Category Archives: Uncategorized

Chris Highcock posted a one-minute explanatory video at his blog.

ScienceDaily has the report.  This is exciting.  But hold your horses since human trials are years away.

Man’s Best Friend was also instrumental in the discovery of insulin.

h/t David Fisher RD

Mangan introduces the two sides.

Maybe so.  Read Bix’s (Fanatic Cook) last post and decide for yourself.

Our Paleolithic ancestors ate much more potassium and less sodium that we do.  The World Health Organization has new Guidelines for lowering sodium and increasing potassium, which may reduce cardiovascular disease.  That’s debatable, of course.  I haven’t read the guidelines, but here they are:

Potassium

Sodium

The Linus Pauling Institute says fruits and vegetables are the best sources of potassium.  Beans are also good, but you won’t be eating those on most versions of the paleo diet.  WHO recommends similar natural sources, and against simple supplementation.

Are folks in the paleo/primal community more at risk for orthorexia? Well, obviously. Here we have a pre-selected population of folks who tend to be on the obsessive side who care a great deal about food, and many of them have had great health benefits from some dietary changes. It’s very tempting to look to solve the next health problem with a tweak in diet or supplements. Unfortunately, one could tweak forever, with additional restrictions in diet leading to smaller and smaller benefits, no benefits at all, or even health problems derived from the diet. One can easily eat too little and intermittent fast too much on a strict paleo/primal diet, causing hormonal problems as the starvation response kicks in. One can also develop nutritional deficiencies from a very restricted diet. And some folks will delay going to the doctor for a serious medical problem, trying to find a solution by surfing the internet and eating zero carb (or only raw food, or cutting out every last molecule of fructose, or eating only this or that…).

Here’s the rest.

Dr. Emily Deans reviews the evidence at her blog.  Here’s the conventional explanation of schizophrenia from UpToDate.com:

“Although the pathogenesis [cause] of the disorder is unknown, it is almost certain that schizophrenia represents a syndrome comprised of multiple diseases that present with similar signs and symptoms. This heterogeneity complicates the elucidation of the etiological and pathophysiological factors that underlie the group of disorders. Schizophrenia appears to be a uniquely human condition, which limits the utility of animal models. There is little doubt that schizophrenia proceeds from a complex interaction between genes and the environment, but even the attempt to differentiate genetic from environment risk factors may be artificial, since environmental factors can influence gene expression just as a person’s genetic make-up can influence response to environmental stressors.”