The Primal Kitchen Podcast

This isn’t a Homeric epic. There are no oracles laying out our destiny and predicting our inevitable demise. But even if we can’t know the precise date of our death, we can use certain biomarkers, measurements, and characteristics to make predictions—with a reasonable amount of accuracy—about a person’s propensity to kick the bucket. (This Mark's Daily Apple article was written by Mark Sisson, and is narrated by Tina Leaman)

Are we shortchanging ourselves by complete elimination of potentially allergenic or sensitizing foods like wheat, peanuts, or dairy? Do we become even more sensitive to “bad” foods by avoiding them entirely? This question stems from two things I recently encountered. The first was a recent rewatcing of The Princess Bride. The second was the recent peanut allergy study. (This Mark's Daily Apple article was written by Mark Sisson, and is narrated by Tina Leaman)

Mark sits down for a lively chat with Melissa Hartwig, Certified Sports Nutritionist, New York Times Best Selling author of It Starts With Food and The Whole30, and co-creator of the wildly popular Whole30 movement. Melissa is no stranger to major media as she's been featured by The Today Show, Dr. Oz, The View, Outside, Shape and Self Magazines, and The Wall Street Journal. Melissa has presented over 150 health and nutrition seminars worldwide, and connects with over 1.5 million people each month through the Whole30 website. Mark and Melissa run through a number of fascinating topics, including how Melissa developed the Whole30 program, nutrition's role in addiction recovery, whether or not alcohol can have a place in a healthy diet, and why the Whole30 program is meant to be learning tool to get you on the path of having a healthy relationship with food. This is truly an episode you don't want to miss!

We rely on communication for all we do—how we parent, how we lead, how we love, how we navigate the world and all of our relationships. And, yet, it’s no secret that we’re doing our communicative talents no favors these days. From the filter of technology to the culture of busy, we’re seem to be backing ourselves into our virtual, isolated corners more and more.(This Mark's Daily Apple article was written by Mark Sisson, and is narrated by Tina Leaman)

Primal people tend to assume they have the B vitamins covered. It’s no wonder: punch a slab of beef chuck steak or a few ounces of liver into the USDA nutrient database and that whole B vitamin section seems to fill up. Let’s take a look. You may be right. You may be totally fine. But it’s always nice to refresh your focus. (This Mark's Daily Apple article was written by Mark Sisson, and is narrated by Tina Leaman)

Readers of my blog are already familiar with my take on the minimalist, or “barefoot” shoe. Unencumbered by supportive arch inserts, stiff soles, and cramped dimensions, the healthy human foot performs, feels, and functions best in a minimalist shoe. It cuts out the fluff and the artifice, the rent-seeking yet unnecessary modifications and upgrades that characterize the modern shoe industry and distills the essentials of what shoe should do—protect the bottom of the foot without changing the heel height or cutting off incoming sensory data. Even if you don’t currently wear minimalist footwear, you grasp the argument, understand the appeal, and agree that minimalist shoes hew more closely to the ancestral environment in which our feet evolved. They are Primal through and through. Does the same hold true for the growing minimalist movement? Was Grok a minimalist? Sorta… (This Mark's Daily Apple article was written by Mark Sisson, and is narrated by Tina Leaman)

Andrew and Brad discuss how to “solve the puzzle” of transitioning gracefully through major shifts in career or life. In the athletic world, many struggle when faced with retirement because the intensity of competition and dedicated attention is difficult to match more traditional career pursuits. A process-oriented mindset is urged, so that self-esteem is not attached to results or one’s identity as an athlete, or as a career achiever as well. Another suggestion is finding new passions—they don’t necessarily have to be competitive—but something that lights you up and engages you deeply. More discussion of how to balance career, family, fitness/health, and personal goals, and how sometimes we look at health and fitness pursuits as “sacrifices,” when in fact, not practicing healthy behaviors is the real sacrifice. Enjoy a thoughtful show full of practical tips from Andrew and Brad.

Can we take what research tells us about the roughly prevalent hunter-gatherer model of leadership and decipher lessons for modern management? I tend to think so. Here are what I’d consider 7 Primal ways to be a better leader…. (This Mark's Daily Apple article was written by Mark Sisson, and is narrated by Tina Leaman)

On a literal level, your metabolic rate describes how much energy you expend to conduct daily physiological functions. This has many practical ramifications, however, because your metabolic rate also influences how you feel, how many calories you burn, how many calories you can eat without gaining weight, your libido, your fertility, your cold tolerance, how much subjective energy you have, how you recover from injuries and stress, how specific foods affect you, and how you perform in the gym. In short, it’s usually a good thing to have a higher metabolic rate. Here are a few ways to increase your metabolism in a healthy, productive manner. (This Mark's Daily Apple article was written by Mark Sisson, and is narrated by Tina Leaman)

Host Elle Russ sits down with Dr. Peter Osborne, the clinical director of Origins Healthcare Center in Sugar Land, TX, and author of No Grain, No Pain. Dr. Osborne is a doctor of chiropractic medicine, a Board Certified Clinical Nutritionist and an expert in orthomolecular and functional medicine. His clinical focus is the holistic natural treatment of chronic degenerative diseases with a primary focus on gluten sensitivity and food allergies. He has helped thousands of patients recover from mysterious medical illnesses. Get ready folks, because this episode is chock full of fascinating (and digestible) facts on the issues grains cause within the body.