The following is to be used for informational purposes only and should not be taken as medical advice.  The information below and any related correspondence does not imply a physician/patient relationship with the author.  Please consult your personal physician for your medical care and/or before beginning any exercise or nutrition program.  Dr. Hardy’s opinions are his own and do not necessarily reflect those of Johns Hopkins University or the U.S. Navy.

MCTs, Coconut Oil and the “Lipid of Choice”

An ongoing nutritional conversation between Marty Gallagher and Dr. Chris Hardy

Marty Gallagher: Let’s talk further about the highly contentious topic of lipids, nutritional fat, and how much of it should be allowed into the diet of the serious fitness devotee. The subject of nutritional fat is difficult: I think it akin to walking through a minefield blindfolded; saturated fat is demonized and regarded with the same approximate distain society normally reserves for child molesters. Yet as you know from your medical research, and as I know from my hundreds of interviews with competitive bodybuilders, (the world’s most effective and sophisticated dieters) not all fats are bad and not all fats are created equal.

Dr. Chris Hardy: Right you are. There is one classification of nutritionally-derived lipids that is downright beneficial. Medium-chain Triglycerides are a type of saturated fat that provides the caloric density of a fat without any detrimental effects. When MCTs are consumed, they are carried directly to the portal vein and then onto the liver. MCTs do not require digestive enzymes that other fats require, such as pancreatic lipase. MCTs follow a completely different digestive journey. Conventional fats, long-chain triglycerides, are digested in a competently different fashion then MCTs.

MG: It is my understanding that MCTs are used for energy and are virtually impossible to end up as stored body fat – I would assume this is due to their molecular makeup.

Dr. Chris Hardy: Exactly. MCTs travel directly to the portal vein after intestinal absorption and are then transported to the liver where they are preferentially used and used rapidly – for energy. Scientific studies have shown that MCTs are absorbed and utilized with the same rapidity as sugar.

MG: This seems profound: MCTs are not preferentially partitioned into fat storage as are convention LCT fat. MCTs are burned rapidly; ergo, the serious fitness adherent could supplement with MCTs and derive the caloric advantages of nutrient-dense fat, 8.7 calories per gram without penalty. The studied use of MCTs sets up all kinds of interesting dietary possibilities…we know that calories establish anabolism and we know that calories accelerate recovery from brutally hard training.

Dr. Chris Hardy: MCTs bypass the lipoprotein cycle more commonly known as the cholesterol cycle. The lipoprotein cycle is how normal fats are transported within the human body along with cholesterol. Long-chain Triglycerides must travel through the lymphatic system to systemic circulation and eventually reach the liver.

MG: MCTs avoid all this and are allowed to use a shortcut to the liver…

Dr. Chris Hardy: MCTs bypass the lipoprotein cycle altogether and because of their unique processing within the body, MCTs won’t to end up deposited in bodily fat depots. The news gets even better: if your MCT source is coconut oil, the specific 12-carbon MCT called lauric acid has tremendous anti-microbial properties that helps fight infection from viruses and bacteria. Lauric acid is broken down into a monoglyceride after starting off as a triglyceride; two of the fatty acids are cleaved off leaving a glycerol backbone and a 12 carbon fatty acid. In this final stage it is known as Monolaurin. Monolaurin actually interferes with the membranes of bacteria and lipid coat of certain viruses. Dozens of studies have shown how monolaurin has a demonstrated ability to fight infection.

MG: I have a lot of experience and exposure to MCTs through my long association with John Parrillo at Parrillo Performance. John uses MCTs in his pre-contest preparation of competitive bodybuilders. Parrillo has touted the benefits of MCTs for twenty years. John has been way ahead of the crowd and the curve and remains the lone voice in the bodybuilding world championing MCTs. What is your MCT of choice? I love Native Forrest Organic coconut milk – one 13.5 ounce supplies a breathtaking 700 calories. I will drink the whole thing after a particularly brutal workout, using the straight coconut milk as a post-workout replenishment smart-bomb.

Dr. Chris Hardy: I love coconut milk. My wife and I use coconut oil for cooking; you would think that the taste of coconut would infuse every food sautéed with a heavy coconut taste, but that is not the case. You can go to the gourmet or health section of your local grocery store and purchase this amazing cooking oil. Use it as you would olive oil or any other cooking lipid. Coconut oil stays solid up to 73 degrees and has a high smoke point, 365 degree, making it ideal for sautéing or frying foods.

MG: Since you turned me on to it, Stacy and I have become coconut oil fanatics; we use two lipids, extra virgin olive oil and coconut oil. Coconut oil is ideal for sautéing vegetables: one favored winter vegetable is thinly sliced carrots sautéed in coconut oil. I use a handheld slicer to create long thick carrot strips that I sauté in the hot coconut oil to which I add curry powder and hot chili flakes. This makes a fiber vegetable dish that is delicious to the point of being addictive.

Dr. Chris Hardy: 90% of coconut oil is saturated fat and the remaining 10% is derived from polyunsaturated fat. 2/3^rds of the saturated fat found in coconut oil is medium-chain triglyceride and remaining 1/3^rd is long-chain triglyceride. Now not to get too crazy with the nutritional percentiles, but 50% of the overall fat contained in coconut oil is comprised of the profoundly beneficial Lauric Acid.

I find it fascinating that competitive bodybuilders use MCT oil. When it comes to favorably manipulating body composition, these guys seem to be way ahead of the curve. They have used their collective empirical data, their results, to sculpt their approach. Most bodybuilding diet strategies I have come across indicate that they subscribe to the high protein/high carb/low fat orthodoxy.

MG: They have definitely arrived at a collective consensus on how to shave off body fat while retaining muscle mass. If I were to encapsulate this articulated consensus into a short sound bite it would be this: competitive bodybuilders train all the time. They hit the weights 4-6 times a week and they perform cardio every day and twice a day leading up to competition. Parrillo found that his fleet of bodybuilders recovered from all this pounding far faster when they ingested copious amounts of MCT oil. His product is a coconut based liquid called CapTri. Under Parrillo’s supervision, his bodybuilder use MCTs for two distinct and diametrically opposed purposes: in the competitive “off season” MCTS are used to boost calories. The off season goal is to become as massive as possible – while adding a bare minimum of body fat. MCTs are ideal for this purpose. Empirical experience shows that very little body fat is accumulated as long as they stick to his strict dietary parameters (high protein, high fiber and moderate starch) and supplement with MCTs. Typically a competitive bodybuilder seeking muscle mass sprinkles 2 to 4 tablespoons of MCT oil onto each of their half dozen daily mini-meals. That adds up. It is nothing for these men to add an extra 1000 to 1500 calories a day, strictly through MCT supplementation. The beauty of it was they didn’t have to cook and eat each bite.

During the competitive in-season, the classical bodybuilding diet is to keep the protein intake high, keep the green fibrous vegetable intake high and gradually reduce the amount of starch carbs as the event draws closer. Over the last 2-3 weeks they live on lean protein, fiber and MCTs. This allows them to get ripped while retaining hard-earned muscle mass.  If they were to pull the starch carbs out of the diet without replacing the “lost” starch calories with MCT calories, muscles would deflate and strength and energy would plummet.  The solution is to replace starch calories with MCT calories. Handled properly, the bodybuilder retains 95% of off-season mass and competes carrying a sub 5% body fat percentile. Parrillo has used this procedure on thousands of competitive bodybuilders over the past 33 years.

Dr. Chris Hardy: This is clever: they keep the caloric intake high through MCT supplementation and by not starving themselves – as most people would naturally do in order to become as lean as possible they maintain muscle while melting away excess body fat. Muscle is a metabolically active tissue requiring calories to exist.

MG: On the downside bodybuilders pay scant attention to the quality of the proteins they consume. They are addicted to the boneless, skinless chicken breast taken from concentration camp animals. That the bodybuilding diet works is beyond dispute.

Dr. Chris Hardy: Since you brought up the subject of fiber, and we are speaking about triglycerides, let’s talk about butyric acid. This is a short-chain triglyceride (SCT) that is produced by commensal gut bacteria from dietary fiber…such as cellulose and pectin.  This fiber is not digestible without the help of our “natural flora” of colonic bacteria. This symbiotic system has been around so long that our modern colons use butyric acid as a primary energy source. Butyric acid also decreases intestinal permeability (a problem in inflammatory bowel diseases) and is anti-inflammatory with anti-cancer properties.  It is interesting that the richest food source of this beneficial SCT is real butter (from grass-fed animals) and good butter is 3-4% butyrate.  Butyrate is reason to find a good source of butter from grass-fed animals. Eat your vegetables!

MG: Here’s another technical question: fat cannot cause insulin to spike – correct?

Dr. Chris Hardy: There exists a biochemical phenomenon that people should be made aware of: fat eaten with protein or fat eaten alone doesn’t cause a significant spike in insulin to occur. Fat alone is typically insulin-neutral, while protein alone will increase insulin secretion somewhat – but this spike is balanced by glucagon. For whatever reason, when fat is eaten with a starchy carbohydrate, a massive insulin spike occurs, even greater than just the carbohydrate alone. We’re not really sure why it is synergistic in this manner.

MG: So never eat a starchy carbohydrate with a saturated fat.

Dr. Chris Hardy: A good rule of thumb is to avoid eating fat in the setting of an insulin spike (starchy carbs). Insulin promotes fat synthesis and storage. Here’s another tip: it is advantageous to eat vegetables with a fat. Fat-soluble vitamins in vegetables will be absorbed by the body with far greater efficiency when eaten with fat.  Here’s a great idea, have your vegetables with some butter!

MG: So eating fiber vegetables is a good excuse to load up on butter….

Dr. Chris Hardy: Yes indeed.

MG: Well that’s good news for all the real men out there.

Want more?

Anyone interested in phone training with Marty Gallagher can contact him at mgso@embarqmail.com

   Greetings from THE WOODSHED,

    It’s time for the surprise pop quiz. What did J.M. Blakely say at the end of his article on BIG BOYS MENU? Anyone….anyone… that’s right, “To beat the man, you’ve got to out eat the man!” High five yourself and grab a scooby snack.

    J.M. gets very intense in his approach to the reader as far as having  the right attitude towards consumption of mass quainties for MASS. I’ll address a few of them today and we’ll go from there. Note:  we’re taking  small bites here. Too big a bite and you risk choking, that not only pertains to ingesting your groceries, but also knowledge. Too much at once and system overload. too much food your body rejects it and you puke. Too much info for the brain cells and system shut down. We want to stay hungry. Ok  let’s explore some points made.   Carry food with you at all times.  You bet your sweet bippy! Look, life happens, If your movin and groovin like myself throughout the day you have got to have your meals planned, prepped and packed, ready for dispersal when the alarm goes off. Alarm GRILLMAN, yes an alarm, set to predetermined intervals throughout the day for your feedings. Until you find your groove like Stella, set an alarm on a watch, phone, windup, whatever. This will help you in  training your body and mind to be accustomed to throwing down the groceries. Mr. Blakely also mentions things like poptarts, slim jims, canybars, etc. Sounds great! I love pop tarts, but we are after clean calories.  Clean calories according to GRILLMAN: If you can’t pronounce it, don’t eat  it. Avoid pre-packed frozen entrees, processed and refined breads, sodas and the like. High fructose corn syrups and partially-hydrogenated oils are to be avoided like the plauge.  You get the idea? So if your a consumer who eats out a box or can, your going to have to make some lifestyle changes. The biggest being food prep, but I’m getting ahead of myself.  Basic simple foods as close to their natural state as possible. Refer to my menu I posted. I’ll have an updated one soon, I’m still making some tweaks.

    Familiarize yourself with foods and their breakdown of calories, protien, carbohydrate, fat values per portion.  Take a stick of butter a jar of peanut butter and a couple of candy bars and your on the right track says J.M. OK that sounds wonderful and I’m drooling just thinking about that, however this flavourful concoction will sit in your gut for hours. Mr. Male lion eats up to 75lbs. of meat at a sitting, then sleeps for up to 20 hours a day, that sounds great too, but that is not our present  goal here at the woodshed. We want BIG MAN  nutrients  from “clean”, calorie dense foods, yet strive to keep our intestinal motility functioning like a smooth operator.  Remember this, FOOD IS FUEL FOR YOUR BODY, feed it with high octune fuel as if it were a 8000 horsepower top fuel dragster, fuel like  ho ho cakes and mountain dew may sound like  heavy duty fuel, but this is what went  into Yugos and LeCars and I don’t see them cruising down the strip these days…have you?

 KISS. KEEP IT  SUPER SIMPLE  GRILLMAN

Today went well. I weighed in at 177.8 lbs which is slightly concerning but I still continue to get stronger so it isn’t grave at least yet.

Eating quite a lot employing the Primal Blueprint. I avoid grains as much as I can and limit my intake of fruit. I eat a lot of grass fed beef, some lamb, deer, and pastured pig and chicken. Some nuts. I cook with coconut oil and eat lots of leafy greens. Little rice and potato but a lot of sweet potato.

Today I did 2 work sets of 3 reps of 130 lbs on the Standing Barbell Military press.  Rep quality was better than last week at heavier weight.

Tactical Pull ups in set scheme of 8 reps, 6, 5,5 and 4. Making progress.

Sandy Sommer RKC

Greetings from the woodshed here in the great southwest. Home to deadly desert dwellers such as  Gila monsters, javelinas, scorpions,  rattle snakes, mangy coyotes and myself….GRILLMAN. Before I begin to  contribute to this site please read these two articles on eating: Extreame eating for mass by Jason Mueller and Big boys menu plan by J.M. Blakely. This is required reading for all those wishing to step into my world and experience MASS, with all the ins,outs, ups and downs of it as I can best relate to you the reader. Note, there will be a surprise pop quiz come Monday soooo be prepared.

SWELLIN

GRILLMAN

Back in the roaring 20s, a “Lost Generation” of writers and artist inhabited the Parisian Left Bank; amongst these were Ernest Hemingway and Irish writing God James Joyce. Joyce was frail and wore thick glasses whereas Hemingway was athletic, a good amateur boxer and weighed 230 + pounds. On occasion Joyce and Hemingway would go bar hoping and Joyce would often insult some bar fly with vicious barbs and verbal taunts that only a master writer can spontaneously construct…after starting a fist fight, the diminutive Joyce would leap behind the hulking Hemingway and yell, “Thrash him Hemingway! Trash him!” After being taken to task by Donnie, I asked Dr. Hardy to construct retort and while doing so, I thought, “Thrash him Chris! Thrash him!” Here is Mr. Hamlett’s original email (exactly as written) and Dr. Chris’ well-thought out response to Mr. Donnie.

Donnie’s email:
“Dear Dragon Door Editor,

I associate Dragon Door with quality and cutting edge health related information. In my humble opinion I would suggest a better effort to make sure that an authors views do not appear to be views of Dragon Door. I say that because Marty Gallagher article on diet is a little lacking in substance. I am sure he is a great performance athalete, but his article relative to diet clearly demonstrates that he is not well versed in biology or history.

If you look at Man’s digetstive tract it has greater similarities to a vegeterian than a carnivore and the same applies to man’s teeth and mans saliva. We lack biological equipment to kill large and small animals, that could supply a significant amout of meat for a meal. What do I mean by that, well we dont have claws like a lion or bear, we lack the teeth and the jaw power to use our teeth to kill and we also lack the speed and strength. However, because we have big brains, we figured out how to use tools to make it possible for us to hunt, kill, slaughter and eat animals. In fact we deped on fire to properly breakdown the proteins in meat so we can digest them properly. I have never seen a lion (natural predators), use tools to hunt, or take their prey to a bbq so the could eat them. Man is a ominovore who is biased towards being a vegeterian, because berries and nuts dont require the same time energy and effort to hunt as e.g. reindeer. Let’s go back to our teeth, we only have two canine teeth to rip meat (and they are not very big or sharp at all, which is why most people need steak knives), but the rest of our teeth are better suited for nuts and berries. In fact when we look at what the biggest issue with man’s civilized diet the issue is clearly an overabundance of grains, which by the way were quite necessary for civilization because it enabled us to spend more time on other pursuits other than gathering and occassional hunting. Most of our health issues today are directly related to an over consumption of high glycemic grain based foods like, bread, donuts, cookies, potato chips etc.. It is misleading and unscientific to say that man is biased towards and performs best on a carnivorous diet, there is absolutely nothing biologically or historically that supports this, but controversy does sell books and magazines. I would stronlgy reccomend that readers interested in diet look at Dr. Sears pioneering work with the Zone Diet as well as the China Study by Campbell T. Colin.”

Thanks,
Donnie Hamlett

Dr. Chris’ response:

Donnie,

Thank you for your email regarding our article. I usually really enjoy scientific discourse, but your correspondence certainly does not qualify. First, you attack Marty as “not well versed in biology or history”. Have you ever spoken to Marty Gallagher? He is one of the most well-read and literate persons that I have ever met, and extremely well-versed in myriad subjects (even science!). He is associated with Dragon Door for a reason. Let’s get into your email:

1.”….Man’s digestive tract has greater similarities to a vegetarian…..”

This is factually inaccurate: when you look at the ratio of digestive tract to body length, obligate carnivores have ratios of 3:1 (cats) and 3.5:1 (dogs.) Obligate herbivores are 20:1 (cows) and 12:1 (horses). The human ratio is 8:1. As omnivores, we need to eat nutrient dense food (meats, fat) to support the energy needs of our much larger brains. Care and feeding of our brain requires an expenditure of no less than 25% of our Basal Metabolic Rate. An herbivore-like digestive tract would be considerably longer than the 8:1 ratio found in humans and consume much more energy in the process of digestion. Our brain size necessitates a shorter digestive tract from an energy distribution standpoint. Conversely, ape brains require 10% of their BMR and apes eat far less energy dense animal matter. And guess what, they have a higher ratio of digestive tract to body length. Interesting how that all works out…..

How do you scientifically justify saying that we have greater similarities to a vegetarian (herbivore) when we don’t have dedicated organs for breaking down cellulose? Humans don’t have multi-compartmented stomachs or rabbit-like cecums – so perhaps you could expand on that point using some science and biology…
2. You state that “Man is an omnivore who is biased towards being a vegetarian, because berries and nuts don’t require the same time energy and effort to hunt as reindeer.”
Agreed, man IS an omnivore, but is not biased toward vegetarianism (please see the digestive tract argument) – do you have any idea how many berries you would have to gather to equate to a paltry 3 ounce serving of reindeer meat, fat or organs? How long would it take to gather a pound of berries? Your argument is an unsubstantiated statement not based in anything factual. Fruits and berries contain little protein, fat or fat soluble vitamins such as A and D, requisite for a healthy life-span.

3. Your “teeth argument” is equally weak.

Have you even looked at the canines on a gorilla? They are hardly carnivores yet have these impressive teeth that are far more “carnivorous-looking” than humans. Where did you get the information? How did you come to the inaccurate conclusion that you must cook meat to properly break down protein? That makes absolutely no sense and flies in the face of biochemical or physiologic reality. We have all of the requisite enzymes to do that job without the help of fire. Meat certainly tastes better to me after cooking it a bit, but it isn’t necessary to use it as fuel. Ever had raw fish?

4. “Unscientific to say that man is biased towards and performs best on a carnivorous diet, there is absolutely nothing biologically or historically that supports this”
Man is an omnivore that evolved eating a significant amount of meat and is not biased to vegetarianism as discussed above. Man wasn’t a priori designed to eat meat; we EVOLVED eating meat. There is plenty of science to back this up which leads me to your next statement.
5. “I would strongly recommend that readers interested in diet look at Dr. Sears pioneering work with the Zone Diet as well as the China Study by Campbell T. Colin.”
I am not going to bash any of the fine gentlemen you “strongly recommend” and I assume you mean Dr. T. Colin Campbell (rather than Campbell T. Colin).
His China Study is what we call in epidemiology, an observational study. Observational studies are used for forming hypotheses and certainly NOT causality. I don’t have time to go into the details, but I “strongly recommend” that you take a look at Chris Masterjohn’s (WPF) very scientific review of the China Study:

Also, I “strongly recommend” reading “The Protein Debate” between Dr. Loren Cordain and Dr. Campbell, originally posted in Robb Wolf and Greg Everett’s excellent “Performance Menu.” This is an example of excellent scientific discourse between to scientists who vehemently disagree with each other, yet exhibit professional decorum without veiled personal attacks.
6. “Most of our health issues today are directly related to an over consumption of high glycemic grain based foods like, bread, donuts, cookies, potato chips etc”
I agree with you on this one Donnie! I recently wrote an article on grains you may enjoy.

In summary, I certainly like and encourage dissenting view-points, as I learn something every time I am challenged, but the tone of your email does not encourage civil discourse, and the content of it seems to be lacking in actual scientific understanding. Quoting other people’s approaches as gospel without actually reading and understanding opposing viewpoints is not helpful in scientific discourse. No person is infallible. Nor can we know everything. I consider myself a life-long student of nutrition and find the more I learn, the more I realize how much I don’t know and have yet to learn. A little humility when discussing complex systems is important in all fields of endeavor. As a contributor to Marty’s article, I am surely biased, but I believe it more than holds up to the high standards always exemplified by Dragon Door.
Respectfully, Chris Hardy, D.O. MPH CSCS

Comrades,

This week has been crazy busy, but I always make time for my workouts. Here is a quick run down on how week 4 went

Front Squats- 165 x 5 x 1. I have not had to take a step back  as far as my FS. I’m still on track and feeling good with my technique.

Bench Press- 175  x 5 x 1. Bench Press has been  really good. It feels great to press again. I have been warming up with DB presses and 135lbs for a set of 8 before each session.

Dead lift-  215 x 3 x 4. I am always starting out with a set of Goblet Squats with a 12k bell. Then into a set of FS with 135lbs, practicing my leg drive.

So far I have taken a smart step back in my BP and Deads. I have found that it is imparative to take it slow and to not focus so much on the numbers every week.  Speaking to Marty at the beginning of every week helps. The conversation sets the tone for my upcoming training sessions.

I’m only on week 4 and have kept up with my weight gain. I’m up 4 pounds so far and feel good. Anyone who says the eating is easy when your trying to put muscle on is not eating enough!  It’s been tough. I drink 1/2 gallon of Raw milk every day. Still eating lots of meat, fish and eggs.

There is no question, that my strength has increased. I am doing pistols with my 32k with no problem. I would like to pistol the bulldog soon. This week i will post a video of myself executing the 3 movements. Looking forward to training with Marty again this week.

Purposefully Primitive Seasonal Fitness

Looking to Primordial Man for Our Transformational Template

As a species, mankind has been in existence for roughly 850,000 years. Modern man has been around for 40,000 years and up until 5,000 years ago (a chronologic eye-blink) men worldwide ate the same foods: wild game, seafood, and whatever seasonally appropriate vegetables and fruits they might stumble across. Nutrient sources would vary radically depending on geography. Regardless of where a person lived on the planet during primal times, the proteins were always wild and the fruits and vegetables always organic. Foods that spiked insulin were extremely rare. Manmade foods did not yet exist, no refined foods, no fast food and no factory-made foods. None.

Try and imagine a time before the invention of agriculture or domesticated livestock. For countless centuries leading up to the dawning of the agricultural age, every single bite of food eaten anywhere was derived from wild and organic foodstuffs. As a species, humans worldwide ate variations on the same basic nutritional themes. We did so for countless eons.  It was an age of worldwide nutritional uniformity.  Regardless if were you were a Kalahari Bushman, a North American Plains Indian, an Australian  aborigine, a Germanic tribesman or an Indonesian shore dweller, people everywhere ate the same things: wild game, seafood and wild fruits and vegetables. They might spice up their diets with insects, pilfered bird eggs or wild honey, but nothing was purposefully grown, nothing was cultivated, nothing was raised, nothing was planted and nothing was domesticated. Wild game, fish, shellfish (for fortunate lake, river or coastal dwellers) accounted for all of primordial man’s protein sources.

Primal man instinctively favored “nutrient-dense” food, to expropriate a Weston A. Price favored phrase. Carbohydrates consumption was overwhelmingly fibrous. Eatable plants and vegetables are predominately fibrous. Starch carbs were rare in some areas, plentiful in others. As a species we achieved utter and complete evolution – done, finished, completed – before the invention of agriculture and livestock. With 800,000 years of history on the species odometer, humans have long since ceased evolving and are completely formed. Problems occur when we try and fight our deeply encoded primal nature.  Problems occur when we attempt to run the soft machine on inferior food/fuel it was never designed to run on. We operate best on food locally grown and seasonally appropriate. Primal man fully evolved eating an extremely narrow menu of natural, pure, organic foods eaten exclusively.

• We acquired species maturity existing on a limited menu of organic foods
• We ate foods that were seasonally appropriate
• We were consistent in our consumption of organic foods
• We became, as a species, extremely adapt at utilizing organic nutrients
• We derive maximum nourishment from organic foods
• We consumed these foods exclusively during our evolutionary journey
• Organic foods were – and are – our optimal food-fuel

Reconnecting with Our Inner Caveman

Life and Death Undertakings Kept Primal Man Fit

Primordial Man was active and physical. He ate healthy. His life depended on his survival skills and his fitness. Existence was centered on the daily acquisition of food. If primal man lived in winter climes he had to construct a warm, dry and safe nighttime haven for himself and his dependants. In his tent or cave, other tribal members would cluster around a fire. The primal occupation for man was killing animals; their job was to kill something and then eat it. Meat, fat, bone, skin, organs, every part provided nourishment. Bones were used to make weaponry; skin and fur provided rugs, blankets and clothing. The animals hunted and killed ensured the continued existence of the tribe.

Tribes followed the migratory patterns of large animals, parasitical vampires attached to the periphery of some massive herd of buffalo, gazelle, elk or reindeer. As the tribe followed the animals, they would scour the countryside for wild fruits and vegetables. The survival of the tribe was dependant on being able to successfully forage and to kill animals and catch fish. The narrowness of their foods, this dietary sameness, this consistent consumption of the same foods, organic foods – combined with intense physical activity – created a race of people that were universally lean and fit. The unfit died. The old and infirmed died. There was a significant caloric cost associated with killing animals or catching fish. The combination of organic eating and intense physical activity proved maximally beneficial for the human species.

• Can modern man replicate primal man’s degree of fitness? Can the combination of primal eating and primal activity recapture our primal nature and capacities?
• Can we codify, systematize and recreate a primal approach? Can we blend seasonally appropriate eating with seasonally appropriate training and reignite our long dormant, inherent, ancient, primal nature?
• Can we rediscover modes and methods that will enable us to transform?

Modern man is a poisoned species. We force our bodies to derive nourishment from food/fuel we were never designed to run on. As a fully evolved species, we do not know how to use toxins and chemicals as fuel.  The goal of the Purposeful Primitive is to understand our primal nature and devise eating and exercise templates that allow us to reconnect with our inner caveman. 

Primal Man was no sissy. He was physically active and hunted or fished every day. He had to run after game, catch it and kill it. Primordial man followed migratory game patterns; when the animal would migrate man would migrate with them. Man depended on that meat for existence and relentlessly moved south then north. Tribal man had to drag or carry all their possessions everywhere they went. Life in those times was savage: the old, the sickly, those unable to make the migratory treks, all were left for dead. Physical fitness of that era was not our modern vanity fitness: the ancients’ very survival was dependant on their degree of fitness.

Nature forced primal man to adapt to his surroundings. No horses, no vehicles, no invention of the wheel, the feet were used for walking or running. Ancient man engaged in continual cardio exercise as they walked, trotted, ran, jumped, carried, tugged or sprinted when the occasion required. Primal man engaged in lots of resistance training: hauling, lugging, pulling, lifting, cutting and carrying. Fights with animals or each other usually resulted in maiming and eventual death. Once the animal was killed the hunters had butcher and haul it back to camp. Tents needed to be constructed, firewood gathered daily and when mass migrations occurred, belongings were carried, dragged or pushed.

Primitive Magdalenian hunters stalk their next meal: This depiction shows magnificently fit Magdalenian tribesmen preparing to attack a herd of reindeer. Meanwhile their women would be foraging for wild plants and vegetables within the vicinity of the campsite. For eons, men worldwide subsisted on organic plants and wild animals. There were few insulin-spiking foods. As a species we adapted to a steady diet of organic nutrients obtained from foods killed or foods gathered. The invention of agriculture and livestock created unimaginable health problems. Primal hunter/gatherer tribesmen created diet and exercise templates relevant to this day.

Roughly 5,000 years ago, clever humans figured out that crops could be grown and animals domesticated. Once agriculture and livestock became widespread, men no longer had to follow migrating animal herds. Something was gained but something was lost. Before the advent of agriculture and livestock, high glycemic foods were virtually nonexistent. Smart men figured out how to make bread, baked goods, wine and beer. The pre-agriculture ancients were lean, strong and athletic. Hunter-gatherer societies died out and were replaced by village societies: harsh existence was replaced with sedentary existence.

 Occupations came into existence: nomadic tribesmen had two occupations: hunter or warrior. With the advent of the village, the farmer, storekeeper, village official and sheriff, could all stay in one place, eating bread and pastries, drinking beer for lunch and liqueur with dinner. High glycemic food and toxic drink became the preferred fuels. Obesity became a scourge amongst the societal cultural elites. New and unheard of food maladies appeared; those that continually overindulged contracted gout, a painful, joint-swelling, inflamed condition bought on by excessive consumption of rich foods. Gout became known as “the disease of Kings.”

 Fast forward to the year 2009 and for the first time in the history of civilization, the number one affliction of impoverished peoples is not starvation – the number one health problem among poor people is obesity. No one starves in the streets, they order off the dollar menu.  I recently heard this (unverified) statistic: the number one expenditure related to child rearing is not school supplies, clothes, tuition or gas spent transporting kids around town – the number one expense related to raising children was fast food. Take out food, fast food, purchased by the working parents on their way home from work, is used to feed the kids. These foods are highly estrogenic and estrogen emasculates males and over-feminizes women.

 Want proof? Cruise on over to the local shopping mall and head to the food court: observe the docile breed that is modern humanity. A new species is emerging, softies of indeterminate-sex, gender-neutral, best personified by the character “Pat” in mid-nineties Saturday Night Live episodes. Observe the estrogenically-inflamed physiques of the eatery participants; watch as they waddle from one counter to the next, ordering one chemical concoction after another…their taste buds so battered, so overwhelmed, so shattered that only the most extreme tastes and taste sensations are able to penetrate the thick goo that clogs their taste buds. Only the most outrageous, extreme tastes are recognized or appreciated. Subtle and sensuous foods are wasted on the taste-buds of these deadened, estrogenically poisoned creatures.       

 In 1970 only 11% of the American population was obese. By 1980 that figure had risen to 19%. In 2009 we are at 31% and the pace is accelerating. In 2009 40% of people over the age of 50 are obese. The future projections are sobering. The Purposefully Primitive solution to modern maladies is based on detoxification followed by intense training, periodically rotated, combined with organic, seasonally appropriate eating.

Just thought I would share what I had last  night for dinner. I defrosted some veal that I got at Marty Gallagher‘s.  It was ground up,  I added Garlic powder, pepper, salt, 1 egg, parsley and some about a half a cup of bread crumbs. I mixed them all up and made some nice patties.  Little bit of vegetable oil in a pan and cooked for a couple minutes.

Great in the morning as well.

Today was my military barbell press workout. I warmed up with 8 reps of 55 pounds followed by a triple at 95 lbs.

Work sets were two @ 5 reps at 110 pounds per my MG training template. I felt very good. Excellent power and good push off as well. Chris Hardy’s work on my shoulder really has paid dividends. No restriction and no pain whatsover. Great total body tension with wide open chest.

Had post workout recovery drink with a pint of raw milk and two scoops of whey.

Sandy