Category Archives: Supplementation

Episode #32: Listener Questions and Answers with Mark Sisson

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Description: Mark tackles a few challenging questions and gets deep into some of the main elements of primal living. First, he talks about how the conventional wisdom view of blood markers like LDL does not accurately reveal the true heart disease risk factors, and how it’s important to look at a bigger picture involving more relevant trackers like triglycerides-to-HDL ratio. He also discusses some drawbacks and side effects of statin use, particularly the depletion of CoQ10 and potentially compromised performance of cellular mitochondria accordingly.

Next, Mark tackles the question of the contrasting influence of primal eating versus high carbohydrate eating on one’s appetite and hunger levels. A diet promoting carbohydrate dependency will throw appetite out of whack and generate more hunger than an eating pattern that promotes fat and keto-adaptation – an enhanced ability to generate energy internally and be less reliant on external sources of energy. Carbohydrate dependency and a distorted appetite can also easily occur in a chronic exercise pattern, where the brain responds to the too-frequent depletion of energy and physical exhaustion by overeating.

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Episode #26: Introducing Dr. Cate Shanahan and The Primal Advantage

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Description: Mark Sisson interviews Dr. Cate Shanahan to discuss the launch of the exciting new Primal Advantage metabolic consulting program. In this podcast, Dr. Cate discusses her work with elite athletes, such as Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers; how your dietary choices affect your metabolic function (especially how adding oft-ignored food categories like bone broth can help improve joint function); how mainstream medical care essentially ignores the role of diet in promoting health and preventing disease; how the Primal Advantage can help everyone, from athletes stuck in a performance rut, to people who have sustained significant metabolic damage from years or decades of poor food choices, or even people with serious medical issues taking Rx drugs.

To be clear, while Cate is a practicing family physician in California, the Primal Advantage is a metabolic consulting service that cannot be construed as a formal doctor’s appointment (due to the remote nature of the interaction). However, the Primal Advantage allows Dr. Cate to work 1:1 with clients interested in improving their health, increasing energy, and minimizing disease risk factors through personalized metabolic consulting—while honoring the Primal/paleo/evolutionary health principles. This is a unique opportunity to engage with a Primal-friendly doctor instead of feeling the disconnection that is common when visiting mainstream practitioners.

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Episode #18: Examining Performance Enhancing Drugs in Professional Sports with Mark Sisson

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Description: Mark extends the thread from the previous week’s show about human performance by discussing the role of doping in professional and Olympic sports today. Far from a black and white issue, Mark explains that inconsistencies in the testing procedures and random demarcation lines for what constitutes a performance enhancing substance (e.g., Gatorade enhances performance when you are thirsty!). Also discussed is how the public perception that certain athletes cheat to gain an advantage is actually a more complex cultural issue than a true morality weakness. For example, in pro cycling, recent controversies have affirmed that an athlete was virtually compelled to boost blood with doping products to have a chance at being competitive. Furthermore, the highly selective and competitive nature of elite sports compels athletes to search for every possible recovery advantage, including those that cross the line into doping offenses.

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Episode #8: Listener Questions & Answers with Mark Sisson

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Description: Mark Sisson takes questions from the audience relating to enjoying grains with no ill effects; effective decision making with your workouts to avoid getting sick or overtrained; how to motivate and inspire family and friends to go primal without turning them off; the best uses of Primal Calm and the beneficial effects of phosphatidylserine (including an extensive discussion on the importance of managing the fight or flight response and preventing chronically elevated cortisol levels); and how to deal with a tendency to get sugar cravings in the evening.

If you have questions for Mark Sisson, please email us here or click the button below to record your question with SpeakPipe!

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Episode #5: Supplementation with Mark Sisson

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Description: In this podcast, Mark Sisson discusses the rationale for why supplementation can be considered in pursuit of a healthy Primal lifestyle. Starting with the question of whether we need to supplement or not and how it aligns with the primal/paleo dietary philosophy, Sisson explains that the influences of hectic modern life and the limitations of modern dietary options might call for use of certain dietary supplements in a strategic manner. For example, taking vitamin D in the wintertime when sun exposure is unavailable. Sisson covers various popular categories of supplements, the reasons to use them, and how to select for high quality products. The categories of supplements discussed are vitamin D, omega-3 fish oil, multivitamins, antioxidants, probiotics, and high protein meal replacements.

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