Paleo Baby

Paul Laursen, PhD, is an adjunct professor, performance physiologist and coach. He has published over 100 peer-reviewed papers in exercise and sports science journals, and this work has been cited more than 3000 times. Paul is coach and support to numerous elite and professional athletes across multiple endurance-based sports and is himself lightning-fast triathlete with performances across Olympic to Ironman distance events. Paul is an early adopter and technology-savvy geeks at the pointy end of discovery. In this interview, I’m joined by Tommy Wood, MD, PhD, to discuss high-intensity interval training (HIIT). Earlier this year, I went straight into some 3-8 hour races having done no long (20 min work period) intervals at all, a first for me as a competitive mountain biker. Almost all of my training consisted of MAF paced work and so I wondered why I ever did HIIT and that lead to this show. You can find Paul at his new home over at plewsandprof.com Here’s the outline of this interview with Paul Laursen: [0

Radical Candor™ is the ability to Challenge Directly and show you Care Personally at the same time. Radical Candor will help you and all the people you work with do the best work of your lives and build the best relationships of your career. Two nearly universal experiences make Radical Candor unnatural. One, most people have been told since they learned to talk some version of “if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say it at all.” When they become a boss, the very thing they have been taught not to do since they were 18 months old is suddenly their job. Furthermore, most people, since they got their first job, have been told to be “professional.” Too often, that’s code for leaving your humanity at home. But to build strong relationships, you have to Care Personally. You have to bring your whole self to work. Buy Radical Candor: Be a Kick-Ass Boss Without Losing Your Humanity. Here’s the outline of this podcast with Dr Tommy Wood: [00:00:29] Mastermind Talks. [00:01:04] MMT Guests: Ben Greenfield &

Last weekend Tommy flew from Seattle to San Jose to record with me in person for the Mind Pump podcast, and since it went so well, I thought I’d air the discussion on my show too. If you’re new to Mind Pump, I’d highly recommend you give it a listen. Sal, Justin and Adam record in a purpose-built studio and educate on all things health and fitness with an emphasis on strength, conditioning and critical thinking. In this episode, Sal asks Tommy some great questions on food quality versus quantity. I ask Adam about the Mind Pump avatar, and the transformation people can expect from their MAPS programs. Finally, we talk about our Elite Performance Program and the types of problems we solve for our athletes. We introduce our new 7-minute Elite Performance Analysis tool.

Kristian Manietta is a husband, dad, coach, coeliac, life athlete, entrepreneur and host of the Fat Black podcast. Over the past 11 years, Kristian has helped hundreds of triathletes achieve and even greatly surpass their goals using methods both traditional and unconventional… with the balance more skewed to unconventional. I wanted to get Kristian on to talk about his incredible journey from pro snowboarder to average triathlete to sub 9-hour IRONMAN finisher. Like me and many other of my guests, Kristian has suffered from a multitude of gut problems that he now successfully manages with diet and lifestyle. Here’s the outline of this interview with Kristian Manietta: [00:00:06] Sign up for the Nourish Balance Thrive Highlights email series. [00:00:30] Action item to add to your routine: Be the first person to say hello. [00:02:41] Pro snowboarding. [00:03:54] Buying more snowboards at a shop that was offering trip to Whistler. [00:06:45] Squamish, British Columbia. [00:07:54] 11:27 → 8:57 IRONMAN time. [00:

Three times XTERRA World Champion Lesley Paterson is the “little Scottish lassie who packs a mean punch.” In this interview, Lesley talks briefly about her early triathlon days and later success in the offroad world. I wanted to get Lesley on for two reasons, first, because I knew she’d been working with Chris Kresser and the Taymount Clinic to resolve longstanding gut and Lyme issues. Secondly, I wanted Lesley to talk about her new book, The Brave Athlete: Calm the F*ck Down and Rise to the Occasion. Lesley co-authored the book with her sports psychologist husband Simon Marshall, PhD and I’d highly recommend to anyone looking to get the most out of their brain to maximise endurance. Sorry about the swearing! My goal was not to offend. Honest. Here’s the outline of this interview with Lesley Paterson: [00:00:00] PHAT FIBRE, Article: How to Use MCT Oil to Fuel an IRONMAN Triathlon, and, How Endurance Training Affects Carbohydrate Tolerance by Megan Roberts, MSc, and Tommy Wood MD, PhD. [00:00:24] Interview:

After completing high school and college in just six years, Abel James graduated as a Senior Fellow with Honors at Dartmouth College with a concentration in Psychological and Brain Sciences. Despite some early successes in his life, in his early 20’s, Abel James found himself facing failure. Financially stressed, over-trained, over-worked, 30 lbs overweight and suffering a devastating loss due to an apartment fire, his health came crashing down and he found himself at rock bottom. As a self-proclaimed “nerd”, Abel hit the books hard and learned how to biohack himself back to health. Now, Abel is dedicated to helping others, who’ve faced the same challenges that he did, recover their health and fitness through his New York Times bestselling book, The Wild Diet, and his award-winning web series, Fat-Burning Man. He is also a multi-instrumentalist and serial entrepreneur. Abel lives with his wife Alyson and his yellow lab, Bailey, in the mountains of Wilder, TN. Here’s the outline of this interview with Abel Jam

Sam Feltham has been in the health and fitness industry for over a decade. He started out as a party coordinator at a sports centre and worked his way up to study at the European Institute of Fitness and qualified as a Master Personal Trainer. After 5 years of running a fitness boot camp business and a successful podcast called Smash The Fat, Sam decided to move away from that business in order to fully focus on improving public health by setting up and directing the Public Health Collaboration. In the UK, 25% of adults are obese and type 2 diabetes has risen by 65% in 10 years, both cost the NHS £16 billion a year. The Public Health Collaboration is a charity dedicated to informing and implementing healthy decisions for better public health. The PHC seeks to avert the crisis by informing healthcare professionals and the public with evidence-based reports and implementing initiatives. Here’s the outline of this interview with Sam Feltham: [00:00:00] Article: The Tea That Mimics the Effects of Exercise. TL;D

As Scientific Director at Nourish Balance Thrive, Megan is a research scientist who helps keep the program state of the art. She received her BS in Exercise Biology and MSc in Nutritional Biology at UC Davis where her research focused on the effects of low carbohydrate and ketogenic diets on longevity and healthspan in mice. In her free time Megan enjoys reading, long walks in the sunshine, weight lifting, martial arts, and hiking in the Colorado mountains. You could listen to this interview to learn: How Megan recovered her gut health. The best diet to gain lean mass (for the underweight). About allostatic load. Here’s the outline of this interview with Megan Roberts: [00:01:14] IHH-UCSF Symposium on Functional Medicine and the Paleo Approach. [00:01:30] Presentations: Robb Wolf, Dr Stephan Guyenet, Dr Justin Sonnenburg. [00:02:55] The road to medical school. [00:03:14] Blog post: Why Your Ketogenic Diet Isn’t Working Part One: Underfueling and Overtraining. [00:04:34] Integrating all the information. [0

Find your path to a migraine-free life in the “Ultimate Guide” by headache expert, best-selling author, and longtime migraine sufferer, Dr Joshua Turknett, MD. After receiving his Bachelor’s Degree in Neuroscience from Wesleyan University and his Medical Degree from Emory University, he went on to neurology residency training for four years at Shands Hospital at the University of Florida. Josh has been practicing neurology in the Atlanta, Georgia area since 2005. As a migraine sufferer, Josh takes great satisfaction in helping fellow migraineurs take control of their headaches. Josh has a special interest in the role of nutrition and lifestyle in neurological illness. He blogs on these subjects and more and has also authored a best-selling book called The Migraine Miracle. Outside of his professional life, Josh enjoys playing a wide range of sports and string instruments with a special fondness for both tennis and the 5-string banjo. His love for the 5-string banjo has developed into several notable endeavour

Jonathan Levi is an experienced entrepreneur and angel investor from Silicon Valley. After successfully selling his Inc 5,000 rated startup in April of 2011, Jonathan enlisted the help of speed-reading expert and university professor Anna Goldentouch, who tutored him in speed-reading, advanced memorization, and more. He saw incredible results while earning his MBA from INSEAD, and later went on to teach a best-selling online course on the subject. With this unique skill, Jonathan has become a proficient life hacker, optimising and “hacking” such processes as travel, sleep, language learning, and fitness. I recently had the privilege of featuring as a guest on Jonathan’s Becoming Superhuman podcast where we talk about an engineering approaching to creating health versus the medical approach for episodic illness. You could listen to this podcast to find out why and how to become a better learner. After all, “learning is the only skill that matters.”--Jonathan Levi. Here’s the outline of this interview with Jona

No one wants to overeat. And certainly no one wants to overeat for years, become overweight, and end up with a high risk of diabetes or heart disease– yet two-thirds of Americans do precisely that. In his book The Hungry Brain, Stephan J. Guyenet, PhD argues that the problem is not necessarily a lack of willpower or an incorrect understanding of what to eat. Rather, our appetites and food choices are led astray by ancient, instinctive brain circuits that play by the rules of a survival game that no longer exists. And these circuits don’t care about how you look in a bathing suit next summer. After earning a BS in biochemistry at the University of Virginia, Stephan pursued a PhD in neuroscience at the University of Washington, then continued doing research as a postdoctoral fellow. He spent a total of 12 years in the neuroscience research world studying neurodegenerative disease and the neuroscience of eating behaviour and obesity. His publications in scientific journals have been cited over 1,400 times by his

Nick J. Ashill is a British Professor of Marketing at the American University of Sharjah. Nick is a former international hockey player now turned ultra endurance athlete, having competed in the Marathon des Sables, London to Brighton and the Comrades in South Africa. At the time of writing, Nick is running 5,400 km across Transcontinental America from west to east and in doing so raise awareness and funds for the Pulmonary Fibrosis Trust. You could listen to this podcast to find out about how Nick transitioned from a high-carb to high-fat diet to quicken recovery and reduce inflammation. Nick also talks about his training, hydration and supplementation strategy. Follow Nick on his adventure over at www.nickrunsamerica.com Here’s the outline of this interview with Nick Ashill: [00:00:49] Rugby: New Zealand vs Wales. [00:01:03] Pulmonary Fibrosis Trust. [00:02:32] Marathon des Sables. [00:03:51] London 2 Brighton Challenge. [00:04:02] Comrades Marathon. [00:05:29] Transitioning from a high-carb to a high-fat di

In this dense and technical episode with Dr Tommy Wood, we introduce Hormetea! Why Hormetea? We love polyphenols - those magical compounds from plant foods that lend them their bright colours and multiple health benefits. The greens and yellows in tea, the deep orange of turmeric, and purples of berries. Many of these compounds provide some of their benefits by activating the metabolic machinery associated with fasting and autophagy - a process known as hormesis. To get all these great compounds in one place, we went into the kitchen and cooked up a tea - Hormetea. In one serving, you’ll find the best-researched plant polyphenols in doses that have been clinically-proven to reduce inflammation and improve metabolic health, with a touch of pepper to increase bioavailability. We’re sure you’re going to love it! We will send the first 100 people that leave us a 5-star review on iTunes (video instructions) a 50g sample of Hormetea. Please send your US shipping address to support@nourishbalancethrive.com About the

Peter H Backx, PhD is a senior scientist at Toronto General Hospital Research Institute and also at York University. Dr Backx is a recognised expert in cardiac mechanics, heart failure and arrhythmias. His research focuses on the role of ion transport, ion channels and myocardial signalling in the initiation and progression of heart disease with a particular interest in atrial fibrillation. He holds a patent on tissue-specific drug delivery and has published over 190 peer-reviewed articles, many in the top tier journals like Cell, Nature, Nature Medicine, Journal of Clinical Investigation and Circulation Research. His work has been cited over 12,900 times, with over 5600 in the last 5 years. Dr Backx has delivered over 150 distinguished invited lectures at the national and international level. You could listen to this podcast to learn more about the causes of arrhythmias in endurance athletes. Special thanks to Mark Featherman for the introduction to Dr Backx and also some excellent questions. Sign up for our

In this episode, Dr Tommy Wood turns the mic on one of our favourite podcast hosts, Mike Mutzel. Mike has a B.S. in Biology and M.S. in Clinical Nutrition and is a graduate of the Institute for Functional Medicine. He is an independent consultant for one of the world’s leading professional nutrition companies (XYMOGEN) and the host of the High Intensity Health show. Sign up for our Highlights email and every week we’ll send you a short (but sweet) email containing the following: One piece of simple, actionable advice to improve your health and performance, including the reference(s) to back it up. One item we read or saw in the health and fitness world recently that we would like to give a different perspective on, and why. One remarkable thing that we think you’ll enjoy! Here’s the outline of this interview with Mike Mutzel: [00:00:26] High Intensity Health. [00:00:37] Book: Belly Fat Effect: The Real Secret About How Your Diet, Intestinal Health, and Gut Bacteria Help You Burn Fat. [00:01:07] Health histo

Tawnee Prazak, MS, CSCS, is a triathlete and triathlon coach living in Laguna Beach, California. She’s been involved in the endurance world for nearly a decade and is considered one of today’s leading experts in the field of endurance training, racing, strength training, nutrition and wellness. When I first started listening to Tawnee’s Endurance Planet podcast, I was utterly addicted to carbohydrate, unable to go more than 40 minutes on the bike without sucking down 30g of sugar in the form of a maltodextrin gel. Week by week her fat-adaptation message sank in, and with some help of UCAN Superstarch training wheels, I was able to dig myself out of that hole. You should listen to this interview to learn how Tawnee overcame an eating disorder and restored her hormone health; all while continue to enjoy endurance sports. Check out Life Post Collective, Tawnee's inner-circle community and holistic wellness hub that focuses on taking your health, fitness and nutrition to the next level. People can get access to T

Deborah Gordon, MD is a doctor practicing in Ashland, Oregon. Her focus is real food and an active lifestyle which she integrates with gentle and targeted medicine. You should listen to this interview to learn about the common problems that Dr Gordon encounters in her practice and the treatments getting the best results. We talk about the gut microbiota and gut health in general and the potential link to autoimmunity in its various guises. I was particularly interested in learning of a potential autoimmune connection with atrial fibrillation (afib). Sign up for our Highlights email and every week we’ll send you a short (but sweet) email containing the following: One piece of simple, actionable advice to improve your health and performance, including the reference(s) to back it up. One item we read or saw in the health and fitness world recently that we would like to give a different perspective on, and why. One remarkable thing that we think you’ll enjoy! Here’s the outline with this interview with Deborah

Tony Federico is a shining example of how to make a career out of the paleo diet and lifestyle. After a personal training client suggested the diet, Tony never looked back, going on to write for Paleo Magazine and hosting the podcast of the same name. He recently made the decision to move on to VP of marketing at Natural Force; a supplement company committed to making products using only the purest, highest quality, all-natural and organic ingredients. You should listen to this interview for inspiration, business and career advice. Sign up for our Highlights email and every week we’ll send you a short (but sweet) email containing the following: One piece of simple, actionable advice to improve your health and performance, including the reference(s) to back it up. One item we read or saw in the health and fitness world recently that we would like to give a different perspective on, and why. One remarkable thing that we think you’ll enjoy! Here’s the outline of this interview with Tony Federico: [00:00:08] Ex

Dr Mark Cucuzzella, MD, is Professor of medicine at West Virginia University medical school, Fellow of the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP), family physician for over 20 years, Lt Col in the US Air Force Reserves, and an avid runner and running coach. In this episode, Dr Tommy Wood, MD, PhD and Dr Cucuzzella discuss optimal nutrition, running efficiency, fat-adaptation, atrial fibrillation and more. Sign up for our Highlights email and every week we’ll send you a short (but sweet) email containing the following: One piece of simple, actionable advice to improve your health and performance, including the reference(s) to back it up. One item we read or saw in the health and fitness world recently that we would like to give a different perspective on, and why. One awesome thing that we think you’ll enjoy! Here’s the outline of this interview with Dr Mark Cucuzzella, MD: [00:00:19] Eat berries! And sign up for our Highlights email series. [00:02:39] Robb Wolf Paleo Solution Episode 329 – Dr. Mark C

Lauren Petersen, PhD, is a postdoctoral associate investigating the microbiome and she’s back on the podcast to update us on her research. Be sure to listen to our first interview first! I sent Lauren some of the probiotics we use in our practice, and she said, “they look great!” Lauren did some calculations for the number of CFUs, and she got pretty much exactly what the bottle claims for live organisms, with growth on both Lactobacillus-selective and Bifidobacterium-selective medias. The same was not true for Renew probiotics where her qPCR analysis showed that Bifidobacterium was pretty much all dead. Here are some photos of the Lactobacillus-selective and Bifidobacterium-selective plates that Lauren used to grow the probiotics. She shot for 250 CFUs per plate (based on if all the organisms per gramme probiotic were alive) and that's pretty much what she got! Sign up for our Highlights email and every week we’ll send you a short (but sweet) email containing the following: One piece of simple, actionable