Month: January 2023

Technically, “cryotherapy” refers to any method of using cold therapeutically. Icing a sprained ankle, freezing off a wart, or sitting in an ice bath after a game of Ultimate Frisbee are all forms of cryotherapy. Today, though, I’m using the term cryotherapy to refer specifically to whole-body and partial-body cryotherapy chambers. Cryotherapy chambers use electric cooling or liquid nitrogen to expose users to super-chilled air in order to achieve various (supposed) benefits. The technology dates back to the late 1970s, and it used to be pretty niche, reserved mostly for top-level athletes and people with specialized medical needs. Now, cryo centers have popped up all over the place, and you can easily book yourself an appointment for any old reason.  Even if you’ve never visited one yourself, you can probably picture what I’m talking about here. A cryo chamber usually looks like a person-sized tin can that you stand up or lie down in, sort of reminiscent of polio-era iron lungs. You might go in with your entire body (whole-body cryo), or your head might stick out the top (partial-body cryo). Sometimes, though, a cryotherapy chamber is just a small room. The air inside isn’t just cold. It’s really, really cold, typically between -200 and -300 degrees Fahrenheit, or below -100 degrees Celsius. (You can also do targeted cryotherapy using a wand to blast a small area with cold air. I won’t be talking about that today because most research focuses on chambers.)  I’ve extolled the virtues of cold therapy before. Cold exposure is a simple and, I’d argue, adaptive way to fight inflammation, boost immunity, and build mental and physical fortitude. My modalities of choice are cold plunges and taking advantage of cold weather, but cryotherapy potentially offers many, maybe even all, of the same benefits.  The questions at hand today are whether cryotherapy chambers are worth trying and whether they offer anything special compared to other types of cold therapy. How Does Cryotherapy Work? When you go in for a cryotherapy session, you’ll strip down to only the bare essentials needed to protect your extremities and delicate bits (socks, shoes, or booties, gloves, underwear, and, if your head is in the chamber, ear covering and face mask). After a brief cool-down session, you step into the chamber. Due to the extreme temperature, the session will last only one to three minutes, never more than five minutes. When exposed to very cold stimuli, several important things happen in the body: Vasoconstriction, which pulls blood toward the core and improves blood oxygenation and subsequent delivery of oxygen to muscles. When applied to an injured area, this prevents blood from pooling at the site and helps prevent secondary injury.  Anti-inflammatory response, characterized by lower pro-inflammatory and higher anti-inflammatory markers. Analgesic effects to reduce pain. Lowered oxidative stress. Autonomic nervous system stimulation, or activation of the “rest-digest-repair” nervous system, as evidenced by changes in HRV and catecholamines (stress hormones).  None of these is unique to cryotherapy chambers. Any type of cold exposure … Continue reading “What Is Cryotherapy And Should You Try It?”

The post What Is Cryotherapy And Should You Try It? appeared first on Mark's Daily Apple.

Research of the Week

Boron helps against COVID.

Your fat cells know when you haven’t gotten sunlight. Don’t let them down.

The gut biome regulates motivation for exercise.

Worse indoor air quality, lower test scores.

Mediterranean diets would work great for IBD if it weren’t for all those darn grains!

New Primal Kitchen Podcasts
Primal Kitchen Podcast: The Link Between Dairy Intolerance and Dairy Genes with Alexandre Family Farm Founders Blake and Stephanie

Primal Health Coach Radio: Danika Brysha
Media, Schmedia
Contraband eggs.

Not a great idea.
Interesting Blog Posts
Great piece on Chinese ancestry. Worth subscribing if you aren’t.

Is long COVID caused by micro clots?
Social Notes
Pretty much.

Why is East Asia less happy than you’d expect given their GDP?
Everything Else
Scientists figured out what made Roman concrete so strong.

You can talk to the Bible now.
Things I’m Up to and Interested In
Great find: A boy and his wolf.

A huge missing piece to the environmental debate: People are underestimating how many herbivores this world once hosted.

Interesting article: The longevity secrets of ant queens.

Important findings: Top discoveries about ancient people from 2022.

Interesting story: When pastoral agriculturalists met Baltic hunter-gatherers.
Question I’m Asking
Are you still able to find eggs? How has it affected your diet?
Recipe Corner

Italian sausage breakfast casserole: Genius.
Stir fried eggplant. Make sure to swap out the “vegetable oil” for something better like avocado oil, and increase the pork.

Time Capsule
One year ago (Jan 21 – Jan 27)

All About the Liver, and How to Support Your Favorite Detoxification Organ—How to keep it going.
How to Stop Drinking Coffee, and Why You Should Consider It—Maybe.

Comment of the Week
“Mark, the government websites state Linoleic acid, LA, is highly oxidative to our LDL portion of cholesterol.
Do you have data to the contrary?

Seed oils have been the scourge of our creation. Atherosclerosis skyrocketed after the creation of Crisco.

Do you have a contrary position?”

-No, I do not.

The post New and Noteworthy: What I Read This Week—Edition 206 appeared first on Mark's Daily Apple.

Baked mushrooms are the ultimate low-lift creation. Here, mushrooms are tossed in a simple ponzu marinade, topped with cubes of butter and citrus slices, then baked into perfection in a hot oven.

Continue reading Baked Mushrooms with Miso Butter on 101 Cookbooks

Potatoes get a bad rap in many different health and diet communities. The keto and low-carb crowd says they’re too high in carbohydrates and will spike your blood sugar. The paleo guys are against them because they are neolithic foods from the New World that our Paleolithic ancestors had no access to. The autoimmune diet communities eschew them because they have various plant toxins that can cause inflammation and trigger sensitive and vulnerable individuals, and the conventional “healthy diet” people recommend against potatoes because they’re “empty white carbs.” Is this criticism warranted? Is it true that potatoes have no place in a healthy diet, or are potatoes actually healthy? How do potatoes fit into a Primal diet? Let’s dig into the actual evidence. Potatoes are healthier than you think Potatoes are actually healthier than you’ve been led to believe. Think about what a potato is: it’s a repository of nutrients for growing many new potatoes. It’s an egg. And just like eggs are among the most nutrient dense animal foods on earth, the basic potato is one of the most nutrient dense vegetable foods on earth. In a single large baked potato weighing about 10 ounces, plain, you get a broad assortment of vitamins, minerals, protein, and prebiotic fiber. Potatoes are high in vitamins and minerals Here’s the breakdown. Percentages refer to the proportion of the daily recommended intake for each nutrient. 16% of B1 (thiamine) 11% of B2 (riboflavin) 26% of B3 (niacin) 22% of B5 (pantothenic acid) 55% of B6 (pyridoxine) 21% of folate 32% of vitamin C 39% of copper 40% of iron 20% of magnesium 28% of manganese 34% of potassium 10% of zinc 6.6 grams of prebiotic fiber 7.5 grams of protein All that for 278 calories and 56 grams of “net” carbs. Potatoes are rich in potassium Dietary potassium/sodium ratio is a crucial determinant of endothelial function and blood pressure regulation, most likely more important than sodium alone, and there’s decent evidence that potatoes are a great way to improve potassium status. Potassium from potatoes is as bioavailable as potassium from supplements. In fact, adding potatoes to the diet can be more effective at lowering blood pressure than adding an equivalent amount of straight potassium. Potatoes are higher in fiber and lower in carbs than you realize Potatoes have the reputation for being a “refined carbohydrate” that “spikes” your blood sugar. They’re supposed to be very high in carbs. That’s true—potatoes are a rich source of starch. But the starch in potatoes is a little different than other starch sources. Going back to that figure up above, of the 56 grams of carbs in a large baked potato, 11 grams will be resistant starch—a prebiotic substrate that feeds your gut biome, produces butyric acid, and is not digested by your body into glucose. That resistant starch content goes even higher if you refrigerate your cooked potatoes. In addition to resistant starch (which acts like prebiotic fiber), potatoes have a significant amount of fiber. A recent … Continue reading “How do Potatoes Fit in a Primal Diet?”

The post How do Potatoes Fit in a Primal Diet? appeared first on Mark's Daily Apple.

Ponzu is a much loved Japanese sauce appreciated for its tangy, salty, citrus profile. It’s simple to make at home and a great way to use your favorite citrus.

Continue reading Homemade Ponzu Sauce on 101 Cookbooks

The health world is fixated on fiber, constantly telling us how important fiber is and how we should all be eating more of it. Back in the day, our cultural obsession with fiber was all about being “regular.” You had to load up on fiber to keep things moving, so to speak. Nothing was more important. So we started our days with bland, tooth-cracking breakfast cereal that tasted like tree bark and sparked no joy. But hey, it was loaded with fiber and therefore good for us, right?  I’ve long been skeptical of that particular story, mostly because every major health agency that recommends higher fiber intake also says that we should get much of that fiber from whole grains. And you know how I feel about that. If whole grains aren’t essential (or even healthy, if you ask me), then how could the fiber they provide be essential? It doesn’t add up.  Now, though, as we learn ever more about the emerging science of the microbiome, the fiber story is starting to shift. It’s become less about pushing “roughage” through our colons to create bulkier, more impressive bowel movements (although some people still promote this supposed benefit). Certain types of fiber, it turns out, are essentially food for the microbes living in our guts.  The health (and composition) of the gut flora helps determine the health of the human host (that’s you). It’s not clear what exactly constitutes “healthy gut flora,” and we’re still teasing out exactly how it affects the various physiological functions, but we know we need them and we know they need to eat something to even have a chance at helping us. Not all fiber is created equal in this respect.  Thus, when it comes to fiber, it’s important to understand what it does, what you want it to do, and what types are likely to be helpful or harmful.  Understanding the Types of Dietary Fiber The tricky thing about fiber is it’s not a monolith. There are dozens of varieties. Some of them perform similar functions in the body, but others have extremely unique effects. We can’t talk about fiber without understanding that the word describes a variety of compounds, and this leads to a lot of confusion. People make blanket statements that might be true for some types of fibers and incorrect for others.  Broadly speaking, fiber is any plant component that we eat but do not metabolize directly. Since we can’t digest these materials, they pass through our small intestine without being broken down and absorbed—which means they make it to the lower reaches of the GI tract more or less intact. And this is important for reasons we’ll discuss shortly.  There are various ways of classifying the different types of fiber, the most common one being insoluble versus soluble fiber. Insoluble fiber is a bulking agent, increasing the mass of the stool, which actually moves the stool more quickly through the intestines. Except for perhaps relieving constipation (“perhaps” because it doesn’t … Continue reading “What Does Fiber Do, And Do You Need More?”

The post What Does Fiber Do, And Do You Need More? appeared first on Mark's Daily Apple.

Simple, homemade pappardelle pasta is a deliciously versatile shape to make! Pictured below topped with crispy mushrooms, clouds of Parmesan cheese, and lemon.

Continue reading Homemade Pappardelle on 101 Cookbooks

Research of the Week

NAC protects against COVID infection.

Donating blood might be one way to lessen the risk of Parkinson’s.

The effects of cousin marriage bans in the US.

Is impulsivity ever adaptive?

Heart rate during competition predicts athletic success.

Muscles control liver circadian rhythm.

New Primal Kitchen Podcasts
Primal Kitchen Podcast: The Link Between Dairy Intolerance and Dairy Genes with Alexandre Family Farm Founders Blake and Stephanie

Primal Health Coach Radio: The Truth about Vitamin E with Dr. Barrie Tan
Media, Schmedia
A hypothesis about fairy circles.

Not a great idea.
Interesting Blog Posts
When you need high dose biotin.

On ancestral diets, hydration, and salt.

Reading bubbles.
Social Notes
Something new is coming.

“But animal fat is making you fat!”
Everything Else
Suicides increased when kids went back to in-person school.

Disguising solar panels as ancient Roman tiles.
Things I’m Up to and Interested In
Interesting podcast: Regarding PUFA and child neurological development.

One of my favorite studies: Two eggs a day keeps the short stature away.

Interesting tool: “Google search” for the contents of books.

Of course: Animal foods are very important for sustainable and healthy diets.

Bronze Age Spanish island diet: Meat and vegetables.
Question I’m Asking
How’s the new year going so far?
Recipe Corner

Great way to eat more mushrooms (and shrimp).
Homemade salt-packed anchovies.

Time Capsule
One year ago (Jan 1 – Jan 20)

10 Productivity Hacks That Really Work—What are they?
Dear Mark: Should Teens Take Creatine—Probably.

Comment of the Week
“What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.”

-Pretty good heuristic from Jerry.

The post New and Noteworthy: What I Read This Week—Edition 205 appeared first on Mark's Daily Apple.