might be an option to use instead to make sure your hens cook on the inside as well as the outside.
• Feel free to switch up the spice blend used on the cornish hens. Another option would be grated lemon, freshly grated garlic, chopped rosemary, salt, pepper and onion powder.
• Not a fan of brussels sprouts? Swap it out for your favorite veggie! Some other good options for this dish would be roasted asparagus, broccoli or cabbage.

Print

Cornish Hens with Gluten-free Gravy Recipe (with Air Fryer Option!)

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• 
  Author: Mark’s Daily Apple
• 
  Total Time: 35 minutes
• 
  Yield: 4-6 servings
• 
  Diet: Gluten Free

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Description

Cornish hens with grain-free, no gluten gravy over root veggie mash and brussels sprouts.

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Ingredients

2 cornish hens

2 tsp. dried thyme

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. black pepper

1 tsp. onion powder

1 tsp. smoked paprika

1/2 tsp. mustard powder

1.5 tbsp. avocado oil

Primal Kitchen® Classic Gravy

Roasted Brussels Sprouts

• 2 tbsp. avocado oil
• 1.5 lb. brussels sprouts
• 4 cloves sliced garlic
• Salt and pepper

Root vegetable mash

---

Instructions

Drizzle and rub the avocado oil all over the hens. In a small bowl, combine all of the spices together and sprinkle them on all sides of both of the hens. Place the cornish hens on a baking sheet or an air fryer rack.

Air Fryer instructions:

Preheat your air fryer to 350 degrees Fahrenheit if you are using an air fryer with a stainless basket, or 380 degrees if using an air fryer with a plastic basket. Place the hens breast side down and air fry for about 30 minutes. Flip the birds over and continue air frying until the internal temperature reaches 165-180 degrees Fahrenheit in the thickest part of the breast and thigh (check the packaging on your hens to confirm cooking temperature). For a crispier bird, you can increase the temperature to 375 or 400 respectively and air fry until the skin crisps up. The overall time and temperature it takes will depend on the type of air fryer you have.

Oven Instructions: 

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Place the hens on a sheet pan or baking sheet and roast for about 55 minutes. Check the internal temperature and place back in the oven if necessary, until the internal temperature of the thickest part of the breast and thigh reach 165-180 degrees Fahrenheit. 

To prepare the brussels sprouts, cut off the tough ends and cut them in half lengthwise. Toss them in the avocado oil, sliced garlic, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Lay them out on a glass baking dish or roasting pan and roast at 375 degrees for about 40-45 minutes, or until golden, Alternatively, you can place them in your air fryer and air fry at 350 or 375 degrees for about 15 minutes, or until golden. The overall time and temperature it takes will depend on the type of air fryer you have.

Once the hens have cooled slightly, slice them in half and serve each half with a helping of crispy brussels sprouts and a serving of mashed root veggies. Pour the Primal Kitchen Classic Gravy on top and enjoy!

Notes

Cornish hens vary a bit in size and are usually around 1-1.5 pounds. This will influence how long they take to cook, and how many people they feed. For a larger bird, aim for half of a hen per serving. For smaller hens, you may be able to serve each person a whole hen. 

Defer to the cooking instructions that came with your cornish hens if you have any. Some packaging recommends cooking hens to 180 degrees, which differs a bit from the typical 165 degrees for other poultry.

Every air fryer is a bit different, so defer to your manual on ideal cooking times and temperatures. I’ve found that steel-insert air fryers tend to cook a bit more hot and quickly than plastic insert fryers. If the air fryer function on yours runs quite hot and you have a convection bake option, that might be an option to use instead to make sure your hens cook on the inside as well as the outside.

Feel free to switch up the spice blend used on the cornish hens. Another option would be grated lemon, freshly grated garlic, chopped rosemary, salt, pepper and onion powder.

Not a fan of brussels sprouts? Swap it out for your favorite ve

• Prep Time: 5 min
• Cook Time: 30 min
• Category: Lunch, Dinner
• Method: Air Fryer
• Cuisine: American

Nutrition

• Serving Size: 1/2 hen, 1/4 brussels
• Calories: 521.6
• Sugar: 3.8 g
• Sodium: 715.6 mg
• Fat: 36 g
• Saturated Fat: 8 g
• Unsaturated Fat: 25.32
• Trans Fat: .46 g
• Carbohydrates: 17.4 g
• Fiber: 6.9 g
• Protein: 34.8 g
• Cholesterol: 168.3 mg
• Net Carbs: 10.41 g

Keywords: cornish hens recipe, air fryer cornish hens recipe, gluten free gravy chicken recipe

The post Cornish Hens with Gluten-free Gravy Recipe (with Air Fryer Option!) appeared first on Mark’s Daily Apple.

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Research of the Week

How personalities changed during the pandemic.

The Celts arrived in Britain in the mid-to-late Bronze Age, introducing both language and lactase persistence that still persist today.

Fewer grazing animals, more fires.

Mammoths lived longer than the fossil record would suggest.

Night workers have healthier circadian rhythms and glucose control when they eat during the day.

New Primal Kitchen Podcasts

Episode 11: Getting Kids to Kick Sugar with Sugarproof Authors Dr. Ventura and Dr. Goran

Primal Health Coach Institute: Jennifer Nagel is an established and seasoned health and fitness veteran passionate both about helping women achieve better health and health coaches build better businesses.

Primal Health Coach Institute: Dr. Glenn Livingston helps you face your inner pig.

Media, Schmedia

A Scotsman, a kilt, and a husky walk into a Canadian forest…

More proof that Beyond Meat is awful and everyone knows it.

Interesting Blog Posts

Let’s make the Bison Sphere.

Social Notes

I love resistance bands.

Everything Else

Is your cat a psychopath?

How much would a billion oysters cost?

People tend to escalate the situation in nuclear war simulations.

Things I’m Up to and Interested In

Interesting paper: How meat-eating led to bigger brains, better cognition, but also more zoonotic pathogens and plant medicines.

How could this be?: More cattle, more biodiversity.

Terrifying thought: A carnivorous dinosaur that ran faster than Usain Bolt.

Not surprised: Books beat tablets.

Oops: More animal protein, less mortality.

Question I’m Asking

Did you know this?

Recipe Corner

• Air fryer fish sticks.
• Neapolitan-style braised salt cod.

Time Capsule

One year ago (Dec 11 – Dec 17)

• How to Really Bond With Your Family This Holiday Season — How to do it.
• What I’m Doing For Christmas— What I did last year.

Comment of the Week

“Speaking of eternities from your Sunday with Sisson, perhaps they do exist. But perhaps it’s the flip of what we feel to be true. The future and the past feel eternal but are finite, while the present feels fleeting but is eternal. Our whole lives is spent living in the eternal present.”

-Well said, Aaron.

The post New and Noteworthy: What I Read This Week—Edition 158 appeared first on Mark’s Daily Apple.

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Hi everyone, this week we’re excited to have board-certified Health & Wellness Coach, Chloé Maleski here to answer your questions. She’ll be talking about the validity of food intolerances, how to make the first few weeks of keto more manageable, and why genetics don’t have to dictate your health. Got a question for our coaches? Drop it in the comments below or over in the Mark’s Daily Apple Facebook group.

Vlad asked:
“I think I might have an almond/nut allergy or intolerance. When I unknowingly eat products that might have almond flour, 24-48 hours later I experience what feels like a head cold (runny nose, cottonmouth, drowsy, fatigue) for a few days along with some bad gas. Does this even exist? Is it common?”

From a Primal point-of-view, nuts can be a great addition to most diets. Nuts are satisfying, satiating, and have healthy fats, decent protein, and nominal carbs. If you can get past the phytic acid issue (I know I can), they’re a near-perfect food — except for folks with a nut allergy or intolerance. Which sounds like what you might be dealing with. According to this research, 1.1% of the general population (that’s about 3 million Americans) have a tree nut or peanut allergy. And yes, peanuts are more accurately a legume, but that’s not the point.

The point is this, most people have been taught to completely disregard any and all physical, mental, and emotional symptoms they’re experiencing. They’re so busy operating on autopilot (and likely having some of the symptoms below), trying to do what’s “right” versus noticing what’s right for them.

Common food intolerance symptoms include:

• Bloating
• Stomach pain
• Gas
• Diarrhea
• Migraines
• Headaches
• Brain fog
• Runny nose
• Fatigue

Common food allergy symptoms include:

• Hives
• Swelling
• Congestion
• Difficulty swallowing
• Itchy or tingly mouth
• Shortness of breath
• Nausea or vomiting
• Anaphylaxis (which is potentially life-threatening)

Instead of tuning into these symptoms, most people flat out ignore what’s going on, or chalk them up to something else. Let this be your friendly health coach reminder that no one knows your body better than you do. Not your primary care doc. Not your spouse. Not even the most seasoned health coaches. Also, and I know this one can be tough to hear, not all dietary approaches are right for all people.

This is a huge block for people who are following their diet du jour, faithfully keeping tabs on which foods are “good” and which are “bad” and having no clue why they still feel awful.

You have a unique metabolic expression. Meaning, what works for someone else might not work for you. And vice versa. If I were you, I would eliminate almonds, almond flour, and anything made from them for 2-3 weeks, including almond milk, protein bars, and paleo cakes and cookies. (Just FYI, if you have an actual nut allergy, I would eliminate those foods for good.)

After 2 or 3 weeks are up, reintroduce your favorite almond-based products. And not just a bite or two of the leftover almond milk ice cream that’s waiting for you in the freezer. For the first few days, load up on almonds – and foods made with almonds. If your symptoms return, take them out again (or take them out forever). If they don’t, consider yourself free to eat ‘em.

Jordan asked:
“What data should I be collecting about my body/health if I’m at risk for developing diabetes? What tests should I do? I’m pretty sure there’s a genetic component for me.”

It’s smart to be concerned about diabetes, especially since it sounds like it runs in your family. But just because you have the genetic coding for it, doesn’t mean you’ll get it. If you’ve ever read up on epigenetics, you know what I’m talking about. Epigenetics is the idea that you can reprogram your genes through dietary, behavioral, and environmental changes.

And there’s been tons of research to back this up. One of the most interesting being a study that looked at the genetic variance of desert nomads, mountain agrarians, and urban residents in North Africa.¹ They had similar genetic patterns (basically they were all from the same genetic stock), but had very different habits and living conditions. Researchers analyzed the white blood cells of the groups to study the impact of traditional lifestyles versus modern ones. Turns out, the group living in an urban environment had upregulated respiratory and immune genes, while the genes in their more traditional-living counterparts stayed dormant.

In all the groups, the genes stayed the same, but the expression of those genes changed depending on how the residents lived. That’s epigenetics.

As controversial as it might be, there’s also evidence that epigenetics explains why COVID-19 affects some people mildly and is completely devastating for others.²

So, how do you reprogram your genes? When it comes to blood sugar balance (i.e. avoiding a diabetes diagnosis), here are five things you can do today:

• Go for a walk after meals³
• Eat more protein and fat
• Eat less refined carbs
• Practice deep breathing exercises
• Get a good night’s sleep tonight

That being said, there are certain tests you can do to monitor your blood sugar — from glycated hemoglobin (A1C) tests that measure the degree of glycation in your red blood cells’ hemoglobin to a wearable glucose monitor that measures your blood sugar throughout the day and night.

And if you need help, I highly recommend working one-on-one with a coach in the new myPrimalCoach app. If you haven’t checked it out yet, you can do so here.

Debbie asked:
“I had 24g carbs yesterday and felt okay. I ate dinner at 6pm, went to bed at 9:30pm, and when I got up at 5:30am, I felt a little off, weak, and light-headed. I’ve tried keto before, keeping carbs to 20 grams and it was really hard on my body. I felt sick the whole time. Is it possible to have a body that just can’t do keto?”

Like I said earlier, not every “diet” works for every person. We are all physically and metabolically different and just because some people have success with keto, doesn’t mean you will. But (and stay with me here) it doesn’t mean you won’t.

I’m not a big fan of measuring, counting, and tracking in general. However, you might consider that the 20-ish grams of carbs aren’t necessarily the culprit of your malaise. There are so many other factors to think about. For instance:

• How is your sleep?
• Are you eating enough fat and protein (and calories)?
• Do you need more carbs? Up to 50 grams per day is keto-approved (or higher if you’re active)
• Are you exercising too much?
• Are you adding electrolytes to your water?

That last one, in my experience, is most likely to blame. When you first go keto, you deplete your glycogen stores, which is totally normal. Unfortunately, the result of this depletion is water loss. Every time you lose a gram of glycogen, you lose four grams of water and a whole lot of sodium, magnesium, and potassium. And because going keto lowers insulin too, you also naturally reduce sodium retention, which can off-set the delicate balance of your electrolytes. Hence, needing to supplement with a brand like Ultima or LMNT.

There are lots of ways to be healthy and/or reach a specific health goal. And keto is just one of them. So, play around with a few variables and see what happens. You might be surprised at the outcome.

Do you agree? Disagree? Tell me what you think in the comments.

The post Ask a Health Coach: Intolerances, Electrolytes, and Epigenetics appeared first on Mark’s Daily Apple.

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I grew up in the late ’70s and ’80s, have been an athlete my entire life, and have loved football for as far back as I can remember. So one of my favorite training stories from the mainstream media as a kid was the hill that legendary running back Walter Payton used to condition himself in the off-season. Look anywhere on the internet and you can find stories of Payton’s out-of-this-world conditioning, how he would bring athletes from all sports to train with him, and how they would all ultimately tap out from exhaustion. He’s one of the NFL’s most prolific runners, arguably one of the greatest of all time, and the hill was his secret.

I’ve been coaching for almost twenty years now, and I am obsessed with hill running. I have Payton to thank for this, and since speed is the ultimate goal in all of my programs, hills (or stairs for those of you who don’t have a suitable hill close by) are an absolute must in any speed or conditioning program. I’ve spent the bulk of my career split between Cal Poly and San Jose State and both places have significant hill/stadium inclines that are perfect for hammering my athletes.

Why Hills?

Strength and power are critical when we are talking speed, especially during the acceleration phase. Forty-yard dashes, great running backs darting through a seam, a batter racing down the first base line trying to beat out a throw, or a forward exploding to the hole, the sudden burst of speed is the most important factor. It’s the first three to five steps that determine the success of the effort.

Watch the NFL combine. When you see the athletes run their 40s, it’s the start that is the greatest determiner of a good time. Inversely, when you see a guy stumble out of the gate or take a sloppy step, you can rest assured that the time will be less than impressive.

Hill running teaches the drive phase of a sprint as nothing else can. Because of the incline, the runner must use the forefoot to climb. One of the most important speed training cues we use is that front of the foot is for speed, the heels are for braking. Even big guys, who by virtue of their size and propensity to heel contact first when they run on flat ground, are forced into an “appropriate” sprinting position. Think of the lean that you see world-class sprinters use in the first 50-70 meters of a 100-meter dash — that is the position we want to teach and the hill automatically does it for us.

The most obvious benefit is the load hill running puts on the legs. I have always thought that parachute pulling, banded running, and partner towing are silly given that all of those devices or routines are targeting the benefits of time on the hills. Next to squatting, Olympic lifting and/or kettlebell training, nothing will address leg strength and explosiveness like sprints up a hill.

Use Hills for Lateral Applications

Because the vast majority of the teams that I train for speed don’t actually get opportunities in their sports to run straight ahead where track workouts would benefit them (think top-end speed), we devote nearly all of our time working change of direction training. Many kids have little or no understanding of how to turn. They have no understanding of where their body is in space, insist on using their toes to slow down, and more often than not, have little control of their momentum when they run.

Because of the incline of your chosen hill, the runner must naturally situate his/her drive foot in a “toe-in” position when they laterally climb. If they don’t, their efficiency goes down the toilet and they will feel, almost instinctively, a need to adjust. When one are on flat ground, one of the major takeaways in footing that I teach is a subtle toe-in on the outside leg of a directional turn. This does two things. First, it allows the runner to access the big toe completely when they drive. Second, it directionally is in sync with where they are trying to go. Believe it or not, this is something that many of these kids do not possess when they show up at first. And, what you get when they don’t own this technique is a slow, power-stripped attempt at redirecting themselves.

Next, gravity is a bully. The natural incline of the hill demands a very forceful push. One that is necessary on flat ground when the athlete is attempting to accelerate.  If I can get a kid to haul ass up the hill, either laterally or straight ahead, they have context and I can get that type of understanding on flat ground. 

The Benefits of Backward Hill Sprints

Hill running backward is the perfect way to hammer your athletes. The hill I use is out behind our sports complex at Cal Poly is about a 35-yard climb at approximately a 14 percent grade. Steep. We have integrated backward running into the final phase of our hill workouts. Part of it is because I want my kids considerably uncomfortable, part of functional speed for my defensive backs and linebackers, and the other part is because I want them to develop a degree of toughness.

When I was in college, we used to have to backpedal around the outside of the Begley Building at EKU. Truthfully, it was a by-design way to make us miserable. The changes in incline outside were constant and there was an intimate relationship with misery because we would be told to do this for 15 minutes or more without stopping. It was a total jerk move but it taught us a lesson — learn how to push through pain. Nothing careless, just a leg burn that would make you nearly gag on your own vomit.

The foot drive that backward hill running produces basically cannot be duplicated anywhere else. It teaches the kids how to push with all they have off of the forefoot. Remember, acceleration happens at the front of the foot and braking happens in the heel. This trains the runner on the appropriate pressures, where to put them, and how to use their feet in an economic way.

Hills Teach Running Efficiency

Again, because of the incline, the runner is put into a position where they have no choice but to give an all-out effort. Because of the distance, they have to travel up a hill, casual jumping or sissified hopping only makes the getting up the hill take 10 times longer. Because they want it to be over as soon as possible, you get a natural full effort.

The bounding has turned out to be the hardest thing for my kids. Other things might hurt more, but the bounding makes them work as hard as they can, coordinate movements to be as efficient as possible, and it completely burns their anaerobic energy systems to the ground. It’s a pleasure to watch.

Featured Image: KieferPix/Shutterstock

The post The Benefits of Hill Running — More Speed, Better Mechanics, and Power appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

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From time to time, my wife Carrie pops in to answer questions from readers requesting a Primal woman’s perspective. Today, we’re updating a post she a while back regarding hot flashes and menopause. This topic continues to generate a lot of interest, so we wanted to ensure that the info here is up to date. Enjoy!

Hi, everyone! Thanks for the opportunity to offer my perspective on living Primal. I love this community and always enjoy contributing!

Mark and I both get a lot of questions about how our Primal lifestyle has helped us navigate the ups and downs of getting older. Women often want to know, specifically, how I’ve fared during menopause. Let me tell you, it’s not always an easy road. Although there is a lot to appreciate about reaching “a certain age,” the physical, mental, and emotional symptoms of menopause aren’t always pleasant, to say the least. If you’re in the throes of menopause yourself, I bet you can relate. 

For today, I thought I’d take up reader Barb’s question about hot flashes and sleep:

I’ve just been looking for information regarding hot flashes increasing on the Primal diet for peri and menopausal women. Based on my research, it seems like I am not alone and am wondering if you could do a more pointed column on this? I am dying from no sleep – up every night between 12 and 5 cycling through hot flashes.  For the first time in 17 months on the Primal lifestyle, I feel like crap, and it’s all from the sleep deprivation. I’d like to make one last valiant effort with diet, lifestyle and supplements before I go the bioidentical hormone route. Hoping you might have some suggestions?

Thanks to Barb for the great question. Since some three-quarters of women experience hot flashes during the menopause transition, it’s a subject well worth exploring.

What Causes Hot Flashes?

For those of you unfamiliar with the experience, hot flashes occur when blood vessels in the head and neck suddenly expand. They can come during the day or night with or without sweating and other symptoms like dizziness, faster heart rate, or headache. Hot flashes start in the years leading up to menopause (aka, perimenopause) as estrogen levels sharply drop. They often resolve themselves over time but can linger for some women well into their postmenopausal years.

Scientists believe hot flashes are a result of the hormonal changes that occur during the menopausal transition. Hot flashes are associated with both the withdrawal from estrogen hormones women experience in the perimenopausal and menopausal years as well as the “surges” of luteinizing hormone that occur during this time.¹ It may be that the body’s internal thermostat (regulated by the hypothalamus) needs time to recalibrate with ongoing hormonal changes, and that dysregulation is what causes hot flashes.

That said, the exact causes are still something of a mystery. Although they are probably related to estrogen, for example, women with the biggest drops in estrogen don’t reliably get the most hot flashes. Talk to a dozen women who regularly experience hot flashes, and you’ll find that each of them has identified different triggers (foods or activities that tend to bring on a hot flash). That’s if there’s any rhyme or reason at all. There are also interesting cross-cultural differences where women in some cultures tend to sail through menopause with few unpleasant symptoms, and nobody knows for sure why.  

Hot Flashes and Sleep

Women with severe hot flashes (in terms of both intensity and frequency) can have their sleep regularly disrupted and are at risk for chronic insomnia, like Barb has been experiencing. Given that some women can experience several a night that may last up to thirty minutes each, a good night’s sleep can be next to impossible. 

The effects can be grueling over time. To compound the problem, women are also at a higher risk for other sleep disorders like sleep apnea during and following menopause because of the shift in hormones.²

For that reason, impeccable sleep hygiene is a must. It won’t stop the hot flashes, but at least it gives you the best chance of otherwise getting some rest. You probably know all the usual advice for dealing with mid-night hot flashes:

• Sleep in a cool room with a fan or open window
• Avoid caffeine, alcohol, and spicy foods at night
• Wear lightweight, moisture-wicking pajamas
• Run cold water over your wrists or place cool packs on the back of your neck when you feel a hot flash coming on

Those might help to an extent. They certainly can’t hurt. Chances are you’ve already tried them, though, and need something more.

What You Can Do to Help Reduce Hot Flashes

Although most women will experience some degree of hot flashes during menopause, certain factors like obesity, smoking, and inactivity can put you at higher risk. 

Barb asked specifically about whether eating Primally might make hot flashes worse, but I don’t know why that would be the case. Some women find that caffeine, alcohol, sugar, and spicy foods exacerbate their hot flashes, but I’ve seen no evidence that a Primal/paleo way of eating would be detrimental. If anything, cutting back on the sugary desserts and getting healthier in general should help.

Still, you know your body best. Look for patterns between what you eat and your hot flash frequency. Some of my friends do better when they eliminate nightshades or when they add more soy, but it’s all very individual. (I know soy isn’t technically Primal, but there’s a case for making an exception here.)

Mind-body Therapies

As for alternative remedies, I would give acupuncture a chance. The research looks pretty good as a whole,³ and I can say it’s had a positive impact for me personally. It took a few sessions before I started noticing the effects, though.

Exercise and relaxation techniques also help many women cope with both the hot flashes themselves and the resulting sleep deprivation. Even if your hot flashes don’t decrease noticeably, it’s always a good idea to practice gentle movement and mindfulness. They can improve your overall mental well-being, especially when you’re feeling uncomfortable in your body. Likewise, there’s some evidence that cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) helps some women deal with the effects of menopausal symptoms even if it doesn’t reduce the hot flashes themselves.⁴

Herbs and Supplements for Hot Flashes

In terms of herbs, you could try black cohosh or chasteberry, both of which are used in Europe for managing menopausal symptoms. Other common options women try include evening primrose oil,⁵ red clover,⁶ and maca root.⁷ Personally, I haven’t had great luck with herbal remedies, but some of my friends have. Again, it’s highly personal. 

Although your best bet for menopause nutrition is an all-around nutrient-dense diet, you might try increasing your intake of vitamin E, along with vitamin C to aid the absorption of vitamin E.⁸

Bioidentical Hormone Replacement Therapy

Although I think lifestyle and nutrition should always be top priorities for any health-related concern, I also want to offer a word of support for Barb and other women who are looking at bioidentical hormones. Mark and I have both been open about our own choices to explore hormone therapies at different points in our lives. They can be a game-changer, especially if you aren’t getting relief from natural means. 

Years ago, I gave bioidentical hormones a try (a low-dose mix of estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone) when I exhausted the possibilities of various herbs and supplements I could find at the time. For me, it was more memory issues than hot flashes. Although the hormonal combination didn’t help my memory situation, it eased a lot of other symptoms I was having. I felt great in ways I hadn’t for a long time. 

Even if you decide to go the hormone route, I’d still encourage you to explore alternative mind-body approaches that you can use in conjunction with whatever your doctor prescribes. The benefits of yoga, acupuncture, and meditation are widespread with no real downsides.

Hang in There!

Hot flashes and sleep deprivation can be terrible, there’s no sugar-coating that. For those of you who are currently struggling, my heart goes out to you. Don’t give up on trying to feel better! I strongly believe that my menopausal transition has been mostly manageable thanks in large part to our Primal lifestyle. Nutrition, movement, sleep hygiene, stress management, and having a strong network of friends and family all helped me during the occasional turbulent times; but I also went through a lot of trial and error to address the worst symptoms. 

There’s an element of luck in finding the thing (or combination of things) that works for you. Let your fellow readers know in the comments what you’ve tried. Maybe your experience will help someone else!

The post Dear Carrie: Hot Flashes appeared first on Mark’s Daily Apple.