Primal Blueprint Laws

As some of you probably have read on our Yahoo group, Tom McGough has been reading the Primal Blueprint. It is a really neat book that has a lifestyle that is easily attainable and will prolong health for a long time.

If you would like to purchase the book, please go through the link on our CFO blog as it will help bring money back to the gym.

I have all the information you will need right here though. Sit back and enjoy.

The Primal Blueprint Laws
(relevant to nutrition):
#1. Eat Lots of Plants and Animals
-Through the plants and animals our ancestors ate you receive all of the protein, fats, carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, phenols, fiber, water, and other nutrients necessary to: sustain life, increase brain size, improve physical fitness, and support immune function.


-Primal humans ate widely varied diets and ate sporadically causing us to become well adapted to storing fat to burn when calories are scarce.

-"Bank Account" (Savings and Withdrawal mechanism) of storing body fat is all about moderating insulin production.

-Quality animal protein coming from organic, pasture raised, free range, or wild sources of meat, fowl, and fish.

-Colorful vegetables and fruits (organic)

-Good fats = nuts and seeds, their derivative butters, certain oils, and avocados.

-Humans thrive on eating an ever-changing variety of natural foods and eating in times and amounts that fluctuate with mood, environmental factors, and activity level.


#2. Avoid Poisonous Things
-Unfortunately, their is almost a universal truth that sweet things are safe to eat which equals us having a sweet tooth.

-Toxic in the present day relates to human-made products that are foreign to your genes and disturb the normal healthy function of your body when ingested as opposed to the poisonous plants our ancestors had to deal with.

-Our primary offenders include sugars, sodas, chemically altered fats, heavily processed, packaged, fried, and preserved foods, and legumes.

-Our less obvious offenders (makes them sometimes more dangerous) include processed grains such as bread, pasta, crackers, snack foods, baked goods, rice, corn, and cereals. They cause a spike in blood glucose, resulting in the body releasing excessive levels of insulin.

-Insulin is a life hormone. We would die without it. It delivers nutrients to muscle, liver, and fat cells for storage from bloodstream.

-Excessive insulin can remove glucose rapidly causing a "sugar crash:" mental and physical lethargy and a strong craving for a quick replacement of energy in the form of more high-CHO food. A vicious cycle.

-Excessive insulin in the bloodstream inhibits the release of stored body-fat for use as energy.

-Glucagon is also a life hormone. It is a counter regulatory hormone to insulin. It accesses carbohydrate, protein, and fat from the body's storage deposits and delivers them to bloodstream to be used for energy.

-High Insulin = Low Glucagon

-With a lot of insulin, you don't have fuel in your bloodstream so your body feels the need to eat something sweet, fast, to be able to use it as immediate energy.

-You can not reduce body-fat on a diet that stimulates excessive or even moderately excessive levels of insulin production.


#3. Move Frequently at a Slow Pace
#4. Lift Heavy Things
#5. Sprint Once in a While


#6. Get Adequate Sleep
-Our ancestors' sleep patterns were shaped by sunrise and sunset.

-Try for a regular sleep schedule, winding down prior to falling asleep, so no TV, heavy exercise, big meals....

-Try to wake up without an alarm, so get to sleep when you need to so you can wake up when you want to.

-Adequate sleep helps the immune system function optimally and promotes the release of key hormones that enhance brain and endocrine function.

-Naps are fine when necessary as they allow your brain to re-balance and wake up a little more productive.


#7. Play


#8. Get Adequate Sunlight
-You absolutely need sunlight to obtain Vitamin D.

-Try at all costs to refrain from burning. A slight tan equals adequate Vitamin D exposure.

-Sunlight also has a mood elevating effect. You should replace all fluorescent light bulbs with full spectrum light bulbs.

-If you work indoors all day and through the winter months, supplement with Vitamin D.


#9. Avoid Stupid Mistakes
-When driving.....
wear a seatbelt
don't text and drive
don't drink and drive
be observant

-Pay some attention and thought to risk management.


#10. Use Your Brain
-Creative and stimulating tasks help to manage our overall well-being.

-Learn a new language, play a new musical instrument, etc.


The health benefits of eating according to the Primal Blueprint:
-enhanced cellular function

-improved immune and antioxidant function

-lean muscle development and maintenance

-natural weight management

-optimal fat metabolism

-reduced disease risk factors

-80% of your ability to reduce excess body-fat is determined by how you eat, with the other 20% depending on proper exercise, other healthy lifestyle habits, and genetic factors.

-There is a strong link between ADHD and processed carbohydrate consumption/insulin production.

-Excessive production of cortisol is an immune suppressor

-Sugar can impair function of infection fighters for at least five hours after ingestion.


What Happens When Too Much Insulin:
-The average person stores about 400g of glycogen in liver and muscle cells, yet most Americans consume between 500 and 600g of fat-storing, insulin-generating carbohydrates.

-Any excess glycogen (not stored in muscles/liver or used by brain/muscles) gets converted into triglycerides in the liver and sent to fat cells for storage.

-At high blood insulin levels, fat cells store the excess glucose and fat you ate.

-Body-fat is then signaled to hold on to it's fat storage and not release it for energy.

-High-insulin patterns continue to cause fat cells to swell up = gain weight.

-Sedentary individuals are insulin resistant (muscles/liver don't open up to store nutrients so goes directly to fat storage)

-Humans have a fixed amount of fat cells.


Insulin Resistance - Muscle and liver storage cells start to become desensitized to insulin's storage signals.


Consequences of Insulin Resistance:
-Fat cells can't release their stored energy into the bloodstream.

-Fat cells get bigger

-More glucose stays in your bloodstream longer (not good)

-Pancreatic beta cells continually sense high glucose levels and keep working to pump out more insulin, eventually working too hard, they stop from exhaustion.

-Insulin promotes platelet adhesiveness (atherosclerosis)



Hope this helps some of you to realize what and why you are doing what you are doing. It's not just for outside changes although that may be your greatest motivation. Inside health is so much more important. The good thing is, just like CrossFit, that form follows function. This means that the more you pay attention to your inside health, the more your outside health starts to look the part.