One of the most thorough looks into “Stone Age” nutrition was done by Dr. Loren Cordain, author of The Paleo Diet and considered to be one of the world’s leading experts on Paleolithic nutrition. Based upon scientific research examining the types and quantities of foods our hunter-gatherer ancestors ate, the foundation of “The Paleo Diet” is lean meat, including ostrich and bison as well as organ meats, seafood, fresh fruit and non-starchy vegetables — a far cry from the standard American diet.

During the Paleolithic period, which spans to 12,000 years ago, people ate primarily vegetables, fruit, nuts, roots and meat. As Dr. McGuff stated, if you went out to gather food during this time, the foodstuffs you would find the least of would be carbohydrates. As he said, there was a lot more “fauna” than “flora” in the environment.

Your body likely developed the signal to store energy based upon the food type that was least abundant, i.e. carbohydrates, and this has continued to this day. So when you eat carbs, your body hears “store energy” — and this situation is put on steroids with the Standard American Diet, as McGuff said.

While exercise is important and crucial for weight loss, the foods you choose to eat are multiple times more important for controlling your weight than your exercise. And if your diet relies on carbohydrates like sugar, fructose and grains, weight- and fat loss will be virtually impossible.

If You Want a Lean Body, Eat the Way of Your Ancestors

Our Stone-Age ancestors not only ate more natural foods than we do today, but they also ate an incredibly wide variety of them. Dr. Mark Berry, who is involved in the Paleolithic nutrition research, explained that back then humans ate 20-25 different plant foods a day.

Today, many Americans struggle to fit in five!

Meanwhile, modern-day man eats far more carbs — including grains, sugar and fructose — than your ancestors could have dreamed of. See, you don’t get fat simply because you overeat — on the contrary, you overeat because your fat tissue is accumulating excess fat.   But why would your fat tissue continuously accumulate fat if you’re not simply “eating too much and exercising too little”? Because:

1. Dietary carbohydrates, especially fructose, are the primary source of a substance called glycerol-3-phosphate (g-3-p), which causes fat to become fixed in fat tissue
2. At the same time, high carb intake raises your insulin levels, which prevents fat from being released

The resulting equation is simple: fructose and dietary carbohydrates (grains, which break down into sugar) lead to excess body fat, obesity and related health issues. No amount of exercise can compensate for this damage because if you eat a lot of fructose (and there’s a good chance you are, considering it’s in virtually every processed food), it could be “programming” your body to become fat.

It’s not hard to understand the dietary roots of the American weight problem nowadays when you consider that the top 10 sources of calories in the American diet: Four of the top five sources of calories, and eight out of the full 10, are CARBS — sugars (primarily fructose) and grains! This is the opposite of what our ancestors ate, and is also counterproductive to what you need to lose body fat and stay healthy.

So What Should You Eat to Mimic Your Stone-Age Ancestors?

Ironically, when U.S. News evaluated and ranked 20 diets with input from a panel of health experts, the Paleo diet ranked lowest of the 20! But this was not because it is a poor diet, but because the panelists didn’t believe it was possible to find the appropriate foods in the modern era. Nothing could be further from the truth, because food selection today is no longer dictated by your environment as it was so long ago, but rather by your choices at the supermarket or, better, the farmer’s market.

As written in AlterNet:

“The Paleo diet is less a prescription than a framework for considering one’s relationship with food, but several themes are common to most Paleo menus. Aversion to wheat and most grains is common, and processed carbs and sugar are especially avoided. Many Paleos are suspicious of modern fruit, engineered as it was by agriculture into the equivalent of candy bars hanging from trees.”

While you wouldn’t be able to find many of the wild varieties of plant foods eaten by cavemen even if you wanted to, because modern agriculture has largely taken over the food supply and tweaked and shrunk it to where only a few varieties of wheat, corn and other plant foods are left, you can certainly mold your diet around the principles of Paleo eating rather simply by following my nutrition plan.

I believe it to be one of the most profound interventions for the 21st century and, when properly applied, it can improve just about anyone’s health by basing your diet on fresh, whole, unprocessed, “real” food!

As Dr. Cordain stated:

“Simply put, human nutritional requirements for optimal health are determined by our genes, and our genes are shaped by the environment of our ancestors through natural selection. Many modern staples and processed foods were not present throughout most of the more than 2 million years hominin species have been present on earth.

The nutritional qualities of modern processed foods and foods introduced during the Neolithic period are discordant with our ancient and conservative genome. This genetic discordance ultimately manifests itself as various chronic illnesses, which have been dubbed “diseases of civilization.”

By severely reducing or eliminating these foods and replacing them with a more healthful cuisine, possessing nutrient qualities more in line with the foods our ancestors consumed, it is possible to improve health and reduce the risk of chronic disease.”

Where Does Exercise Fit In?

Much of Dr. Doug McGuff’s video above is focused on high-intensity exercise like Peak Fitness — and this, too, mimics the behavioral patterns of the Paleolithic people. During this era, people were not running long distances without any rest, the way so many people do on treadmills today. Rather, they would exert themselves in short bursts while hunting or evading threats, and then follow this up with a period of rest.

By following this strategy, you can really maximize your weight loss efforts, as long as it is combined with proper dietary changes.

The short intense training protocol that is used during Peak Fitness exercise improves muscle energy utilization and expenditure due to its positive effects on increasing muscle mass and improving muscle fiber quality. Muscle tissue burns three to five times more energy than fat tissues. This means that muscle gain increases your body’s metabolic rate and allows you to burn more calories, even when you’re sleeping.

Further, several studies have confirmed that exercising in shorter bursts with rest periods in between burns more fat than exercising continuously for an entire session. In fact, you can actually lose more weight by reducing the amount of time you spend on exercise, as with Peak Fitness you only need 20 minutes, two to three times a week. Remember proper dietary choices are your first and most important step to fat loss, but high-intensity exercise can boost your progress from there.

Being happier doesn’t have to be a long-term ambition. You can start right now. In the next 30 minutes, tackle as many of the following suggestions as possible. Not only will these tasks themselves increase your happiness, but the mere fact that you’ve achieved some concrete goals will boost your mood.

1. Raise your activity level to pump up your energy. If you’re on the phone, stand up and pace. Take the stairs instead of the elevator. Put more energy into your voice. Take a brisk 10-minute walk. Even better…

2. Take a walk outside. Research suggests that light stimulates brain chemicals that improve mood. For an extra boost, get your sunlight first thing in the morning.

3. Reach out. Send an e-mail to a friend you haven’t seen in a while, or reach out to someone new. Having close bonds with other people is one of the most important keys to happiness. When you act in a friendly way, not only will others feel more friendly toward you, but you’ll also strengthen your feelings of friendliness for other people.

4. Rid yourself of a nagging task. Deal with that insurance problem, purchase something you need, or make that long-postponed appointment with the dentist. Crossing an irksome chore off your to-do list will give you a rush of elation.

5. Create a more serene environment. Outer order contributes to inner peace, so spend some time organizing bills and tackling the piles in the kitchen. A large stack of little tasks can feel overwhelming, but often just a few minutes of work can make a sizable dent. Set the timer for 10 minutes and see what you can do.

6. Do a good deed. Introduce two people by e-mail, take a minute to pass along useful information, or deliver some gratifying praise. In fact, you can also…

7. Save someone’s life. Sign up to be an organ donor, and remember to tell your family about your decision. Do good, feel good―it really works!

8. Act happy. Fake it ’til you feel it. Research shows that even an artificially induced smile boosts your mood. And if you’re smiling, other people will perceive you as being friendlier and more approachable.

9. Learn something new. Think of a subject that you wish you knew more about and spend 15 minutes on the Internet reading about it, or go to a bookstore and buy a book about it. But be honest! Pick a topic that reallyinterests you, not something you think you “should” or “need to” learn about.

Some people worry that wanting to be happier is a selfish goal, but in fact, research shows that happier people are more sociable, likable, healthy, and productive―and they’re more inclined to help other people. By working to boost your own happiness, you’re making other people happier, too.

http://www.realsimple.com/health/mind-mood/emotional-health/things-can-happy-next-minutes-10000001809876/index.html

This Common OTC Painkiller Found Linked to Cancer

Posted By Dr. Mercola | May 25 2011 | 31,212 views

New research shows that long-time chronic users of acetaminophen, the active ingredient of Tylenol, have an increased risk for blood cancers. It’s still uncertain exactly what role the drug plays in the disease.

It was already believed that acetaminophen might increase the risk of the cancers, but until now that hypothesis was based on individual cases. The new study tracked a large population of healthy people over time.

According to Reuters:

“The scientists followed nearly 65,000 older men and women in Washington State. At the outset, they asked the participants about their use of painkillers over the past ten years and made sure that no one had cancer … After accounting for things like age, arthritis and a family history of certain blood cancers, chronic acetaminophen users had nearly twice the risk of developing the disease.”

Using a computer program, scientists analyzed 5,600 drug labels and more than 500,00o labeled effects. They found that the average drug comes with a list of 70 potential reactions, according to researchers.

In fact, the more commonly prescribed drugs averaged around 100 side effects each, with some drugs containing as many as 525 listed reactions.

The greatest number of side effects was found in antidepressants, antiviral medications and newer treatments for restless leg syndrome, and Parkinson’s disease.

http://blogs.mercola.com/sites/vitalvotes/archive/2011/05/24/average-drug-label-lists-over-whopping-70-side-effects.aspx

It has long been believed that fluoride changes the main mineral in tooth enamel, hydroxyapatite, into a more-decay resistant material called fluorapatite. But the new research found that the fluorapatite layer formed in this way is only 6 nanometers thick — meaning it would take almost 10,000 such layers to span the width of a human hair.

According to Science Daily:

“The scientists question whether a layer so thin, which is quickly worn away by ordinary chewing, really can shield teeth from decay”.

The EEG patterns of the study participants were compared to a database of more than 400 children with an established ADHD diagnosis, providing ample comparative data.

Dr. Hogne Wik said, “This is an important observation identifying positive effects on the central nervous system (CNS) after supplementation of krill oil in humans. For the first time objective EEG-measurements — before and after a 90 day intervention period with krill oil—have confirmed observed improvements in a clinical CNS condition.”

NPI Center reports:

“… Krill is a pure, natural source of the health-promoting EPA & DHA omega-3 essential fatty acids and the naturally occurring antioxidant astaxanthin.”

SOURCES:

NPI Center October 13, 2010

“Feeling depressed? Cheer yourself up by taking WebMD’s comical new depression test.

It’s sponsored by Eli Lilly (LLY) — maker of the antidepressant Cymbalta – so they must know what they’re talking about, right?

In fact, no matter which of the 10 answers you choose on the test, the result comes out the same:

You may be at risk for major depression.”

But that’s just the beginning. A number of questions about just how ‘independent’ a source WebMD is have since surfaced, and the answers are not what you’d expect.

Sources:
BNET February 22, 2010

BNET February 26, 2010

Policy and Medicine February 24, 2010

Boston.com March 2, 2010