Monthly Archives: March 2014

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Good site for information on supplements and nutrients

PaleoPathologist spent some time investigating Calcium and Magnesium supplements today for PaleoPathologistMate. He went to Consumer Lab, his go-to site for nutritional information. They have good monographs, extensively referenced. It is NOT free although they have some free content.

Looks like Calcium is probably adequate in most decent diets (like PaleoPathologist’s greens, colors, sulfurs, organ meats, eggs, fish) but it’s OK to supplement, A LITTLE. No more than probably 1000 mg/day, and even that according to Consumer Lab might be a bit much. They cite an article saying that you can’t absorb more than 500 mg at a time, and that if you take it with a multivitamin the calcium might interfere with absorption of other trace elements you need like zinc, chromium, manganese, etc.

Magnesium is also interesting. They don’t find any problem taking calcium and magnesium together but it also may compete with other trace elements for absorption.  Dang, they want PaleoPathologist to have a timer, pill box, etc.  Or maybe old Graw (PaleoGrandSon’s name for PaleoPathologist) will be perfectly OK gathering and eating good food!

PaleoPathologist has found that taking too much Magnesium can lead to, shall we say, unfortunate volcanic gastrointestinal side effects so he thinks if you want to supplement magnesium start real slow OR stay real close to a bathroom.  Mag Citrate is used in PaleoPathologist’s hospital as…a laxative!  Consider yourself warned.

PaleoPathologist is cutting back on his supplements (he is tired of all the stupid pills.) What about you?  (as always this is for education, and should not be considered a prescription or medical treatment since I’ve never met you…)

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Bone Broth Experiment–Pressure Cooker Recipe

The Paleo Community loves their bone broth. It is said to be chock full of good vitamins, minerals, and various joint-building compounds like glucosamine, collagen, etc.  One book I read (Deep Nutrition) says that cooking bones is one of the “four pillars” of traditional nutrition.  PaleoPathologist is a bit, shall we say, ADD about cooking and has always had difficulty managing a crock pot recipe.  Imagine the joy when this pressure cooker bone broth recipe crossed the old computer screen!

So in the old pressure cooker went a beef soup bone from King Soopers grocery, probably about the size of a large fist, soon joined by a slab of Elk ribs. Also there is a “bone bag” in the freezer for the bones from chicken–often PaleoPathMate brings home roasted chickens and after gnawing the bones, in the bag they go. Then PaleoPathologist just sort of “hunter gathered” in the produce drawer and came up with a couple of green onions and some celery (stalks and leaves) to throw in along with a tablespoon of vinegar to leach some of the good stuff out of the bones along with a tablespoon of salt and an experiment, half a tablespoon of Thai Fish Sauce. PaleoPathMate had some in the pantry; amazing how well she keeps us fed!

Britta filter water filled the pressure cooker to about 2/3 full, and then high heat until it starts to jiggle on top, turned it down and pressure cooked for an hour. Man it is smelling good, rich, nourishing, and did I say good?

Done now, it is in the refrigerator after being strained. The meat that was on the bones is OK, sort of washed out tasting, but the broth is really good and rich. Might add more salt next time…let’s see, a tablespoon of salt is about three teaspoons, and my Knorr broth has about 800 mg of sodium in a cup. A teaspoon of salt has 2.3 gm of sodium. So maybe a tablespoon and a half next time?

PaleoPathologist is learning that it not only is ethically incumbent on him to use the whole animal if he kills it, but also it is healthier.  Do you have a favorite bone broth? Does the thought of it bother you?

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Previous Posts on old blog

These posts come from the predecessor to PaleoPathologist.com and are here for your interest and reference.

Low carb, super low carb, ultra low carb, what does it all MEAN?

What other than weight loss has eating low carb done for people?

Cholesterol, courage, and normal human biases

What? Calcium supplements might do more harm than good?

Another tribe to add to the list of lowcarbers

Forgiveness and reconciliation will be needed.

How you react to stress is more important than how much

Jimmy Moore blog post about “cognitive dissonance” in Low Carb

Judge not, lest ye be judged…

Who is Phat Phobic out there?

A perfect, natural squat

BroScience. What a great term.

Made another great frittata today.

Low Carb for native peoples in Canada

Something to think about. Drug companies, “Big Pharma”, and Big Government

Eat like a predator, not like prey

But what do you eat? My breakfast frittata.

High intensity weight training for beginners

Welcome to the PaleoPathologist Blog

 

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A couple of new posts on Sleep

PaleoPathMate and PaleoPathologist spent a week in Seattle with PaleoDaughter and PaleoGrandson. We rented a basement apartment and man did we sleep a lot. Between 8.5 and 10 hours a night. Naps in the afternoon. It was great. It also was great to see the western branch of the Clan. PaleoGrandson is bursting with energy!

Back in the PathCave at Porter, after only 7.5 hours of sleep (FitBit measured!) and no less than two other articles came at me on sleep and circadian rhythms.  They do such a nice job of summarizing the evidence that PaleoPathologist is going to cite them and go back to his work!  They are a nice addition to the previous article in my series on rhythms.

First is a new site that I’m enjoying, ThePaleoMom.com.  She is a PhD just like PaleoPathologist and left her research career to do a vital job–raising her kids. Her posts are filled with good science and I’m enjoying reading them. Take a look at her recent one on sleep.

Second is Chris Kresser’s site. He is also quite thoughtful on “paleo” issues and worth reading. His email came through just a couple of hours ago announcing his post on…sleep. Sometimes PaleoPathologist can’t help wondering if multiple messages coming through all at once might represent some kind of supernatural whisper? Like “Hey, dork, why only 7.5 hours last night? You have ten fingers, can’t you count?”

What are you doing to get not only minimum, but luxurious amounts of sleep?