Episode #32: Listener Questions and Answers with Mark Sisson

Mark tackles a few challenging questions and gets deep into some of the main elements of primal living. First, he talks about how the conventional wisdom view of blood markers like LDL does not accurately reveal the true heart disease risk factors, and how it’s important to look at a bigger picture involving more relevant trackers like triglycerides-to-HDL ratio. He also discusses some drawbacks and side effects of statin use, particularly the depletion of CoQ10 and potentially compromised performance of cellular mitochondria accordingly. Next, Mark tackles the question of the contrasting influence of primal eating versus high carbohydrate eating on one’s appetite and hunger levels. A diet promoting carbohydrate dependency will throw appetite out of whack and generate more hunger than an eating pattern that promotes fat and keto-adaptation – an enhanced ability to generate energy internally and be less reliant on external sources of energy. Carbohydrate dependency and a distorted appetite can also easily occur in a chronic exercise pattern, where the brain responds to the too-frequent depletion of energy and physical exhaustion by overeating.Mark emphasizes one of his favorite tenets: That there is simply no getting around the reality that weight management is best accomplished naturally, where appetite is regulated by a low insulin producing eating pattern that allows you to become more calorically efficient; and how becoming calorically efficient translates into improved longevity.