Thanks to My Generous Readers!

Earlier today I asked for readers’ advice about the “primal” approach to diet and fitness, and the result was a comment thread filled with interesting information and advice. (And that’s not to mention all the responses to the same question over on my Facebook page.) I’m in over my head when it comes to this stuff, and I’m very pleased to be surrounded, evidently, by people who can teach me quite a bit.

Also, via my Contact page, Roleigh Martin weighed in:

Tom, if you want to live an extra 20-30 years, go Paleolithic in your diet and combine that with the Eat-Stop-Eat diet by Brad Pilon. Look at my Google Profile for links….

The Eat-Stop-Eat is for use with any diet, the idea is to minimally fast one day a week. Very orthodox Catholic idea! You really lose weight fast. It’s not as bad as it sounds. I quickly got used to it. I’m more energetic on a fast day than an eating day too. So if you want to go Primal, also combine it with Eat-Stop-Eat. The book defends the practice from medical research angles. Talks about the hormonal effects (positive) that occur on your fast days. You can limit it to just a 24-hour period (say 6pm to 6pm next day) or a whole waking day, whatever.

Pwright1

Tom,

Do you regularly eat three meals a day? If so, I recommend keeping or slightly lowering the portions for each meal, and then divide each meal in half so you have six a day. Eat every 2.5 to 3 hours – I know it sounds tedious but it’s worth it. Make the meals lighter as you approach bed time. Eat healthy foods – completely nixing the cup cakes – and incorporate complex carbohydrates. Up your protein intake and maybe your fiber intake. Exercise when free to do so. You will have more energy throughout the day and you’ll see results in a few weeks.

Best
http://www.facebook.com/Pittbullshepard Benjamin David Lichtenwalner

If you become some kind of heart-throb, that’s really going to alter my view of the world that God disperses “talent points” equally amongst his children sort of like building an avatar in some kind of fantasy online role playing game. Like, if Tom Woods has 100 STR, and 100 INTL and 100 CHRM, then, where does that put me? Oh, the agony…
http://www.facebook.com/people/JJohn-Suprise/100000498684384 JJohn Suprise

Whatever you decide to to Tom, don’t forget to eat your apricot kernals and apple seeds.
Thanks for All you do.
HooDeeHoo!
NJDave

Fitnessblackbook.com is my bible. Eat-Stop-Eat is horrible the first few days, and then you begin to wonder why you haven’t always done it. Just make sure to keep your distance from loved ones the first time you fast, it won’t be pleasant. I look forward to you becoming the defacto sex icon of the Austrian School.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Kevin-Wright/29616504 Kevin Wright

Normally I’d say ‘its you life, do what you want’, but in your case Tom; you are too important to lose earlier than 200 yrs old. So, you better get on this diet & turn into the spring of life so you can continue to write and spread the news of liberty & economic sense. I’m setting the bar high but I expect 100 books out of you : )
Frank M

Now I recall who Sisson is. When I recommended Doug McGuff’s exercise protocol earlier, I didn’t remember the name, probably because I never found eating like that the least bit interesting or necessary. But as you can see from the link below, they know each other very well.

http://www.the21convention.com/2011/01/05/champions-exercise-nutrition-doug-mcguff-md-mark-sisson/

At the time I read McGuff’s first book (Ultimate Excercise Bulletin) back in the late 90s, if anybody asked him about diet, he’d essentially say “whatever.” Somewhere along the way, he got into the primal eating thing. So, since McGuff is a genius, and he likes Sisson’s style, I’m guessing it won’t hurt you.

Well, have a good time with it. I’m off to go do what my grandmother who lived to be 94 used to do extremely well. Make lasagna!
http://twitter.com/MooseOfReason MooseOfReason

Tom, are you trying to lose weight so you can eventually run for office? #InevitableMediaQuestions
Kyle Miller

My wife just read the following book and it’s changed our eating habits completely:

http://www.amazon.com/Wheat-Belly-Lose-Weight-Health/dp/1609611543/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1318935449&sr=8-1
It’s thoroughly researched and explains the negative effects of wheat (qua gluten provider) on the body. In this era of processed EVERYTHING, not even ”wheat” is wholesome anymore; after years of scientific intervention, it’s more of a drug. I’m not a guy prone to fads, but this is truly the golden ticket.
Anonymous

Why not just hire Karen DeCoster as your consultant and make a video series of it? Mark it down as a tax-write-off since you are a academic/educational entrepreneur.

There is also http://downsizingyourbody.com/ by LRC contributor Bill Sardi which gives you a quick introduction to the horrors of iron-overload + high fructose corn syrup and what you can do about it.

Have you also thought about supplements, such as Juvenon and Longevinex? They fall under the Over-Mineralization Theory of Aging and metal chelators. Although, I get the sense most LRC readers/contributors run away from supplements because of pill-phobia and nutriphobia.
Anonymous

Hi Tom -

In the other thread you posted a comment about your need for a nap (or two). That made some people wonder whether you’re getting enough sleep. This reminded me of a topic you started some time ago, “Tips for Anxiety induced Insomnia”. I sure hope some of the tips provided then were of some use to you. My question: is the primary problem about weight or is it about a lack of energy?

Fasting and Catholicism go way back and there’s a lot that can be said about the eat-stop-eat method. The “Vatican method”, however, prescribes a traditional forty day period. For the moment, and until you’ve successfully weaned your system off the carb supply, I’d stick to tradition where fasting is concerned.

As for the Sisson book (great “primal” primer, btw), my suggestion would be to implement it by proxy, i.e. have your wife read it. Then do exactly as she says

Kind regs from Amsterdam,
Richard
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_3YU52EINCBVVCOFOD5A5IHOJWA Bruce C

Google “metabolic syndrome” .
SRG

Your good health is your most valuable asset. Don’t make decisions that impact health unless you understand what you’re doing.

Sadly, you’ll have to invest the same time and effort into learning about your body that you invested into learning about History. You simply cannot trust this one to anyone else, including people with fancy degrees or catchy ideas like The Caveman Diet.

Once you better understand the way the human body works, you’ll be able to apply that knowledge to your own situation and make intelligent choices.

Anything else is akin to becoming a Republican because Rush told you to do so or voting for Obama (or Cain) simply because they have dark skin. Such superficial analysis is not your style.
http://profiles.google.com/paulnbailey Paul Bailey

Mark’s Daily Apple blog is a good source that I use!
jg

Doc, I found D’Adamo’s ‘Eat Right 4 Your (Blood) Type’ compelling, both in theory and practice. The idea is that blood types arose as populations moved to new areas of the world (in the pre-DNA testing days, blood types were used by anthropologists to track human movements), and encountered new foods and new diseases. The book was written by a very thoughtful, meticulous physician. The paleo diets — high fat and protein — are great if you are blood type O, but are tough on your body if you are not.

And, if you buy into the premise of the blood type diet, remember that there is individual variability, and that you will have to identify what foods you are allergic to. I was skeptical — I am logic driven guy, a former Navy submarine officer/Univ. of Chicago MBA — but electrodermal testing (http://biorenew.com/bioscan ) did a great job of identifying my food allergies, which I confirmed via withdrawal/addition testing.

I am Italian, and loved pasta. But, it turns out I am allergic to wheat (and cow’s milk and carrots): chronic stuffed nose, lots of colds, could never lose weight, irritable and moody. Now that I have eliminated wheat (and cow’s milk) from my diet, I am back to my college weight (without even trying), have more energy and focus, am even-keeled, and seem to never catch a cold.

Once you identify which foods you are allergic to, you will need to learn how to cook properly (soak oats and beans, etc.). A great book for that is Fallon’s, ‘Nourishing Traditions.’ And, for the scientific and anthropological proof — amazing photos and compelling statistics — for eating as our ancestors did, I highly recommend Price’s, ‘Nutrition and Physical Degeneration.’

We need you in good health for many, many decades, Doc!
Brian

I remember watching an episode of Scientific American Frontiers with Alan Alda on PBS entitled “Fat and Happy?” It had some very interesting stuff, like evidence that longevity is linked with eating fewer calories.

http://www.pbs.org/saf/1110/
http://www.facebook.com/travsteward Travis Steward

The primal/paleo approach is to diet as praxeology is to economics. It’s the logic of eating what is natural to our anatomy due to the environment we lived in for thousands of years that is important and should pique your apriori instincts.
Brent

I’m one to be highly skeptical of diet and exercise fads. But, of course, this also means being most skeptical of the government’s diet and exercise propaganda. Having witnessed others around me undertake (consciously or not) a more primal approach, I tried it myself because it made sense. To say that it works would be a huge understatement… it is a totally different way of living life… dozens and dozens of lbs of fat gone, at least a hundred lbs stronger (upper and lower body), and just all around more energy… lots more energy.
Andy Duncan

Good to hear you’ve seen the light. I’m writing my own blog diary about my slow transformation from Ken Korg to Nek Grok:

http://andysdailyorange.com/

It would be great (if you go primal), if you wrote a diary of your primal experiences (censored for family viewing, obviously!)
dave

hey tom

go to http://www.transformetrics.com on the forum no reason not to get ripped while you are at it.

the guy who runs it is 59 believe me you won’t worry about getting middle aged ever.
Paul_S.

Take along the cardiac surgeon and comedian I found at LRC!

Cardiac Surgeon talks heart health:

For Video:

http://www.lewrockwell.com/blog/lewrw/archives/93899.html

Follow along here:

http://lewrockwell.com/miller/miller38.1.html

Science is for Smart Peoplehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1RXvBveht0Eating is fun!
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=559101172 Susan Cooper Brown

I remember that episode – it was compelling. However, my further research into it brought up some huge red flags. The Weston A. Price folks have an interesting rebuttal to the calorie restriction diet in this larger article. Scroll about halfway down to the “You Are Old, Father William” section.

http://www.westonaprice.org/basics/adventures-in-macro-nutrient-land

A couple of tidbits: The original rat study was misrepresented to begin with, and human volunteers on this type of diet report a lot of irritability, loss of testosterone (and therefore interest in sex), etc. No fun!
http://www.facebook.com/dustinreid Doctor Jones

Unbeknownst to me I was already employing the Eat-Stop-Eat diet. So that’s why I stay thin despite the horrible diet I have. I chalk it up to a fast metabolism to be honest. Although I’m almost 28 now and I do see that I’m softer in the middle than ever before. Living in NYC and walking everywhere certainly can’t be hurting me!
april showers

I totally agree with this comment and can say that, even if you have to go back to school, a physiology/anatomy course will help immensely, and the prerequisites are not that painful in case you haven’t taken chemistry in a while.. You may be surprised to find other 40-50 yr olds in class like I did! Good luck!
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_NC2KTHI5IRCCE6MNME7KVTTEBA yonish

I recommend Dr Fuhrman and/or Dr John Mcdougall. Please give them a look before
making a decision.
Brian

Thanks, I’ll check it out. Yes, low calorie diets don’t sound fun. I would probably be constantly irritated, too, if I had to eat nothing but rabbit food. I can’t imagine giving up steak and potatoes!
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000617577904 Brian Walker

marksdailyapple.com (Mark Sisson) is an excellent resource!!!!!

Start here: http://www.marksdailyapple.com/welcome-to-marks-daily-apple/ and
http://www.marksdailyapple.com/primal-blueprint-101/
Maryh4548

My son recovered from (severe) autism on paleo, low carb diet. Supplemented him with (unprocessed) cod liver oil.
https://profiles.google.com/104440166440169700478/about Roleigh

Very interesting paper at Westonaprice.org — thanks for the link. The Eat-Stop-Eat diet does not suggest restricting your calorie intake at all on your ordinary days, so there is nothing to worry about being irritable, etc. on your eating days.

The rodent study (I think it is a different one, about 20 years old and it was with mice) that interests me is how letting mice eat their ordinary diet, except every 3rd day they had nothing but water, they on average lived 33% longer.
https://profiles.google.com/104440166440169700478/about Roleigh

There is a wide range of eating styles, appropriate for different temperaments, with the Paleolithic diet. It is not like the Zone diet where you have to have X% protein, etc. In a simplified manner, I consider the Paleolithic diet a diet where you choose only the food that the human body has genetically been accustomed to for a million years, which means everything but five items: grains, beans, legumes, pasteurized dairy, and processed sugar (raw honey is ok). SRG says to be skeptical of modern fads. Well to the paleolithic diet researcher, all food newly introduced in the last 5,000 years is a modern fad. It’s true a tiny percentage of humans have genetically adapted to these modern foods (or at least some of them) but for most, they haven’t. I know I haven’t.

Now within the Paleolithic diet camp there are those who are against raw dairy (they’re against all dairy items); there are those against food from the Nightshade plants ( http://tinyurl.com/ydl576h ); and there are those who feel some of the grains are less antithetical to human biology than others (such as Rice).

The bottom line point is that to stay on one’s modern diet deserves as much research/justification/skepticism as it is to change to another diet. I do agree research is important. You do not want to leave what you eat to so called experts. Research and think for yourself but be as critical of what you’ve been eating too.
Tim

Check out the film “Fat Head” by Tom Naughton. You can find it for free on Hulu. It’s got a lot of great information about how bad carbs are and how good fats and protein are. It’s also quite funny to watch and echoes a lot of sentiments about getting the government out of our food.
SRG

I suspect the core issue that all these fad diets try to address is the reduction of processed foods primarily because of their caloric density, a relatively recent phenomenon in human history that actually permitted human civilization to thrive but now, as with everything, has been taken to the point that it’s killing us (like fiat money and credit, for example).

Every body is different and there is not a magic bullet that will ensure good health for everyone. Some people have specific, acute problems that need careful attention. Most of us do not. Many people have lost thousands of pounds over the years and yet remain overweight. Weight is only one aspect of health and the images we are inundated with in the popular media do not necessarily correlate with good health.

If you cannot adopt a holistically healthy lifestyle you will probably not be healthy over the long haul of life. (There are rare exceptions such as George Burns but most of us aren’t so lucky…) What you eat is one part of a healthy lifestyle but it is not the entire picture.

Again, do your own research and at least understand some BASIC principles about human physiology and health so you can adopt a lifestyle that will maximize YOUR health and so you can recognize the faddish nature of the latest ‘diet’ craze sweeping the nation. Also, understand that the field is evolving so you will always have to keep up with the latest info.

To put it in political terms more appropriate to this web site, all these fad diets are like liberal philosophies: they sound great in theory but often fail in practice. The reality is that good government and good health are not easy to achieve; both require constant work and vigilance.

Liberals tend to live in a fantasy world where Big Government is the Great Good providing for everyone. I live in the real world where government consists of flawed people who must be kept under constant watch or they will run amok.
Anonymous

keep to the basics, tom. lots of cranberry juice , whole grains, fruits and vegetables, lean protein. do your own cooking and get many meals out of one session in the kitchen. when traveling – a challenging situation – order 1/2 orders, salads with oil/vinegar on the side..skip the bread, have water and skip the heavy sauces on the pastas/meat. blood type diets do help. up the exercise…simply walking, 50 sit ups/push ups per day will do wonders….and sssstretchhhhh or do yoga 3-5 days a week. cheers. p.s. phone alec baldwin…he is willing to hear from someone “qualified” to tell him why we should end the fed. (good luck with that one). pdubya
Anonymous

Quote:

“keep to the basics, tom. lots of cranberry juice , whole grains, fruits and vegetables, lean protein.”

I’d change these basics. No grains instead of whole grains (high glycemic index), and add a heady dose of animal fat (saturated and non-saturated; avoid the trans-fats from veggie oils). Fruits/Veggies are ok.
Insulin is the fattening hormone to keep under control. A non-fat diet means a carbo-rich diet, and that in turn means: higher chance of prolonged periods of elevated blood sugar, keeping insulin levels too high for too long, which will keep your fat cells from releasing the stored energy. In the end, you stay hungry, fat (not from fat) and less energetic.
jonstreeter

Tom,

Get the abridged “Eat to Live” by Dr. Joel Fuhrman for your iphone or the full book at amazon.

* all recommendations are based on clinical peer reviewed research – if the data doesn’t support it, it is not recommended.
* Recommendations are those used in the clinical weightloss study that currently holds the record for highest rate of long term weight loss.
* clinical goal is longevity and recommendations target reducing risk factors of weight, bad cholesterol, hypertension, and cancer.
* designed by a physician
* I am a physician myself and started this 4 months ago with my brothers. I have lost 25 lbs. my brother has lost over 50 lbs (he started at 300 lbs, i started at 217)
* does not require exercise (though healthy activity is recommended) – designed so that patients can lose weight even after debilitating cardiac surgery.
* you eat a high volume of food that is low in calorie density and high in nutritional value – i eat till i feel full at every meal.
* more accurately described as a nutritional education program than a diet. Will change what sorts of food you crave and appreciate.
* Clearly and scientifically described rationale for why this program overcomes limitations of Atkins, Zone and other diet fads that are not targeted for longevity but rather focus only on weightloss.
https://profiles.google.com/104440166440169700478/about Roleigh

I wanted to copy just one tiny section of the book, Eat-Stop-Eat by Brad Pilon to share with you how interesting this is.

(page 61–then he goes paragraph by paragraph into many or each of the bulleted items)

A very impressive volume of published peer reviewed scientific studies, short-term
intermittent fasting has been shown to have the following health benefits:

• Decreased body fat & body weight
• Maintenance of skeletal muscle mass
• Decreased blood glucose levels
• Decreased insulin levels & increased insulin sensitivity
• Increased lipolysis & fat oxidation

• Increased Uncoupling Protein 3 mRNA
• Increased norepinephrine & epinephrine levels
• Increased Glucagon levels
• Increased growth hormone levels
• Decreased food related stress
• Decreased chronic systemic Inflammation

Quite a list I’m sure you will agree. What is even more amazing is that many of the
benefits were found after as little as 24 hours of fasting!
Anonymous

Keeping a general track of the glycemic index of foods is a good idea. If one wants to “diet”, the South Beach and Atkins diet are closer to what you describe. I am speaking of lifestyle changes. To achieve optimum caloric burn and a reduced body fat, one must build muscle to become lean. The best way to increase muscle mass and bone density is to have a solid weight training routine with some cardio mixed in. The diet should be lean protein, low glycemic index carbs (brown rice, whole wheat pasta, ocassional sweet potato, whole wheat toast), and low glycemic fruits…oranges, and veggies. Protein and water intake should increase significantly. And the meals should be broken into 5 or 6 portions throughout the day. One program that works great for me is the Body for Life program. There are other good ones too.