Category Archives: life

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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?

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Another convert comes forward.

PaleoPathologist sometimes does bone marrow biopsies on patients. Nowadays the patient gets anesthesia (light, but really helpful.)  In more Paleo days we did marrows with a lot of local anesthesia and a lot of verbal reassurance, but it is an advance to be able to bring in an anesthesiologist.

Last time PaleoPathologist worked with this anesthesiologist, the conversation turned, somehow, to low carb. While memory has faded, there can be little doubt that PaleoPathologist’s ripped physique and clear eyed confident demeanor must have led to some questions.  Anyway, today he (the anesthesiologist) mentioned that he had cut sugar out of his diet, and all of a sudden has lost ten pounds and his blood sugars have improved. We discussed further steps including cutting out refined flour and a bit about omega 3 and omega 6 fats. Then I took out one of the personalized Levenger cards that PaleoPathologistMate bought for Christmas and wrote “Why: The Art and Science of Low Carbohydrate Living by Volek and Phinney.” Under that was “How: The New Atkins for a New You by Westman, and also Practical Paleo by Sanfilippo.”

A partner at work has caught the Paleo bug and is spreading it there. Parts of PaleoPathologistFamily have also caught it. It’s like a virus!

What’s your experience been with low carb or paleo and your friends and family?