Are CrossFit and Primal Compatible?

Back when they were infants, CrossFit and paleo were the best of friends. Robb Wolf was giving CrossFit nutrition seminars. CF boxes were running paleo challenges and offering meal plans to clients. Tens of thousands of people were introduced to paleo through CrossFit and CrossFit through paleo.

Over time, however, they drifted apart. CrossFit met and fell in with the Zone Diet—a calm, well-mannered lad with impeccable balance, and paleo’s dad got a job in another city. They ended up going to different schools. These things happen. It’s fine. Both CrossFit and paleo are better versions of themselves for having met each other.

I’ve been interested in CrossFit for the better part of a decade. I’ve been to several of the Games. One of CrossFit’s best (and best-known) coaches, Kelly Starrett, was a presentee at PrimalCon Oxnard and a contributor to MDA. The infamous Grundler Brothers were early supporters of the Primal Health Coach certification program. Without CrossFit’s early endorsement, I’m not sure ancestral health would be as big and influential as it is today.

For the past year, my Primal Health Coach team and I have been working with Absolution CrossFit (of LaGrange, IL) co-owner and coach Laura Rupsis to understand what CrossFit athletes are missing in their diets and lifestyles. We’re convinced we can help them. I’m convinced we can help coaches help their clients using a Primal approach.

CrossFitters want:

To perform better. They’re interested in eating healthy food, but they don’t want their performance to suffer because of it.

To lose body fat and gain muscle. Who doesn’t? Losing body fat can improve performance in exercises where you manipulate your own body weight, but not if it means losing muscle and strength.

CrossFitters worry about:

Getting enough calories. With Paleo diets it’s notoriously hard to overeat, which is great if you’re trying to lose weight, but not so great if you’re trying to support an active training and competing schedule.

Getting enough carbs. I don’t blame your average CrossFitter for giving up on paleo. Keeping up with WODs while eating lean meat and getting your carbs from broccoli and asparagus sounds like hell. It doesn’t have to be that way on Primal, and I’ll show you how.

Burning out. CrossFit is taxing. There’s no way around that. And our real lives are busier than ever. Between kids, work, commuting, cooking, cleaning, and, hell, living, we all have a ton on our plates. Throwing one of the most intense training programs in the mix can push people to the breaking point. I’ll explain how going Primal can help prevent or mitigate burnout.

Many of the top CrossFitters have given up on paleo, opting for more flexible diets. Orthodox paleo just doesn’t work for the highest level of CrossFitters, who expend a ton of energy and eat a ton to compensate. And we can guess that this isn’t a spurious breakup. CrossFitters are students of the body and the inputs that make it run smoothly. If they’re moving on from paleo, something isn’t working.

But there’s a problem: Many of the most influential CrossFit bloggers, thinkers, and coaches are throwing the baby out with the bathwater. They assume if paleo doesn’t work, Primal doesn’t either. Researchers even released a study showing that paleo eating undermines the benefits of CrossFit training. It was just retracted for being, well, completely wrong, but it goes to show the forces arrayed against the union of CrossFit and paleo.

Although paleo and CrossFit have drifted apart, parallels remain. CrossFitters don’t fear fat, eat plenty of animals, understand the importance of plants, and love them some bacon. Even the movements prescribed by CrossFit are ancestral at their core—squatting, picking things off the ground, running, jumping, bending, reaching, climbing, hoisting, pressing things overhead, pulling—only performed at greater intensities.

Rather than merely recreate the paleolithic movement milieu, CrossFit transcends it in many ways.

CrossFit asks you to go as hard as humanly possible without breaking down, sacrificing your quality of movement, and hurting yourself, all while paying homage to your heritage as a human animal. That’s no joke, man. And they take it seriously. All the CrossFitters I know spend almost as much time warming up and doing “prehab” mobility work than they do working out. Sure, people get injured—as they do in every sport. Contrary to popular belief, CrossFit has never been shown to be more dangerous than other types of training. Recent studies show that CrossFitters experience no more shoulder injuries than other athletes, for example. If anything, CrossFitters get fewer injuries than athletes on other programs.

My point is this: CrossFit asks a lot of your body. I’m here to argue that Primal eating and living can help you answer. There are many reasons why the Primal Blueprint, in contrast to paleo, can make CrossFitters fitter, faster, and recover better. I’ll just list a few for now:

1. Primal is a more flexible version of paleo. It’s more malleable, allowing use of some of the most potent foods for recovery from intense training—dairy, whey protein, and dense starchy carbohydrates. Early incarnations of paleo restricted dairy, assuming universal intolerance, and cautioned against starchy plants, assuming everyone was sedentary.
2. Primal isn’t paleo. Paleo is a great approach to diet for most people. You could do a lot worse than eating animals and plants and avoiding potentially allergenic foods. But the paleo diet people are criticizing is an archaic, narrow version that just doesn’t apply to the Primal Blueprint. As new evidence unfolds, Primal adapts. It’s the only way to stay honest in this business, even if it means dining on crow (which, by the way, is totally Primal) from time to time.
3. Primal gets you fat-adapted. While the most intense WODs definitely burn through—and require that you replenish—a ton of glycogen, fat adaptation benefits every athlete. A fat-adapted athlete will burn more body fat at any given intensity. A fat-adapted athlete will hold on to muscle glycogen longer, saving it for later. A fat-adapted athlete has more and better mitochondria with the metabolic flexibility to burn fat, ketones, and carbs. And once you become fat-adapted and build those fat-burning mitochondria, they don’t just disappear. You can even eat more carbs, and your muscles will maintain the upregulated ability to burn fat.
4. Primal is macronutrient-agnostic. My personal flavor of Primal is definitely higher fat and lower carb, but that’s me. That’s what works for my goals and lifestyle. For a top CrossFitter, Primal might be higher carb and lower fat. It’s really up to you and your goals.
5. Primal is way more than diet. Heck, your average CrossFitter could maintain whatever diet they want, only follow the Primal lifestyle laws, and see huge improvements to their performance and recovery. Sleep, sun exposure, social contact, mental stimulation, circadian health, nature exposure, and other lifestyle factors all have huge impacts on not only your physical health, but also your physical performance.

The primary goals of the Primal Blueprint are to offer information about how various macronutrients, micronutrients, and other food compounds affect your health and performance, and allow—nay, force—you to chart your own course. Some say that’s a weakness, a lack of conviction. So what? Ideological conviction is exactly what we don’t need.

In the coming weeks, I’ll address the common criticisms CrossFitters make about paleo, why they don’t apply to Primal, and how going Primal can actually solve many of the most common issues CrossFitters face.

Tune in tomorrow for the first official post in this series. Thanks for stopping by today, everyone. Have questions you’d like me to take up around CrossFit (or other intensive training program) and the Primal Blueprint? Share and discuss in the comment board. 

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Hair Loss: Looking beyond Genetics

Conventional wisdom teaches us to accept our fate when it comes to hair loss. “Runs in the family,” we’re often told—and sometimes it does (but that’s usually not the full story). “It’s just part of getting older,” people say, too—and there we again find only partial truth at best.

But the Primal path is one of thoughtful scrutiny, not blind acceptance. While most people would file hair loss under aesthetic concerns (ranging from neutral to negative depending on social norms and personal views), it’s not always that innocuous. Let’s look today the bigger picture behind hair loss and the situations in which it signifies a genuine health concern.

Hair Loss: Genetic Destiny?

To those in the know, androgenetic alopecia (AA) is the number one form of progressive hair loss. The term can be a little misleading: while it translates to male-pattern baldness, it also encompasses a condition called female pattern baldness. The “andro” derives from dihydrotestosterone, the so-called male hormone that specialists believe to be the primary cause of AA. It’s estimated that half of men over the age of 50 and half of women over the age of 65 have this form of hair loss, and the young people can be affected as well.

The theory goes that every hair follicle on your scalp is genetically predisposed to either be susceptible or resistant to increasing levels of dihydrotestosterone as you age. Those whose hair follicles are sensitive to this hormone will see a steady decline in hair as they age, while those who dodged the genetic bullet can retain their hair into their later decades…provided they don’t succumb to any number of other hair loss factors.

The theory implicating testosterone developed back in the 1940s, when James B. Hamilton reported the notable lack of hair loss in “old eunuchs who were castrated prior to sexual maturation.” It stood to reason that testosterone, which Hamilton assumed wasn’t being produced in any significant quantities post-snip, was the cause of hair loss in “intact” men. In 1980, a team of scientists refined this theory when they discovered a group of pseudohermaphrodites living in the Dominican Republic who had normal testosterone concentrations but lacked an enzyme that converted testosterone into the “hair follicle damaging” dihydrotestosterone.

The rest was history. Pharmaceutical opportunists caught onto the findings, and began pumping out early equivalents of today’s Rogaine and Propecia. Research-wise, not a lot of progress has been made since.

The Problem with a Fatalist View on Genetics

An study published last year in the International Journal of Trichology got me thinking. Researchers examined the medical and family history of 210 patients with female pattern hair loss, finding that close to 85% of the patients had a history of AA. Nothing new there.

But there was more at play: the study also found that the hair loss patients also had a high incidence of hypothyroidism and hypertension, and most were deficient in vitamin D. Clearly, all of these factors are influenced primarily by diet, stress, and other easily-altered variables.

This presents a problem for the fatalist alopecia soothsayers and drug companies alike. The issue with flat-out blaming genetics for something like hair loss is that there’s always confounding factors. For example, if someone has a family history of hair loss, does that family also have a gluten/dairy/egg/nut sensitivity that they don’t know about? Does that family have a ravenous sweet tooth, and therefore consume vast quantities of delicious but inflammatory sweeties? It’s easy to blame genetics for all of life’s maladies, but the waters muddy a little when a “predisposition” is intertwined with unhealthy habits, diet, or food allergies.

An alternative hair solutions blogger Danny Roddy agrees. Drawing on extensive research from Dr. Ray Peat, Roddy firmly dismisses the “genetic determinism” mindset and argues that the decades-old research upon which our current hair loss notions are based is inherently flawed. Roddy suggests that baldness and most genetic-derived hair loss conditions are due to environmental factors.

Crucially, Roddy also points out that those with androgenic alopecia don’t actually exhibit higher than normal levels of testosterone, implying that there are other elements at play here. Many recent findings also suggest that the so-called “sensitivity” of androgen receptors in the scalp doesn’t vary between balding and non-balding people.

The point here is that mainstream perceptions of common hair disorders may be a little off the mark. The other thing to remember is that “risk” doesn’t equate to “inevitable.” Just because your DNA puts you at a greater risk of losing your hair, that doesn’t seal the deal. Let’s examine a few other salient factors.

Hair Loss and Stress

Stress is bad news for your health. And your hair is no exception. Acute, extreme stress provides the primary mechanism by which your hair can start falling out, a condition known as telogen effluvium. This type of stress could come in any form—emotional trauma, physical pain or injury, that kind of thing. Cutting off blood flow and nutrient cycling to your hair follicles is the body’s way of focusing on the vital areas that are critical for survival during what it perceives to be a time of extreme hardship.

A recent study published in the American Journal of Pathology was one of the first lab tests to actually illustrate the short term effects that telogen effluvium can have on mammals. Using substance P as an acute stressor on mice, researchers were able to demonstrate that psycho-emotional stress altered hair follicle cycling, reduced the duration of hair growth, and exposed hair follicles to inflammation.

The second hair-fall mechanism is chronic stress. Low-level but continuous stress, perhaps in the form of incessant background noise, poor diet, or drawn out work troubles, has been shown to contribute to hair loss. Chronic stress can also occur as a negative feedback loop, whereby the stress of worrying about your hair falling out actually contributes to it’s continuing demise—the self-fulfilling prophecy.

The solution is obvious but not always easy: identify the stress and minimize it. The building blocks of stress management are always going to include diet: eat nutrient dense foods like organ meats, a wide range of vegetables, grass-fed dairy and pastured eggs. In addition to providing a wide range of other vital nutrients, these foods are also rich in biotin, which has been shown to be an effective treatment for certain forms of hair loss. Otherwise, you know the drill: scale back on the stress-inducing lifestyle factors, take more time for yourself, ensure regular nature immersions, and consider beginning a meditation or other relaxation-focused practice.

Hair Loss and Hormones

Despite the doubt surrounding genetic precursors to hair loss, there’s no question that hormonal imbalances play a key role in the state of your hair. Long-accepted hormonal contributors to hair loss include:

• low ratio of estrogen to testosterone in women, which often occurs during and after menopause
• underactive thyroid hormone in both men and women
• excess testosterone in both men and women
• insulin resistance in both men and women

While prescribing hormone-specific solutions for your hair is a whole article in itself, the key here is to focus on but one word: balance. As cliched as it sounds, true health is achieved by balancing all the systems, processes, inputs and outputs in your body…and the same is true for hair loss. Your first step might be to do a hormone test, or it might be to get back to basics with diet and lifestyle.

Luckily, a Primal way of life is a great way to start balancing out your hormones. Encouraging a shift away from excess carb consumption should go a long way towards improving insulin sensitivity, while steering clear of gluten and other potential food allergens (and making sure you’re getting ample selenium) can allow your thyroid to regain some semblance of normalcy. Excess testosterone typically isn’t an issue for folks like us, as a diet rich in whole foods helps to regulate its production and restore ratios between estrogen and testosterone.

Beyond CW, there’s a potential gollum lurking in the shadows: prolactin. Prolactin is secreted by the pituitary gland during pregnancy, and during times of stress. Prolactin is the mortal enemy of progesterone, one of the “female” hormones that also plays an important role in men.  Progesterone blocks the effects of testosterone, leading some to believe that reducing the levels of prolactin in the body and thereby promoting progesterone secretion is a key element of supporting healthy hair growth. Because there’s very little research to back up these claims, aside from the musings of Dr. Ray Peat, this is a difficult one to explore further.

Nonetheless, reducing prolactin activity in your body certainly can’t hurt. Getting plenty of zinc, along with calcium and its cofactors should help to keep prolactin in check. Reducing alcohol intake and cutting out sugar can also encourage estrogen regulation, which plays a role in prolactin secretion. Experiment with foods and ratios, and see what works for you.

Hair Loss and Disease

I could ruminate all day on the various health conditions that lead to hair loss. Cardiovascular disease, hypertension, diabetes, hypothyroidism. The list goes on.

To me, the one which slips under the radar time and again is autoimmunity—particularly in the case of alopecia areata. If your hair loss is patchy rather than general thinning or receding, look to common autoimmune triggers for the answer. Healing your gut should be the first line of defense, which may be as simple as cutting out grains and upping the probiotics. It could also require more focused action, with something more along the lines of an autoimmune protocol.

Hair Loss and Nutrients

I’ve already touched upon dietary changes that can be promoted to treat certain hair loss causes. Still, suffice to say that if you’re following a relatively Primal-friendly eating plan, but still lacking in certain nutrients, you may need to explore efforts more close in. Women should keep a close eye on ferritin levels, as iron deficiency has been associated with up to 90% of hair loss cases. Many women with thinning hair also respond well to lysine supplementation.

For men, zinc and copper deficiencies may play a role in hair loss—particularly in the case of androgenetic alopecia. Because zinc is often lacking in many a person’s diet, it’s worthwhile upping your zinc intake primarily from food sources like grass-fed dairy, red meat, and nuts.

At the other end of the spectrum, overdosing on vitamin A is also thought to contribute to hair loss. Vegetables like sweet potato, carrots, and dark leafy greens should be providing more than enough vitamin A to meet your daily quota, so cut back or cut out vitamin A supplementation if hair loss is an issue.

Thanks for stopping by, folks. What’s your experience been with hair health? Have any of you achieved hair loss reversal with certain key changes to your diet, lifestyle, supplementation or other means? To all celebrating today, Happy 4th!

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What Are You Assuming?

I must have gone to bed last night with Gma on the mind cause I had several vivid dreams about her. The most memorable one, as it was the one right before I woke up, spoke to something I've been struggling with.

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We were riding, how we used to, to some family event.  Mom and Dad were in the front seat, Gma, Gene and I were in the backseat, talking shit.  At some point, after a few laughs, and what felt like hours, I looked over at her and the thought came, 'why haven't I seen her in a while.  I miss this. ' I then quickly realized I was dreaming and everything got lucid AF.  I said, 'Gma, you shouldn't be here, you're dead.' She smiled at me and said, 'But you see how easy it was to assume otherwise? Don't make this hard.  It's easy.'  Then I woke up, hella WOKE and ready to put it to the test, until a few minutes passed and the ease of 'conscious assumptions' seemed daunting again.

We are assuming a lot of things about ourselves, in every moment of our lives.  And those assumptions reflect back to us as 'facts'.  And then we assume these 'facts' to be hard and fast and we don't see just how malleable they actually are! If you're currently assuming, 'I gotta work 9-5 doing something I don't love, so that I can afford to travel and do the things I love', that'll be your experience. Simply change that assumption to, "I'm making lots of money doing what I love, inspiring and being of service to others", and that'll be reflected back to you.  The key is to actively assume that you already are what you want to be.  YOU'RE ALREADY THAT!  The minute the desire pops into your awareness, it's already yours.  I promise you it is-- from my own personal experience.  If God gave you the desire, you have the ability to bring it into the world (with life/God working through you).  Your only job is to accept it as fact... to feel it, to assume it. Become who you want to be.  Believe it's already here and now (in every moment), and it'll express itself, effortlessly.  The 'hard' part is being empowered enough to create new assumptions.  Persisting in the old assumptions is easy and lazy.  Change comes from within you, and any actions you attempt to take 'out there' will be in vain, unless you change yourself first.

I've assumed a lot of things in the last 10 years-- that I no longer needed a 9-5 to live, that I could travel internationally and luxuriously whenever I wanted, that I could joyously strive toward financial freedom, be a good mom, a dope wife to an even doper husband and spend my days inspiring women who look like me.  I'm still excited to see all of this and more reflected back to me and just as excited to see my new chosen assumptions take form.  And whether it was a deeper layer of my consciousness or Gma speaking to me, I know more than ever how effortless it all is.

I'm on day 5 of a challenge with a couple of close friends.  We are choosing new assumptions and walking in the feels of these new assumptions for the next 30 days.  I'll keep you posted on what I learn!  Also, let me know if you want to see more on this topic-- I'd be happy to dive in deeper.

Later Gators,
Nik

p.s. Dr. Daddy aka Gene aka my hubby of almost 9 years (in the pic above) must be assuming he's aging backwards!   xoxo

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Dear Mark: HDL, Probiotics for Acne, and Artificial Sweeteneners and Weight Gain

For today’s edition of Dear Mark, I’m answering three questions. First, is HDL all it’s cracked up to be? Is HDL always good? Is it the savior? Or is the story a bit more complicated? Next, what are some good probiotic options for treating acne? Do any exist? And last but not least, what’s the relationship of artificial sweeteners, insulin, appetite, and weight gain?

Let’s go:

Carine Dubois wondered:

I am slightly concerned about the age old acceptance of HDL as the good cholesterol in light of the recent failures of HDL potentiating drugs failure to decrease CVD. Could there be more to the story such as good and bad sub fractions as with LDL …. many more studies have to be done using up dated technology before accepting the AHA recommendations as dogma

Great insight, Carine. I feel very similarly. All the HDL-boosting drugs, like torcetrapib, have failed. And not just failed to protect against cardiovascular disease and death, but actively increased the risk of disease and death. They’ve been real disasters.

However, here’s why I think the coconut oil-induced HDL increase is different than the torcetrapib-induced increase:

HDL is “good” because the actions and behaviors and foods that increase it are “good” and the actions and behaviors and foods that decrease it are “bad.” The former include exercising, eating olive oil and avocados, losing weight, and lowering excess carb intake. The latter include smoking and gaining weight. These things aren’t good or bad because of the HDL effect. They’re good or bad for dozens of reasons. Thus, absent HDL-boosting pharmaceuticals, higher HDL is “good” because you have to do “good” things to raise it.

You’re also right that HDL isn’t just HDL. There are different ways to measure. And even with HDL particle number, there’s more to the story than “higher” or “lower.” For instance, small, dense HDL particles tend to be more protective and possess more antioxidative potential than large, buoyant HDL particles. While a pharma exec might take this to mean we should be pumping out drugs that make HDL particles smaller and denser, a person like Carine would take a more nuanced exploration.

Maybe a preponderance of small, dense HDL particles indicates a large inflammatory load that needs quelling. Maybe a shift toward larger, less dense HDL particles indicates an improvement in inflammatory status. After all, the body actively manufactures HDL particles to reduce oxidative damage.

David asked:

Hi Mark, in this article

How to Support Healthy Skin Bacteria

you mentioned that a lotion containing Enterococcus faecalis SL-5 was
shown to be effective against acne. Any idea where one could buy this
bacteria (or bacteria-containing lotion) on the web? My initial
searching was not encouraging. Thanks for all you do!

Unfortunately, I, too, have been unable to track down a good source of Enterococcus faecalis SL-5. I doubt anyone else has had any real luck. The mixture used in the study was made specifically for that study. They isolated E. faecalis from human feces (the bacteria is a normal resident of the human gut) and added it to a regular lotion. I’ve never seen it replicated or a commercial version released. Too bad. I’m sure something is coming down the pipe.

That’s not all you can do, however.

In 2012, topical application of a 5% Lactobacillus plantarum extract reduced acne lesion size. There are patents for topical L. plantarum extracts, but I haven’t seen any products.

A more recent study found that oral supplementation with a liquid probiotic containing Lactobacillus rhamnosus SP-1 reduced inflammation and adult acne. An Italian pharmaceutical company named Biodue SpA provided the materials. I can’t speak for the sourcing of course, but here’s some for sale on eBay. Also, here’s bulk Lactobacillus rhamnosus SP-1 for sale. I haven’t found any from regular sources (Amazon, etc).

AOBiome is currently running in-house trials to determine if their Mother Dirt probiotic skin spray can fight acne. Anecdotes are promising, if preliminary.

Stephen Schlepmo asked:

It’s known that artificial sweeteners don’t stimulate insulin (right?) but do they somehow stimulate appetite? Hence compromising fat reduction goals?

Let’s look at the various sweeteners.

Does aspartame induce an insulin response? No:

• One study found that aspartame had no effect on insulin levels.
• Another also found that aspartame had no effect on the insulin response in humans, whether alone or combined with carbohydrates.
• Another earlier study (full PDF) examined the effects of a diet soda-sized dose aspartame on prolactin, cortisol, growth hormone, insulin, and blood glucose levels, finding none.
• Among forty-eight healthy volunteers found no evidence that aspartame has an effect on insulin levels.

What about sucralose (Splenda)? Nope:

• A study where scientists shot Splenda directly into the gut showed that it does not stimulate the insulin response.
• Another study found that oral dosing of sucralose did not induce a cephalic insulin response.

As for the others, a review of in vivo studies concluded that “low-energy sweeteners” do not have any effects on insulin or appetite hormones.

Yet, observational studies continue to find links between artificial sweeteners and obesity. Maybe it’s reverse causality—being overweight causes diet soda consumption. Overweight people are more likely to drink diet soda because they think it’ll help them lose weight, and intent to lose weight does predict artificial sweetener usage. But this 2016 study attempted to minimize the effect of reverse causality, and they still found strong links between artificial sweetener consumption and the risk of abdominal obesity. Those who drank the most diet soda had the biggest bellies.

And we know how bad Splenda can be for the gut biome, which plays its own role in the risk of obesity.

It’s hard to say, but I err on the side of “avoid”—even if the reason has nothing to do with insulin or appetite.

What’s easier to say is that the non-caloric-yet-natural sweeteners, like stevia or monk fruit, are better choices. Take stevia, for example. In one study where it was compared to sugar or Splenda, stevia actually reduced postprandial insulin levels, and those who ate the stevia didn’t increase calories to make up for the missing sugar calories.

All that said, there’s one surefire way non-caloric sweeteners—even natural ones—can compromise fat loss and and stimulate appetite: by compelling you to eat treats you’d otherwise shun.

Say you eat a good Primal dinner. You’re done. You’re quite full. You’d never consider tucking into a sugary bar of milk chocolate—unless it was sweetened by stevia or monk fruit or one of the sugar alcohols.

Before you know it, you’ve eaten an entire sugar-free chocolate bar that you would have ignored if it had sugar. You’ve just tacked on a few hundred calories to your total, all thanks to the stevia.

That’s it for today, folks. Take care and be well.

Let me know if you have anything to add or ask down below.

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Nothing is Lost.

I was sitting in a Dominican restaurant with Max, waiting on my order, reading a book, when I saw feet approaching me. 

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 I looked up to find a man smiling at Max, he then smiled at me and slid a dollar into the stroller under Max's leg and said, 'To start his piggy bank! Beautiful baby boy!' Super random, but nice gesture. I thanked him and he left the restaurant. Hubby came along and we walked the block or so back to our loft. When we got in, I picked Max up and saw the dollar. I began telling, Hubby @stillnupey ,the story as I unfolded the dollar and time stood still! It was an 'A' dollar (you know the letter on the left in the circle-- sometimes 'k' or 'h' etc.). An 'A' dollar, y'all!!! The significance here is that my bestie, my angel, Grandma Maxine (who Max is named for) collected 'A' dollars for years. She made us collect them for her. It was her thing. I hadn't seen one in FOREVER, like at least 10 years! It's amazing how something so seemingly small and insignificant could mean so much. Nothing is lost. 'The beautiful flower which has bloomed once, blooms forever'. Thank you, Gma.

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Weekend Link Love – Edition 458

RESEARCH OF THE WEEK

More research shows that chocolate is good for cognition.

A skull cult at Gobekli Tepe. Why can’t I join a skull cult?

Now this is a depression treatment I love: bouldering.

Identical workouts have different effects on mood depending on whether you’re indoors or outdoors. I’ll let you guess which setting gives the best results.

Scientists just ran seven different replication studies of the original power pose research. All of them failed to replicate.

Millennials are having more strokes than is normal for their age. C’mon, guys.

Risk-taking may breed happiness.

Our ability to withstand extreme endurance efforts arrived alongside our large brains.

Family men and women are more productive workers.

NEW PRIMAL BLUEPRINT PODCASTS

Episode 175: Cassie Parks: Host Elle Russ chats with Cassie Parks, a woman who loves helping people discover and attain their wildest dreams.

Each week, select Mark’s Daily Apple blog posts are prepared as Primal Blueprint Podcasts. Need to catch up on reading, but don’t have the time? Prefer to listen to articles while on the go? Check out the new blog post podcasts below, and subscribe to the Primal Blueprint Podcast here so you never miss an episode.

• Coconut is Going to Kill Us All (or Maybe Not…)

INTERESTING BLOG POSTS

Why travel may help you live longer.

The psychology of “clutch.”

MEDIA, SCHMEDIA

How LSD therapy changed Cary Grant forever.

Take that 2 o’clock nap and don’t be shy about it.

EVERYTHING ELSE

This Thai dish might give you liver cancer.

Don’t get bit.

I think she prefers her steak rare.

Genome sequencing for everyone is getting closer and closer.

More than any other food, American GIs during World War 2 craved fresh eggs.

This 91 year-old German lady can do more pullups than most of you.

This tiger isn’t on sleeping pills.

THINGS I’M UP TO AND INTERESTED IN

Announcement I’m proud to announce: MDA named one of Best Men’s Health Blogs of the Year by Healthline.

Study retraction that didn’t surprise me: The one where paleo worsened blood lipids.

Film I’m anticipating: We Love Paleo 2. Check the teaser.

Success story that really made me proud: The one from Melani, a Primal Health Coach.

Study I enjoyed: Touch from a lover is analgesic.

RECIPE CORNER

• Now you take a leg of lamb, some cumin, a few beets, an Akkadian translator, throw it in a pot, add some beer. Baby, you got yourself a Mesopotamian stew going.
• It’s summer, so you should be grilling chicken. Here’s how to do a whole one.

TIME CAPSULE

One year ago (Jul 2– Jul 8)

• 12 Reasons Why Swimming Is an Essential Primal Skill – Can you swim?
• Why a Sense of Adventure is Important (and 22 Primal Ways to Cultivate It) – Get out there.

COMMENT OF THE WEEK

“Coconut oil also removes mascara very well. Put some on a tissue or cotton pad, apply to eye for a couple seconds, and wipe. Clean eyelids.”

– Good tip, Susanne. I think I’ll give it a shot.

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Steak and Avocado Salad with Primal Kitchen Chipotle Lime Mayo Dressing

Set a platter of this steak and avocado salad on the table and watch it disappear. Whether it’s a family dinner, a dinner party, a potluck, or a weekend BBQ, this is a go-to summer recipe that will make everyone happy.

Primal and keto-friendly, this salad features grilled steak tossed with greens, avocado, scallions and cucumber, plus a sprinkle of crunchy pepitas. The creamy chipotle dressing couldn’t be easier to make; just whisk Primal Kitchen Chipotle Lime Mayonnaise with fresh lime juice.

Actually, this is more than just a salad. It’s a main course meal loaded with flavor, protein, and healthy fat. Just thinking about all the healthy fat in this recipe will make you salivate: avocado oil, avocados, grass-fed beef, pumpkin seeds, and a creamy and healthy dressing that delivers loads of monounsaturated fat.

Prepare this steak and avocado salad ahead of time so you can sit back and relax, knowing that your work is done and that an amazing and healthful meal is ready and waiting.

Servings: 8

Time in the Kitchen: 45 minutes, plus 30 minutes to marinate

Ingredients

• 2 pounds flank steak (or other boneless steak of your choice) (900 g)
• Juice of 3 limes, divided
• ¼ cup Primal Kitchen Avocado Oil (60 ml)
• 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin (5 ml)
• ½ teaspoon smoked paprika (2.5 ml)
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt (2.5 ml)
• 1 cup loosely packed cilantro leaves (or parsley, if you don’t like cilantro), plus extra for garnishing the salad (25 g)
• 1 head butter lettuce, leaves separated
• 2 large handfuls arugula, baby kale, or other dark, leafy baby green
• 2 avocados, sliced or cubed
• 1 medium cucumber, sliced into thin rounds
• 2 scallions, chopped
• ½ cup pumpkin seeds (75 g)
• ½ cup Primal Kitchen Chipotle Lime Mayo (115 g)

Instructions

In a blender or food processor, combine the juice of 2 limes, avocado oil, garlic, cumin, smoked paprika, salt, and cilantro. Blend until smooth with small flecks of cilantro. Pour the marinade over the steak in a sealable plastic bag or long shallow dish, so the beef is completely covered.

Let the meat marinate at least 30 minutes at room temperature, or up to 2 hours in the refrigerator.

Prepare grill for medium-high heat; make sure grates are clean and lightly oiled. Remove steak from marinade, shake off extra marinade, and grill 8 to 10 minutes (or longer for a thicker steak), flipping the meat once or twice until both sides are lightly charred and the steak is medium-rare. Let the meat rest 10 minutes before slicing.

Juice the remaining lime into a small bowl. Whisk 1 tablespoon (15 ml) lime juice and 1 tablespoon cold water into the Primal Kitchen Chipotle Lime Mayo. Continue to add lime juice and water until the mayonnaise reaches the desired flavor and consistency you want for the salad dressing.

Arrange butter lettuce and greens on a large platter. Scatter cucumber, scallions, pumpkin seeds, and a handful of cilantro leaves (or parsley) on top. Arrange the sliced steak over the salad. Up to this point, the salad can be made several hours ahead and refrigerated.

Right before serving, slice and add the avocados, and drizzle the Primal Kitchen Chipotle Lime Mayo dressing on top.

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