Posts by: David Csonka
This week the 5th Annual Low Carb Cruise was marred by controversy when the much talked-about Jack Kruse, M.D. was implicated in a terror threat involving the Carnival cruise ship on which it was held.
Galveston Police, the FBI, Homeland Security, and the Coast Guard were brought in to investigate, and Dr. Kruse was ultimately cleared of suspicion, though not before being removed from the cruise ship and thus missing his planned seminar. [1] Allegedly, the threats were made by a Twitter account impersonating the doctor, under the handle “shitkrusesays”, and which as of this time Monday evening is apparently deactivated.
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I don’t blame people for not wanting to exercise, or start up some new fitness regimen. In truth, the odds are stacked up against you such that your New Years resolutions will never get started. If you think about it, it makes perfect sense that we as an animal are genetically predisposed to not exert ourselves anymore than necessary.
But while the innate reasons people probably avoid exercising are rooted in our evolutionary DNA, the actual excuses we often use can be easily countered. The trick is to recognize our biologically inspired behaviors, and change the way we approach fitness so as to avoid the mental pitfalls which typically keep people from exercising.
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One of the most frequently used arguments against barefoot running goes something like this: “Sure, humans didn’t evolve to wear thickly cushioned shoes, but they also didn’t evolve to deal with habitats covered in concrete and asphalt.” I’ll grant you that, the substance of concrete has only been around for a few thousand years, and used as a substrate in walking paths or roads for a few hundred (although stone roadways go all the way back to the ancient Romans).
But, although I think it is misguided to assume that humans cannot handle running on hard surfaces like concrete (not least of all because the world was full of habitable environments that weren’t covered in squishy grass), I also feel there are plenty of reasons why running on surfaces like concrete is actually nicer than the grassy alternative.
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Language is important. Linguistics, speech, terminology, taxonomy, nomenclature, it seems like there is a whole vocabulary (another language term) for just talking about words. It’s a key component of all of our daily lives, and probably one of the most important characteristics of the human species.
With that being said, it should be a given that choosing one’s words properly is essential for ensuring successful communication. A message can easily become confusing or misunderstood if inappropriate terminology is used during a conversation. You don’t need to have a marketing degree to figure that out.
It occurred to me that there is a great deal ambiguity when it comes to evolutionary health and fitness, specifically in regard to diets. I’m talking precisely about the paleo diet, and the very nature of its name, how it came to being, and what it entails.
Continue Reading →First of all, I’d like to say thank you to everybody who participated in this year’s paleo community survey, especially those who helped to get the word out to others by sharing links and writing blog posts. I think the survey went off pretty well, and we were able to collect a great amount of data. I think the suggestions for changes from last year worked out superbly, and I received a couple of reports/emails from people having difficulty. Links to the different survey report sections are provided in the this article.
Continue Reading →Today I’m announcing the release of my first digital information product. This will be the first of many to come, each focusing on a different topic, and most likely to be in an eBook format. The topics will of course be highly relevant to the various subjects I write about here at Naturally Engineered, including but not limited to: ancestral eating, barefoot running, sleep quality, etc.
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I think this infographic (from smoothfitness.com) does a pretty good job of identifying the major injuries that runners could potentially encounter. I know that personally I have experienced the patellofemoral pain syndrome as well as hamstring strains, but the runners knee was definitely the most aggravating. I attribute my specific case to excessive heel striking, and overuse due to running more than my body was prepared to handle at the time.
The graphic provides a handy list of ways to avoid these injuries, though I would qualify the specific item referencing “wearing the right shoes” to suggest wearing shoes with minimal: cushioning, arch support, restrictive upper, and heel padding. If you can reduce the influence of any or all of those factors, I believe your shoes will allow your feet to actually do what they were engineered for in the first place.
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While the idea of the paleo diet has been around for more than a decade, it was only in the last few years that it reached national attention, as several well-trafficked blogs started getting more attention.
Besides the more popular blogs which probably receive much of the attention, there are many potentially less publicized websites which arguably drive the majority of the discussion and debate within the ancestral health community. Why these blogs aren’t necessarily perceived as more popular may be due to their authors primary focus being on their research, rather than promotion, but one cannot doubt their influence on the bigger stage.
My point with this article is to divert a little bit of attention to these researchers and their websites, as they are undoubtedly a significant and indispensable resource.
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I’m excited to announce that this year’s iteration of the Paleo Community Survey is now live.
There are several great incentives for survey respondents this year, including coupon codes for the online stores of U.S. Wellness Meats and Paleo magazine.
Also, three lucky participants will be randomly selected to receive a paleo prize package including a $50 gift certificate to U.S. Wellness Meats and discounted access to paleo rising star, Dean Dwyer’s new exclusive membership program and community.
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Pink slime is all over the news lately. I didn’t have much time to read or watch much of the hype while it was blowing up last week, since at the time I was frequently holed up in the bathroom (ironically, due to a potential case of food poisoning). But none-the-less, I felt it would be good to chime in on the subject after digging into some of the facts and spin being spewed forth out onto the unwitting public.
If you are unaware of what “Pink slime” is, unfortunately I must inform you that it is not something whimsical such as a sort of paranormal excretion a la the movie Ghostbusters. No, in truth Pink slime is a term coined by Dr. Gerald Zirnstein for boneless lean beef trimmings or similar products that have passed through a centrifuge.
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I wanted to take up a few moments of your time to let you know that this month I’ll be running the 2012 Paleo Community Survey.
This project is a continuation of last year’s survey, and is intended to capture and provide ongoing data and insight into the growth of the ancestral health movement. The 2011 Paleo Survey was a great success, in my opinion, as we managed to capture self-reported information from close to 6,000 people. This was the first time something like this was attempted in the paleo-sphere, so I was happy to see such a great turn out.
Be on the look out for this year’s survey to go live in the coming weeks.
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The Internet is a great place to go if you’re looking for a solution. It doesn’t matter what kind of problem you have, somebody is bound to have crafted a solution that they will tell you will fix all of your issues. Even if your problem is that you are surfing around on the Internet too much, yeah there’s an app for that.
And as humans go, we love to create complex solutions to otherwise simple issues. But, can the reverse be true? Sometimes the most complex of issues can have surprisingly simple fixes.
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If you are unfamiliar with some of the topics that I’m discussing, you should enroll in my free five part email tutorial.
You’ll receive a series of emails answering the main questions you probably have about natural diet and fitness.
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