Episode 202

 

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Download a transcript of this episode here

 

Topics:

1. [5:05] Flour Made of Algae
2. [8:20] Omega-3 Enriched Bacon
3. [16:33] Does Olive Oil Negate Fish Oil?
4. [18:52] Wild Fish and Nuclear Spill
5. [22:30] Training for Good Posture
6. [31:02] Training Mobility, Movement, and Stability
7. [28:32] Eating Jerky Made for Pets
8. [42:10] Carrots, Starchy or Not?
9. [45:00] Impact of Toilets on Health

 

Questions:

1. Algae – safe?

Carol Berube  says:
Hi Robb and Greg!
Thanks for featuring my question in your podcast a few episodes ago, much appreciate your feedback and I have not picked up a copy of Women’s World since. I have another question for your regarding another product. When I was googling ‘gluten free’ I found this link and a description of a ‘flour’ or some kind of food product, made from Algae (http://grist.org/list/you-can-make-incredible-vegan-and-gluten-free-baked-goods-from-algae/)  Can such a food item be safe? I thought I heard somewhere that spirulina and other aquatic plant foods actually have gnarly toxins in them. Have you heard anything about this?  Thanks again, for all you do!

 

2. Omega-3 enriched bacon?

Irene says:
Hi Robb and Greg,

I’m a grad student at UCSD taking my final class requirement in a lipid metabalomics class.  For my term paper, I chose the omega6/omega3 ratio as my topic, as it has been intriguing to delve deeper into the subject.  Upon reading some of the many reviews by Artemis Simopoulos, I came across the work of JX Kang on fat-1 genetic transfer.  In a series of studies, they inserted the fat-1 gene from worms into human cells, mice, and ultimately pigs and cows which encodes for an n-3 fatty acid desaturase that converts omega-6 to omega-3.  The enzyme is not present in mammals, but is used by worms and presumably other invertebrates.  The transgenic animals converted omega-6 ingested from their diets into omega-3 and had far higher levels of ALA, EPA and DHA than their wild-type counterparts with corresponding lower levels of LA and AA, in addition to being otherwise healthy for multiple generations.  The authors implicated that this transgenic approach could potentially be used to create livestock capable of providing humans with more omega-3 and less omega-6 in their diets.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16565727

The science nerd within me thinks “wow- cool!” while my inner cavewoman is somewhat appalled and skeptical, and my inner glutton just thinks “mmmm- omega-3 bacon”.  But in your opinion, do you think this is a worthy application of genetically modified organisms or just another excuse to irresponsibly grain-feed our livestock?  Is it possible that this approach might be more useful in certain animals (such as pigs) than others?  It’s becoming easier to find grass-fed beef and flax-fed chickens and eggs, but I still can’t seem to find pastured pork or know of an omega-3 enriched variety.  Or do you see the research as simply being useful for studying the effects of the omega6/omega3 ratio in a mouse model?

Thanks again for all your insightful and entertaining commentary.  I’m fortunate enough to train at Invictus, which introduced me to the paleo lifestyle and has become my sanctuary from the idiocies of academia and the frequent futility of biochemical research.  Even a thick-skulled, gymnastically-challenged individual such as myself has been able to make progress on the Oly lifts under the genius of coach Cody B and the rest of the Invictus staff.

-Irene

 

3. Does fish oil cancel out olive oil?

Dave says:
Hi Robb and Greg,

Can you comment on this study that claims health benefits of fish oil are negated by oleic acid? I don’t use fish oil, but I do eat a lot of salads with sardines and olive oil. Should I use a different oil? Thanks!

http://suppversity.blogspot.com/2013/08/fish-oil-oleic-acid-counter-each-others.html

 

4. pacific wild fish and nuclear waste

Rachele says:
Hi Robb!!

i just wanted to see what your take was right now on eating wild caught fish from the pacific ocean due to all the nuclear waste they are finding spilling into the ocean from the Japan Nuclear disaster?? The thought of nuclear products in my fish scares the heck out of me and I feel like it is something they are going to look back on in a few years, and see how terrible it is on our health and problems it has caused. Any thoughts??

 

5. Bad hyperlordosis, thoracic kyphosis and horrible ankle flexibility

Ted says:
Hey Greg and Rob,

I had a big wakeup call recently to fix my shitty posture. I’ve got serious anterior pelvic tilt and kyphosis and crap ankle flexibility (I need to elevate my heels about 4 inches to get a below parallel squat)
I want to start a new program to focus on nothing but fixing these problems, I got no other goals at the moment. What advice do you have for rep range and frequency of workouts?
I’m good for hamstring and pec stretches everyday, how often should I do back row/ face pulls, chin/pull ups and squat/straight leg deadlifts?
I’ve been off training for over a year but I’ve got the time to fix this now, so whatever ‘best practices’ you can throw my way I’d love to hear.
Thanks a lot, I love the podcast, and a paleo diet helped me lose 50lbs already. I owe you both a lot already.
Stats: M/25/215lbs/6 ft

Ted

 

6. Training Program for Mobility, Movement, Stability

Ryan says:
Hi Robb,

I’ll keep the question short: do you have recommendations for a training program that focuses on a combination of strength, mobility, natural movement ability, flexibility, and stability?  Basically, to get to a point where you can do stuff that gymnasts do, all in line with how humans originally are meant to move?

Long story short, I am a former heavy weightlifter, rugby-player, and meathead.  I’m now way trimmed down, primal/paleo, and have experimented with various forms of exercise. I am not, however, very interested in crossfit.  I got interested in Ido Portal’s methods, but it’s super expensive and you cannot do it on your own.  I may sign up for capoeira classes once I move to San Diego, but am on the fence.

So…any recommendations?

 

7. Jerky question

Rebecca says:
Hi Robb and Greg,

This is kind of a weird question, but here it goes.  While grocery shopping the other day at Whole Paycheck a package of jerky caught my eye.  It was beef heart jerky.  I’m like “Nice!  I need more organ meats in my diet.”.  I take a look at the ingredients and it’s just dehydrated beef heart from grass-fed cows.  Double nice!  It’s a challenge for me to find jerky that doesn’t have soy sauce in it.  Next to it there’s grass-fed beef liver jerky.  And chicken jerky.  All soy-free and all at a great price!  I start throwing one of each in to my cart thinking I’ve just found the ultimate jerky score until I realize I’m in the fucking pet food section.  Disappointed, I start putting the jerky back on the shelf, but then I stop and wonder if it would still be ok for me to eat it?  Do you think there’s any reason why humans can’t eat jerky from the pet food aisle?  The ingredients alone are perfect for human consumption, but I couldn’t seem to get past the picture of the cartoon doggy on the front label.

Thanks!

 

8. What’s the deal with carrots?

Mike says:
Hey guys,

Insert all the obligatory shit here.
When I search google for starchy and non-starchy vegetables, I see carrots show up on both lists. Are they starchy or not? Does the starch content change when cooked? I don’t really have a particular reason for asking, other than being curious.

Thanks guys,

Hopefully, my grammar is proper.

 

9. Invention of the Toilet

James says:

Dear Robb and Greg

Rather strange question this:

Has the invention of the toilet had a negative impact on our health in terms of the way we relieve ourselves? For example, I imagine that our ancestors used to squat in order to defecate which obviously engaged the thigh muscles and meant the whole process was an ‘active’ one that used the muscles around the abdomen and colon more. Is there any evidence to suggest that going to the loo on a toilet has meant that waste is expunged less efficiently than when going ‘au naturale’, and that unwanted residual bacteria remain in the body?

Only you guys can handle such a topic.

Thanks!

James, UK

 

 

 

Squatchy

Christopher Williams (a.k.a. Squatchy) is a paleo aficionado, educator, personal trainer, wellness coach, and hobbyist chef. He also works as part of the Robb Wolf team.