The Primal Blueprint (13 page)

Waking up naturally with the sun? Not the Korgs. Ken’s wife, Kelly, is up and out of the house when it’s still dark, heading to the gym for a 6:00
A.M
. Spinning class. It’s a struggle for her to get her butt onto the bike seat for that class three days a week, but Kelly knows that her only chance to get a workout—or, for that matter, to enjoy some personal time—is before the family stirs and the responsibilities pile up. Besides, Kelly has struggled all her life with her body weight and would dearly love to drop the 20 or more pounds suggested by her physician to get her body mass index (BMI) into the healthy range.

When the alarm clock emits its digital chirping bird signal (very similar to Grok’s; you can also choose breaking waves or wind chimes!) in the darkness of 5:15
A.M
., an immediate stress reaction initiates throughout Kelly’s body. Even the benign digital birds jolt her abruptly out of a restful sleep cycle and stimulate a mini fight-or-flight response by spiking her cortisol levels. Rising in the dark further disrupts her circadian rhythm (since a variety of hormones and brain chemicals are sensitive to light and dark cycles), resulting in a stressful start to Kelly’s day—ironic in that her early-morning workout is part of her sincere commitment to become more healthy.

The rest of the Korg family avoids Mom’s cortisol spike, but due to a host of other factors, they have their own issues waking up. Ken is already awake when his alarm sounds at seven o’clock, but his mind and body are in no hurry to get up and out of bed. Part of his situation is psychological—he is not terribly excited to face an hour on the freeway. Other factors in his body’s slug imitation are the medications he’s taking and the previous night’s late dessert—a generous slice of cheesecake made with 60 grams of processed carbohydrates, partially hydrogenated vegetable oil, and assorted unpronounceable chemical preservatives.

Ken’s cheesecake spiked his blood glucose just as he was attempting to fall asleep, interfering with the release of melatonin that naturally triggers sleepiness. Instead of spending the first hour in bed drifting into ever deeper cycles of sleep, Ken was fidgeting and twitchy because of the excess blood glucose in his system. Besides the glucose coursing through his veins, Ken’s brain waves were jacked up from spending the final 90 minutes of his evening watching television. Even though he was exhausted and thus attempting to wind down after a long day, the fast-moving, flickering images on the screen (often violent or otherwise arousing) caused irregular stimulation to Ken’s retina. This type of stimulus is transferred directly to the brain via the optic nerve and disturbs the normal function of the hypothalamus, the control center for many vital body functions, including the initiation of proper sleep patterns.
⁶

Alas, Ken is one of more than 30 million Americans to hold a prescription for sleep medication,
⁷
which he reaches for on occasions like these. The quick-acting sleep medication combined with the eventual heavy insulin release to counter the cheesecake has Ken dead to the world within 20 minutes of taking the pill. Seven hours later, the effects of his Ambien pill are still pronounced; he feels sluggish and groggy instead of naturally refreshed and energized.

Nevertheless, it’s time to get the Korg clan moving, so he drags himself out of bed and heads over to the bedrooms of his 14-year-old son and six-year-old daughter. Rousing them is not an easy task. Kenny Korg is experiencing his greatest need for sleep since infancy, and, like most modern teenagers, he isn’t getting enough.
⁸
Kenny is also affected by a couple of other common adolescent conditions: drowsiness during the
day and a delayed circadian phase, which has him naturally wanting to stay up later and wake up later. Kenny would feel fantastic with a regular afternoon power nap, but of course napping isn’t cool, so he usually fights his body’s need by ingesting a caffeine-laced energy drink or soda. He effortlessly stays up late playing computer games or cruising MySpace and texting his friends. Because he often doesn’t power down until 11
P.M
. or midnight, the 7
A.M
. alarm comes far too early for him to feel rested and energized.

Young Miss Cindy Korg has her own troubles waking up. The mind-numbing effects of the cherry-flavored antihistamine/decongestant/cough suppressant/analgesic over-the-counter medication her mom had given her the previous evening are still lingering after a fitful sleep. She wakes up groggy, with blocked sinuses, but must rally to get to school on time. Cindy’s third upper respiratory tract infection this year was chalked up to “the bug that’s going around.” However, bugs are always going around; it was really her suppressed immune system—weakened by the ever-present processed carbs and sugars in her diet—that prevented her from easily containing the virus after the first contact.

Kelly, always wanting to do the right thing as a mother, unknowingly prolonged Cindy’s ordeal by giving her a common cold “remedy” that was intended to ease her suffering but that interfered with her daughter’s natural defenses. Pounding the cough syrup every four hours for a few days likely doubled the time required for complete recovery by quelling the mild fever that was her primary defense against the virus, blocking the production of mucus intended to drain the virus into the stomach (where it can easily be killed by stomach acid), drying out the sinuses so she could breathe easier (but causing them to swell to the point that she can’t breathe out of her nose at all this morning), and suppressing a productive cough that might have kept her up at night but would have allowed her lungs to expel the virus-laden mucus. These “symptoms” were actually Cindy’s potent gene-based natural defenses—all thwarted by modern medicine.

Cindy’s tendency to get sick more often than other kids her age is partly due to immune-suppressing dietary factors but also may be strongly associated with Kelly’s choice to stop breast-feeding her after only three months. Tired of waking up every few hours at night or having to interrupt her workday to pump breast milk and having been sold on the benefits of infant formulas by TV and magazine ads, Kelly made the switch at least a year earlier than many progressive pediatricians would have recommended. Simply by the mother coming in contact with the baby’s skin and picking up any pathogens on the body, the mother’s immune system manufactures the antibodies and immune cells required to resist infections. She then passes those antibodies and lymphocytes (“natural killer” white blood cells) to the baby through breast milk. For that reason, many cultures breast-feed for two or three years. At any rate, Cindy finally summons the strength to get dressed and head downstairs.

Kelly bursts through the door as the family is shuffling around trying to get ready for the day. She’s chipper and energized from her 50-minute class, which had elevated her heart rate to 85 percent of maximum or higher for most of that time period. The intensity of the effort has released a flood of stress hormones into her bloodstream, so she’s on a “runner’s high” (due to the effects of natural painkilling endorphins) as she greets her family. Kelly quickly sticks three waffles into the toaster. Trying to shop healthy, she always chooses whole grain waffles for her family. (I’ll detail in the
Chapter 5
sidebar “The Holes in the Whole Grain Story” why whole grains can even be considered
less healthy
than refined.)

Kelly dutifully cracks open a can of Slim-Fast meal-replacement drink. Main ingredients: skim milk powder, sugar, fructose, and cocoa, along with plenty of chemicals, synthetic vitamins, and vegetable oils—not much nutrition but plenty of simple carbs (38 grams) to raise blood glucose temporarily and stimulate an insulin surge. The “good” news: it contains only 240 calories. A minute later, the Korgs’ power breakfast is ready: orange juice and whole grain waffles with some DNA-disturbing margarine and “low-sugar” maple syrup (made with artificial sweeteners
⁹
and woefully far removed from the sweet nectar that flows out of a hole drilled in a Vermont maple tree).

Kelly’s second shake at lunch will result in a total of only 480 calories consumed since seven o’clock the previous evening—a period of 17 hours. While our bodies are adept at supplying adequate energy through intermittent food consumption (such was the reality of daily life for Grok), Kelly’s high-intensity dawn workout coupled with the energy demands of her busy day make it not a good time to skimp on healthy food. As a consequence, her body’s genetically programmed mechanisms (the same used by Grok in wintertime or when facing starvation) will attempt to slow down her metabolic rate to conserve fat stores and send a powerful signal to the appetite center in her brain to consume excessive carbohydrate calories (to quickly replace lost muscle glycogen and protect against this perceived starvation).

Unlike Grok, Kelly’s calorie-restriction efforts will not result in the burning of stored body fat, because the frequent insulin spikes after her high-carb shakes, eating binges, and even “healthy” American meals can inhibit fat burning and, in fact, (with high-insulin eating habits followed over time) produce metabolic changes that make it increasingly difficult to mobilize stored fat for energy. This condition is obviously affecting Kelly, such an active, disciplined person failing so miserably to reduce body fat. The net effect of Kelly’s punishing (elite athletes spend a substantially lower percentage of total exercise time at elevated heart rates than Kelly)
¹⁰
early-morning workouts and devoted calorie restriction is a reduction in muscle mass (which further lowers her metabolic rate and certainly doesn’t improve her body image), an increase in body fat (due to the binge eating and slowed metabolic rate), and recurring fatigue, mood swings, and frustration.

The sting of failure is intensified every time Kelly sees her peppy neighbor Wendy, who has dropped eight pounds in two weeks since following her new multilevel marketing-driven cleansing diet. Upon further examination of these remarkable results, however, it’s evident that the eight pounds consist almost entirely of water and muscle tissue. Wendy’s severe calorie-restriction program kicks into gear a fight-or-flight response mechanism known as gluconeogenesis (Latin for “sugar” + “new” + “make”), where her muscle tissue is converted into glucose to supply her energy needs. The depleted state of her muscles results in significant water loss, considering that every gram of stored glycogen binds with four grams of water in the body. The eight pounds will return in a matter of days when exhaustion causes a return to normal, or supernormal, calorie intake.

Ken hates these first few minutes after Kelly gets home from her morning workout, because her energy level is such a stark contrast to the slow-moving household. On the flip side, Kelly is famous for shutting down around 8:30
P.M
., after the stress hormone buzz wears off and insulin floods her system following dinner. With Ken’s contrasting late-evening pattern, time for couple intimacy is virtually nonexistent. Furthermore, Ken has recently been experiencing “that problem” but is hesitant to share his concerns with anyone, let alone make an appointment with a physician to receive a prescription for Viagra. After all, Ken is still in his 40s and thinks Viagra is for old guys. Ken would be surprised to learn that about a third of all erectile prescriptions are dispensed to men under 50 and that use by men under age 45 tripled between 1998 and 2002.

Biochemically, Ken has several issues that contribute to his poor performance. The sustained high levels of cortisol in his bloodstream from his stressful lifestyle factors, such as inadequate sleep and job stress, suppress testosterone production, leading to diminished energy levels, weakened immune function, and, of course, reduced sex drive. His higher-than-optimum body fat levels and excessive insulin production from his high-carb diet and insufficient exercise also contribute to low testosterone, poor blood circulation, and other common-but-curable impotency factors.

Oh, almost forgot Ken’s Lipitor (the world’s best-selling drug with nearly $13 billion in sales in 2005), a statin medication he takes for “high” cholesterol that can cause muscle and liver problems, deplete CoQ10 (coenzyme Q10; a natural antioxidant and cofactor that is critical to cellular energy metabolism), and, yes, inhibit sexual performance. Ken only recently (and reluctantly, to his credit) started on Lipitor, at the behest of his doctor, who was concerned about his total cholesterol count of 205. Not in the high-risk range by any means, but enough for the doc to want to bring it down some, which the statins manage to do quickly. Unfortunately, statins also produce serious
side effects,
¹¹
mainly by blocking the production and flow of CoQ10 into cell mitochondria. This disturbance of mitochondria hampers the body’s ability to generate normal amounts of energy (hence the common statin user complaint, “I feel tired and weak”), as well as fight free radicals and moderate inflammation. Furthermore, statins do not affect triglyceride (blood fat) levels or LDL (the so-called bad cholesterol) particle size (small, dense particles are worse), nor do they decrease risk of death in any women, in men over 65, or in men under 65 who have not had a heart attack.

Kelly, in turn, struggles with her self-esteem and body image, leading to reduced desire for intimacy. Furthermore, her stressful exercise regimen and poor nutritional habits interfere with healthy female hormone balance and contribute to the reduction of her drive.

Ken fills his commuter mug with coffee, hustles Cindy (with her cold medication hangover) into the car, and they depart. The first stop is four-tenths of a mile away at her elementary school.
¹²
It’s four minutes until the tardy bell, and the front entrance is mobbed with a conga line of cars waiting to reach the drop-off zone. By the time Ken’s car reaches its destination, Cindy is in a panic, as she will once again chase the tardy bell. Fear of a tardy slip may not be on par with a surprise visit from a bear, but the same fight-or-flight response occurs in Cindy as it did in Grok. The parting is anything but warm and comforting—a few choice words from the first grader and a quick admonishment in return from Ken: “Fine, maybe I’ll just make you walk next time!” An excellent idea, considering the short trip from home to classroom by auto has taken six minutes, whereas even a leisurely walk (say, the pace that Grok and his family maintained for several hours, while trading off carrying a small child) from home to classroom would not have taken much longer.