THE PRIMAL BLUEPRINT
by Mark Sisson

Spiritual isn’t just about meditation and unconditional love. It’s sometimes very “chop-wood-carry-water” – taking care of basic things in a focused and loving manner. And guess what? That includes you and your body.

I have personally wrestled with body image and health since I was eleven – never more so than after my cancer and surgically-induced menopause in 2004. The relentless health regimen I forced on myself – vegetarian, low-fat, whole grain diets and pushing myself at the gym – wasn’t doing it for me anymore. I was pudgy in places that had never known pudge, exhausted and depressed. But most high protein diets didn’t feel good either. Was I condemned to blobhood for my aging years?

I consulted my dear friend and nutritional genius Adam Crafter, who has made a delightedly mad-scientist point of studying The Human Machine all his life. And he pointed me in the direction of some rather radical thinking and a radical book called PRIMAL BLUEPRINT.

What I love about this book (besides you’re allowed to enjoy things like butter and beef with guilt-free glee) is that it is followed up by good hard science – and it’s a lot more than just what you put in your mouth.

Author Mark Sisson’s hero is Grok, who Nutritional Genius Adam defines as “a thought-experiment hero archetype, cleverly used to make the complex history and biology easily graspable.” Sisson’s philosophy is also straightforward: “Our modern Western diet bears little resemblance to the eating habits of early humans throughout 100,000+ years of evolutionary history. Instead, since the agricultural revolution 10,000 years ago, we’ve adopted a nutritional regime that our physiology wasn’t and still isn’t adequately adapted to. When the basics of our diet return to the patterns of our pre-agricultural ancestors, we’re operating with, instead of against, our natural physiology. More simply: eat as our ancestors ate, and we’ll be healthier for it.”

Sisson favors animal protein, eggs, nuts, fruits, vegetables, and GOOD quality (read: organic, raw, and/or fermented) dairy if you can tolerate it. Fat is good – even saturated fats. “Sat fats = good fats” is a revolutionary idea, to the contrary of conventional nutritional so-called wisdom of the past 25 years, but Sisson has the statistics to prove it.

What’s out? Gone from your diet will be sugars, grains (yes, even whole grains) and highly processed foods. Eat like this on a regular basis and blood chemistry will even out, cholesterol numbers will plummet, and energy and focus will be solid and steady – no more highs and lows. And no, it’s not too good to be true; my radically improved blood panel, weight loss and energy spike are all proof of the truth.

But eating as our ancestors did is only about 20% of the story. Along with diet, Grok (and Sisson) address exercise (move frequently at a slow pace; lift heavy things; sprint once in a while), self-care (get adequate sleep; play; get adequate sunlight) and two absolute essentials from back in the day when it was Grok. vs. the Elements, the Animals and Everything: avoid stupid mistakes and use your brain. Now for today, those last two mean sensible risk management and avoiding the stupid mistakes that bring avoidable suffering to modern humans: over-scheduling, stress, unconscious routines that don’t serve us. Instead, engage in creative and stimulating activities to nurture our mental health and overall wellbeing.

PRIMAL BLUEPRINT goes through the science of nutrition and physiology in ways that even those of us science-challenged can understand. Sisson’s suggestions are usually far more “reachable” than those rules touted by Conventional Wisdom. And because the author is not a scientist himself, he’s done research everywhere, rather than just in his own little corner of the lab.

Most importantly, Mark Sisson is no martinet; he understands that most of us will hit 80% most of the time, rather than being 100% stringent and unrelenting in our adherence to the Grok Rules. But that’s one of the things I like about him. Sisson is realistic, humorous, and open to hearing people’s thoughts and ideas. His website, marksdailyapple.com, is full of articles and an active community forum with people all over the planet contributing a lively discussion (and a lot of great recipes) regarding what has helped them live successfully and healthfully. And there are lots of suggestions that one should “Grok on!” and “party like a Grok star.” (Hey, the man knows how to pun. How could I not love him?)

I no longer think as I thought in the 1960s, ‘70s and ‘80s. There are no longer any ideas outside myself that I accept “just because they’re there and people Bigger Than Me say it’s how things are.” As a result, I have completely accepted the fact that while vegetarianism may be a religious or belief-based system for some, it is not a “must” for spiritual growth – especially not mine. The only “must” I know of is that I honor myself, give thanks and gratitude for everything that gave itself to nourish me – whether it’s a plant or a pig, a broccoli stalk or a free-range chicken – and pass on the good stuff I find to people around me.

This is good stuff. If it works for you, pass it on! And pass the filet, please, while you’re at it….