*Image from NY Times
Deshun Wang, pictured above is an 80 year old gym going runway model who reminds me of the Chinese version of Mark Sisson. He’s lead a pretty incredible life that took him from being an actor to a pantomime artist to learning how to weight train at the age of 50. And just last year, he added ‘runway model’ to his resume. I definitely hope I can have that same level of vigor and vitality when I get to his age. Here and here are some short videos on him you can watch.
I definitely made sure to send these to the BJJ Cavedad because no matter how hard I try, he refuses to try any resistance training… or go to the gym at all because he says he’s too old! Try telling that to Mr. Deshun Wang!
Last month news outlets all over the place were lambasting the benefits of coconut oil with headlines like, “Coconut oil isn’t healthy. It’s never been healthy,” after the American Heart Association published a report advising the avoidance of coconut oil. The BJJ Cavemom texted me in a panic asking me about this and I had to gently talk her off the ledge explaining that a lot of it was alarmism and BS, and that despite her moderate use of coconut oil, her great lipid profile showed that she had nothing to worry about.
Onnit published a fantastic rebuttal article, “The Truth About Coconut Oil and Your Heart,” that I wish was available earlier so I could have just forwarded it to my mom. Keep in mind that Onnit does sell their own MCT oil, but still I think the article is legit.
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The British Medical Journal released an editorial with the title: “Saturated fat does not clog the arteries: coronary heart disease is a chronic inflammatory condition, the risk of which can be effectively reduced from healthy lifestyle interventions,” which pretty much says it all. This point is especially emphasized in their first paragraph:
Despite popular belief among doctors and the public, the conceptual model of dietary saturated fat clogging a pipe is just plain wrong. A landmark systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies showed no association between saturated fat consumption and (1) all-cause mortality, (2) coronary heart disease (CHD), (3) CHD mortality, (4) ischaemic stroke or (5) type 2 diabetes in healthy adults.1 Similarly in the secondary prevention of CHD there is no benefit from reduced fat, including saturated fat, on myocardial infarction, cardiovascular or all-cause mortality.
If you want to read the entire article itself I found a free copy of it here, although I’m not sure how much longer it’ll be up for.
*Image found here
I’m not going to lie, I was tempted to buy this strange contraption called the ShapeScale 3D Scanner which is a rotating camera that will take pictures of your body in 360 degrees to analyze where your body is gaining or losing weight. I thought it’d be helpful during those times when I hit a plateau on the scale and am wondering if I’m actually losing body fat and just retaining water or if I’ve actually stalled. Then I realized that the last thing our house needs is another gizmo… also the BJJ Cavewife would definitely veto this. If you’re interested and want to see more of how it works, or to pre-order one for yourself for $299, check out their website!
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Colin Champ, aka The Caveman Doctor, has also eats broccoli sprouts and shares his method for sprouting them as well as his favorite 10 minute sprout recipe. He also dives into the science behind the role these sprouts play in chemoprevention. If you want to take a deeper dive into the science, check out the notes I took on Rhonda Patrick’s lecture on the subject.
I really enjoyed this article in the Washington Post on Tom Brady taking his health into his own hands and telling the “NFL doctors and trainers to get their hands off him.” It seems like what he’s doing now would definitely be paleo/primal approved:
Brady now consumes no dairy, white sugar or white flour. He uses resistance bands and anti-gravity treadmills and focuses as much on pliability as strength. He meditates and does yoga.
Speaking of taking your health into your own hands, the Verge documents case in which this maybe goes too far. A punk biophysicist with gut problems performed a do it yourself fecal microbiota transplant. I seriously almost gagged a few times as I read through this article. I thought that sampling my own stool of uBiome was gross, but what this guy does goes above and beyond… or should I say below and beyond.
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He found a friend to poop into a ziplock bag for him (I’m not sure I’d be willing to do this for any of my friends) and then manually separated them into capsules that.. well, here, I’ll just quote it:
Zayner unwrapped a brand-new syringe and filled its barrel with the brownish liquid. He grabbed one half of a gelatin capsule, pushed the syringe’s plunger, and filled the capsule with the fecal slurry in inconsistent spurts. “Undigested portions of the meal are clogging it,” he said. Frustrated, he removed the needle and pushed the plunger again, letting clumpy muck accumulate in the half capsule. But by the time he joined both ends of the pill, the gelatin casing had begun deteriorating in his gloved hands. “I think the liquid is dissolving these fucking capsules,” he said.
OMG.
At one point he inadvertently tasted some of Michael’s shit, which had gotten on the outside of certain capsules.
OMG OMG OMG! BLEAGH!!!
I’m into self experimentation, but I don’t think I would EVER go to these lengths. Next time the BJJ Cavewife thinks I’m going off the deep end for wanting to try a new supplement or purchase a new gadget I’ll just show her this link and say, “You know, it could be worse. We could have poop pills all over our house.”
Also, remind me to NEVER stay at the Crowne Plaza near the San Francisco Airport.