Thursday, December 18, 2008

My favourite Paleo Blog


Sometime soon I am planning to do a post with a list of all my favourite Paleo sites (Matt, Richard, Marc, Keith, Keith, Art). For now however, I wanted to point you over to my favourite one of all, Mark Sisson's Daily Apple.

Mark provides a wide range of information about diet, exercise and general lifestyle built around his Primal Blueprint - the idea that we are not really built for this modern way of life but for the way we lived maybe 10,000 years ago. His writing is really good - simple and accessible yet cutting to the heart of the matters that he discusses. His enthusiasm and lust for life is also infectious and inspiring and shines through his writing.

His basic premise is this: The Primal Blueprint is a set of simple instructions (the blueprint) that allows you to control how your genes express themselves in order to build the strongest, leanest, healthiest body possible, taking clues from evolutionary biology (that’s the primal part).

So we eat, move, play, rest and think like our ancestors. The idea is developed really well in this post. These are ideas that will not be new to you if you have read much of the ideas that I post on this blog, or read my colleagues Richard, Keith or Marc.

I have just found out that Mark is writing a book - The Primal Blueprint.

As you may know, I’ve been working on my comprehensive diet, exercise and lifestyle book, The Primal Blueprint, for nearly two years now. This exciting project is nearing completion, with a planned publication date of April, 2009. In the spirit of the holiday season, I want to give you a detailed sneak preview! The message is aligned with many of the concepts and topics I address on Mark’s Daily Apple, but finally organizes the entire “primal” philosophy into a single work - your “owner’s manual” for all things primal. At 300+ pages, The Primal Blueprint will be an extremely comprehensive work, but I also envision it as a mere starting point for a brand extension of more specialized publications (e.g. - companion workbooks for athletes, weight loss enthusiasts, healthy families), a DVD series that is already in the works, live seminars and much more.

This post summarizes the content of each chapter. I have also posted a detailed Table of Contents (PDF - working draft) to give you a big picture view of what you can expect from The Primal Blueprint. I’d love to hear your first impressions on the book and thanks for your continued support and encouragement for this project.


Skimming through the contents, this looks like it will be a great book. Something to look forward to in 2009!

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sounds interesting. But it's a pity that the basic premise of paleo eating has been debunked by recent studies of human evolution, research on gut flora, and evidence from Otzi the ice man. Alas, the paleo diet is just another fad that will sway many for a while then fade away. Mark has some good info otherwise but he's blinded by profits.

Chris said...

Not sure if Otzi proves anything? 3300 was not Paleolithic and his last meal had included lots of meat.

I'd be interested to look at the studies to which you refer.

Blinded by profit? explain

Asclepius said...

Anonymous, I too would love to see any research that has debunked the 'myth' of paleo nutrition.

My own personal experience and that of many friends is that as a way of achieving a lean body mass, paleo eating is actually VERY effective. Furthermore all recent (credible) research I have seen that investigates the 'low refined carb'/paleo concept shows it to have broad benefits on a whole range of health markers. This is further evidenced by meta analyses from Cochrane.

Chris - I published your last comment on my site but it didn't appear next to any article. Not sure what happened or whether the problem was at my end or yours!

Anonymous said...

I find Mark's stuff exceptionally helpful as well, Chris. For someone like me (who considers himself the real world and sports application guy), I appreciate that he -- and you, as well -- concentrate on the supporting science, and the "optimum" or "best case scenario" of the Paleo lifestyle so that I can take that info and tweak it into a "best fit" for the slave-to-the-grind crowd. He builds the 16 valve, dual overhead cam engine & I pull it under the tree, change the oil and generally keep the thing on the road. I may have to make her run 14 vs. the original 16 cylinders, but she still runs pretty well nonetheless. And now I'm done with the car metaphors. :)

Anonymous said...

Great site that mark has. Also great links thanks!