I’m late to the party… Happy new year

May you all be healthy and happy!

I want to take a minute to thank all of my readers. I also want to thank everybody who commented on my posts and made this experience fun and worth it. I swear I will be more present in 2011.

The blog might change it’s orientation a bit. I’m thinking about putting the focus of the blog on other topics than nutrition as I feel pretty much everything as been covered. I have also reached a point where I feel that nutrition science gets way too much attention for what it really is. I feel like it’s more of a belief-oriented ”science”. This is the case for all nutrition community, paleo included.

What I really want to do is write posts about topics that I feel are often ignored, yet very interesting (however, some bloggers do a good job at covering some of them). These topics include psychology, neurology, sociology, biology (how funny is it that we only rarely talk about the evolutionary part of ”evolutionary nutrition”) and more. By no means I am an expert on these topics but I expect to have a good discussion with you all. May be we can all learn something from each other and make this year the best. Really, commenter are the only reason I’m still dedicating time to this blog. I have stated in about every post : I like to debate and I love a good discussion. To quote Aristotle, ”Man is by nature a political animal.”

So, here is to you, my friends, Happy new year!


Chuck Palaniuk’s view on civilization (Quotes from Lullaby)

Chuck is by far one of my favourite author. All his books are unique, very funny and they describe how pathetic we can be from times to times. I am not really a fan of most fiction books ( I prefer to read books that will teach me something) but Chuck’s books are just too good to not be read. I figured posting a long quote from his book Lullaby (published in 2002) would be a great way to end the week. Hey, we don’t have to be serious all the time! Also, we don’t have to always talk about science and paleo! It’s a light read so enjoy!

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It’s all a matter of perspective

 

Addiction has different faces but it all comes down to the same thing : it's unhealthy.

 

The modern society has facilities for about any type of addicted person. Indeed, specific rehab centres can treat alcoholics, sex addicts, drug addicts, gamblers, and even Internet addicts. Some of these centres are funded by the government and some are paid by the individual. Still, it is all the same thing : people can follow different programs that focus on getting rid of unhealthy – and dangerous – habits. What we seem to forget is that these people are a very small problematic population. Another type of population (who happens to be the majority nowadays) – those who are addicted to foods or eating processed foods – are often left alone. When it comes to it, improvement of the quality of life of the majority should be serious business.

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Is our community becoming a religious movement à la veganism?

Jesus was not paleo... He is the bread of life. Processed food?

I have always wanted to write about food-religion, but I was not sure if I should do it. I hinted at it in a guest blog post before, though [link here]. Lately, more and more bloggers are starting to write about it, so I figured that the timing was right. This is certainly the case of Free the animal, who has been writing about quasi-religious vegans [Link here]. I will say it right away: I am an atheist. I am a man of simple tastes : I like facts, interpretations, and intellectual stimulation. I also believe in evolution. Wait, that’s actually not a good way to say it. I said I want facts, not beliefs. Here is a better way to put it : evolution rules everything that is happening on earth. This should include nutrition too. While this should be very simple in theory, it is very complicated in reality. More and more, people are hiding their beliefs under what seems to be an evolutionary approach. But it has nothing to do with evolution. This is a religion that, as an atheist, I don’t want part of the debate. Religions stop debates and progress.

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Big and healthy are not necessarily oxymorons

Do you really have to be like this to be healthy?

Say what? These days are some of the hardest for people that are big. Seen by about everyone as unhealthy and lazy, big people are said to have no will or power on themselves. It’s all about being muscular, lean and ripped. This is why the publicities we see at night when we watch TV are based on Calvin Klein Ken-looking models and on anorexic fashion models. Being fat is just not fashionable anymore (unless you are Oprah and use weight loss as a way to promote your show, that is). What if being fat does not necessarily mean that you are unhealthy? What if this was just a new societal vision? Read more of this post

New design!

So, this is it! I have been wanting to change the design of the website to reflect what it is about for a while. My good friend Dr. Dan helped me  customize the website a bit. We went for a newspaper-like look. We also tried to make it look as professional as possible. I’m still building the blog roll section and I still have to tweak a few things, but I’m quite happy with the new look.

I am still in the process of completing the primal journal. So far, it’s a 15 page long read that includes two articles, a recommended foods list, some graphics, an editorial and probably more! I have also included a bonus section where I included a few related articles I have written in the past. Hopefully, this journal should be available for download pretty soon. Sorry to keep you all waiting!

So, how do you like the new look?

Animal activists or why they try to prevent us from raising animals

Propaganda is always a good way to prevent a sensible debate.

Let’s face it : there is not a single nation that does not have a tradition centred around meat. If you have ever seen the Godfather movie, you know how Italian weddings are. Usually, there is a lot of meat being served. South American cultures tend to feast on a whole animal from time to time too. There is also the popular pig roast that seems to be part of about any national tradition. When I was in France (I spent a whole year there as a kid), I remember eating a few birds that were slowly roasted on the fire. The birds had been hunted by a friend of ours, and he decided to throw a party so that everyone would enjoy the birds (I think I have not eaten better birds since then). No matter how you look at it, animal eating has always been a bonding experience for humans.

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I am back : A review of my trip

A view from our camp. It's also where the cows are raised.

This is it : I am back from my trekking vacation. There is always a moment in your life where you are caught up in whatever it is you are doing and you forget about your instinctive attraction to nature. You keep on living and you try to ignore your primal needs as much as you can. However, there is always a moment in your life where you can’t take it anymore and you decide to free yourself. I think we all agree that seeing some trees, breathing fresh air and feeling good mentally and physically are an important part of being healthy. Here is an overview of my trekking trip. It turned out to be a great learning experience.

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Quick Update



This is just to let you know that I will be gone until Wednesday. I’m going on a trekking and camping trip to Mount Sutton. We will be walking a lot and we plan to see the Mohawk lake (and maybe swim in it). With a lake name like that, I doubt my camp trip could be more hunter gatherer oriented! Also if the time outside is not too cold, I plan to do this trip completely barefoot. We packed some foods : coconut milk, cashews, canned fish (sardines), some meat and some sausages (nitrite and wheat free), some hardboiled eggs, some dark chocolate (90% cacao), vegetables and fruits, and some coffee. Indeed, drinking coffee after camping in the wild is just awesome. You get to smell the amazing beverage (I love my espresso) and drink it while you look at the landscape. This is better than drinking your coffee while reading a newspaper! So far, we plan to do about 10 km of mountain trekking and it should be great. Expect a piece on my trip on Thursday. I also have some good posts coming up, so stay tuned for that!

Another thing I have to talk about concerns the Primal Journal I will be coming up with. As I have said before, I wanted to get it out for early august but I realized that most of the paleosphere is on vacation which is bad timing, in my opinion. Instead, I decided to release it early September. That way, I can be sure that the journal will be read and shared with friends – which is the goal of the journal. Thanks for your support and being patient, and don’t worry, it’s coming up!

An interesting take on posture

I have been pretty busy lately. I’m in the process of moving to a new place and I have been working a lot. This is why today’s post is going to be somewhat short. However, I included an interesting video. Posture work is often ignored on most fitness websites and it’s a shame. A healthy posture is the only (conscious) way to avoid back pain and other types of pain (e.g. shoulder pain). On top of that, we bring our bad posture to the gym which often leads to injuries (gym/sport-related injuries are on the rise). What can we do to improve our posture? That’s what Esther Gokhale will teach you in the following video.

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