Conan and the Gods of the North

Here it is: a Christmas present for all of you, featuring one of my favorite characters of all time- Conan the Barbarian!  

I feel it is fitting, since Conan is a barbarian, which is one step up from a hunter gatherer, and probably the ideal human condition dietarily, and in many other ways as well, since a barbarian lives on the fringes of civilization and so can pick and choose which parts of civilization are good, and discard the rest!

I hope you like it; it's my first effort in this genre.

 

BarbarianJay Bowers of Barbarian Quick Tip of the Day

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Paleo Quick Tip of the Day #50 A New Year a New You!

pqtd #50  A New Year, A New You!

 

I am really excited by two things today- I really want you to follow me, along with your family, into the exciting world of real health!  I think the journey will be fun as well as rewarding for you, and the benefits are incalculable.

 

The first thing is this: www.thrivemarket.com  

This is something I just learned about via Chris Kresser, who is kind a Paleo healer guru, who also has his own podcast that I also recommend called Revolution Health Radio.  Put that in your podcast queue along with Paleo Quick Tip of the Day and PaleoJay’s Smoothie Cafe!  

 

Anyway, thrive market is a new online company that seems to have a lot of things figured out.  To start eating real, nutrient dense foods is oftentimes daunting, since the cost seems so high compared to grain and sugar processed crap.  Also, you need to do a lot of research to figure out which products are not only the highest quality, but are also the best bargain in terms of price...  enter www.thrivemarket.com !  Not only are their prices amazing (products are priced 25- 50% below what you would find them at stores or on Amazon)- but they have also researched the products in each category and chosen the ones that they deem the best both in terms of quality and price!  Now that makes things really simple.

 

Thrive is kind of like a mail order Costco- there is free shipping on any orders over $50- and so, wherever you live, you can get the best natural cleaning products, body care items, and supplements all shipped to your door.  You can get a free 30 day trial membership to try it out- I did!  So now, even if you live in a food desert, you can get great paleo ancestral foods and other items delivered right to you, at a discount!  And so, there is no excuse not to get healthy in this New Year!

 

The other thing I am excited by is this: Chris Kresser and Robb Wolfe have put together a Paleologix Total Transformation package!  Click below to learn more-

<a href="https://iw108.isrefer.com/go/ppc/Paleojay" target=_blank><img src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/ckaffiliate/PPC+Ads/PPC-ad-200x200f.jpg" border="0"></a>  

The reason I am so excited about this is that for most normal, healthy young people- well, they can do just fine on standard paleo exercise and nutrition advice.  You know, just follow along right here, and you’ll learn to cut your grains and sugar, drastically up your intake of green veggies and natural, God made foods, good fats, and a few supplements like Vitamin D and iodine... 

 

But some of us, particularly those of us who have been following the Standard American Diet of diabesity for too long, and have either been overexercising with heavy weights or chronic cardio, or else doing nothing at all for exercise- well, let’s just say a lot of us are severely “broken”- we have contracted many ailments of the modern diet and lifestyle, and we need help!  

 

And that is where this program fits in- these two guys, Chris Kresser and Robb Wolfe are specialists in getting a system down for folks who are broken, who need the special help of a step-by-step approach individualized to YOU- not just a bare bones cookie cutter approach that may not be suited to YOU.

 

And so, those are my gifts to you- two rock solid tools that will ensure that you achieve your paleo goals in 2015!  You just have time to get started with both before the New Year begins!  Get yourself a Merry Christmas present, and then you WILL have a Happy New Year!!

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Paleo Quick Tip of the Day #49 Sickness is the Absence of Health- Build your Terrain!

pqtd 49  Sickness is the absence of Health

 

That might sound redundant, and even silly.  But, it is not at all- Sickness, in most cases, is something that we can avoid!  It is the old Terrain theory of disease put in a nutshell- the stronger we make the “terrain” of our body, the less susceptible we are to disease.

 

This runs counter to the prevailing “wisdom” of that past 50 plus years or so, the idea that germs are the main cause of sickness, and if we can just keep ourselves away from bacteria and infections of all types, we will not get sick.  This misses the true point, especially since now the most recent science all supports the incredible importance of bacteria, both in our guts, and on our skin.  We are utterly dependent upon many strains of bacteria to survive, and especially to reach maximum health.  The point is to strengthen the terrain of our body by encouraging the beneficial bacteria to multiply and thrive in our bodies, and discourage the pathalogical strains.  We do this by eating properly, a largely ancestral or paleo diet of real, God and nature made foods, avoiding sugar and grains (that immediately turn into sugar!), and getting exercise in the right amount (not too much and not too little), and getting adequate sleep.

 

There are other factors in becoming really healthy, like consuming LOTS of green leafy veggies daily, getting adequate vitamin D, and avoiding toxins in our environment as much as possible.  All of these, added together, result in a lifestyle that will eliminate most all modern diseases, sickness, and common ailments!  Really!!

 

The key is this: concentrate NOT on vaccines, and pasteurization, and chemical based disinfectants and products- concentrate instead on adding in as much GOOD things into your diet and environment as you can!

 

Get good sleep nightly!  Black out your bedroom, put up curtains to keep out artificial night time lights, get the TV out, and all other electronics.  Eat really, really well- eliminate junk and fast food, processed foods, sugar grains and cereals.  Eat as much really good food as you can- don’t diet- just switch out what you are eating, and eat a LOT!  

Get a Vitamix blender and make a daily Paleo green smoothie- this one step can really boost your “terrain”!!

And do Perfectly Paleo Exercise- self resisted exercise, virtual resistance exercise, and body weight exercises, which will build your body and terrain up naturally, without the inevitable injuries and overstress that comes with weight and machine training- this type unnatural exercise will weaken your bodily terrain, and at the same time degrade your joints and tendons, setting you up for a lifetime of pain, and probably surgeries...

 

I include long distance running in this list of terrain weakening, body depleting exercise misinformation!  

 

And so, get started building your terrain!  Turn your body into a mighty fortress that can withstand most anything, and you won’t need to worry about (or suffer through) the modern sicknesses like obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and cancer- not to mention much lesser things like bad skin, bad teeth, depression, and gradually failing eyesight.  

 

You really can be your own superman or woman!

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pqtd 48 Get Rid of your S.A.D. diet like an old, ridiculous Leisure Suit

pqtd #48  Get RID of your S.A.D diet like an old, ridiculous Leisure Suit

 

That might seem like a strange analogy- comparing the standard American diet of today to that ridiculous costume of the early, disco-fueled 19970’s...

But, the two are not that different in their very outmodedness!

 

Think of the 1930’s and 40’s, when cigarettes were commonly prescribed by medical Doctors for various, made up and ridiculous reasons: improved digestion, enhanced relaxation, and other silly reasons with no foundation in fact.  Much the same thing happened in the 1960’s and especially in the 1970’s, when medical Doctors prescribed LOW FAT diets, counting calories, and long, punishing sessions of Aerobic exercise- mainly slow running, for hours and hours each week!  

 

And at the same time, millions of Americans (probably including most of these deluded doctors) were wearing stupid leisure suits, of which I will try to find some pictures to put up at www.paleojay.com- 

Suffice it to say that they were silly, ridiculous disco outfits that were only popular among disco dancers in the late ‘70s or so for a few years.  They were kind of like Elvis’ later costumes, but without the glitz and show biz glamour...

 

And so, since you are probably NOT smoking cigarettes or wearing leisure suits today, what is it that many of you are doing that is wrong, out-dated, and proven to be wrong by current science??

 

Well, if you are eating low fat foods of any type, especially processed ones like low fat yogurt, breakfast cereals- anything in which the fat has been artificially tampered with- 

 

Well then you are essentially wearing a leisure suit, doing aerobic dancing, and smoking cigarettes!  You are so out of date you are a sad joke, and hurting yourself while you embarrass others...

 

And so, what to do?  BURN that old suit!  Throw out your cigarettes!! If you can’t quit, get a good eCig, and just smoke that instead- the same experience, but you’ll be smoking water vapor which is harmless instead of tobacco and chemicals!

And also, get rid of any kind of processed food, fast food, vegetable oil, 

and wheat!  Do NOT do long sessions of aerobics; do short sessions of intense, body weight, virtual, and self resisted exercises.  Rebound on a mini trampoline!  Sprint barefoot occasionally.

 

Now, your family won’t be embarrassed anymore!  You’ll be cool, wearing your Xero sandals, and sprinting in your yard or park.  Get a set of gymnastic rings for your basement or garage!  Shop for REAL FOODS at Trader Joe’s or best yet with your local farmer or rancher!!

 

NOW, you are COOL AT LAST!!

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Beginning Paleo Diet on Paleo Quick Tip of the day podcast #47

Maybe you've just been hearing about this "paleo diet" thing, or maybe you have a friend or know someone who has had amazing results from eating and living according to this template...

 

 

 

Perhaps you have tried to ignore the whole thing, not wanting to change your life and mindset around after all these years of being brainwashed into the low fat high carb Standard American Diet LIE...

 

 

But, since the ancestral diet and it's benefits are very real, and the path we are on in the Western world is leading us into slow suicide by eating ourselves into diabesity,  accompanied by prescriptions of pharmaceutical drugs that compromise our health even more with all of the inevitable side effects, resulting in early disability and death- well, "going Paleo" starts to not sound that hard after all!

 

So, how do you finally get off the sidelines and start making meaningful, healing change??

 

 

Clean out your cupboards!  Ditch the grains- bread, pancake mixes, brownie mixes, cereals, vegetable and soy oils, Crisco, anything you have that is not real food.  If it's not in your house, you won't eat it.

 

Try a Paleo smoothie!  This is a pet project of mine- I have developed my smoothie into a drink that is continually evolving, since I want to maximize my nutrition optimally, but starting out, keep it simple:

 

Just get out your standard, $20 blender, and make a simple Paleo Smoothie:

 

1 can of coconut milk

handful of fresh strawberries

 

a big leaf of fresh kale

a banana

sprinkle of cinnamon

 

Blend it all together for about a minute or so- you're done!

 

Easy, right?  It's so easy, you will start to think as I did- "Hey, what if I add this ingredient, and that other super healthy food, and then that..."

 

 

You are on the slippery slope to health my friend, and trust me, that's where you want to be!  You'll start adding raw eggs, and then you'll want the convenience of using frozen vegetables, and the ability to mix just about anything, smoothly and easily into your smoothies- at that point you'll want to get a Vitamix blender, since it it the best tool for engineering the most amazingly healthy and filling and appetizing Paleo smoothies on the planet!

 

Interestingly, I just read a news story in Barron's, the business newspaper, detailing how the Starbucks chain has bought a smoothie making chain of restaurants, and plans to expand dramatically, doing for smoothies what they have already done for coffee! 

 

While I'm sure it's better than the unhealthy coffee drink market they've been profiting from at the expense of the American people's health, I would suggest strongly that you make your own!  I guarantee that anything made by a corporate giant will be vastly inferior, since the bottom line for such a company is to cut costs wherever possible, to maximize profits. This means low quality ingredients, cheaper, faster, worser! (There, I invented a word!)

 

So, Go Paleo Young Man! (Or woman)!

 

At first, I would just make a smoothie each morning, and eat eggs and meat, salads, seafood, veggies and nuts with a little fruit sometimes.  For me, cheese and whole cream are fine- try them out, if you feel worse, maybe they aren't for you!  Some folks can handle dairy, some can't... raw dairy is vastly preferable, if available.  

 

Believe it or not, at first I do not recommend any exercise!  Especially, if your are a "cardio-holic", used to doing lots of running, bicycling, aerobics, etc. just stop for awhile!  Getting your diet in order is far more important than exercise, and along with adequate sleep each night of 8 hours or better, will get you 90% where you want to go.  Just concentrate on those things for a month- learn to eat, and sleep like a paleolithic hunter-gatherer.    Next month we'll add in exercise- hey, I even have an eBook specifically about it...

 

A good idea, especially if you currently have health problems, would be to have a blood work up just before starting this at the Doctor's office.  Then, a month later, have it done again.  I guarantee the results will startle both you and your Doctor- and then, he'll probably try to talk you out of doing something so "crazy"...

 

The thing to remember is this- even if all you had read about nutrition was this one blog, you would already know more about nutrition than your Doctor learned in all of medical school.  So, take his or her opinions with more than a grain of good sea salt...

 

After your initial month, take a good look at how you look, how clearly you can think,and how you feel.  Perhaps you already have had some drastic changes; many people do.  And after actually sticking to the diet for one month, almost no one goes back to their standard diet!  The benefits are that compelling- you may even become like me, shouting the news from the rooftops, because you almost can't believe the benefits of eating real food like a real person!

 

Soon I will write Part 2- the Intermediate Paleo Diet!  But just do this for a month first- no need to rush things! 

Check out this episode!

Paleo Quick Tip of the Day #46 Paleo Diet to LOSE FAT!

Paleo diet to lose fat!

 

 

The Paleo Diet has shown remarkable success in helping people to lose fat/weight, and achieve a much better "body composition".   The amazing thing is that it can bring these changes about without:

 

1. Hunger

2.  Long sessions of exercise

3.  Injury from those long, boring exercise sessions you thought were necessary

 

 

Really!  But how can this be?

 

It's really just simple, proven science! 

 

Our bodies are not designed to eat grains, particularly wheat, which has become a mainstay of virtually every processed food in America.  Wheat is now completely genetically modified to the point where it has no similarity to the ancient wheat of the Bible, or even to the wheat from the 1960's!!

This is a huge point: if you wish to research the topic in depth, I refer you to the book Wheat Belly by William Davis-  Wheat Belly the blog

 

But, since all carbohydrates,  like wheat, corn, white potatoes, etc. turns to sugar in the body, that is more than enough reason alone to severely limit them in the diet.

 

 

The other thing to limit greatly in your diet is SUGAR.

 

 

When you eat sugar, or its twin- carbohydrates- your body responds to the rise in blood sugar, (which is actually an emergency situation for your body!), by producing massive quantities of insulin.  Insulin, which as we know is what Type 2 (self-induced) Diabetics lose the ability to produce, after many years of ingesting so much sugar/carbohydrates that their body has become overwhelmed by the bodily insult!  Don't let this happen to you- it is becoming EPIDEMIC in modern America, largely due to the fact that now- 90% of food sold in the USA is PROCESSED: (Comes in a bag, or a box, and is not real food anymore, but industrial food.

 

 

Industrial food is loaded with sugar/corn syrup/wheat/soy and the other thing you need to get rid of on the Paleo Diet- industrial seed (grain!) oils!

Corn, Soybean, Crisco- these are all rancid, harmful oils that are not really food.

 

 

The Food Industry uses all of this stuff, in processed and fast foods (another no-no!), because it is CHEAP!  That is the only reason- nutritional value is not even on their radar!

 

So, bottom line, what do you need to do to-

 

Regain your health and lose fat?

 

It's really rather simple, and if you think about it, you probably already intuitively know this stuff-

 

You've just been brainwashed into the "low fat, high carb Standard American Diet"

for your whole life!

 

So, here is what you get rid of:

Eliminate fast food

Eliminate bread, pasta, anything made with flour

Eliminate Industrial oils- margarine, soybean oil, corn oil, canola oil- any chemically processed oil

Eliminate Legumes- dried beans- irritate the gut lining, just as does wheat- this is a huge problem

Get long, painful, CARDIO/AEROBIC workouts out of your life (They lead to injury, burn very little in the way of fat/calories/, and do not build muscle, which is what you really want)

Stop Staying up late at night- (This interferes with your body in a minor way, stimulating the stress hormone "cortisol", which causes you to store fat, among other negatives).

 

 And here is what you replace the above with:

Whole eggs (free range is the best) 

Real, PASTURED butter (Kerrygold is the best)

All varieties of meat, and seafood  (Grass fed beef is best, but all of it is good- just be sure to include seafood, especially fatty fish like salmon and sardines)

Vegetables and fruits  (Berries are the best fruit!)  Don't go wild on fruit, but include it.  Eat LOTS of green vegetables.

Get on an intense, brief exercise program!  (Body weight exercise is best- pushups, pull-ups, sit-ups, brief sessions of sprinting and/or stationery bike "sprints" of 30 seconds or less, done for several "sets" lasting 20 minutes or less)

Get LOTS of sleep!  8 hours minimum (This is really crucial for health and fat loss- stress, like lack of sleep, causes your body to want to hang onto fat)

 

 

That's it!  Follow the above subtractions and additions in your life, and sooner than you think, you will look and feel better than you would believe!  This is a promise!!

 

 

I hear you asking:   "But how do I eat this way??

Simple:

 

Eggs and fruit for breakfast

Salad with meat or seafood for lunch

Grilled meat and vegetables for supper

Snacks- if you eat enough at meals, you probably won't get too hungry. But it you do:

Almonds,  dark chocolate, coffee with real whipped cream, macadamia nuts, olives, full fat cheeses, or again- meat, vegetables, sardines, etc. are all fair game

 

 

Or, you could make it easy, and make the Paleo Quick Start Smoothie!

 

It really makes the nutrition part almost effortless, and actually more "available" to your body, since it is all "broken down" and ready to assimilate, raw food enzymes and all!! 

 

But anyway, there you go- try it for 3 weeks!  If you do, I guarantee you will not go back-

the benefits are that amazing!

Check out this episode!

Paleo Quick Tip of the Day #45 Take FARMaceuticals to cure both yourself- and the WORLD!

Take your Farmaceuticals daily- cure yourself AND the world!

 

Any listener of any length here at Paleo Quick Tip of the Day knows that I, PaleoJay, believe that FOOD is the best medicine.  Hippocrates, the founder of western medicine declared this roughly 2000 years ago, and although his modern so called disciples have discarded his teachings in favor of ever-increasing dosages of pharmaceutical DRUGS-

 

Food is the best medicine is as true now as it ever was!!

 

Although nowadays, where and how your food is grown is every bit as important!

 

If your vegetables and fruits come from mega-farms where every inch of that farm is laced with pesticides, over-farmed to the point of near total soil nutrient depletion- you are consuming a tainted product!  

 

We all know now that the human gut biome, that is our intestinal flora are crucial to our health. For instance, a recent study pointed out that artificial sweeteners encourage fat gain. The theory was that the artificial sweeteners, such as those in unsweetened soda pop, altered the gut biome since they are totally alien to our evolved symbiotic relation with our ancestral gut microbes. 

 

In other words, our gut sensed SWEET, and switched on the fat storage, even though there was no honey or fructose to process...

 

but the fat storage trigger was engaged, and fat was produced!

 

So, drink artificially sweetened products and get fat quick!  And long term, too, since it doesn’t appear to switch OFF.

 

To return to my main point: Just as our Gut Biome is loaded with microbes we have a long history with, that help us to regulate our health, our moods and mental health, and how we extract life-giving nutrients from real foods-

 

So is the soil where we grow our foods loaded with microbes that we have a symbiotic, historic and ancestral relationship with completely necessary for our health, proper fat to body weight ratio, and mental health as well!

 

We all need to rethink our allegiance to pharmaceutical drugs!  They are poisons except for short term, emergency use- they are like Agent Orange in our bodies!  

 

What we need for health is FARMACEUTICALS- 

 

REAL FOODS!

GOD MADE VEGETABLES!

PASTURED ANIMALS!

PASTURED DAIRY!

 

And all produced on sustainable acreages, with largely organic practices that preserve and sustain the microbial health of that soil long term!

 

To learn more on this vital subject, I recommend Dr. Daphne Miller and her wonderful book Farmacology!

 

http://drdaphne.com/books/farmacology/overview/

 

So, for the ultimate in gut and overall health NOW, right away- 

 

Get yourself a Vitamix blender!  Load it up with Farmaceuticals like organic broccoli, cauliflower, spinach and kale- throw in some green tea and kefir, toss in some ginger and turmeric and cod liver oil...

 

Just make yourself and your family a Paleo Smoothie!  

 

The recipe is at www.paleojay.com

 

And the link to order a Vitamix with no shipping direct from Vitamix is there as well...

 

A smoothie maximizes the available nutrition, even in today’s depleted soil.  

IT IS A NO-BRAINER!!  

 

Just like our current system of food doesn’t matter, drugs are the answer, and to just rely on Big Food corporations, Big Government, and Big Medicine to take care of us...

 

That is truly a NO BRAIN NON-SOLUTION.  

 

Solve things yourself.  You are responsible for your own health!  Eat real foods, grown in real, healthy soil, and move and exercise naturally, doing Perfectly Paleo Exercise. 

 

And ignore the advice of Big Government- Big Pharma- and Big Food!!

Check out this episode!