I came across an interesting statin study the other day. It’s from last year, but I hadn’t seen it until recently. The study, entitled “Statins Do Not Decrease Small, Dense Low Density-Lipoprotein,” sought to understand the effect of statin therapy on small, dense LDL, the truly “bad” kind of “bad” cholesterol, the stuff that’s strongly associated with increased heart disease risk in many studies. We know that statins reduce LDL cholesterol – they are extremely effective at curtailing the cholesterol-synthesizing hydroxy-methyl-glutaryl-coenzyme A reductase, if you’re into that sort of thing – but their effectiveness at lowering sdLDL is unknown. They reduce the rate at which cholesterol is produced and that’s as specific as it gets.

Researchers at the Cardiovascular Center of Korea University’s Guro Hospital assembled a group of 612 heart patients, some with confirmed coronary artery disease (CAD) but most without. They were divided into two groups on the basis […]

Original post by Mark Sisson

Vegetables certainly have their place at the Primal table and we eat them often in every season. But man (and woman) cannot survive on vegetables alone. Or, rather, they can and do, but in our opinion it’s a much less tasty (and nutritious) way to live. Nothing lures us in and satisfies our hunger like the savory aroma of meat dripping with juices and glistening with lip-smacking fat.
In our never-ending quest to enjoy all the butcher shop has to offer, we’re turning our attention this week to a cut of meat we rarely buy. Not because it’s exotic or adventurous, quite the opposite actually. In fact, it might just be the least adventurous cut of meat out there. That’s right, we’re talking about the boneless, skinless chicken breast.
We don’t buy this cut regularly, usually preferring to feast on the whole bird or on fattier pieces with bones and skin intact. […]

Original post by Worker Bee

For some this might just be the most important article you ever read. For me it was satisfying because it will possibly be as no bullshit as it gets. Those that liked and could relate to “The Marshmallow Test” will find a few similarities here.

Friends always come to me for nutrition and training advice and I always give them great advice, but I can never apply it to my own life! Why is that?
That’s the reader question JC from JCDFitness forwarded to a few trainers like myself, Alan Aragon and John Romaniello. I have no clue what they answered and I have actively avoided to look at JC’s site to see what they said. In either case, my answer to this was so long that I had to put it up as an article here.

Anyway, this – the fact that a lot of people know what to do but can’t […]

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

Dave first emailed me about a year ago. He had just bought the Primal Blueprint Cookbook and was seeing some real results. Occasionally I’ll get an update from him. One can really get a sense of Dave’s energy and excitement for life from his emails (often written in all caps), which I’ve reprinted below. Read on to catch a bit of Dave’s enthusiasm and spirit. It’s contagious.

If you have your own Primal Blueprint success story and you’d like to share it with me and the community please contact me here. Have a wonderful Friday, everyone, and thanks for reading!

September of 2009…

March 19, 2010…
HI MARK
JUST GOT YOUR BLUEPRINT AND AM AWAITING THE COOK BOOK. WHICH I INTEND TO TRY TO ADD TOO!
AFTER 25 YEARS OF  RAISING A FAMILY AND NOT DOING  THE “GROK” ANY MORE IT SHOWED BIG TIME….
TALK ABOUT “THE LIVING DEAD”…
I’M A SUPER COOK AND BAKER AND JUST ABOUT […]

Original post by Mark Sisson

The notion that artificial sweeteners (and sweet tastes in general) might produce an insulin response is one of those murky memes that winds itself around the blogs, but it’s never stated one way or the other with any sort of confidence. I briefly mentioned the possibility of non-caloric sweeteners influencing satiety hormones in last week’s diet soda post, and a number of you guys mentioned the same thing. Still, I’ve never seen unequivocal evidence that this is the case.
This whole idea first came to my attention some time ago when my dog Buddha got into a bottle of “alternative sleep assists” which contained, among other things, 5 HTP (version of l-tryptophan) and xylitol (sugar alcohol). Long story short, dogs can’t take xylitol because it causes a spike in insulin, which then severely depletes blood glucose. Buddha got past this with a trip to the vet’s at 10:30 Sunday night (thanks, […]

Original post by Mark Sisson

First off, I hope you can forgive me for the self-referential blog post title. “A Week in My Life” doesn’t mean much of anything to anyone that only sees the title on the Interwebs, so there it is. In any case, many of you have requested an update to my own personal Primal regimen to give you a sense of what my average day looks like. At the risk of boring you to tears, I thought I’d chronicle a week in my normal life for you today. I’ll start with a few random notes:
1. Art De Vany made a comment a while back that really resonated with me. He said these days he seeks to do as little as possible – to find more time to relax just like our hunter-gatherer ancestors did – and still do. I know where he’s coming from, and I want that too. While I […]

Original post by Mark Sisson

Visual Impact for Women: It only took me about a year to launch after releasing my men’s course. I want to apologize for that. It wasn’t my plan for women to have to wait that long to get their hands on this. That being said, I am completely jazzed about how the product turned out.

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Original post by admin

Question:

     Hi Brad,

     I don’t know if you respond to emails or not, but I am wondering if your Eat Stop Eat plan is also effective for someone who wants to lose 100 pounds?

     Thanks!

Answer:

     Despite what some marketing will tell you, the very first step in losing weight is the same regardless of the amount of fat you need to lose. It’s the same physiological process whether you are tying to lose 100 pounds or the mythical ‘last 10 pounds’. 

     The key is to take that first step. So yes I believe Eat Stop Eat would be effective.

     BP

//

Original post by Brad Pilon

Jack LaLanne died last week. He was 96, still a bit sweaty from his morning workout when they found him, and had a vicegrip of a handshake that could crush a man half his age – even on his deathbed. Old farmers had nothing on his grip.
Jack’s TV show was one of my first exposures to the world of fitness, or, as he put it, physical culture. Growing up in New England, I had spent my days exploring the adjacent backwoods, climbing trees, skinning knees, and getting into trouble, but I wasn’t “working out.” I had no concept of it. I was just doing what felt right and what was fun, and most kids did the same. Jack LaLanne introduced us to the formal concept of physical fitness. He was one of the first to realize that the childhood impulse toward physicality and movement needed to be nurtured and developed […]

Original post by Mark Sisson

Costa Rica March 2011
Date: March 14th to 20th
Host professors: Rilion, Rolles, Roger, Igor, Kyra and Gregor.
Package includes:
Stay: Six night stay at a four star hotel in Jaco, CR. with breakfast included
Training sessions: two training sessions per day with all of our professors.
Gear: One Storm Gi ($159.00 value)
Canopy zip-line tour: You can venture on a zip-line journey through the treetops, guaranteed to get your adrenaline pumping. The tree tops provide breathtaking panoramic views that Costa Rica’s beautiful beaches are famous for.
Rafting: The Central Pacific of Costa Rica provides Class II, III and IV  rapids, which are more than manageable. And of course you can expect internationally trained guides, along with bilingual and security trained, who will train you for navigating the various rivers.
Crocodile Safari: One of the coolest things to do in Costa Rica is the Crocodile Tour. Experienced guides hand feed GIANT crocodiles…some in […]

Original post by knuckleup