Saturday, March 31, 2018
Keto Earl Grey Collagen Fat Bombs
The good folks at Pique Tea have stopped in this week to serve up two awesome keto recipes to our Primal crowd. Enjoy these rich and chocolatey Keto Earl Gray Collagen Fat Bombs today, and be sure to check back Wednesday morning for a tasty collagen latte. Good stuff. Enjoy your weekend, everyone.
While a good Primal diet offers much in the way of healthy, varied fats, with keto it’s helpful to have extra strategies for incorporating additional good fats. That’s where these two dairy-free keto recipes make the perfect on-the-go breakfast, snack, meal replacement, you-name-it, throughout the day. They keep you fuller, for longer, while letting you experience the many benefits from tea polyphenols. Tea is full of a type of antioxidants called catechins that suppress appetite and stimulate metabolism. Tea caffeine also increases your metabolic rate so your body burns off excess calories and body fat to boost ketone levels faster.
And here’s what makes these Keto Earl Grey Collagen recipes so special. Not only do you gain all the major benefits of collagen and a healthy dose of nutrient-dense fat from coconut oil, you’ll also get the nutritional benefits of tea polyphenols. One of the original superfoods, tea polyphenols have long been used in traditional medicine for both its high antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. Tea is also a natural prebiotic that feeds your gut with healthy bacteria, balancing the bio flora in your gut. A healthy balance of gut bacteria will provide you with more energy, improved digestion, reduced stress, stronger immunity, to even glowing skin.
So, you can be sure these easy keto Earl Grey recipes offer more than their share of both delicious flavor and essential nutrients. Today, we used Pique Tea Crystals for an Earl Grey kick in our fat bombs. It is an easy way to get the most pure, potent tea antioxidants alongside the collagen benefits in these Collagen Fuel packets. Each Pique Tea sachet contains up to 12x the antioxidants (third-party verified) than regular teas and is the first of its kind to triple screen for mycotoxins, mold and heavy metals.
Servings: 10 (approximately)
Time in the Kitchen: 10 minutes (plus 1 hour for chill time)
Ingredients:
- 1/2 Cup Coconut Butter
- 1 Cup Coconut Oil
- 1 Tbsp. Vanilla Extract
- 2 packets PRIMAL KITCHEN® Vanilla Coconut Collagen Fuel
- 2 sachets Pique Tea Earl Grey Tea Crystals
- 3 Tbsp. Raw Cocoa Powder
- 2 Tbsp. Hemp Hearts
Instructions:
In a small saucepan, heat coconut oil and coconut butter over low heat until melted.
Add Pique Tea Earl Grey Tea sachets, packets of Vanilla Coconut Collagen Fuel, hemp hearts and sea salt into mixture. Blend and mix well until smooth.
Pour the mixture in a silicone mold of your choice.
Freeze for 20 minutes until the fat bombs harden.
Add rose petals to garnish. Store in the freezer or the refrigerator. Enjoy!
Pique Tea is the world’s first Cold Brew Tea Crystals. Pique delivers up to 12x the polyphenols of other teas on the market and is most effective for unlocking benefits like improved gut health, sustained energy, and stress reduction. Pique is also the only tea that Triple Screens for heavy metals, pesticides and toxic mold commonly found in tea. Best of all, Pique is cold or hot water soluble and delivers a world championship brew (3 Gold Medals at 2018 Global Tea Championships). Potency, Purity, and Ease-of-Use is the holy trinity for unlocking the benefits of tea and Pique is the tea for health benefits.
The post Keto Earl Grey Collagen Fat Bombs appeared first on Mark's Daily Apple.
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Friday, March 30, 2018
I Went From Having an Invisible Illness, Being Overweight, Depressed and Tired To Enjoying Robust Health!
It’s Friday, everyone! And that means another Primal Blueprint Real Life Story from a Mark’s Daily Apple reader. If you have your own success story and would like to share it with me and the Mark’s Daily Apple community please contact me here. I’ll continue to publish these each Friday as long as they keep coming in. Thank you for reading!
Looking back, I have always had thyroid issues though I had no idea what that meant in my teens and twenties. It apparently runs in my family, though with rural Alaska medical care in the 70s, you were lucky to have a doctor available, let alone a dentist. Even as I grew older and moved to the city and then to college in Arizona and life in many other places, I was always just not well. Though I managed to live and work and play fairly normally, I would occasionally have days that I could not get out bed, so I attributed it to depression or other more readily identifiable causes like depression.
I eventually married and went through two pregnancies in my early 30s,
fairly normal and with healthy babies. After my second child, my mental and physical health really started going downhill, though it wasn’t really visible other than weight gain and some fairly severe post-partum depression. With the benefit of hindsight and research, what was probably mild Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis in my youth turned into full-blown Hashimoto’s after the stress of pregnancy, childbirth, nursing and raising two small children.
I was officially diagnosed in 2006 with Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis after a therapist I was seeing for depression thought to order some tests. My levels weren’t that high, and I don’t even remember what the endocrinologist said to do about it, just that I had it and it had to do with my thyroid, and that someday my thyroid would fail and I’d be put on medication. He advised eating better and exercising, but with no specific plan. Ok. I just went about my life in the usual way, raising two small kids and easing my way back into the working world while doing all of the usual life things of home maintenance, the kids’ sports and school schedules, marriage, work and other family obligations. The Internet wasn’t that prevalent then, and I just accepted my diagnosis and prognosis and went about my life the best I could.
The years went by and I gained more and more weight. I would “diet” occasionally, have a little bit of success, then fall right off the wagon. I’d tried all of the fad diets, Weight Watchers, etc., and even went sugar-free and even gluten-free a few times in the past with great results, but again, fell off the diet wagon every time. I had been active most of my life with running, college intramural sports, tennis, hiking, long-distance biking, canoeing, camping—nothing ever really stopped me from being active, even being overweight or tired through most of it. I even put myself through almost three P-90X workouts in a row (shoutout to Mark Sisson for his episode – little did I know he’d be so instrumental to my life later….). My weight didn’t budge, though I got some nice muscle under my chub. I thought I was eating fairly well at that time, too, low fat, whole grains—the usual “good diet.” At the beginning of the third cycle of hard-core exercise, plus moving some furniture, I herniated a disc in my back and that put an end to P90X and extreme exercise.
In the meantime, I was getting sicker and I didn’t understand why. I was 50 pounds heavier than my normal pre-pregnancy weight. I was depressed, moody, lethargic, overweight, exhausted, and I always felt like I should just try harder to find the right medication to take care of it, or cut out the fats, or just exercise more. It seemed like each day was a monumental effort to get through, and I know I missed out on a lot of activities with my kids when they were little.
By 2013 my diagnoses were:
- Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis. This is an auto-immune disorder where your
immune system attacks the thyroid, which untreated can lead to multiple issues and eventual thyroid gland failure. - Bipolar disorder and depression/anxiety. The manic-depression was
actually the hypothyroidism/hyperthyroidism that characterizes - Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis, but I didn’t know that at the time so I went
on multiple and many medications over the years, thinking that nothing
was working for me and this is how it was and would be for me forever. - Migraines and headaches. This entailed emergency room visits and even a brain MRI. I went to a neurologist and was put on a migraine medication that ultimately gave me kidney stones, two of which had to be surgically removed. The medication didn’t help at all so I eventually gave up on it and since then, no more kidney stones! An expensive experiment. Now, if I have a gluten exposure—instant migraine and the root cause of them.
- GERD, bile disorder and esophagitis. I was put on a medication and at my first out-of-pocket charge of $400 for the med, I decided I’d go with the heartburn instead. I’d had bloating and discomfort for years, and did the usual OTC meds for that. An EGD thankfully showed no celiac disease but did show chronic inflammation.
- Asthma and chronic bronchitis requiring an inhaler
- Chronic fatigue
- Restless leg syndrome
- Hyperlipidemia
- Osteoarthritis, joint pain and stiffness
- Chronic tendinitis in wrists
- Adult acne
- Early menopause at age 40
- Brain fog
Around this time I had also lost half of my hair—thankfully I have thick hair so it still looked ok even though it was falling out in clumps.
For seven long years I went to the endocrinologist, got my thyroid (TSH) level tested and was always told it was “normal.”
In August 2013, after my last visit to the endocrinologist who had “managed” my Hashimoto’s for seven years, I finally hit the wall with my frustration over not being able to control my own body. I had had my first full-blown panic attack around this time as well. My medical record states the doctor actually thought it “was unlikely patient has significant thyroid disorder.” My TPOAb (Hashimoto’s marker) was 629.5 IU/ml (normal is to just eat right and exercise more and wait until my thyroid failed and then be put on medication. I even begged to be put on Armour NDT or something to just try it, even though my TSH was normal. He refused. I fired him and, at the end of my rope, finally got on the internet where I found the book I felt saved my life, “Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis: Lifestyle Interventions for Finding and Treating the The Root Cause” by Dr. Izabella Wentz, which had just been published. Finally, someone who had suffered like me!
I jumped right in to the Hashimoto’s protocol—which is basically Primal, and though it was a super hard transition off the SAD and meds, I lost 20 pounds in the first 21 days and over the next three months, lost 25 more, and never looked back. I gave up gluten, grains, started eating way more fat and vegetables, minimal fruits, got off all of my medications and resolved almost all of my health problems, in particular the depression—it’s amazing to live without it! Without reading The Primal Blueprint (until a bit later), my diet and lifestyle had evolved to fit the model of ancestral health naturally.
During the initial transition, I had gathered all of my medical records, made a summary of them chronologically, made a spreadsheet of my labs and discovered by myself that while I have always had “normal” TSH levels, I don’t convert T4 into the more usable T3, and my symptoms fit that profile. I found a holistic leaning CNP that agreed with my diagnosis and was willing to prescribe the proper NDT medication to address this and literally 20 minutes after taking the first dose, my anxiety, which had reached panic attack levels, disappeared. I now know that when my anxiety creeps up, it’s time for a thyroid medication adjustment.
I eventually read Elle Russ’ Paleo Thyroid Solution, which is a great resource for thyroid sufferers and explained a lot of what I was going through. I do still have the occasional Hashimoto’s flare days, when I simply cannot get out of bed, but it’s down to 1-2 times a year—and usually after I’ve let non-Primal foods into my diet. A far cry from being how I lived my life on a daily basis. It took ten years from diagnosis and many endocrinologists, naturopaths, nurses and internists later, but I finally have found an integrative medical doctor who helps me with the right medical care for Hashimoto’s. I was gratified at our first intake appointment that she did not change one thing about my diet which was already Primal! She commented on my robust health and I was never more proud of myself for getting myself from my sickest days to the point of actual robust health!
Today, after my all time high of 213 lbs, I keep my body at a comfortable 165 lbs (I’m 5’5” and age 49). My Hashimoto’s is stable and after initially cutting my levels in half by eating primally, I go a bit up and down and now rely on my physical and mental states to determine how well I’m controlling it through my food plan. I don’t have a CrossFit-type body, but I do have a body that takes me through my days without pain or suffering, as long as I stick to the Primal way. I no longer have depression, anxiety, GERD, acne, my hair grew back, I sleep like a champ and my brain fog is better but not all gone—hey, I’ll be 50 this year, what can I say! My weight, despite four back surgeries for disc herniations, a labral tear repair in my hip, a broken ankle and a shoulder surgery (the osteoarthritis still rears its ugly head), has remained stable at 165 lbs since 2013. Even when I am unable to exercise, I maintain my weight, mood and general good health simply by eating and living Primally. Today, I enjoy riding my bike, walking my dogs, working out at my property mowing grass, hauling logs and brush and doing simple Primal workouts in my basement. I have a goal of someday being super muscle-y but since I feel so much better than I did before, I’m ok with my body now. My clothes always fit and I can live and do what I want to physically, and that’s more than enough for me.
My children are now 19 and 16, growing up and moving on with their lives, and with extra time on my hands I started looking into being a health coach. I’d followed many “diets” related to primally eating—mostly the Hashimoto’s Protocol, the Bulletproof Diet, the Whole30 plan, the Auto Immune Protocol plan and Paleo among others—but truly, the lifestyle I developed and live dovetails totally with the Primal Blueprint—I was living it before I really even knew about it! My heritage is Inuit/Alaskan Eskimo so it makes complete sense now that I live best on fats, meats and vegetables and berries! I know this lifestyle works for me and am excited to share it with others like me, who have suffered needlessly with auto-immune disorders that aren’t treated properly. I know you can take your health into your own hands and live the way nature intended – PRIMALLY! I recently became certified as Primal Health Coach and am living proof that good health can be had with minimal effort and suffering and I’m excited to begin my journey of helping others to robust health!
The post I Went From Having an Invisible Illness, Being Overweight, Depressed and Tired To Enjoying Robust Health! appeared first on Mark's Daily Apple.
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This Video Proves Our Hair is Definitely Our Crown
We can't know where we're going until we know where we've been. This video highlighting the history of black hair dating back to Africa, through enslavement, to today, can give us the perspective we need to walk powerfully through the world, knowing that our hair is truly our crown. As Marcus Garvey said, "Remove the kinks from your mind, not your hair." Peep the video and drop us a line in the comment section!
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from Natural Hair Care | Curly Nikki https://ift.tt/2GpzSZt
What Were You Taught About Porn Growing Up & What Do You Think Now?
To be completely honest, there was a large part of me that balked when it was suggested I write about porn. I’ve enjoyed my fair share of porn (which I’ll talk about later.) But I also remember after one particularly fulfilling session in college, having a That’s So Raven-esque vision of myself becoming addicted to it, watching it every day to the point that it started to interfere with my responsibilities. I saw myself being late to pick my future daughter up from school because I was somewhere getting off. I take my visions seriously and it scared me. So these days I have to stumble across porn, mostly in gif form. And even then, I never linger long.
It was my hesitancy to tackle the subject that let me know that not only did I need to write about it but also ask other women what they felt about it. With so many Black women coming from church and faith communities, the topic of porn is either ignored entirely or discussed with such loathing that those of us who do partake, feel a slight twinge of guilt watching it and certainly uncomfortable speaking about it. Which is exactly why I asked a few brave souls to share what they’d learned about porn growing up and what they think of it now that they’re grown.
Nadia, who comes from a Caribbean background, and was caught watching porn by her mom when she was just 9 years old says,
“My mom told me that it was dirty and sinful, and asked me if I had been molested instead of just realizing that I was a curious pre-teen. I also think she thought that I was being fast when in reality I was the last person to start having sex in my friend group.”Iris shares a slightly similar experience of discovering porn early (kindergarten) and getting her ass ‘wore out’ every time she got caught watching. Regardless, she has a good relationship with porn today. She shares,
“I appreciate porn and Superhead for everything it’s taught me and those lonely nights it's gotten me through......I'm very into sex and my sexuality and I believe porn is necessary for life. I like seeing new tricks, positions, etc...I don't have too many friends that will sit and let me watch them and their husband have sex, so with that being said it's about as natural as can be for me."Yvette didn’t watch porn as a child, and her parents never discussed porn with her, however, she figured out that it wasn’t something that should be around her when an older brother had to move out of the house for leaving a porn video in the family VCR where she could find it.
As she got older, things changed...
“As soon as I got to college, I learned all about Pornhub and I kept it a secret from my mom that I watched it until I graduated. It gets brought up in random conversation now because I'm "grown" so my mom and I speak freely about it in regards to like marriage. Now the church I grew up in was another story….I remember them having a 7-week series during Sunday school (for adults of course) about pornography and how it was perverted and it was a sin and blah blah blah. I was in my early 20s having to sit next to my mom while they discuss in all the ways pornography could lead to broken marriages, homosexuality, and other things. I was floored and looking at my pastor like he had 10 heads because surely a man well in his 50s is seriously not spewing this kind of message to other grown folks, half of which are married. I think porn is fine and healthy and can be a great tool in marriages to educate or to spice things up. I also believe masturbation is healthy and normal. But I do have an internal conflict about how I personally feel and how I was made to feel according to my religious practices.”As for me, I’m actually surprised to recall that my parents didn’t have any extensive conversations with my sister and me about porn, only because other aspects of sexuality were so openly discussed in our household. On occasion, I would see my father’s erotica or Playboy magazines—which he bought for the articles. My mom would make offhanded comments like, “Your dad likes to watch those nasty movies.” I could fill in the gaps. Not only from these throwaway comments but mostly because my parents put televisions with cable in me and my sister’s rooms. During my teen years, I stumbled upon Cinemax and more importantly HBO’s “Real Sex.”
Not only did “Real Sex” go a long way in stimulating me, it also provided some extremely helpful information. With my parents’ (read mom’s) honesty and my cable, I knew more than the average bear when it came to everything from anatomy, sexuality and the woman’s ability to ejaculate. “Real Sex,” even showed me that there was a man who could make women achieve orgasm without even touching them. I saw it with my own eyes. I still think about that from time to time.
When I was a kid, there was a level of guilt watching porn because I knew damn well that’s not why my parents bought us those TVs. Still, I was and still am very appreciative and forever grateful for what the pornographic content was doing for my body—with an assist from my waterbed—and my mind.
Ultimately, I think it’s up to each woman, Black or otherwise, to determine what her sexuality looks like for herself. And if that sexuality includes an embracing of porn or not. Strip away your parents’ hangups and occasional hypocrisy. Imagine that you never heard what the church had to say about the subject, watch a little something, read a little something and then take inventory of your feelings afterward. Did you enjoy yourself? Does it enhance your sexual expression? If you feel a twinge of guilt or a level of discomfort, try to identify whether or not it’s coming from your own opinions or the ones you’ve been exposed to. As women, and Black women particularly, there is so much that often stands in the way of us fully embodying our sexual selves that we have to work hard just to hear our own voice.
What were you taught about porn growing up? Have your opinions changed as an adult?
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Model, Marketer Myori is Naturally Glam!
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| Myori Granger |
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| Via IG |
I love homemade products and like to co-wash my hair. I rarely ever shampoo. Some of my kitchen cabinet favorites are coconut oil, Jamaican Black castor oil and olive oil so my hair stays hydrated…...and when I get lazy on the DIY front, I'll use some Got 2 B.
What do you do and why do you love it?
As someone working in a formal 9-5 and pursuing my modeling as a side hustle, I love being able to bring fashion to life and have been featured in Vogue, Teen Vogue, W magazine and Refinery29.
What do you do for fun?
I love to EAT. Trying new restaurants, traveling and taking impromptu on the fly trips if schedule permits.
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| Via IG |
Wellllllll, I love me some junk food, I am a snacker. I try to swap out the junk for healthier snacks like fruits, nuts and granola and the occasional detox.
How has having natural hair contributed to your life/self esteem?
When I was a kid in middle school, I ALWAYS wanted my hair relaxed. My mom finally gave in and then my hair started to fall out. I decided I’d rather wear wigs if need be without damaging my natural hair!
What has been the best part of your natural hair journey?
Being true to myself. Rebelling against what society thinks I should look like and slaying every moment of it is honestly the best part.
OOOh yes! My hair crush was the famous youtube blogger Domineque Banks A.K.A “Long hair don't care” Sadly she passed away from lupus… such a sad time for me. I really admired her journey and spirit, you would never be able to tell she was fighting a sickness.
Did you have a hair role model growing up?
Domineque Banks
Absolutely not!
Have you had negative natural hair experiences?
Of course! It’s part of the experience of being natural. Are there times I selectively wear my hair differently depending on an interview ? Yes, Does it suck? Yes. It’s life, everyone is not going to accept my hair and I understand that. I understand that my hair BRAGGADOCIOUSLY reveals confidence and people are intimidated by that.
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| Follow Myori on Instagram! What advice do you have for other women?
Always stay true to the roots of who you are. Your hair does not define you, it compliments you. If you want to cut, dye, fro it or weave it go ahead! It’s your body and no one can tell you otherwise.
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from Natural Hair Care | Curly Nikki https://ift.tt/2GpaJy7
Thursday, March 29, 2018
Thrift Meats That Can Match Expensive Cuts (and How to Cook Them)
Eating flavorful meat doesn’t have to mean spending a fortune. But finding the most flavorful thrift cuts at the market often means speaking up and asking the butcher. Don’t be shy—butchers and meat vendors at the farmers’ markets usually love to share their favorite thrift cuts of meat.
The lesser known, less expensive cuts of meat listed here are a good place to start if you want flavorful meat, for a lower price. These cuts aren’t always displayed front and center in the meat case, and they might even have to be special ordered.
To bring out the most flavor and tenderness, season these cuts of meat with salt a few hours or a full day ahead of time, and then set the meat out an hour before cooking to bring it up to room temperature. Always let the meat rest 5 to 10 minutes after it’s cooked, then slice it against the grain, on the bias.
Lamb Shoulder Chop (a.k.a. Blade Chop or Shoulder Steak)
Instead of: leg of lamb or lamb rib chops
Lamb shoulder chops aren’t as pretty as darling little lamb chops, https://ift.tt/2GGxH74 but they’re not as expensive, either. Lamb shoulder chops are marbled with fat, have a chewier texture and bigger, bolder lamb flavor. If all that sounds good, then cook these chops briefly over a hot flame until medium-rare, about 4 minutes a side.
7-Bone Chuck Steak (aka Chuck Steak or 7-Bone Roast)
Instead of: short ribs or brisket
The 7-bone is sometimes sold as steak, and sometimes sold as a bigger, thicker roast. Either way, it’s a tough cut of meat, but it’s also really flavorful thanks to a generous amount of fat and collagen. If you don’t mind a little chewy gristle, then go ahead and throw a 7-bone steak on the grill. Otherwise, cook a 7-bone (both the steak and the roast) just like pot roast, with a little braising liquid at low heat for several hours.
Chicken Leg Quarters (aka Whole Chicken Legs)
Instead of: bone-in or boneless chicken thighs
A thigh and a drumstick attached, this cut isn’t the most gorgeous part of a chicken, but it sure tastes good. Sold bone-in and skin-on, there’s lots of flavor to be had. Cook leg quarters the same as bone-in chicken thighs.
Flap Meat (aka Bavette or Sirloin Tip)
Instead of: skirt steak, flank steak and hangar steak
This thin strip of beef has a wonderfully robust meaty flavor. It’s best to marinate flap meat then cook it quickly over high heat. Both a hot grill and a hot skillet are a good choice for cooking flap meat.
What are your favorite thrift cuts, and what techniques do you use to bring out their full flavor and tenderness in cooking? Share your ideas and questions below, and have a great day, everyone.
The post Thrift Meats That Can Match Expensive Cuts (and How to Cook Them) appeared first on Mark's Daily Apple.
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Loneliness is Your Sign to be Super Watchful #BeHerNow
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How Women Of Color Are Navigating Dating At Predominantly White Institutions
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| Trevor Jackson & Yara Shahidi |
I religiously watch the hit series grown-ish because it allows me to reminisce about the college experience I had at a predominantly white institution (PWI). Not only is the show relatable but it sheds light on issues women of color often face in an honest, balanced and digestible manner.
In the middle of the season, one episode pulled at my heartstrings. Titled, “It’s Hard Out Here For a Pimp,” the installment highlighted the dating struggles women of color (WOC) face while studying on a PWI campus. I always assumed women of color who attended schools in metropolitan areas would have a better chance at a diverse dating pool unlike those who matriculated at schools located in rural demographics. Unfortunately, I was wrong. During a conversation with my close friend Desiree, alumnae of Columbia University, I realized our experiences were eerily similar.
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My senior year, a bi-racial male student who I had a crush on DMed me on Facebook. Our conversation was flirty and then took a sharp turn when we began sexting. He asked for my number and sent me a picture of his whole “baby arm.” CHILE. I was intrigued since I was a virgin at the time. After the steamy exchange, we went on a date but something felt off. Not in a bad way but our in-person chemistry didn’t make my juices flow. We continued to keep in touch but that came to a halt when he played himself. He thought it would be okay to not acknowledge me when his white friends were around.
Desiree (who identifies as Afro-Latina) also shared that a racially-ambiguous Latino male classmate initiated sexual advances towards her via AIM but she wasn’t too impressed when he tried to use Spanish and ethnic colloquialism to get her in between his twin bed sheets. Especially since he spent most of his time passing as white on their Ivy League campus. No matter the type of school or student makeup, it’s disgusting when a man or anyone uses your race. ethnicity or complexion to appeal or shun you whenever they feel like it.
Since my friends and I graduated college eons ago, you know, back in the day when Facebook pokes, BBMs and AIM were used to shoot a shot, I decided to interview female students who are currently enrolled at my alma mater, SUNY Geneseo in Upstate New York. I wanted to know how they are navigating and negotiating dating, sex and relationships with respect to their races, cultures and gender identities. They poured me some candid, hot tea that I’m ready to serve you.
During our conversation, Senior student, Euni spoke about feeling fetishized by her white male classmates.
"When I've tried to date those outside of my community, such as straight white men, it never worked. Many times when encountering these men, I came to learn that they didn't actually like me, they liked the idea of me and the idea of being with their first Black girl. I was just always fetishized."Ashley, a Latina senior, shared similar sentiments but noted that her white boyfriend had to get accustomed to her enjoying her culture even though it’s often labeled as “ratchet” or “ghetto” in mainstream society.
“I know that I can be pretty ratchet sometimes, which I will try to avoid if I’m talking to a guy. When I was only sleeping/talking to Matt, I didn’t really dance crazy with my friends or say the words I did. Once me and him were boyfriend/girlfriend, I kind of let loose and acted like myself. At times he didn’t like it but he ended up accepting the fact that I like to rap the verses to most Nicki Minaj or Cardi B. songs.”Sophomore Janelle says men of color (MOC) sometimes act different when interacting with women versus how they behave with their male friends. Ashley confirms this wack behavior happens often.
“My friend, Sana* was hooking up with this guy Troy* for the longest time. He would completely deny ever being with her but still continuously hit her up on the weekends to go over to his place. I’ll never forget the one time at a party, he walks past her while holding onto a white girl completely ignoring her like she didn’t exist. After that incident, she never spoke to him again.”All the women who participated in this interview agreed that there are MOC on campus who have openly expressed that they don’t like Black women at all or are just not interested in the WOC who live on campus. Euni believes most of them are not in touch with their culture or have complex issues with what Blackness represents. Senior Leah says despite this, her friends have lucked out with amazing MOC who don’t subscribe to self-hate or shallow ideals. She also expressed that dating men of color on campus can be difficult because the people of color’s community is very small and after a while, feels like family. I found this to be true when I attended Geneseo; some male students became community peen and their lack of discrepancy at times made for sloppy campus drama. When asked how or if Donald Trump’s presidency affected social interactions between students, the women noted there was tension on campus but it wasn’t anything they weren’t used to. It also didn’t make them shrink who they are and what they represent.
“While being at Geneseo, because of the lack of diversity here, I've actually become more proud in my Blackness. I take more pride in who I am, my skin color, my physical traits, and especially my hair,” Euni lamented. “We’re all more outspoken than other people. So, when these times do occur, we then turn around and say “and who cares what they think?” Janelle said in agreement. “It takes being a community, I personally feel, to have that confidence.”
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The Cold Truth About Hot Flashes
Once a month, when you’re suffering from cramping, bloating, moodiness and fatigue, do you imagine menopause as a dream where your menstrual cycle ends? That, like a butterfly, you’re freed from monthly changes forever?
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Wednesday, March 28, 2018
Submit a Comment on the USDA Dietary Guidelines
Change is in the air.
As the rest of the country engages in the same old partisan bickering about how best to rearrange the Titanic’s deck chairs, we have a chance to redirect course and avoid the iceberg. The USDA is considering some major changes to its dietary recommendations, and they’ve put out a call for comments from the public—an unprecedented request. Even better, they’ve requested comments on specific nutritional topics that they’re presumably interested in amending for the upcoming 2020 guidelines, including the safety and efficacy of low-carbohydrate diets and the current maximum recommended intake of saturated fats.
If you’re wondering why you should care whether an overbearing governmental agency thinks you should eat saturated fat or eat fewer carbs, it’s not you I’m thinking about. I’m thinking about the people who don’t know better, who assume what they read in doctor’s office pamphlets is the unvarnished truth.
The USDA dietary guidelines are designed for professionals who administer and recommend diets to their patients. They’re used to develop federal food programs and health policies. State and local governments, schools, businesses, charities, and dozens of other organizations with the power to shape the food and food-related information we consume all use USDA dietary guidelines as, well, guidelines.
You may have a good grasp on the science of food and the diet that works for you—but millions of people do not. Millions rely on the experts and the medical professionals and bureaucrats to make their decisions for them. If those authorities are operating with bad information, what do you think happens?
The obesity epidemic happens. The type 2 diabetes epidemic happens. Low-fat chocolate milk in the lunch line happens. Statins for toddlers happens. Fat acceptance (not the same as self-acceptance) happens. An exploding mobility scooter market happens.
This isn’t a magic fix. This information—the right stuff, the helpful stuff I and other folks in the community have been doling out for years—is readily available, and not everyone wants to listen or buy in. That isn’t going to transform just because the USDA changes their tune. And the tune isn’t going to change dramatically no matter what happens. You won’t see the USDA recommending bone marrow and keto anytime soon. But it will start shifting things in the right direction. And it’ll expose a large number of people who’d never heard anything but the official line about low-carb diets and saturated fat to a radically new position that could really improve their health and make eating both more enjoyable and more effective.
And there’s an even bigger reason to get involved and submit a comment: Vegetarian activists and passionate defenders of the status quo (yes, they exist) are out in full force submitting comments arguing against low-carb diets and the relaxation of limits on saturated fat consumption. They already wield a home court advantage—everyone “knows” vegetarians are healthier and holier—so we need to push back.
***But you only have until THIS Friday, March 30, to submit your comment.
Most of the other luminaries in the ancestral health community are also asking their readers and followers to participate. This has the chance to be a big wave of influence, provided everyone willing and able follows through and makes a comment.
Nina Teicholz and Dr. Sarah Hallberg, who are spearheading this effort, have provided some excellent suggestions for the content of your comments, including relevant scientific references. Copy and paste what they wrote if you prefer, or write your own.
Just get it done. Let’s make a change.
Thanks for reading and commenting, folks. You know what would be cool? Sketch out what you’ll write to the USDA in the comment section down below, then submit it as a document for consideration. That way everyone gets inspired to submit.
Take care.
The post Submit a Comment on the USDA Dietary Guidelines appeared first on Mark's Daily Apple.
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Tune In: 10 Mental Health Podcasts For Black Women
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| Lauren Ash and Zakkiyyah Najeebah host Black Girl in Om |
For years, mental health issues have long been stigmatized in the Black community. And for Black women specifically, we have been taught to keep quiet about the pain, anxiety, and anguish that often eats at us on the daily. It’s only been in recent years that Black people as a whole have stepped out of the mental illness closet in an attempt to not let past demons keep control of us. The fact that there are so many more resources available to inform us definitely helps. Here is a list of 10 mental health podcasts that are helping to empower and uplift Black women as we navigate the murky waters of psychological struggles.
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The Cure for Wanting Everyone to Like You
By Erickka Sy Savané
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I was taken back to elementary school when I was growing up, riding the bus to Sunday school with my brother. We were the last to get picked up, and every week I dreaded mounting the bus steps because with most of the seats already taken, it meant sitting next to another kid. I don't know why, but these kids couldn't stand us. One day, as I sat next to a girl, she make a big production of moving herself as close to the window as possible and made a loud, "Eeeewwww!" Like I had cooties. Then she told me I looked like Ms. Peabody.
The other day, my daughter who is 8 years old and in the second grade came to me sad because a few girls in her class stopped liking her. She said that no matter what she does, they keep running away from her during gym class. As parents, we hate when anyone isn’t nice to our kids so I had to keep from saying what I wanted to say, which was what my Granny always told me, "F*ck’em." I couldn't understand why it was so important that these little girls like her when she had so many other friends? Then it occurred to me, she wants to be liked. We all do, and go about it in different ways. Instagram and facebook make billions of dollars off of likes. You post a pic and if NOBODY likes it you feel like you failed. Now if you have no friends on social media in the first place, not a problem. But if you have ‘friends,’ which most of us do because that’s the point, we want to be liked. Some people actually build whole businesses off of getting likes. As I was looking at her, searching for the right thing to say, the brutally honest words of my mom popped into my ears like I was in high school all over again. She'd say,
“Not everyone is going to like you. That’s life.”And that’s exactly what I told my daughter. Because like a lot of things that I’ve come to realize, mom was right. Not everyone is going to like her. Or me. I mean, people didn't like Martin Luther King at the time and some still don't. Folks don't like Beyonce. I don’t like Omarosa, Paris Hilton or Justin Timberlake though they've never personally done anything to me, and some people I don't like because they remind me of someone else I don't like, so go figure.
Getting back to my post, I didn't delete it. The truth is, I stand behind what I wrote at the time because that's how I felt and not everyone is going to like it. That's life. Once I accept that, once we all accept that, we're free.
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The Beginner's Guide to a Bomb Flexi Rod Set
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| CurlyGaisha |
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Tuesday, March 27, 2018
5 Studies I’d Like to See
Imagine money is no object. Imagine you wield absolute control over the scientific community and can direct it to run whichever study you desire. If you can dream it up, they’ll get the subjects, produce the money, and make it happen. All you need to come up with is the overarching design. What would you choose? What do you wonder? What questions do you want answered once and for all?
Here’s what I’d choose:
Omega-6 From Seed Oils vs. Omega-6 From Nuts and Seeds
Linoleic acid isn’t linoleic acid. In nuts and seeds, the fragile omega-6 fats have a home. They have cellular walls and antioxidant compounds protecting them from these oxidative stressors. In theory, eating nuts is far different than consuming an equivalent amount of omega-6 through seed oils.
In a seed oil, the omega-6 fats are adrift like storm-tossed sailors, subject to oxidative stressors like heat, light, and oxygen with little protection. To make matters worse, the refining process often strips them of what few endogenous antioxidant compounds remain. They tend to arrive in your kitchen already oxidized and rancid, and if they aren’t, cooking finishes the process. Consuming these oxidized fats makes your LDL particles more vulnerable to oxidation, and oxidized LDL particles are strong candidates for primary progenitors of heart disease.
What’s more, we’re eating (well, maybe not us so much as the average Westerner) more seed oils than ever before. In observational studies, the two sources are conflated. Omega-6 from nuts might be perfectly safe and healthy, and I suspect they are, but we just don’t know. A study pitting the two against each other over a period of 6-12 months would be among the most important for public health.
If you wanted to really isolate the effect of the fatty acids alone and eliminate the variables, you’d give the seed oil group a vitamin/mineral/micronutrient supplement replicating the nutrient content of the nuts. But I don’t think this is necessary, and it may even be counterproductive; people don’t eat seed oils with complicated nutrient complexes to replace the missing nutrients they’d otherwise get from nuts. They just eat crappy refined oils. The simpler study pitting nuts against oils would be more realistic and applicable to how people actually eat.
Track: Bodyweight, lipids, oxidized LDL, inflammation, liver health/fat.
Strict Keto vs. “Keto Zone”
While staying strict when you first embark on the Keto Reset journey is highly recommended, if not downright mandatory, not everyone remains so. Hardcore keto eaters are often lifers, figuring if it worked better than anything else they’d tried early on, there’s no reason to think the benefits would slow or reverse. That may be true. But I like flexibility. I like being able to drift in and out of ketosis as needed. And from what I can tell, the beauty of going strict keto is that it unlocks and enhances your fat-burning machinery and ability to obtain energy from fat—so that you regain the metabolic flexibility to shift between sources of energy.
That’s the keto zone I often talk about—that range of macros where you have the necessary metabolic machinery to shift back and forth between ketosis and straight-up fat-burning based on the number of carbs you eat. A sweet potato doesn’t “knock you out” of ketosis for days; slipping back in just happens because you’re so accustomed to it.
I call it the keto zone because it’s exactly that: a range of carbohydrate intake that causes you to drift in and out of ketosis without even realizing it. For most, the keto zone might correlate to consuming between 20-120 grams of carbs per day. Less one day, more the next. More ketones today, fewer tomorrow. You’re constantly on the verge of either leaving or entering ketosis, and it’s okay.
Is strict keto superior to the keto zone, where you drift in and out of ketosis transiently? I have my biases, but this study would let us find out for sure.
Participants would all start on strict keto for two months, after which they’d split into two groups. One group would stay strict keto, the other would drift into the keto zone. This portion of the study would go for six months.
Track: bodyweight/composition, physical and cognitive performance, inflammatory markers, lipids.
Grilled Meat vs. Gently Cooked Meat: Long Term (5-ish Years) With Health Outcomes
I’ve written about the apparent benefits of gently cooked meat compared to high heat grilled meat. I’ve also dug into the research implicating high heat grilled meat and various diseases, and found it wanting. This would get to the bottom of it.
Except for how the meat is cooked, the diets are identical. The fatty acids are identical, so the differential effects of polyunsaturated vs saturated fat on meat carcinogenicity don’t enter. Each diet has adequate calcium, since low calcium appears to be a prerequisite for “meat-induced” colon cancer. The meat sources are identical; everything is grass-fed (or not). You compare a burger patty grilled over charcoal to a burger patty lightly simmered in some water. A pork chop over fire versus the same pork chop in the pressure cooker.
Track: Incidence of cancer (and related biomarkers), diabetes, heart disease, and everything else they say meat will inflict upon us.
Battle Of the Carnivores: Muscle Meat Carnivore vs. Whole Animal Carnivore (e.g. organs, bones, skin) Over 5 Years
Many zero-carbers are adamant that beef muscle meat is all one needs to thrive. They’ll eat steak and nothing else. Ground beef and nothing else. They’ll drink water and sometimes coffee. They’ll salt their food, but pepper is a stretch. Obviously, there’s something to this. Meat offers nutrients you simply can’t get anywhere else, and in the most bioavailable form around. Eating a bunch of it is probably better than eating none of it.
I suspect that a whole animal carnivore would be healthier, one who ate organs, bones, skin in addition to the muscle meat. This provides a wider range of nutrients, particularly by eating nature’s multivitamin (liver). It balances the methionine (from muscle meat) and glycine (from connective tissue), a ratio that plays a role in the lifespan according to animal models. It’s also more evolutionarily congruent than discarding everything but the muscle meat.
That said, we don’t know for sure. The anecdotes are persuasive. I’d argue that their results are preliminary, and we don’t know if the effects will persist 3, 4, 5 years out. This study would give us a good idea.
It would be cool to throw in another meat-based group who also ate leafy greens and other non-starchy vegetables.
Track: Lipids, body composition/weight, metabolic health, inflammation markers, physical performance, strength, endurance, health endpoints like mortality, diabetes, cancer.
Three-Year Study Of Keto In Anaerobic Athletes (e.g. basketball or soccer)—Enough Time For Full Adaptation
Even skeptics admit that getting fat adapted can help endurance athletes excel at their sport, but what remains to be seen is if keto is good for athletes who perform above the anaerobic threshold. Traditionally, going anaerobic means burning glucose. If you don’t have glucose, either because you’re not eating it or your metabolism isn’t optimized for its utilization, your performance will suffer. That’s the story, at least. The data so far is spotty, mixed, and plagued by the fact that the perfect study hasn’t been done.
My intuition is that the keto team would do better than expected. Maybe not better than the other team, but better than the skeptics would assume, and perhaps equal. After all, fat-adaptation extends your anaerobic threshold. You can go longer and harder burning primarily fatty acids than a “normal” athlete. This should preserve glycogen for when you truly need it. And certain “intangibles” might be better in the keto team, like teamwork/cooperation/morale (from improved cognition) and injury rates (from lower inflammation).
A fun wrinkle would be to add a third team that does “keto zone.” They’d start with a strict keto adaptation period, after which they’d cycle carbs in for workouts and games. I suspect that team would be the most successful.
Track: Performance at regular intervals, both team and individual. W/L ratio, points scored, defense, overall success, injury rates. Player attributes like speed, stamina, power.
Those are the five studies I think would be the most illuminating. What about you? What would you like to investigate?
Let me know down below. Thanks for reading, everybody.
The post 5 Studies I’d Like to See appeared first on Mark's Daily Apple.
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