Download a transcript of this episode here
Topics:
- [3:53] Interstitial Cystitis
- [10:39] Keratosis Pilaris and Fordyce Spots
- [16:44] Strength Level To Begin The Olympic Lifts
- [22:26] Hot Dogs
- [31:03] Cleanliness Of Pork and Animal Fats
- [36:41] Dropping Weight For Sprinting
- [43:58] Crappy Food As A Hormetic Stressor
- [47:02] Alkaptonuria
- [50:47] Protein Intake and Sleep
Questions:
1. Wife has Interstitial Cystitis
Jordan says:
Hey Robb and Greg,
I’ve been on the paleo diet for over a year, never felt or looked better, yada yada yada. I’m writing to you guys because my wife was recently diagnosed with Interstitial Cystitis. From what I understand this condition deals with inflammation of the bladder and makes urination and sex (!!!) painful. She’s been taking the medication she was given and tried to follow the “IC Diet” her doctor told her about with little improvement. This diet places a great deal of focus on grains, sugars, and dairy and as such she only gets protein when I cook supper. I’ve been trying to get her to try a paleo diet but she’d rather listen to people with medical and science backgrounds so she keeps having toast with vegetable oil spread and milk for breakfast.
I’ve been doing some research on my own and I’ve found some stuff suggesting a correlation between Interstitial Cystitis and gluten intolerance. One online survey showed 12% of participants suffered from both Interstitial Cystitis and Celiac Disase. However, I’ve seen almost nothing about this condition mentioned in the paleo community. I was hoping you had some thoughts on Interstitial Cystitis and how, biochemically, a paleo diet might alleviate her symptoms. I’m desperate guys, one of my wife’s friends with IC is telling her to go vegan!
2. Keratosis Pilaris & Fordyce Spots
Erica says:
Hey Robb and Greg. I was wondering if you knew anything about Keratosis Pilaris & Fordyce Spots? (I have KP on my arms and possibly on my legs and I have FS on my lips)
I’ve been searching for a connection between either a food intolerance or maybe a nutrient deficiency that causes either of these. Though they are different conditions and seemingly just cosmetic I think they might have some crossover. I thought that gluten might be an issue, but I have been gluten free now for 7 months and there has not been any change at all in either.
Unfortunately, I don’t have enough knowledge in any area of science to be able to make the right connections to figure this out. KP supposedly affects something like 40-80% of the population and even though it is cosmetic it is annoying and something I think may show a lack in health. As it seems most skin issues are a reflection of gut issues. I would appreciate any suggestions for cures or any ideas for further research.
Here are a couple links if you are unfamiliar with these conditions.
Keratosis Pilaris:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keratosis_pilaris
Fordyce Spots:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fordyce’s_spot
3. Strength gaining before olympic lifting?
Taylor says:
Hey, guys! I love the podcast, you’ve already answered most of my questions, but I had one that I haven’t been able to find an answer to.
My husband and I were both crossfitters for a few years (he was for 4, I was for 2). We started transitioning away from it because of the price, but soon realized we were better off without it, anyway. Right now we’re just doing strength training (deads, squats, presses, etc), but I want to find a gym that has bumper plates to work on my olympic lifting. My husband says I should just stick with the stuff we’re doing now until I get my numbers up, and then work on oly lifts.
I admit, I’m pretty weak. I’m 5’3″ 125lbs, with a 155lb DL, 145lb BS, 75lb SP. But does it matter what my starting strength is if I want to do olympic lifts? Thanks for the help!
4. What’s the deal with wieners???!!
Kelsey says:
Hey guys- I hope this title was catchy enough to catch Squatchy’s attention (Heyyyy Squatchy!!!).
Ok, so, my question is about the demonizing of Hot Dogs. So my husband was about to indulge in a hot dog and Doritos tonight (he’s not Paleo) and I was about to nag him about what is in a hot dog when I started to really think about that. A quick Google search revealed organs and ground bones. I force myself to choke down beef liver and try to drink bone broth daily. Hmmmmm… So I Googled why hot dogs are bad for you:
1. Saturated Fat: Booooo. Weak reason. Not even going to waste my time.
2. Sodium: Hot Dogs have 20% of SAD’s RDA, but I would think for those eating a pretty clean Paelo diet won’t be bother by the additional salt and may even benefit.
3. Nitrates: OK, so they are not good, but not impressed because there are nitrate free versions available.
4. General Spitefulness: One study stated hot dogs were as bad as cigarettes. Ok, I feel like someone should go punch some drama queen researchers.
I’m not advocating getting a pack of Ballpark Franks and eating them cut up in some Mac and Cheese (although I used to dominate that back in my collegiate days), but I think sensible hot dog consumption is not any worse than having occasional deli meat. For example, we get organic, nitrate free, grass fed all beef hot dogs from our CSA. Looking at the ingredients, I feel like I might just be justified to indulge.
Thank you guys so much for all you do! I’m hoping you will agree with my non-scientific analysis. And if not, please don’t WolfSlap me too bad…. It’s my first attempt at applied science. :)
Much love-
5. Oink oink
Amy says:
Yo Robb + Greg,
Had a quick question about eating pork and animal fat in general. A family member of mine follows the “makers diet,” and harasses me constantly about eating pork. The idea is that toxins are stored in fat and that the pig as a scavenger will eat lots of nasty-ness which enters the pig fat and then is eaten by humans. Pigs in her eyes arent, “clean” animals. There was also something about pigs having shorter digestive tracts and can’t de-tox as efficiently as other animals. Should I cut the pork out of the diet? Is this stuff somewhat true? A quick internet didn’t leave me satisfied with an answer from a reputable source. Also, if all animals store toxins in their fat, should the majority of my fats come from oils and nuts?
Yum bacon,
Amy
6. Sprinter Got Too Big, Help… & Paleo Poop 2.0
Scott says:
Hey Robb & Greg,
I’m a 31 year old 100m sprinter who over the past couple of years has put on a little too much bulk, particularly in the upper body.
Ever since going Paleo I have found I stack on muscle pretty quickly, no doubt due to the higher intake of protein. Combine this with a couple ZorgFit wods a week and Olympic Lifts in general, and it all adds up to me being too heavy to maximise my sprinting.
I am weighing in at 87kg (191 pounds). Ideally I need to be around 80kg (176 pounds). My question is, what’s the best method for dropping the weight without losing strength and power? I’m hovering around 5 – 9% body fat (or so my scales say). I don’t exactly have much fat to lose.
I know spot-reduction doesn’t really work, but is there an ideal practice in dropping overall weight while keeping power in the legs? Should I just focus on the legs in the gym and drop the volume on the upper body? What bout diet? Anything I can do to drop weight without losing much muscle?
Oh and sorry to bring this up with no apparent segway…. But….. what’s with Paleo Poop? Is it normal to go 3 – 4 times a day and is it meant to be sloppy? I honestly have not had a ‘hard poop’ in over a year. I recall you saying that on Paleo people ‘poop like a Goose’. I guess you could say mine’s Goose-like!
So it’s normal? I was only concerned because I thought perhaps I may be having mal-absorption issues. My diet is pretty much 100% paleo these days, with cyclic heavy carb loading as per your past advice to fix my calf cramps – which by the way fixed my problems, so thank you very much 
Many thanks in advance, keep up the awesome work.
7. A little elaboration on a question I asked you on Twitter
Jack says:
Hi guys
The podcast is awesome, oh yes…
Here’s a question: Can any kind of ‘crappy’ food, or foods that we tend to avoid, ever be considered a hormetic stressor? If so, which and why?
8. Metabolic Inborn Error Alkaptonuria – Compatible With Paleo?
Barbara says:
Is Paleo suitable for those with the metabolic inborn error called Alkaptonuria? I want to eat optimally despite tyrosine processing issues due to a missing enzyme in my liver. To the extent I can, I want to minimize the degenerative effects that the buildup of
homogentisic acid will cause in my joints. I am already experiencing some degeneration in my lower back.
That said, I’ve lost over 80 pounds so far on meat, vegetables, and fruit and plan to lose the last 40 or so the same way. That said, I worry that I might be eating protein too liberally for this medical condition.
Thanks!
9. Protein Intake & Sleep
Kyle says:
Hi Robb, I’ve been paleo for 2 years now. A little over a year ago I started having a problem with protein intake making me wake up at night frequently to pee. Sometimes up to 5 or 6 times a night. Anything over 80 grams or so seems to be a problem. I only drink water when thirsty and first thing in the morning. I’ve noticed Digestive Enzymes help the problem to some extent, and IF (although I rarely do it) helps.
I generally wake up about 2 or 3 times a night and I notice a big difference on the rare occasions I don’t wake up. 25 years old male, surf, stretch, lift. Low stress job, but recently studying for actuarial examinations.
Thanks for all the help you’ve given in your podcast and book.
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Hi. I wanted to weight in the interstitial cystitis issue.
I have IC and have the symptoms mostly under control with supplements and diet, after several years of severe symptoms.
The supplements that have helped – and that I notice if I forget to take, are a super strength b complex and MSM.
Regarding diet, I eat primal, more than paleo as I eat yoghurt and grass fed butter. Most important though has been foods and drinks to avoid:
alcohol
soy
artificial colours or flavourings
caffeine (soda, tea, coffee)
soda (even diet soda)
citrus
tomatoes
avocadoes
water with a PH lower than 7.
grains
vinegar
spices
I adapted my diet from a book by L Gillespie called ‘you don’t have to live with cystitis’. It has a section on IC and foods to avoid. I started with this list and then tried different foods to see their effect. Diferrent people can tolerate different foods, though there are a core that most with IC have to avoid – my first symptoms came with drinking caffeinated drinks.
Its also worth noting that chemicals like those in cleaners, bleaches and paint can also set off the symptoms.
It can depressing, as especially at the beginning I could only drink a certain brand of still mineral water and nothing else, and food was very limited. Now the symptoms are better controlled, I’ve found a brand of sprakling water I can drink, and manage the occasional glass of wine.
Hope this helps any other sufferers.
Obviously meant I wanted to weigh in on the interstitial cystitis issue – doh
OMG that drives me so insane too! (People using the products of science without question yet not really trusting other well-established science) I think fundamentally most people don’t really understand science as a process and that is the main problem. But it just makes me so annoyed and I want to take away their cell phones, computers, electricity, etc until they stop being so idiotic.
In reference to intersitital cystitis:
I am a physical therapist and crossfitter. I work in sports and women’s health facility in Tucson, AZ. We see several patients with interstitial cystitis, most commonly related to a hypertonic pelvic floor. The pelvic floor provides support and stability to the pelvic girdle and lumbar spine. Often, with IC, the pelvic floor goes into spasm to protect the bladder and as a response to pain. Hypertonicity in the pelvic floor makes urination, defecation, and sex very painful for most women. Those muscles must relax with these activities and if they are hypertonic, that can’t happen. I would recommend that your wife search the American Physical Therapy Association website at http://www.apta.org or google the Section on Women’s Health to find a physical therapist who is certified in Women’s Health or uses biofeedback in her practice. This method of training is excellent to “down train” the pelvic floor initially, then strengthen it and teach it to relax and contract as appropriate for activities. Best of luck to you, and EAT PALEO!!!!
Meghan
Hey Robb! I’m a physician, and I’ve been eating Paleo on-and-off for the past 3-4 years. Earlier in the year, I did a strict, structured 30-day Paleo trial on myself and measured my asthma severity based on albuterol use. It was a pretty dramatic change.
You mentioned that there is a dearth of actual medical literature / articles / case reports out there, but I’d love to turn my n=1 experience into a Medline-indexed paper. What are the best outlets for sending a scientific paper of that sort?
No clue on that! find the best journal you think you can get a clinical note pub’d!
Not trying to be disgusting here but the fact that you mentioned the Gluten Bomb is nothing short of Epic. This past weekend I decided to kick my feet up and do whatever the F I wanted at Mohegun Sun on my buddies bach party. Literally have been so dam good with the Paleo gig the past 6 months it’s not even funny. Needless to say if I passed gas the entire building almost fell down. Good weapon for being around 20 other guys….horrible weapon for being at the club around the ladies. lol No more Gluten bombs for me.
And my disgusting story has come to an end.
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/07/23/zombie-nouns/
This one is for Greg
I struggled with IC for years. After daily antibiotics for over a year and Detrol LA (anti-spasm med for the bladder), I ended up with gastroparesis. I believe the anti-spasm med eventually prevented my stomach from contracting and digesting (gastroparesis). Please continue to urge your wife to see out more natural remedies (physical therapy, acupuncture, supplements and of course the paleo diet). It took me 6 years to get my life and body back on track and I narrowly avoided feeding tubes and having a pacemaker installed in my stomach. I could have avoided or corrected it all if I had just known and followed paleo.
Just a comment about Keratosis Pilaris (KP). I’m in my mid 40′s and have had this condition since I was a child. I had tried every cream, lotion, body scrub, acne wash and prescription cream. None of it worked. There is no cure for the condition but there is something that I accidentally stumbled upon when I began the Paleo Diet 6 months ago…coconut oil. I ordered coconut oil from Tropical Traditions and it came with a book about the company and all the benefits of coconut oil. There was a page that talked about KP and the success of clearing up the condition. I immediately tried it and will never stop using it. I rub the oil on my entire body everyday. My skin is smoother than it has been in my life. It looks a little greasy but you can pat it dry with a towel. It doesn’t stain my clothes nor do I smell like suntan oil. It is a miracle. And I cook with it all the time. I could not be happier. It is one of the biggest side benefits for me of the Paleo Diet. I hope this helps even one of your listeners who suffers from this annoying and embarassing condition.
I was diagnosed with IC almost 11 years ago. I found relief with chinese herbs and diet change. Check out ICAMA or Matia Brizman she is an acupuncturist who treats women with IC and she helped me get my life back. I have been eating paleo for a year and a half and think it helps keep any lingering symptoms in check. I wish your wife the best of luck in healing this painful condition.
Hi all, I have suffered with IC for 4 years. After doing all the typical western med stuff and the conventional IC diet, I realized I wasn’t getting anywhere in terms of true healing, just masking symptoms and managing pain. I did pelvic floor therapy also and while it helped and opened my eyes to where I hold stress, ultimately, for me, it came down to fixing my leaky gut by finding a wonderful IC practitioner Matia Brizman, L. Ac., in LA. (you do not have to live in LA for treatment). She has been specializing in this illness for over 15 years and is by far the most knowledgeable person on the subject I can find. I tried a 6 month paleo diet (and still remain 90% committed to it) but for me personally (and for many other ICers), I regressed a little in my treatment. While I am 100% sugar & gluten and mostly dairy free because I believe in that, i had a hard time with completely grain free. IC’ers need energy to heal from some moderatation of carbs to heal and the best tolerated ones, unfortunately, are rice and potatoes. Hard to explain but there are many healthful foods/carbs on the paleo diet like squashes, sweet potatoes and coconut that the IC bladder simply cannot tolerate without pain. This is due to the high concentration of vitamins and minerals that actually stregthen the inflammation and, until that inflammation is under control, those foods hurt the process. Sounds crazy but i can attest that it is true and my pain levels really increased when i ate those delicious, colorful foods. I have faith that someday i will tolerate them again and a paleo lifestyle will definitely be where I end up. Believe it or not, after partially healing my gut/bladder, I can now tolerate tomatoes and citrus where most conventional ICers will never eat those foods again. This is a testament to the true healing that happens when you address the underlying cause of the inflammation, namely a leaky gut and intestinal bacterial imbalance. Since sugar feeds this imbalance, complete sugar/fruit elimination is probably the one thing that made the most difference in my healing process. It’s not just the bladder that is sick it’s the entire body and, as such, those with IC often suffer from other ills like IBS, fibromyalgia, rashes and asthma, inner ear problems, and food allergies. It’s been an amazing journey, I can safely say I am about 85% healed of this nightmare and I encourage anyone suffering to seek out alternatives from the current, at times diabolical, Western approaches. For those on a vegetarian diet, I found that greatly exacerbated my IC and may have even had a small role in causing it, for what it’s worth. It was very hard for me to change my thinking and I enjoyed eating a plant based diet, but the meat part has definitely aided in my healing and I feel like a different person because of it.
Regarding your thoughts on Academia, Richard Feynman said that “Science is the disbelief in the authority of experts”
and “You can know the name of a bird in all the languages of the world, but when you’re finished, you’ll know absolutely nothing whatever about the bird… So let’s look at the bird and see what it’s doing — that’s what counts. I learned very early the difference between knowing the name of something and knowing something.”
I posted under the Facebook portion about my reversal of IC and VVS. I started a thread on Paleo hacks about my reversal. More women need to know that there is hope out there and not just an endless life of medication and pain. I don’t cheat with gluten, soy, or preservatives. If i get cross contamination all the symptoms come back.
Regarding Keratosis Pilaris, I had this condition on my upper arms and thighs for most of my 20s and 30s. Adult acne was also a problem. There was a time when the KP was so bad, I was embarrassed to wear short-sleeved shirts and shorts. I’ve been eating paleo for approx. 3-4 years now and both conditions have completely disappeared. I know my acne was directly related to dairy, specifically cheese. Once in a while I break down and have some cheese in my salad, and sure enough a pimple will pop up within a day or two. I haven’t had a flare up of KP in at least 3 years.
I have two daughters with KP. One of them eats a paleo diet and the other is gluten-free and neither dietary route has relieved their symptoms. This led me to a bit of Googling. I turned up a hypothesis that KP may be caused by a improper sloughing off of dead skin cells due to a lack of activated vitamin A. In turn, the lack of activated vitamin A is due to a defect in the conversion of carotenes to activated vitamin A. The solution is to eat liver or take high-vitamin cod liver oil (the fermented cod liver oil that Chris Kresser recommends) to get activated vitamin A. Melissa over at Hunt Gather Love ate liver to resolve her KP.
I just started giving one of my daughters fermented cod liver oil so it’s too soon to see how she responds.
My older daughter finds coconut oil to be the most helpful skin product.
If anyone has had experience with vitamin A for KP, please post to this thread. Thanks!
I have heard of the possible link between Vit A and KP. I started trying to add some liver (cheaper than the CLO), but I don’t think I did it long enough to see results. I will start that again. I have also used CO and use it on my lips and face every day.. I am not good at putting it on my body every day though. I will try both of these and I guess get rid of dairy for awhile and see if that helps. Other than dairy I do eat paleo, I just like butter and would be sad to have to give it up completely. I also recently read about a possible link between some people’s KP and the Dermodex mite. I will be trying the solution of using soap/shampoo with sea buckthorne in it. If any of this helps I will definitely write back.
Thank you Rob for answering my question!
Thank you for addressing my question and thank you all for your kind comments about IC. As an update, my wife and I are currently reading through It Starts With Food and she is getting a lot out of the stuff relating to insulin resistance, systemic inflammation, and the negative side effects of grains, legumes, and seed oils. Hopefully she’ll be starting a 30 day paleo trial period (with my full participation of course) and I’ll be sure to post later on her results.
Robb, thanks for responding to my question on waking up at night to pee. I recently have put a band-aid on the problem with some Perfect Health Diet protocol of less than 1 pound of meat per day, selenium/iodine supplementation, and your advice of carbs only post-workout. Not sure yet if its just the low protein or the other things helping as well. I have a receding hairline so maybe I am insulin resistant still. Thanks again! Currently saving money to get the blood-work done since my doc won’t write me a prescription for the extra blood-work.
Hm, not sure what to think. I was interested in the pork question (5. Amy) because I wanted to know your opinion on whether animal fat contains a level of toxins high enough to warrant focussing more on other fat sources. Instead you went on and on about how one should react to being criticized for eating Paleo. So do you have an opinion on the fat/toxins thing – or did I miss something?
Re pork meat. Paul Jaminet (perfecthealthdiet) did a post on pork and it wasn’t favourable.
Wow! At last I got a weblog from where I know how to actually obtain helpful data concerning my study and knowledge.
Hi :
N=1 here for KP remission since I went paleo over a year ago. In addition to dietary changes, I take Vitamin D, and as per earlier commenter above, Extra Virgin Coconut Oil – 1 Tbsp per day melted in my coffee. Its amazing,… I have had KP all my life, and now its just gradually gone/completely disappeared from my arms. Try it!
Hello, About the keratosis pilaris, I have it too, 2 things work for me
1 Retin A 0.5 every night for 2 months and it goes like 80% of it.(in my arms)
Also i have it in my but and now I take out of my diet: milk, chesee, beans, rice, nuts. and my but is much more better, like 90% clean. I dont know if one of those foods is causing this . for the fordyce nothing works unless i think Co2 Laser, or using accutane but that is just temporary.
Thanks for this informative article. Even if this was just a run-down of the disease, I tihnk it helepd me beucase I am worried that I have the same tihng. I need a doctor’s assurance but it helps to be careful and be proactive.