HealthCareTips blog

Research of the Week High sugar diets may cause “persistent” epigenetic changes to an animal’s appetite for junk food. Vitamin D improves cognitive function in older adults with mild cognitive impairment. Keep sprinting , folks. Starchy and sugary foods linked to cavities, especially when consumed as snacks . Convalescent plasma appears to work in COVID patients. New Primal Blueprint Podcasts Episode 455: Dr. Cheyenne Bryant : Host Elle Russ welcomes Dr. Cheyenne Bryant to talk health, happiness, and community empowerment. Primal Health Coach Radio Episode 84 : Laura and Erin chat with Dr. Sandra Scheinbaum about the importance of having a mission. Media, Schmedia It’s been out . This Neolithic farmer from Germany had terrible teeth . Interesting Blog Posts Is Epicureanism a better alternative to Stoicism? Call your grandma . Social Notes Send this to someone who says salt is bad for you. Beautiful and tragic . Everything Else The most effective anti-COVID med...

Ever heard the quote, “hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work?” Originally said by NBA all-star, Kevin Durant, this is a perfect example of utilizing a growth mindset — meaning your success can be cultivated by your efforts. When you operate from the opposite perspective (called a fixed mindset) you believe your talents and abilities are predetermined. Either you’re good at something or you’re not. End of story. Maybe you believe you’ll always have a layer of fluff around your middle because you never stick with anything. Or you avoid working out because everyone in your family is uncoordinated. Or you’re “so intelligent” but can’t seem to figure out how the heck to lose those last ten pounds. If that’s you, congratulations, you have a fixed mindset. When you start viewing things through a more optimistic lens, you move into growth mindset territory. And that’s where the magic really happens. Let’s Define Growth Mindset You can’t talk about this term without acknowledging...

Serotonin is a funny one. Although the prevailing sentiment is that we want to “increase serotonin,” it’s not that simple. There’s no indication that more serotonin is necessarily better in every situation, or even generally. The link between serotonin and “happiness” or “mood” isn’t so clear-cut as the experts would have you believe, either. So while I am going to tell you how to “boost” serotonin levels because serotonin is a vital neurotransmitter, I plan on sticking to foods, supplements, and behaviors that promote physiological levels of serotonin. Boosting serotonin beyond what the body is designed for may not help you, and it may have unpleasant and unwanted effects. Is Serotonin a Mood Booster? Yes and no. For evidence, I submit two items. The first is clinical research and the second is pure anecdote, albeit personal anecdote. Everyone has heard of SSRIs, or selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors. The most common form of antidepressants, their purported mode of action is...

  Dear Mark, I’m trying to stay strictly primal/paleo, but I always run into problems when I need to thicken sauces or soups. I grew up learning to use flour/cornstarch like everyone else, but is there a good low-carb/primal alternative? Thanks, Raul I received this email a while ago, but it wasn’t the first. A number of readers have expressed their confusion when it comes to thickening sauces, gravies, or soups without using traditional floury methods. The question of thickening sauces is one of the hurdles I face every time I put up a recipe post – it’s become a bit of an internal struggle (as seen with last week’s beef and broccoli stir fry recipe , in which I hesitatingly called for a teaspoon of flour as a thickener) because while adding a bit of flour or cornstarch to a larger recipe may not drastically impact the carb count, it does complicate the consistently Primal message I try to convey. This post, I hope, will resolve that struggle. There are plenty of ways to t...

Today’s recipe is courtesy of Ashleigh van Houten, nutrition journalist, public speaker, certified health coach, and self-proclaimed muscle nerd. Ashleigh recently released her new organ meats cookbook, It Takes Guts, available in stores now! Liver is a superfood that’s packed with pre-formed nutrients like vitamin A, zinc, folate, and more, which are important nutrients to get for everyone, and especially people who are experimenting with a carnivore diet . Understandably, a lot of people find it intimidating. Even if you didn’t grow up with it, liver is a food that is easy to learn to love . You just need the right recipes to make it happen. This appetizer is a delicious way to introduce liver into your life. Wrap anything in prosciutto and it’ll be a crowd-pleaser! Here, the rich, creamy sweetness of chicken livers pairs really well with crispy, salty prosciutto. (You can use thin-sliced bacon, too.) You definitely want to eat this delicious and protein-packed appetizer immediate...

Hey folks! Erin Power is back for another round of Ask a Health Coach. This week she’ll be answering questions about beating the 3pm slump, what to eat when you’re hungry all the time, and strategies for speeding up a slow metabolism. Comment below with more questions or head over to the Mark’s Daily Apple Facebook Group . Pete asked: “I get so sleepy in the afternoons. In fact, sometimes, I actually have to take a nap. What can I snack on to beat my daily 3pm slump?” Feeling a dip in energy mid-afternoon is so common, a lot of offices actually have a nap room. They also have boatloads of processed snacks, sugary coffee drinks, and vending machines to help you perk back up after your carb-laden lunch. But just because it’s common, doesn’t mean it’s normal. Sure, you could be having a reaction to what you ate for lunch. Some food choices trigger a blood sugar spike and crash (think pasta, pizza, giant subs, a handful of candy). 1 If this is the case with you, I have a better sol...

Before I had kids, I thought I’d be that mom who cooks and bakes endlessly with her kids. After all, I enjoy being in the kitchen, so why wouldn’t I want my sweet offspring by my side as I lovingly prepare meals for the family. Ah, to be that young and idealistic again. Every year we get busier and more pressed for time, and—in my experience, at least—cooking with your kids makes everything take three to eleven times longer. Gone are my ideas of being Betty-Crocker-meets-Mary-Poppins in the kitchen. I have new priorities now: I need to be time-efficient. I want to feed myself and my kids nutritious foods. I refuse to prepare separate meals or snacks for kids and adults. My kids should learn their way around the kitchen, which means giving them age-appropriate tasks. Most days we manage dinner together, but the rest of the day is a whirlwind. Snacking is something of a contentious topic in the ancestral community. Sincere kudos if your family can stick to set meal times with per...

Dr. DeVany’s title quote has haunted me for years; I typically ponder the significance of this deadpan assertion during my morning jog. “Come on, this can’t be dangerous , can it?” I assert that my morning jog helps me enjoy nature, clear my mind for the impending busy day in front of a screen or microphone, and seemingly contributes to both my fitness base and my health. But only if I go slow!   That is the revelation I have come to appreciate over decades of devoted endurance training. Walking is perhaps most health and longevity promoting activity of them all, the ultimate human experience of life and planet that our genes require daily for healthy functioning. This is especially true as you age. A UCLA study of the elderly revealed that walking more than 4,000 steps a day makes for a thicker hippocampus, faster information processing, and improved executive function. 1 Sedentary folks were found to have thinner brains, lower overall cognitive function and increased disease ...