This week we have my good friend Mark Sisson on the show! Mark is the founder of Mark’s Daily Apple, Primal Kitchen (their mayonnaise is fantastic) author of The Primal Blueprint, The Primal Connection, Primal Endurance, and more.
Listen in as we discuss what Mark has been up to, his new book, the keto diet, benefits of keto, electrolytes, keto supplements, and more.
Download Transcript Here (PDF)
Grab a copy of Mark’s book that releases today: The Keto Reset Diet
Carb curve mentioned in the show:
Primal Blueprint Carbohydrate Curve
30 Day Guide to the Paleo Diet
Want some extra help? Have you been trying Paleo for a while but have questions or aren’t sure what the right exercise program is for you? Or maybe you just want a 30-day meal plan and shopping list to make things easier? We’ve created a getting started guide to help you through your first 30 days.
Don’t forget, Wired to Eat is now available!
Amazon, Barnes & Noble, IndieBound, iBooks
What could be the issue if on keto I lost my menses? Too little body fat? I was definitely eating enough and experimented going between 80-130g to find my “sweet spot” and no change in my cycles. I just switched to paleo because of this and stopped tracking my macros (which also drove me nuts anyways).
MarK Sisson sounds like he is preaching orthorexia: how little can one eat to “survive”, while maintaining “muscle mass”. At no point does he mention the practicality of attempting to sustain such an erratic eating schedule for the average American lifestyle. This self-proclaimed admission of “obsession with fat loss” is especially troubling for women–which by the way aren’t even mentioned until about 40 minutes in–as low carb has time and again proved to be ruinous to a female’s reproductive, mental and general physical health. Promotion of “obsessive” practices, reduction of energy intake, and pursuit of the interminable quest to lose weight (to what end?) sounds just like another narrative assigned to women in a body-centric society. I don’t advocate for Mr. Sisson’s methods whatsoever.
Robb, however, you’re still great. Thank you for remaining fairly neutral and considering all aspects of the science presented here.
Some women can follow keto/ low carb but yes, the pattern won’t be beneficial for all. And, I agree, trying to eat minimally isn’t always practical in modern society, especially for people trying the concepts for the first time.
What I took away is that it’s a keto reset, something to reset a person’s metabolism after years of damage, not necessarily a recommendation for everyone to do keto forever. And that for some people it works to do it longer term. I think whenever I hear Mark Sisson talking about how he eats, he eats plenty, and in talking about eating at a minimum, he’s saying that as a reaction to the culture of gluttony, “fat bombs,” people eating as much as they can possibly get away with without gaining weight (but still potentially causing metabolic damage or teetering on that). Sisson’s saying, maybe the thing to do is to eat the least that it takes to be satisfied and healthy. Be satisfied and healthy, yes, but get off this “eat as much I possibly can get away with” carousel.
I found that eating Paleo is a great improvement for me, but being keto for a few weeks has increased metabolic repair after decades of low fat, high carb diet. It is helping me reset in a way that Paleo alone wasn’t quite doing or was going to take more years to do.
I don’t think anyone has this all figured out for everyone. I think people for whom Paleo works perfectly, they don’t necessarily get that it has to be dialed in differently for some of us. Whenever I hear Robb Wolff talking ad nauseam about his very specific lifestyle, history, and how many carbs he needs, well, I’m totally not all all like him. If I have to hear about how many carbs he needs because of his “old man Brazilian” bikini wax, I mean, jiu jitsu, well, I just fast forward through it because it’s his podcast and he gets to talk about whatever he wants, but he’s just being overly specific about his way of eating and that’s sometimes I think what Mark Sisson does, too.
Haven’t listened to this interview yet, but have followed Mark for years and listened to several other interviews regarding this book (which I am about to read.) I was vegetarian for over 30 years, vegan for some of it. Went primal/paleo about 6 years ago and have gradually transitioned into what I would call “borderline keto.” I don’t track anything, but eat pretty much high fat/moderate protein/low carb. I am 51 years old but people usually guess that I am in my mid 30s. I have a ton of energy and have no problem maintaining my weight. My life is busy…I am very active, I maintain my happy, healthy and hot website and work part time as a bartender. On Fridays I work a 12 hour shift without a break. I really credit the way I eat and take care of myself for all of this. Maybe low carb/keto doesn’t work for all women, but it has been working just fine for me. Again, I’m not tracking anything and I totally listen to my body. But it’s usually telling me I need more fat, not more carbs!
Thank you – I appreciate these discussions.
Mark, known seller of PALEO Milk Whey Protein Supps approved by Grok, jumping on Keto bandwagon before third wave of Atkins/Keto dies off. Maybe, the sale of PALEO whey is tanking and Mark needs to spice things up.
Every individual body has its own particular needs. The Keto diet sounds interesting, but I’d like to see more science and what the research shows in practice. Thanks for sharing!
I was surprised to hear Mark eats bouillon cubes. All the ones I’ve ever found have junky ingredients. Is there a better brand I’m missing?
Rapunzel may meet your needs
Lots of people seem to swear about the greatness of keto.
I just wonder how paleo promoters could promote it. As far as I know the only keto diet our ancestors went through was with fasting. There could not have been many hunter gatherer tribes that ate a low protein, low carb and high fat diet. Please show me any evidence that I am wrong.
Also, the only athletes that seem to better their performance using keto is Marathon runners or longer. The rest is getting worse performance. And that’s not paleo either.
It would be interesting if Wolf wanted to comment on this.
How about Inuit people. Also how many carbs do you think people got from berries!??!? Also keto is not paleo, its keto. Humans can easy live as carnivores. Some pacific islands live almost entirely off coconut. What about alaska where fish all winter would have meant keto
I’ve been doing keto/paleo for several years and just made a major change that gave me a great mental and energetic boost.
Michael Ormsbee said to dramatically increase protein for 40+ year olds and I did that and it really helped.
I just have one question
How long does it take to loose drastic weight
That’s going to vary, and it depends on what you consider “drastic”.