Boston’s mass transit system is far inferior to New York’s. This is reason I missed Ester Gokhale’s “Health vs. Performance” lecture. Trains running only every 90 minutes during morning rush hour. Seriously? Fortunately Wendy took good notes and I’ll watch it when they get around to posting it.
There were several programs over the morning on such things as health and performance. Since I am on the longevity and wellness side of things these did not hold much personal interest for me but they were well presented and worth your time if you are an athlete or training a high level. The bottom line, too many people are over training by training at a high intensity. You are better oft training at a low intensity and “peaking” on race day. In the other room the Harvard Food Law Society had a few lectures on such topics as food policy and advertising. I ran into Jimmy Moore, who said high and even knew who I was! He had interviewed me for his podcast last year. I ran into a few people who knew me by face or via my writing. Ah, the power of social media
Things got more interesting late morning when Dr. Peter Attia spoke about, “The Straight Dope on Cholesterol.” Dr. Attia show research that SERUM CHOLESTEROL IS NO MORE THAT 15% BASED ON DIETARY CHOLESTEROL. This is a message that unfortunately the nutrition and medical communities are unwilling or unable to communicate to the general public. Not being afraid of eggs, meat, and other animal products is the biggest mental step toward wellness that one can take. He reviewed cholesterol metabolism and what is made from it such as cortisol, testosterone, estrogen, and vitamin D. If you watch nothing else from the symposium on youtube watch this one.
After an amazing primal lunch of ribs, chicken and veggies, we were presented with a choice. Dr. Chris Masterjohn on “Oxidative Stress,” or Gary Taubes on “Calories vs. Carbohydrates.” Who sets up this schedule? Probably the same idiot that sets the time schedules for Boston’s mass transit. Thank God for youtube. Having read both of Taubes’ books on the subject, I elected to see Masterjohn where he reviewed his PhD thesis on oxidative stress. His presentation was nothing short of amazing. He reviewed carbohydrate metabolism, the mechanism of insulin resistance, and showed how most humans have adapted to a carbohydrate rich diet by having multiple copies of the salivary amylase gene compared to Great Apes. This is all right in my wheelhouse. This allows humans to have a massive release of salivary amylase, breaks down complex carbohydrates quickly and leads to short burst of insulin and delay a prolonged rise. At best this is a partial adaptation and represents only 10-12,000 years of selection. For example, from a dental point of view breaking starches into sugar in your mouth will also lead to decay. I concluded that this is certainly not a license to eat grains and that since the number of copes of the gene is variable, it explains why some people can do much better with starches than others. This presentation is definitely worth your viewing time on youtube.
Much has been written already about Jimmy Moore’s “Safe Starch Debate.” I won’t rehash it here other than to say that Jimmy was fair and truly interested in an honest exchange of ideas. Dr. Paul Jaminet was an advocate for starch while Dr. Ron Rosedale is dead set against it. Chris Kresser andDr. Catherine Shanahan had a middle ground. From my perspective it appears Rosedale owned the debate. The research I have seen seems to show that excess glucose takes time off your life. The confusion seems that we are not all wired with the same potential life spans. Jaminet brought up some research on Okinawans that eat a lot of sweet potatoes and are long-lived. I believe while that may be true that sounded very circumstantial and there are other things going on. Perhaps the panel should be forced to watch Masterjohn’s presentation again. The Paleo/Primal community will never be on the same page on this subject. Less glucose in you system is good thing. Deal with it.
Next I saw Dr. David Pendergrass lecture on “Paleolithic Nutrition and the Brain.” Wow! I knew that this presentation would be different when I walked into the room and he was wearing a tuxedo. (Most of the dress was informal with several primal folks never had shoes on for three days.) Dave has made the journey from GMO advocate to pre-agricultural eating advocate. As he has improved his own health he is passionate about it and shows how carbohydrates interfere with hormones and thus brain function.
I concluded the day with two lectures, one by Maelan Fontes Villalba, the other by Dr. George Ede. Both dealt with Western Disease, Anti-nutrients in plants as well as the benefits of eating plants. Bottom line, plants want their fruit eaten, not their body. They can’t run but they can and do mount a powerful chemical defense. As animals we are adapted to eating some and not others. Stick with those your ancestral linage is most adapted for.
I did not see the movie, which was National Geographic’s Human Family Tree, as I was again at the mercy of the train schedule. Thus ended day two. Truly a tour-de-force in how The Human Machine is supposed to work.
Very interesting article. Regarding groups like the Okinawans, is the soil rich in minerals? Plants grow well in fertile soil. I wonder if modern methods of agriculture increase yield but reduce nutritients. Thank you John.