Thank you for all the emails last week. While it was a touchy subject, I’m glad we can have open discussions.

Earlier this year, I signed my boys up for jiujitsu so they could build on skills of grit and perseverance. With the pandemic, I also wanted them to have some semblance of normal socialization.

It’s been a wonderful experience and both of my boys are about to earn their grey (and grey/white) belts. While I’m not cool enough to understand BJJ terms like Americana, I see their growth over time and their newfound friendships.

This week, my son secretly showed sadness when his friend received his next stripe and my son didn’t. While I was sad with him, it was a good learning lesson: life isn’t going to give medals and unicorns to everyone. I told him it was okay to grieve a loss but that it was an opportunity to try harder. (He doesn’t know he’s getting a grey belt soon.)

We won’t win them all but we must always continue to continue on. Take some proper time to grieve but then it’s time to move on. Focus on moving forward.

Their time at BJJ has inspired me to be more dedicated to my workouts. In my Facebook and Instagram stories, I’ve shared a few stories of me at the gym. I’ve always favored cardio because I never wanted to get bulky.

But I’m open to the science of longevity and maintaining lean body mass. And while many of my interview guests don’t agree on what one thing to do for healing, they all seem to agree on what to do for movement.

Fine.

So I’ve been focusing on strength training and this weeks’ NwJ’s interview with my friend, Robert Sikes (@KetoSavage), shares some of the reasons why.

In upcoming interviews, you’ll learn more about the importance of exercise and what types, how often, and how much to do for health and longevity. I hope it’s another lever you can pull to get to optimal health.

SOCIAL MEDIA HIGHLIGHT OF THE WEEK

The liver is one of the only organs that are able to replace damaged tissue with new cells rather than scar tissue.

For example, an overdose of acetaminophen (Tylenol) can destroy half of a person’s liver cells in less than a week.

The liver can repair itself completely and, within a month, the liver will show no signs of damage.

But if the liver is chronically exposed to toxins and wear/tear, the liver will give. That’s why we see NAFLD. We see liver disease and cirrhosis.

Most often, liver stress is because of a protein deficiency, poor digestion, and a poor-nutrient diet that allows an increased toxic burden to build up.

Not So Fun Fact: Fat burning is not a priority for a liver under stress.

That’s why you must be healthy to lose weight and not, lose weight to get healthy. You must support liver health to support the body’s fat-burning abilities.

If your liver isn’t in good health, it will stores toxins in fat cells until the liver can properly detox.

And any excess or toxic load will cause a less than ideal functioning liver, especially long-term.

So while some people think hypervitaminosis (from animal liver consumption) is not a real thing, you can easily see how it can be, over time (based on YOUR liver health)

Excess vitamin A is stored in stellate cells in the liver and accumulation can lead to their activation and hypertrophy, excess collagen production, fibrosis and liver injury.

The liver can store years’ worth of Vitamin A but only stores months of other nutrients.

If you aren’t having success in some of the ways the liver functions:
Poor digestion and protein/fat breakdown
Not enough ketones
Poor energy
Hypothyroid symptoms
Not enough vitamin D and sex hormones (eat cholesterol-rich fats)

You may want to ensure your liver is functioning (and detoxing) well.

 — -

We are told to be wary of:
Meat sourcing (grain fed vs. grass finished)

Plant toxins (antinutrients, chemicals, GMOs)

Water

EMFs

Cookware

Microwaves

Plastics

Scents

Endocrine Disruptors

Mold

Heavy Metals

Stressors (mental and physical)

Yes, our modern-day lives are filled with toxins, hormone-disrupting chemicals that disrupt our bodies, impact our microbiome population and breed depression and dysfunction.

But newsflash: we cannot avoid everything.

One of the reasons holistic health is too much for people is that there’s just too much to worry about. But worrying and stress is ALSO a drop in the toxin bucket.

FOCUS ON THE OVERALL TOXIC LOAD.

Stop worrying about EVERYTHING.

Is your bucket full?

Are you dabbling in EVERYTHING toxic?

It is the accumulative load of MANY poisons that alter our:
mitochondrial dysfunction,
nutrient deficiencies,
autoimmune disease,
hormonal imbalances,
psychological problems,
neurological disorders,
disease.

But I can promise you, the bucket is not full because of:
the lack of sugar (or carbs)
the grain fed beef.
the mercury in PFA’ed salmon and/or sardines.
the store-bought chicken.

So what do you do?

The simplest (most affordable) way to lessen the load of the toxic-bucket, is by eating only meat.

PODCAST SPONSOR: Kettle & Fire

As the days are getting cooler, make sure to get your daily dose of bone broth. If you can’t make some gelatinous bone broth at home, you can try high-quality bone broth from Kettle & Fire.

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CATG PODCAST: Beginner’s Guide — All in or Ease In to Carnivore

In this week’s Cutting Against the Grain podcast, Laura and Judy talk about getting started on carnivore.

• How Judy Started Carnivore
• The Keto to Carnivore Transition
• Carnivore Cure’s Elimination Protocol
• Wait, Carnivore is Not a Weight Loss Diet?
• Carnivore is a Healing Diet?
• Preparing the Environment
• The Importance of Community
• #Carnivore75Hard
• How Laura Started Carnivore
• Best Tips to Get Started and Be Successful
• The Importance of Preparation and Mindset
• What Shouldn’t be Part of the Beginner’s Guide
• NwJ’s Beginner’s Guide
• Consistency, Electrolytes and Eating Enough

Listen Now!

NwJ PODCAST: How to Eat and Move for the Ideal Body Composition — Robert Sikes @ketosavage

This is a great interview for anyone wanting to optimize body composition and figuring out ideal macros for health.

I always learn so much from Robert and this discussion shares how protein may not be the ideal macro for body composition. We think of chicken breasts and rice cakes when people are prepping for competitions. Robert’s recommendations will share a different, perhaps better option.

We both share histories of disordered eating and it furthers my love for fat as a healing macro. Make sure to check out this discussion.

• About Robert.
• Trends vs healing in the diet space.
• Thoughts on lean protein on carnivore.
• Ideal diets for people?
• Thoughts on carbs for women and it being necessary.
• Weight loss, weight maintenance: keto, carnivore, PSMF & fasting.
• How to keep weight off long term?
• Reverse Dieting.
• Best way to build muscle? What exercise to prioritize?
• Ketobricks.
• Disordered eating

You can listen to it on podcast, here.

Watch Now!

NwJ INSIDER TIPS

Here’s a sneak preview of the next liver series social media post.
Not all toxins are external. Make sure to take care of your body and your mind.

Don’t fear every single toxin. By eating a nutrient-dense, meat-based/only diet, you are taking care of more than half the battle.

Life is a journey and we must live in it to fully experience it all.

Kaizen.