Why We Sleep

Not much can tempt me back to blogging. Once you've got the paleo model dialed in there's not much to work on, nor blog about....except if you are doing something stupid such as chronic low carbing, adding butter to your coffee or eating packet food vijazzled with health ticks etc....

The reason I'm back is just to steer you towards a book you really should take a look at. I missed its original media splash and much of its content has been covered in both this here blog and the paleosphere in general over the past decade, but damn, it is an informative read.

Matthew Walker's "Why We Sleep" really should be on your reading list.

That is all.

On The Hadza

The Food Programme - Hunting with the Hadza - from BBC Radio4.

O6/O3

Listen to A balanced omega-6/omega-3 ratio in the Greek Diet: the powerful aid in fighting obesity by BMJ talk medicine #np on #SoundCloud

https://soundcloud.com/bmjpodcasts/omega-6-omega3-ratio

The Truth About Meat

Available on BBC iPlayer, but your mileage may vary; beware relative rather than absolute values!

http://bbc.in/2db9pkS

Red Clover

From Robin Harford's newsletter:

• "If you know a little about medicinal herbs then you’ve probably already heard about red clover. It is rich in phyto-oestrogens and so is often given to ladies to try to help to improve fertility or to help to reduce some of the symptoms in menopause.  It also helps the functioning of the lymphatic system so is often used to ease sore throats, tonsillitis and swollen glands.
  
  However, what you might not also realise is that it’s a tasty and nutritious wild food. It’s in the bean family so it’s rich in protein.
  
  Earlier in the year you can pick the flowers and eat them (they have a lovely sweet taste) but in the autumn you can harvest the seeds from the plant and sprout them. They are tasty and like all bean sprouts, they contain protein. Add them to salads or cook them in stir-fries."

Cold Induced Hypertension

For those new to cold exposure training in general, I would STRONGLY recommend that you buy (and use) a sphygmomanometer to check your blood pressure several times a day in the morning and evening.  This needs to be done BEFORE embarking on cold exposure training as a baseline, and during cold exposure phase itself.

The reason I'm so cautious about all this is because cold exposure hypertension is a 'thing'.  I myself developed this condition from regular cold showers. There were no warning signs, no discomfort, nothing.  I used to really enjoy the cold showers and often looked forward each morning to them - but the chronic exposure came with a hypertensive side effect.

The link between cold exposure and hypertension is well established:

• People who live and work in cold areas have a higher incidence of hypertension and related cardiovascular diseases and mortality compared to those living in warmer areas, and cold exposure is a risk factor for hypertension. Cold winter weather is associated with more severe hypertension, stroke and myocardial infarction in hypertensive patients. Seasonal variation of blood pressure (BP), with the highest values during the cold season, has been well documented. Both local and whole-body cold exposure increase BP. In the northern part of the world, people are exposed to low outdoor temperatures while going to work and occasionally also during leisure time. Moreover, there are still many occupations involving part- or full-time outdoor work.

Proceed with caution.

Cold Exposure: Reboot

After my brush with cold-induced hypertension a few years ago maybe it's time to reintroduce cold showers? Perhaps it was CHRONIC cold-water exposure that caused my problems (or another confounding variable altogether)?

Having long since returned to having normal blood pressure (under 120/70), it could be time for more experimentation given the experience of @Iceman_Hof.