Dr. Walt Larimore is a long time friend, family medicine doc, author, speaker, professor, and just a great guy. His blog always has some interesting stuff on it. This week he writes about a study where kids whose parents wash dishes by hand have fewer allergies than the dishwasher machine folks! Probably sterilizes the bugs less. Also they found that kids that eat fermented stuff also do better. The evidence just keeps accumulating that our bodies develop a better immune system if we get challenged periodically through life rather than trying to keep everything squeaky clean. It’s sometimes called “The Hygiene Hypothesis.” As PaleoPathologistMate says, “A kid’s gotta eat some dirt.”
Tag Archives: longevity
What one exercise modality gives you bone and muscle strength AND cardio conditioning?
Drew Baye has been doing a great job of training athletes and ordinary folk for many years. His blog is full of information (mostly for bodybuilding but many other posts as well). I enjoy his writing. This newest one just re-emphasizes how efficient a good high intensity weight program (like the Body by Science Superslow style workout PaleoPathologist does every ten days or so at TruFit Health in Denver) really can be. TEN DAYS?? Yes. Properly done weight training ALSO gives you an excellent Cardio workout! How long has this been known? Would you believe 1975?
In short, maximal stimulation of muscles releases growth signals. This makes muscles grow, sure, but ALSO appears to help other tissues grow and repair. There is a correlation between muscle/lean mass and organ function, including heart function. PaleoPathologist is interested, and PaleoPathologist’s Pater, 86, still is going strong with HIS weightlifting. He is my inspiration.
PaleoPathologist is huffing like a racehorse at the end of the Leg Press. I was a breaststroke swimmer in high school and college and left it all in the pool when I raced, so I know what lactic acidosis feels like and this really does it. I’m up to 330 pounds (well, Nautilus pounds; who knows what that really translates to) for two minutes.
PaleoPathologist thinks that machines are just as good as free weights, and have a lower potential for injury. Other than aggravating a pre-existing shoulder problem if chest press form deteriorates, and one back spasm from overdoing the low back machine, NO injuries in over a year.
TruFit has a brand new toy, also, called an ARX machine. It is supposed to electronically adapt to your strength at every point during the repetition and meter out exactly the resistance you need. Yeah, PaleoPathologist is pretty sure that he has to try this new toy, as soon as possible!
So have you ever tried high intensity weight training? What has your experience been?
One little pill a day can cut cancer risk 9%? Really?
And the answer, according to a new publication, is…aspirin. Good old acetyl salicylic acid. PaleoPathologist has been taking an aspirin a day for many years; I use generic enteric coated “baby aspirin” (75 mg) because it seems to work as well as anything and costs basically nothing. As the article states, higher doses don’t seem to add much except side effects. The most common side effect is stomach upset or even gastritis and bleeding. As always talk with your doc about this since some people have higher risks of bad side effects.
PaleoPathologist tip: how old are your smoke and CO alarms?
Chirp. (45 seconds of silence) Chirp (45 seconds of silence) “Is that a cricket? It’s November!” Oh, yeah.
How to increase happiness (and health) in five minutes a night
PaleoPathologist loves lists. Lists to memorize, lists to follow, lists to organize. He likes lists with acronyms, too—remember CREATION health last week? Here is another list from a best selling Paleo/Primal author.
How to live longer in 8 “Blue Zone” steps.
When PaleoPathologist was a kid he remembers seeing a skit on a variety show, might have been Rowan and Martin’s Laugh In, where a frumpy woman said, “I hear that scientists think they can help us live to 140. Big deal. Who wants to be a little old lady for 70 years?” Good question! But what if we can extend middle age 20, 30, 40 more years? Ah, sounds better. According to The Blue Zones, one of the longest living groups in the world is the 7th Day Adventists in Loma Linda, California. Since PaleoPathologist is the head of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology at Porter Adventist Hospital in Denver and is on the Mission Advisory Committee, he has a copy of the handbook, Creation Health Discovery, and is about to share the 8 steps.
Protein, animal protein, and longevity; a controversy continues
There was a big splash that you may recall when some professors in California went public claiming that “high protein diets (especially animal fat) are as bad for your health as smoking.” (Just google “protein smoking” and you’ll find scads of similar links.)
Attached is a letter to the editor of the journal that actually published the study, basically discrediting it. This came via Drew Baye, one of my favorite high intensity exercise advocates. I hope the study was an honest attempt at good science, but there is a constant temptation in our culture to go for fame and notoriety and scientists are definitely not immune.