Ancestral Diets – A Lighter Shade of Paleo

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Ancestral Diets
A Lighter Shade of Paleo
by SAYER JI AND TANIA MELKONIAN

Vegetarian Awareness Month provides a timely opportunity to realize that a plant-focused diet does not derive exclusively from plants. Just as a carnivore does not subsist on meat alone, the same applies to a vegetarian.

What can we learn from our Paleolithic, or Stone Age, ancestors? The recent trend toward recreating a Paleo-era diet emphasizes the importance of vegetable nutrition to prehistoric communities, correcting the misperception that they were primarily meat-eaters.

The original Paleo diet, before the advent of agriculture, reflected the hunting and gathering of lean meats, fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds, and was absent of grains, dairy, starchy foods, sugar and salt. Today’s updated version might comprise foods naturally available and/or abundant before the cultivation of food in gardens, crops and livestock.

Loren Cordain, Ph.D., author of The Paleo Diet and Nutritionist Nora Gedgaudas, author of Primal Body, Primal Mind, each contest the premise perpetuated by many in the weight-loss industry that fat, especially naturally saturated fat, is unhealthy. Those same proponents that maintain low-fat/non-fat food is a panacea for modern illnesses also purport that cholesterol is the chief cause of heart ailments.

Gedgaudas writes that the diets of hunter-gatherers inhabiting varied landscapes, from the Inuit of the north to tropical forest hominids, included large amounts of fat and cholesterol, which is essential to maintaining cell membranes and regulating hormones. She points out that obtaining cholesterol from food is necessary to augment the liver’s function of creating cholesterol internally.

Cordain agrees that even saturated fats in meats can be beneficial, providing the animals are grass-fed, lean and live in clean surroundings. He emphasizes, however, that when our prehistoric ancestors ate fat, they did not also eat grain carbohydrates, sugar and salt, and contends that it is these components, not meat, that can be detrimental to the body.

Doctor of Naturopathy Maureen Horne-Paul adds that organic, lean and game meats are exempt from the acidity inherent in corn-based animal feed. Plus, “When an animal is insensitively confined and killed, stress hormones are released that result in acidity. So, we are changing our pH from a healthy alkaline state to a more acidic condition when we consume meat from conventionally raised animals.”

Scientific studies published in the Journal of Gluten Sensitivity, Medical Hypotheses and by the Mercola group attest to key problems related to human consumption of grains. Anti-nutrients such as phytic acid in grains lead to the poor absorption of minerals and related deficiencies. Improper absorption of dietary protein caused in part by enzyme inhibitors in grains also tends to damage the pancreas. Individual sensitivities to proteins in specific grains can further interfere with functioning of the neuroendocrine system and subsequent emotional difficulties like addiction and depression may arise. All of these difficulties have been exacerbated by irresponsible prenatal diets that have made younger generations extra-sensitive to the challenges posed by grains to the human system.

While Cordain doesn’t recommend dairy, Gedgaudas suggests organic or raw milk products, provided they retain their full fat content and come from grass-fed cows. She reasons that the presence of the anti-carcinogenic fatty acid conjugated linolenic acid (CLA) and the Wulzen factor anti-stiffness agent in the fat benefit joint lubrication.

Experts suggest that the dietary formula established by our prehistoric ancestors can be the foundation for a modern-day, healthy, non-confining, creative eating experience. We can exchange grains for quinoa, amaranth and buckwheat (not technically grains at all), and include tubers and legumes, due to their folate and protein content. Blue and sweet potatoes also contain high levels of anthocyanins and potassium. Nearly every category of food, in the proper amounts, can be part of such a balanced diet.

When we explore what makes sense and eat clean and natural foods, we have a good chance of finding our body’s own sweet spot.

Sayer Ji is the founder of GreenMedInfo.com and an advisory board member of the National Health Federation. Tania Melkonian is a certified nutritionist and healthy culinary arts educator. Learn more at GreenMedInfo.com.

Acupuncture: From quack science to proven medical treatment

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(NaturalNews) There are many alternative treatments that have been considered (and still are) as quack medicine by the all-seeing and all-knowing conventional medical model. However, as science and results began to prove their legitimacy, conventional wisdom was forced to acknowledge their efficacy. Acupuncture needles are one of those treatments that have gone from quack science to proven medical device, and scores of people are now experiencing its benefits.

How acupuncture works

In the 1960s, Professor Kim Bong Han and researchers in Korea attempted to prove the existence of meridians in the human body using microdissection techniques. They found evidence of an independent series of fine, duct-like tubes corresponding to the paths of traditional acupuncture meridians.

Fluids in this system sometimes flowed in the same direction as blood and lymph, but also traveled the opposite direction at other times. They realized that these ducts are different from the vascular and lymphatic systems that Western medicine had identified, and that meridians themselves might exist within them.

This meridian system was further validated by a French researcher, Pierre de Vernejoul, who injected radioactive isotopes into the acupoints of humans and tracked their movement with a gamma imaging camera. These isotopes traveled 12 inches along the acupuncture meridians within four to six minutes.

Vernejoul then challenged his work by injecting isotopes into blood vessels in random areas of the body rather than acupoints, and found that they did not travel in the same way at all, illustrating that meridians do contain a system of separate pathways within the body.

In 1997, acupuncture gained official credibility with the FDA reclassifying acupuncture needles from “experimental” to “medical device,” thereby acknowledging that it is a safe and effective medical instrument. In the same year, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) released a statement endorsing acupuncture for a variety of conditions.

The electrical component of acupuncture

Current research suggests that there is a specific relationship between acupuncture points, meridians and the electrical currents of the body.

In the 1970s, Robert O. Becker, M.D., and biophysicist Maria Reichmanis were able to prove that electrical currents did flow along the ancient Chinese meridians and that 25% of the acupuncture points existed along those scientifically measurable lines. They reasoned that these points acted as amplifiers to boost the minute electrical signals as they traveled along the body and that the insertion of a needle could interfere with the flow and block the stimulus of pain.

Conditions improved by acupuncture

The World Health Organization has noted over 40 conditions that acupuncture can treat, including:

• Migraines
• Sinusitis
• Common cold
• Tonsillitis
• Allergies
• Asthma
• Addictions
• Gastrointestinal disorders
• Tennis elbow
• Paralysis from stroke
• Sciatica
• Osteoarthritis
• Myopia
• Insomnia
• Inflammation of the eyes

Acupuncture has also been found to be effective in the treatment of a variety of rheumatoid conditions and brings relief to 80% of those who suffer from arthrosis, or osteoarthritis. There is also evidence that it can be used in the treatment of environmentally induced illnesses due to radiation, pesticide poisoning, toxic compounds and air pollution.

Even in acute abdominal conditions such as appendicitis or kidney stone and gallstone attacks, acupuncture can be used before further progression necessitates surgery.

Acupuncture is also considered a valid veterinary medical procedure used mainly for surgical anesthesia and alleviation of chronic pain. It has been shown to be effective in relieving symptoms in 84% of animals suffering from arthritic pain and other degenerative joint diseases.

Sources for this article include:

Trivieri, Larry, and John W. Anderson. Alternative Medicine: The Definitive Guide. Second ed. Celestial Arts, 2002.

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Avoid Burnout With The Anti Routine.

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It is always a good idea to have a game plan but that does not have to entail such a rigid routine that if you deviate from it you consider yourself a failure.
So the game plan should be to make fitness a priority and its ok to set the goals high. You will have plenty of time to attain them as long as you make it a daily
priority to exercise. Once you make it a priority to make change happen the you can adopt the idea of mixing it up — allot.

Over my fifteen years experiencing many aspects of fitness and the industry I have had the opportunity to witness some amazing transformations as well as bouts of burnout.
Burnouts often happen because its just too much of the same old thing. To much of the same thing often leads to boredom which then leads to failure or eventually just giving up.

So recently I have started to return to my instincts, and started my own anti-routine. For one month I have decided to do something unique and different every day. I begin by asking myself, “what does my body need today”? For instance, my legs are killing me today and I can barely sit down. Yesterday’s heavy deadlifts have caught up to me… and taken over. So what does my body want besides recovery? Well, all my body really wants is the things that will help me to recover… I feel like Yoga and rest will be the answer for today. Get the idea?? So my advise is to stick to the game plan, listen to the body and continue to feed the beast (body) what it needs daily as long as it is with the intension of becoming more fit and healthier you.

Christopher Vlaun | ©2014
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Is Tabata All It’s Cracked Up To Be?

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Exclusive ACE-sponsored research evaluates the physiological responses to the popular high-intensity interval workout known as Tabata.

By Talisa Emberts, M.S., John P. Porcari, Ph.D., Jeffery Steffen, Ph.D., Scott Doberstein, M.S., and Carl Foster, Ph.D.

It all started with the Japanese Olympic Speed Skating Team. Head Coach Irisawa Koichi created a high-intensity interval-training workout for his skaters that consisted of eight rounds of 20 seconds each of intense work on a cycling ergometer, followed by 10 seconds of rest, for a total of a four-minute workout. Koichi asked one of his training coaches, Izumi Tabata, to analyze the effectiveness of this short but grueling workout. The result is a landmark 1996 study that found, in just six weeks of testing, a 28 percent increase in the subjects’ anaerobic capacity, plus a 14 percent increase in their VO2max.

“Originally I thought this type of training was just for speed skaters or other highly motivated athletes because it is very painful and tiring,” says Izumi Tabata, now a professor and researcher at Japan’s Ritsumeikan University. “However, I found that there were groups of people interested in building muscle and therefore doing short high-intensity exercises that trained their muscle, but not those exercises that improved their aerobic training. When this regimen came along, they began to realize they could train both at the same time.”

Though Tabata didn’t actually design the workout, due to the widespread interest in his findings the workout was coined the “Tabata Protocol.” In recent years, legions of exercisers have been inspired to do high-intensity Tabata-style workouts, including most notably the CrossFit community, which now uses the protocol in a popular workout they call “Tabata This.”

“It seems like everything high-intensity is now called Tabata Training,” says John Porcari, Ph.D., head of the Clinical Exercise Physiology Program at the University of Wisconsin, La Crosse. “The original Tabata study was done on a bicycle, but people are now doing that 20-second/10-second format with resistance training, plyometrics, calisthenics…with almost anything.”

Because of all of this recent interest in Tabata-style workouts, the American Council on Exercise enlisted Porcari and his research team to gauge just how effective a Tabata-style workout really is.

THE STUDY

To analyze the intensity and calorie burn of a Tabata-inspired workout, the research team, led by Porcari and Talisa Emberts, M.S., used the Tabata Protocol to create their own 20-minute, full-body calisthenics workout consisting of exercises like push-ups, split squats, box jumps, burpees, jumping rope, jumping jacks and more. Next, they recruited 16 healthy, moderately to very fit male and female volunteers, ages 20 to 47. All subjects first underwent a treadmill test to determine maximal heart rate (HRmax) and VO2max, with ratings of perceived exertion (RPE) assessed at the end of each stage and at maximal exertion using the 6—20 Borg scale. Then, they each practiced the Tabata routine until Emberts deemed each subject proficient at each exercise.

Once prepared, each subject began with a five-minute warm-up followed by four rounds of Tabata (eight reps of 20 seconds of work, 10 seconds of rest) with one-minute of rest between each round, and a 10-minute cool down. During the 20-second phase of high-intensity exercise, subjects performed as many repetitions as possible. HR was monitored throughout, while blood lactate levels were tested with a finger prick blood test after every four-minute segment of exercise. RPE was also evaluated after each four-minute segment. In all, each subject completed two 20-minute Tabata workouts.

THE RESULTS

Immediately following both testing sessions, the researchers crunched the data. On average, this study showed that, during a Tabata workout, subjects averaged 86 percent of HRmax (range of 84—88 percent) and 74 percent of VO2max (range of 67—81 percent)—both of which meet or exceed established industry guidelines for improving cardio fitness and modifying body composition.

As for calorie burning, the 16 subjects burned between 240 and 360 kcals during the workout, for an average of 15 kcals per minute burned. Again, Tabata met established guidelines for calorie expenditure for improving health and facilitating weight loss. On average, subjects also anecdotally perceived Tabata to be pretty darn tough. The average RPE was 15.4 (rated as “hard”). Meanwhile, blood lactate levels averaged 12.1 mmol/L following the workouts, suggesting that subjects were working out well above their lactate thresholds.

THE BOTTOM LINE

“The great thing about Tabata is it’s a short workout—only 20 minutes—and it incorporates your total body, so it’s working every muscle group that you possibly can,” says Embert, referring specifically to the Tabata-style workout she designed.

Basically, if you work hard enough, even for just four minutes, you really should be able to get into decent cardiovascular shape. Do the full 20-minute workout shown here and your results will be much better.

“I think with his research, Tabata was trying to prove that if you work people hard enough—if you work at high enough intensity—you can get in shape in a very short period of time,” says Porcari. “The flip side is, if you’re in good shape and you’re limited on time, you can definitely maintain your fitness. It’s just another trick in the arsenal of helping people get and stay in shape.”

That said, based on the intensity of a Tabata workout, the average non-exerciser should be very careful with this type of training. “It could be potentially dangerous for them to be working this hard,” he says. “Before people even attempt Tabata they probably need to have a pretty decent baseline level of fitness.”

Thus, Emberts recommends only doing Tabata-style workouts two to three times a week with 48 to 72 hours rest between each session. And Porcari puts it all into perspective: “People need to realize that to get into shape, to really reap the benefits of Tabata training, it’s the intensity part that gets you into shape, not the four minutes.”

Four minutes to fitness? Maybe not, but clearly, based on the evidence, short-burst, high-intensity training is the real deal. And adapting Tabata-style training to fit your client’s workouts is without a doubt another very effective approach you can employ to help them achieve their goals.

This study was funded solely by the American Council on Exercise.