PALEO JAY Smoothie Cafe

pjsc 105  Would you get a colonoscopy from a used car salesman?Here we go, another inflammatory podcast by PaleoJay!  Well, actually I don’t think it really is, it’s just contradicting another piece of “common medical wisdom and advice” that actually is quite dangerous, expensive, and health damaging.It’s this last that really bugs me, since medical care should above all obey the dictum to first do no harm.  The inevitable harm caused by doing a full colonoscopy is the complete devastation of the gut biome, in other words all the little microbes that live in our guts and do things like control our body weight, mood, and the countless other vital processes we have not come close to mapping out yet.Just like statin drug prescriptions, the colonoscopy seems to have become all about the money... at 5-10,000 dollars per scan, this is a huge moneymaker for medical clinics- why would they eliminate that cash cow for a little blood or stool test that costs a few hundred at most?Well, the main reason would be because the blood or stool test is just as or MORE effective at detecting cancer, and there is no destruction of our precious gut biome, and no risk of perforation of the colon by the procedure, which is a very real danger!  Why would you go into the hospital perfectly healthy, just to put yourself in extreme danger of being damaged, and with a certainty of making your health immediately worse, and your immune system compromised?  It just doesn’t make sense.  Just going anesthesia is a real danger to you as well!And, it costs a lot of money too!You can get a FOBT, a fecal occult blood test, a fecal immunochemical test, and the newest is called Cologuard.  Cologuard costs $599, which is a far cry from a colonoscopy.This is the kind of thing that really gets me doubting the motivations of our medical clinics, doctors, and system- they recommend things like colonoscopies that are expensive and dangerous with very little upside, and things like statin drugs for high cholesterol when there is no evidence that the symptom of high cholesterol really even causes heart disease, and they recommend multiple servings of grains per day to diabetes patients, and then sell them lots of insulin to mask the problems caused by the grains...I could go on and on- but the obvious point is this:IT’S ALL ABOUT THE MONEY!IT’S NOT ABOUT YOUR HEALTH- IT’S ALL ABOUT THE MONEY!If you can be sick, and they sell you things to just treat the symptoms of that disease forever, wow- that’s the best business model for them ever!  There is absolutely no incentive to cure you of the disease, or of your many diseases.Buyer beware.  Don’t ever go to the doctor and just do whatever he or she says! Would you go to buy a new car and just buy whatever the salesman told you to?  No, you’d do your research, look up the cars that interested you on the internet, compare prices and reviews, and then make your best decision based on knowledge.  Do the same thing with your health, but put in MORE time and research, because this is your HEALTH you are researching here.  And it hurts me to say this, but try to imagine your doctor as a kind of seedy used car salesman, because that is what the profession has been tending towards in recent years.  You don’t have to say it, but keep it in the back of your mind.And, if he tells you no, you can’t screen for colon cancer with a blood test, tell him he’s fired, and go to another doctor or clinic.  You’re the boss!

One of the biggest scams there is in this world is that conventional medicine, which is the kind of treatment you can get from an American clinic or hospital can make you WELL!  Nothing is further from the truth…a medical doctor of today just means that that person is a member of the biggest, most powerful labor union in history- the American Medical Association.  This is a labor union par excellence- it guarantees incredibly high wages for the practitioners in “the Brotherhood” as Malcolm Kendrick calls it, as long as those doctors tow the line, don’t rock the boat, and follow “approved” treatments ONLY- things like chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery only for cancer treatment- nothing else can even be considered, or the doctor doing so can be thrown out of the union- in other words -lose their high priced and time consuming right to practice medicine!Your doctor is actually forbidden to recommend common sense lifestyle and diet changes to actually cure your condition, and is instead forced to recommend expensive pharmaceutical drugs (all of which have side effects, often worse than the disease!), and surgeries only.  None of these options do any thing at all to address your disease or condition- they only mask the symptoms so you might feel a little better.  You will go home with your expensive prescriptions for drugs that make BILLIONS of dollars for the pharmaceutical companies annually, and billions of dollars for the medical clinic that prescribed them- all without curing your condition in the slightest.You see, the pharmaceutical companies fund most of the research, and bankroll the medical colleges where the future M.D’s train.  They have a mutually beneficial relationship- the doctors recommend their products; in fact insist the patient use these products, and then everyone makes lots and lots of money… except YOU.  You are left sick, with endless pills and/or painful and damaging surgeries to endure, and are now a drug addict!  Even though your drugs are LEGAL, they are still usually endlessly necessary and actually addicting once you start, and hugely expensive- and, even though your medical insurance (if you have it) will mask the true costs since you only need a co-pay, rest assured that the ultimate cost is there, it is huge, and you are paying it through your other many taxes that are set to continue rising forever!And let’s talk side effects: All drugs have side effects!  This is often glossed over, but if you ever pay attention to the MANY drug commercials on the television all day long, listen to the potential side effects of the most popular ones, the ones they recite rapidly while showing attractive, loving couples dancing, walking on pristine beaches, and playing with laughing children and romping dogs:  Here are the side effects of the Statin drugs, which are among the MOST prescribed drugs on earth!Liver function, muscle wasting and pain, possible heart attack risk, increased side effects with any other drug you might be taking, depression and irritability, headaches, joint pain, and abdominal pain, tingling, numbness and burning, sleep problems, sexual function problems, dizziness and a sense of detachment.  Additionally, people have mentioned experiencing swelling, shortness of breath, vision changes, changes in temperature regulation, weight change, hunger, breast enlargement, blood sugar changes, dry skin, rashes, blood pressure changes, nausea, upset stomach, bleeding, and ringing in ears or other noises.  In addition, Statin drugs, which include Crestor, lipitor, and several other brand names tend to deplete CO q10, which is a vital substance manufactured by your body to produce cell growth and maintenance in every cell in your body- as you grow older, the supply lessens, and it can cause your heart to malfunction, and cause brain and cognition problems as well!And all of those are from just one drug- most people, as they age and visit the doctor more frequently, are put on multiple drugs, which o

pjsc 102  Insulin resistance is worse than being fatAs a “Paleo Pastor” of sorts, I wind up in lots of conversations with people who don’t really have much exposure to, or often ANY exposure to the idea of ancestral diet and lifestyle.  Actually, it is amazing to me, and actually a bit disheartening, that still, with all the latest science staring us in the face, and virtually all of it supporting the validity of the paleo type of diet- most folks still have no idea what it’s all about.Most folks believe if they are thin they are IN- just so long as they aren’t obese, they can eat anything they want.  Especially, I hear this from parents who do NOT want to get into it with their children, who in this day and age are so coddled in what they eat and what they do that their parents  gladly get them fast food for almost every meal just because that is what the kid wants.  And then, the excuse they give to me when I point out how horribly unhealthy this is, is that:“My kid is not fat- HE/She can eat whatever they want, because they just burn it off!”Actually, when person is a child, and still growing, proper Paleo nutrition in the form of nutrient dense foods, and avoidance high glycemic index types of insulin spikers like grains, sugars and processed foods is more important than any time in their lives.In the first 20 years or so of life, you are setting the groundwork for your health for the rest of your life!  Not to mention building a healthy set of muscles, tendons, organs, ligaments and bones...and the BRAIN and the moods that go with it.So, shortchange your “skinny” kid on real, God made foods and let them eat their fill of crap fast and processed foods just because it’s “easier”... well, you are starting your precious kids off with a substandard body, prone to injury and disease- taking away their bodies ability to be sensitive to insulin, and making them gradually more and more insulin resistant.This last is something that, although it won’t be visible for some time, leads gradually and inevitably to the syndrome called diabesity.  Your kid won’t get fat overnight, but you are laying the groundwork by changing his or her interior body chemistry and gut biome- this can and will eventually make the young adult, at a later date, prone to diabetes, obesity, heart disease, and cancer... not to mention “minor” things like tooth decay and disease, osteoporosis, and even depression, anxiety, and other mental problems!All of those modern conditions are caused, slowly and surely, by crap food, lack of proper activity (organized sports are not proper exercise for young people), and the many chemicals we expose our children to that also alter their gut microbes in disastrous ways.  Not only noxious cleaning chemicals we spray around our houses, but more particularly in the form of antibiotics- did you know that 4 out of 5 adults takes a course of antibiotics every year?  Children probably MORE than that- and if you eat CAFO meat, you are getting a hefty dose of antibiotics in that as well, since the bulk of antibiotics we produce each year is fed to these poor animals to keep them alive in filthy, confined conditions until they’re big enough, and marbled enough with fat from our feeding them grains, to slaughter.Don’t get me wrong- antibiotics are great; they are kind of like surgery- on some rare occasions it might be necessary, but we should do everything in our power to avoid having to use such a heavy-handed intervention.So, even if you do have a skinny kid- keep him that way! Feed him a good, paleo type of diet, train him to drink a Paleo smoothie each day, loaded with raw greens, kefir, coconut milk, and all the other healthy additions I recommend you include in your daily smoothie to make it the healthiest, most nutrient dense food/drink on the planet!  Go on hikes with your kids, start them off with some Perfectly Paleo exercise including calisthenics, stretching, rebounding or jumping rope, and running around barefoot in the

Make your own supplements!I have been listening, via a great podcast superhuman radio on my iPhone to Dr. Thomas Levy.  The good doctor, who is not any longer in lock-step with his professional colleagues, has had great success in treating many modern diseases with Vitamin C!  (Remember Linus Pauling?  He was castigated, similarly to Robert Atkins of the low carb diet fame, by the medical establishment). It turns out that vitamin C, which is produced by virtually ALL other animals, is NOT produced by humans.  Common knowledge, really, but the implications to health are very important:  The RDA for vitamin C might prevent scurvy; but it is far too low to prevent "scurvy of the heart", or "scurvy of the bones", or other bodily systems. The bottom line is that Vitamin C is FAR more important for us than the current medical system believes, or is willing to recommend.  The implications for heart disease, and cancer, to name only two, are more important than we might ever believe- not to mention simply optimizing our health.So, what is the bottom line? I don't think it is necessary, or even optimal to take massive amounts of supplements. After all, that is why they are called supplements!  "But Jay, but Jay!" I hear you saying.  "Supplements are so expensive!"Yes, indeed they are, and many (most!) are totally synthetic, and not really good for human consumption... So I say MAKE YOUR OWN SUPPLEMENTS!Just start with a Vitamix blender...Mix up a good smoothie recipe- like this one, chosen at random: Paleo Quick Start Smoothie!Actually, many variations are possible- and are to be encouraged!  Go heavy on the vitamin C- and don't think only citrus- did you know that red peppers are much higher in vitamin C than oranges??World's Healthiest Foods rich invitamin CFoodCals%Daily ValuePapaya119313.1%Bell Peppers29195.8%Strawberries46141.1%Broccoli31135.2%Pineapple83131.4%Brussels Sprouts38124.6%Kiwifruit45120%Oranges62116.1%Cantaloupe5497.8%Kale3688.8%So, my point, again is this: MAKE YOUR OWN SUPPLEMENTS!  It's way easier to take a Vitamix, and blend together real foods, and drink them throughout your day1  I mean, cooking foods is great, cooking real foods like veggies and meats and fruits and spices and seafood!  Nothing better!  EXCEPT, perhaps:Blending them up, RAW, along with every single thing your body needs in one, easily assimilable "package" that is not only easy to transport and consume, but that gives your body (and mind!) everything they need to thrive and gain optimum health!!I don't know about you, but I would do all I could to avoid "scurvies"- in other words modern, sub-standard food deficiencies that will render me (and you too of course) sickly, be-deviled with "mind fog", and prone to all of the diseases of modern civilization- cancer, heart disease, diabetes, obesity, arthritis, the list goes on and on....Just choose health!  It's easy, too- actually even easier than the fast foods that are leading the bulk of us to our sick, weak, pain-filled future- Making a daily smoothie is about as easy as it gets, one we "get it" and make the transition!  If you have bad teeth, skin, or hair...THIS IS THE "INDICATOR LIGHT" OF YOUR BODY:This means that your body is "breaking down"!    If you don't address the cause; i.e. your sub-standard diet that is not providing your body enough nutrients, you are setting yourself up for all of the diseases of modern civilization:  ( listed above, but only partially...)If your car was flashing "check oil" you would jump on it!!Your body's indicator lights are SO much MORE important!Do NOT ignore them!  Start making your own supplements!!

pjsc 100  Embrace Manual LaborThe common refrain in Paleo-dom is this:Play is great!  We don’t play enough- embrace your inner child, your paleolithic tribes person and have fun!  Play games with your friends, and have fun scampering around with frisbees and on slack lines!  We all work way too hard, and deserve fun play with our friends!All well and good, but I think that most of us that “work” too hard, are working at things like computer projects- geeky little things like podcasts, blogs, and ebooks... like I do!!  Business dealings, meetings with clients- stuff like that.  Hardly physical labor!!Today, I was interrupted in the midst of my daily morning workout, as I bounced on the rebounder while doing my scheduled virtual resistance exercise moves.  I had done all of my stretches, and my self massage, and was enjoying the lymph stimulating cleansing and oxygenating bouncing, when I got a call, an emergency!  And so, I dashed off to deal with it, as anyone would.Did I regret not finishing my workout?  Did I schedule a “play date” with some of my friends to do Zumba barefooted, and then toss frisbees without shirts on?  No- I carried on with my day, doing what I had to do, and then decided to do some hard manual labor in lieu of a workout.Although I agree that we all, in modern life, probably don’t play enough, I think a far more pressing need in our lives is to do more manual labor.  Hard physical work is an almost totally missing element in our coddled modern lives, where most folks live in the city or suburbs, drive everywhere in luxury cars that are automatic everything, and make our livings talking on the phone, selling, and typing on our computer keyboards.So, with this in mind, I decided this late afternoon to tackle an especially irksome task.  The snow has just melted, and today was a glorious sunny day with very damp ground- a perfect day to level a long stretch on my property that is very tilted- perhaps 30 degrees to the side, and then down a steep hillside!It has always worried me, this long path that so many vehicles and pedestrians travel- tractors, atv’s, golf carts- I always am afraid that someone will tip over, and slide down the hill!  And so...Since my utility John Deere tractor still has the chains and rear blade on, I put it into 4 wheel drive and attempted level the damp earth of this trail that bisects my land.  I took off a swath of earth, but was really afraid of sliding to the side- so I rode back to the house, got a shovel, and came back to dig!I spent a good hour, probably more, digging a channel for my tractor tires to follow, that would keep me from sliding down the hill.  It wasn’t fun.  It wasn’t carefree pleasure, like skiing, or paddle boarding, throwing frisbees or doing the jitterbug...But it was satisfying!It was hard physical work, but it was not the mindless and meaningless work that is so much a part of modern life.  It was work with a clear purpose! This is what most of us in modern America now lack.I think that a large part of what is wrong with modern America is its increasing relentless urbanization. Civilizations always eventually become largely decadent, and slide downwards to failure... I think it is because we lose sight of what is truly important and valuable, like hard physical endeavors of all sorts, and start to place more value on sophistry- the ability to use words as a kind of jiu jitsu to change perceptions, and learning to maneuver politics and finances to our advantage.I know this is a bit wandering, in a way, but I do wish to convey to you what I believe is a truth:Try to live as rural, and as self sufficient as you can!  GET OUT of big urban areas, if you possibly can- they are time bombs waiting to fail!Do as much of your own work as you can, and help who you hire if you can’t do it all yourself.  Small communities, small government: this is what works, and has always worked.  Big, top-down, micro-management and dictatorial rule:Think Imperial Rome, Nazi Germany,

pjsc #99- You are fat because you are starvingI know, that sounds like a contradiction, but bear with me.  If you feed yourself nutrient poor foods, your body does perceive itself as starving.  It is not getting the nutrition it needs for optimal performance and for feeling great- and so, logically, the body cries out for real food- not processed, man made fake food like substances that so many of us subsist on.  The body only knows that it does not have the raw materials it needs to build and keep running the vital processes of the body, and so it calls out for more more more food.But it you keep on feeding it with bread, and pasta, and soda pop, frozen dinners, pizza and fast foods... why, the body has no choice other than to take nutrients away from “minor” things like hair, skin, muscle, tendon and bone maintenance and rejuvenation, and use them for more vital processes: things like keeping the heart beating, and the brain limping along.  It will take needed protein and calcium away from your muscles and bones to use where needed, causing actual starvation conditions in much of your body!  And your body will take all of those empty, “poor” foods that you take in and, since they are not good for much else, use them to make and store body fat!It is a triage process.  Where do we really need these nutrients, just to stay alive!?  We will take them wherever we can get them, says the body.  And, it must be really hard, starvation times, since we are not getting enough nutrients to thrive- so it is imperative to store the maximum amount of body fat to ensure survival through these lean times!This is really how the logic of the human body works.  And so, how do we do the opposite, and encourage our own body and that of our family to function optimally, with the ability to build and restore lean muscle mass, glowing skin and hair, and just a wonderful bodily terrain that can fight off illness, and keep us strong, lean, healthy and feeling great and loaded with vitality!First, you need to eliminate stressors- things like not enough sleep (this is a real fat encourager), too much stress without down time to regroup and process things, and of course the ultimate stressor of nutrient poor, man made fake foods.  Even too much exercise can be a really negative stress, as also is too little or the wrong kind of exercise.Exercise such as long distance running will tear down your joints and waste your muscles, and heavy weight lifting will compress your spinal disks, and really do a number on your shoulders, knees, and elbows.  Stick with body weight, virtual and self resisted exercise- Perfectly Paleo Exercise!  Jump on a rebounder daily, do pushups and sit ups, chins and dips and body weight rows on a pair of gymnastic rings.  For maybe 1/2 hour, tops- you will feel invigorated and refreshed, as opposed to long sessions in a gym where you are depleted and worn down!And above all- eat real, God made foods!  Foods where everything is just as it came from nature- not in a box or a bag, not pasteurized or homogenized, pasture raised not grain fed, and above all no “altered” grains like wheat, or GMO altered like most every other grain, like soy and  corn. Eat butter and cream, LOTS of green vegetables and some berries and citrus, and a limited amount of starchy items such as sweet potatoes, white potatoes, and white rice.  Avoid margarine, corn oil, soy oil, canola oil, and all of the other chemically extracted industrial seed oils that are all around us.  Go for the real deal instead- the butter, and the coconut oil!!  Eat liver from healthy, grass fed animals, and really load up your body with fat- shedding, health promoting, “feel good” nutrition.Do the above, avoiding the unnatural, and eating LOTS of the natural foods, reduce stress, maximize sleep, and do intense, but brief sessions of exercise daily-then your body will up-regulate your thyroid and burn fat, build muscle, skin, teeth, bone, and hair health at an amazing rate!  You will

PJSC 98  Get DOWN with your Bad SelfOne of the simplest, most important, and yet most ignored ways to improve your health, posture, flexibility is simply to spend more time on the floor!  Think about it: the simple chair or couch is the most unnatural, non-paleo way to support your body.  It is taking a structure, and using it to support all  of your limbs and musculature, encouraging a slouch and long term weakening of all the small supporting muscles throughout the body and spine.  In particular, the muscles of the back and the butt are degraded the most over time- just look at most of our elderly population.  They walk hunched over, with a permanent slouch, and their flaccid butts cannot even lift their feet very well off the floor.This doesn’t have to happen!  Simply resolve to spend an hour per day or so on the floor.  When I work out, about 1/3 of my exercise is spent on my mat on the floor, stretching, bridging, massaging my feet, doing straight legged sit ups, push ups, etc.  It is a mistake to always work out only in a standing position!But, the bulk of your “floor time” can simply be hanging out, watching TV or reading, talking on the phone or to another person who is also on the floor!  It’s actually very “grounding” to be on the floor, and I don’t mean that only in the literal sense.  Being on the ground brings us back to when we were babies, before we even could get our selves off of the ground, or even roll over onto out backs!  But now, we need to maintain what we used to do effortlessly- do the Asian squat, as all toddlers do, to “sit” without a chair.  This is actually the very best “exercise” you can do on a daily basis- just squat down and “rest” in a full, flat footed squat on the floor- and it isn’t even really an exercise at all!  This is the very best stretch for your back and legs of any you can possibly do- do it daily.But actually, any way you sit or crouch or relax on the floor is good, much better for you than just sitting on the chair or couch.  The transitions you make, moving from one floor position to another, and then when you stand,  getting up smoothly from the floor under your own power- these are wonderful for your overall bodily health, utterly natural and necessary, and are so often lost to people by middle age!Walking is important, but even more important is simply sitting on the floor, and being able to get up to a standing position easily and gracefully.  To get up from a chair is like doing a squat down about a third of the way up- to get up from the floor is actually a rather complex, hinged motion involving the hand, arm, legs, hips, and back in a well coordinated and complex series of movements.  It is very important that we maintain our ability to do this throughout life!Asians have a largely floor based culture, and they are the better for it!  When I was in Korea, I saw elderly folks get up from the floor after eating (this is how they traditionally dine) and they arose easily and smoothly.  Even young Westerners often need to be helped up!The chair is a cast!  Think of it like that.  The more you use a cast, the weaker you become. Eyeglasses are casts, shoes are casts- weaker prescriptions make your eyes gradually stronger, walking barefoot strengthens your feet and ankles.  So strive to minimize using crutches of comfort to excess!  Start by sitting on the floor- get DOWN with your bad self! 

 I recently read a book called “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up- the Japanese are of decluttering and organizing”  by Marie Kondo.This was actually a revelation of a book to me- in this slim volume (only about 200 pages) is a well organized prescription of just how you can totally organize your living space and all of your possessions!  It is a strange sort of book choice for me, since I didn’t even think I needed to go through my clothing, my books, and actually everything I own...but my daughter, and a couple of friends highly recommended it, and so I did.And I am so glad that I did!  I am not a really cluttered person, but like in everything, there is always room for improvement.  I started with my outdoor shed, which is attached to my garage and just loaded with stuff- since it’s winter here in Wisconsin, I waited for a warm-ish day, and then began- I took everything out, and then, after adding a home made workbench made from old bathroom cabinets and a heavy duty slab of pressboard for a top, put it all back...perfectly ordered and with everything available, and MINUS all of the other stuff that resided there.I would take Marie’s advice, and hold each item in my hands, and ask myself if I needed it, or truly wanted it, or ever thought I’d use it again.  If it was perfectly good, but I thought I’d never use it again, I thanked it in  my mind for serving me, but now it was time to let it go.  I got rid of so much junk, and in just a matter of several hours had a delightful workspace, even with the storage of many summer items like tillers, mowers, rakes, shovels, hoes, etc. etc.- all neatly organized and easily accessible.I had “turned Japanese” like the old Cheap Trick song from the 1970’s, and was now enamoured of tidying!I moved on to my closet, and learned to make decisions about every item of clothing I owned, and threw out very, very many things that were basically just encumbering me with useless, cluttered storage.  I learned to fold my t-shirts, shirts, handkerchiefs, socks, and everything else properly, and not ALL of my clothing items are available at a glance- nothing is stacked beneath something else, and every item is something I would really be sad at not having, and most importantly something that I can use and choose at a moment’s notice.  No searching or forgetting that something even exists anymore!  It makes living on a daily basis simple and pleasurable.And what does this have to do with out HEALTH?  Actually, it is so similar in function that I couldn’t stop relating the two even as I read the book.  It is vitally important to our diet to clean out and dispose of every item in our cupboards or refrigerator that does not serve our health well!Start with your cupboards- empty out your flour bin, your sugar bin- throw that crap OUT!  I have potato startch (to feed my gut microbes in my Paleo smoothies) in the flour bin, and I keep green and white tea bags in my sugar bin.  Go through your refrigerator- throw out anything that does not serve your HEALTH and well being- skimmed milk, anything low fat, industrial seed oils like margarine, corn, soy, canola, peanut oils- throw them away!  Salad dressings made of these oils- do NOT hang onto them in the name of frugality- these things are you health’s mortal enemies!  Throw out anything made by man, and keep what is made by God.Make sure you have PLENTY of good, Paleo types of real foods to eat, all neatly stored and easily accessible.  To quote Marie Kondo in one of her best sayings: “The best way to find out what we really need is to get rid of what we don’t” .  This holds true for both possessions, and for foodstuffs!And don’t stop there- “tidy up” your exercise gear as well! If you have free weights and barbells- give, sell, or throw them away!  You can keep a couple of light dumbells, and should make or buy a good kettle bell- but other than these weights are a mistake!  Heavy barbells and dumb bells can only compress your spine, gradually destroy y

pjsc 96  My Take on VaccinationsThere is a real problem in how the Federal Government, Big Pharmaceuticals, and Big Medicine have been handling the vaccinations in this country.  Voices are shrill from those that are in power over US, the people in the U.S.- you MUST get vaccinated- if you don’t you are endangering everyone!  And so, the line of reasoning is tending in this direction- we will make you get them!  Government Control!!This is a major problem, since those big 3 organizations of Big Government, Big Pharma, and Big Medicine are mainly concerned with PROFIT, not our health.  These are the same entities that have given us the Food Pyramid dominated by grains, sugar, and low fat everything.  Under these guidelines, the American people have become more sick and inflamed than ever before!  More importantly even than the effects of all of this bad food, and poor lifestyle of endless sitting, little sleep, and no real nutrition is what this behaviour does to our gut microbes- the tiny GOOD bacteria that we have co-evolved with, and that keep us healthy, improving the terrain of our bodies so that we can fight off BAD bacteria!  It’s similar to what happened to dairy in this country when we allowed big dairy to industrialize away from small farms, and crowd cows together in filthy conditions with no access to good grass and space to move, and instead loaded them up with spent grains from the brewing industry in the early 1900’s.  Suddenly, milk needed to be pasteurized!  Our cows were leading lives like most of us do today- not exercising properly, or sleeping, or getting out in nature as we are meant to, and being jammed all together in huge numbers- they were chronically sick animals, just as now we are all chronically sick.Oh, and they also started to need huge amounts of antibiotics, and other medicines  and vaccines just to survive long enough to slaughter... Sound familiar? If we insist on living unhealthy, SAD types of lives, we will sadly have to take many medicines just to relieve the symptoms of diabesity and all related modern illnesses.  BUT, if we have tons of vaccinations when YOUNG, to ward off relatively minor diseases like measles, and mumps, etc.; we are setting ourselves up, since by compromising out immune systems and gut microbes to gain a perceived immunity to minor illnesses, we set ourselves up later for autoimmune diseases, cancer, and a host of really devastating diseases in our 50’s and 60’s, when we can’t really fight them off.And the modern vaccine?  They are loaded with thimerosal, a mercury based preservative.  And just the sheer AMOUNT of the stuff: twenty years ago children received 18 vaccines between 2 months and 5 years .Now they receive 49 total vaccine doses between 2 months and 5 years and during this same twenty-year time frame (as we have increased the number of vaccines) we have seen a huge increase in autism, ADD/ADHD, allergies, asthma, and chronic illness that cannot be explained on environmental factors alone. Many call it coincidence. It is not.Russia banned thimerosal from children’s vaccines 20 years ago, and Denmark, Austria, Japan, Great Britain and all the Scandinavian countries have since followed suit.“You couldn’t even construct a study that shows thimerosal is safe,” says a Dr.Haley, who heads the chemistry department at the University of Kentucky. “It’s just too darn toxic. If you inject thimerosal into an animal, its brain will sicken. If you apply it to living tissue, the cells die. If you put it in a petri dish, the culture dies. Knowing these things, it would be shocking if one could inject it into an infant without causing damage.”As Kelly Brogan, MD puts it: Ancestral health enthusiasts know that immunity cannot be manufactured, that buoying us with synthesized antibiotics and steroids — best left to emergency medicine — is a practice that is only necessitated by neglect of nutrition-based immune support.When agencies point out that vaccines have greatly lowered

Today, I thought I'd give you all a little treat!  I wrote another Conan the Barbarian story, the character created in the 1930's by Robert E. Howard.  I am trying to be true to his original vision of the character.  I recorded it in audiobook format for your Hyborian listening pleasure, by Crom!JayRemember, Conan is the ultimate Paleo Man!

pjsc 95  Going to the Doctor for health, is like going to the Government for wealth!pjsc 95  Going to the Doctor for health, is like going to the Government for wealth!Sad, but true!  Most people today really believe that, if they don’t feel well, or even “quite right”- well, just go to the medical doctor- just pick your specialty!- and all will soon be well.  He will either give you the right pill, or injection, or give you the appropriate surgery, and voila- you are cured!I think folks are finally starting to wake up to the ridiculousness of this general idea, but the truth is this is the way our health care system in America has been running for decades!  YOU are not responsible for your health- M.D.’s are!  So, we all have license to eat whatever we want, drive our bodies into the ground by not sleeping, not resting along with our “tribe” of family and friends, work ourselves endlessly to prove what hard-driver achievers we are- and then go to the medical clinic and say “FIX ME!”And now, with the stupid Obamacare program, we can even make the Government pay for it!The trouble is: the Government is US, the U.S., at least those that are the producers: the ones that pay the taxes that fund ridiculous government programs.  Like Obamacare, the government funded school lunch program mandates, and the “My Plate” FDA guidelines of insanity.If you rely on governmental programs, which are funded by your tax dollars, to tell you how to be and remain healthy and vital- you are deluded.  These are the worst, most self-serving sorts of recommendations- of course, the Food and Drug Administration or FDA is just about protecting corporate interests in the selling of certain foods and drugs.  It has nothing to do with you, or your health.  It is just protecting the interests of huge food interests, such as big dairy, and prohibiting the competition of small, raw dairy producers in competition with huge scale, confined animal feeding operations with unsanitary and inhumane conditions.  And the DRUG enforcement is largely phony baloney- coming out against E-CIGS, that are by and large innocuous, and are a wonderful and very easy way for cigarette smokers to replace their horrible habit with one that is almost identical, and yet completely harmless!  What is not to like there???And yet, governmental interests, via the FDA and others, are totally against e-cigs, primarily because their unstated intention is to protect the taxation of real cigarettes, which are a huge money maker.AND, if you think the government will create wealth, or will provide for you in the manner of a rich uncle, you are sadly, sadly mistaken!  Your government will perhaps provide for you, but if you rely on that in the form of welfare, or any other program of governmental dependance, you will be sadly mistaken indeed.  Get on this bad train, and you will be doomed to a life of near total poverty; never having quite enough of anything, and disappointed in every aspect of your life- from control over your circumstances, to the ability to have self determination in your life; to realize your abilities and what you have to offer to your tribe!  In other words: You will never really be YOU!  You’ll only be a shriveled little husk of what “might have been”...Determine yourself!  Ignore Big Government as much as possible- to quote Jesus: “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s” - in other words: “Give Government what you must, but give what is truly important unto God, your tribe, and yourself!”Bottom line?Eat good, nutrient rich, God made foods!  Buy a Vitamix- drink a Paleo green smoothie daily, with good fats and greens and spices.Exercise daily, with Perfectly Paleo Exercise!  Self resisted exercise, Visualized resistance exercise, stretching, and body weight exercise- gentle and very, very effective.  Check out my e-book Perfectly Paleo Exercise.Sleep at least 8 hours per night- connect with your tribe of family and friends frequently- meditate or pray daily!  The strange thing i

So alcohol is Paleo after all!http://www.biosciencetechnology.com/articles/2015/01/pros-and-cons-alcohol-consumption-10m-yearsThis above is a link to a fascinating article on this idea that alcohol, first probably found by our early ancestors in the form of fermented fruit hanging on or under trees or bushes, was part of our diet at least 10 MILLION years ago!  The common thought has been that alcohol was developed along with civilization roughly 10,000 years ago- not 10,000,000... but a scientist named Carrigan decided to settle the question by examining genetic evolution of the enzyme alcohol-ADH4 it’s called.  He then implanted this alcohol degrader into E.coli, and tested changes in the gene’s sequence going back 70 million years.  The enzyme mimicking the enzyme as it was more long ago failed to metabolize alcohol- but at the 10 million year mark it worked fine! It worked just like the RDH4 lining our own guts- it’s there to metabolize alcohol- just as it has been for 10 million years! Now I’m not saying drinking alcohol is great- but I AM saying that it is a long standing real food choice of humans, and to eliminate it entirely is like eliminating something that is essentially part of the human condition.  Always has been, always will be- one of the joys of being a man or woman, and a food source to boot...Alcohol does NOT raise your insulin levels, although almost no governmental agency will admit it- just as they won’t admit that eating 8-10 servings of grains per day WILL DRAMATICALLY raise your blood sugar, and hence insulin levels!  In fact, alcohol can actually increase your insulin sensitivity.  I’ll leave you with this link, and brief summation:Alcohol, insulin sensitivity and health:
http://www.leangains.com/2010/07/truth-about-alcohol-fat-loss-and-muscle.htmlModerate alcohol consumption improves insulin sensitivity, lowers triglyceride concentrations and improves glycemic control. Not only in healthy folks, but also in type 2 diabetes. There is no clear consensus on the insulin sensitizing mechanism of alcohol, but one viable explanation may be that alcohol promotes leanness by stimulating AMPK in skeletal muscle. It's not a stretch to assume that this might have favorable effects on nutrient partitioning in the longer term.If the effect of alcohol consumption on insulin sensitivity doesn't impress you, then consider the fact that studies have consistently shown that moderate drinkers live longer than non-drinkers. This can be mainly attributed to a lowered risk of cardiovascular disease. However, alcohol also contributes to a healthier and disease-free life by protecting against Alzheimer's disease, metabolic syndrome, rheumatoid arthritis, the common cold, different types of cancers, depression and many other Western diseases. The list goes on and on.It can almost be said beyond doubt that moderate alcohol consumption is healthier than complete abstinence. With this in mind, it's strange that the fitness and health community shun alcohol. This irrational attitude seems to be grounded in the beliefs that alcohol is fattening and will hamper muscle gains. And to really muddy the waters: even beer seems to be OK for non-celiacs!  At least in my case, (I am not celiac), although I avoid gluten at every juncture in the eating of food, in beer it really does not seem to matter- especially if you confine yourself to blonde, Pilsner types of beers- and especially if you drink the low end, cheap commercial beers made of corn and rice!!And not just Budweiser, but all of those really low end, American beers, like Hamm’s, and Blatz, and Coors and Corona (not really low end there, but you get the idea!).And here is a quote from the Heinekin’s website:"Beer contains gluten, which comes from the grain from which it is brewed. Only a fraction of the gluten that the grain contains gets into the beer. The proportion depends on the kind of grain that is used. The use of barley results only in traces of gluten in the beer whilst

PaleoJay’s Smoothie Cafe #93  Free At Last- Working For a Paleo America!Yes, my friends- PaleoJay is Free At LAST- free from work, free of time constraints, and finally in the land of critical mass, because I am officially retired!  Not retired from life, or from my pursuit of ancestral health both for myself, my family and friends, and for you my friend- for now, my JOB is paleo living research and popularizing.  Not really a job, but an avocation, something I really have a passion for!I have been a mailman here in Southwestern Wisconsin for 38 years.  This was a job I really did love- I walked all day, every day for 30 of those years.  This was good for me, I thought; but then I figured out that too much walking is as bad for you as too little- endless walking, day after day without a break is really hard on your knees, feet, and hips.  It’s like doing chronic cardio in the form of running, jogging, or other aerobic types of endless repetitions- it’s just not good!  I switched to a driving route after those first 30 years, and that was the best of all worlds- I was still out and delivering packages all day, in and out, walking quite a bit, but not too much!  The reason I’ve retired had nothing to do with the job itself- I loved the job, the personal interaction I had with my patrons, watching the little kids grow up and knowing me as “their mailman Jay”, taking mail up to elderly patrons waiting at their door, and knowing I’d be the only one they would see that day...  It’s like being part of a close knit, “tribal” type of community.  Very paleolithic indeed!No, it was the top down, “Big Government/Big Corporation” management that finally drove me out! Like many things in America, things used to be much smaller scale- small business, small local government determining most things, common sense types of solutions arrived at by the people who were affected by them.Now, unfortunately, the idea of bigness has infiltrated everywhere: small, locally owned private businesses have become public corporations, run by a bunch of vastly overpaid bureaucrats and “suits” that, at least in the case of the USPS, are largely composed of those that either could not, or would not, do the actual craft work of sorting and delivering mail!  They have devised endless, ridiculous rules that get in the way of efficient operations in order to insert their own made up positions into the system.  This gives them the illusion of actually being necessary, and it is reinforced by the bonuses they give themselves for meeting nebulous “goals” that they have made up.  As I said, this is everywhere- Big Government in Washington is an obvious case in point, as it has come to resemble Imperial Rome in just about every way- history repeats itself again!  But even our medical clinics are now run by managers who micromanage the doctors and nurses, and their sights are now set on maximizing profit rather than curing disease or promoting wellness.  Make no mistake- there is BIG profit in disease “management”, and very little in actually curing the cause of the condition itself!And so, what is my point in all of this?  I want to lay out the template that every problem in our own health and wellness, down to every major problem in America, can be cured by you, personally, taking charge of your life!  Don’t rely on a Doctor to fix your health- he won’t, doesn’t know how, and can’t even if that was his goal.  Make your health a study of one- learn about proper, Paleo Exercise- do it daily.  Make yourself a Green Paleo Smoothie to drink on a daily basis, jam-packed with every nutrient your body has been craving since you were weaned from your mother. Get a solid 8 hours of sleep per night.  Spend quality time with your “tribe”- family, friends, neighbors, church members- make real connections!  Buy real, God made food from a local farmer, things like pastured pork, grass fed beef and dairy, and organic veggies.  Grow your own in a garden!And on a larger scale- vote for s

pjsc podcast #92  Program and Script out your mornings for maximum Health!The thing about waking up, and starting your day to remember is that it is the most important part of your day, and so of your life! What you do to start your day actually determines your DAY- the outcome depends upon the beginning!  Especially with health and wellness, this is crucial. First, you need to start a good, productive, happy day with a really good night’s sleep- and that is super important!!  Ok, I guess your perfect day starts with going to bed nice and early; enough to get a good 8 hours or so of quality, blacked-out room quality type of sleep...But now, it’s morning! Do NOT lay in bed thinking about all the things you should do, or not do- go to your scripted, pre-planned, programmed every day morning routine: I have one, that works very well for fitness, health, productivity, and overall HAPPINESS!  Want to hear it?  OK:I awake, just before my alarm clock. Always!  I get up quite early, before work so I can do my script! After all, it IS the most important time of my day!  I start in by doing deep breathing, deep costal breathing- meaning that I breathe deep into my diaphragm, swelling my abdomen with life-giving oxygen,and then fill my chest as well to the max,  and then slowly exhaling until my lungs are completely empty.  Repeat.Do this maybe 10 times or so, and you are completely awake, and energized!  The benefits of this total costal breathing are wonderful, and not to be underestimated.Then, I arise and go into the bathroom, where I do a series of limbering moves- not really “exercises”, but just moves where I take my limbs and joints, slowly and easily, through a range of motion to get them activated.Shoulders, neck, elbows, knees, hips, and ankles...  Maybe 3 minutes or so.Then, I go downstairs, and heat up water for coffee in an electric carafe for coffee.  I add coconut oil to three cups, about a teaspoon or so, and then, when the water is hot, I make the organic coffee with my wonderful Aerobie Press coffee maker! (This is the best way to make coffee- better than machines that cost thousands of dollars- trust me!)And, whilst the water is being heated, I take the canister from my trusty Vitamix Blender and load it up to make my own food supplements for the next few days!I start out with about a cup of green tea, which I pretty much always have in my kitchen thermos, and a can of coconut milk...And then, I begin adding in: kefir, spirulina, kelp, cinnamon, ginger, turmeric, spinach, the frozen california mix of veggies... heck, just check out my perfectly Paleo smoothie recipe at www.paleojay.com and you will be golden!  With this elixir of the gods made in my Vitamix, I have achieved my nutritional script for the next few days, and cannot fail- I have reached nutrition NIRVANA!!Next, I take my perfect cup of coffee into the living room, and turn on Netflix... This is pretty much the ONLY time I watch TV- when I exercise!I turn on my latest compelling movie or news program, and begin my virtual resistance exercise, which is flexing intensely while you move through a total motion. It achieves all that I used to get through weight training, but with no damage to joints and tendons, and much more naturally and pleasantly! It is the cornerstone of my fitness regimen, and I recommend it to everyone- weight training and Aerobics are the USDA Food Pyramid of exercise- those forms of exercise are highly recommended, almost universally so, yet their results lead inevitably to injury and debilitation!Just as the food pyramid, or My Plate update of the stupid Food Pyramid leads to obesity and disease nutritionally!Moral of the story?  Anything recommended by Big Government, Big Food, or Big Anything is a LIE, meant to benefit THEM!!I hate tattoos, but if you must get one, that would be worthwhile...OK, back to the script: You have spent maybe 15 enjoyable minutes exhausting the muscles of each part of your body, methodically, in turn, whil

pjsc 91 Lower your blood pressure AND tone your body at the same time- Naturally!There is something wonderful about doing isometrics for your health.  And I don’t mean anything fancy and contorted, like pushing against pins in a power rack- although that is great as well- but a simple, equipment-less exercise that you can do anywhere, standing or lying down- an isometric total body flex!The benefits are amazing, particularly in lowering blood pressure naturally.The circulation is enhanced to all parts of the body, even the peripheral areas like the feet and the hands.  And so, how do you perform this wonderful exercise?You simply stand straight, and gradually tense all of the muscles of your body, while breathing normally, and count to 5 or 6.  Relax, and then repeat  three times- That’s it!  That burst of oxygenated blood throughout your body (and brain too!) is one of the most energizing things you can do for yourself!It’s great in that it can be done at odd moments, like when you are standing waiting for something, or gassing up your car, or just standing in your yard grilling...  in everyones life there are more than enough occasions where you can slip in three or four “sets” of this total isometric body flex throughout your day, and reap the many benefits.As in anything, the more you do it the better you will get at it- at first, just methodically flexing each muscle group in turn will enhance your mind to muscle connection, and your ability to flex muscle groups effectively will improve.  Besides the blood pressure benefits and the circulation benefits, this is a wonderful way to improve your definition, which is to say the muscle tone will dramatically improve, and your muscles will seem to “pop” out underneath your skin, ala ancient Greek statues!  And you will feel the difference in your musculature, and become more aware of your body, and how to control it in any physical situation.A good way to start your day is to do a set of the isometric total body flex upon awakening, in bed!  Yes, that’s right- it is every bit as effective lying down as it is standing up- and it’s a great way to kickstart your day with a really healthy habit that starts you off on the right foot!  At first, just flex moderately intensely, to get the feel of controlling your muscles, but you can and should aim at later gradually working up to perhaps flexes of about 80% of perceived effort- that is enough to get all the benefits, without over-straining, which is always a bad idea.There is numerous medical literature proving the blood pressure lowering benefits of isometric exercise if you care to google it, as I did.  For instance, here is the conclusion of group of studies done recently by the Mayo Clinic- ConclusionIsometric resistance training lowers SBP, DBP, and mean arterial pressure. The magnitude of effect is larger than that previously reported in dynamic aerobic or resistance training. Our data suggest that this form of training has the potential to produce significant and clinically meaningful blood pressure reductions and could serve as an adjunctive exercise modality.The studies go way back, and the results are always beneficial.  So why is the benefit of isometrics not taught and offered to people with high blood pressure, and bed ridden people, and folks recovering from injury that can’t do “normal” types of exercise?I don’t really know, but again, just as in proper nutrition wherein we consume real foods as made by God and nature, bypassing the man made fake food like substances like GMO grains and processed crap- THERE IS NOTHING TO SELL! No exercise equipment, no gym memberships, no supplements or running shoes... NOTHING!But hopefully I have just sold you on the idea of doing this simple and oh-so-beneficial exercise on a daily basis!  The cost, once you have acquired this knowledge, is just your brief efforts throughout the day.