Everyone has their own take on Avatar.  That is the halmark of great art.  Back in college, I remember reading about Marxist readings of Wagner and post-Modernist readings of paintings created before the advent of that nihilistic credo.  Thus it is with Avatar.  My take, after watching it is that it teaches us a great lesson about the difference between agricultural populations and those living in harmony with their genes.

I don’t mean to suggest that we have such a mystical, symbiotic connection to animals.  No, I see that part of the film as just part of the “suspension of disbelief” necessary in art.  I suppose the environmentally minded among us could read environmentalism into the film.

What is more informative, and what CrossFitters and the larger paleo community should realise is that the Na’vi–the natives ivaded by humans in the film–were everything most people in America are not:  slender, fit, and living in tune with their genetic make-up.  They appeared to live a hunter-gatherer existence.  Throughout the film, the viewer is treated to acrobatic and physical feats that would seem normal to a traceur or gymnast–except for flying giant birds.

Interestingly, the Earthlings–as we know–derive our diets from agriculture.  In the film, they moved with all the grace of modern Americans.  The invaders relied on machines and ultimately, died because of that reliance.

There are some political overtones that I really don’t care about in the film.  The major take-away that I hope most of us realize is that the Na’vi were incredibly skilled, fit, able athletes.  They lived in tune with their genes and were better off because of it.  The humans by contrast were forced to navigate by machines and were clearly outclassed.  Live out of harmony with your genes and you will pay the consequences–be that because of diet or garbage movement.

The kicker that I just saw in this post and reinforces my belief in gymnastics and Parkour-type movement is that humans should be able to move like the Na’vi, or in a similar way to traceurs, or practicioners of the modern day MovNat.

Uncategorized avatar, CrossFit, fitness, genes, MovNat, nature

Billy Clint and Whole Grains!

It is funny how history repeats itself.  Back in the 50s, President Eisenhower has diagnosed with heart disease.  What did his brilliant physicians advise him to do?  Low-fat.  What happened to him?  More heart disease.  His doctors even started lying to him about his cholesterol levels and weight.

History repeats itself, and now we have former President Clinton having yet another bout of coronary complications.  But don’t worry, it wasn’t due to his diet:

Cardiologist Allan Schwartz said the former president had been feeling repeated discomfort in his chest, and tests showed that one of the bypasses from the surgery was completely blocked.
There was no sign Clinton had suffered a heart attack, and the new blockage was not a result of his diet, Schwartz said.

I’m not a cardiologist and I have no idea why stents and by-passes get fouled up.  It is interesting that they do continue to get fouled up, even given pateints’ supposedly superior dietary adherence.

The sections of blood vessels used to create detours around the original blockages tend to develop clogs five to 10 years after a bypass, Yancy explained. New blockages also can develop in new areas.

It would be interesting to see survival rates and blockage recidivism of coronary heart disease patients who go low-carb, thus increasing the size of their LDL particles, raising the amount of HDLs and possibly decreasing inflamation and oxidization.

Bill Clinton seems to have been hoisted by his own petard.  Politicians are part and parcel of empowering the food lobby to push the USDA to prod us to eat more of the wrong foods via the food pyramid, or as they call it now, “MyPyramid.” Is it a coincidence that bread manufacturers emblazon their packages with it?

Now even the best doctors in the country buy into the USDA’s non-sense, and as the Bible says, “As a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool repeats his folly.”

–Nick

Uncategorized bill clinton, fda, obesity, paleo diet

Courtesy of Wikipedia

I’m finishing up a book on stress I got for Christmas called Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers.  It is by far one of the best books on fitness and health I’ve read in a while, though there is certainly a lot to digest.

Essentially, he poses the question as to why zebras, as opposed to humans, to get diseases of chronic stress like ulcers, heart disease, and depression.  The obvious answer is that they don’t have chronic stress, which is something a good number of us do have.  Zebras have to flee the lion or hyenas, or they end up like this guy.  They don’t have to worry about a love life, lack of sleep, or a nauseatingly boring job.

I for one hate my day job and feel sick to my stomach whenever I have to go to work.  After reading that book, I’m glad I’m changing professions in a few months.  My arterial walls will love me for it, I’m sure.

This got me to thinking about exercise.  At the heart of chronic stress is cortisol and other hormones termed gluccocorticoids.  They’re what kicks in after the adrenaline.

The interesting thing is that from everything I’ve read, CrossFit WODs and typical strength training doesn’t tend to cause huge amounts of cortisol release.  However, long-distance, endurance-based events, which have come to be called “chronic cardio” tend to cause cortisol secretion after the 40 minute window.  The thing about cortisol is that it causes blood sugar to rise, which causes insulin to rise as well.  I’m not sure it has ever been studied, but I suspect chronically elevated cortisol, even by exercise may decrease insulin sensitivity.  I suspect that even more when I see my co-workers who tend to exercise for hours at a time, yet never lose any weight.

Essentially, then, people may be increasing their risk of chronic diseases by participating in long runs and masochistically long workout sessions too frequently.  I’m all for a good Painstorm, but not every day.

More thought provoking, I think is that, cortisol in a pregnant mother can have serious consequences for the baby in utero.  The author has a whole chapter on why heightened gluccocorticoid levels in utero is dangerous for the baby.  I’d never even thought of the effects that long exercise sessions could have on a baby in utero.  Very interesting stuff and I highly recommend everyone who is stressed out to read the book.

Maybe Robb Wolf will come out to Hawaii and enlighten us on the effects of cortisol.

Post thoughts to comments.

–Nick

Uncategorized chronic cardio, exercise, painstorm, stress, zebras