The Primal Kitchen Podcast

Particularly when you’re a parent, October can be a transitional month. I remember feeling like we’d just gotten the kids settled in school and suddenly we were knee deep in extracurricular activities, class projects, parent-teacher conferences—and the holidays. On my more exhausted days, I felt like we were navigating a two-month bender of parties and concerts, costumes and events. On the one hand, it was fun to see the kids’ excitement. It made for good memories, but it also exacted an extended toll. When every week is “special,” it’s wearing. These days life is simpler on the family front, but every once in a while I’ll remember those more frenetic patches. It’s easy to be nostalgic on the other side of the dogged years, but I haven’t forgotten the harder truth of parenting. Sometimes it’s a slog through overwhelm, and research reflects that much. But does it need to be as heavy as we often make it? (This Mark's Daily Apple article was written by Mark Sisson, and is narrated by Tina Leaman)

I’ve mentioned the concept of the minimum effective dose before, or the smallest dose that provides the desired outcome or effect. This applies to exercise, to sunlight, to carb intake, and to calories in general. It is this caloric efficiency that describes my goal for the last dozen years: How little can I eat and retain or build mass, have optimal energy, never get sick and still NOT GO HUNGRY? (This Mark's Daily Apple article was written by Mark Sisson, and is narrated by Tina Leaman)

Elle Russ chats with Allan Misner about fitness for people over 40.  Allan is the host of the 40PlusFitness podcast. He spent his adult years focused on his career and as a result, his relationships and health suffered. Upon meeting the love of his life, he committed to turn his health and fitness around. His efforts to learn health and fitness resulted in him earning a personal training certificate and specialties in corrective exercise and fitness nutrition.  He adopted the primal lifestyle and recovered his health. He dedicated himself to helping people over forty get healthy and fit. He launched the 40+ Fitness Podcast to encourage, educate and entertain people as they move along their health and fitness journey. He is also the founder and head trainer at Forever Fitness, providing online personal training and wellness coaching.

For over a dozen years, I’ve railed against what I call “chronic cardio“—the excessive, unrelenting endurance training I did for the better part of three decades. Most of my health issues cleared up when I stopped stopped running and training for marathons and triathlons, removed the refined grains and sugar I ate to support my endurance training, and began taking it easy. Explore the MDA archives and you’ll read all about the downsides of chronic endurance training, as well as my experiences in that world. Next to Primal living, most people probably know me best for being against “chronic cardio.” It’s kinda my thing. As a result, a lot of people have this idea that any type of endurance training is verboten and totally antithetical to the Primal way of life. That’s a misconception, albeit an understandable one. But it’s persistent. I have been outspoken against chronic cardio. I’ve also released a book called Primal Endurance. How do I square my distaste for chronic cardio with the fact that I wrote an entire book devoted to endurance training? (This Mark's Daily Apple article was written by Mark Sisson, and is narrated by Tina Leaman)

A little bird told me the other day that it might not be a bad time to talk about the impact of emotions on our health—particularly our choice to express or not express them. I’ve heard people around me share that they’re worn out lately—that emotions have imposed a toll regardless of how well they keep their own in check. It got me thinking. Increasingly, researchers uncover the remarkable imbrication of mental and physical well-being. How we nourish or neglect our physical selves affects how we feel psychologically. Likewise, the emotional terrain we traverse throughout a day, in turn, elicits its own physiological feedback. Yet in this culture, there’s a certain esteem for the stiff upper lip. We restrain ourselves for the sake of others—our perception of their comfort and/or of their opinion of us. But are we sacrificing something in doing so? When does the polite instinct to suppress our emotions benefit us, and when does it backfire? (This Mark's Daily Apple article was written by Mark Sisson, and is narrated by Tina Leaman)  

Many years ago (I initially wrote that in jest, but it has been almost seven years), I wrote a definitive guide to oils, covering the benefits and drawbacks of over a dozen of the most common edible oils. Seven years is plenty of time for new data to come out, new perspectives to develop, and even new oils to hit the market. How would I go back and update my previous recommendations? (This Mark's Daily Apple article was written by Mark Sisson, and is narrated by Tina Leaman)

Elle Russ chats with a former vegetarian/vegan who became a Marks Daily Apple's success story - Elizabeth Resnick. Elizabeth is a holistic health coach (and currently enrolled in the Primal Health Coach Program) who believes that all women deserve to feel happy, healthy and hot!  She loves showing busy women how simple lifestyle changes can help them look and feel amazing.  Elizabeth spent over 30 years as a vegetarian, pescatarian, and sometimes vegan. While she was always considered to be healthy, she struggled with cystic acne, digestive issues and anxiety. These problems were finally resolved after transitioning to a primal lifestyle.

What are the health effects of wine consumption—positive and negative? A vast amount of observational evidence suggests that wine consumption is good for us. These types of studies cannot establish causality, but plausible mechanisms exist which strengthen the associations. (This Mark's Daily Apple article was written by Mark Sisson, and is narrated by Tina Leaman)

Life is and has always been trial and error. Human—and all of—evolution was one massive set of false starts and broken lines with only a few (and their progeny) getting out alive. There’s perspective on the five pounds you gained over the summer. It’s simple really. If we can just accept the patchy, errant nature of progress, we have a better chance of using our mistakes to propel rather than sink our success. Here are a few thoughts on that. (This Mark's Daily Apple article was written by Mark Sisson, and is narrated by Tina Leaman)

Eating a variety of protein sources ensures you’re getting all the amino acids you need to perform basic physiological processes. So here are a couple reasons why balancing your protein intake from different sources is important. (This Mark's Daily Apple article was written by Mark Sisson, and is narrated by Tina Leaman)